When the trio of Sontag Shogun gathered at Laura Naukkarinen's home on the Finnish island of Kimitoön in the summer of 2019, they had not the slightest inkling that the world was about to change irretrievably with the onset of a long-predicted pandemic the following year. By the time their collaborative album, Valo Siroutuu ("The Light Scatters"), was released nearly two years later, the intimate and reflective nature of the work they had created together had taken on new meaning, resonating powerfully (and quietly) with a world in which the proverbial cracks in the wall only seem to be widening. Päiväkahvit completes the story that began with Valo Siroutuu, featuring nine new songs from the original sessions plus four interpretive reworks courtesy of Amulets, Fadi Tabbal, Post-Dukes, and Jeremy Young. Available digitally and in a one-time vinyl pressing of 300 copies, the album flows seamlessly from beginning to end, incorporating field recordings, tape, sublime vocal melodies, and a host of acoustic and electronic instruments. Richly textured and immersive, Päiväkahvit positively crackles with warmth and a sense of creative embrace.

"Bitterviper is the brand-new quartet of Nikos Veliotis (cello), Taku Unami (synthesizer), Sarah Hennies (percussion), and David Grubbs (guitar, piano), four individuals who separately are responsible for some of the most striking and wildly idiosyncratic music of the past couple of decades -- not to mention the duo collaborations between Grubbs and Unami (the albums Comet Meta and Failed Celestial Creatures) and Veliotis and Grubbs (The Harmless Dust). Athens-based Nikos Veliotis set Bitterviper into motion with four overdubbed pieces of dense psychoacoustic marvels on the cello; Grubbs responded with characteristically subtle tracery on piano, guitar, and lap steel; Unami weighed in electronically from Tokyo to mysteriously thicken both the plot and the low end; and Hennies applied her compositional gifts to structure the whole thing with an Occam's Razor approach to percussion. But once you drop the needle on Bitterviper, its origin story becomes ancient history; you're suddenly in the presence of an ensemble that sounds like no other and for whom there are no false steps. It's all fair game when this is how you choose to play; Bitterviper is a salvo of confidence and conviction, and this is only the beginning. David Grubbs is Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center, CUNY. He was a member of Gastr del Sol, Bastro, and Squirrel Bait, and has performed with Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, Luc Ferrari, Will Oldham, Loren Connors, Jan St. Werner, The Red Krayola, and many others. Sarah Hennies is a composer and percussionist based in upstate New York whose work is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including queer and trans identity, psychoacoustics, and the social and neurological conditions underlying creative thought. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College. Taku Unami's work is influenced by science fiction, supernatural horror and weird fiction. He's the composer of film scores for directors including Isao Okishima and Takeshi Furusawa, was half (with Toshiya Tsunoda) of the group Wovenland, is one-third of the group Hontatedori, and has collaborated with, among others, Annette Krebs, Radu Malfatti, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Jarrod Fowler, and Graham Lambkin. Nikos Veliotis founded Mohammad with ILIOS and Coti K. (renamed MMMD in 2015). In the 1990s he developed an experimental practice, exploring image and sound, mainly through the cello; he also performed in numerous groups, most notably CRANC (with Angharad and Rhodri Davies) and Looper (with Ingar Zach and Martin Küchen)."

Tired of waiting for a compilation of the wildest and most hilarious punk-leaning music of the '60s? Yes, you may have already been taught a lesson by mediocrity and endless volumes. Well, the wait is over. Here are 19 atomic bombs from wonderful Mexico with doses of lysergia, frat, go-go, and, yes sir, punk. Just when you thought everything was discovered and handled, it's refreshing to find such a batch of teen spirit and desire to explode like those included in this magnificent compilation from the Pinche label. Songs that have never sounded so good have been captured from the original tapes. Featuring Los Soñadores, Los Shakers, Los Polivoces, Los Weelers, Los Belmonts, Los Rockin Devils, Los Antorchas, Los Crazy Birds, Los Hippies, Los Pajaros, Luis Vivi Hernandez, Los Glidders, Los Novels, Los Locos, Los Twist Teens, Los Rogers, Los Cinco, and Los Viking Boys.

LP version. Alice is a vocal harmony trio made up of three persons, joined by a cheap synth and limited virtuosity. Together, they craft a kind of future folklore that's part funny, part apocalyptic -- half-soft, half-harsh, half-sad, half-simple, half-complex, half-controlled, half-Yvonne Harder, half-Sarah André, half-Lisa Harder. Since their last album L'Oiseau Magnifique (BJR 091CD), Alice have spent time on the road -- in cars, in trains, out in the open. Accustomed to writing outdoors, they slowly stitched together a collection of new songs. After two years of performing in clubs, bars, stairwells, carpentry workshops, activist agricultural fairs and roadside shoulders, they took their Oiseau Magnifique just about everywhere. It felt like time to sew these new pieces together -- a quilt of humor and soft words, something we could really use in these half-sweet, half-fascist times. Les Châteaux Faibles is the name of one of their latest songs, and naturally, the title of their new album. It captures the group's ethos perfectly -- a search for refuge in fragility, in a weakness that's better when shared. A collective sensitivity to bring us closer, stronger -- united in Châteaux Faibles.

Buh Records presents El tiempo quiere cantar ("Time Wants to Sing") the debut album by Pacha Wakay Munan, a duo formed by Peruvian musicians and researchers Dimitri Manga Chávez and Ricardo López Alcas. This album explores the sonic possibilities of pre-Hispanic instruments in a contemporary musical context. Through their performance, they explore their tonal possibilities, the interaction between their frequencies, and their ability to generate new dialogues. The work of Pacha Wakay Munan aligns with the tradition of sound explorers such as the Peruvians Arturo Ruiz del Pozo and Luis David Aguilar or the Colombians Yaki Kandru. The album's repertoire consists of pieces that explore diverse sonorities and musical concepts. "Pacha Wakay Munanqa" introduces the timbral variety of the instruments used. "El Taki Onkoy" draws inspiration from historical accounts and the meaning of its name ("Sick Song"), based on a Culina chant documented by Rodolfo Holzmann. It features vocals by the experienced singer Ximena Menéndez. "Mundo Posible" is a reinterpretation of an improvisation session with musicologist Chalena Vásquez Rodríguez, where the piano dialogues with ceramic antaras. Other pieces delve into the sonic construction of these instruments in relation to their cultural contexts. "Machu Tara" explores the concept of tara, a rough and vibrant sound quality found in certain Andean musical traditions. "Túpac Huaca" references the Huaca Aliaga in Lima, creating a sound palette where pututos, whistling vessels, and quenas converge. "Agua, Cuarzo y Viento" introduces quartz sikus and bowls tuned to different frequencies, evoking the interaction between natural elements and resonant vibrations. In the piece "Qinray Tema", Camilo Ángeles plays the metal transverse flute, creating a contrast with the pre-Hispanic ceramic flutes and pelican bone flutes. El tiempo quiere cantar is released by Buh Records in digital format and in a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies.

LP version. "Like a sweet spring breeze after a long, cruel winter, Cory Hanson's blowing through town again. And like the wind, I Love People comes from parts unknown. Followers of Cory's twin arcs as solo singer and Wand member will be intrigued to learn that the lineup here is the same band that recorded 2024's Vertigo. That's Robbie Cody co-producing behind the desk, Evan Backer playing bass and arranging strings and horns, Evan Burrows on drums and percussion and Cory on piano, guitars and voices and songs. I Love People bugs out to the wtf-ness on the edge of town spied now and again on Cory's previous solos, Pale Horse Rider and Western Cum. Here though, the simmering shades of Rider's quiet horror and the bursts of Cum's cartoonish, gun-slinger bravado have given way to an ever-more impartial view of life on the ground, tinted in gossamer sepia and other nostalgic tones. Written over the past several annums, Cory's songs ensnare the '70s singer-songwriter in a feedback loop, drawing additional inspiration from the indelible everyman melodies of the American Songbook. With gilded threads and emboldened needling, I Love People's songs are rendered with immediacy and a deep-pile Hollywood production sound that radiates affluence and comfort, even in the darkest and coldest nights way out beyond the range of any signal. Placed and displaced among gorgeously outfitted musical arrangements, I Love People's people are kin to their threadbare folk forbears. Song by song, their occupations, social positions and dispositions unravel like silk into the wind. While they perform, Cory loiters backstage, gently pulling at the curtain to reveal silly details hidden in plain sight inside America's broken heart. It doesn't come as a surprise, and it's not strictly funny, either: a giddy mash of the two, the delirium that comes from finding what you think is 'true' is someone else's 'false.' When maps won't help you find out where you are anymore, you're as normal and horrible as the next person, playing out your days in a place of constant activity with your parallax view progressing invisibly into a limbo beyond the horizon. That's your freedom for you, and it might be more sad, more terrifying -- if it weren't so much fun! Even though their subject won't stop squirming, Cory and his merry men have constructed a timeless still life with I Love People, simply by living for the fun and love of it all."

Imagine a young artist from the Orfeon label (Mexico) in 1968 decided to combine the New Orleans funk sound with the emerging -- not yet mentioned as such -- West Coast Latin Rock, a little bit of free jazz and a few drops of Pink Floyd (era Syd Barrett). Got the picture? Something similar can be said about this super elusive -- originally $350, if it turns up -- 45 rpm record with over six minutes of freak-out per side. WARNING to DJs: You might start tapping your foot to the opening groove and end up on the floor in ecstasy.

When asked about the title of her new record, Amor, Limpe Fuchs bluntly responded, "because it's everything." Being a Beatles fan from the very beginning, she's well aware that "all you need is love," but there's more to her sentiment than a corny pun. On the one hand, she's more than half a century into her musical career, and describes the relationship towards her instruments in terms of an ongoing and deepening love affair. So, it's about time for a love letter to her percussion instruments and the act of drumming and listening to her drums, which can be heard as "Trommeln" on the second to last track on Amor. Listeners also get to learn about "Verliebte Autos im Wald" -- a poem by Augusta Laar that Limpe recites during the closing track. What may come across as a goofy nursery rhyme at first is indeed testament to Limpe's longstanding animistic beliefs, her imagination towards everything around her. "It may sound wonky, but it's as simple as it's true, and it's important to love yourself and everything around you -- at least I try to do so the best I can, and sometimes I fail, sure." And, again, if you think about it, it's not much of a surprise, she's singing about cars, the vehicles that since decades get her and her instruments from gig to gig, all across Europe. But it's not all just about the material world around her, of course. So, on the other hand and for the most part, Amor reflects on love as an interpersonal and spiritual experience. Drawing inspiration from such different authors as Giordano Bruno, Hilde Domin, and Serge Kahili King, Amor is a record of compositions one could almost call "songs," although they're far from being performed in a conventional way. It is also Limpe Fuchs' most openly insightful and vulnerable record to date. As curious as ever, in her light-hearted yet thoughtful manner she explores the upsides and downsides of what it means to be loved or not loved.

After re-releasing 1982 and the double LP Froh zu sein and 8-EP-Sampler, play loud! now completes the Familie Hesselbach catalog (1980-1985) with the third vinyl LP Sueddeutschland & Der Untergang des Hauses H. Enjoy!

"40 years after six students from the prestigious university of Tübingen were latecomers to the German new wave, it is once again the turn for Familie Hesselbach, who have always been called 'The German Talking Heads,' something we could agree with, if we add to their sound the rhythm schemes of A Certain Ratio, the groovy bass of Bush Tetras, the skronky disco-esque of James White, and turn Byrne's voice to a more spastic and cons ice one. Berlin´s play loud! label reissued in vinyl this early '80s German new wave gem, and if you think of all the bands we've named, you know this is going to blow your mind!" --Tremendo Garage about the first LP 1982

Jim Coleman's NOW WAVE - Glowing: Beth B Exhibition features collected tracks that represent the sonic component of the "NOW WAVE - Glowing" exhibition by Beth B. This 2024 exhibition appeared at Silent Green in Berlin, featuring several live performances. Coleman collaborated with a stellar group of musicians and artists: Annie Bandez (Little Annie), Robert O. Leaver (This Wilderness, Birdthrower), Phil Puleo (Swans, Cop Shoot Cop), Jared Louche, Kirsten McCord, Paul Wallfisch, Vincent Dubuis, Nick Flynn, Evelyn Frantti, No Anger, Louise Hoffmeister, and Bliss Blood. The fusion of text, music, filmic image material, and performance create an immersive experience that is captivating and entertaining, but also confronts existential questions of human coexistence. The universal stories of the artists confront perceptions and assumptions concerning heartache, disability, mental illness, and addiction alongside the visceral music by Jim Coleman. Voicing the unheard and seeing the unseen are themes that have run through Beth B's films, art, and installation work with an eye to creating dialogue, community, and a place for self-knowledge and acceptance. Includes art exhibition catalog book; 104 pages, 17x24 cm.

LP version. In the weird world of Wevie Stonder, things are never straightforward. The four-piece collective headed up by Al Boorman have returned with their first album in 16 years -- and one reason it took so long is that they couldn't think of a title. The group are renowned for their outlandish electronics and humorous vocal performances, with a series of treasured releases on Manchester's eminent Skam Records, and their latest album Sure Beats Living ventures into unknown realms. Introducing a host of new characters, tall tales and bizarre scenarios to a musical backdrop as varied as it is striking, the record darts between ambient tranquility, strange soundtracks, bass-heavy beats and emotive R&B. Opener "That's Magic" features a magician talking us through a convoluted magic trick, to a mysterious synth theme that a celebrity conjurer might use to help the pyramids disappear. It's probably one of the only pieces of music to draw influences from Paul Daniels. "Carpet Squares" is a hefty slab of squirming machine bass, acid squidges and clanking industrial drums, its samples extolling the virtues of fitting comfortable flooring, with a voiceover recorded on a Canadian golf course. "Vanja & Slavcho" tells the odd story of twins who have an extraordinary ability to a bustle of spiraling arpeggios and comedic sound effects, while "Tiktaalik" has a glam rock beat, guitar twangs, wild synth runs and dance music drum rolls that build to nowhere, plus processed dolphin noises and a vocal about evolution. Then there's "Piccolo's Travels," a spellbinding mix of classical strings and -- is that a malfunctioning Clanger? "Album Titles" lists rejected names for the record to hilarious effect, with outlandish blips, accordion riffs and bubbling percussion setting the scene, "The 38th Parallel" is a wonky slab of electronica, while "Push It" has everything from rock guitar interjections to explosions and birdsong. If "Customer Services" imagines the bewildering experience of dealing with a sentient automated phone call, then the following "Nothing To Write Home About" is a waltz-time organ piece with a nostalgic, bittersweet air. "Ready?" lists practically every genre under the sun and gives you a burst of it, from drill to country and western, hardcore to Miami bass, and the final track, "The Void," is an AutoTune-laced R&B track with a deep, emotional core.

LP version. Unsent Letters is the weird cousin to songs on half a lifetime of albums. It has been living in the basement, in a box and is now emerging, blinking into the daylight. Even though it's a bit rough around the edges, it turns out to be a rather charming and likeable fellow for all that. And with stories to tell. Pete Astor is a musician, writer and educator. He led Creation Records' groups The Loft and The Weather Prophets, writing songs and releasing records that helped define the sound of the label and the emerging Indie genre. He has gone on to a lengthy solo career since then; writing, recording and releasing music on a range of labels including Matador, Heavenly, Warp, EMI and Fortuna Pop. He is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Westminster. As well as touring extensively, he also makes records with David Sheppard as Ellis Island Sound and releases his spoken word electronic pop project as The Attendant with Ian Button (Go Kart Mozart, Death in Vegas) on his label Faux Lux. Since 2017, Astor has been signed to the estimable Tapete Records, home to Robert Forster, Lloyd Cole, and Comet Gain among many excellent others. Unsent Letters features songs that Astor wrote while in The Loft but which the group never played, along with songs from throughout his forty-year career that are now, finally coming out into the world.

Clear vinyl version. "Originally released in 2010, The Body's All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood is a watershed album that changed the landscape of heavy music. Buoyed by the eclectic cast of musicians, from the undeniably potent collaboration with The Assembly of Light Choir as led by now longtime The Body collaborator Chrissy Wolpert, to guest contributors that include members of Dead Times, Fang Island, Lichens (aka Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe), Human Beast, and many more. The album's singularly bleak, yet beautiful atmosphere not only set the tone for The Body's career in breaking the mold, but set a new standard for what extreme music could do. All The Waters rightfully broke The Body, the duo of Lee Buford and Chip King, out from the underground and was met with acclaim from across a wide spectrum. Pitchfork's Grayson Haver Currin said of the record: 'The rare album that feels truly dangerous. As it crushes and collides doom metal, harsh noise, industrial rock, and gospel singing into one mean mess, it seems to obey no rules but its own. The result is a singular, explosive masterpiece.' NPR's Lars Gotrich put it in his 2010 Top 10 list, calling it 'the most surreal doom-metal record of 2010' and The Quietus called it the year's 'best record on the fringes of metal.' Following the album's release and subsequent tours, which sometimes included the entire Assembly of Light Choir, The Body established themselves as a permanent fixture of forward-thinking artists and a reliably overwhelming force, both on record and in live settings. All The Waters also helped spark the duo's penchant for collaboration, which they then solidified across dozens of releases, from collaborations with Braveyoung to BIG|BRAVE, Thou, Full of Hell, Uniform, and beyond. The new reissue for All The Waters is packaged as a double LP, including a whole new Side D, which is composed of bonus material never before pressed to vinyl. First edition pressings of the double vinyl reissue will be a deluxe poster edition."

"As the record continues, the beating just doesn't stop. The choral voices, returning here and there, are the only ray of hope: the Body's own singing amounts to weedy, apocalyptic howls, barely clearing the din of their processional stomps. It's an experience, this record, written in big riffs and celestial choirs and digital static." --The New York Times

2025 repress; remastered on 180 gram vinyl, expanded to double-LP, gatefold sleeve. One cannot hear a Tommy Guerrero song without immediately recognizing it as his -- and his only. The cult skater from San Francisco is globally renowned as one of the original members of the legendary "Bones Brigade" team. And as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, his laid-back soul is beloved by all who've basked in its blissful glow. A Little Bit Of Somethin' is a quietly majestic gem. Brimming with Guerrero's horizontal "loose grooves", these brief but innovative instrumentals demonstrate a rich variety and, as such, comprise an LP that is aptly titled. An enchanting start-to-finish listen, it was instantly regarded as essential upon release via Mo Wax in 2000. It has aged remarkably well. Throughout this inspired collection, simplicity is key. In deploying it, Guerrero presents a beautifully crafted melodic soundscape. The distinctive, mellifluous approach of his guitar style, blending Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican, soul, and jazz motifs, is at once startlingly new and tantalizingly familiar. Set against unrushed percussion, the music releases a crystal-clear stream of healing frequencies to create a fragile, hypnotic atmosphere. Each track clocks in at around three minutes and, with a lack of studio polish or commitment to traditional song structure, it's a wonder how this enigmatic record demands your attention. However, through its gentle dynamism and impressive playing, it does just that. Whilst resolutely low-key, this lo-fi aesthetic feels genuinely organic and remarkably personal; its powerful intimacy truly connects. It's what makes this album so beloved of those lucky enough to be already familiar with it. From Margaret Kilgallen's truly iconic cover artwork to the music contained within, it's all brilliantly effortless. Guerrero's musical ideas are consistently compelling throughout, making it impossible to select highlights. The album's laconic drift touches upon jazz-fusion workouts and slow-mo hip-hop drums, Tortoise-style experimental post-rock, and cinematic sound textures. It's at once hazy, light and bouncy yet somber and bluesy. The Latin soul of El Chicano blends with the breezy jazz of Grant Green. By employing guitars and drum machines to create a stripped-down rhythmic tapestry of spellbinding, addictive songs, there are even traces of The Durutti Column. A little bit of country, a little bit of rock n' roll. A Little Bit Of Somethin', indeed.

2025 repress. Black Truffle announce a new solo album by Eiko Ishibashi, her first for the label, following on from the duo recording Ichida alongside bassist Darin Gray (BT 039LP, 2018). Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) was produced for the "Japan Supernatural" exhibition at The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney focusing on ghost stories and folklore from the Edo period onwards. As with The Dream My Bones Dream (Drag City, 2018), the album is a response to troubling questions about Japanese history, and the influence of the past upon the present, but finds Ishibashi shifting further away from her earlier piano-led songwriting and showing a deepening interest in electronics and audio collaging. The two side-long parts of Hyakki Yagyō feature layered synthesizers, acoustic instrumentation, recited verse, and field recordings, at times densely mixed but always with a subtle interplay of changing elements. The influence of European and American forerunners as diverse as Alvin Curran, David Behrman, and Strafe Für Rebellion can be traced, yet at the same time Ishibashi evokes the flute and string sounds associated with Japanese storytelling, and draws directly on the subversive literary tradition of Kyoka ("mad poetry") with a verse by the 15th-century poet Ikkyū Sōjun repeated throughout the album. Revisiting what has gone before, re-thinking what is possible musically, as a way of articulating what else might be possible in the future. As Ishibashi's liner notes make clear, the album reflects an attention to persistent dangers, myths and evasions in Japanese culture -- as well as the lurking uncertainties that might threaten positive change. This would seem to be manifested in the emerging melodies soon met by dissonance, erratic collisions, and near silence, as well as the eerie manipulation of the double-tracked vocals. Ishibashi's underlying concerns ring true more widely of course. Hyakki Yagyō is a work of multiplicities, and mystery, a landscape where nothing is as it seems at first, and everything is vulnerable to sudden violent interruptions. The album was produced with regular collaborators Jim O'Rourke (double bass) and Joe Talia (percussion), and features dancer and choreographer Ryuichi Fujimura performing Ikkyū's satirical tanka. O'Rourke's immersive mix creates a three-dimensional effect, with Ishibashi's various sound sources enmeshing and interacting in captivating ways. White vinyl; inner sleeve featuring artist portrait and liner notes from Eiko Ishibashi. Cover and label design by Shuhei Abe. Back cover design by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Jim O'Rourke.

Buh Records presents Primera Secuencia, the debut album by Ballet Mecánico, the project of Fernando Pinzás. After his time in the synth-punk band Varsovia, Pinzás embarks on a new phase as a solo artist and producer, exploring electronic styles from the 1980s like synthpop, Hi-NRG, Italo disco, and techno pop. The album blends synthesizers, programmed sequences, and pulsating basslines to create a nostalgic yet danceable soundscape. Set against the backdrop of the pandemic and social movements in Peru, each track tells a story, featuring guest vocalists from the Peruvian independent scene, including Susana Fátima (Gomas), Noelia Cabrera (Blue Velvet, Silveria), Kat Kathia, Luxsie, Luminiscencia, Anabhell (Las Ratapunks), Laura Rosales (Solenoide), and Elva Cío (Specto Caligo). Singles "No Cederé" and "Testamento" define the project's dark and ethereal pop aesthetic. "No Cederé," featuring Susana Fátima, critiques societal notions of success over an Italo disco and Hi-NRG beat. The track includes a remix by Italoconnection, the duo of Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti, who take it into a hypnotic, spacey realm. "Testamento," with Luminiscencia, reflects on the emotional weight of the pandemic, blending synthpop and ethereal pop. Other standout tracks include "La ciudad de los incendios," a dystopian vision of Lima with dark disco rhythms, and "Como la última vez," a synthpop-driven, melancholic song featuring Noelia Cabrera. Produced by Pinzás with Antonio Ballester, Omán Morí, Rafael Benavides, and Juancho Esquivel, the album was mastered by José Marcos Aguilar Villanueva (Antinori) and features artwork by Gonzalo de Montreuil.

2025 restock; LP version. During the legendary Forst years, Roedelius had a private workspace with a Farfisa organ, a Revox-A77 tape machine, an echo device and a synthesizer which he borrowed from the Cluster studio next door now and again. Here he experimented, practiced, allowed his imagination to flow, at any hour of the day or night, whenever he was not in the studio with Dieter Moebius and/or Michael Rother at work on new Cluster or Harmonia material. Roedelius always let the tape run, in order to analyze the ideas thus captured more effectively on repeated listening. For the first time ever, this Roedelius audio sketchbook had been digitalized and available to the public in 2014 on a limited three-LP box set called Roedelius Tape Archive 1973-1978. The recordings offer a deep insight into the creative process of his music. Fleeting notes, slivers of ideas, so to speak, moments of inspiration. Finger exercises, experiments in harmony, studies in rhythm are also preserved on these magnetic tapes. Since the box set has been sold out for a long time, Bureau B decided to release the essence of those three LPs on a one-disc compilation: Roedelius Tape Archive Essence 1973-1978.

2025 Repress in plain white disco sleeve. Forest Drive West returns to Livity Sound with the Dualism EP, a tour de force of stripped dub aesthetics and swirling psychedelic rhythms. One of the finest breakthrough UK producers of recent years, in a short space of time Forest Drive West has created an enviable catalog across labels such as Livity Sound, Rupture, Echocord, Whities, and Mantis. This new EP marks some of his best work to date. The final track on the EP, "Scorpion", features Melbourne based percussionist Lucky Pereira whose frenetic but tightly locked drums add a fizzing energy to Forest Drive West's deep atmospheric rhythm track.

2025 restock. On May 28, 1969, four American musicians -- reed/wind players Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman, bassist Malachi Favors, and (accompanied by his wife, singer Fontella Bass) trumpeter Lester Bowie -- boarded the ocean liner S.S. United States, bound for Le Havre, France. After landing five days later, they moved on to Paris, where they got to work. On August 22, 1970, in the waning days of their stay overseas, the group, with Bass on vocals, would record their second release for EMI's Pathé Marconi: the movie soundtrack Les Stances à Sophie. The record, an exciting, eminently listenable combination of soul, classical, and jazz strains that survives as the Art Ensemble of Chicago's most stylistically diverse album, has long been admired by a devoted cult. Its durability is largely due to the popularity of its "hit": Over the years, "Theme de Yoyo" has been covered repeatedly, essayed by acts as varied as German funk band the Boogoos (and the offshoot Deep Jazz, both featuring singer Julia Fehenbeger), British nu-jazz combo the Cinematic Orchestra, Polish jazz man Wojtek Mazolewski, Norwegian rockers Motorpsycho, French dance music artist Étienne Jaumet, and London-based remixer, Shall I Bruk It. More than half a century later, "Theme de Yoyo" and Les Stances à Sophie still bring it. Limited-edition LP reissue from play loud! Productions, supplemented with new notes by U.S. music journalist Chris Morris.

Restocked. Keith Hudson's Nuh Skin Up Dub is a deep, heavyweight dub album that stands as one of the most potent statements in the genre's history. Released in 1979, this sonic masterpiece showcases Hudson's signature dark, almost mystical production style, where heavy basslines, echo-drenched drums, and ghostly fragments of vocals swirl together in a hypnotic haze. Unlike the more polished, accessible dub records of the time, Nuh Skin Up Dub is raw, unfiltered, and experimental, pushing the boundaries of rhythm and space. Tracks like "Nuh Skin Up" and "Felt We Felt the Strain" pulse with an eerie, almost menacing energy, while Hudson's masterful use of reverb and delay creates a soundscape that feels simultaneously expansive and claustrophobic. Often referred to as the "Dark Prince of Reggae," Hudson had an uncanny ability to craft music that was both deeply meditative and unsettling, and Nuh Skin Up Dub is a prime example of his genius. It's a record that rewards deep listening -- every spin reveals new layers of sonic detail, hidden textures, and dub wizardry. For fans of heavy, atmospheric dub, Nuh Skin Up Dub is an essential listen, a landmark recording that solidifies Keith Hudson's status as one of the most visionary figures in reggae history.

2025 repress. Black vinyl. "With one foot in the past but their eyes firmly set on the future, El Michels Affair are among the leaders of a resurgent funk & soul movement from New York City that's sweeping both the music community and the charts. Led by saxophonist/organist Leon Michels and producer/engineer Jeff Silverman, El Michels Affair began as a loose collaboration of session musicians (including members of top-selling acts Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, the Budos Band, and Antibalas) that looked to blend some of the vibrant quality of soundtrack records with the recording aesthetic of early reggae, and the rawness of 60's rock -- they called it 'Cinematic Soul.' This delicate balance was evident on their 2005 debut album Sounding Out the City, which earned critical acclaim and acted as the inaugural full-length release for Michels and Silverman's burgeoning label Truth & Soul (also the moniker for the duo as a production team). The buzz generated from the album and a series of moderately successful 7" vinyl singles from Truth & Soul led to an invitation by Toyota's Scion division for El Michels Affair to accompany the rapper Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan for a promotional concert. As avid Wu-Tang fans, not only were the band leaders thrilled with the opportunity, but Michels found that the 'Cinematic Soul' sound was consistent with the moods of RZA's gritty soundscapes on the classic Wu-Tang releases. The concert was such as success, El Michels Affair went on to play several more concerts nationwide backing Raekwon and other members of the Clan, and the shows led to the recording of two smash 7" singles featuring instrumental reinterpretations of the Wu-Tang classic songs 'C.R.E.A.M.' and 'Bring Da Ruckus.' The singles combined to sell an extraordinary amount of over 7,000 units worldwide, and their success led to a contract in 2007 with indie hip hop powerhouse Fat Beats Records to record an entire album of Wu-Tang Clan interpolations entitled Enter the 37th Chamber. Since the contract was inked, a worldwide explosion of retro soul led by Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings has transformed the pop music landscape, and the Truth & Soul production duo have been in strong demand, recording with everyone from breakthrough Grammy-nominated artist Adele to punk rock innovator Iggy Pop. They've been commissioned for official remixes of Amy Winehouse and Dinah Washington (for the popular Verve Remixed series), and produced for Australian multi-platinum acts Jet and Gabriella Cilmi. Despite the eclectic group of clients for the Truth & Soul production company, El Michels Affair continued to build an audience within the hip hop community. A track from Sounding Out The City was sampled for Ghostface Killah's 2007 track 'Shakey Dog Lolita,' and a horn part written and performed by Michels (for Menahan Street Band) was famously lifted for Jay-Z's smash single 'Roc Boys.'"

Paperbound, 407 pages. "Edited by Lawrence Kumpf, Charles Curtis. Text by Éliane Radigue, Dagmar Schwerk, Daniel Sillman, Anthony Vine. A detailed look at the elusive work of a French pioneer of musique concrète and electroacoustic composition. This volume is an exploration of the early electronic work of French composer Éliane Radigue (born 1932), whose radical approach to feedback, analog synthesis and composition on tape has long evaded straightforward interpretation. Combining key texts, newly translated primary documents, in-depth interviews and commissioned essays, this compendium probes her idiosyncratic compositional practice, which both embraces and confounds the iterative nature of magnetic tape, the subtleties of amplification and the very experience of listenership. Chief among these entries is an in-depth overview by cellist Charles Curtis examining the composer's earliest experiments in feedback techniques and analog synthesis, her eventual turn to works for unamplified instruments and live performers, and her unique aesthetic of time and presence. Detailed conversations provide crucial windows into her working methods at different points in her career. Sketches for unrealized work, contemporary reviews, programs and ephemera are collected together for the first time. The anthology concludes with a roundtable discussion working out the knotty paradoxes of Radigue's continued 'ethos of resistance.'"

Volume 2 of the absolutely infamous (and highly sought after) Cult Sounds compilation, comprised of music done by fringe religious cults around the world. Oh, boy! Volume 2 of Cult Sounds is here, so it's time for another bad trip through the music produced by weird, extreme cults all over the world. From hypnotic Manson Family recordings to the catchy '80s pop manufactured by The Family, to jazz, psych jams, country music or plain out-there musical experimentation, this second volume gets as weird, dark and mesmerizing as its predecessor, amazing. Featuring Zendik Farm Orgaztra, Church Universal and Triumphant, Gabriel of Sedona's Bright & Morning Star Choir, Otto Muehl, The Lyman Family, Lisa Kindred, Aun Shinrykio, Joe Pass, Dr Malachi Z. York, Unification Church, and Unarius.

LP version. Black Truffle presents Spilla, the second album from Nantes-based Ensemble Nist-Nah, 48 minutes of music for Gamelan, drum kits, wood and metal percussion instruments, and plucked strings that will surely count as one of the most electrifying records you hear. Founded by the Australian drummer/percussionist Will Guthrie in 2019, continuing the explorations begun in solo form on Nist-Nah, the ensemble (eight or nine core members with occasional guests) has been consistently active in the half-decade since: composing, rehearsing, recording and touring Europe (with a mass of equipment in tow) to great acclaim. Spilla tracks the continuing evolution of the project since the recording of their first album, Elders (BT 086CD). The two sides of this record document two different iterations of the group, and the members' compositional input has increased: each side contains one piece by a member other than Guthrie. It has become clearer than ever that Ensemble Nist-Nah is not an attempt at a European Gamelan ensemble but rather a hybrid percussion ensemble that uses instruments from a Javanese Gamelan alongside other percussion to perform original music informed by a variety of South East Asian music but also by everything from free jazz to contemporary hip-hop: while Nist-Nah and Elders both featured traditional Javanese pieces, on Spilla the only tune not generated by a member of the group is by Guthrie's long-time musical hero and occasional collaborator Roscoe Mitchell. The epic closing track presents a take on Roscoe Mitchell's "Uncle," performed by the Art Ensemble of Chicago on their classic Urban Bushmen live album. Where the Art Ensemble used Mitchell's dirge-like melody as a jumping off point for virtuosic improvisational flights, Ensemble Nist-Nah rethink the piece as a near-static dialogue between the monumental, slow-moving sequence of unison tuned percussion notes and a textural cloud that grows in richness and intensity from whispering cymbal rolls into a mass of gong overtones and bowed metal. Beautifully recorded and mixed, Spilla arrives in a sleeve decorated with core member Charles Dubois' drawings of cymbals and gongs. Against the backdrop of a wider musical landscape dominated by over-produced electronic slop and bland harmonic wallpaper, Ensemble Nist-Nah stands out as a reminder, vital and unpretentious, of the joys and possibilities of human beings playing instruments together.

Archaic, infernal, radical, consistent, courageous. Following the release of his LP The Lovers And Destroyers with Caspar Brötzmann Bass Totem in autumn, 2024, renowned guitarist Caspar Brötzmann and his band Caspar Brötzmann Massaker present a collaborative release between Corbett vs. Dempsey and Exile On Mainstream (Berlin). The record features two different live versions of "All This Violence," recorded in Vienna and Dresden, with Saskia von Klitzing (drums) and Eduardo Delgado Lopez (bass). Founded in 1986, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker became a significant force in the 1990s alternative rock scene. The band's albums The Tribe (1987), Black Axis (1989), Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore (1991), Koksofen (1993), Home (1995) and Mute Massaker (1999) are heralded underground classics, having a profound influence on bands and artists like Sonic Youth, SUNN O))), Faith No More, Neurosis, Sumac, and Helmet, to name a few. The band's music is textural, visceral, arresting, and urgent, marked by repetitive, hypnotic intensity, and Brötzmann's signature guitar sound. The legacy lies in his fearless experimentation, dissolving boundaries between classical music structures and amplified instrumentation in rock music. Since the mid-1980s, Caspar Brötzmann has been shaping an unmistakable sound -- infernal, radical, uncompromising. He unwaveringly pursues his own path, beyond clear genre boundaries. As the son of a famous saxophonist, he found his artistic identity early on and developed a unique sound language that discharges in brute catharsis. His music is not an adaptation to trends, but a sensitive, passionate, almost obsessive approach to despair and anger -- and yet full of hope. With his virtuoso independence on the instrument, he is an exceptional phenomenon. An atonal Hendrix, made in Germany.

5LP box version. Includes art book. Over the decades, the image of Kompakt as a pirate ship has taken root in our minds, braving the dangers of the seven seas of the music market. Sometimes it glides with a tailwind through calm waters, sometimes it has to survive violent storms. In the label's fast-paced business, the 500 mark is rarely reached, so Kompakt wants to celebrate it. In a democratic process, the label has selected 50 pearls from the thousands of tracks released over the last 33 1/3 years. Alongside many Kompakt evergreens, there are also some real rarities from the early Kompakt Sound of Cologne, which have been lovingly remastered here to shine in new splendor. The 5LP box set version (KOM 500LP) also contains a 144-page book that tells the story of Kompakt from 1993 to today with detailed texts and images. In addition to the manifold musical and graphic achievements of Kompakt, the multidisciplinary links to the visual arts are also highlighted here. The magic of groovy loop minimalism and the "art of omission" are once again brought to the proverbial point. Featuring Tocotronic, Kaito, Terranova, Justus Köhncke, Heiko Voss, Leandro Fresco/Thore Pfeiffer, The Bionaut, Ada, Raz Ohara, Superpitcher, Rex The Dog, Dettinger, The Field, Robag Wruhme, Saschienne, Max Würden, Gas, Triola AG, Thomas Fehlmann, Scsi-9, Jürgen Paape, The Modernist, Aril Brikha, T.Raumschmiere, Reinhard Voigt, Schaeben & Voss, DJ Koze, The Orb, Michael Mayer, Laurent Garnier, Anna & Kittin, Mike Ink, Reinhard Voigt, Forever Sweet, Wassermann, Sven Väth, Blank Gloss, Michael Mayer / Matias Aguayo, Wighnomy Bros., John Tejada, Sam Taylor-Wood, Pet Shop Boys, Gui Boratto, Jürgen Paape, Matias Aguayo, Voigt & Voigt, Gui Boratto, Kölsch, GusGus, Closer, Wassermann, Jürgen Paape, Superpitcher, and Markus Guentner.

Limited repress. Recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris and one and a half a year after releasing his magnum opus Music For Animals -- described by PopMatters as "a musical waterfall of monumental proportions" -- Nils Frahm shares a new live album on his Leiter label. In what's becoming a tradition, it follows 2013's Spaces, a Pitchfork Album of the Year taped at shows over the preceding 18 months, and 2020's Tripping With Nils Frahm, also released as a film. Paris is Frahm's first live album from a single night, March 21, 2024, and contains ten tracks over a running time of 84 minutes. Frahm's performances have always been known for expanding upon his studio recordings, and Paris is no exception. Drawing on his substantial catalogue, the German composer and producer reworks tracks from Music For Animals ("Right Right Right" and "Briefly") before less recent material from 2009's The Bells ("Some"), and 2012's Screws ("Re," originally recorded with just nine fingers after Frahm broke a thumb). There's also "Spells" from All Encores and "You Name It" from Day, while the brand new, luxurious and strangely gripping "Opera" sets the stage for "On The Roof" from his heart-rending, award-winning score for 2015's widely acclaimed, one-camera, one-take German thriller, Victoria. Frahm's instrumental range has expanded to include a mountain of vintage synths and keyboard instruments. These include a custom-made organ as well as the final glass harmonica constructed by Gerhard Finkenbeiner, a master glassblower who, in the 1980s, resurrected the instrument -- first invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 -- and then died in 1999 in mysterious, still unresolved circumstances. Frahm's grasp of dynamics and tension has likewise expanded, and not only does he reinvigorate his work during concerts for this wider range of possibilities, but he also keeps developing it as he tours. If he leaves the stage to the same uproarious jubilation with which he was initially greeted, Paris makes it clear why he's been so in demand. Paris is a vital document of this ingenious, gifted musician's endless pursuit of fresh perspectives.

Triple LP version. A DJ, producer and significant figure in contemporary electronic music, Marcel Dettmann steps forward to contribute to Running Back's ongoing Mastermix series. Whereas previous editions of Mastermix have taken an ear to the sound of lapsed, legendary clubs such as Wild Pitch and Front, Dettmann's curation deftly captures the man himself in ongoing perpetual motion, raiding the vault for his own precision-tooled edits, long-employed on dancefloors to devastating effect. The trip begins with a simple pitch-shift skywards, transforming Identified Patient's creeping "The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania" into a peak-time freakout, before an alternate take on Toctronic's "Bis uns das Licht vertreibt" emerges from the vaults for the first time. Dating from 1995, and one of Dettmann's all-time favorites, Cristian Vogel's "Untitled" clambers back into the box with respectable cuts, while John Bender's "Victims of A Victimless Crime" kicks off the flip sporting a new arrangement. A few subtle edits to Clark's perilously funky "Dirty Pixie" leads to Dettmann's remix of Junior Boys. Next comes Experimental Products' explosive proto-electro anthem "Who Is Kip Jones?", empowered from pricey Discogs purgatory with just the slightest of tweaks. It's deservedly sandwiched between the guiding influences of Chicago and Detroit in the form of Mutant Beat Dance's raw "The Human Factor" and a shimmering new version of previous solo production "Water," featuring close friend and Ostgut Ton ally, Ryan Elliot. Severed Heads' iconic "We Have Come To Bless This House" emerges with mere nips and tucks, while Nitzer Ebb's "Shame" is significantly reimagined as a highwire act of rhythm and tension, setting up a sensual second take on a 2017 remix of "Limbo" from Swiss synth heroes, Yello. Core musical memories are shaken and stirred with a context-shifting take on Frank Duval's emotional classic "Ogon," while Ian North's "Sex Lust You" and Ford Proco's notable Coil collaboration "Expansion Naranja" effectively throb with only minor adjustments, respectfully imagined as "shadow versions". Meanwhile, a simple breakbeat lifts Albert Kuningas's "Astraalprojektio" in the direction of wide-eyed dancefloors, while a fresh take on K-Alexi Shelby's "Season of The Real" inexplicably emerges somehow even funkier than before. The conclusion of the compilation leads back to Das Tier from the prolific experimentalist Conrad Schnitzler, whose swirling synths and hypnotic vocals are duly tightened by Dettmann.

A long-dormant signal reactivates from Hamburg's hidden places: Helena Hauff and F#X return as Black Sites with R4 on Tresor Records -- their first full-length album and the first release under the moniker since 2014. Like a hieroglyphic recently discovered and translated, R4 feels more like a long-awaited resumption than a comeback. Recorded to tape with minimal editing or post-production the record is a classic example of the symbiotic relationship that can come from the interaction of human and machine. This punk ethos isn't invoked through distortion alone, but through method; in the album's breaking from the received wisdom of hardness tethered to speed as most of the tougher pieces are lower BPM and vice versa (with one notable exception in the mind-melting stomp of "BLOKK"). Across ten tracks, Black Sites traverse a landscape where genre dissolves into intention. It migrates through electro's danceability, acid house's corrosion, and into the liminal realm of machine funk -- a genre coined by Andrew Weatherall, which sounds like the results of technology dreaming of soul where the emphasis is on live execution, on immediacy over perfection -- a sound forged in the act of creating, not polishing. In a 2013 interview, around the time of the first Black Sites EP, Hauff was quoted as saying that she wants "things to fit together properly, but on another level, I really want them to make sense together." That principle animates R4: The album's form reveals itself in time, with each movement echoing and amplifying the others to create a synergistic whole. From the opening crawl of "C4" (a name that like the music foreshadows the explosions to come) to the end-of-the-night bliss of "MOTHERJAM" via the intense peaks of "BLOKK, 707," and classic acid track "3D," it's clear that R4 is a work made with serious intent; a refutation of a world where streaming has made the two-minute single the dominant musical form again. R4 demands immersion, not just attention. It is not a collection of tracks, but a singular, recursive experience: a mirror in which sound and listener repeatedly rediscover one another.

Transparent yellow color vinyl. Label head Moopie and digger extraordinaire Bayu shine light on a set of gems excavated from a curious period of IDM-electronica. The sentimental sequel to their stunning I Won't Have To Think About You compilation, the ten tracks float in melancholic space yet sound beautifully human. Neo Ouija alumni Bauri and Plod meet deFocus' own Lackluster, while Abfahrt Hinwil, the legendary duo of Toytronic boss Chris Cunningham and Martin Haidinger exchange a letter of melody with Multiplex. Includes a previously minidisc-only track by Proem and a superb cut by Merck Records' own MD, aka Jaakko Manninen. Full-color, reverse-card sleeve with printed insert. Also featuring Gimmik, Num Num, and Boc Scadet.

Transparent yellow vinyl. A Colourful Storm presents the first vinyl edition of Yahho no Potori, a treasured recording by one of the most cherished contemporary Japanese folk outfits, Eddie Marcon. Comprised of the core duo of Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon, Eddie Marcon was formed in Himeji in 2001, following Corman's involvement in noise-rock duo Coa and Shinsuke Michishita's fabled psychedelic outfit, LSD March. Marking a stylistic shift into delicate, acoustic territories, the duo would release dozens of albums and singles, mostly self-released through their Pong-Kong imprint, that have seen little distribution outside of Japan. Recorded over a particularly humid summer and autumn, Yahho no Potori sees Eddie Marcon drifting from the delicate psychedelia of their debut EP into traditional song-based structures. A touching document of joy, tenderness and wistfulness, Marcon's deft yet effortless strum sets a stylish backdrop for Corman's voice to ascend. Desirous yet self-assured, Corman breathes life into an intimate space adorned by the elegant instrumentation of Yashuhisa Mizatani, Yoriro Tatekawa, Ran Mizutani, and Saya Ueno, whose ingenuous collaborative instinct has been gifted to listeners through collectives such as Tenniscoats, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, and Spirit Fest. Here, she also lends her engineering prowess, having produced the album. Devotees of ambitious yet beautifully understated songwriting, as well as followers of Reiko and Tori Kudo, Nagisa Ni Te and Ai Aso, will find much to adore in the songs of Eddie Marcon. An intense and devastating recording, A Colourful Storm is proud to give new life to a shimmering, underappreciated gem.

Originally published by Tomlab in 2001, Seleya is the second full- length issued by Kristian Peters' Novisad project. Twenty-four years after its initial release, the album's thirteen loop-based arrangements continue to resonate with striking clarity. Keplar presents Seleya with a previously unreleased bonus track from 2004 and a fresh vinyl cut by LUPO. These evocative miniatures feel haunted with the passage of time, bearing traces of the exploratory studio workflows, tactile imperfections, and emerging technologies that would have given birth to them: plain DAW manipulations, aliasing digitalia, the tones and timbres of the "misused" equipment ambient musicians utilized before Ableton, Eurorack, and the rise of the boutique electronics that have streamlined electronic music production. In our present epoch, these compositions feel almost eerily nostalgic, documenting the sort of trembling, wide-eyed spirit and enviable naivety that characterizes cultural production as it ventures into new waters, unfettered by the sediments of established methodology and trend. This tendency to avoid aesthetic orthodoxy results in music that refuses to settle into predictability. Subtle frequencies drift and collide, counterpoint loops run in quiet opposition, and elegant dissonance gives rise to unexpected harmony. The album's emotional power lies in these tensions, in the way it balances melancholy with beauty and familiarity with complexity.

Ornaments welcomes Lesterr with the 2 Jahre Dazwischen EP -- a beautifully crafted journey through two distinct sonic perspectives. The A-side offers a deep and heartfelt dancefloor journey with subtle piano infusions, complemented by a mesmerizing, deep grooving remix from none other than Isolée. On the B-side, the mood shifts inward with four immersive cuts drifting from ambient landscapes to laid-back downbeats -- perfect for your listening pleasure.

A Colourful Storm presents a remastered first-time vinyl editions of Lone Capture Library's modern-day DIY environmental masterpiece, All Natures Most Mundane Materials. While this certainly wasn't recorded for dinner party ambience nor was it commissioned by Harrods, it does document a haphazard wander through the English countryside, feeling the air and the earth, detaching oneself from confinement and attempting to make sense of it all. Its protagonist is Rory Salter, London's restless improvisor extraordinaire, who has contributed to dozens of solo and collaborative releases in an ecosystem branched from his Infant Tree private press. Under his alias Malvern Brume, he is responsible for some of the most enchanting sides of contemporary concrete: derives revealing beauty and curiosity within London's urban banality. And while Lone Capture Library applies this approach but seeks the peculiar within the pastoral, there also lies a certain hermetic recklessness, with its disruptive details and discarded sonic bric-a-brac.

"Julius Smack engages in a dialogue with a fictional AI assistant to create an album using the prompt, 'Make an album that tells the story about the origins of Julius Smack.' Starlight emerges as the imagined response, envisioning a world where beauty and violence intertwine, and memories and dreams are excavated to craft stories. In a near-future Earth, where artists are among the planet's last inhabitants, a symbiotic relationship has formed between humans and AI -- each relying on the other for nourishment and healing. At the sight of a shooting star, artists mine their memories and dreams with generative AI to produce art, which sustains them but generates toxins that must be expelled upon the next shooting star by creating more art. To compose Starlight, Julius Smack drew inspiration from all facets of life, with the album's 'dataset' serving as a kind of diary. It weaves together old demos, bookmarked TikTok clips of AI-generated content (such as a deepfake of Biden and Trump singing in Mandarin alongside Kamala Harris' laughter), 2000s dance music, and '90s cyberpunk anime, including Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Everyday experiences also became part of the dataset: learning Yaqui in online classes with fellow diasporic Yaquis, riding the train, walking the dog, and dreaming. These disparate threads coalesce to question AI's role in creative and labor economies, forming a counterfactual narrative where everything -- and nothing -- is art."