Woozy’s celebrated compilation series bookmarks its fifth chapter with WZY5.5, a twelve-track span of sound system psychedelia that reaches new tripped-out depths for the label. Founder EMA links in with Ago, Old Man Crane, softi, Kincaid, ARtroniks, SSSLIP, Dyslecta, Pitch037, Annebel, Aawadh, Bambi and Talker to realise the vision.
Ago kicks us off, igniting the sublime on delicate stepper Closer. Old Man Crane’s throbbing Kelo Dub bounces taut and abstracted within the digi dub enclave, while Insomnia lets softi loose on a hectic somnolent and feverish chug. Kincaid summons a spiritualised half time epic amidst his engrossing sound world on Together, before ARtroniks unleashes the steely wobbles and gnarled throttle of Mecha for the skank enthusiasts. SSLIP goes further, charged up with Rest Up Ron’s restless DnB maneuvers for the rinse out.
Dyslecta resets the pace with the heaving UK ‘bow punch-up of Basalick, before a trio of the comp’s most hypnotic movements circle into view; Pitch037 leans heaviest on the tense heads-down rolige of The Object You Look At, Trick Pony gets weirder with Annebel’s cinematic vista of grandiose drones and Aawadh’s Weight Of Light locks in dead-eyed for a plummeting percussive roller. Bambi’s free-floating Lotus Glow glides over the dusk through broken rhythms until Talker lurches in with the dub serenity of Harmonium, a stirring stepper that bookends this audacious WZY5.5 gathering.
Dutch electronic maverick Spekki Webu stretches out on an expansive album for new label Outer Orbit Records, exploring his deep and wide-ranging influences across a captivating narrative of tripped-out beatdowns and evocative dreamscapes. Spekki Webu is someone who was naturally drawn into the magnetic pull of Outer Orbit after playing for their sister party Mizz Softee. As the time-travelling album title suggests, it's a meditation on formative sounds that propelled him on to myriad adventures across the many microcosms of electronic music. That means indulging in slower tempos and crooked grooves, with the influence of trip hop and illbient looming large in the boom bap drums that punctuate many of the album's passages. There is also space for immersive techno that operates as a lighter reflection of the sound he is best known for, as well as hints of buoyant house music, rolling breakbeat, dislocated ambient and intricate electronica. Cari Lekebusch, a key influence, contributes a rolling, heavy-grooving remix that closes out the record.
Brighter Discs opens with its first release from label founders Kamma & Masalo. Born out of Brighter Days, the duo’s long running party series since 2014. A colourful get together where generations mix freely, DJ legends share space with new voices, and the dancefloor is treated as common ground. Brighter Discs carries this same spirit into recorded form, a natural continuation following the Brighter Days compilation previously released on Rush Hour.
Hiriketiya is a small, enclosed bay on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, where jungle leans toward the water and the days unfold without urgency.
Passing through in 2025 on the way to Europe, Alex Albrecht spent a week here at MOND’s artist residency, recording and exchanging ideas with Sri Lankan musicians Dhyan Basho on sitar, Dinelka Liyanage on electronics, Uvindu Perera on double bass and Pasindu Herath on saxophone. Their performances appear throughout the album, sampled and recontextualised, influencing its melodic language, pacing and tone.
Much of the music was shaped directly by its surroundings. Field recordings were gathered across Hiriketiya, and instruments were played wherever it felt necessary. This included rocks beside the ocean where waves set irregular rhythms, tall grasslands where wind and insects bled into the recordings, and open decks overlooking the sea. Round Table captures this approach most clearly. Recorded while sitting together overlooking the ocean, a large steel table in front of the group gradually became part of the composition, used instinctively as an unplanned percussive element.
Aquaregia
Eusebeia - Critical Impact
Release date: 22 May 2026
UK-based DJ and producer Eusebeia makes his debut on Aquaregia with Critical Impact EP, a four-track EP that pulls back the curtain on a lesser-heard side of his productions.
Primarily known for his work within drum & bass and jungle, including last year’s Undertones LP on Samurai Music, Critical Impact finds Eusebeia drawing from a deeper well and taking inspiration from the house, techno, and trance records that shaped him growing up in the 90s and early 2000s. More than a stylistic exercise, the EP reflects an existential journey; the path that has brought him to where he is now, and the reasons that continue to drive his work.
Maloca Records
Katatonic Silentio - Paradise Mountain
Release date: 20 May 2026
Brussels-based Maloca presents Paradise Mountain, the new EP by Katatonic Silentio, the DJ & production moniker of Italian sound artist Mariachiara Troianiello. Sitting in counterpoint to her moody, visceral outings on labels such as Ilian Tape and Delsin, here Detroit electro & techno drum workouts entwine with New Age sensibilities to form a series of blissful, delicate environments which unfurl gradually and assert hypnotic, light-inflected dancefloor efficacy.
Observe Participate
Coffintexts x Ale Acosta - FIESTA
Release date: 29 April 2026
Coffintexts teams up with Miami based producer Ale Acosta on Fiesta, a three track EP that keeps things hot, functional, and quietly addictive. Self-released via Coffintexts’ label Observe Participate.
The EP sits within Miami’s ever evolving club landscape, where different influences continue to overlap without losing their roots. There’s always a sense of rich flavors running through the city, and Fiesta taps into that without leaning too heavily in any one direction. It moves between rhythmic ideas with ease, keeping its footing in groove above all else.
The collaboration came together remotely, built through a handful of stem exchanges while Alex was traveling. There’s a lightness to the process that carries into the music itself.
