Four different musical worlds – from the dark hypnosis of Réka Csiszér to Janka’s dub-footwork explorations, to Amenra’s monumental post-metal suites and rebellious 80s pop-raï.

VÍZ
Danse des Larmes
(Heat Crimes)

On her second solo album, Transylvania-born Réka Csiszér creates a hypnotic, dark sound story in which the melancholy of Central and Eastern Europe is reflected in a mirror, but her experience with theatrical activities. On the one hand, you can hear the influence of industrial and dark ambient music, with endless soundscapes, and on the other hand, the influence of folk (horror folk), with a threatening atmosphere on the edge of waking and sleeping. Csiszér sings, sometimes dreamlike and poetic, occasionally terrifying and overwhelming, creating a peculiar, dark story in which electronic landscapes gradually emerge from the darkness to (perhaps) bring relief.

Janka
Yamanote
(Outlines)

Janka is a project by two established artists on the electronic music scene. Piotr Kalinski and Daniel Drumz combine their fascination with dub and Japan, where they often perform and find inspiration. Their new role released by Outlines, which also has much to do with the Land of the Rising Sun, is a tribute to this country. The six pulsating tracks are based on footwork and a tempo of 160 bpm, which the musicians conquer with a dubby bassline and spacious ambient strands. The rhythmic and intense tracks are trance-like, but at the same time, there is a certain lightness to them, and the musicians take a tongue-in-cheek look at things like the Tokyo subway line or are inspired by the sounds of mobile phones.

Amenra
Fang and Claw / De Toorn
(Relapse)

Metal music has always been characterized by its verticality: walls of sound, spasmodic attacks, and furious drums accompanied by growling. Decades of change and transformation have led this music in various fragmentary directions. Amenra has always stood out with its characteristic language, bringing space, paradoxically lightness, and horizontal, linear song construction to post-metal aesthetics. The two new EPs are a remarkable comeback – suites emerging gradually from silence, from declamation to a frontal, monumental attack. The Belgians do not resort to album formats but encapsulate their message in neighboring tracks; they let their music trickle out so that it is strong enough: contemporary songs, lamentations, cleansing prayers.

Sweet Rebels
The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Raï
(We Want Sounds)

Raï music originated in 20th-century Oran, Algeria, combining Arabic traditions with Western influences in a raw, urban style. In the 1980s, it was transformed by a new generation using synthesizers and drum machines to express rebellion and political criticism. Distributed mainly on cassette tapes by street vendors, it quickly spread among Algerian youth and gained international popularity. The compilation ‘Sweet Rebels’, curated by DJ Cheb Gero, emphasizes this period with rare tracks by key figures of Raï, emphasizing both the resistance and innovation of the genre. Try not to dance!