MF Robots is proving to be an unstoppable train of feelgood music. The project was begun by Brand New Heavies founder Jan Kincaid together with former band vocalist Dawn Joseph, with the idea of achieving musical liberation without any ties to genre.
Despite that, soul, funk and jazz inevitably feature high in the mix, with the two linking on a series of carefree club-based songs.
What’s the music like?
Summer was invented for bands like MF Robots! Their music takes you into the sunshine with immediate effect, as soon as the opening strains of That’s The Way kick in. This breezy first song is backed up by the call to arms that is Children Of The World, a classic soul number.
Cares are well and truly thrown to the side as the album unfolds, with a style rooted somewhere in the late 1970s of Earth, Wind & Fire but with Brazilian, jazz and soul thrown in to the melting pot in liberal measure. Through The Pain is the pick of these freer numbers, a persuasive sway to its rhythms and heat-soaked keyboards.
The Pressure offers a sultry complement to the quicker tracks, while Glide, a love story, and Hello Sunshine offer up radio-friendly choruses. Lay It Back, meanwhile, harks back to the best, communal numbers of the Brand New Heavies.
Does it all work?
The best indication of the effectiveness of this album is that once it finishes you’ll want to hear it all over again. It may be short, but III delivers!
Is it recommended?
Yes, enthusiastically. Dawn Joseph has a great voice, and the band deliver summery funk in abundance. If you have an acre of sunshine to fill, use MF Robots as your soundtrack!
James McKeown continues to move on apace with his Hawksmoor project – now numbering 13 releases in under a decade. His speed of thought is ironic, since the music he makes is not typically fast in any way, rooted in immersive ambience.
Though, as McKeown says, “While rooted in ambience, the work frequently shifts into more unsettling territory. Song structures and striking melodies appear more often than expected; ideas are sparked by psychogeography, environmental influences and hauntological drift.”
For Am I Conscious Now?, McKeown spent time shaping his music with the help of psychedelic compound 5-MeO-DMT, keen to explore how the substance might affect his music. The compound is supposed to clear the mind rather than overload it. Again, in McKeown’s words, “It overrides the body and forces surrender. It completely changed my life, outlook and perspective.”
What’s the music like?
Am I Conscious Now? responds to the experience with calm reflection. At first the worry is that the mind is cleared not just of thought but of emotion too, yet as the music settles down the ear responds well to McKeown’s subtle harmonic workings.
Initially the music is blocks of distorted but thoroughly ambient sound, but the mood softens with Golden Dolphins, a proper New Age-infused beauty. Vivid colours assert themselves through Flooding A Maze (In Slow Motion), with an extra zing added to the timbre of Infinite Tapestry.
Luke Insect’s textured artwork for the album serves as a template for the music inside, with McKeown navigating peaceful waters (Ti Kallisti, Into The White Sun) and fluctuating vistas (Astromeria) in the lead-up to the end.
Does it all work?
It does, largely – and certainly slows the mind while listening.
Is it recommended?
It is. James McKeown is remarkably consistent in his writing but also manages to avoid visiting the same place twice. A conscious yet comforting ambience is the result here.
For fans of… Flying Saucer Attack, Matthewdavid, Bvdub, My Bloody Valentine
by Ben Hogwood, with text lifted from the press release
Contemplating the role of the album format in an attention-deficient society, Speedy J presents Walkman — a constantly shifting, 90-minute soundtrack to a journey of your choice. Jochem Paap‘s first solo album in over 20 years is a freewheeling, 20-track testament to his decades-deep studio skill and sonic versatility, running from skewed rhythmic rabbit holes to exploratory tonal abandon. You can listen to the first single, Arp Δmp Chasm, below:
For Paap, the traditional idea of the album had become obscured by listening habits and the non-stop information barrage of our digital lives. Having moved on from his breakthrough years releasing LPs and touring off the back of them, he was more inspired to develop his many-sided STOOR project and feed into a bigger artistic body of work than the temporary shelf-life of a single release. As is natural for any artist, his perspective shifted over time and he found himself drawn back to the idea of an album, realising he connected best with longer releases while he was on a walk, out for a run or generally in transit one way or another.
With an endearing call back to the humble Walkman, Paap (above) selected an hour and a half of material created during studio sessions at the beginning of 2025, perfectly sized to fit on two 45-minute sides of a cassette tape. As has long been the case for his studio practice, there were no fixed intentions when sitting down in the STOOR lab to start making noise — just a wealth of experience and an expansive set of tools to start exploring with. From hours of jams Paap pulled together standout moments and moulded them into a mixtape-like narrative ranging from two-minute beat nuggets to full-tilt techno workouts and immersive ambient drops. Every sound is intentional, but the overall delivery is instinctive and curious, showing multiple new dimensions to Paap’s sound and offering unpredictability at every turn.
‘Arp Δmp Chasm’ opens the album up in a thick blanket of humming, harmonic waves with an electric emotional charge, while ‘Ctrssalms17 (Cold Render)’ journeys through evocative blooms of melancholic, gritty pads and rugged, half-submerged tech funk. ‘Modern Birds (Origin Edit)’ reaches skywards with grand sweeps of dynamic, brilliantly rendered synthesis. From the dexterous drum science of ‘Drift Vector’ to ‘Osc Hop (Slow Collapse)’s lurching, beatless swamp of synths, on Walkman even the briefest snapshots leave an impression that lasts beyond the quick-scan cycle of the modern music experience.
With his return to the album format, Paap’s message is clear – put your headphones on, get outside and lose yourself in the sound of an artist constantly committed to moving forwards.
Sunbeam Of No Illusion takes its title from correspondence between Ralph Emerson and Walt Whitman, which is described as “cheeky acknowledgement of the mutual admiration of this project’s partnership”.
For this is the first time Ben Seretan and John Thayer have worked together directly on a project, though their musical paths have crossed on occasion before. Here, they blend largely spontaneous instrumental thoughts with field recordings, literally throwing open the studio door to let the light in – the sunbeam of the title, perhaps. The list of instruments used gives an idea of the density of the project, and the variety of sounds open for use:
Ben Seretan is credited with Fender Rhodes Piano, Moog Matriarch, Juno 106, Supro Lap Steel, Lowrey Organ, Teenage Engineering KOII, Electric Guitar and Assorted Guitar Pedals, while Thayer is listed on Lexicon Prime Time, Delta Labs Effectron II, Crystal Rattles, Temple Block, Brushes, Grass Shakers, Field Recordings, Digitakt, Modular Synthesizer, Tape Echo and Tascam Porta Studio.
What’s the music like?
Extremely restful. This is the musical equivalent of sitting under a big tree in warm weather. There is a breath of breeze here and there, and occasionally the leaves part to reveal a warm burst of sunshine – or they might close in with an unexpected chill.
Whatever happens, the music is drenched in appealing, consonant harmonies and warm textures, beckoning the listener out into the open. Some of these figures are elusive, such as on Memory Garden or Little Winds, where the music floats delicately and wisps of melody make themselves known. The electronic breeze on Valley Spirit is immediately appealing, while the closing Peat Fire, an evocative number with cymbals imitating kindling, is a beauty.
Does it all work?
The unhurried nature of this music is an antidote to fast-paced living, with Seretan and Thayer’s instinctive improvisations unfolding in their own sweet time.
Is it recommended?
It is. An album where the listener can get close to the wind and the trees without having to leave the room they are in, basking in the delights of what Ben Seretan and John Thayer have created. Their descriptive musical pictures are an ambient delight.
by Ben Hogwood, with text lifted from the press release
On Friday, London imprint Mercury KX announced Pioneers, a collaborative album honouring the radical women and gender-expansive artists who reshaped the language of electronic music. Inspired by the landmark documentary Sisters with Transistors, the project brings together a new generation of composers, producers and sonic experimenters to celebrate electronic music’s unsung heroines, not through imitation but through continuation.
Released across two digital chapters this spring, Pioneers forms a living lineage. Twelve new works respond to figures who transformed tape, voltage, voice and performance into tools of liberation.
Side A arrived on Friday 27th March, opening in a state of expanded awareness. You can listen on YouTube music
Arushi Jain’s No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros) draws from the philosophy of Pauline Oliveros and her practice of Deep Listening. Composed in Raga Bhairav and structured around sustained vocal tones and modular synthesis, the piece treats listening itself as irreversible transformation. Once heard deeply, there is no way back.
Loraine James’ On Time (for Björk) stretches rhythm and atmosphere in tribute to Björk’s boundary-dissolving approach to composition, where digital texture and emotional intensity coexist in constant motion.
For Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith honours theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, whose invisible gestures shaped one of electronic music’s earliest instruments. Smith channels Rockmore’s balance of engineering precision and hypnotic expressiveness through fluid modular synthesis, tracing motion through voltage.
rRoxymore & Leila Adu summon the avant-pop authority of Grace Jones on I Have Seen That Grace Before. Drawing inspiration from the long-form drama of Slave to the Rhythm, their transcontinental collaboration blurs ambient psychedelia, undulating groove and vocal dualities, reflecting Jones’ fearless negotiation of gender, genre and performance.
On Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson), Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon transform intimate ephemera into euphoric devotion. Inspired by the singular world-building of Laurie Anderson, the track began with secret violin recordings and love letters before unfolding into something unexpectedly radiant. Intimacy becomes propulsion.
Closing Side A, TAAHLIAH’s Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani) refracts the shimmering architectures of Suzanne Ciani, particularly the romantic synthesiser classic Velocity of Love, into a contemporary meditation where new-age luminosity meets modern electronic form.
Side B, released Friday 17th April, moves deeper into electronic architecture and sonic myth.
Hinako Omori’s You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire) pays tribute to Delia Derbyshire’s tape-loop alchemy and mathematical imagination. Built from Moog synthesisers, granulated vocals and analogue tape recording, the track mirrors Derbyshire’s meticulous collage techniques, plotting sound with careful intention.
Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi turn toward the ambient universe of Wendy Carlos on Analog Season. Inspired by Sonic Seasonings and Digital Moonscapes, harp recordings are processed, sampled and re-synthesised into a shared landscape of analogue warmth and microtonal drift, entering into dialogue with Carlos’ expansive and often overlooked ambient work beyond Switched-On Bach.
Footwork innovator Jlin invokes the defiant glamour and rhythmic magnetism of Eartha Kitt on Earth A God, a tribute to performance as power and presence as percussion.
Laurel Halo’s Les Sirènes (for Éliane Radigue) echoes the slow-burning minimalism of Éliane Radigue, embracing sustained tone and psychoacoustic depth where sound becomes environment rather than event.
The album closes with AFRODEUTSCHE’s I See You (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow), drawing on the philosophies of Daphne Oram and Bauhaus theorist Gertrud Grunow. Created using the Mini Oramics system, the track blends subtle electronics with childlike wonder, offering a meditation on visibility, care and the unseen.
Celebrated for championing boundary-breaking artists, Mercury KX is home to acclaimed composers and innovative musicians such as DJ ANNA, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Ólafur Arnalds, LUXE and Erland Cooper, among many others. The label champions genre-defying, multi-disciplinary artists and curates immersive audio-visual worlds spanning electronic, modern classical, cinematic, alternative and ambient music. With Pioneers, Mercury KX continues that vision, foregrounding work that expands both form and perception.
From early theremin stages to tape machines, from Bauhaus theory to the San Francisco Tape Music Center, from ambient’s outer edges to contemporary club futurism, Pioneers reframes influence as active transmission.
These works do not simply honour the past: they extend its circuitry. Electronic music has always been shaped by women whose innovations were foundational yet often overlooked. Pioneers makes that lineage audible as living voltage.
Tracklisting:
Friday 27th March [Side A – Digital Release]
Side A A1 Arushi Jain: No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros) A2 Loraine James: On Time (for Bjork) A3 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore) A4 rRoxymore & Leila Adu: I Have Seen That Grace Before (for Grace Jones) A5 Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon: Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson) A6 TAAHLIAH: Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani)
Friday 17th April [Side B – Digital Release]
Side B B1 – Hinako Omori: You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire) B2 – Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi: Analog Season (for Wendy Carlos) B3 – JLin: Earth A God (for Eartha Kitt) B4 – Laurel Halo: Les Sirènes (for Éliane Radigue) B5 – AFRODEUTSCHE: I See you (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow)
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