Floating Sheep is a fresh ensemble bringing new, vibrant, and cutting-edge jazz to the stage. The group performs original compositions influenced by contemporary global music trends—blending ceremonial sounds and electronic textures, all rooted in the pure art of live performance and improvisation. At the forefront of their sound is an instrument rarely seen in the genre: a set of Handpans. The unique sonic texture of the handpan leads the ensemble’s identity.

It’s not simply a matter of writing straight jazz melodies and ornamenting them with buzzes, thuds, clanks, and other noises – the nine songs captured here incorporate the clamor.

Darling Black is a minimal wave / synth pop solo project created by artist & community builder, Dylan Hundley. Dylan is also the lead singer of NY based Lulu Lewis, the host of Radar on The Vinyl District featuring conversations with musical artists & leaders, and the curator of Salon Lulu which is a monthly multi-disciplinary music & art series held at various locations in NYC & Brooklyn.

Island Ghosts, the sophomore album from Toronto bassist, composer, and bandleader Alex Lakusta, arrives April 17, 2026 on release guru. Written for a six-piece ensemble, it blends modern jazz detail, post-rock scale, fusion edge, and electronic warmth into a memory-soaked, cinematic arc. Led by melodic, narrative basslines and patient, widescreen arrangements, Island Ghosts extends the promise of 2022’s Transmit Slow into a cohesive, emotionally precise world.

Tabitha Zu originally released “On Reality” on 26 October 1992 (TLF 003, 12” only). The single captured the band at their full force – a driving, energetic and magnetic track that translated their compelling and exciting live energy onto vinyl. Now, over three decades later, “On Reality” is finally being released across all major digital platforms – bringing this long-unavailable recording to a new audience while reconnecting longtime listeners with a vital moment in the band’s history.

As the final single released ahead of the full album Signals in the Dark, “Please Don’t Make Me Come Back From the Moon” finds E.G. Phillips suspended in orbit — broadcasting from a place of distance, quiet clarity, and deliberate withdrawal. Atmospheric, moody, and gently surreal, the track unfolds like a remote transmission, wrapped in waves of static and radio interference that blur the line between signal and silence

‘Rare And Deadly’ ultimately stands as a study in creative flux, a reminder that the most compelling work often exists just outside the boundaries of completion.

Throughout ‘lustre & shine’, Golden BooTs resist the pull of overt statement, instead allowing meaning to accumulate through texture, repetition, and subtle variation. What emerges is a record that values nuance over declaration, inviting close attention while maintaining an unforced, unassuming presence.

The guitars and synths, handled by members whose identities blur into the project’s shared ethos, rarely function in isolation, instead forming a shifting surface over which the rhythm section exerts quiet authority. That foundation allows Diver’s voice to move freely, delivering observations that are at once detached and incisive.

What ultimately distinguishes ‘RIGHTEOUS LIGHT’ is its ability to condense a wide range of ideas into a tightly controlled framework. D.Sablu and collaborators avoid the temptation to overextend, instead focusing on how much can be communicated within clear limits.

Choncy approach punk not as a fixed tradition but as an open question, one that ‘Trademark’ refuses to answer definitively. By dismantling the idea of a singular voice or style, the band arrives at something more fluid, more elusive, and ultimately more compelling.

Taken together, ‘The Closet Tapes Vol. 1’ and ‘The Closet Tapes Vol. 2’ resist the conventional expectations of an archival release. Rather than consolidating a past body of work into a definitive statement, they present a living archive, one that acknowledges the provisional nature of creation and the value of preserving ideas in their most immediate form.

What ultimately defines ‘Hoggar’ is its sense of purpose. It is a work that acknowledges its own lineage while quietly extending it, ensuring that the music remains not only relevant, but alive.

Trujillo’s work here situates itself within contemporary jazz discourse not by expanding its vocabulary in abstract terms, but by reasserting the importance of collective presence, real-time decision-making, and the porous boundary between composition and improvisation.

‘The Ledge’ sustains its focus through interaction rather than assertion, offering a model of trio performance defined by attentiveness, restraint, and shared authorship.

Dan Moore is a keyboard player, composer and producer based in Bristol, UK. He is releasing his debut solo release, Kielder Water Music, on 6th March 2025. Kielder Water Music is a musical exploration of the Kielder Water reservoir in Northumberland, the site of a controversial redevelopment plan dating back to the 1960s.

Skin on Fire is the debut solo EP from France-born, Oxford, UK-based singer-songwriter Camille Baziadoly. The EP features Camille’s 2024 single “Skin on Fire” and follows her acclaimed 2025 collaborative album Fifteen, which saw her working with Oxford producer The Filthy Honey. Skin on Fire EP is a collection of five tracks written by Camille and produced by fast-rising UK producer Sebastian Reynolds.

Margaret Hermant is a Belgian violinist, harpist, producer and composer based in Brussels, Belgium. Well known as founder member of the globally renowned new music ensemble Echo Collective, Margaret’s debut solo album, Freedom, will be released on the Neue Meister label on 17th April 2026. Freedom follows a series of soundtrack films that Margaret has composed including 2025’s scores for films A la Cara and Mallorca Confidencial.

“After Renee Nicole Good’s murder by ICE agent Jonathan Ross here in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, I began writing songs that more explicitly address the situation we’re in. I find the ‘protest song’ challenging, as it requires a directness that I tend to avoid in my songwriting. This is my third serious attempt as of late and the one with the most rousing, energizing chorus of the bunch. I am so moved and inspired by the bravery, intelligence, and steadfastness of my fellow Minnesotans in the Twin Cities who, against the odds, are acting tirelessly on behalf of our most vulnerable community members. This song is for them.” – Sumanth Gopinath, The Gated Community.

Untold River is the evolving solo project shaped by time spent between Manchester, Seattle and *San Luis Obispo*—three places that continue to inform both the sound and spirit of the music. Each city has left its mark not only in atmosphere, but through the collaborators encountered along the way. This latest song, self-produced, however, is very much about Manchester.

A second chunk of curator/producer Zev Feldman’s Record Store Day releases constitute a trio of veterans at the top of their game.

Lady Nade – one of the UK’s most loved and distinctive voices – returns with ‘Bloom’, the final single before her eagerly anticipated album ‘Identity’, set for release this summer.

On Friday 13 March, the Belgian band ru·is released their debut single adreamwithinadream. The song is a composition built around the eponymous poem by Edgar Allan Poe. What begins as a grounded singer-songwriter piece slowly unfolds into a cosmic death waltz – somewhere between folk noir and a hazy fever dream.

In an era dominated by singles and soundbites, the record encourages listeners to slow down and engage with its full emotional and tonal range, moving fluidly between reflection, humor, and seriousness. Although not originally conceived as a concept album, the songs reveal a strong sense of unity when heard in sequence. That cohesion led Roensch to imagine the album being played in a favorite dive bar, one that values interesting music and attentive listening, which ultimately inspired the album’s title.

Merwulf is a Portland-based art punk trio balancing tension and humor, built around distorted bass, driving drums, and unusual keyboard textures. “The Mountain Lion” is one of the band’s most emotionally direct songs to date. Written about the death of a parent, it starts sparse and assertive before building into a full-band crescendo that hits like a wave, then recedes into quiet.

Sha-La Music announces the release of the On E Street Remix EP by US Roots Rocker DownTown Mystic on April 3. The EP features the Rock’n‘Roll Hall of Fame rhythm section from Bruce Springsteen’s legendary E Street Band: drummer “Mighty” Max Weinberg & bassist Garry Tallent.

Lamentations features six tracks, including the singles “Milogather Parts 1 & 2” and “Sin Again”. Elsewhere the EP moves from the acoustic folk ramble of “Water Buffalo” to the off-beat groove of “Green Veil” before closing with “Bells Palsy,” a stomping track inspired by frontman Caleb’s brief experience with the facial paralysis syndrome.

For Record Store Day (and a week later on CD), a veritable tidal wave of releases have washed over us, including this fine quartet by jazz pianists of different visions.

Danny Django, hailing from Colorado Springs, is an indie alternative rock artist who is making waves with his sixth studio album, The Peach Orchard Field. With a passion for storytelling through music, Danny has captivated audiences across the United States with his unique sound. Having written and recorded all the songs in his basement studio, Danny brings a raw and authentic energy to his music that resonates with listeners.

Mixed and produced by Darryll McFadyen (Belle & Sebastian, Simple Minds) with Montreal-based studio musician Marcelo Effori stepping in for the drumming. Kevin Franco penned the lyrics and made all of the other sounds you hear on this track

Sungaze is examining nostalgia without rose-colored glasses. “I’m No Longer Afraid of Heights”, the alternative band’s fullest exploration of Midwest emo to date, is a poetic track that juxtaposes the warmth of childhood memory with the stagnation of adulthood left unlived. The single and climactic music video arrive on April 10, with the album to follow on May 22.

Eddie Cohn, a talented artist hailing from Los Angeles, has brought together a powerhouse of musicians for his latest release. Collaborating with LA-based musicians Jake Reed and Sean Hurley, as well as Brett Farkas, Phil Peterson, and Kevin Penner, Cohn has crafted a unique sound that blends acoustic and electric elements seamlessly. With a nod to influences such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, Tom Petty, and Beck, Cohn’s music delivers a punchy yet emotionally resonant listening experience.

‘Fragment Of Tomorrow (2025 New Mix)’ does not seek to reinterpret these songs through radical transformation; instead, it reveals how they can be reshaped through attention, restraint, and a deep respect for their underlying structure.

What distinguishes ‘San Francisco to Tokyo Tour 2025’ is its sense of community without uniformity. Each artist brings a distinct perspective, yet the compilation never feels fragmented. Instead, it presents a continuum of approaches to songwriting and performance, linked by a shared commitment to nuance and authenticity.

At its core, ‘Everything All The Time (20th Anniversary Edition)’ is a study in balance; between intimacy and expansiveness, between structure and spontaneity, between past and present. Bridwell and Brooke, alongside their collaborators, crafted a record that continues to resonate not because it seeks permanence, but because it captures a moment of becoming.

What distinguishes ‘Subtle Song’ is its commitment to proportion. Every element feels measured, every decision guided by an understanding of how much is enough. The analog remastering does not attempt to modernize the album so much as clarify its original intent, allowing its textures to resonate with renewed depth.

‘Instrumental Music & Piano Pieces’ is a work of contrasts and convergence, a collection in which Maroon’s skills as instrumentalist, composer, and curator intersect. It affirms his capacity to move seamlessly between textures, spaces, and traditions, presenting an album that rewards attentive listening while charting a distinctive artistic trajectory beyond his rock roots.

‘Live At Space Mountain’ does not present a fixed narrative or a predetermined structure; it offers instead a space in which sound becomes a means of exploration, a way of engaging with the unknown through attentive, shared creation.

By situating his multiphonic guitar work within this collaborative context, Benjamin Miller achieves a balance between individuality and shared expression that feels both deeply considered and entirely alive.

Witty Tarbox is an indie band proudly from Buffalo, NY. Made up of Cody Tarbox, Alex Khoury, Colin Gray, and Seth Bykowski, the band crafts a rhythm-driven blend of surf rock and guitar-forward indie, punctuated by soulful saxophone and anchored by clever wordplay and heartfelt storytelling.

Following the success of their critically-acclaimed power track, “PreFab”, Zegovia returns on March 25 with the haunting new single “Above the Roof & in the Tree,” a post-grunge meditation on the fragile line between youthful innocence and the harsh realities of adulthood.

NHS doctor and multi-instrumental songwriter Euplasia adds perhaps his most evocative celebration yet to an already thriving repertoire. The renowned musician and family man has gained significant traction this year, with singles from his upcoming debut album You Wonder drawing focus to organic live-music, and songwriting using real-life reflections and scenarios to be all at once vulnerable, inspiring, and fun.

Downton, UK’s pop confectioners, Shapes Like People, are back with ”Under the Rainbow”. The 12-song record again deftly mines jangle- and dream-pop with joyous hooks and harmonies galore. The husband-and-wife duo of Carl and Kat Mann are following their hearts and producing some of the finest melodic music you’ll hear, rich with addictive riffs and sing-a-long arrangements.

THE CASBAHS are a five-piece guitar-driven indie rock band from *County Durham”, carrying the spirit of Britain’s great guitar bands from the 80s, 90s and 00s into the present day. With jangly riffs, soaring choruses, walls of noise and unapologetically big solos, their sound is both nostalgic and fresh — unmistakably British, with a classic edge.

Hailed by Rolling Stone, Championed by Apple Music, and Ahead of his National U.S. Tour, Block Releases Final Stand-Alone Single from Forthcoming New Album

Elephant Moon, the solo project of *Anders Dal8, unveils his fourth single, “149 Northbound”, a 3:46 track built around a first-take acoustic performance that refused to be replaced. The song opens with fingerpicked guitar and slide, carried by a steady hi-hat pulse. Dal’s vocal and acoustic guitar were recorded live in a single take on an old 8-track recorder in a London flat using just two microphones. Attempts to re-record the track only diluted its raw emotion — this original version, hiss and all, carried the weight the song demanded.

Favourite Girl is the new project led by British songwriter Katy Vernon. Katy has been performing original melodic folk pop for over 25 years in the Twin Cities and in the UK. This new project builds upon her catchy songwriting and turns everything up to 11! Best described as Feminist Resistance Rock. This almost exclusively female-powered rock band performs bold and exciting songs with a feminist and timeless approach. Taking on the old boys’ music club and having fun with it. Favourite Girl will have you dancing, singing, and leaving audiences feeling empowered to be their truest selves.

‘Softest Attack’ is a bold reclamation of the power-pop canon. It is an intelligent, meticulously layered work that proves Prism Shores are no longer just scholars of their influences, but essential contributors to the modern indie landscape.

Returning to ECM after a sixteen year absence, the L.A. singer/composer/cantor – alongside drummer Gerald Cleaver and bassist Trevor Dunn – proffers an all-original program that straddles many lines.