Italy

Following the underground cult success of Mystical Funk, Gerardo Frisina returns to the 7” format with a new double-sider aimed at dancefloors, collectors, and selectors with a taste for cinematic funk. A record that feels as though it emerged from a lost Afro-funk session, where cosmic funk and Afro-Latin grooves are filtered through a distinctly modern electronic sensibility.On the A-side, “Duala”, inspired by the African city of Douala, pays tribute to Afro-funk in its most visionary era, evoking the unmistakable sound made famous by the great Manu Dibango. The track opens into a dense and hypnotic electronic funk journey: pulsating basslines, fluid guitars, psychedelic synthesizers, and a rhythmic tension that recalls the golden age of Afro-funk. A nocturnal voyage through rare groove and cinematic atmospheres, with the groove constantly remaining at the heart of the composition.On the B-side, “Lindeza” is a tribute to the beauty and richness of Brazilian musical culture. A track that shifts perspective while keeping the temperature high: elegant, percussion-driven electronics with a Latin spirit, flowing at around 110 BPM. Warm and magnetic, the piece carries all the hallmarks of Gerardo Frisina’s sound, where futuristic jazz, tropical funk, batucada, and club culture meet in a refined production designed equally for deep listening and the dancefloor.

Nicola Conte and Nico Lahs’ Tema Due project finally comes to full realization in a double LP entitled “Universo Astratto”, adding a wealth of new musical shades and ideas to the two EPs released on Schema Records in 2025. The album represents not only the natural evolution of their artistic dialogue, but also a statement of intent in terms of sound. Fans of the most sophisticated and refined club music, elevated by the fusion of exquisite electronica with spiritual jazz (it is no coincidence that the opening track evokes the baseline of “A Love Supreme”), African-American rhythms and tribal percussion, will be thrilled by this complex and multi-layered album, which unveils new hidden details upon each listen. A meticulous selection of exceptional musicians contributes in a distinctive and significant way to broadening the scope of the project: Giovanni Guidi, Pietro Lussu, and Dario Bassolino on keyboards, Gabriel Prado and Abdissa Assefa on percussion, Magnus Lindgren on wind instruments and Hammond organ, and Pasquale Calò on saxophone. On vocals we have Lalin St. Juste, Siya Makuzeni, Nina Miranda - for what is probably the best track on the album, “Share Your Love” - and Toco - for a new and previously unreleased version of the track “Macumba de Oxalà” featured on the first EP. In “Universo Astratto”, Tema Due’s vision is finally fulfilled: a world of ancestral grooves, cosmic jazz, and electronic music conceived for clubs as a type of “active experience” in which one is transcended by music. This record is an invitation—to move, to feel, to elevate—and a manifesto for those who see the dance floor not just as a location, but as a shared experience of awareness and rhythm.

Enrico Fierro, known as Milord, a daytime engineer and researcher of human mind states during dreaming, has collaborated for years with Periodica Records and co-produced projects such as Danger Boys and Space Garage. In “Perfect Crime”, he presents a nostalgic vision of twilight synth-pop, capturing an urban landscape alive at night and in constant motion, blending street soul and echoes of classic house with textured synths, 808 patterns, and subtle new wave influences.