2026 repress / full cover

Artwork and Typography by Stefan Marx

Snad is back on Smallville.

Shyam Anand is a long-term friend of Smallville and an MPC wizard with a wide-open heart. We are super happy to finally present a 12“ that is fully his own.

After an amazing contribution to Smallville 49 (check out Excerptz!), Snad aka Spandrel aka Shyam Anand presents a full 3-tracker on Smallville, packed with his irrisistible grooves, the usual unexpected twists and an overall magical atmosphere. Growing up near Philadelphia, then moving to Chicago and later exploring the global underground scenes of Berlin and Mexico City, among others, Snad is a busy man. He runs his own imprint Spandrel, co-runs We R The Aliens and has an impressive back-catalogue of contributions for several favourites like Running Back, Courtesy of Balance, Kimochi, Long Vehicle, 20:20 Vision, Phonica and many more.

On this 12" the A side belongs solely to Bubblescope - 14 and a half minutes of mesmerizing Ensoniq DP/4 Vocoder driven modular spheres, an endlessly deep bubbling piece of art that builds an intense feeling that could last for hours.

The B side sees Snad staying deep – Lukewarm Lava explores the broken beat world before taking you on a ride. The beloved B2-spot goes to Tanni - an integral part of Julius' warmup-sets since forever and thus a special one to finally put on wax.

Bubblescope comes with a Full Cover Artwork by Stefan Marx.

Tracklist:
A1 Bubblescope
B1 Lukewarm Lava
B2 Tanni


All tracks written & produced by Shyam Anand
Mastering and Vinyl cut by Helmut Erler at Lathesville

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

2026 repress / full cover

DOUBLE LP WITH GATEFOLD COVER

Tracklisting 2x12":

A1 Cheetah Nights
A2 Under A Waterfall
B1 Treehouse
B2 All The Things You Are
C1 Flocking Behaviour
C2 Sun And Stars
D1 Hey You
D2 Where Days Begin



In the ever-expanding universe of deep house, Julius Steinhoff is far from being a stranger. Half of the dynamic duo Smallpeople, founder and one of the steersmen behind Hamburg's Smallville empire (record store/ label/ party curator around the globe) as well as a producer and DJ in his own right, Steinhoff is closely associated with a group of like-minded people that unite fresh ideas and individualism with a certain consciousness of tradition. That "Flocking Behaviour" is well embodied in Steinhoff's debut album by the same name. After a string of 12-inches for the likes of Live at Robert Johnson, Geography or his own-brand Smallville and the very well-received Smallpeople long-player "Salty Days", Julius Steinhoff makes a submission that is all his. Rooted in the elegiac variety of the big three (New York, Chicago & Detroit) and a romantic concept of house music that is at times utopian, the album gathers eight tracks that evoke late nights, hazy mornings and walks on thin air.
But "Flocking Behaviour" is by no means anachronistic: Tracks like "Under A Waterfall" could be made in just the same manner by a puerile Baby Ford in 1989 as they represent a swaying dance floor in 2014. "Treehouse" or the title track "Flocking Behaviour" are experiences that make you feel like meeting new people who instantly greet you like old friends. With someone that works and lives in the here and now, Steinhoff seemingly has no interest in revisionism, complains or antagonism, his approach is welcoming and caring, embracing and mesmerizing. Along the way, his musical apparatus never makes use of cheap tricks or antique clichés. Instead, he strips back a sometimes fat body to its emotional bones, resulting in a self-confident oeuvre that is as timeless as it is beautiful.

"Flocking Behaviour" is one man's love letter to his musical passion.

Gerd Janson, May 2014


All tracks w&p by Julius Steinhoff
Cover Artwork by Stefan Marx
Mastered by Helmut Erler/ Dubplates & Mastering
Distributed by Wordandsound

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

2LP | 2 × 12 Inch ‘Black’ Vinyl, 33.3 rpm, Tip-on Cover, Special Varnish

Available in the following Territories: Wordwide minus Japan & Korea

NOTON is pleased to announce12 Conversations, a collaborative album by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto to be released on 18 September 2026.

The partnership between the legendary musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and the German artist Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) has produced some of the most distinctive and enduring works in contemporary electroacoustic music. Beginning with Vrioon in 2002, the artists spent more than two decades fusing and expanding their disciplines, with Sakamoto's evocative, sustain-drenched piano compositions finding their counterpart in Nicolai's skilful and sensitive electronic detailing.
Each successive project further deepened their artistic dialogue: from the five studio albums of the V.I.R.U.S. series (Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_ with Ensemble Modern, and Summvs), to their score for Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant; Glass (2017), a wholly improvised performance inside Philip Johnson's iconic Connecticut landmark, in which the pair fixed contact microphones to the glass walls, playing the architecture itself as an instrument; and Two (2019), a document of their live performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Across these works, their distinct approaches achieved a rare synthesis, a brilliantly sustained dialogue between piano and electronics, Sakamoto's warmth and melodic finesse meeting Nicolai's abstract electronic formalism to invoke a mesmeric quietude as deeply satisfying in its melodic resolutions as in the merger of its filmic romanticism and meditative subtlety.
12 Conversations brings together musical exchanges recorded in November and December 2022. Rooted in the same creative period that gave rise to Sakamoto's final solo album 12, these recordings were not originally intended as a standalone release. It was only after the completion of 12 that Sakamoto and Nicolai decided to present these exchanges as a work in their own right.
The album reflects the vitality and curiosity that defined more than two decades of shared inspiration: fluid, exploratory, and forward-looking. Created with openness and trust, it captures a creative process in constant transformation - sounds expanding, altering, and evolving through attentive listening.

Conceived as the continuation of an artistic dialogue extending beyond the physical, 12 Conversations honours Sakamoto's wish that these encounters should exist beyond the archive, offering an enduring testament to one of contemporary music's most revered collaborations.


Carsten Nicolai writes:
"A heavy breath can be heard in the recordings. Yet this work is not about remembrance but continuation, vitality, curiosity, and the spirit of experimentation that shaped an artistic relationship over decades.
The twelve pieces we exchanged in November and December 2022 possess extraordinary density: sounds expanded, altered, recontextualized. Initially, every intervention felt almost inappropriate. Yet this was part of our openness and trust: adding, shifting and radically yet softly transforming.
Even in these final exchanges, plans for future projects continued to take shape, mindful of finite yet firmly believing in the power of new ideas. We chose the name Conversations, which has become a space of memory and vision, where past, present and future intertwine.
For a long time, releasing this music seemed impossible. The loss felt too sudden, and the emotional connection too profound. As time passed, it became clear that these twelve musical encounters should have life outside the archive. To honor Ryuichi's wish, these pieces are now being released as the continuation of a dialogue that extends beyond the physical."

The first single, Conversation 3, will be released on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The second single, Conversation 6, will be be released on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
12 Conversations will be available worldwide on vinyl, CD and digitally. A Japanese edition will be available on Ryuichi Sakamoto's commons.

Tracklist

1. Conversation 1
2. Conversation 2
3. Conversation 3
4. Conversation 4
5.Conversation 5
6. Conversation 6
7. Conversation 7
8. Conversation 8
9. Conversation 9 Part I
10. Conversation 9 Part II
11. Conversation 9 Part III
12. Conversation 9 Part IV
13. Conversation 9 Part V
14. Conversation 10
15. Conversation 11
16. Conversation 12


Album art designed by Carsten Nicolai & Nibo.

Mastered by: Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering, Berlin (2026)
Voice on Track 07: Emma Maeda
Texts: Rainer Maria Rilke, Primal Sound
Press release text: Maria Orciuoli
Special thanks: Norika Sora, Alec Fellman, Sherry Kennedy, Erin Gleeson
© & P: 2026 NOTON. Archiv für Ton und Nichtton. All rights reserved.

Tracklisting
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 1

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 1
Playtime: 00:06:50
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600003
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 2

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 2
Playtime: 00:05:42
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600004
(P):
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 3

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 3
Playtime: 00:05:53
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600005
(P):
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 4

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 4
Playtime: 00:08:56
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600006
(P):
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 5

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 5
Playtime: 00:06:26
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600007
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 6

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 6
Playtime: 00:07:26
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600008
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 7

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 7
Playtime: 00:10:31
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600009
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 8

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 8
Playtime: 00:03:20
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600010
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 9

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 9 Part I
Playtime: 00:01:12
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600011
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 10

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 9 Part II
Playtime: 00:03:27
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600012
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 11

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 9 Part III
Playtime: 00:00:51
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600013
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 12

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 9 Part IV
Playtime: 00:02:15
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600014
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 13

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 9 Part V
Playtime: 00:00:39
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600015
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 14

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 10
Playtime: 00:03:01
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600016
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 15

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 11
Playtime: 00:04:35
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600017
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------
Medium: // Side: // Track: 16

Artist: Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto
Title: Conversation 12
Playtime: 00:02:41
Explicit Lyrics: No
ISRC: DE1N62600018
(P):

Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
---------------------------------------------------------



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More