DJ AB’s “YNS Cypher 2025” has swaggered into existence. Not a gentle arrival, mind you, but more the auditory equivalent of a conquering legion setting up a very loud, very confident camp. This isn't background hum for a Tuesday afternoon; it’s a full-colour, high-decibel assertion from the Northern Nigerian hip-hop vanguard, a yearly planting of the YNS flag. DJ AB, the central current, is...

Paris-based indie art-rock project Books Of Moods has just released their debut album, "Dreams". Guided entirely by Hugo Sailer, a self-taught singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and fiercely independent one-man studio, the record arrives as a hazy, beautiful shock to the system. Sailer wrote, performed, produced, and directed the accompanying visual universe from the ground up. I’ve spent the last few days letting these tracks sink into...