Juno Daily

The EX-4 Effects Expander offers a range of classic Boss effects in a compact, affordable pedal. VIDEO New from Japanese effects giants Boss, the EX-4 Effects Expander is the first product release in a new EX series, which seems to take over where the old 200 series left off. Whereas pedals in the 200 series each stuck to one type of effect (such as reverb in the RD-200, modulation in the MD-200, and so on), the EX-4 combines everything in one similarly compact unit.

Staat-istician De Staat‘s eponymous fifth album is one of the unlikliest synthpop triumphs of 2026. The band started life as desert rockers inspired by Queens of the Stone Age, but over the course of five albums – and high profile shows with Muse and The Rolling Stones among others – have evolved into masters of dystopian electro pop. We meet singer and producer Torre Florim, who gives us the full skinny… Where are you talking to us from, right now? I’m at home in the Netherlands.

Lifting the Lid It’s a late Tuesday evening and I’m recounting to my family how my interview with American-born, Belgium-based composer Adam Wiltzie had gone the previous day at the Knightsbridge Hotel. Sharing a number of Wiltzie’s tales, the conversation pivots to his upcoming album with the late, great Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson titled Friendship Survival Guide.

“YOU + WE = US” New Ibiza-based label US Records has launched with a four track EP from Bogdan Ra, reflecting his personal take on the island’s unique atmosphere. Lisbon-based Ra (pictured) gets there by digging across decades, pulling from 70s disco, early 00s pop and electro-clash, folding them ll into four house tracks that work their magic at different points of the the night.

‘New…’ tricks “Am I still an active musician?” An odd question for Matthew Dear to have asked himself, given he’s spent almost three decades shapeshifting between scenes with rare fluidity. The point isn’t really about whether this Ann Arbour-based Texan still makes music. He does, often, and has large vaults of unreleased material under various guises dating back years. It’s more about what happens when the gap between making music and publicly releasing it gets longer.

The new eight-track looper is billed as an ‘idea machine’. VIDEO New from Polyend, the Loop is an eight-track performance looper with built-in drum machine and sampling features, designed to streamline the process of generating and fleshing out new ideas. The Loop can record any instrument, line-level source or microphone signal, and also features built-in effects and ‘scene’ arrangement so you can develop your simple loops into more complex song structures. You can see more in the video above.

RIP The cream of London clubland comes together this Sunday for a free event in honour of Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson‘s ‘heavenly birthday’. DJs Marcia Carr, Roy The Roach, Linden C, Kid Batchelor, Jazzi Q, Dezzi D, AJ and Johnny Rogue play the event at Bricks at 414 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton this Sunday September 27.

Squid’s in Squid (pictured), The Avalanches, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom and Jeremy Deller’s Acid Brass project are among the names confirmed for this year’s Simple Things Festival. The multi-venue takeover in Bristol on November 7 announced the final names for its 12th edition, unveiling its four curated guest lineups and the last remaining artist additions, earlier today.

Cosmic dancer If there’s one thing we up here at Juno Daily like more than a bit of machine funk, then it’s a bit of cosmic machine funk. That’s a tag that definitely fits the ‘Kerobokan’ EP, Rocco Universal’s latest four tracker for his own Cosmic Tiger label. The alter ego of DJ, producer and journalist Patrizio Cavaliere, Rocco Universal told us the EP was recorded in Bangkok, Tokyo and Bali – he’s a man very much on the move at the moment – all played live and recorded onto tape.

The successor to the hugely popular XDJ-RR offers AlphaTheta’s latest take on an all-in-one two-channel controller. Greg Scarth checks it out. The new AlphaTheta XDJ-AN is the latest addition to a DJ product range which ticks all boxes from beginner-level laptop controllers all the way through to club-standard professional tools.