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ALOE BLACC

Iconic R&B and soul vocalist Aloe Blacc has focused his career on putting positivity and beauty into the world. “I always want my songs to inspire people, motivate people, and help them dream bigger,” he says with that trademark warm smile. 2024 proved to be the gold standard in Blacc’s efforts: not only did it mark the 10th anniversary of his landmark album Lift Your Spirit, but Blacc also covered a variety of classic alt-rock hits on two EP-length volumes titled Rock My Soul.

The California native picked up trumpet in grade school, but dreamed of being an emcee – putting together HipHop projects, including three records with producer Exile as Emanon. Later, a recording of Blacc singing Sam Cooke's Change Is Gonna Come lit up the indie label circuit. “My heroes were Bill Withers, Harry Belafonte, Stevie Wonder, people with messages that were self-affirming,” he says. Blacc’s beloved early solo hits like I Need a Dollar and The Man (from 2010's Good Things and 2014's Lift Your Spirit, respectively) followed powerfully in that tradition.

The first taste of Rock My Soul, a regal take on Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun, finds Blacc on an interstellar funk rock journey. “That was a song that affected me the very first time I heard it – and it always will,” Blacc says. That personal connection permeates a bossa nova-indebted take on Lithium, a twitchy, Rhodes-driven version of No Doubt’s Don’t Speak, and a satin ballad take on Red Hot Chili Peppers’s Under the Bridge.

“That’s what we did in HipHop – we’d take from everywhere, interpret, and I love to see music growing that way,” Blacc says. “Grunge and alt rock had a lot of the depression, anxiety, angst of their era. Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, the Isley Brothers, they took rock songs and transformed them into soul or funk songs, and found how to channel their emotions.”

Ever tapped into the larger industry culture and American spirit, Blacc has felt the same transformations surrounding Lift Your Spirit. “It felt right to celebrate the 10-year mark, to tell people again that they deserve joy,” he says. The record’s opening track and lead single embodies that reminder, and after catapulting Blacc to the top of the charts worldwide in its first-released incarnation alongside Swedish DJ Avicii, the acoustic version of Wake Me Up further elevates the calls for harmony. The Deluxe reissue of Lift Your Spirit will also feature three additional tracks initially released on retailer-specific editions or international markets.

And as if all that weren’t enough, Blacc released another album in February of 2025. This time, though, he matches his philanthropic streak to the music, with each track inspired by a different nonprofit organisation. And considering the tension and conflict that surrounds so much of every day, there couldn’t be a better time for the soothing balm of Aloe Blacc.

CASSY

Watching Cassy eagerly dive into her record collection is a joy. Away from the transcendent spaces she continues to play at most weekends, her vinyl-digging series Talking About My Records on Instagram gives ample opportunity to engage with her excitability. Its concept being spurred by moving back home to Austria and reconnecting with a stacked vinyl stash, what makes this series stand out is the sense that Cassy’s enthusiasm and faithfulness to the music that fuels club culture has been revived. We’re seeing the beginning of a new era for Cassy.

Given that her trailblazing career surpasses two decades, a serious reset to recalibrate should be expected. After briefly tapping out in 2020, Cassy is future-focussed with an outlook that she’s here to enjoy DJing anew. “I feel like I better understand my job description. I better appreciate what the moment needs. As Larry Levan advised, drop the ego. Let’s keep it real.”

Flip through the EPs that she released in 2023 on her label Kwench Records, and you’ll get a good feeling of where she’s at with her confidence as a producer and label head. Back utilising Roland’s 808 and her computer to honour her roots and get back to the basics, she’s been sending waves into the past to a time when she was living in Berlin using that exact setup. “It was nice to revisit these feelings using the 808, lean into my weirdness in producing and also use my vocals. It gives me that kick to get more and more creative with every release.”

Ultimately, Cassy has liberated herself from the pressures of blasting through a checklist according to whatever the dominant standard may be. Representing herself in a true and sincere way is all that she demands.

URBS & CUTEX

DO call it a comeback! After no less than 22 years, Vienna’s veteran beat maestros Urbs & Cutex are releasing their third album, On Our Way. Full of laid-back vibes and dope beats, this surprising release finds them in fine form – staying true to their trademark sound while subtly expanding and evolving it into a unique blend of HipHop and downtempo.

Urbs & Cutex (pronounced Cut Ex) are a duo from Vienna specialising in laid-back instrumental music that combines classic East Coast HipHop with elements of TripHop and downtempo. Both started out as DJs in the early '90s, taking their first steps in production separately before joining forces to form what is now considered one of the defining groups of Vienna’s rich electronic scene of the era. The two albums released in the early 2000s are still being rediscovered by new generations of listeners and have accumulated millions of plays across various streaming platforms.

After a 22-year hiatus – during which they released several solo albums (including Urbs’ Toujours Le Même Film and Geheimland) as well as dozens of singles, remixes and collaborations – they’ve reunited, finding their mojo still fully intact and picking up right where they left off two decades ago. With charming stubbornness, Urbs & Cutex continue to create music that some may call retro and others timeless. “We search for everlasting truths,” they state calmly.

The album opens in the familiar style of their 2003 release Peace Talks!, blending soulful and jazzy loops with punchy HipHop beats – even surprising listeners with the first rap feature ever to appear on one of their records: T.R.A.C. from New York (known from Visioneers and numerous drum & bass releases) shines on the lead single Wherever You Are.

A few tracks in, their style begins to evolve into something entirely new. Through elaborate arrangements and artful layering of samples, they create tracks that transcend the loop-based conventions typical of HipHop.
Over the course of 14 tracks, Urbs & Cutex expertly balance uplifting moments with deep, hypnotic sequences. They craft a laid-back atmosphere, yet skilfully avoid the dullness of generic chillout music and the stale uniformity of much modern lo-fi and boom bap.

ALTROY JEROME

Altroy Jerome is a US-born DJ and producer based in Vienna, with roots in Harlem, New York. His unique style blends deep, soulful house with layered electronic rhythms – a distinctive take on underground dance music with a heart. He has toured across the US, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, sharing stages with Detroit legends like Robert Hood, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, DJ T-1000, and the late Mike Huckaby.

As part of the live trio [altroy-kern-quehenberger] with Philipp Quehenberger and Didi Kern, he explores improvisational soundscapes at the intersection of jazz, noise, and club. Co-founder of A party called JACK, head of the Minimalsoul™ label, and the MSR vinyl distribution, Altroy is a key voice in Vienna’s

ImPulsTanz Soçial in cooperation with Radio FM4.