Overshadowed by Charts - Releases from the end of the year

Charts at the end of the year are a great invention, and everybody benefits from them…right? Music aficionados can explore tons of music which they might have overlooked throughout the year, artists and labels see their music back in focus weeks or months after the initial release, and platforms see a new opportunity for streams, buys and strengthening customers loyalty. But while these charts are really in focus, a lot of music that came out at the end of the year is pushed to the wayside.
So here are some releases that came out between early November and late December that did not have the chance to unleash their full force to end up in the charts (in order of release date):

Ugné Uma
Rage Love Strange Love / Someone Call Donna
Somewhere Press

After several singles on her bandcamp and a release with Sam Gendel, Ugné Uma releases her debut on Glasgow’s Somewhere Press. And what a debut that is!
The Lithuanian underground Jazz and Neo Folk artist impresses with a mix of simplicity and breathtaking emotionality. The slow, repetitive beat on the title track is reminiscent of postpunk, while her voice repetitively singsthe song’s title in Uma’s signature pitched down voice, accompanied by piano chords. Version II dispenses with beats but all the more of her full, untouched voice (+ herself in the second voice) which is so unique and – in this case – heartbreakingly fragile.
This could have been enough for a great release, but Someone Call Donna gives it a wonderful twist. Uma’s beautiful voice is just accompanying herself, experimenting with poetry on a Piano & Bass jam session

Xenia Reaper
Nept Polarisation
Delsin

Xenia Reaper on the Dutch institution Delsin – the record pretty much sounds like what this combination suggests.

In parts, it sounds just (as good) as you would expect from them. Crisp textures, weightless DnB influenced drum work, underlined by hyperpop affiliated Ambient soundscapes. But still they present a different side of Xenia Reaper on this release; hard, glitchy IDM ventures and dark, big room kick drums with drowning Bass elements (Nept Polarisation), but always with a twist. You’re never really safe in the ambient zone, never fully agitated to rave. A wonderful balance between hectic sensory overloading drums/textures and soothing, engaging spheres. 

The Bug vs Ghost Dubs
Implosion
Pressure

Probably the bass heaviest release of these last two months of the year: Pressure Label Boss Kevin Richard Martin (aka The Bug) teamed up with Michael Fiedler (aka Ghost Dubs) to continue their work after the Imploded Versions 12” back in August, this time on a double 12”.
In alternating order, they both present tunes between Dub, Dubstep and Chain Reaction leaning Dub Techno. Dark and superheavy sounds, stripped-down arrangements, mostly Halftime tunes. It feels like wading through mud in a truly post-apocalyptic environment. Rumbling & pulsating bass, drowning dubs and metallic drums build the framework, and these are all rounded up by fine, distorted noise, harmonics, and glimpses of dub sirens so that every track is given just the right amount of detail to not disturb the low-end meditation.
Subwoofer is a must here, pure Soundsystem treatment!

Various Artists
Short Tracks
Short Span

The Sheffield-based Short Span label finishes a very productive year with a 2xCD compilation, which reflects the label’s sound very well. After seven releases since their founding in 2025 by Sa Pa, Mammo, Angel Hunt, Conna Haraway, Yu Su, and emer (Fog is still on repeat), they put together tunes by some of these artists and others like Eden Aurelius, Mount Kimbie & Klaus or Lucas Dupuy. Hazey Ambient, pulsating Dub and well-crafted Techno cuts.

click to play

FLORENCE
A Requiem For Prime Time TV
Fleetway Tapes / A Colourful Storem

A beautiful mixtape that gives a 62 minute-long insight into FLORENCE’s wheelhouse. With her work as an author for MUBI’s film mag Notebook and her NTS Show Sounds On Screen, she regularly dives deep into the art of soundtracks. This tape is a collage of music and snippets from movie scenes that work seamlessly hand in hand. She takes us from New Age and Ambient to Folk, Jazz and Soft Rock score music, always with subtle guidance through different atmospheres. This way she provides a wonderful soundtrack for the listeners whenever they take the time to just listen.

With this tape she joins the rank of Mixtapes on A Colourful Storm’s Fleetway Tape series after contributions by Felix K, Time Is Away, Vladimir Ivkovic and others.

Mohammad Reza Mortazavi
Swamp (Ricardo Villalobos Variation)
Latency

Two masters of their craft on one release. Tombak & Daf meets Minimal Techno. After Iranian percussionist Mortazavi’s latest solo LP Nexus from October, Swamp is brought to a much larger audience through a remix by none other than Ricardo Villalobos. He spotted the potential of the about 4-minute-long original track, which you can easily picture in a DJ set of his: minimalistic, continuous, straight Tom pattern filled with the characteristic Bak, Pelang or nail scrapes. He turned this percussive tool into a 24-minute-long Minimal Techno excursion by sampling the original 1:1 and spicing it up with typical RV sounds like mesmerizing modular jams, a catchy plucked string melody and highlights of certain aspects of the given sample.

U.e
Other Girl
28912

Ulla Straus aka U.e transports us once again into their wonderful, gentle world of sounds and provides the perfect on-repeat-release for this indoor time of the year. Other Girl sounds like a spin-off of their album Hometown Girl, released in January. A carefully collected release of 10 pieces, full of their very own sound aesthetic which is made up of jams - including woodwind, piano, strings and fragile vocals with and without autotune – that do not follow odd guidelines of time or high-fidelity recordings. Ignoring the autotune parts, this release could easily be a gem from early/mid last century which fills up Discogs comment sections with despair for a copy. It feels like a morning’s first blink after sleeping on a cloud.
Jazz, Ambient, Indie - just stunning.

Vladimir Dubyshkin
jane doe’s secret
Trip

While his music is not exactly undercover, this release deserves a closer look: Dubyshkin’s really knows how to produce proper peak time hits. His Techno is made for big stages, often Psy-infused, and full of super catchy (silly) melodies, pitched vocals or accordionic chords that are reminiscent of Wolfgang Voigt’s Polkatrax-series. You definitely find this classic Vladimir Dubyshkin sound on this release, too, but especially what’s bitting you? and party with exit visa show that he’s not stuck in his own world but is definitely inspired by Dubstep/Latin Bass music such as TraTraTrax or Hamdi, both of which have pushed this sound to the foreground in recent years.