My hips are sad. These promos are not moving them; they’re squashed to hell, grooveless, and it’s about as fun to dance to as an Airbus engine drone.* I know how to solve this: N.A.A.F.I, the Mexico-based international label with its unique voice and rhythms patterned on the likes of tribal guarachero, spun by its family of producers into deeply personal bangers.

Pam’s back in town, and she’s learned a new language. ALM/Busy Circuits’ “Pamela’s Disco” sports an Ethernet jack for PRO DJ-LINK — that’s the sync format found on CDJs and other Pioneer DJ/AlphaTheta equipment and compatible gear. You read that right: now your modular has a sync button.

Move over, recycled ideas and emulations: it’s been a year of reimagining entire effects categories. And ADPTR Audio’s Utopia stands out in a 2025 class of reverbs that are more than just reverbs. Here’s a look at why it’s an effect I can’t put down, why it’s so much fun to tweak, and how the developers thought about it.

Chris Johnson, aka Airwindows, continues to share his love for DSP with free tools, open source code, and elaborate discussions of the joy of crafting reverbs. So just in case you don’t feel blessed enough with free effects after SuperMassive’s new Sirius reverb/delay, here’s the tiny and the thick in all-new Airwindows editions. And they’ll even run in VCV Rack or on a Raspberry Pi.

You can pluck it, strike it, bow it, use your fingers, use a pick. The Lethelium is upcycled from bicycle parts and imagined in a cycle-punk zombie comic where bike parts save civilization. And all of this could only come from the imagination of Montreal artist Lateef Martin, an artist who lives a sci-fi reality others might only dream of. Or as Lateef puts it: “it reinvents the wheel.”

Sale-itis has made the full year a maddening deluge of discounts. (You know who you are, inbox plagues!) But here are some legitimately excellent deals on music software available now.

Black Friday/Black Week/Cyber Monday/Week/Month/whatever gets overwhelming. But here’s a selection of genuinely impressive discounts, on gear like Ableton Move and Push, Moog, Sequential, Erica Synths, Polyend, and even a couple of favorite Eurorack modules. I keep an eye on a couple of selections that might make good gifts, too.

Ableton Live 12.3 is out of beta; it’s time to liven up your Live setup (plus Ableton Move and Push and Novation Circuit Tracks). Black Friday deals have these at the lowest prices you’ll see all year, so if you’re stocking up for winter or holiday breaks, we’ve got you. These are tools to solve some problems, add some inspiration, and even just make your Live setup look better.

Valhalla isn’t done with reverb/echo blockbusters to reverberate through the end of 2025. The free plug-in — so good we really would pay for it — is back, and now it’s gotten Sirius. Welcome Super Massive 5.0.0.

It’s Thanksgiving in the USA, but Germany’s got your Protein, and what a surprise. The classic Microwave 1 wavetable sound meets a tweakable, compact desktop housing and 4-layer, 8-voice architecture. A Keto diet has never sounded more appetizing. Price? €329 in Europe intro, incl. VAT (€379 after the end of the year.) Out now.