Dark days need sounds like eu-IV – “you-four,” as in euphoria. The prolific Baltimore-based producer cut his teeth backing rappers, and now his ultra-chilled beat-tape music has an ease and honesty that you’ll feel right in the heart.

KORG remains on a quest to get some microKORG mojo going. But both new models – a new microKORG and a 37-key KingKORG Neo – are trying. One looks like it’s closer to the appeal of the original than the other. Here’s a preview.

Take your mind, body, and soul on a holiday to a world of sonic invention. I mean, literally Poland in January is not going to be everyone’s #1 holiday destination pick, but Polish music? That’s another story. this full hour from our friend (Kasia) Gościńska represents the bleeding edge of production at its finest, and Bandcamp lovers, oh yes, we have links. it’s IDM, it’s techno, it’s broken bass, it’s electro, it’s leftfield experimental – you’ve seen those dropdowns when submitting music to streaming. It’s just good.

Since sound is a wave, there are, uh, resonances between audio and fluid dynamics. And that brings us to playground swings and how not to spill your coffee. Let’s let Oxford PhD math student Sophie Abrahams explain the research done by original author Jiwon Han.

As we enter a third month of violence in Israel-Palestine with no end in sight, sound spaces are providing the discourse, debate, musical expression, and solace for pain that other spaces deny. They also bring us the voices of the people closest to the catastrophe – including some of the artists, colleagues, and friends I’ve written about and who are suffering now. And sometimes, only music can express how we feel, when words are scrutinized, weaponized, fragmented, and fail.

Today, Plogue is launching chipsynth C64, an AAX/AU/VST3/CLAP plug-in recreation of the Commodore 64/128 and its legendary 1982 SID chip (and successors). No one else could create an emulation this obsessive. After just a few minutes with it, it feels like encountering an entirely new instrument that fell straight out of a past decade. It’s likely to enchant both nostalgic C64 fans and those discovering chip music for the first time.

Brooklyn’s incredible artist and writer Janus Rose recently came on Refuge Worldwide in Berlin for my ongoing program POST, and this is one mix you don’t want to mix. It’s one of those times you want to creep/trainspot over the CDJ display on every single track, and a lot of it is forthcoming music so – you heard it here first.

As an Iranian diaspora meets overlooked German scenes – as Cologne artists play alongside Iranian artists making unique appearances in Europe – Timcheh is another meeting point of new sound beyond borders. It’s in Cologne this week, but here’s some don’t-miss music if you can’t make it in person.

Your music video break begins now. From New York’s Vexillary and 3D artist Leo Andrade (genre: “Cyber Horror”) comes a music video channeling Alien and Venom to imagine a dark sci-fi world for this driving techno-pop anthem. Let’s watch:

Industry trends and power grabs ultimately suck all our souls dry. So let’s return to the originators making the music, and support both the music and the humans making the music. Akua Grant, aka Femanyst, aka Lady Blacktronika, is one of the most naturally intuitive and imaginative producers I know. She’s also in need, and it’s way past time that the music translates into real sustenance.