CD Album Recommendations August 2014

Review: In their official biography, Technimatic describe their particular take on musically rich liquid D&B as "hyper-coloured". In many ways, it's an apt description. Certainly, there's a baggy vibrancy to this belated debut album, which is gloriously breezy and deliciously soulful from start to finish. There's an almost horizontal feel to the duo's classic blends of vintage jungle rhythms, drifting vocals - most notable on the beautiful "Looking For Dviversion", featuring the folksy voice of Lucy Kitchen - twinkling pianos, undulating strings and sun-bright chords. This kind of liquid jungle is always eminently listenable, but Andy Powell and Peter Rogers' particular take on the style is more cultured and mature than most. As a result, Desire Paths is an impressive and hugely enjoyable body of work.

Review: Given his links with liquid jungle pioneer Alex Reece, it's perhaps unsurprising that Barnet-based Utah Jazz is still pushing a fluid, deep and occasionally dreamy take on drum & bass. Portfolio, his fourth album, holds few surprises, but delivers the kind of shimmering, melodious goodness with which he's become famous over the last two decades. In truth, few do this kind of heady, wide-eyed D&B fare quite so well. Musically intricate and blessed with gentle strings, ear-pleasing chords, hazy vocal samples and - in the case of the brilliant, dubstep-influenced "MAM" - bundles of sun-kissed soul, Portfolio is a joyous collection of sun-ripe gems. If the sun's shining, it really comes into its own.

Review: The last album Richie Hawtin made under his revered Plastikman alias came in 2003's Closer, and more than a decade later he provides EX, a seven-track LP recorded live at New York's Guggenheim Museum for a special performance at the invitation of fashion designer Raf Simons. From "EXposed" to "EXhale" each track varies in the way it beeps, bleeps and gurgles with super sweet acid. Italo synths take over in "EXtend" and "EXpand", while basslines and kooky electronics similar to Yello rise to the surface in "EXtrude". "EXplore" is a track for the Plastikman devotee while "EXpire" and it's climbing synth will be sure to drive the many festivals Hawtin plays this year toward pandemonium. Plastikman is back!

Review: Given that he put out his first 12" back in 2009, Smallville co-founder Julius Steinhoff's debut album has been a long time coming. You can forgive him for biding his time - particularly given his workload - especially when the results are this effortlessly stylish. The Hamburg based producer seemingly isn't that interested in pandering to the dancefloor - though the rubbery, ethereal "Hey You" is underpinned by particularly bumpin' drums - and instead delivers a set of bubbling deep house tracks oozing with melody, warmth and atmosphere. For the most part, it's a seductive set, with only the clattering Chicago percussion and Mr Fingers-ish melodic bliss of "Cheetah Nights" flipping the script.

Review: Brazilian duo Digitaria are back in action on Hot Creations following their label debut earlier this year with Night Falls Again Daniela Caldellas and Daniel Albinati's third long player. As you'd expect there is plenty of hook laden electro pop and minimally minded house music to be found amidst the 12 track album as Digitaria effortlessly weave through moments of introspection ("End Of Line" makes for an icily atmospheric opener) to more outright dancefloor-focused tracks ("Golden Leaves", "Plastic Population" and the wonderfully named "Shopping Centre Soundtrack" are highlights) . The vocals from Daniela Caldellas throughout the album lend proceedings a compelling degree of moodiness too.

Review: Logistics is back! More or less absent in a solo capacity since dropping the 2012 anthem Fear Not, Matt Gresham delivers Polyphony his sixth Logistics album in as many years for Hospital Records. Long term fans of both Logistics and Hospital will immediately resonate with the 13 tracks here with Gresham signalling a return to the vivid, life affirming brand of drum and bass that helped establish the classic Hospital sound. Uplifting piano chords, euphoric basslines and sublime vocal chops abound on Polyphony with a raft of collaborators including new names such as Hugh Hardie and Maduk as well as veteran producer Sonic and Gresham's brother Dan Nu Tone.

Review: Much has changed for Ali Love since the release of his Love Harder in 2010. For starters, he's fallen in with the Hot Creations camp, scored a massive chart hit ("Benediction", with Hot Natured) and seen his reputation soar. This latest full length - the belated follow-up to Love Harder - shows how far he's come. While the bright electrofunk synths, '80s soul vocals and Italo-influenced rhythms of old remain, P.U.M.P contains far more tactile, wide-eyed deep house moments than we've come to expect. It's a subtle evolution - there are still plenty of near Balearic synth-pop moments - but a successful one. The result is an effortlessly sweet and accessible album that blends throbbing dancefloor moments with baggier, more laidback fare.

Review: There's always been something rather special about King Britt's ability to effortlessly switch musical focus between projects and aliases. Contrast, for example, the retro-soul giddiness of Sylk 130, the electronic polyrhythms and heavy bruk of Oba Funke, and the trippy electronic darkness of his work under the baffling Fhloston Paradigm pseudonym. This debut album under that alias - on the back of a handful of singles a few years back - is predictably magical, mixing spaced-out textures and stargazing synths with off-kilter rhythms, loose jazz beats and Detroit-inspired grooves. Dark and atmospheric, with a touch of the Jeff Mills about it (certainly conceptually, if not aesthetically), The Phoenix makes for mesmerizing listening from start to finish.

Review:  Ambient explorers Dalhous - AKA producers Marc Dalla and Alex Ander- have some intriguing influences; apparently this second full length for Blackest Ever Black was inspired by their fascination with the life and work of radical psychiatrist R.D Laing. Whether this is noticeable in the music is debatable, though there are plenty of varied moods, dreamy melodies, cascading electronics and glitchy rhythms to be found on Will To Be Well. Certainly, it's a thoroughly engaging and entertaining set, far lighter and more melodious in tone and texture than their 2013 debut. There are still droning passages of intense melancholy, of course, but these are countered by sun-bright melodies and beautiful, drawn-out sounds.

Review: It's been some three years since St Petersburg-based producer Bop impressed with his sophomore set, The Amazing Adventures of One Curious Pixel. Like that album, this belated follow-up for Hospital offshoot Med School gloriously joins the dots between hazy electronic fluidity, classic IDM, dreamy ambient textures and bouncy, off-kilter experimental D&B beats. It's a blend that makes for enjoyable listening, even when Bop is at his most challenging and experimental. He has a great way with melody, and even the album's darker, more bass-heavy moments - see the sub-heavy throb of "Charge Me" - come laden with drifting pads and intricate, eyes-wide-shut electronics.

Review: It's something of a surprise to fine that former Blackberry salesman and full-time social media pest Diplo has any time to make music these days. The Mad Decent bossman seems to spend most of his time waging wars on Twitter. To his credit, he is at least self-aware, as this collection of previously heard nuggets, bootleg remixes and previously unreleased jams comes packaged with artwork based around his Twitter profile. Musically, Random White Dude Be Everywhere boasts few surprises, but plenty of bold, floor-friendly material. From the EDM-goes-trap stylings of the rave-tastic "Freak" (yep, a collab with Steve Aoki) and the pitched down footwork stylings of "Express Yourself", to the Kuduro-tinged roughness of "Boy Oh Boy", there's no denying that Diplo has his finger on the pulse.

Review: There's no doubt that Seattle-based Shabazz Palaces are one of the most exciting acts in hip-hop. Sounding a little like A Tribe Called Quest in space, their 2011 debut album Black Up remains one of the most thrilling experimental hip-hop sets of recent years. Lese Majesty, their delayed follow-up, is every bit as good. Laden with spaced-out analogue synths, fuzzy electronic textures, cut-up live drums and masterful MPC work, it sounds like it was beamed down from another dimension, let alone another galaxy. Yet for all the experimentalism, there's a musically richness and harmonic subtlety to their tracks, as ably demonstrated by the string-laden depth of the brilliant "Dawn in Luxor".

Review: Norweigan duo Of Norway - AKA producers Chris Lynch and Vegard Wolf Dyvik - are hardly prolific. This may be their second album, but they've released just two singles since the release of the first - the Afro Art released Heathen Burial - back in 2010. Fortunately, Accretion was worth the wait. Warm, loose and immersive, it expertly joins the dots between melodic deep house, toasty dancefloor flavours (see the US house influenced bump of "Last Night (I Dreamed A Placid Dream"), folksy downtempo moments ("Two Black Cats") and woozy, Scandolearic-infused electronic soundscapes. The result is an album high on hazy atmosphere, destined for heavy rotation in those fragile, post-club moments.