Clone Aqualung Series Holland Vinyl & CDs

Review: Before James Stinson's untimely death in 2002, the legendary Drexciya producer was working on a follow-up to Lifestyles Of The Laptop Cafe, his sole album as The Other People Place. Somehow, Clone has managed to find a DAT tape of this classic "long lost album" - or, at least, the material he'd already finished for it - and is finally releasing it. Laptop Cafe is, of course, superb, with Stinson brilliantly joining the dots between intergalactic electro, languid deep house, melodious IDM, fluid Motor City techno and most notably, the cymbal-heavy drum rhythms and dexterous piano lines of jazz. While it's not quite as jaw dropping as its acclaimed, recently reissued predecessor, it's still nothing short of sublime.

Review: By the time Biometry was first released in 2004, Der Zyklus has developed from an electro supergroup featuring Anthony Shakir and members of Dopplereffekt, to a solo project from Drexciya member Gerald Donald. At the time, it was hailed as one of Donald's finest moments, and 11 years on has lost none of its' ability to inspire and entertain. Now freshly re-mastered, it pops, whirrs and confuses with a claustrophobic intensity. It's notably less dancefloor-focused than much of Donald's work - a couple of frisky work-outs aside - and gains its' allure from a ghostly mix of wild electronics, melancholic melodies, fizzing textures, intergalactic ambience and off-kilter IDM. As a study in 21st century paranoia, it's unsurpassed.

Review: Gerald Donald's second album as Arpanet, Quantum Transposition, has long been hard to come by, not least because the label it first came out on back in 1995, Rephlex, ceased trading a few years ago. Fortunately, Clone has decided to reissue it on their Drexciya-related Aqualung Series. Now expanded to contain an extra, previously unreleased track from the same sessions, the album ditches the far-sighted electro of its predecessor in favour of an even more out-there, early years of the Internet-inspired experimental ambient trip (with occasional forays into abstract IDM). It's a classic of its type, balancing the glacial, intergalactic, and far-sighted electronics that Donald has long been known for, with darker, odder and more esoteric sounds.

Review: Released in 2002 as the Drexciya project was forced towards an untimely finish with the passing of James Stinson, Grava 4 remains a high-point in the legendary Detroit electro pioneers' catalogue. As ever, the magic of the record lies in the balance between experimental, provocative sound design and fully physical, instinctive machine funk. Stinson and Gerald Donald were able to say a great deal within the parameters of their project, and Grava 4 remains leagues ahead of what most people think electro can be. Just marvel at the likes of 'Gravity Waves', which feels like the truest representation of the genre without ever following a pre-existing formula.