ALEXANDER SKANCKE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Alexander Skancke crowns himself the queen bee of dance music with 'The Wasp Queen'. We are cordially invited to shake our abdomens and lose our hive minds, at a brilliant four-track house and techno EP that remains largely resistant to calcification of concept. Skancke has chanced upon a rather hostile hornet's nest here too, hailing from the unlikely nation of Norway: the title track hears what sounds like an operative conversation set to doomy piano house progressions, before a human-insect cross-pollination experiment goes south: "is she ready?... I'm always ready..." 'Typhoon Flutes' follows with pocket flutes and grim, gloaming figure-ground voices; then the record goes full weird speed garage on 'Brother'. Finally, 'New Order Of Black Metal' makes for a rare fusion of breakbeat and black metal gut-shrieking, as human diaphragms are catabolised across a well-sliced doom-hollering.

Review: A second round of equine tech-funk from Alexander Skancke, Foehn & Jerome and Henriku, none of whom present solo tracks, but rather collab as a trio on every number. Following up May 2024's debut edition of 'The Black Horse', we're met with a fleshed-out sophomore amble come gallop here. Opener 'Maximalism Minimalism' bowls us over with its muted flutes and hip-house samples, while 'Satt' moves more fay with its wind chime tinkles and festive woodwind riffs. On the B comes 'Hungry Beat' - by now, our steed is raveonous for a bite to eat and an oasis to drink from, lest it perishes from dancefloor thirst - and 'Eins' - on which said colt (a work-horse from a hobby) - is finally let to graze, and rest.