JASSS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Nobody could accuse Spanish producer JASSS of being backwards and coming forwards on this, her Ostgut Ton debut. The Berlin-based label, Berghain's recorded outlet, usually conjures sonic images in line with the stereotypical soundtrack of the club's main hall, but anyone who has spent a reasonable amount of time in the imprint's back catalogue will know that's a reductive assumption. The crew regularly veer into all kinds of leftfield electronic avenues.

Even so, JASSS' arrival marks one of the wildest rides this platform has ever offered listeners. From the resoundingly emotional and joyous opening wide bands of synth, 'Birds You Can Name', to the euphoric industrialism of 'Busto' and the operatic, neo-tropical pop of 'A World of Service', this is benchmark-setting curveball stuff we cannot get enough of.

Review: Although arguably best known for her angular, industrial-influenced techno output, Siliva Jimenez Alvarez AKA Jasss has proved adept at delivering oddball electronica, modular-rich ambient and the kind of scuzzy industrial pop of which Trent Reznor would undoubtedly prove. A World of Service, her sophomore album and first for Ostgut Ton, builds on the latter side of her sound while expanding into new musical territory such as autotune-sporting future R&B ('Luis'), buzzing downtempo darkness (the immersive and intoxicating, percussion-rich 'Busto'), leftfield 21st century synth-pop (the curious but excellent 'A World Of Service') and even a dash of jangling, radio-friendly cheeriness ('In Your Mouth'). An impossible album to pigeonhole, but one that's consistently excellent and genuinely worthy of further inspection.