MATTHIAS REILING Vinyl & CDs

Review: Session Victim member Matthias Reiling has often impressed with his solo work, previously delivering two albums that join the dots between dusty, sample-heavy beat making, twinkling downtempo grooves and sinewy deep house. His latest record for cult German label Giegling continues in a similar vein, impressively cutting up blazed, jazz-flecked samples, head-nodding MPC beats, and just the right amount of leftfield deep house rhythms. It's largely impressive stuff, with atmospheric pianos, rubbery double bass and eyes-shut guitars nestling side by side with beats that various throb, swing and pop. Happily, highlights come thick and fast, from the enveloping deep house joy of "Outpace", to the trip-hop-with-a-twist smokiness of "On A Pale Horse" and off-kilter jazz-house swing of "Silverhope Road".

Review: General purveyor of exciting electronic music, Matthias Reiling, is treated here to some excellent remixes on the Giegling imprint. Tornado Wallace's remix of "Apology Girl" is deep, soulful and slow, with every aspect of the track given room to breathe and mature. The Melbournite grants the listener more time to appreciate the subtle nuances and gentle flecks of sound that run up and down within the rhythm. Reiling's Session Victim buddy Hauke Freer teams up with Jamie Lloyd to remix "Grin & Bear It", building a track based on overwhelming noise. Digital synths and organic drum sounds crash all around, while the scant rhythm struggles to break through the wall of sound. Highly recommended.

Review: Making his first solo outing on Germany's Retreat, one half of Session Victim Matthias Reiling contributes the imprint's latest release. "Escape The Room" turns its back on the deepish disco-tinged house that Retreat usually purvey, opting instead for a fusion of hip-hop, house and UK bass. "Woodland" and "Kalkscar" set two equally cinematic tones with faint, crackling samples woven amongst mellow guitar riffs and delicate drum taps. Mysterious and downtempo pieces, both are somewhat reminiscent of Bonobo or Quantic. On the flip, "The Hissing" heaves with tension as loose and lazy drum patterns rise and fall against an eerie spoken vocal and menacing off key strings. Lastly, "Malachi" pounds with dark off kilter drums and creeping field recordings to finalize a dramatic, story telling EP that shows an entirely different side of Reiling and his musical capabilities.