NULLPTR Vinyl & CDs

Review: Four dreamy exoplanetary electro cuts from Nullptr. With a melancholic orbit, the mood of this EP is wistful and lachrymose, as if the sonar-HUD on our spaceship's cockpit is over-bleeping at rapidfire; we've flown too close to the celestial object we sought, and have nothing left to do but bask in the bittersweet antagonism of space-faring victory and revelatory disappointment. 'Exolon' portrays some leftover remnant of trekkers' curiosity, suggesting we're still driven - motivated - on our quest to grasp said strange attractor. Yet 'Sytasol' moves sadder, locking in a grooved stasis through a mixture of fidgeting melodic acid and clappage. 'Alpha Grid' and 'Gekko7' hear spirits revive for a no less dreamy revolution about the sun.

Review: If the Spanish know how to keep one thing alive, it's community; in the spirit of this truth, Xuntaza, the name of Fanzine's latest EP series, is a Galician word that means 'the action of gathering of a group of people to discuss an issue or have fun'. Not overthought beyond the simple xuntanzing of its brightest artists, Vol. 1 in the series functions as a fantastic meeting point between dub techno, tech house, and experimental electro.