RODHAD Vinyl & CDs

Review: Flame haired techno talent Rodhad has been at the heart of the Berlin underground for more than a decade now. His sound is based in loops, darkness and melodic melancholy and that's exactly what he serves up here on his superb entry into the long running and legendary fabric mix series. As well as a couple of his own subtle mind melters, there are plenty of sci-fi sounds, masterfully minimal grooves and intergalactic techno offerings packed in to what is a compelling mix for both mind and body. It's a great statement of his sound and is sure to prove a timeless mix.

Review: German techno heads VRIL & Rodhad are right at the heart of the contemporary scene and they prove that again here with a strong new statement in the form of Out Of Place Artefacts II on the latter's WSNWG imprint. It is a second album that goes deep into a wider sphere of sound than the first and so is full of surprises. There are plenty of gloomy and dark cuts like the broken beats and shards of melody on 'Welltron' as well as sparse industrial ambient like 'Black Goo' and mysterious cosmic sound worlds depicted on 'Clarion'. The gorgeous closer 'Triskaideka' brings classical charm with musicians Angelina Delgado on violin and Alexandra Ivanova on viola. A superb collection.

Review: According to the accompany information, VRIL and Rodhad's first collaborative full-length was dually inspired by a desire to "subvert the expectations of their previous work" and the real world phenomena of unusual artefacts that baffle both archaeologists and historians (in their words, "strange anomalies scattered throughout the world"). Musically, the album is something of a slown-burn treat, with the pair slowly ambling between heady ambient soundscapes, buzzing, slow-motion psychedelic techno, creepy and bass-heavy electronic experiments, acid-flecked IDM, deep dub techno and productions that cannily blur the boundaries between these various stylistic touchpoints. As a result, Out of Place Artefacts is a startling and hugely enjoyable collection of mysterious musical movements.