Leftfield Recommendations February 2013

Review: There's something heart warming about the faulty connection glitches and dusty electronics of a Darren Cunningham production. "Voodoo Posse Chronic Illusion" from the Silver Clouds EP is one such example. Noises which would normally sound out of place sit ever-eloquently between plucked harps strings, reverberating bells and wood block percussion. At first "Floating In Ecstasy" is a little confusing - is it whether 33rpm or 45rpm? Pitched down it sounds like something that could soundtrack a scene of a staggering ghoul bearing down on a cornered victim, while pitched up it sounds somewhere between 80s EBM and electronic gothic rock. "Silver Cloud Dream Come True" however is definitely meant for 45rpm play with a drum pattern that jitters intermittently between varied glockenspiel chimes.

Review: Eschewing the comfort of his more regimented melodic techno fare, Pantha Du Prince is indulging his more experimental side on this new project undertaken with The Bell Laboratory. Centred around the glacial chimes of a bell carillon, Elements Of Light is largely comprised of plaintive studies in lingering notes and delicate arrangements at the behest of the monolithic instrument. It's an engaging, atmospheric exercise that resonates with an arresting clarity, given the space around each note, but for the more traditional Pantha fans you can find a little sanctuary in the lilting tech-house of "Photon".

Review: Originally released back in 2009, Brock Van Wey's debut album White Clouds Drift On & On gets a long-overdue vinyl edition, coming across a hefty 4 slabs of marbled grey and white wax. A masterpiece of ambient at the time of its release, its power has not diminished in the years that have followed, its freeform compositions having a personal and emotional resonance that many of his peers lack. Also included is the companion Intrusion Interpretation, in which Echospace's Intrusion reworks the entire thing into a mammoth dub techno opus. Essential for connoisseurs of ambient and dub techno alike.

Review: First released last year on patten's DIY cassette operation Kaleidoscope, the splattering furore of mechanical malfunction that is Sculpture's Slime Code gains a much needed vinyl issue thanks to the good people at Digitalis. There's a lot to take in on each of the titular Slime Codes, but for all the sonic debris a sturdy rhythm lies at the heart of much of it. "Slime Code 1" lurches forwards on a 4/4 thrum just as a jungles worth of noises pivot around the conga line, while "Slime Code 3" pushes the notion of house music into a smacky basement of guttural FX pedal belches, to a brilliantly singular end.

Review: Presenting yet another year of the more reflective end of the Kompakt sound world, the Pop Ambient series is reprised to invite both label favourites and new additions to offer a soothing ambience to tickle at your synapses. Wolfgang Voigt is, as ever, unmatchable in his regality both remixing Michael Mayer and offering his own, orchestra-fuelled study in haunting, shapeless dynamics. Mikkel Metal allows the most subtle of pulses in to anchor his own droning arrangement, while the likes of Triola offer up a lighter tone marked out by more plaintive synthesiser tones. If you need a quality-assured selection of refined meditation music, this is the compilation for you

Review: Home marks the long overdue follow up to Nosaj Thing's excellent debut set Drift, released on Alpha Pup way back in 2009. Described as a very personal record by Chung in interviews, this sense of introspectiveness certainly comes across in a cohesive eleven track set. Fans will no doubt be happy to hear there is plenty of the heady instrumental beat work that Nosaj Thing made his name on with "Snap" and "Phase III" stand out tracks - it is however Chung's decision to work with vocalists that add another dimension to his sound. You should be familiar with "Eclipse/Blue", the lead single that featured Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino and the Toro Y Moi featuring "Try" is equally sublime.

Review: The marvellous PAN kicks starts 2013 with yet another unusual and relentless medley of deranged sonic brutality. This time it's a debut release from Jar Moff, an elusive Athenian who has put together a vast landscape of melodies, bridging the gap between harsh noise and gentle, desolate harmonics. Both sides of the wax plate are a near fifteen minutes each and in all honesty, it's a rather daunting task to condense them into suitable words: the first side "Tziaitzomanasou" is so diverse that it could almost represent different scenes of a film, where broken shards of glass and spine-chilling screams rapidly evolve into desolate synth keys, only to be swallowed once more by a merciless wave of sparse crackles, bubbling glitches and field recordings. The title track "Commercial Mouth" retains a similar superficial coating of organic noises and sinister arrangements, except this time the heart of the piece is embedded in a musical, almost jazzy vibe. Its looped samples contain a myriad of musical strands, from trumpets to synthesizers and drums - it's an ingenious reincarnation of what happens when classical styles meet with the sheer force of the world's many sonic facets. Warmly recommended.

Review: Having operated close to the Ghostly International crew for some time, Loyal represents the first fully-fledged outing for Jakub Alexander's Heathered Pearls project, and it fits neatly into the narrative of the Ann Arbor electronica powerhouse. In the haunting, emotive atmospheres he creates, Alexander's music taps into the same vein of downbeat experimentation with an accessible edge that defines Ghostly. In this instance though, the cutesyness normally associated with the label is absent, replaced instead by grainy textures and an underlying ominous tone that adds a welcome weight to the LP. With beats cast aside in favour of more craftily implied rhythms, Heathered Pearls represents a captivating new step for one of the major electronic listening music labels.

Review: American ambient explorer Ethernet (AKA producer Tim Gray) has spent the last few years quietly crafting an impressive repertoire of atmospheric, becalming compositions. Having spent last year promoting his excellent Into The Woods album on Tamarack, he returns with a far more accessible and emotion-rich set for original home Kranky. Opus 2 showcases his full repertoire, flitting between droning takes on '90s ambient don Pete Namlook (see "Monarch" and "Pleroma"), journeys into sound design (the mournful "Correction", bizarrely reminiscent of Moby's 33-minute ambient version of "Hymn") and far-out dub techno (the hissing pulse of "Dog Star").

Review: Mysterious Swiss sound sorcerer Anom sits comfortably between the likes of Amon Tobin, Flying Lotus and The Orb: Abstract, experimental but laden with oodles of creative and dark sonic imagery. From the rusty shuffle and steel-yard slamming percussion of "Track 1" through to the drowsy steam-punk soliloquy of "Track 4" he's conjured a unique niche in electronica that's hard to define but addictive to spin.

Review: While relatively unknown outside of experimental filmmaking circles, artist Jeff Keen is considered by those 'in the know' to be one of Britain's most underrated talents. Following his sad death last year, Trunk Records began looking at the possibility of releasing some of his music concrete experiments, often used to soundtrack his films. The material that makes up Noise Art was discovered after his death by daughter Stella, stored on cassette and apparently recorded in the 1980s. Clearly inspired by Stockhausen and created using echo units, primitive computers, tape loops, microphones and anything close to hand (see the shortwave radio tuning on "BlatzonFragzWhitenseWarp6"), Noise Art provides a fascinating if bleak insight into his creative process.