CD Album Recommendations October 2014

Review: It's rare that an electronic album is the biggest album of the year, or at least the most hyped. That's certainly the case with Syro, Richard D James first official release under his Aphex Twin moniker for some 13 years. So, is it in any good? For starters, it sounds like an Aphex Twin album. Listen through to the 12 tracks, and many of his familiar staples are present - the "Digeridoo" era rave breakbeats, the mangled synth-funk mash-ups, the intoxicating ambient-era melodies, the warped basslines and the skittish drill & bass style rhythms. There's madness, beauty and intensity in spades. In other words, it's an Aphex Twin album, and - as so many have pointed out since the album's release was announced - there's no-one else quite like Richard D James.

Review: Emotional Rescue and Woo once again come together, this time to reissue their masterpiece, the previously cassette-only album Into The Heart Of Love. A joyous, uplifting ode to love in all it's forms, the trials and tribulations and ultimately the triumphs are all encapsulted in Woo's unique soundscapes. Of all the myriad of released and unreleased Woo recordings, Into The Heart Of Love is without a doubt their most complete and cohesive body of work. Full of Woo's quirky analogue dub electronics, there is also a very English sense of folk. With more vocals then their other albums, the structure and softness of mood quintessentially comes from the Mother Isle. Mark's guitar craft is at its most expressive, entwined with subtle bass, a breadth of clarinet and touches of piano. This is all mixed and merged beautifully with Clive's now recognisable desk and synthesiser mastery. As individual as anything you'd hear coming from the Black Ark. More peaceful and uplifting than Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong and encompassing than its Cosy Inside, the album presented as Into The Heart Of Love is exactly that. Drawing you into it's swirls and layers upon layers, slowly wrapping you in it's own special, spectral soundcape. It is love indeed that permeates throughout. Again and again the titles lead the way, but it's more than that. The lilting hopes, joy, optimism and peace expressed in songs like When Your Find Your Love, Sarah and The Heart Of Love show Woo in all their glory. Of all Woo's songs and craft, their best is all included. The simplicity but detailed interplay between the two brothers is as telepathic as imagined. Pushing and pulling together to represent a wondrous album. Of course, it had to be. It's Love.

Review: Here's something to excite those of an experimental techno bent: a collaborative set from veteran producer Function and drone/industrial sort Vatican Shadow. Given the qualities' of both producers, it's perhaps unsurprising that Games Have Rules is rather good. Like any good collaboration, it tempers the more outlandish aspects of each producer's work, delivering a set bristling with icy textures, bittersweet ambience, dreamy atmospherics and, perhaps most pleasing of all, sprawling techno (see the brilliant "Bejewelled Body"). Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the crystalline mood of "A Year Has Passed" (reminiscent of Selected Ambient Works era Aphex Twin) to the murky textures and spooky electronics of "The Nemesis Flower".

Review: Anthony Nicholson is something of an unheralded hero. He's been releasing variations on melodious, soul-flecked deep house since the turn of the 1990s, delivering material for such labels as Prescription, NIte Grooves and Peacefrog. 22 years after releasing his first 12", Nicholson returns to action with Four, his first albium since 2011. It's a sensual and atmospheric set packed with musically expansive material. While rooted in house, it offers so much more than simple, functional dancefloor material. It will no doubt draw comparisons with the work of Ron Trent, to whom Nicholson shares an impressive attention to detail and positive musical outlook.

Review: Pleasingly, this second full-length from Aaron Jerome's masked SBTRKT project is something of an eclectic affair. While his debut album, SBTRKT, largely went for the jugular, Wonder Where We Land is a much more subtle, finessed affair. While there are, of course, heavyweight moments of thrilling dancefloor release - see the kaleidoscopic, Hud Mo-goes-post dubstep flex of "Lantern" - by and large the album sticks to slower tempos and woozier, more soulful moods, delivering tracks variously influenced by Prince, hip-hop, modern soul, R&B and piano ballads. The result is a sophisticated, vibrant and thoroughly mature electronic pop album blessed with an impressive array of guest vocalists (Jessie Ware, Andrew Ashong, Sampha and Ezra Koening all feature).

Review: After winning hearts from critics and listeners alike with his two 2012 albums, Lee Gamble delivers a hotly anticipated follow-up for his spiritual home, Pan. The tone of Koch is similarly concerned with plush ambient tones and murky atmospherics, while the beats meander from techno thrust (as on "Motor System") via fractious weirdo house shuffle (see "Nueme") through to intricate broken beat minimalism (courtesy of "Voxel City Spirals"). These differences are bound together by the immersive tones that linger consistently over the album, giving rise to a release that should satisfy anyone craving more of the goodness that populated Diversion 1994-1996.

Review: As the Houndstooth roster becomes increasingly diversified with age, so Call Super remains the label's brightest star. Responsible for inaugurating the Fabric-housed operation, J R Seaton has subsequently gone on to deliver some of their best 12" offerings and the time feels right for the Berlin-based producer to show his hand at full length albums. In contrast to the techno-focused approach of his Call Super 12"s, Suzi Ecto finds Seaton expanding on his palette with 11 tracks that veer wonderfully between moments of electronic poignancy and more thrusting fare. Spend some time with Suzi Ecto and you'll find it to be one of this year's most rewarding listens with new favourites emerging with each cycle - "Raindance" is the current fave here at Juno HQ.

Review: While albums have never been the focus of most techno producers' careers, it's still surprising to find that Satellite is Sam Paganini's first full length. Given that veteran Italian producer released his first 12" back in 1994, it's been a long time coming. Happily, Paganini has decided to stick to what he does best, filling Satellite with the kind of throbbing, floor-friendly tackle with which he's becoming accustomed. Of course, there's plenty of variety within that, from the rave-inclined pump of the Dubfire-ish "Down" and smooth, deep house-influenced sweetness of "Silver Panorama", to the cacophonous jazz fills and thunderouds bottom end of "Lotus" and deliciously melodious "Sunflower".

Review: While many producers tend to mellow with age, Brazilian-in-Bristol S.PY has taken the opposite approach. His early productions were expansive affairs, musically rich and often smothered in soaring strings, but his most recent album, Back To Basics Chapter 1, was altogether more robust and rolling with clear early jungle influences. This speedy follow-up - a partner piece, if you will - is similarly dark and atmospheric, whilst retaining his ear for melody and love of liquid rhythms. So while the majority of the material spits and pops to the rhythm of classic jungle breaks and surging basslines, there are hints of grandeur amongst the basement beats. "Stardust" and the "Inner City Life"-ish "Lost Orbit", in particular, are amongst his most expansive tracks yet.

Review: Having performed with Prince in the UK earlier this year, 3rdEyeGirl should be familiar to all those with an interest in the Purple One. He put the funk-rock trio together two years ago, honing their skills via endless jam sessions at his infamous Paisley Park studio. Here they make their full-length debut alongside the mercurial funk legend. In truth, Plectrumelectrum is a little heavier than many Prince-related projects, with heavy funk-rock rhythms and wild guitar solos the order of the day. Even so, there are clear R&B, soul and electrofunk influences throughout, with occasional tracks - "Boy Trouble" and "Stop This Train", in particular - offering echoes of Prince's previous all-female combos (particularly Vanity6 and Wendy & Lisa).

Review: After Order Of Noise presented Vessel as a fearsome force within and without the Young Echo collective, Seb Gainsborough brings his foremost alias back for another bout of long-playing exploration, and this time he's crafted a wholly different sound from homemade instruments. The drums rattle and thud with a tacit live-ness, while the synths wail, groan and strain their way through grand and opulent sound scapes to chill the spine and un-nerve the soul. It's a masterfully well-sculpted record with moments of light bleeding into bottomless pits of murk, and it further establishes Vessel as a powerful force in forward-thrusting electronic music.

Review: In a move that feels like a nod to Carl Craig's storied past in jazzier electronic realms, this new release on Planet E from Radio Slave and Thomas Gandey could sit very comfortably alongside Innerzone Orchestra and other such fusion classics. It's also a treat to see Matt Edwards stretching his legs away from his usual tech house fare, and there is a lot of exploration going on with this record. The rhythms come on delicate and intricate, while the melodic content unfurls in equally fluid formations, spanning a wealth of organic sources worked into mystical compositions without losing sight of the purposeful propulsion of electronic music. In essence, it's a mighty fine record that scores on a multitude of levels.