CD Album Recommendations November 2016

Review: "The idea was simply to make an ambient album", Dr Alex Paterson has said of The Orb's new album entitled Chill Out, World!. With partner in crime Thomas Fehlmann, the duo resisted looking back and studying their earlier (seminal) recordings and opted for a more spontaneous approach: a focus on where they are at today in 2016. COW is said to have been completed over the course of five sessions in only six months, between a relentless touring schedule which they also credit as being hugely influential on the album's sound. As always, strap yourself in for an immersive sound experience and possibly expect to hear some of the more courageous DJs dropping likes likes of "4am Exhale (Chill Out, World!)" or perhaps "Just Because I Really Really Luv Ya". Oh and the track titles are as baffling as ever too.

Review: Rod Modell has always been a prolific producer, so it's a genuine surprise to find that this is the DeepChord member's first solo full-length for the best part of a decade. Meditteranea is, tyupically, something of a slowly unfolding epic, with reverb-laden field recordings - made while the producer was on holiday in Spain - gradually making way for his usual languid, ambient-leaning dub techno rhythms. While all of his productions, be they solo or collaborative, tend towards the hugely atmospheric, Meditteranea is undoubtedly warmer and more quietly picturesque than much of his work. Modell apparently believes this is amongst his best work to date, and it's hard to disagree.

Review: How one appropriates themselves is allegedly what Guy Brewer looked inwards and asked himself regarding his current penchant for techno and experimental music and covering up a somewhat secretive past as part of drum and bass duo Commix. The Appropriation Stories LP addresses this subject head on, for his second full length release on Hospital Productions since 2013's Under A Single Banner. The Berlin based producer conducts experiments merging the worlds of harsh and textural techno (as heard on his respected Avian imprint) with industrial noise mayhem as executed under his Covered In Sand or Alexander Lewis aliases. All in all a compelling listen that provides moments of cerebral listening with adrenalised dancefloor fodder.

Review: The Chilean producer based in New York City Nicolas Jaar presents his new album entitled Sirens. This is his first solo album since 2011's Space Is Only Noise LP and released on his own Other People imprint. Jaar has been involved in various projects over the years, such as Darkside (with multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington), while last year he released Pomegranates, a collection of ambient tracks provided as an alternative soundtrack to the 1969 film The Colour of Pomegranates. The LP is six tracks that "flow seamlessly" between each other. According to a press release, the album is "Jaar's most topically cohesive and politically-minded record to date."

Review: Since establishing himself as one of British bass music's finest exponents of experimental dancefloor material at the tail end of the noughties, Matt "Phaeleh" Preston has gradually been moving towards the chill-out room. Like 2014's Sommus, Illusion of the Tale is an all-ambient affair, with Preston serving up tracks that veer from becalmed dreaminess and drifting coolness, to crystalline melodiousness, via the kind of deep space fodder that was once the preserve of German great Pete Namlook. It's hard to make genuinely brilliant ambient material, but Preston more than holds his own. As a result, Illusion of a Tale - smothered in atmospheric field recordings to enhance the trip - is amongst his strongest work to date.

Review: Brooklyn-based Chicagoan Max Ravitz has enjoyed modest success under the Patricia alias, releasing a pair of fine experimental house albums on Opal Tapes. His latest full-length is credited to M Rav, a pseudonym he first used for a particularly dirt-encrusted 'XMAS' 12" on L.I.E.S back in 2014. Common Purpose is mostly a collaborative affair, with the vast majority of the album's 15 tracks recorded alongside friends and guest producers including Cloudface (D. Reynolds), Bookworms (N. Dawson), Huerco S (B. Leeds), Jahiliyya Fields (M. Morandi), his wife Josephine Kingery, Terekke (M. Gardner) and Ngly. It's a typically ghostly, far-out and hazy affair, with Ravitz' experimental house, techno, hip-hop and electro rhythms smothered in freshly baked chords, dubbed-out textures, and the usual L.I.E.S grittiness. It makes for alluring listening, all told, and feels like something you should listen to at 5am, while still feeling the effects of a particularly epic night out.

Review: Metrik earned plenty of praise for his 2014 debut album, Universal Language, which cannily fused '90s tech-step, jungle and hardcore influences with Hospital Records' usual fluid, "disco D&B" sound. This follow-up is, if anything, even better. From the moment he unleashes the saucer-eyed positivity of opener "Hi", Life/Thrills whizzes past at a breakneck speed, with the entertainment factor high throughout. Highlights naturally come thick and fast, from the radio-friendly cheeriness of future anthem "Chasing Sunrise" (featuring vocalist Elizabeth Troy), and Ragga Twins hook-up "Worldwide" (reggae-breaks goes D&B), to the glistening, progressive house influenced stepper "Northern Lights", and glistening, LTJ Bukem-style liquid roller "Signal".

Review: Having previously been responsible for a number of themed compilations for Versatile Records, the Acid Arab crew has finally got round to delivering its' first album of original productions. Naturally, it continues their theme of blending North African and Middle Eastern sounds - be it vocals or instruments - with drum machine rhythms and vintage synthesizer sounds. This, though, is where the similarities to their previous work end. While there are a few house-influenced cuts dotted throughout (see the brilliant "Sayarat 303"), for the most part Musique De France veers further towards off-kilter electronic pop. Along the way, they doff a collective cap to new wave, punk-funk, and hazy indie-pop. While it may lack the crackling energy of their more dancefloor-minded productions, it's still a hugely enjoyable set.

Review: Since co-founding the Diagonal label in 2011, Powell has established himself as a serious talent with a penchant for the angular and unusual. XL Recordings seems to agree, as they've snapped up the producer's hotly anticipated debut album. As you might expect, it's built around the producer's distinctively fuzzy synthesizer motifs, industrial production style, punk attitude, and a variety of dystopian dancefloor rhythms. Crunchy guitar lines mingle with odd vocal samples, while mutant synth melodies combine gleefully with skittish beats and freakish, modular electronics. It's the kind of thing you'd have expected to hear from '80s industrial giants such as Throbbing Gristle or Cabaret Voltaire, but with a thoroughly contemporary twist.

Review: Martin 'Atjazz' Iveson has been very supportive of Julian Gomes in recent years, even going so far as to produce an album alongside him back in 2013. It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that the South African's debut solo album, Late Dreamer, is coming out on Iveson's label. The set is rich, woozy and soulful, and comes packed with guest spots and collaborations. High points come thick and fast, from the ambient poetry of Oveous-sporting opener "Dreams", and the breezy deep house soul of Sarai Jazz hook-up "Wait For You", to the Innervisions style tech-house pulse of "The System" (featuring Lazurusman), and genuinely life-affirming closer "Love Song 28" (boasting the impeccable, soft-touch vocals of Bobby).

Review: Kuedo's previous album, 2011's Severant, was marked out by the producer's willingness to combine Vangelis style soundtrack synth-scapes with the body-popping beat patterns of trap and footwork. On Slow Life, he switches focus a little, emphasizing his cinematic influences - Michael Mann and Mica Levi are mentioned in the press blurb - while toning down the beats and bass. The resulting set is seductively atmospheric, with drowsy chords, bewitching electronics and ear-catching melody lines combining to create beautiful and beguiling instrumental soundscapes. There's little in the way of club-focused material, but plenty of period detail and a string of brilliantly mood-altering compositions. It could well be Kuedo's strongest set yet.

Review: Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carla Dal Forno was once a member of a number of legendary Australian outfits. These days, the Melbournian resides in Berlin, which is presumably where she met Blackest Ever Black boss Kiran Sande. He loved her clandestine, atmospheric take on pop - think minimal wave, cold-wave and early Joy Division mixed with contemporary ambience, and leftfield synth-pop - and has decided to put out this debut album. Comprised of four songs and four instrumentals, You Know What It's Like has a timeless feel; the folksy, Scott Walker-influenced "Dry In The Rain", for example, sounds like it could have been recorded at any point over the last 40 years, while "Dragon Breath" has a genuine Radiophonic Workshop feel.

Review: There's no doubt that the brilliant, synthesizer-heavy soundtrack played a key part in the success of Netflix's deliciously odd thriller, Stranger Things. Written and performed by Survive members Kyle Dixon and Michael Steen, it got the right balance between John Carpenter style creepiness, Vangelis-like melodiousness, and the cinematic feel of classic movie soundtrack material. Happily, the streaming behemoth has decided to release two volumes of musical highlights from the series, beginning with this first volume. It's testament to the quality of the Texas-based duo's work that those who've not seen the series should still enjoy it. This is atmospheric, clandestine electronic music of the highest order.

Review: When it comes to dubstep, Distance (AKA DJ/producer Greg Sanders) has pretty much done it all. Since making his debut in 2003, he's released two fine albums on Planet Mu, mixed a volume of the Dubstep Allstars series, and laid down a string of killer 12" singles. With this history in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising that Dynamis, his first full-length for Tectonic, sees him look further afield or inspiration. While heavyweight sub-bass and the rhythmic swagger of dubstep remain at the heart of his productions, the album also incorporates elements of dubstep, experimental electronica, IDM, electro, ambient, and even Nine Inch Nails style fuzz-rock intensity.

Review: Throughout his long production career, Phil Kieran has largely aimed to satisfy the demands of dancefloors via club-ready 12" singles that variously touch on ballsy techno and robust house. On Blinded By The Sun, his second solo full-length, the Belfast-based producer has wisely decided to showcase a wider variety of styles and influences. It's an approach that consistently pays dividends, from the spoken words and African drum rhythms of opener "Solar Storm", and stylish electro-pop shuffler "Realities Forgotten", to the Joy Division style alt-rock rumble of "Think Too Much", and the atmospheric strings and drowsy vocals of downtempo closer "Find Love".