CD Album Recommendations October 2013

Review: The masterful Sven Weisemann returns to the album format with Inner Motions, his second long player of a storied career as a producer of supple, genteel house music. It's released, naturally, on the Mojuba label whose sound has been defined by Weisemann and compatriot Nick Sole, and offers an extensive demonstration of the Berlin based producer's capacity to combine heart wrenching musicality with the crisp dynamism needed for club play. Arriving in some typically luxuriant packaging from Mojuba, Inner Motions is apparently "inspired by electronic music's classic and timeless albums of the early and mid 90s" and its 12 tracks form part of a greater whole. As intoxicating a listening experience it is, Weisemann has still ensured some of the music here can be equally powerful out of the collective context with "Rejection" and "Evolver" notable highlights.

Review: Since pitching up on Soma back in 2011, Rod Modell's Deepchord work has slowly shifted focus, moving from dub-soaked techno hypnotism to experimental ambience via cinematic electronica. At the same time, the Detroit producer has devoted more energy to audiovisual projects, delivering live shows that mix musical drones, pops and crackles with similarly distorted, hallucinogenic visuals. 20 Electrostatic Soundfields, his third full-length for Soma, is seemingly a culmination of this trend. Presented as both an audio CD and DVD - with accompanying visuals - it consists entirely of atmospheric ambience built around drones, heady chords and manipulated white noise. Adventurous and intoxicating, it's one of his deepest sets to date.

Review: Famously, George Evelyn's Nightmares on Wax project is the only surviving link to Warp's early days as a bastion of Yorkshire house and techno. Of course, the Leeds native left that style behind years ago - though, interestingly, two tracks on this belated seventh album ("Eye (Can See)" and "Tapestry") touch on soul-sampling house - instead turning his attention to slinky downtempo grooves. For the most part, Feelin' Good sticks to the plan, offering up slow, laidback, summery fusions of soul, dub, funk, instrumental hip-hop and string-drenched Balearic moods. It's something of a return to form after a string of so-so sets, recalling Evelyn's two greatest moments, 1990s' downtempo classics Smokers Delight and Carboot Soul.

Review: It's been three long years since Danish producer Trentemoller's last full-length, almost an eternity in electronic music terms. In that time, his capabilities clearly haven't dimmed, because Lost is arguably his strongest album to date. While his ear for bewitching soundscapes remain - see folksy ambient opener "The Dream" - he seems to have used the time to create tracks that showcase a broader range of influences (new wave, dark leftfield pop, electronic jazz, smoky torch songs), greater emotional depth and increased musical complexity. As such, it's an album that rewards repat listens, but those rewards are well worth the investment.

Review: It says a lot about Sub Focus's position as one of British dance music's few genuine crossover stars that this second album was "leaked" ahead of release (an honour usually reserved for top level artists). These days, Nick Douwma is a genuine EDM star, capable of filling huge venues and producing radio-friendly anthems that blur the boundaries between D&B, dubstep, electro-house and, yes, pop. Yet in many ways, he's stuck to his guns; for all the pop vocals and accessible fare on offer, most of the tracks on Torus still pack a punch. There might be more melodies, but Douwma hasn't lost sight of the dancefloor (see the rising "Safe and Sound" or heavyweight wobbler "Falling Down" for proof).

Review: Some of dance music's most enduring albums have been skittish in the extreme, gleefully darting between sounds and styles with all the unrestrained joy of a toddler high on orange squash and biscuits. Off The Charts, veteran East Midlands deep house duo Rhythm Plate's long-promised debut album (some 15 years after they dropped their first single on DIY Discs), is one of those albums. It stylistically jumps between all manner of kaleidoscopic treats - from piano-laden boogie-house jams, dancefloor soul and soul-soaked hip-hop workouts, to bustling acid jack, Yellow Magic Orhcestra style synth fetishism and even a dash of Plantlife-ish grizzled funk - with the wide-eyed glee of an excitable teenager. Bravo!

Review: Much of the press leading up to the release of Barclay Crenshaw's third album under the Claude von Stroke moniker (the last, Bird Brain, dropped in 2009) has concentrated on his rediscovery of his little-known drum & bass roots, and his flirtation with Juke-influenced rhythms. While you can certainly here these influences - check the pared-down synth melodies and skittering 808 rhythms of "The Bridge" and the jungle revival of "Oakland Rope" - Urban Animal is about a lot more than that. Its' influences are many and varied - deep house, UK garage, crunk, P-funk, even organ-heavy funk (see "The Clapping Track") - giving it a rounded, "proper dance album" feel. It's also arguably Crenshaw's strongest set to date.

Review: Since making his long-playing debut with the acclaimed, retro-futurist electro madness of 1996's Module 2, Italian producer Bochum Welt has only reappeared sporadically. His last full length was released in 2008, and there's not been an awful lot since. Good Programs, then, is a belated return to action, and an impressive one at that. Largely eschewing the stone-cold rhythms of electro in favour of woozy IDM, crystalline ambience and evocative atmopsherics, Good Programs sounds like the work of a producer who has long-since abandoned the rush-inducing hedonism of clubland. In all honesty, it's all the better for that, too; there's a musical complexity and emotional resonance at the heart of Good Programs previously lacking from much of the Italian's work.

Review: When Will Ozanne first emerged in 2011, there was genuine amazement that someone so effortlessly soulful and melancholic could come from Southampton. This is meant as no disrespect to the South Coast city, it's just there's something surprisingly otherworldly about Ozanne's deep and intoxicating blends of blue-eyed soul, melancholic electronics and shuffling psychedelia. This sophomore album shows him at his tear-jerking best, delivering a soft focus set that gloriously joins the dots between low-key pop, leftfield soul, Radiohead-ish electronica, sparse dubstep and dreamy ambience. It's an arresting sound, oozing with heartfelt emotion, and as a result Invisible In Your City rewards repeat listens.

Review: Nic TVG, AKA producer Nic Taylor, has been lurking in the shadows since 2010, occasionally stepping forward to deliver decidedly dark, murky and unusual blends of drum and bass, abstract electronica and leftfield beats. Here, he drops his first full-length, a cacophonous, spooky and occasionally unsettling collection of mood pieces largely built around distorted cut-ups of freestyle jazz drum workouts. It makes for arresting listening, with the likes of "I'm Sorry I Puked On Your Dress" sounding like Ginger Baker in the midst of a particularly dark acid trip, and "Out of No More" like Kelpe after gorging on Exit releases. There are easier-to-digest D&B cuts - see "Sitting in the Crosswalk" - but these lack the freakish intensity of his more experimental outings.

Review: With their spiralling synth melodies, bombastic rhythms and attractive pop hooks, Austrian duo Camo and Krooked are fast becoming one of drum & bass's biggest attractions. Their sound - bold, attractive, brash and shot through with electronic funk - is a perfect fit with Hospital Records' current fascination with festival-friendly drum and bass. This fourth album for Tony Colman's veteran imprint delivers more smile-inducing thrills, offering the kind of fare that should find wider appeal outside the D&B scene. Unashamedly dancefloor-focused, Zeitgeist oozes positivity, from the tropical jungle of "Aurrora" and darkside pomp of "Ruhepuls", to the cut-up white-knuckle ride that is "Vice".

Review: While their previous albums have stuck largely to the new wave and synth-pop influenced tech-house formula with which they made their name, Atomic Age - their third full-length - sees Canadian trio My Favorite Robot in full-on coldwave mode. The result is a dark, atmospheric and intoxicating set that blends modern production techniques with vintage synths, maudlin vocals and heaps of mascara-clad 1980s alternative style. Of course, there are nods to other influences - most notably original electro and industrial - but the overall impression is of paranoid new wave dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. When they really hit the spot - as on the Radiohead-ish "The Walk" or the Claro Intellecto style title track - Atomic Age is particularly impressive.