Juno Recommends Leftfield May 2018

Review: Kris Baha is fast becoming one of the most essential operators in the deviant disco underbelly of Berlin's scene, despite having landed in the city relatively recently. Baha's credentials with labels like Power Station and parties in Melbourne are all that you need to know, and now this release on the ever mighty Cocktail d'Amore seals the deal. Baha has never sounded more confident, pinging deviant synths around nasty drum bite and channeling the gods of industrial darkness to make some rugged body music for the darker kind of dancefloor. The experimental, non-party tracks are just as wild, dealing in all manner of uncompromising noise to further Baha's journey to the upper realms of sonic mud slingers.

Review: New York synth-wizard Tommy Mendel was one of the go-to session musicians of the 1980s, playing for and alongside such greats as Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, The Clash and The B-52s. Throughout the period, he also recorded a swathe of solo synth-pop songs, very few of which were ever released at the time. Here, Canadian diggers Invisible City Editions attempt to set the record straight, gathering together ten mostly unreleased gems from Mandel's vaults. It's a strong collection, all told, with Mandel flitting between electrofunk-influenced pop gems ("You're My Only Lover"), spacey synth-scapes ("Aint Got No $"), fuzzy P-funk ("Music Business"), stylish new wave experimentalism ("I Just Want You To Love Me") and atmospheric, near-Balearic treats ("Kin Tama").

Review: Contort Yourself continues to explore the crossover between decrepit 80s industrial and the modern artists drawing inspiration from those heady, experimental times, and the results are as thrilling as ever. Haydee's "No Gouvernance" is a brutal charge of drums and distorted yelps, while 1983 jam "De Omnibus Dubitandum" by Hunting Lodge fuses layers of distortion and proto acid with live bass and brittle drums. Catriel lays out a sinister but seductive message on "Nbdymksmefeellowlikeudo", Giant Swan bring their raucous avant-techno styles to "Dare" and then Gotshell remix Hunting Lodge into a thunderous industrial techno charge.

Review: Bristol based collective Young Echo feature many a hero of the local scene including Jabu, Kahn, Vessel, Ossia and Killing Sound among many others. Featuring what has been described as skeletal dancehall, dread electronics, outsider pop and love songs swaying in hacked up ambience - be prepared! From the sludgy fentanyl groove of "Sedated", the jagged beat experiment on "Bibber Heads" or lo-fi industrial textures like "Oh, Won't You" or "Wicked Ones" which get rather abrasive. Then again there are more ethereal moments and these were the ones we enjoyed the most - like on the sombre "Stare" or the sexy suspense of "Oran" (Version).

Review: While there is barely any solid information as to the identity and ideals behind the Lokal Affair project, this is the sort of material that speaks for itself, and one which has successfully tapped into the current state of affairs in the electronic game. This badass EP lands on the increasingly relevant Boomarm Nation, and carries three killer infusions of cryptic pseudo house and ethnic rhythms for the more open-minded DJ. If there was such a thing as 'small-room tools' then these would be it; watch out for the Alter Echo remix on the flip, too, as it's a rather voracious affair for the dance. Big ol' tip here!

Review: Arte Moderno was a short-lived outfit from the Canary Islands who scored an underground dancefloor hit in 1982 with the spaced-out punk-funk/new wave/dub disco grooves of "Ninette En New York" before all but disappearing. Here, we finally get a chance to hear what else they were up to, as Musica Cabeza - the debut album they recorded but then shelved in 1982, finally gets a release. It's a quietly impressive set, all told, offering up tracks that doff a cap to the likes of Talking Heads, Woo, Konk and Bauhaus, while also offering a fresh take on electric/electronic post-punk fusion. Had it been released when it was recorded there's no doubt it would have become an underground classic; now that it's finally seen the light of day, we can confirm it's every bit as good as we'd hoped for.

Review: The first artist album to be released on Mumdance and Logos' Different Circles imprint is from Chevel. The Italian producer (Dario Tronchin) presents his most focused and realised vision on the Always Yours LP, serving up some textural, abrasive, industrial edged and UK influenced perspectives. A lot has changed since his early releases on labels like Stroboscopic Artefacts where he created his brand of ethereal techno. From the contorted techno of dynamic opener "The Call", to the bass heavy sludge of "Bullet" or "Arp 2600" to moments of jagged/angular IDM like "Data Recovery", Tronchin's sonic realisations prove they've certainly reached another level in his career.

Review: Following a fine solo EP from Jonas Friedlich, the Molten Moods label returns to type with another compilation style EP featuring a quartet of cuts from their growing roster of artists. Kessel Vale kicks off proceedings with the lightly melodic, becalmed electronic experimentalism of "Voguing Geisha", before Skee Mask unfurls the Autechre-does-deep-dubstep flex of "Fanta Ocean" with a little assistance from label co-founder Jonas Yamer. On the flipside, Konrad Wehrmeister layers drifting, melancholic melodies over heavy sub-bass and skittish electro beats, while Jonas Yehmer joins the dots between spaced-out dub techno and out-of-this-world ambient on "Insgeheim". Impressive stuff, all told.

Review: Seb Gainsborough aka VESSEL and Chester Giles are ASDA, a new pseudo-noise and demi-industrial outfit from the UK issued through the emergent Bristol label FuckPunk. The former should need no introduction, while the latter is just now making his debut as vocalist so we're pretty intrigued to hear what he has to say! "Spud-U-Like" is a booming, percussion-driven clusterbomb that sounds like the inside of a tank engine, while "Trash&Ready" takes blatant inspiration from the likes of Throbbing Gristle and the like, boasting Giles' dystopian words, an utterly broken arrangement and a distorted, poisonous bassline. "Bells" is the more abstract, however, where Vessel only inserts subtle flurries of sound among the noir beat poetry of Chester. Gorgeous stuff.

Review: You could say that Kodiak Bachine is Brazil's greatest ever Brazilian electronic producer. That would not be an overstatement, it's just a simple fact. It was 1982 when he first released this EP, and it's been a classic, and a favourite of ours, ever since. In fact, "Electricidade" is so powerful because it sounds like it could have been made today; its tenebrous synths filling the airwaves from every angle, giving the track a strange sensation of lust and wonder. The flip, "Espirito Das Maquinas", is another enchanting ride through broken electric cables and abandoned power plants, a place where Bachine clearly thrives and surpasses all expectations. Highly recommend reissue!