Juno Recommends Ambient / Drone September 2020

Review: They say good things come to those who wait. Suso Saiz has been waiting more than a generation for Suzanne Kraft to come along and re-contextualise his work. Finally, then, acclaimed new age guitarist who emerged through the La Orquesta de las Nubes and Musica Esporadica projects, meets his match with the precise but organic sound designs of one of electronic music's finest contemporaries, and the result is magnificent.

The whole thing feels like it should be heard in some kind of sensory deprivation tank - floating on the water's surface, blissfully allowing the drones, tones, chords and loose harmonies to wash our minds. Of course work like "Beloved Din" comes with more of a determined impact, its tribal drums and woodwind accents creating an otherworldly vibe, or at least a sense of the exotic. For the most part, though, this is lush, tranquil, mystical and wholly inviting stuff.

Review: It's a common misconception that ambient can't be loud or make itself known. This couldn't be further from the truth, with some of the canon's most special moments coming when the beats drop and the overall atmosphere is a strange kind of expanded intensity - a sense of build without blatant intent or obvious destination.

The relatively short, but impeccably sweet Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mine back catalogue is very much proof of this. One of a string of re-releases from the stable, here The Ambientist presents six tracks that veer from the opiate beats of '1', to the proto-jungle-tech of the deeply atmospheric '6', calling at loose Balearic rhythms, beautiful drones and crystalline acid house. Whatever you take from all that, don't forget to take it with you.

Review: Repressed after its original release, we're talking super-emotionally charged electronic music recalling, at different moments, classic Orbital, the most euphoric hardcore breaks and the hybrid dance-chillout sound popularised during the 1990s. Forget the nostalgia trip, through, while this is grounded in - and coming out of - the ongoing classic 'rave music' revival, it's clearly born in our era.

Review: Billing themselves as an ethno-industrial outfit, French group Vox Populi! have more in common with the German kosmische movement than the sound of their own fair land. They came from serious stock, including Axel Kyrou's mother who was a musique concrete pioneer at GRM, which set them up to make a bold and challenging debut album Myscitismes, originally released on their own Vox Man label in 1985. Combining advanced studio manipulation and liberal FX treatments with a pastoral folk thrum, motorik synth work and a heavy dose of pan-continental mysticism, they created a stunning and forward-thinking work that sounds shockingly relevant in the here and now. Finally reissued after more than 30 years, now is the perfect chance to grab this trailblazing slice of sonic sorcery.

Review: There's no getting away from the dancefloor-ready moments on this latest addition to the ongoing exclusive compilation series from the Touched and Further Electronix stables. Featuring a host of legendary names from the electronic and dance music worlds, it's leaning to the rave-ier side of electro and techno and makes a strong case for doing away with anything that isn't unashamedly down with the strobes.

Or at least those are the tracks that immediately leap out - Humanoid's typically sensory electro assault on 'Tower', 808 State's 7AM anthem, 'Ariel', and 'Monster', a hardcore-infused beast by Corporeal Face. But there's another, subtler side at play here, too, with John Beltran's ghostly, jungle-garage beauty 'When It Rains', and the deep chugging moodiness of 'Clouds Are Made In Factories' by Anders Liar. Basically buy this album now, copies won't last. And we're not just saying that because we're the shopkeepers.

Review: This might be one of the most beautiful records you'll buy all year, largely because of its silk-screened sleeve art that seems to hypnotise the moment you look at it. Don't take that to mean the music is any sort of let down, though - the three tracks here are deeply complex but never obtusely challenging, highly original but familiar enough to pull in a broad range of ears.

For the uninitiated, experimental musician Iku Sakan and Muneomi Senju, best known as the drummer from Boredoms and Urichipangoon, are legends of the Japanese underground, and as such this is a veritable meeting of acclaimed genius minds. The results are highly percussive and rhythmic non-bangers, from the mechanical arrangements of "Green Journey" through to "Senpuuki"'s singular ear worm tone.

Review: It's always difficult when a track has such an immense legacy everyone knows it decades on from its release date, and the release dates of the many movies that made it such an iconic tune. Such is the case with Yello's 'Oh Yeah', the breathy and bizarre 1980s electro-funk stepper we all love to forget the title of but can always chime in with the 'ch-ch-chas' at exactly the right moment.

This one moment of glory does not a legendary Swiss electro outfit make, though, and Yello's entire back catalogue is worth anyone's time, and this latest addition, their first new outing since 2016's 'Toy', is as good a place as any to begin. From the whispered house groove of "Core Shift", to "Arthur Speak"'s twisted cold wave chug, or "Hot Pan"'s epic, movie-scale acid weirdness, once again it's about whimsy, whit, precision and huge vision - a serious trip.

Review: It has been eight years since Gary Numan gave us 'Hybrid', and we need the frustrations, anger, rage, anxiety and sinister moods that pervade this growing and snarling masterpiece now more than ever, even if that's just to help let it all out. Logically titled - this is perhaps Numan's most inter-referential and genre-colliding record - thankfully you could hear the album daily and its impact would never wane.

From the post-apocalyptic breakbeats of 'Hybrid' itself, through the menacing, operatic epic that is 'Dark', 'Torn''s metal electroclash and the emo-goth New Romanticism of 'Down In The Park', it's a breathtaking experience taking it all in, one that compares to the most charged, challenging but fundamentally life affirming art. A schooling from a genuine genius whose studio track record remains impeccable.