CD Album Recommendations May 2015

Review: Spanish techno stalwart Oscar Mulero trailed this fourth album in as many years with Dualistic Concept, a set of typically dark, hypnotic and ghostly remixes. That can be found on the second disc, and ties in neatly with the robust, forthright and atmospheric sound of the album itself. Muscle & Mind has moments of beauty, of course - see the blissful ambience of "Mental Causation" and enveloping chords and found sounds of "Unconscious" - but for the most part it's concerned with the power of rhythm. Few are better at wringing maximum intensity from loop-heavy jams, and Mulero's love of dusty white noise, trippy melodies and skittering percussion guarantees variety in the grooves throughout.

Review: Jeff Mills has always tried to do things differently, but few could have foreseen his collaboration with classical pianist Mikhail Rudy. Back in February, the two men joined forces to write, and subsequently perform, a soundtrack for Henri-Georges Clouzot's unfinished 1964 film L'Enfer. When Time Splits is a recording of that performance, with Rudy providing evocative piano motifs and thoughtful solos, accompanied by typically spacey, sci-fi inspired electronics from the Detroit maestro. At times it's willfully discordant, at others immensely beautiful. Throughout, it remains a fascinating study in combining the worlds of modern classical, jazz, ambient and experimental electronics.

Review: It's been a long time between drinks for German combo Bambi Davidson, whose last full-length - the lo-fi rock oddity El Faco - dropped some 15 years ago. After a decade and a half of improvisational live performances, they return with an expanded line-up and a really rather good sophomore set for Mudd's Claremont 56 imprint. Whereas their early work was stripped-back and to the point, Brunswick is packed with undulating, expansive grooves, gentle, sun-kissed melodies, lilting pedal steel and woozy, dub-influenced production. Tracks don't so much come and go, but meander attractively, offering Balearic mood pieces that doff a cap to krautrock and dub disco. It's an impressive set, all told, and one that will appeal to Claremont 56's growing fan base.

Review: Stephen Hitchell and Rod 'the god' Modell's CV313 project returns with yet another album length excursion in the shape of Baring Stars. Consisting of new CV313 material, this hour long CD takes the shape of an extended live set from the pair with a mixing desk the main instrument around which all manner of analogue equipment was used. Sets like this should be used as examples in the dictionary definition of immersion, with Hitchell and Modell really reaching deep into the sonic ether for some truly rewarding ambient electronics. A fine addition to the CV313 discography.

Review: Even by the usually epic standards of Echospace - who are, after all, no strangers to long, drawn-out tracks - Auratia is particularly grandiose in concept and introduction. Inspired by one of the worst blizzards in Michigan's history, and containing sounds and textures that started out as field recordings, this latest missive from Stephen Hitchell's solo Variant project is made up of two tracks, each around an hour long. While hard to get a handle on from short clips, it's as beautiful, intoxicating and immersive as anything he's produced to date. Sat somewhere between drone, ambient and dub techno, Auratia is at times becalmed, intense, picturesque and, predictably, rather chilly.

Review: Moodmusic affiliate Dave DK is no stranger to Kompakt, having featured on several of their compilations over the years and done the odd remix. Their relationship is formalised here with the arrival of Val Maira, the Berlin producer's third album and a concerted attempt to go beyond the impressive production skills previously shown by Dave DK to offer "deeply personal expressiveness and emotional impact". Listening through the 11 tracks on this album, you'd have to say it's a success; Val Maira is rife with the kind of emotive electronics you expect from a Kompakt LP and is perfectly sequenced to run through a gamut of moods. A fine album from DDK.

Review: It was, apparently, a desire to release music by Kuniyuki Takahashi - one of Japan's most versatile electronic musicians of the last two decades - that inspired the launch of Mule Musiq a decade ago. Takahashi has released umpteen albums under his Koss alias for the label since, and here delivers another: the eerie, beautiful and evocative Silence. Inspired by his love for piano players such as Bill Evans, Abdullah Ibrahim and Lyle Mays, the album fund Takahashi in full on ambient mode, combining dub techno style textures (but no percussion or grooves, at least in the usual sense) and field recordings, with ambient electronics and, most prominently, beautiful piano lines. As a result, it's a hugely calming set, but one that ebbs and flows evocatively throughout.

Review: Given how damn prolific Tom Jenkinson is, it's hard to believe Damogen Furies is the first Squarepusher album in 3 years. Issued through regular hub Warp, Damogen Furies is the thirteenth Squarepusher album and in order to keep things fresh Jenkinson apparently decided to record all the tracks in one take without any subsequent edits. He's quoted as using words like brutal and visceral in the sales notes and those are definitely feelings that come up when listening to Damogen Furies. The opening two tracks "D Frozen Aac" and "Kwang Bass" which sound like Daft Punk pulled backwards through a vacuum and an arcade machine desiccated respectively, set the tone for the album as a whole. Very Squarepusher.

Review: For a man whose legendary status has long been assured - he was, after all, the original cosmic disco DJ - it would be fair to say that Daniele Baldelli's production record is patchy, at best. It's heartening to report, then, that Cosmic Drag, his first solo full-length since 2009, is arguably his strongest release to date. Typically trippy and blessed with both psychedelic electronics, and vintage analogue synthesizers, it joins the dots between experimental Italian synth-wave, chugging electronic disco, yearning drum machine funk, glassy-eyed soundscapes and pitched-down disco-funk, all the while sounding like it could have been recorded in the DJ's late '70s and early '80s heyday.

Review: Two years on from the release of their eponymous debut album, Still Vor Talent regulars HVOB returns with Trialog, a pleasingly confident follow-up. The Austrian duo of vocalist Anna Muller and Paul Wallner have chosen to take a slightly darker approach, with more nods towards techno amongst their woozy, off-kilter pop and outsider house grooves. It's a formula that frequently hits the mark, with Muller's distinctive, breathy vocals perfectly complimenting Wallner's bubbling electronics and soft-focus grooves. Highlights are frequent and numerous, from the hazy bliss of "Oxid", to the sublime, beatless beauty of "The Anxiety To Please".

Review: Former Red Hot Chilli Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has enjoyed an eclectic career since leaving the band, moving between solo albums that touch on lo-fi rock, psychedelia, synth pop and, bizarrely, drum and bass, and production stints for hip-hop acts, and, weirdly, Duran Duran. Here he changes tack again, donning the Trickfinger alias to deliver an enjoyably melodious, no-nonsense set of electro, acid house and techno tracks for the Acid Test series from Absurd. There's not a guitar in sight, but plenty of ragged 303 motifs, punchy drum machine rhythms, tuneful synthesizer refrains and barely disguised tributes to vintage Reflex Records jams. Highlights are plentiful, with the skittish, early Aphex Twin style madness of "Sain" standing out.

Review: The truth is out there! Or in the case of The Exaltics producer Robert Witschakowski it's here in this CD compendium of the German electro exponent's most important tracks, "plus some unreleased stuff," made between 2008 and 2013. The 11 track selection goes to prove how versatile a producer Witschakowski is when it comes to the art of electro, equally willing to go full robot dance ("Journey To Jupiter" being a bracing example) as he is to veer off into more experimental and abstract terrain ("Compressed Thoughts" and "Quiet Earth" stand out ). The title track meanwhile is as beautiful as anything Gerard Hanson has committed to wax. All hails the Exaltics!

Review: Drew Lustman has gone back to basics on this latest full length excursion, dropping his now familiar Falty DL moniker for a set that Planet Mu claims was made "free of conceptual constraints". In some ways, it's a smart move. The Crystal Cowboy is effectively Lustman at his most playful and dancefloor focused, eschewing the impressive, far-reaching complexities of his Falty DL work in favour of straight-up dancefloor jams - and occasionally dreamy IDM workouts - that pay tribute to the halcyon days of British hardcore, early jungle and 'intelligent techno'. This freedom seems to have brought the best out of Lustman, who has shameless delivered the sort of set guaranteed to put smiles on listeners' faces.

Review: Action Bronson may look like the projects-dwelling offspring of Seasick Steve, but he has serious mic skills - as anyone who fell in love with his hard-hitting, initially self-released mix tapes will attest. Such has been his rise over the last four years that he now finds himself playing with the big boys, delivering a major label debut featuring production from Alchemist, Mark Ronson, 88-Keys and Party Supplies, amongst others. In many ways, Mr Wonderful sounds like a hip-hop classic in the making, with tracks that evoke the sound's "golden era" while sounding impressively fresh. Throughout, Bronson provides a unique voice, delivering his flows like a seasoned pro.