CD Album Recommendations September 2016

Review: Since first pricking our collective consciousness back in 2010, John Tye and Pete Fowler's Seahawks project has delivered a string of near-perfect albums. Escape Hatch is their 10th studio set to date, and sees them continue their pursuit of hazy, Balearic-minded downtempo perfection. In turns dreamy, soft-focus, psychedelic and effortlessly horizontal, it sees them meld their usual swirling chords, undulating grooves and atmospheric samples with a variety of influences (most notably classic ambient house, Tangerine Dream, new age synthesizer works, and original Berlin school pioneers). It's colourful, evocative and blissfully loved-up, in keeping with much of the duo's endlessly enjoyable back catalogue.

Review: With his trailblazing Black Mill Tapes series now a distant memory, Pye Corner Audio man Martin Jenkins seems to have made a conscious effort to slow down. Stasis is his first album for a year, and feels far more considered than some of his previous work. Some may bemoan the lack of experimental spontaneity, but the album contains some of Jenkins' best work to date. Check, for example, the sharp, ghostly chords, starburst melodies and metronomic synthesizer arpeggios of "Autonomization", the vintage '90s ambient electronica of "Ganzfeld Effect", and the dreamy, heartfelt bliss of the similarly minded "Ways Regained"; all are amongst Jenkins' most emotive tracks to date, and simply bristle with brilliant ideas.

Review: Canadian disco don and deep digger Eddie C has certainly come a long way since his days as a local DJ in Banff, Alberta. Now based in Berlin and joining a huge community of expat producers in the city, the On The Shore LP was indeed influenced by his new hometown. His studio being located right on the River Panke in Berlin's growing Wedding district; an area still not fully in the grasp of gentrification yet and it was these lovely and relaxing surrounds, being surrounded by fellow artists in the studios which fuelled inspiration for this release. Expect a mixed bag of all things slo-mo, low slung, deep and above all funky, for sure!

Review: A-Ton is a new label from Berlin heavyweights Ostgut Ton, designed to focus on "ambient, archive and alternative music". They've pulled off something of a coup for this debut release, persuading British techno legend Luke Slater to open up the archives of his '90s intelligent techno project, The 7th Plain. Chronicles I boasts a mixture of previously released and unheard material, which moves from glistening, outer-space ambience (the near perfect "Boundaries", "Grace"), to fizzing Motor City techno ("T-Funk Statues"), via intergalactic intelligent techno, dusty downtempo grooves (the jazzy hip-hop rhythms and ambient electronics of "Slip 7 Sideways"), and melodious IDM.

Review: In recent times, Studio Barnhus co-founder Kornel Kovacs has delivered a string of eccentric, hard-to-pin-down 12" singles that drag house music in weird and wonderful new directions. He's at it again on Bells, the Swede's long-awaited debut album. While largely deep, melodious and quirkily lo-fi - the distinct sound of tape hiss is never far away - Kovacs nevertheless veers off in many different directions over the album's ten-track direction. So while the pitched-down UK funky rhythms and 8-bit synth melodies of "Josey's Tune" impress, dancefloors may prefer the rambunctious, redlined Latin-house thump of "Gex", the sparkling rave revivalism of "Dance...When The Record Spins", or the rubbery bounce and pulverizing analogue bass of "Pop".

Review: We've always been big fans of Delroy Edwards. But, we don't only rate his music; we love his attitude and the way in which he's gone about releasing material through his own LA Club Resource imprint. Whether it be grainy, maladjusted techno or noise and distorted juke, he has managed to build a concrete sound aesthetic for himself. Moreover, we love the fact that he's waited until now to drop his debut album instead of going in too early and risking to dilute his talents because of pressure from the scene of which he's part of, a scene which expects instant gratification and albums from the start. Hanging At The Beach has been described by Edwards himself as the most personal work he's done to date, and it truly sounds like the artist has space to play and get his mood across correctly throughout its thirty cuts. These range from his signature house sound, through to lo-Fi drum machine sketches and fine segments of power electronics. This one comes hugely recommended!

Review: Following turns on labels like Creme Organization, Rvng Intl. and Further Records to Bio Rhythm, Bedouin Records and Sequencias, among many others, it feels like only a matter of time before Jamal Moss has graced pretty much every label worth talking about. Following his Cosmic Bebop ?LP on his own Mathematics Recordings, Moss, under his adored Hieroglyphic Being alias, surfaces on Ninja Tune sub Technicolour. The Disco's Of Imhotep is a bright, distorted and colourful affair which harbours its own trademark, synthetic chimes, kicked off wonderfully with the sweetly tonal number "The Shrine Of The Serpent Goddess". Rather than pulling together tracks at random, the album overall sounds like something that's been crafted as a whole, and while drums and distortion may tear away at speakers cones the world over, it's the melodies of this record, annihilated or otherwise, that really make The Disco's Of Imhotep one of a kind.

Review: It's been a long time between drinks for "daisy age" hip-hop pioneers De La Soul. While they've remained a familiar presence on the live circuit, And The Anonymous Nobody - their ninth album - is their first studio set for a decade. Predictably, it's rather good. It's built around warm, sometimes lushly orchestrated grooves created by session musicians, rather than hand-picked samples, and as a result feels loose and groovy, with their trademark raps perfectly fitting the head-nodding, life-affirming backing tracks. It's packed with big name cameos, too, with Jill Scott, David Byrne, Damon Albarn, Snoop Dogg, Estelle, Pete Rock and Usher, amongst others, all doing their bit to lend a hand.

Review: The King Of Beats compilation of J Dilla material first surfaced in 2014 as a limited edition boxset quite appropriately shaped like the E-Mu SP-1200 machine on which the much-missed producer crafted the majority of the productions. That boxset housed the music in a variety of formats (vinyl, tape and floppy disc) with the Yancey Media Group calling it an "iconic collection" of J Dilla work. After a series of 12" samplers last year, YMG now bring The King Of Beats to the CD format on a double disc edition that will delight J Dilla completists. There's a whopping 62 tracks to get through across the two CDs, and listening through will only serve as a reminder of James Yancey's legacy on the world of hip hop production.

Review: Since the departure of Dominic Butler, Factory Floor's Gabriel Gurnsy and Nik Colk Void has consciously moved away from the Throbbing Gristle/Cabaret Voltaire inspired sound with which they made their name. On 25 25, their third full length, they continue this voyage. While there are occasional reminders of their industrial roots dotted throughout the album, the most obvious influences this time round are acid house and no-nonsense European techno. Their tracks have always been subtly shifting, full-throttle, groove-based affairs, of course, but this time round they seem more intent on sound-tracking breathless, 4am dancefloor moments, rather than showcasing their arty, experimental roots. That all of the eight tracks bang hard is a given.

Review: German duo Neonlight have been carefully crafting a unique rainbow neuro signature over the years on labels such as Lifted, Bad Taste, Eatbrain, and Close 2 Death for almost ten years now. Their debut album is long overdue... And boy it's been worth the wait. A concept trip around the lesser known galaxies, we're treated to their full narrative spectrum that's soundtracked by pure cinemtica ("Neon City"), creepy techy rollers ("Microbots"), manic tripletty funk ("Triple B") and Vangelis-level synthtopia ("Bad Omen"). Musical, heavyweight, sci-fi: this really is a serious piece of work. D&B albums like this don't come around very often.

Review: Tim Paris and Ivan Smagghe first joined forces as It's A Fine Line way back in 2008, delivering a sneaky re-edit 12" for the lauded History Clock series. They released their first EP of original productions a year later, but have been barely heard of since. This eponymous debut album has been long-mooted and it's really rather good with the experienced production duo gleefully drawing together elements of new wave synth-pop, post-punk disco, low-slung rockabilly, spacey electro, dub disco, and leftfield boogie. The results are uniformly excellent, with Smagghe and Paris backing up their stylish, period-centric production with a string of genuinely memorable tracks.

Review: Japanese experimenter Kouhei Matsunaga has been quietly building an exceptional discography as NHK yx Koyxen and the numerous variances. With prior NHK yx Koyxen output on PAN, Skam and Raster Noton, Matsunaga's growing alliance with Powell's Diagonal label makes perfect sense. After debuting on Diagonal last year, he's back with Doom Steppy Reverb, a fresh NHK yx Koyxen LP that expands on his fuzzy, texture-laden, leftfield techno blueprint. So, while there's plenty of industrial-influenced darkness, claustrophobic tape hiss, and redlined rhythms, the Japanese artist also includes quietly beautiful textures and hazy, looped melodies. This is most evident on the foreboding, late night swing of "Y", where the application of dub delays helps emphasize the skewed, doom-laden mood. Superb artwork too!!!

Review: John Dwyer is rapidly approaching the level of modern-day icon, after years of hammering out the jams in insalubrious basements with the likes of Coachwhips, The Hospitals, Yikes and around 467 other bands. Thee Oh Sees may remain his most accessible outfit to date, but on the evidence of 'A Weird Exits', there's no danger of him diluting his garage-fuelled attack any time soon - indeed, herein he can be found extrapolating the band's trademark fury via trips to the stratosphere awash with psychedelic abandon and krautrock radiance. All told, another triumph for a modern day master in the Spinal Tap-approved fine line between clever and stupid.

Review: It's now been ten years since the world first became aware of Dev Hynes, yet through humble beginnings in Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion, it seems very much like this last decade has been a journey in the direction of this moment. With 'Freetown Sound' he makes his mark firmly as a modern-day auteur whose co-ordinates can be found somewhere between the funk-pop midas touch of Prince and the firebrand iconoclasm of Kendrick Lamar. A dizzying array of styles can be found in the album's compelling meld of the personal and political, yet with as much melodic richness and musical invention to be found here as confrontational food-for-thought, this is a stridently modern and multi-faceted joy.

Review: Like many producers within the ambient and dub techno scenes, Mr Cloudy - AKA Russian sound designer Sergey Barkalov - is rather prolific. Even so, Hermit's Lair (Voluminous) - his 15th album in seven years - is his first full-length since 2014. In keeping with his previous output, it's a becalmed and gently rhythmic affair, with deep space pads and swirling, intergalactic electronics rubbing shoulders with gentle rhythms, and immaculately placed dub delay. Its' two discs each contain four long, subtly shifting compositions, with Barkalov inviting listeners to get lost in the hushed grooves and meditative music. It's an invitation you'd be foolish to turn down.

Review: During military service with the Nigerian military in 1978, former Fela Kuti collaborators Ojo Okeji and Abayomi "Easy" Adio decided to form a new band. Featuring other musicians recruited from within the ranks of the 6th Infantry Brigade of the Nigerian Army, the Shango Dance Band recorded an eponymous debut album that was only ever available to other military personnel. Here, it gets a first worldwide reissue. Similar in ethos to the Afrobeat sound the duo had helped Fela develop - but with extra layers of guitar, percussion, and gravel-throated U.S soul style vocals - Shango Dance Band is as potent and funky as anything released in Nigeria during the period. Thanks to the excellent Comb & Razor Sound, it's no longer a hidden classic.

Review: The San Diego-based square peg Sumach Ecks has always looked beyond traditional modes of expression in his experimental and decidedly rough-hewn style of experimental hip-hop, yet 'Callus' is the sound of this reliably gnarly aesthetic running rampant, with fiercely compelling results. Caned psychedelia - largely his stock-in-trade in days of yore - is usurped on 'Callus' by lo-fi garage aggro, creating an unflinchingly dystopian series of soundscapes not for the faint at heart, sitting somewhere amidst in an aesthetic scrapyard alongside Death Grips and a post-apocalyptic Tom Waits. A prescient and potent tonic for an increasingly confusing age.

Review: Having made their name as modern-day aesthetes with a series of records that meld the cerebral and the physical with style, 'Boy King' appears to be the point in which the Will Beasts allow their id to run rampant in a way befitting their name. Recorded in Dallas with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent) it shows them heading towards a notably more aggressive, electronic and masculine sound, at once influenced by the binary thump of Nine Inch Nails and the sonic brinksmanship of 'Yeezus' era Kanye West. Odder still, this gamble has more than paid off, and 'Boy King' is the sound of the band at their most vibrant and persuasive.