CD Album Recommendations October 2016

Review: Since making his debut back in 2000, few have done more to further the cause of liquid D&B and "jungle jazz" than Luke "Utah Jazz" Wilson. The Music Factory is the producer's fifth full-length, and sees him continue to explore the potential of deep, melodious and emotion-rich drum and bass. While there are guest appearances dotted throughout - DRS, MC Fava, MC Tina, and Random Movement all feature - Wilson is at his best when laying down spine-tingling, string-drenched solo rollers. As a result, highlights come thick and fast, from the punchy breakbeats, sweeping electronics and hazy late night vocal samples of "Neverland", to the classic Good Looking Records flex of "Give It To Me Right", and the smoky, loved-up sweetness of "One Of A Kind".

Review: Zomby returns to Hyperdub with his first album in three years, trailed in high profile fashion by the Burial collaboration "Sweetz." That particular tune is one of Ultra's headline attractions, alongside eyebrow-raising collaborations with Darkstar, Banshee and Rezzett. What really impresses, though, is the skewed, left-of-centre nature of the mask-wearing producer's heavy, post-grime rhythms, sparse but sparkling synth work, and the breathlessly cut-up R&B vocals dotted throughout the set. Interestingly, there are subtle nods towards new wave synth-pop, ghetto-tech, spacey ambient and alien IDM, making Ultra Zomby's most intriguing and consistently on-point album to date.

Review: Early on Artscience, jazz fusionist Robert Glasper takes to the microphone to pointedly ask why he should confine himself to one style. Fittingly, he uses the rest of this third Robert Glasper Experience album to gleefully mangle, fuse, mix-up and move between genres at will. While jazz, modern soul and hip-hop remain his most explored influences - and you'll find plenty of each throughout - Artscience also includes riffs on '80s boogie, Herbie Hancock style jazz-funk, rock-tinged soul-jazz, and the kind of sumptuous, musically expressive slow jams that mark out the best soul sets. As a result, it's a hugely vibrant and entertaining album that revels in its far-sighted, wide-ranging approach.

Review: L.U.C.A is one of the lesser-known pseudonyms of man-of-many-aliases Francesco De Bellis, who has been delivering shimmering nu-disco and Italo-influenced house jams since the late 1990s. I Semi Del Futuro, though, is a different beast to many of the Rome-based producer's releases over the last two decades. It was created with the assistance of a battery of musicians, and explores the fertile ground between hazy film soundtracks, sun-kissed Balearica, and the kind of drowsy, reinvented lounge music that was once the hallmark of Air. It's hugely enjoyable, brilliantly produced, and stacked full of the kind of atmospheric gear that will make you want to reach for something cold, fruity and alcoholic.

Review: Over the years, Trentemoller's sound has subtly evolved. Where he was once famous for delivering a particularly atmospheric, hushed interpretation of minimal techno - with occasional forays into otherworldly ambient - the Danish producer is now better known for exploring the darker recesses of '80s synth-wave and minimalist pop. On Fixion, his first album for three years, he pushes the envelope further, delivering a set of tracks bristling with early New Order guitars, bouncy analogue drum machine rhythms, throbbing minimal wave synths, sly EBM nods, and woozy, ambient-influenced soundscapes. Most impressive of all, though, is the quality of songs showcased throughout. It's pop, Jim, but not as we know it.

Review: Perceived, Sergey Barkalov's fourteenth album under the Mr. Cloudy guise, first slipped out back in 2014, though this is the first time it's had a "proper" CD release. Like much of Barkalov's work, it offers an evocative fusion of deep space ambient, droning textures, dub influences, and impeccable sound design. It's arguably one of his strongest and most aesthetically pleasing excursions, with the continuous, six-part suite subtly shifting in emphasis and focus across the album's duration. While Barkalov's looped synth motifs are undeniably deep and spacey, on occasions they also sparkle, giving the album a positive feel that's impossible to dislike. If Pete Namlook had made a record with Deepchord, it would probably have sounded like Perceived.

Review: Nicole "Lady" Wray has enjoyed an up and down kind of career, moving from hotly-tipped late '90s R&B chart-topper to well regarded backing singer in the space of a few short years. She returned to the limelight in 2013 alongside Terri Walker in Lady, and here delivers her first solo set for some time. Queen Alone has an undeniably retro-futurist feel, with Wray cannily combining hip-hop style drum breaks with songs and instrumentation that mine 1960s soul for inspiration. It's a formula that guarantees thrills throughout, from the shuffling, head-nodding beauty of "In Love (Don't Mess Things Up)" and organ-laden slow-jam "Make Me Over", to the righteous, Dap Kings style dancefloor brilliance of "Bad Girl".