CD Album Recommendations July 2013

Review: Last time Maya Jane Coles dropped an album, her digital-only eponymous debut on 1Trax back in 2010, she was still on the up. Now, she is firmly established as something of a star; not only as a DJ, but as a producer in demand. Comfort, her second set, is something of a slow-burn special. As well as tracks that conform to her tech-tinged, atmospheric deep house blueprint, it also features a number of woozy, shuffling, downtempo pop songs. It's these, such as the impressive "Come Home" and "Comfort", which fully display her development as a producer and songwriter, placing her soothing vocals right at the centre of the action.

Review: James Holden's career trajectory has been odd, to say the least. Having found fame as a fresh-faced teenaged progressive house producer, he's spent the last decade distancing himself from his early work (and, arguably, doing the same with his Border Community label). The Inheritors is his first album for nearly seven years, and you can tell. Whereas his debut set, 2006's The Idiots Are Winning, was rooted in tech-house and minimal - albeit with a sprinkling of IDM tracks - The Inheritors is a wonderfully out-there, atmospheric and occasionally uncomfortable set. Rooted in IDM, drone, ambience and leftfield beats, it flits between nightmarish oddness ("Sky Burial"), wide-eyed fluidity ("Inter-City 125") and intense, lo-fi electronica ("Seven Stars").

Review: The original enfant terrible of the bass music world is back with a new album, marking his second long player for 4AD with a sprawling opus of more than 30 skits and skirmishes daubed in his trademark colourful sonic scrawl. There is plenty here that reminds you of the early days of the producer's emergence when dubstep was a younger beast, from the spacious "Horrid" to the measured arpeggios of "Pray For Me", but you'll also find more intricate musings such as the dynamic and dramatic "Memories". Hype abounds on the creepy Funky of "VI-XI", while "Overdose" launches enthusiastically into a jungle tear out. At any given turn, you'll find yourself surprised, lurched from a serene mood into a manic one, only to be tempered again. There's a staggering range of ideas and styles to comprehend here, but would you want it any other way from one of electronic music's most outspoken upstarts?

Review: Given his phenomenal track record and no-nonsense approach, the arrival of a new Robert Hood album - albeit under his alternative Floorplan alias - should send a tingle of excitement down the spine of any self-respecting techno connoisseur. Paradise, his first album as Floorplan, largely eschews the intergalactic flavours of 2012's Motor: Nighttime World 3 (we say largely, as the hypnotic "Change" is undeniably Detroitian in outlook), in favour of tracks that take his rolling, stripped-back aesthetic in a variety of different directions. So, we get the funk-sampling "Baby, Baby", the soulful shuffle of "Never Grow Old" (deep house techno, anyone?), and the rush-inducing, piano-laden blast of "Confess". Impeccable... as usual.

Review: Canadian producer Jonson unveiles his second solo album. While there are signs that his sound is gradually mutating, for those who were seduced by 'Marionette', there is plenty to get excited about here. "Level 7" offers up those typical, slightly detuned trance melodies that Jonson forged his reputation on, set to a rolling groove and heavy claps, while the title track's psychedelic hooks float through a fluffy ambient backdrop. But "Pictures" also shows that Jonson has moved on; "Touch the Sky" features the kind of jazzy licks that Cobblestone Jazz specialise in - set to a rumbling bass - and more impressively, "Sahara" sees him lay down evocative blues guitar over a pulsing, rhythm track. The approach may have changed, but originality remains his strong point.

Review: Arriving at their fourth release, Emotional Rescue's knowledge of forgotten musical gems and their commitment to give them the chance of wider appreciation they fully deserve cannot be in question! After digging out that Bob Chance classic, the focus switches to something of an equally balearic nature with the release of Jaki Whitren & John Cartwright's lost folk rock album International Times. Originally released as a private press on the obscure French label Living Records back in 1983, this eight track album is filled with dusty soul nuggets which are given extra life by the silky vocal stylings of Whitren - formerly a backing singer for Alan Parson. Opening track "Stay Cool" sounds quite ahead of it's time, whilst there are some true dancefloor gems for the more adventurous DJs out there, such as the title track and the laid back bump of "Go With The Flow."

Review: Some artists' music is perfectly suited to the album format. You could certainly form a watertight case that deep dubstep duo Author falls into that category. This second album (their first appeared on Tectonic in 2011) offers conclusive proof. Deep and atmospheric, with plenty of neat musical touches and interesting sound selections, Forward Forever is a masterclass in the horizontal possibilities of British bass music. Highlights are plentiful, from the jaunty dub pulse of "After Time" (one of a number of cuts featuring guest Quark), and piano-laden stoner hip-hop of "In The Sky" (on which Jehst and Stig of the Dump guest), to the jazzual two-step gorgeousness of "My Only".

Review: After impressing the heads with two intriguing albums on BAR25, German producer Matthias John pops up on Cocoon with this third full-length. The Keys is a curiosity, in many ways, as it's far more melodically upbeat and noticeably warmer than much of Cocoon's output. Musically, it takes the 4/4 rhythms of deep house and techno as its base, layering up shuffling rhythms of all manner of fuzzy synths, curious old electric pianos and woozy electronics. It's a formula that regularly makes for entertaining listening, even at its oddest (and the vocal contributions on "The Interview (Part 1)" and "The River" are definitely strange).

Review: It's nearly three years since Bristol-based dubstep explorer Phaeleh released his debut album, the decidedly deep and murky Fallen Light. On this second full-length, he switches his attentions to the more accessible, downtempo-influenced end of the genre, matching his ever-present low-end heaviness with intricate melodies, breezy atmospherics, and woozy, trip-hop style female vocals. For the most part, it's a formula that hits the spot, with stand out tracks "Here Comes The Sun" and "Whistling In The Dark" offering a contemporary take on '90s trip-hop. Best of all, though, is the beatless title track, which is little more than a powerfully emotional exercise in sublime piano playing.

Review: It's been a while since we've heard from Stellar Om Source, the musical pseudonym of synthesizer obsessive Christelle Gauldi. Now within the loving arms of New York's brilliant RVNG INTL, she's ready to drop her first album since 2009. Predictably, it's superb, dripping with stylish synths, vintage drum machines and a knowing attitude -Gauldi is a student of proto-techno, early house, classic electro and Warp-ish early IDM. Joy One Mile sounds like a one-woman tribute to the combined works of Cybotron, Richard H. Kirk, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Newcleus and Legowelt. Yet it's deeper and more stylish than that. Seriously, if synth fetishism is your thing, check it out - if only for the sublime "Par Amour".

Review: Third time around for Cylobotnia man Aleksi Perala, as he unleashes MU 3, his first full length under the AP Musik guise. Glistening with vintage synths, intergalactic chords and stargazing melodies, it's in parts refreshingly icy and oddly tropical. Certainly, Perala has a way with melody, and he excels at lacing bubbling electronics on top of warm drum machine rhythms. There are moments of leftfield dancefloor goodness - see the skittering "Summer DNB" and pulsating braindancer "Hexagon" - but he's really his best when laying down picturesque post-IDM warmth, as on the thrilling "Bench" and "Snowfall", both of which benefit from some glacial, almost child-like melodies.