Juno Recommends Leftfield November 2021

Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christian Fennesz came together to stunning effect on their collaborative album Cendre. Now, for the first time ever, Touch are releasing it on vinyl. It was initially recorded between Vienna and New York in 2004 and 2006 with each artist responding to the other's compositions. Accompanying text says that the record fuses "unstructured and imaginative qualities of improvisation with the satisfying sculpture of composition." In short, it is a powerful ambient album with a quiet but devastating artistry. Heavy chords linger in the air, distant shakers take your mind away, foggy atmospheres are run through with gentle winds. It is beautifully melancholic.

Review: Los Angeles based ambient husband and wife duo, awakened souls join with Reunion Island native, From Overseas to create Keep The Orange Sun. After hearing each other's individual music, a deeper conversation started about shared musical influences and inspiration leading to the creation of this album. Keep The Orange Sun guides the listener on a thoughtfully curated path. Starting with the certainty of life's changes (Certainty of Tides) to arising self-doubt (Release/Adapt) and celebrating immersion in the present moment as the gateway to deeper connection with nature and one's life (Keep The Orange Sun). The instrumentation present in each track channels elements of electronic, shoegaze & ambient with each artist's distinct musical fingerprint highlighted.

Review: Markus Guentner returns with his signature expansive ambient world-building, and the third concept album on A Strangely Isolated Place, titled Extropy. Extropy marks the final chapter in an accidental triptych of Astronomy-related exploratory albums on A Strangely Isolated Place. From the creation of the Earth and the Moon in his debut album on ASIP, Theia; to the relationship the Earth holds with the greater Galaxy in the follow-up album, Empire (2018). To now, Extropy, and the indefinite growth of the life we hold so dearly.

Review: Regis and Female's Againstnature album from 2000 gets the full reissue treatment here by Berlin label, Tresor. Released under their given names Karl O'Connor and Peter Sutton, the record is a noted zenith of the Birmingham techno scene of the era. It has had a major influence on the music that was released in the years after and has here been remastered for a fresh double vinyl pack. As well as the original sounds, there is also 'Theme From Streetwalke,' a track that was previously released on a Tresor compilation. The tracks are heavy but relatively stripped back. They're packed with texture and atmosphere and never less than hugely compelling.

Review: RECOMMENDED
It's hard not to be very impressed by Glaswegian electronic experimenter Pub. According to mythology (well, the internet), he started making music at the tender age of 14, and within three years had started his own label, Ampoule Records, since going on to release for the likes of Talent Hoover, Earplug and Vertical Form, all of which should feel blessed to have him on board.

Single is basically a compendium of his trilogy of EPs on Ampoule, now 20 years young. To describe the contents as dub techno would be unfair and over-simplistic, but it's certainly not a million miles from that camp. Stripped down but strangely detailed, this is the sound of a great soundsystem revealing the hidden depths of tracks that might otherwise feel very minimal, ambient soundscapes that ebb and flow intertwined with the more dancefloor friendly efforts. In short, you will not tire of these tunes.

Review: Lisbon's Groovement label returns to its Organic Series once again, taking a trip across outernational plains with the delectable touch of Kaoru Inoue under his Chari Chari alias. From the sitar lilting on "Meandering River" to the pattering chimes of 'PEsta Malam', this is an album brimming with real-world beauty even as it glides through synthetically sculpted spaces. Inoue's touch is patient and poised, but it's certainly no background environmental music. Powered by purposeful percussion and offering a spectrum of moods for your contemplation and delectation, Suburban Ethnology Vol 1 is a beautifully rendered EP once again affirming Inoue's spellbinding craft as a multifaceted artist.

Review: Remember when James Blake first popped into the common conscience? Or slid, subtly, gently, barely-existing, like a thought without a mind, lost in the vast expanse of silence, trying to be heard? The originality of those early outings will always stand out as defining a moment in UK electronica where things began to change; post dubstep, haunted by the ghosts of garage, pre-techno takeover, genres starting to collapse back in on each other, paving the way today's label-less stuff.

In comparison, Friends That Break Your Heart is a far, far more traditional episode in the story of Blake. Those old fragments of tracks haven't just been glued back together, new parts have been added to create incredibly detailed and - dare it be said - busy collages. It's R&B infused, synth topped, pop balladry influenced electronic future soul. And we're really quite (very) into it.

Review: "Undoubtedly this album is one of the important discs of Japanese new wave and German krautrock history. ""Phew"" is Japanese female vocalist who is well known as a member of legendary punk band ""Aunt Sally"". She has been active in a wide range of projects and collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto, DAF, and Neubauten etc.
This was originally released in 1981 as her solo debut album, made in legendary Conny's Studio with Conny Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit from CAN. Not only highly demanded by vinyl collectors worldwide, but also this album is outstanding in the dimension of the music. By Plank's engineering, their never fading sound-making is still innovative and no one can stand next. Now we present it as reissued LP with OBI, you can listen to the monumental work of her career in vinyl after more than 30 years since the last time it was reissued for the first time."

Review: Mattoni Pazzi is a brand new label that launches with some killer covers from the Monomax Band. Covers have always been a big feature of the Italo scene but they aren't often as good as this one. The a-side, as the title suggests, makes reference to a Led Zeppelin classic. Here it comes with big fuzzy synths, spooky pads and rugged 80s slap-funk drums. On the reverse side is a remake of the female. It takes off at much higher speeds and has a hypnotising bassline that is overlaid with aromatic chords and oriental inspired melodies. A fine first release, for sure.

Review: Sample-based music can be many things to many people. Few would ever expect it to sound quite as beautiful as this, though. For his latest addition to an increasingly weighty and extensive back catalogue, Susumu Yokota looks to hit the nail on the head in terms of answering the question 'what does Susumu Yokota sound like?'

On Symbol the bedroom composer takes a selection of often familiar, sometimes odd and relatively unknown classical movements, cuts them up and pastes them back together, creating brand new rhythms. In a lot of ways it's the epitome of sample music, but we've not heard many records that pull off the task and wind up with something that doesn't really sound as looped or fixed as it is, largely achieving this with original work that's a century old, if not (much) more.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Definitely one for the collectors and historians, there's so much to talk about in terms of Rampton's significance you'll have to excuse sparse references to the actual music. Sorry not sorry and all that. First dropped in 1980, this was not only the first release on the cult and highly sought-after Come Organisation label, it was also one of the first pages in the story of William Bennet.

Leaving Essential Logic behind, the Come project stands as a stylistic bridge between the post punk that came before and the electronics that would follow with Whitehouse, and more latterly Cut Hands. It's weird, it's distorted, even today it's fresh and yet wholly retro. This is the sound of experimentation gone right, guitars, synthesisers and ideas colliding in a coherent mess.

Review: If you've seen the movie Drive you'll realise how much this needed a reissue. Check the cost of College's bonafide synth pop anthem 'A Real Hero' on secondary marketplaces and you'll understand what we mean: not quite priceless, definitely inflated, but either way very expensive indeed. Of course buying the full LP will never get you the clout of the single pressing, but investing in this particular presentation gets you a stack more quality to play.

And some of the other work here is, frankly, spellbinding. The songs themselves are great, running the gamut from the stomp and spiral of 'Nightcall' by Kavinsky & Lovefoxx, to the show tune-esque 'Oh My Love' by Riz Ortolani, but really Cliff Martinez's original score is the bit we want to focus on. From the slow mo chug of 'Rubber Head' to the blissful, floating on a cloud towards a lovely sort of death ambience of 'He Had A Good Time'.

Review: The master that is Fluxion is back with more introspections from deep inside his own musical world. It was only in May of last year that his last album was released and since then this has been his focus. It has paid off because once again this is an absorbing world of dub techno, gentle melodies and undulating rhythms that stretch and unfold at their own slow but inviting pace. There are hopeful moments like 'Correlation' with its soft beats and rising melodies, and moments of more lonesome reflection such as the sparse and seductive 'Settling Dust.' Of course, undermining it all is the trademark Fluxion sound we all know and love.

Review: Greek electronic music legend Lena Platonos returns to Dark Entries with Balancers, an LP of previously unreleased material recorded between 1982-1985. Athens-based Platonos has worked with the label previously to reissue her three solo LPs - Gallop, Sun Masks, and Lepidoptera - as well as to release three accompanying 12" EPs featuring modern remixes of her work. She is renowned for her forays into cutting-edge electronic experimentation as well as her striking, impressionistic poetry and lyrics, always recited in Greek. Also included is an insert with lyrics in both Greek and English.

Review: Vivod label boss Ali Renault pays tribute to his late friend Peter Mangalore of Human Shield on this moody new EP of twisted electronics. 'Northdown Acid' opens up in downbeat fashion, with glass Italo melodies and busted bass on a rugged groove. 'Imminent Salad' picks its head up to ride a chunky, organic house beat with glistening synths and 'Peter Summoning' is misty and pensive ambient interlude. 'Forbidden Mind' drags its heels to sombre effect, with splashes of cymbal and heavy finger clicks heightening the melancholy. 'Nawce Blizzard' rounds out the EP on a sense of hope and optimism.

Review: Italian film score composer Piero Umiliani became world famous when he performed for the Muppet Show, while his most celebrated tune 'Mah Na Mah Na' also became and anthem of the Benny Hill show. He was hugely prolific and put out tens of albums for the sixties on wards, with 1975's Continente Nero being one of the most notable. An original copy will now cost you well over L500 if you can find one, and for good reason: it is an avant garde fusion of world, country, for, jazz, experimental and abstract library sounds that transports you to a mystic world of hugely evocative sound.

Review: RECCOMMENDED
Trying to find any information on Mneme is pretty difficult. What we can say, though, is that this almost definitely not a company with a "vision to become a world leader in AI powered healthcare solutions, improving lives and transforming the future of our society." Thank god. Not that we don't wish the firm we stumbled across on Facebook all the best in its efforts to get there.

Instead, Mneme the electronic artist name (or act?) belongs in a far less competitive place. Somewhere where warm pads, vacuum packed beats, and melodic flourishes can thrive together, creating a soundscape that's packed with inviting ambient moods, and feels at once sci-fi futuristic and yet strangely retro in flavour. We've been here before, and yet it's also hugely original stuff that we can't not recommend.

Review: Those with a deep knowledge of cult Italian horror movies should be aware of the work of Giulliano Sorgini, and in particular his soundtrack to Non Si Deve Profanre Il Sonno Dei Mortie (a movie known in English as both The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie). This Four Flies Records' "45" boasts two of the most potent recordings from the soundtrack. On the A-side you'll find the movie's main theme, 'John Dalton Theme', a superb slab of zombified psych-funk laden with simmering horror strings, loose-limbed percussion solos, crunchy drum-breaks and toasty bass. Over o the flip you'll find 'Manchester M2 6LD', a stripped-back reprise version that replaces Sorgini's cut-glass strings with sustained Hammond organ chords. Happily, the killer groove and righteous drum solos remain in-tact.

Review: If you've not heard of Oregano, don't worry - it's a brand-new studio band comprised of multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee, Paul Elliott (JetTricks, Eleven76), RPS Surfers' Shay Landa and Markey Funk. This is their debut single and the fact that it's coming out on the psychedelia-inspired Delights label should give you a clue as to what it sounds like. Rooted in library music and psychedelic soundtrack jazz, with additional nods towards krautrock and Berlin School ambient, both instrumental compositions are richly musically detailed, wonderfully atmospheric and sound like they should be sound-tracking vivid, off-kilter and hallucinatory experimental films from the mid 1970s.

Review: Limited Edition Cassette + Download Code.