Juno Recommends Leftfield: May 2023

Review: Depeche Mode's latest album Memento Mori is one that has been madly anticipated by fans. The record - which comes on wax and in a lovely embossed sleeve here - centres on the mood of grief after the passing of the band's founding member Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher, this is the first LP by a Depeche Mode made up of only two remaining members: Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. The band's progression in their latest years have heard them move into darker, peakier, sadder and more industrial themes, as they make do with a future-present that wasn't promised to them in the 80s, while drawing on deathly topoi and nodding to Ingmar Bergman.

Review: After their smash 2009 debut self-titled LP, it has been long periods of silence broken up by magic for the avant-garde Swedish singer-songwriter Karen Drejier - aka Fever Ray. Now after five years the third album is finally here in 'Radical Romantics', a bizarre and nostalgic sounding experience that combines that bizarreness of Bjork with those recognisable Scandinavian synth-pop codes that put Robyn on the map. 'Carbon Dioxide' is a long-form wave of retro-futurism, the 80s synths ringing out as Dreijer adopts a more digestible pop sound a la The Weekends 'Blinding Lights'. Stark contrast is found in fellow single 'What They Call Us', the intro to the album that certainly fits the weird aesthetic that Dreijer is adopting for this new era of sound, with it's odd chiptune influence and horn sections giving it a Lingua Ignota energy (though slightly more chipper). It's a sensational blend of influences throughout the project, and a welcome reintroduction to the whacky world of Fever Ray, housed in a limited numbered gatefold on stunning coloured vinyl.

Review: Civilistjavel's 1 hears a reissue for the second time, following the mysterious ambient dub artist's resurfacing in 2018, after the late Low Company stumbled on their stuff and somehow managed to gain permission to do so outside of the artist's 'private tape / CDR trading networks'. Now it appears that 'Civilist' has taken the reins on their own work, officially reissuing the album directly from the source. It would go with the territory, not least since a spate of recent live performances by the artist seems to have signalled something of an 'opening up'. We're just as blown away by 1 as we were before; with its sensitive melodies and stumbly analog tone loops, building to slow-burning near-nothings.

Review: Expanding on the ever-present fervour for classic industrial music, CTI's Elemental 7 lands in our laps, a reissue of the soundtrack to their 1982 film of the same name. Devastating and brutal sound effects are paired with haunting vocal performances on this two-suite clanker for the ages, while the accompanying video features cut-up video clips and dancing ghosts, while nods in the titles refer to seances and exorcisms. Don't pass on this one, as it's not just any old soundtrack; underwater worlds and vaporeal explosions make up its more unusual sonics.

Review: Depeche Mode's latest album Memento Mori is something of a post-COVID gestator, but that's had little to no effect on its rabid fan anticipation. Centring on the mood of grief after the passing of the band's founding member Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher, this is the first LP by a Depeche Mode made up of only two remaining members: Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. The band's progression in their latest years have heard them move into darker, peakier, sadder and more industrial themes, as they make do with a future-present that wasn't promised to them in the 80s, while drawing on deathly topoi and nodding to Ingmar Bergman.

Review: After his superlative and rather unexpected foray into Afro and Latin fusion with his Sol Set project, John Beltran returns to more familiar territory with a rendition of his classic mid-90s album 'Ten Days of Blue' recorded at this year's Dekmantel in Amsterdam. We get a real feel for the whole gig experience, from the sound of murmured anticipation and intro tape to the resolution at the outro and the main meat of the music itself - lively, optimistic, groovy but understated and chilled at the same time - sits somewhere between his ambient and harder techno work. Among Beltran's very finest output.

Review: This version of Chris & Cosey's Musik Fantastique! is a reissue of their original 1992 album, which features a mix of new wave, post-punk, and electronic influences to produce a slick slew of dreamy melody and threnody. Chris & Cosey's sharp, often confrontational lyrics explore themes of love, politics, and society, on what is otherwise a more centre-field and dreamy album in the pair's overall brutal discography; it's a cherished part of their synthpop / dream pop era from the early 90s.

Review: Troekurovo Recordings is a production team made up of Toki Fuko, Vadim Basov and Evgeny Vorontsov and they have been hidden away deep in some enchanted Russian forests recording music. Now they are putting out the results on this superb double pack. This project started back in 2016 as a live experimental jam and is now an annual tradition made on loads of analogue gear on the banks of a canyon that was formed many years ago by a melting glacier. The locale provides inspiration - from the fresh country air to the meteor showers often visible overhead - for the music making which is strictly "no preparation, no pre-programming - hardware, friends and live improvisation only."

Review: Though Rod Modell and Taka Noda are two artists from entirely different continents, they are linked by their shared interest in the capacity of deep and immersive sound to evoke unique imagery. Detroit and Tokyo thus collide on 'Glow World', moving through 10 untitled tracks - or shall we say pieces - exploring the subtleties in texture emergent from dub techno, or perhaps post-dub techno. Various organic and synthetic layers harmonize into a Blade Runner-esque urban soundwilderness, with echoes of jazz improvisation and modern classical also bleeding into the haze. It comes as no surprise, then, that the album is a result of their dual live performance in March 2023, where they improvised and exchanged ideas on stage.

Review: The Kyoto Connection's gorgeous Postcards album was actually composed, produced and recorded by Argentinian producer Facundo Arena. It is a real love letter to ambient from the Far East and was released in 2018. Facundo is a self-trained musician and digital synths enthusiast but he absolutely nails this one with its found sounds, lush harmonies and sublime tonal range. There is a delicacy and environmental feel to the music that makes it all the more cathartic. Amazingly the whole thing was written on plugins and used sequencing software on his iPad. What an achievement.

Review: Platform 23's latest release sees them offer up a partial reissue of 'Music For Hippies', an impossible-to-find 1988 cassette from Dutch experimentalists De Febriek. What's an offer is a mix of original tracks and fresh remixes. In the former category you'll find 'Lullabye', a spacey, dubbed-out chunk of new wave/post-punk/cosmic funk fusion full of intergalactic synth sounds, rubbery bass, bluesy guitar solos and trippy vocals, and an edited version of the epic 'Come Down', a more atmospheric, but no less dubbed-out affair that combines layered ambient noise, rocket-launch sonics and a hushed, hypnotic groove. Bahnstag 23 contributor Dunkeltier provides two takes on 'Lullabye', a throbbing, druggy new wave mix and a total re-make. Completing the package is a fiendishly low-slung, dark and mind-altering '5am Mix' of 'Come Down' courtesy of Khidja.

Review: One of the major television events of the year so far has surely been The Last Of Us, the zombie apocalypse survivor show adapted from a video game to gut-wrenching, butt-clenching, nerve-shredding, tear-jerking effect. As well as the outstanding acting from the lead roles and the incredibly realised nightmare landscapes, credit must surely also go to Gustavo Santaolalla for his dramatic score, which is now being released by Music On Vinyl as a limited edition green and silver audiophile edition which comes with an eight-page booklet. For fans of the series who want to relive the terror, or simply those who love a great score, this is a must-grab.

Review: Emotional Response has described soFa's fourth compilation for the label as "internationalism for the adventurous DJ", full of club music for the open-minded. It's basically an eclectic, esoteric musical travelogue that serves of intriguing, entertaining and admirable electronic music for those of a leftfield persuasion. There's much to enjoy, from the undulating melodies, off-kilter beats and mind-soothing chords of Infuso Giallo's 'Torus', and the moody techno-not-techno wave minimalism of Puma & The Dolphin ('Grass Drum'), to the analogue-heavy cold-wave dystopia of Houschyar ('Intercontinental'), the dark ambient techno of Lamusa II ('Artificial') and the tribal tinged electronic psychedelia of Bolva ('Rite II').

Review: CS + Kreem have a hard job on their hands to follow up the magnificent Snoopy but they do it admirably with Orange. This is another intriguing album on The Trilogy Tapes that pairs suspenseful emptiness with fresh instrumental interjections, creepy spoken words with atmospheric found sounds to make for an album that is part sound collage, part experimental rhythms and part ambient storytelling. Acoustic guitars, nervy cellos, tentative xylophones, woozy flutes and lazy drum sounds all colour the airwaves in this most deep, compelling and pensive of records.

Review: Adding to the seemingly endless pile of reissues/retrospectives that focus on anything remotely related to COUM Transmissions or Throbbing Gristle, here comes 'Dreams Less Suite', which is a compilation album made up entirely of Hafler Trio and Genesis P-Orridge's unused film soundtracks, live shows and versions. Describable perhaps as 'dream noise', this album somehow straddles both the grating and the serene, quickly hopping between everything from industrial techno to glassy hell sounsdcapes.

Review: BVDUB's Fumika Fades is a glorious new double pack that is again stuffed with inspired sonic detail and moving ambient soundscapes. The subtle complexity of his sound is laid bare again here with just eight long and involving pieces that ebb and flow, rise and fall, pull you in and push you out. It follows on from a busy 2022 in which Bay Area dub techno titan Brock van Wey put out several great double packs. This one comes with beautiful artwork, too, and is another great addition to the shelves from this man's ever-more spotless catalogue.

Review: Lucinda Chua is currently based in South London and is a singer, songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. She crafts elegant and emotive music mainly using her voice and cello, plenty of effects units and draws on ambient for her inspiration. What results is atmospheric and intimate music that is utterly enchaining as this album on 4AD proves across ten tracks that come after she spent an intensive period studying Chinese dance forms. Lead single 'Echo' is a pop song about ancestral trauma that walks a thin line between respect for the past and the hope and freedom of a new future. It's captivating indeed.

Review: US-based Mystery Circles is the next stop for Hiroshi EBINA following a previous outing here last year. This new cassette is another beautifully organic ambient soundscape with delicate pads and a sense of quiet hope and atomism. The beauty of the album cover really portrays the majesty of the music within as gentle chords linger in the air above warm and fuzzy drones. Some pieces are more empty that others which only lends the appearance of a wispy pad all the more weight while some grow in stubby intensity as sounds are layered up and draw you in ever deeper.

Review: Fluxus drone pioneers La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela present the latest reissue of 31 VII 69 10:26-10:49 PM/23 VIII 64 2:50:45-3:11 AM The Volga Delta, a historic and mesmerizing soundworld which captures the '60s pioneers' twin paths through the worlds of performance art, sculpture-based acousmatic music, and an overall real alternative beatnik lifestyle . Made between 1964 and 1969, the album has gone down in history as a captivating fusion of dreamy electronic sounds and Eastern-influenced vocalization, with techniques such as microtonal tuning and extended repetition laying its experimental groundwork.

Review: Founded in 1984 by the German duo Peter Mergener and Michael Weisser, Software is a mind-opening project in downtempo, cosmic travels. Featuring two carefully selected moments from the band's rich output, 'Sun-Beam' and 'Present Voice', German label Thank You have brought Software's patient, contemplative sound to the fore. The A-side sends listeners far out of orbit with a generous, ten minute long arpeggiated shower, growing elegantly and by gradients into something truly transcendent. The B-side is equally as otherworldly - flecked with eerie moments this track veers between Balearic bliss and an undercurrent of unease. A fantastic and beautifully remastered window into Software's soundworld.

Review: A titanic one-off clash LP between Japan's head brain David Sylvian and electroacoustic extraordinaire Stephan Mathieu, Wandermude is a slow and sublime classic for real ambient heads. Reissued for the first time since its release in 2012, the album charts a wealth of mutual interest between both artists; the pair both collaborated first as part of a dual live performance at Noway's Punkt festival, during which Mathieu performed a live remix of Sylvian's song 'Plight And Premonition'. This LP is the result of the same creative thread - whooshing, mysterious and full of raw instrumental material translated into audacious oddities.

Review: Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning sensation Bluey is one of those shows you are only made aware of if you have kids. And then it pretty much takes over your life for a while as kids love it. Dance Mode is the follow up to the number one album Bluey already put out and it is another collection of 17 brand new recordings from series two and three of the hit animation, originally composed by Joff Bush. The heartfelt, funny portrait of family life is always brought alive by the colour sounds and has plenty of upbeat EDM tracks that bring the good times to any family disco.

Review: It wasn't so long ago we were writing about the joys of BVDUB's Fumika Fades, a new double pack in February that sunk us deep into moving ambient soundscapes. Now the Bay Area dub techno titan Brock van Wey is back once again with yet another album - he dropped plenty of them last year too so is clearly in a mad creative patch. Slowly Shifting Lakes comes in multiple formats, this one being a double CD. The ambient here is coarse and textured, fizzing synths stretching out over skittish rhythmic frameworks before sinking into calmer waters on cuts like the escapist 'Searching For Glowing Shores.' Another triumphant album for sure.

Review: Second time around for David Sylvian's inspired full-length collaboration with German mastering engineer-turned-electro-acoustic experimentalist Stephan Mathieu. Wandermude won plenty of plaudits on its initial 2012 release, with critics highlighting the immersive beauty and sonic detail of the duo's hybrid drone and ambient works. It still sounds superb all these years on, too - all evocative aural textures (often provided by Sylvian on guitar or synth, though Mathieu did contribute some organ sounds), impeccable sound design (Mathieu is a master at this and reportedly constructed most of the showcased tracks) and sustained sound-washes. If you love ambient music, you need it in your life.

Review: The original soundtrack for King Creole is one of the best the Memphis magician Elvis Presley ever worked on. It was his fourth Hollywood movie and the story is based loosely on Harold Robbins' novel A Stone For Danny Fisher which tells the tale of a struggling Boxer. In the movie, that boxer becomes a singer played by Presley who also plays all the music, of course. It features r&b, Dixieland rock, jailhouse rock and plenty more gems which is why Presley himself said it was one of his favourites. It was also his last real dramatic role on screen.

Review: Here come wild conceptronics from The Ephemeron Group, an as of yet little-known solo project of an artist known only as Vymethoxy Redspiders. Already being hailed as probably one of the most important underground albums of the year, 'Psychonautic Escapism' is a wildly intense journey evidently built with love, time and precision, written and produced over a span of 14 years and raucously colliding dream pop, dub techno and black metal influences. We hear ego deaths, abominable angelics and trudgy, vocal-processy brain fogs in this gargantuan world, all ultimately reflecting the artist's personal journey as a trans woman. Redspiders, otherwise known as Uroceras Gigas, was lead brain of the Leeds-based xenofeminist crisis energy rock duo Guttersnipe - as should be evident, they playfully break and remould their identity as they see fit, evidently staying rightly critical of the confines of genre, border or category. This effect is just as well translated into the music; this is a whopping protean statement, not to be missed.

Review: Alan Myson returns once more as Ital Tek, continuing a not-so-well-cited yet important sound. There's never been much of a name for it, maybe thanks to its appearance in the meting-potty post-dubstep era - but Tek's is a sound of minimal aesthetics and glossy-wonky beats. Other artists might include Kuedo, Lorn or MssingNo (but it's not wave, witch house or purple). Genre-mindedness aside, Timeproof is Myson's fifth album for Planet Mu, following 2020's Outland for a long meander through the fluid timey-wimey nature of time, and how it varies depending on its perceiver(s)' mental states. Beaty sublimers like 'Phantom Pain' and 'One Eye Open' make this a staggering time-dilating journey, one whose appeal, true to its name, will surely last for electronic music fans decades into the future.

Review: Optimo continue their label with a new release from De Ambassade (Pascal Pinkert), following their 2019 album 'Duistre Kamers'. An ambassador for what? We don't know; we do know, though, that Pinkert's new music is frank, haunting and styled after every post-industrial trope under the sun, while retaining a clean and danceable appeal for the present. Star track 'Brand In De Straten' is a case in point, combining the sonics of EBM with what would otherwise be a drivingly urgent breakbeat structure.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Slight tear to the outer sleeve, otherwise in excellent condition***

While this may be B-stock, meaning some slight damage to the outer sleeve, it's well worth investigating - not least because it delivers a spectacularly good sequel (of sorts) to Civilistjavel's 2022 full-length Jamatter. The release is rooted in electro-acoustic drones, icy electronic melodies, softly spun ambient lead lines and impeccable sound design, with opener 'Sebang' tiptoeing the fine line between immersive soundscapes and emotive electronic melancholia. Cucina Povera provides haunting lead vocals on the inspired 'Louhivesi' - a kind of deep dub techno/trip-hop crossover - while 'Kolugn' is a breathtakingly mournful ambient soundscape and the crackling 'Valmsta' sounds like some of Biosphere's more experimental works.

Review: Eddie Ruscha is always a reliable source for sublime electronic escapades beamed in from his uniquely sunny sound world. It's an idiosyncratic style best captured on his Secret Circuit alias, which makes a welcome return with the first new album since 2016's limited CD release Mind Bowling. This time he's shoring up on Invisible Inc. with an expansive sketch pad of tripped out delights, leaning in on dub processes and making the myriad synth patterns perform acrobatic feats over each other for 21 tracks of neo-psychedelia with a potent tropical slant.