Leftfield / Experimental Recommendations September 2014

Review: Ah yes! Hot italo disco reissue action on the newly baptised Archivio Fonografico Moderno imprint! Rago & Farina made a few belters in their day, but this probably remains their finest and most daring moment. The original is everything you would think an italo track to be. Slightly cheesy (but in a good way), kinda odd in places, full of gritty analogue warmth and utterly delightful as a whole. There's also a gnarly dub version too, for good measure, As you'd expect, that mean heavier percussion sounds, more wholesome basslines and no vocals. Class.

Review: Marking his first release of 2014, the Planet Mu bossman steps forth with a selection of electronica that follows a logical path from last year's Chewed Corners LP. There's a spread of tempos on offer, from the brief melancholic hardcore stylings of "Taxi Sadness" to the slow, cerebral funk of "Blem", but the overreaching theme of this EP is the heavy melodic load that each track carries. Winsome synths have always been something of a calling card for Paradinas, and here is no exception, with many of the tracks eschewing beats in favour of dramatic ambience as heard on the celestial delights of "PRG" and the heartbroken ballad "Rimmy".

Review: It's been a little while since Lee Gamble graced us with some fresh abstractions in his otherworldly sound enclave, and so his return to PAN is a thoroughly welcome one. Ahead of a new long player later in the year this EP finds Gamble drifting through plumes of ambient electronica tropes, with "Kali Wave" coming on like a beautiful fusion of breakbeats and dub techno. "Mimas Skank" has a glitchier modus operandi, but not at the expense of some catchy melodic threads and a steady ticking groove. "Girl Drop" however jettisons the beats for a marvelous display of reverb management, which leaves you feeling well practiced in the art of aural disembodiment.

Review: Listening through this reissue of Auto Body by Dual Action, you can see why the idea of granting the five track release a vinyl edition would appeal to Avian boss Shifted. For the uninitiated, Dual Action is Matthew Folden, one half of the New York noise duo KP alongside Max Gudmundson and one of a slightly intimidating number of groups to have issued cassette only releases through Dominick Fernow's Hospital Productions. The Auto Body tape was Folden's debut solo release as Body Action in 2012 and is filled with the sort of crepuscular yet rhythmically potent techno productions Avian has made it's name on, making it a perfect candidate to become the label's first reissue. Sublime sleeve artwork too.

Review: It's fairly hard to keep tabs on all the various artists and projects that make up the bewildering Hospital Productions discography, but along with Dominick Fernow's own material one of the few label constants is Lussuria. Since first appearing on the label with the Silk & Honey cassette some four years ago, the elusive Lussuria has gone on to contribute a further eight cross format releases to the Hospital cause, all of which roughly operate in the dark ambient and industrial-influenced end of the spectrum. Industriale Illuminato is Lussuria's second LP for Hospital yet his first to be conceived as a standalone piece (2012's American Babylon LP compiled three cassette releases) and is apparently inspired by Deconstructionism and "an overriding sense of anxiety". Investigate if you are a fan of Demdike Stare's cultish Tryptych releases!

Review: Audio Fidelity are fast-becoming one of our favourite reissue labels! It was them who were responsible for the Blade Runner re-vamp, an album so rare in its original vinyl format that It was truly unmissable. This time its another doozy, and also one which has been relegated to the pockets of the Discogs shotters. Wendy Carlos' inimitable Tron soundtrack was probably the best part of the film anyway, but now you can at least have the choice of owning both film and score! It's just tune after tune, spanning different genres and sounds. From the rocky sounds of "Only Solutions" to more abstract electronic moments such as "We've Got Company", this LP has it all. Don't snooze, it'll be gone all over again!

Review: Returning to PAN for the first time since 2011's 19-minute sound piece How Wheeling Feels When The Ground Walks Away, New York-based conceptual artist James Hoff presents Blaster. Based around an intriguing concept to say the least, Blaster is described as a "document of his explorations of computer viruses as agents within the composition process," using the computer virus of the same name to "infect" 808 rhythms and construct all-new shapes out of the resulting audio mulch. As you might expect from such a concept, the resulting audio is extreme to say the least; glitchy, abrasive and wildly unpredictable, each of the eight tracks splutter and misfire like a jammed machine gun. While PAN's recently released Miseri Lares from Valerio Tricoli showed the label's more delicate experimental side, Blaster is very much PAN in full on sonic assault mode.

Review: Normally found weaving their reflective ambient orchestrations on Type, Norwegian duo Deaf Center have been snapped up by Sonic Pieces to offer up a haunting two-sided release that demonstrates their continued mastery of arresting instrumentation played out at a funereal pace. "Follow Still" is particularly haunting with its plaintive piano notes lingering long in the mix while the most subtle drone accompaniments drift listlessly around them. "Oblivion" has a more evocative tone that conjures up noirish scenes with carefully treated horn-esque sounds, buffing down the individual notes to create a more fluid melodic whole.

Review: Originally released back in 1999, SND's self-released Travelog LP was originally crammed onto one vinyl disc and has sat languishing in the domain of pricey second records ever since. This reissue spreads the music out over two records lovingly cut in blue and purple, with additional bonus tracks making for a more momentous release for some truly astounding minimal electronics. The delicacy of production on this early SND material is staggering, staying utterly captivating with the barest of elements and oozing soul with barely-there melodies in utterly mechanical configurations. With Mark Fell and his Sensate Focus project in high demand these days, it's fascinating to look back to the genesis of that distinctive sound when it was in its infancy.

Review: Ghostly International come through with belated double LP vinyl edition of In Decay, the second LP from Seth Haley, better known as Com Truise, which was originally issued digitally back in 2012. Here you have thirteen diverse tracks ranging from funky, boogie-inspired drum machine soul to more watery soundscapes and creative little collages. The opener itself, "Open", is a majestic ride into the sun. The successive track, "84 Dreamin", is just as good if not better, and this process repeats itself another eleven times, until the end of this epic journey into sound.

Review: Yes! Powder Horn is the result of Powell's Diagonal label coaxing a new albums worth of material out of Shit & Shine, the masterful project of Texan musician Craig Clouse. Whereas previous Shit & Shine material has seen Clouse working with other musicians, this album is purely his own work and delights on so many levels. It's fairly hard to accurately surmise how this nine track album sounds such is the range of styles covered though Diagonal's description of Powder Horn as a raucous collection of 'deviant funk, wiry disco and burnt-out acid' is pretty on the money. Perhaps it's best to describe it as everything (and more) you'd expect to hear in a Powell DJ set with "Pearl Drop" and "PG13" particular standouts.

Review: Ghost Culture returns to Phantasy Sound with a stellar new three-tracker of indie-laden, acid-fuelled house madness! "Arms" is one of those tunes that tears it's way into your nervous system both in a club and on your headphones. The beats as tight and tearing, and the bassline sounds like the perfect crossbreed between Drexciyan electro and UK acid - oh, and it's mixed by the master Erol Alkan and contains a deeper, more cerebral dub mix for good measure! "Understand" is deeper and more mesmerising but still holds enough punch to knock your lights out on the floor. Clear vinyl run.

Review: The addition of Alessandro Cortini to Hospital Productions with this Sonno LP can be lined alongside Ron Morelli and Ninos Du Brasil as examples of Dominick Fernow's enduring capacity to surprise as a label owner. Fans of Nine Inch Nails will be more than familiar with the Bologna-born Cortini who served the long running American industrial rock band twice, though more recently the musician has gained a degree of prominence for his recordings under his own name and the Sonoio guise. The latter project in particular has seen Cortini experiment prolifically with the Buchla synth to celebrated results, making the chosen methods for his Hospital debut somewhat of a departure. Sonno consists of nine truly immersive recordings made in unspecified hotel rooms using a Roland MC202 synthesiser and a delay pedal with the results described as quite aptly as "beautifully restrained yet oddly emotive".

Review: As Soundway continues to blossom into a diverse label beyond obscure African reissues and dusty funk, so My Panda Shall Fly too blooms into ever more beautiful and intriguing formations, with this record making for a wonderful intersection of the two parties involved. The nutty electronica of MPSF is as idiosyncratic as ever, but the worldly samples that feed into this release add further credence to the fact that a strong singular voice is emerging in the bustling world of beat-based music. "Ngalopkha" has a measured, stop-start dynamic to its groove, but it's more notable for its light, buffeting psychedelic qualities. "Rainfall" is a wonder to behold with its unconventional polyrhythms and titular arpeggios, while "Yapeyu" revels in a more tangible kind of African groove.