Juno Recommends Experimental June 2021

Review: 
After his surprise drop with music writer and producer Blackdown on the Keysound label last month, the enigmatic Burial is now back with a fresh new EP all of his own. It comes on his longtime home of Hyperdub and features two more of his deft designed, ghostly deep dubstep post-nightbus joints. 'Chemz' is a strict raver filled with rushed up sounds, plenty of dance floor love and big hooks that is many different tracks, moods and vibes all rolled into one. As always, these Burial sounds look back to go forwards and do so in thrilling fashion.

Review: During last year's various lockdowns, Sasha spent plenty of time updating his Luzoscura playlists on streaming services, using them as a vehicle for material he liked that didn't quite fit into regular club sets. Now things are easing, he's decided to deliver a CD version, mixing together a handful of his own unreleased productions with all manner of deep, melodic, atmospheric and smile-inducing treats. While it's musically and rhythmically diverse - within the first handful of tunes you'll hear breakbeat, two-step, deep tech-house and electronica beats - and boasts more bass-weight than you might expect, the focus is on sofa-bound listening, with bright and breezy electronics, warming chords and lilting instrumentation catching the ear. Combine this with Sasha's impeccable track selections and you have a genuinely entertaining mix.

Review: Gothenburg-based musician JJ Ulius, who some of you may know from his work as Monokultur or Skiftande Enheter returns here on Mammas Mysteriska Jukebox (the imprint he runs with Loopsel) with Vol. 1. It contains a collection of lo-fi pop ditties from the past Autumn/Winter and all sung in Swedish. We really enjoyed the brooding swagger of 'Folj Inte Efter', the sparse locomotive chug of 'Ooverblicklig Kansla', the depressive blues of 'Langst Bak I Kon Till Falsningen' and the most electronic influenced cut which comes in the form of 'Lugn'.

Review: A well deserved reissue here on Keplar of Arovane's dub-laden IDM masterpiece Atol Scrap, which originally came out on Torsten Proefrock's DIN imprint back in 1999 as a digital release. Much to the delight of Uwe Zahn's followers, we have this vinyl reissue which was fully approved of by the artist himself. Zahn's idiosyncratic style of production is prevalent throughout the album; the digital artifacts and glitch effects that are scattered across the productions, underpinned by warm electronic melodies and skittering beats. The album still sounds amazing to this day, and benefits from remasterering by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering.

Review: While in the West we can barely comprehend a different way of living, when the contents of this very heads-y collection were produced Poland was completely reliant on that different way of life. And yet every track here, while certainly cut from a cloth that's anything but mainstream, could really have come from just about anywhere.

And that's precisely the point. Or at least it was. Electronic experimentation and musical development behind the Iron Curtain was every bit as vital as those it was on The Other Side, and much was driven by the opportunity to evade heavy censorship many countries in the region were subject to, with no lyrics to anger the powers that be. Hence many pieces here, for example the filtered electro of 'Pamietnik Manekina', can be considered masterpieces well ahead of their time.

Review: Three decades ago, Coil released one of their most arresting an ear-catching albums, Love's Secret Domain. Inspired not by their intense industrial roots but rather the developing dance music culture - think sample-fired hip-hop, the jaunty organs of U.S house, hallucinatory ambient, bleeping electronica, bass-heavy UK techno and leftfield synth-pop - it marked a thrilling new chapter in the band's career. This expanded 30th anniversary tells the full story, stretching out the original album and a wealth of rare and previously unreleased material (extended versions, demos and unheard tracks) across three slabs of gold-coloured wax. The price may raise a few eyebrows, but copies are limited, and it really is the definitive edition of a genuinely brilliant album.

Review: Lisbon's Rui Maia has turned his hand to many different styles over a long and winding career, shoring up on Bear Funk, Optimus Discos and Belong over the years and also recording as Mirror People, Noise Reduction and X-Wife. After a few years silence, he re-emerged on the Groovement Organic Series label last year, and makes a swift return with another illustrious set of plaintive electronics for mellow reflection and headphone reveries. From the sombre refrains of 'Metade' to the strafing arps and sprightly chimes of 'Okino', there's vintage warmth rubbed into every inch of this release, but it doesn't feel disposably retro. Rather, Maia creates a space out of time for you to recline in, surrounded by dulcet synth shapes and the occasional tickle of a drum machine. Is there any better place to be?

Review: Looking back while looking forward, Christos Chondropoulos means to show us a very different time and place with this collection of recordings originally committed to cassette, crafted over a five year period of time. Fittingly retro and patient approaches considering the biggest musical influence here is arguably Ancient Greece and its traditions of sound, despite being born from dated parts the whole is still capable of pushing forward into new territories.

Old but new, or new but old, either way this is historic epic, experimental percussive electronica and drug chug stuff, all realised with the kind of atmosphere that invokes silver screen legends in times of heroes, where accuracies of aesthetic are less important than drama and action. Perhaps not really traditional, then, nevertheless you'll struggle not to feel transported far beyond with this one.

Review: Cecile Schott is Colleen, the composer and artist who for more than 20 years has be crafted enchanting music that defies categorisation. The multi-instrumentalist and vocalist deals in timeless sounds and on her new album The Tunnel and the Clearing she is at her most vulnerable yet confident. The record was three years in the making because of an undiagnosed illness, and was made on the restricted set up of the Elka Drummer One, the Roland RE-201 Space Echo and Moog Grandmother synth, and a key board plus few Moog effects. It is run through with emotion, and makes for a real Musial journey towards a place of light.

Review: Mecanica Clasica draw on the rich history and culture of the ancient Mediterranean on their stunning new album Mar Interior, which roughly translates as Inland Sea. Kosmische and fourth world music are the main references as the group distill the history and legacy of ancient civilizations into eight cinematic tracks that sound both futuristic yet mythological. The work of Craig Leon, Brian Eno and Cluster is a clear influence here, while environmental recordings add to the spaced out ambient synths and gently pulsing rhythms. Shimmering, hypnotic and mystic, this is as immersive and expressive as worldy ambient sounds get.

Review: Previously best known for their unique film scores, non-binary composer/producer Mica Levi has finally got round to recording a proper solo album. Ruff Dog, one of two such sets the artist is releasing this month (Blue Alibi being the other), is an undeniably murky and lo-fi affair, frequently combining gnarled, vicious guitar riffs, effects-laden audio fuzz, distant vocals and dream-pop tropes - as heard from a distance nd drenched in delay - to create fractured and enveloping soundscapes that defy easy categorization. The results are undeniably different and extremely hard to pigeonhole, but also curiously alluring despite their self-consciously lo-fi and challenging nature. There's great beauty within Levi's noise-seeped sonic fuzz.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The Sylvie & Babs High Thigh Companion was actually the 1985 album by Nurse With Wound. The product of two years work, it marked a lighter point in the project's history at the time, although one that is no less out there and wild-eyed. More than 40 artists were involved in the recording, but the record itself is actually comprised of various easy listening music from the late-1970s and early-80s, collapsed and reformed, mutated and remodelled.

Here we go again, then, with this incredibly deserving re-release that has been a long time coming. With just two tracks included, or rather two movements, you could be forgiven for thinking one of England's most treasured noise names of the day was at risk of winding up in cul-de-sacs. But nothing could be further from the truth, with the results almost journey-like, packed with broad musicality and incredibly listenable.

Review: Depending on where you stand, Virgil Abloh is either the ruiner of fashion, or its saviour. The Off-White founder doesn't exactly have a subtle style when it comes to his own brand, but that hasn't stopped him making it to the high profile position of artistic director at Louis Vuitton. He is also more and more involved with music on various levels and that now plays out with his new single with serpentwithfeet. It is presented here on both sides of this Sony 7" following his recent remix of Mercury Award winner Michael Kiwanuka's 'Solid Ground'.