Back catalogue: Experimental/Electronic

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


In the early 1980s, Britain had a vibrant cassette culture that now gets spotlighted through a limited edition 12" featuring multi-instrumentalist Kez Stone's project, Imago. He was a notable name in Cornwall and the West Country's music scenes with previous projects, Artistic Control and Aaah! which have come back via reissues many times in the last ten years. Imago was a new one-ff project that first emerged with one track on the Perfect Motion compilation curated by NTS Radio's Bruno and Flo Dill and now the full LP, originally released in 1985 on the local label A Real Kavoom, has been remastered and added to with three additional gems. Stone's teenage punk influences sit next to Imago's eclectic approach to sound that blends new wave and psychedelic elements into something irresistible.

Review: In the early 1980s, Britain had a vibrant cassette culture that now gets spotlighted through a limited edition 12" featuring multi-instrumentalist Kez Stone's project, Imago. He was a notable name in Cornwall and the West Country's music scenes with previous projects, Artistic Control and Aaah! which have come back via reissues many times in the last ten years. Imago was a new one-ff project that first emerged with one track on the Perfect Motion compilation curated by NTS Radio's Bruno and Flo Dill and now the full LP, originally released in 1985 on the local label A Real Kavoom, has been remastered and added to with three additional gems. Stone's teenage punk influences sit next to Imago's eclectic approach to sound that blends new wave and psychedelic elements into something irresistible.

Review: Spanish producer Nueen and Manchester vocalist and rapper Iceboy Violet, who you might well recognised from appearing on Hyperdub releases by the likes of aya and Loraine James, come together for a collaborative work that follows the story of a four-year-long relationship. As you can imagine, therefore, it takes in peaks and troughs, emotional highs, depressive lows, and plenty in between that will all feel all too familiar to anyone who has ever fallen in and out of love. Drill-laced beats are laced with intimate melodies, and excitable chords spiral out of control while a menacing ambience percolates up from below. It's a powerful listen with a relatable narrative.

Review: Irish producer Iglooghost continues to redefine electronic music with a conceptually rich and sonically dense third album. Drawing from the desolate landscapes of a coastal UK town overrun by primordial detritus, the record fuses UK garage, coldwave, drill and more into a visceral, cinematic experience. Created while squatting in a Kent coast garage near a sewage plant, Iglooghost's surroundings heavily influenced the album's dark, aquatic tone. Blending relentless percussion with eerie melodies, the album unfolds like a near-future sci-fi soundtrack. Tracks like 'Germ Chrism' deliver pummeling trap-meets-IDM chaos, while slower cuts like 'Spawn01' evoke the hushed intimacy of early Portishead. Iglooghost's vocals take center stage, ranging from snarling hooks to delicate whispers, imbuing the music with a surreal humanity. Thematically cohesive yet wildly experimental, the album's soundscapes mimic waterlogged radio transmissions, stuffed with textures, rhythms and cinematic interludes. Despite its grim undertones, a cartoonish, surreal charm runs throughout, melding genres and abstract storytelling into relentless, goosebump-inducing club music. This record reaffirms Iglooghost's mastery of world-building and his ability to craft a vivid, otherworldly atmosphere from the interplay of sound and narrative.

Review: Immersion is the epitome of collaboration. Comprising Colin Newman, of legendary UK post punk outfit Wire, and his life partner Malka Spigel, the two first came together in 1985, former producing the latter's band, and have since fallen in love and combined creative forces countless times. Growing out of their Immersion project, a series of pop up gigs took place at the Rosehill, Brighton, with a cast of influential and cutting edge musicians getting involved. Songs were written and rehearsed before each show, and an album, Nanocluster Vol.1, soon materialised. Now we have the follow up. Disc one is centred on Thor Harris, percussion doyen of Swans, while the second half refocuses our attention on Cubzoa, AKA Jack Wolter of Penelope Isles, with Matt Schulz (Holy Fuck) also involved. The result is a psyche-tinged ride through swaggering indie, dream pop, chill, and surreal rock, nodding to names from Beta Band to King of Woolworths and beyond.

Review: Prolific experimental musician Eiko Ishibashi and filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi follow up their for-the-ages 2021 collaboration for the latter's film adaptation of Drive My Car, with a slick and bold proclamation in jazz, electronica and improv: Evil Does Not Exist. Indeed, only the enlightened among us know that the ills of the world largely boil down to misunderstandings - oversights contra insights - thereby rendering any recourse to real malice by bad actors null, even when they themselves think it true. Evil Does Not Exist once more appears as both an album and film; the former artist's soundtrack here is as sublime as the realisation itself, combining dense copses of brass and freeform drumming to produce a euphoric miasma.

Review: Ken Ishii's 1994 album, Reference to Difference, is a crucial, yet often overlooked, masterpiece in the world of techno, ambient and electronic music from Japan. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Musicmine Records, this album is now reissued and remastered, available on vinyl with its original track-list for the first time. Born in 1970 in Sapporo, Ishii's journey into electronic music began with arcade games and pioneers like Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk. The discovery of Detroit techno in the late 80s shaped his artistic vision, blending with influences from British and American IDM and ambient techno. Reference To Difference is a futuristic blend of ambient atmospheres, techno rhythms, and minimalist compositions. It transports listeners back to the mid-1990s, a golden era for Japan's unique techno culture. This era saw Tokyo's clubs like Maniac Love becoming essential hubs for the underground scene, where Ishii and peers like Susumu Yokota thrived. Ishii and Yokota set benchmarks for Japanese techno with their early works. Ishii's Reference to Difference and Yokota's Acid Mt. Fuji, released simultaneously on June 29, 1994, were pivotal in putting Japan on the global techno map. Martyn Pepperell's new liner notes accompany this reissue, shedding light on Ishii's influence and the album's significance. Rediscover this gem and experience a landmark moment in electronic music history.