Back catalogue: Experimental/Electronic

Review: The second act of Bucharest-based duo Khidja, the deep-groove junkies' debut LP 'Transmissions Part 1 & 2' released earlier this year. Over the 76-minute runtime, the two delve into downtempo industrial, on 'Under Stressure' with its droning horns and spacey synths, to more traditional, analogue-influenced synthwave techno, 'Laid Back' sounding like a crazy circuit bypassing experiment from the bygone age of manual electro. Throughout the transmission, Khidja employs 90s tribal influences just as faithfully as 80s space-age synthpop tropes - like the trilling synth falsettos on epic closing track 'Oil'. Khidja have been proving in, and outside, of the club scene that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Review: Call a track 'Rotterdam In De Jaren 90' and you can expect people to have some pretty strong feelings about what it might sound like. Especially given this double-A from Nous Klaer Audio opens on what grows into a tense, electronic, club-ready builder, for a while at least. Cast any thoughts of gabber out the window, though, because if this is the Dutch port city's rave scene on record, it's a post-sweat soaked, blissed out reflection on the wonders of whatever happened the night before. Kems Kriol's mini epic, a 15-minute long tune no less, is a beautiful combination of wistful woodwind and synthesised refrains, presumably found sounds, and strange, abstract noises. 'Tegenlicht', on the other side, shares some of those qualities in the extended intro and outro sections, but also spends some of its 18-minute running time in the basements and warehouses we were originally expecting to find.

Review: Visions of a haunting, maritime electro are conjured on Franck Kartell's latest for Noise To Meet You - fittingly dubbed Acoustic Warfare. Playing on themes that have gone hand-in-hand with the genre almost since its inception - and with the immense sonic power of certain subaquatic technologies, such as sonar, in mind - this is a minimal meander through endless submergent scapes and lowermost watery wonders. From 'Sonar Pulses' to 'Inside The Shadow Zone', the album plays off as if its beats were the inner workings of the craft we use to navigate them, while its the atmospheres evoke the lagoons, trenches and sea-floors that surround.

Review: After the success of their 2021 release 'The Bent Bow Must Wait to Be Released', musician, writer and filmmaker Sunik Kim is back with more brilliance. This time this second crucial album comes as two side-ing pieces that pair playful synth innovation with "a touch of slapstick humour, a la Henry Cow." It has been crafted using MIDI instrumentation and is about the art of fining beauty and order in chaos. Complex structures and regularly breaking rhythms intertwine with harsh clusters of keys and sweeping orchestral manoeuvres all making this as intense as it is rewarding.

Review: The second solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel to appear on the Lumberton Trading Company label offers eight spectacularly original compositions from the outsider artist. These are tracks that bore their way into the heart and mind through startlingly personal moods and meanings. The atmosphere is often tense, and, when it's not, 'surreal' is the word that springs to mind - albeit more unusual hallucination than comical experiment. 'Platform 5' might be the best example of how unnerving things can get, the low, rumbling synth bassline underpinning spoken word, distant, almost inaudible harmonic refrain and eerie chorus. 'No Show Tomorrow' asks "what if they had a war and nobody showed up' to seemingly disconnected tones, notes and noises. 'They Seek Her Here' ups the tempo with a synth-wave-breaks trip through dystopian spaces.

Review: Jamtland-born and Malmo-based producer and musician Linus Jonsson, known as Klofink, recorded these tracks between 2021 and 2023. They manifest as immersive sonic landscapes, skillfully blending pastoral and post-industrial elements. The dubby rhythms delve into profound depths, intricate sound designs unfold, and a year's worth of seasons comes and goes within each track. Amidst these global grooves, hints of ancient instruments and clandestine dancing rituals emerge, creating a captivating sonic tapestry. We, for one, find ourselves irresistibly drawn to the rich and evocative musical journey Klofink presents, yearning for more of these mesmerizing compositions.

Review: Among the many hot takes about the recent London romance film Rye Lane is that it is the UK's Amelie, contributing further to the continued coolification of South London's Peckham, in which the film is set. Whatever your take on the film is, it's certainly far less controversial to consider its stellar soundtrack work by Kwesi Sey aka Kwes, a longtime fixture of London's musical spirit. A curveball compared to his wholly original releases with Warp, Kwes took a detour here, in part taking on the image of his collaborator Mica Levi by debuting his first ever soundtrack. Quirky, pink and full of the ideal spirit of the film, Kwes' chosen sound is unfiltered, opting for ear-to-the-ground neo-soul motifs and clear-eyed ballads written with his friends Tirzah and Sampha.

Review: Primarily known for his work with the double bass and modular synths, Egil Kalman straddles that unique hinterland somewhere between electronic, electroacoustic, and folk. Renowned for his ability to improvise and create stunning, beautiful, minimalist compositions on the fly, while this is hard to truly capture on record, Forest of Tines does its best. With a subtitle referencing the instrument Kalman is perhaps most associated with, the work is deeply textured and yet deceptively bare, with layers slowly revealing themselves before dissipating into the ether. A sonic adventure that lures us in with calm, organic movements set against tones that are more obviously the result of man and machine, timelessness meeting modernity in these exquisite forms, like stories of the ancients told through contemporary musical language.

Review: For the fifth volume of The Encyclopedia of Civilizations, Abstrakce's collection of split LPs - in which selected artists offer insight into fascinating ancient cultures - hears them focus this time on the enigmatic Babylon, visited by two of the label's favourite electronic bands currently active. Berlin-based duo Driftmachine take us on a journey between the ancient cities of Akkad, Uruk and Ashur. Bringing together astonishing electronics with a superb and precise sound - floating somewhere between modular ambient, leftfield, abstract dub - every detail has been carefully crafted to produce a complex architecture. Unconventional tribal rhythms recall obscure rituals, while warm, dynamic pulses contract and expand, interacting on their journey along the sandy roads of the Mesopotamian basin. Afterwards, Glasgow-based project Komodo Kolektif delves into the Babylonian vision of magic through the figures of the Kassaptu (witches and wizards), and the use of Mandragora. A blend of both tribal primitivism and a futuristic vision is provided by their vast arsenal of vintage synths and effects units, Eastern metallophones and traditional hand percussion. This is deep, psychedelic electronics that capture the spirit of ancient Babylonian sacred ceremonies and their vision of the cosmos.

Review: "The Next World Sound Series is a collection of work by contemporary sound artists working in long form instrumental composition and translated to the tangible medium of vinyl. These modern day offerings capture the analog quality and experience of last century electronic recordings, presented to you with today's technological advances in home playback, for your environmental listening pleasure." Or so say heads at the iconic and truly enigmatic label Dark Entries of this latest addition to their catalogue. A collection of work that spans the strangely frantic sci-fi tones of 'Oberenginen 0930' to the almost monastic drone of 'Soma', dubbed and muffled drums and vocals on 'Lixsm', club-ready broken beats of 'Destruct', and the evocative futurist refrains and samples of 'John Gore'. As expansive as it is exploratory and adventurous, you'll need to set aside some serious listening time for your first play here.

Review: It was in 1998 that pioneering Canadian musician levin Key released his solo debut Music For Cats. Artoffact Records reissued it on vinyl back in 2014 and now they do so again but this time on gatefold pink and blue splattered vinyl double album. It's a unique work that blends classical, glitch, and noise-driven pieces, featuring collaborations with artists like Dwayne Goettel, Genesis P.Orridge, Philth, and Mark Spybey. 'Music Fur Cats' showcases Key's songwriting depth, followed by 'Wind On Small Paws' with its electro-industrial sci-fi vibe. 'Meteorite' offers glitchy beats. Familiar tracks like 'Bird', 'Blotter', and 'Greenhouse Gasses' provide accessible listening, albeit experimental. 'Music For Cats' is gritty and against the grain, yet melodic. While not mainstream, it's an intriguing, well-crafted release, appealing to experimental electronic enthusiasts and completists alike.