Back in stock: Experimental/Electronic

Review: As we hapless reviewers make our way through these five new experimental LPs by Current 93, we cannot help but feel increasing torment and terror at the figures portrayed on the front covers of each record: hand-painted by David Tibet himself (the artist has increasingly indulged such formal solo trend-buckings through his own Cashen's Gap imprint in recent years) they appear like sleep paralytic demons or the ghosts of cancelled English folk yore. All the records are apparently ritually connected to a recent string of live appearances between London and Hastings, and Tibet's penchant for demonologic peerage titles such as GreenSleeve Drakon and Gnostic Sketch - blurring a sense of self-referentiality and occult otherworldliness - leave us bewildered and slack-jawed.

Review: Moony Tunes is one of five new 12" LPs recently unveiled by David Tibet aka. Current 93, mad witch doctor of the post-80s industrial continuum. An ever-morphing project, Current 93 always implies motifs of apocalyptic folk, dream logic, and esoteric revelations, and this volume, subtitled Preparing To Sleep In Menstrual Night, feels like a whispered dispatch from the edge of sleep and symbol. True to C93's nature, it resists easy description, lullabying eerily through hoveringly attentive drones and spellcasting vocals. Each pressing includes a riso print of Tibet's painting Moony Toons, hand-signed in pencil, thus hand-stamping an album best received as a kind of ritual, and shaped by the occult aurae of Tibet's performances in London and Hastings earlier this year.

Review: Electronic music is meant to provide a release from the real world, but Medium, the latest missive by UK producer Emptyset, will bring anyone who hears it crashing back to the earth. Emptyset's approach makes nods to narratives from the past, taking influence from the tortured industrial noise of Throbbing Gristle, the eerie ambience of Regis and minimal techno at its most reductionist. On "Interstice", this latter trait manifests itself as dead paced beats and frost percussion disappear into nothingness only to re-appear a few seconds later. On "Other", Emptyset does more to reintroduce the spirit of industrial to contemporary electronic music than a shelf full of situationist techno releases; murderous sub-bass stabs provide the focus, but on the sidelines eerie sound scapes and textures are unfolding, accompanied by skittish percussion. "Mirror" meanwhile sees waves of white noise and static interference and a rave siren build over doubled-up death pace beats. These are the closest references to structured electronic music. "Divide" delivers a tapestry of detached sounds while on "Medium" itself, Emptyset wallows in menacing bass licks with background noise seething beneath the surface. This is music that matches the unparalleled dark age we are living through, and just this once, the Medium really is the message.

Review: As one of the key outposts in the LA beat scene, broadcaster and studio space Dublab is in a strong position to put together an authoritative selection of forward-thinking rhythms that reflect the sound of the city, and what better label to put it out than Stones Throw? There's a few celebrated heads such as Carlos NiNo, Teebs and Ras G, and fresher faces such as ESP and Sun Araw representing the rich diversity and active imagination still prevalent in the home of true beat science. From tender downtempo pop to rugged and ragged bug-outs, there's a lot to take in but that's half the fun right?