Affin LTD Vinyl & CDs

Review: Bay Area dub techno titan Bvdub takes things in a monolithic direction on this latest ambient album for Joachim Speith's Affin LTD label. Bvdub is of course more known for his beatless drone works these days than his techno output, but you can still hear the sense of melancholic regalia of his earlier work in these voluminous pieces, one a side across a generously apportioned double pack. These long form pieces swirl and swim with thick layers of reverb and processing, but there's also space for more pronounced elements - take the plaintive piano on 'Twelve Years Apart', for example. Epic ambience abounds across this refined addition to the canon of a prolific artist.

Review: The Affin label has always done a fine line in deep techno. That is the case again here with the label's 55th outing. It comes from Toki Fuko and opens with the spine tingling depths, ambient pads and dub chords of 'Ajna.' Theer is then a blissed out and roomy roller in the form of 'Narration 4' and mystic, misty pads and fathom deep bass on 'Black Hole' that sinks you way below the surface. Last of all is 'Narration 2' which has a slippery late night rhythm and frosted pads up top.