Blackest Ever Black Vinyl & CDs

Review: Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carla Dal Forno was once a member of a number of legendary Australian outfits. These days, the Melbournian resides in Berlin, which is presumably where she met Blackest Ever Black boss Kiran Sande. He loved her clandestine, atmospheric take on pop - think minimal wave, cold-wave and early Joy Division mixed with contemporary ambience, and leftfield synth-pop - and has decided to put out this debut album. Comprised of four songs and four instrumentals, You Know What It's Like has a timeless feel; the folksy, Scott Walker-influenced "Dry In The Rain", for example, sounds like it could have been recorded at any point over the last 40 years, while "Dragon Breath" has a genuine Radiophonic Workshop feel.

Review: Remixes of iconic New York no wave act Ike Yard by Regis and Konrad Becker's Monoton project feature on this joint release from Blackest Ever Black and Desire. Technically a complementary release to Desire's soon to drop reissue of Ike Yard's eponymous debut set from 1982, this 12" has the Downwards boss and Becker tackling tracks from that album. Led by Stuart Argabright, Ike Yard's brand of avant garde electro minimalism is not something you can easily digest, but both remixes here work as fine complements to the source material. Regis' take on "Loss" is a pattering, skeletal affair that develops ripples of uneasy analogue pulses without ever forgoing Ike Yard's paranoia inducing intentions, while Becker's Monoton Dub take on "NCR" is equally respectful, if much more foreboding in execution.