Border Community Vinyl & CDs

Review: In the fine tradition of Border Community, Luke Abbott comes correct with this selection of winsome techno designed to tug at the heartstrings through heavy deployment of gently detuning synths. "Brazil" in both its incarnations here shimmers with the hazy charm you expect form Mr Abbott, while "Grumble" has a real edge to it thanks to some wilful distortion. The krautrock tendencies of Etienne Jaunet's remix makes it our pick of the two (admittedly sublime) tweaks, although the Gold Panda version is well worth checking too.

Review: This is a Techier track then the previous ones. Remixed by Nathan Fake. Support by Digweed, Warren, Holden and many more.

Review: Dextro is the latest talent to join the Border Community stable, with the sun-kissed Airesque lushness of 'Do You Need Help'. Another fine production ft remix by The MFA and another pair of DJ tools from BC boss James Holden.

Review: James Holden's label was always seen as the imprint most likely to enjoy mainstream success, but it's only now that this prophecy looks likely to come to pass. Nathan Fake's productions were too dreamy and abstract to win mainsream support and Holden himself lacked the patience to enter the pop world - even though he certainly did not lack the creativity. Instead, the honour of most likely pop star in waiting falls to Canadian producer Jake Fairley aka Fairmont. Those with long memories and bulging record collections will recall that under his own name, Fairley made a series of stunning widescreen techno records for Berlin label Sender. Though inspired by Detroit melodies and the grainy, unrelenting bass of early 00s German techno, these releases laid the basis for a sound that has splintered into different strands, all of which reach their logical conclusions here. The muffled vocals and atmospheric hooks of "Cold World" are expressed, albeit using a more downbeat tempo, on the layered synths and downer medication slur of the title track, while the bristling, twitching techno of "Drama" is evident on "Vanguard", which builds to the sound of Alden Tyrellistyle arpeggiated synths. However, Fairley also builds on his more recent work as Fairmont, and the trancey synth hooks, throbbing bass and, on "Cannon", the androgynous vocals may finally propel Fairley from underground status into the charts.

Review: Over the past few years Jake Fairley has become recognized as a key force in the growing Canadian electronic music scene. In September 2004 Jake Fairley released his first full-length release in over two years. "Touch Not The Cat" brings together and draws from every project and release from Jake's entire career and takes his music to the next level. Many different ideas and sounds are brought together for the first time to create an album that is extremely catchy, danceable and unmistakably Jake. His trademark straight and dirty beats are pitted against the shuffle riffery of T Rex, the tense monotone of Lou Reid and the distorted pop of The Misfits.

Review: "You Are Here" is the latest release from James Holden's Border Community imprint. Taken from Nathan Fake's critically acclaimed "Drowning In A Sea Of Love" long player, the package features a remix from Kieran Hebden's Four Tet project as well as live versions and a previously unreleased track.

Review: Apparat & Fairmont are the winners of this new Border remix record. Very nice, straight & lovely!

Review: Given that the precocious Nathan Fake was a pioneer in the area of melodic, indie meets electronic, it's strange to hear him calling a release Paean. Despite this, it's business as usual for the UK producer, with a cascade of melodic lines and psychedelic modulations unfolding over a rattling break beat. By contrast, the Coda remix is but a short, noisy outro and Lukid's version is a noisy, bass-heavy broken beat reshape. It's the Lone version that most articulately captures the spirit of the original version. The synth sounds redefine the term 'breezy' and, over brittle break beats, veer into melodies so sweet that they could replace the sugar in your morning cup of coffee.

Review: Largely absent from the art of original productions since that stunning Christmas track for Pampa back in 2010, Nathan Fake has been occupying himself with the odd remix here and there while working on the material that makes up Steam Days, his forthcoming third LP set for release on regular haunt Border Community. On the basis of Iceni Strings, this three track 12" prelude, Fake has spent his time wisely, with the title track one of those glorious examples of the Norfolk melodic wunderkind's innate talents for crafting warm organic music. The track's clipped percussion and glacial undertones gradually succumb to the obvious charms of that thickly resonating synth line that pulses onwards towards the skies, accruing all manner of fuzzy widescreen texture along the way. On the flip, "Sense Head" crafts together six different drum palettes while Fake goes overboard on twisting the sepia tinted melodics inside themselves, and the off kilter programming of "Bauxite Dream" attempts to trudge through the grimey recesses of low end with requisite results. The new album should be amazing on the basis of these tracks.

Review: "You Are Here" is the latest release from James Holden's Border Community imprint. Taken from Nathan Fake's critically acclaimed "Drowning In A Sea Of Love" long player, the package features a remix from Kieran Hebden's Four Tet project as well as live versions and a previously unreleased track.

Review: After the abrasive nature of Gone Feral, James Holden delivers another 12" of singular techno abstraction that bolsters the Border Community main man's intention to surge ahead with starkly original material. "The Illuminations" is a fast-paced thriller that mixes analogue mischief into psychedelic leanings, leaning on a constantly surging rhythmic intention as a sturdy backbone for long-form synth tweaking of a resolutely hand made nature. On the flip you can lose yourself in the pure drum workout of the "Drumsolo" mix, where the frenetic patterns make for a potent techno tool, or alternatively you can cut loose the percussive anchors and drift off on the ambient wonderment of the "Arpsolo".

Review: One of The Inheritors more subdued moments, it may initially seem odd for James Holden to have chosen such an undanceable track for its own EP, but here it finds itself warped into new forms for the club environment. The "Tool" version sees Holden laying a slowly unfurling rhythm under the original's pastoral analogue synths which ebb and flow with a new intensity. The "dub" does much the same but in a more subdued manner, while the "Gibbersolo" isolates the deeply disturbing vocals to chilling effect.

Review: Leading up to James Holden's long awaited second album, Border Community offer the Holden obsessive with a remix 10" featuring new scores of "Renata" by Daphni and Steve Moore. Daphni's remix is executed in typically unpredictable fashion by the Caribou frontman Dan Snaith, as the melancholic and euphoric fervour of Holden's consuming original is calmed by a breathy vocal choral and scissor-cut salvos lifted from an early UK Garage style. Steve Moore's alternate version offers a tom drum melodic and dreamy ambient wash of hyper-coloured synths that whiz and whirl to the point of ecstasy just before climax. A essential for Holden completists.

Review: There's an indication in the name, but in case you weren't sure James Holden is in a fighting mood on this new single, which provides a sneak peak at what impending album The Inheritors might hold in store. "Gone Feral" is a visceral cut that combines an awkwardly time-signatured beat with yowling swathes of distorted synth that fill every possible inch of the frequency range, leaving no room to breathe or get a handle on the track whatsoever. The "Drumtool" of the track unsurprisingly leaves the lopsided beat and some static pressure to flail on its own, while the "Synthtool" makes for a delirious beatless excursion which comes almost as a relief after the staggering intensity of the original track. Brace yourselves for the next era of Holden, he's not pulling any punches.

Review: It feels like past dub-house & acid times but somehow it sounds up to date as well. Strange but good!

Review: It's rather rare to see Wesley Matsell turning out a release, having only managed two previous EPs since 2008, one for Studio Barnhus and the other for Border Community who he returns to here. As you might expect from such an association, synths are the order of the day and in keeping with James Holden's interest in dirty distorting sounds there are plenty of red-lining moments in amongst the full-bodied melodies that drive this record. The lead track is a dazzling medley of raw bleeps, synthesised voices and rough drums that move between shuffle and staccato with glee, making for a slippery track to get a rhythmic handle on. "Future Beacon" has a more steady breakbeat roll to it, while the arpeggios twinkle effervescently. "Dowlais Wheelie Crew" marginally reins the raucous synths in with a more focused house burner, leaving it to "Rite Of Pant" to provide an oddly Balearic finishing move that flails in the distant haze of its production.

Review: Huge release on Border Community. Misstress Barbara continues her amazing run in the aftermath of her recent Bedrock release. This time out, she's back with another killer tech house/minimal workout, entitled 'Barcelona', so good in fact, that Border Com label boss James Holden contributes not 1 but 2 killer mixes here. Holden whips out his trusty hypnotic bell tones as he takes you on a stripped-back journey like no other.

Review: Rocketnumbernine, the project of brothers Tom and Ben Page, has been closely tied to a very specific type of London sound ever since their debut as a duo on Kieren Hebden's Text Records. Since then, they've also released on London's Soul Jazz Records, and have offered a wonky, experimental yet richly musical sort of house music. They now land on the excellent Border Community with two new tracks, the first one being too far from both electronica and house to properly categorise it in either one. The point is that the pair's music is deep and explorative, blurring the lines between electronic genres one bit at a time. Certainly recommended and a real marker for their mooted new LP for Border Community

Review: There have been whispers and murmurs of a new album from Kate Wax surfacing on the ever excellent Border Community for a while now, so the recent announcement of Dust Collision has been greeted with applause, not least here at Juno HQ! Set for release in November, the Swiss artist's fifth album is preceded by this twelve inch, which sees album mixer and BC overseer James Holden re-edit two LP tracks in typically epic, expansive fashion. It's a canny way to promote a new album by Border Community, with both Holden revisions the sort of slow burning and heavily melodic techno jams that fit perfectly amidst his own DJ sets.