DiN Vinyl & CDs

Review: Fresh from curating a fine compilation marking 25 years of his admirable DiN label, Ian Boddy unleashes the latest in a long-line of collaborative works. He's previously released joint studio works alongside Chris Carter, Erik Wollo and Mark Shreeve, amongst others and here is in cahoots with Parallel Worlds member (and DiN semi-regular) Dave Bessell. In true ambient fashion, Polarity boasts a two-part, near 52-minute title track: an evocative, creepy and slowly shifting fusion of modular electronic bleeps, vintage analogue synthesiser melodies, immersive chords and - for shortish blasts amongst the aural weightlessness - bubbling beats. To round off the album, the pair drifts further into deep space ambient mode via the Pete Namlook-esque 'Confluence'.

Review: Last year, regular collaborators Ian Boddy (a Sunderland-based electronics wizard who founded the ambient-focused DiN imprint years ago) and Erik Wallo (a long-serving Norwegian guitarist primiarly known for his experimental and ambient releases) performed their first joint concert for a decade. It's that performance, where they jammed out extended and much-changed versions of tracks featured on some of their prior studio sets, which forms the basis of their latest full-length, Transmissions. As you'd expect, it's a wonderfully atmospheric and evocative affair that gets the most out of both artists, with highlights including the wonderfully creepy 'Uncharted', the krautrock-style hypnotism of 'Aboena', the icy and ethereal 'Ice Station' and the slow-burn bliss of 'Salvage'.

Review: Since founding DiN in 1999, Ian Boddy has been driven by a passion for collaboration, particularly with artists connected to the pioneering German electronic scene of the 1970s. When a chance meeting with Harald Grosskopf at a Dutch music festival presented the opportunity to work together, Boddy eagerly embraced Grosskopf's ear; the latter's tutelage at the Berlin school spans decades, and he is most notably for his fellowship as a drummer with Klaus Schulze, whose influence looms large over Boddy's own work. But beyond percussion, Grosskopf's Synthesist album revealed his distinct melodic sensibilities, making him an ideal creative partner for Doppelganger. Blending Berlin-schooled sequencing with evocative grooves. Boddy's modular synth textures shine on tracks like 'Boulevard Horizon', while Grosskopf's rhythmic playfulness is evident in 'Livewire'.