Disciples Vinyl & CDs

Review: Non-Stop Healing Frequency is music designed to soothe you. It is the second album from Ruth Mascelli, aka one quarter of Special Interest, and is a progression from their debut album in that it is a "carefully constructed sequence of electronic mood pieces, tender ballads, kosmische disco tracks and industrial symphonies" Using synth, drum machine and piano, as well as Mascelli's own voice, these 11 pieces explore themes like new age and self-help scams, gnostic mysticism and different ways of working through grief. It's an exploration of how we all get through life, basically, and by listening to you will, in fact, get through life a little easier.

Review: Here's another classic from the archives of the Drexciya-verse, as Disciples track back ten years to revive a somewhat overlooked masterpiece from Gerald Donald, Penelope and Sherard Ingram. Originally released in WeMe, Commodified is a powerful demonstration of electro as more than dancefloor machine funk. There's a strong sense of Ingram's Stingray sound in the eerie sheen of the atmospherics, while Penelope's deep-running history as a techno and electro DJ in Spain bring a sense of structural focus to the project, but it's unmistakably glued together by Donald's distinctive sound and vision. If this got missed by some on its initial release, this reissue should help place it firmly in the forefront of Drexciya's many devoted fans.

Review: "And the award for best named album of the month goes to..." No prizes for guessing, Rephlex alumni Bogdan Raczynski delivers yet another record as manifesto. A collection comprising warm melodic 'electronic sketches', to borrow from the official release blurb, You're Only Young Once But You Can Be Stupid Forever is complex lo fi businesses, and immediately engrossing. Short and incredibly sweet, the tracks here are cute and unconcerned with imposing themselves on the listener. Instead, they invite us in from the cold of pretentiousness to play and connect with our inner child. At times, it feels like we're bouncing along the levels of a platform video game. In other moments, it's less, more minimalistic. Those thinking of chip music should move on, though, as this is none of the above.