Keroxen Vinyl & CDs

Review: Of all the seas in the world, the Indian Ocean is up there with those that invoke the greatest sense of mystery. Filling the rather big bit between East Africa, South East Asia, Australia and Oceana, it's a vast expanse of water known for deceptively dangerous paradise islands, political uncertainty, incredible natural beauty and a somewhat wild west (or east?) seafaring culture. It's a place that feels far less familiar to us here in Britain even than the Pacific, and as such a record that looks to interpret cultures and scenes from this watery region is always going to be intriguing. This is the second thematic volume in the Aquapelagos series, split LPs that focus on societies surrounded by waves, and the communities therein. Mike Cooper and Pierre Bastien's interpretation of the Indian Ocean is mesmerising, and often sounds isolated, hypnotic noises ebbing and flowing, distant calls, percussive details, 'atmos' of bird sounds, oscillations, high pitched feedback. A place that is serene and yet disturbed, often by distinctly human elements.

Review: Spanish label and collective Keroxen once again take a break from throwing festivals in the Canary Islands to release some original music, this time from the experimental electronica phenom Rob Mazurek. Gracing their discography with a genre-defier of field recordings, spirit call chants, trumpet harmonies and circuit-bent verging on circuit-broken electronics, this is a veritable slice of eclecticism to say the least. Mazurek's M.O. going into this one was to channel the exotic and tropical surroundings he found himself immersed in while stopping over in Tenerife, during 2023's Keroxen Festival edition; the tracks are almost entirely named after the fruits that grow locally on the island's trees, representing the ripe, sodden, ambi-spheric juiciness heard bursting forth from each track.