Neptune Discs Netherlands Vinyl & CDs

Review: Neptune Discs bowl headfirst into a future cybernet on their ninth V/A volume. Christening this latest record a “Neptune Disc”, we’d not be surprised if it indeed was true that a hidden alien civilization resident on the farthest known planet in the solar system was, in fact, using copies of this record as currency. From the opening filterswept FM declensions of ‘Emerald Canopy’, to the closing saws and oral acid resonances of ‘Donald Llg’, this retrofitted vision of the 2090s propels us towards a altered, proto-temporal conscious state, twining intricate vocal hooks round endlessly pulsating acid lines.

Review: Neptune Discs specialise in progressive downbeat, upbeat and acid convections, and as a label theme themselves after forgotten marine kingdoms. Though Poseidon has thrusted his trident at us here, there's actually a fourth track/prong on this tenth edition in the Dutch label's V/A catalogue, adding extra implosive impact to an already power-packed depth charge. Standouts here, in our estimation, have to be the faster currents of the bunch, taking shape as Tifra's 'Headspace' - whose breath-of-life melodic sequencings and CPAP pads allow us mammals a moment to come up for air - and DJ Life's 'Carapax' - whose gnatty lead buzz is like a desiccant for contaminant waters.

Review: Dub techno meets amphibian ambient trance on this next 'Message' from Shjva, the Ukrainian-born, Warsaw-based artist. After standouts on People & Places and Warning, his debut EP for Neptune discs here does certainly feel like a Neptunian ocean landing, with acid laps on 'Zumi Tek' and measured sonic thruster descents on 'Nebulogy' giving the sustained feel of a landing craft gone rogue. On the flip there's also Jeku's rather striking reinterpretation, reworking the material into a Goa-inspired odyssey that stretches the sonic palette into psychedelic, trance-adjacent territory.