This week at Juno
Split 12″s from Area & Donato Dozzy and Appleblim & October, to Italian electro reissues on Mannequin, cave-dwelling ambient from Multicast Dynamics, abstract house music from Leipzig and a diverse selection of Aïsha Devi remixes.
Coming out of the steaming sound bath of strangeness that is Sex Tags offshoot Wania, this single-sided 12” by unknown artists Asis offers up a sonic excursion that caters to a special brand of sordid listener. If you dig the lo-fi punk crust of Ekoplekz but find it too rhythmically informed, or love the modular wobbles of Bass Clef’s Some Truths alias but wish a dump truck would unload some muck into the mix, then this might just be the one-shot wonder for you. The textures come in grungy and metallic across this 14-minute ride, veering between distorted bleeps and drunken sub bass with plenty of additional experimental static woven in for good measure. It’s an bumpy ride, but then who likes it smooth all the way?
Listen/buy vinyl
Area / Donato Dozzy – Entireless (Tesuji)
We already know Area to be a trusted source of deep-reaching variants on house and techno by way of his accomplished career producing for Ethereal Sound, Sequencias, UntilMyHeartStops and others. It’s with his label Kimochi, however, that the Chicago-based producer has managed to round out his place in the 4/4 market with signings that complement his own submersive studies. Now comes the time for him to branch out with a new sublabel entitled Tesuji, and judging by the opening gambit “Entireless”, it’s a place where tougher variations on his style can take hold. Area’s production stomps its way through nine-minutes of weighty percussion and snarling tones that match industrial seriousness with psychedelic elevation. An artist well versed in such arts, Donato Dozzy takes the reins for the “Genesis Chamber Beats” remix and creates a woozy atmosphere that retains some of the grubbiness of the original but balances it with a warmer disposition.
Listen/buy vinyl
Das Ding – Missing Tapes (Minimal Wave)
The very embodiment of everything Minimal Wave stands for, Danny Bosten’s Das Ding project came hurtling out of DIY obscurity in 2009 with the reissue of his 1982 tape Highly Sophisticated Technological Achievement, and since then a wave of material both new and old has emerged, with a pleasing focus on live performances as well as studio experiments. After that first bout of reissue gold catapulted his sound back into the consciousness of a very ready record buying public, Minimal Wave are on hand to present a new salvo of unearthed recordings from the Bosten vaults, and it’s just as staggering. The steely focus of his pummeling synth lines and the very danceable thrust of his distinctive drums are astounding even by todays standards, but even more impressive is the inherent warmth rubbed into the electro pulse of his melodies despite all the metallic clanging and banging going on around them.
Listen/buy vinyl
DK – Island Of Dreams (Antinote)
Between his D.K. and 45 ACP aliases there has been plenty of quality material to enjoy from Dang Khoa Chau over the past few years. While the latter alias has manifested in tougher output for L.I.E.S., Russian Torrent Versions and Odd Frequencies, there has been an abundance of soothing house music drifting out of the D.K. camp primarily on Antinote. It’s there that he returns to for a second album after 2014’s Drop, and this time around the mood is even slinkier. Each one of these tracks settles on the ears like velvet muffs, billowing with plush melodic content that takes its cue from all manner of ‘80s slow jams and sun-baked Balearica. The title says it all; if there was ever music suitable to soundtrack an imaginary after party for a yacht rock gig in the 21st century, it would surely be Island Of Dreams.
Listen/buy vinyl
Appleblim / October – Other Side Of The Sky (Tempa)
Back in 2011, Bristol artists Appleblim and October crossed paths for the first time on a single for Schmorgasbord Records. Following that first encounter, further sessions ensued that manifested in a remix for Skudge as well as other previously unheard material. “Other Side Of The Sky” in its original form harks back to those sessions, coming across as one of the finest results of their crossover to reach wax to date. The sumptuous fluttering arpeggios speak a Drexciyan language while the rhythm section grooves with NY attitude, and there’s plenty of tripped out effects tweaking at work in between the rock solid house construction. On the flip, Appleblim takes the original version to task with a decidedly broken up revision that retains the alluring atmosphere while adding a definite UK slant to proceedings.
Listen/buy vinyl
Multicast Dynamics – Outer Envelopes (Denovali)
Samuel van Dijk is one hell of a producer and you could say he first surfaced under the dubby techno Mohlao alias with records on Meanwhile, Field Records and Other Heights. In 2012 Dijk launched his VC-118A project delivering Tabernacle some essential electro, none better than his Propulse EP from last year, but for his more esoteric, ambient sounds it’s all about his prolific Multicast Dynamics project. It’s a project that was swiftly snapped up by Denovali through its reissue of Multicast Dynamic’s Scape cassette on Kaukana Väijyy Ambient (home to music by Rasmus Hedland), with a further three albums committed since. The latest is Outer Envelopes which once again plunges the listener deep into a world of eerie tones and vacuous spaces hidden well under a frozen archipelago. Synthesised, cave-dwelling exotica.
Listen/buy vinyl
Heinrich Dressel – Mons Testaceum (Mannequin)
Following BAKK and Berceuse Heroique, Alessandro Adriani’s Mannequin now take its pick to reissue something from Legowelt’s now ceased CDr label Strange Life Records. Naturally they went with Heinrich Dressel, aka Italian Valerio Lombardozzi, whose music under the German-sounding alias has been described as something like John Carpenter meets Drexciya. Lombardozzi returns to Mannequin after giving the label a mini-LP in 2012 called Sighing Melodies Thru The Graves, while the majority of his other music can be found on electro hub MinimalRome he co-founded. Lombardozzi’s astral skills on the Roman synthesizer Elka Synthex are on full display in this reissue of Mons Testaceum with “Ghastly Signals From The Night” a spooky highlight on a record that will help propel electro’s fledging comeback further into the spotlight.
Listen/buy vinyl
Philipp Matalla – Kiba (Kann Records)
If there are any DJs reading this column, it’s all about the 9-minute A-side, “Kiba”. Quite rightly Leipzig’s trustworthy Kann Records have given the scratched-up drum track its own side of vinyl and it’s lo-fi, pleasantly distorted and melodic – but don’t let that put you off – think something along the lines of Mix Mup’s Drive-By EP. The B-side is a three-track expression session from Philipp Matalla who returns to Kann following the label’s introduction of Cmd Q, Llewellyn and Polo. Kiba is obviously a record the label have thought about; banger on the A-side, abstract, stoner chill out sessions on the B.
Listen/buy vinyl
Aïsha Devi – Of Matter & Spirit Remixes (Houndstooth)
Remix EPs can sometimes be so-so but Houndstooth have really hit the sweet spot here in choosing who is privy enough to rework the stems of Aïsha Devi’s Of Matter & Spirit album. The London label has coaxed the best sounds out of Lakker we’ve heard in sometime with a frenetic chop up of “Anatomy Of Light”, while Throwing Shade washes out high-pitched vocals in reverb and compliments its tone with harmonically matching synths. Quite the coup on this EP is a remix from Bristol trio Killing Sound (Seb Gainsborough aka Vessel, Sam Kidel aka El Kid, Amos Childs aka Zhou) whose ultimate reduction of “Mazda” features the haunting vocals of both Rider Shafique & Bogues. Too dark? Allow the insane drums and future-’90s-action sound design of Mind:Body:Fitness remix to the same track fill the void. Houndstooth do release a lot of music, but this record is certainly worth hearing.
Listen/buy vinyl
Mark Leckey – Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999 (The Death Of Rave)
There’s something slightly humorous in thinking The Death Of Rave’s grim reaper Conor Thomas has swooped on Mark Leckey’s Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999, may he or she rest in peace. This third release for Leckey sees the English academic back on The Death Of Rave following a turn on Bill Kouligas’ PAN, and the music here is lifted from the soundtrack of Leckey’s recent autobiographical film installation of the same name. The music itself was inspired by a Joy Division gig the band played in Liverpool that Leckey “can hardly remember” he found uploaded to YouTube. “As I listened I wondered if, through enhancing the audio, I could actually find my fifteen-year-old self in the recording,” Leckey is quoted saying, which musically translates into a mish-mash of improvised electronics, avant garde vocal samples, running beats and other pulses to washed out field recordings which indeed invoke the feeling of youthful memories.
Listen/buy vinyl