Search results: Amber

Review: As Autechre set out on an extensive live tour, Warp has decided the time is right to reissue their 1994 classic, Amber, on vinyl. Given that it's been unavailable on wax since then, and second hand prices have shot through the roof, this is undoubtedly a good thing. It remains one of the legendary duo's standout albums: a peerless collection of brilliant IDM tunes offering a perfect balance between the glistening, atmospheric melodiousness of their early work, and the crunchy, mathematical rhythms of their later releases. There are moments of eyes-closed calm ("Silverside"), bubbly, melody-led workouts ("Montreal", "Slip"), far-out electro missives ("Glitch"), and the odd icy epic (the brilliant "Further").

Review: UK based musical collective Jilk have made a name for themselves as specialists of a particular type of understated electronica. Some, including their own members, have compared it to the sound of a haunted bedroom, which kind of makes sense. It's intimate, there's a deeply humanistic and acoustic bent to the work, and so much tangible atmosphere you can sense the spirits surrounding each arrangement.
Syrup House is no exception to the rule, but we do find the gang bringing elements of analogue house to the fore, and merging this to great effect with dream pop and tender instrumentation. Deep, immersive music that is at once playful yet thoughtful, reflective but forward thinking, and - at times - surprisingly dance floor ('128 Rushes', for example). A quiet epic, for want of phrasing that feels a little less cliched.

Review: The first anyone heard from Robert Fleck was an early drop on Well Street back in 2018, and it's been quiet since then. Anyone following Well Street knows it's a hot tip for upfront artists in the fractured fissures of the UK underground, and Fleck makes a welcome return to prove the point. There's a lot of different touchstones you could point to on this release, from nimble-footed broken beat and a whiff of nu jazz orchestration, not to mention a bass music sensibility and an appreciation for deeper strains of UK techno. But more than all that, Fleck merges his unique spread of influences into something fresh and unique, comfortably slipping between conventional genre markings with the kind of flair we've come to expect from Well Street.

Review: Uganda keeps on giving, with the country currently at the forefront of sub-Saharan Africa's electronic underground: a fertile corner of the world in terms of emerging and established talent. Enter Hibotep, a Kampala-based rising star who was born and raised in Ethiopia but grew up in Somalia. Joining her on this EP, another one to know from the Ugandan capital, Hibo Elmi, a DJ, filmmaker, fashion designer, installation artist, rapper and studio head considered to be one of the most important female dance music makers on the continent right now. Running the gamut from 'Amber''s dark, hypnotising dub-hop moves, through 'Ebwino's sparse, weightless tones, which eventually give way to playful stepping rhythm beneath the relentless microphone skills of MC Will'stone, and 'Saffron' with its slow mo, exotic shuffle, if those responsible for this EP themselves reflect the incredible diversity of the city's scene, the sounds do the same.

Review: Following a couple of decent but arguably overlooked 12" singles, Tecwaa has decided the time is right to drop his debut album. The Swedish artist proceeds to languidly shuffle through evocative, occasionally icy tracks that variously draw influence from deep house, 1980s wave music, spiritual jazz, leftfield synth-pop, trippy electronica and chugging psychedelic disco. It's an interesting and entertaining set, with each success delay-laden track delivering a new twist on his hard-to-pigeonhole late night/early morning sound. By the time the bubbly, acid flecked "Those Cosmic Plains" rounds the album off, you'll be ready to listen to it all over again.

Review: There are echoes of Coil's mid-1980s cult classic album 'Horse Rotorvator' in 'The Ape of Naples' in that it has such a wide variety of sounds and styles. This one first came back in 2005 and is a go-to for fans as it is just a great example of the band's singular sonic world. The album was put together by Peter Christopherson a year after Jhonn Balance's deadly fall and it features re-workings of the live favourites like 'Amethyst Deceivers' and Love Secret's Domain album track 'Teenage Lightning' plus a numb of tunes first meant for the ultimately ill-fated Backwards long player. Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson has remastered all the originals for this new reissue.