Search results: Blue System

Review: Fresh from delivering a gorgeous and colourful album under his DJ Panthr alias, Hunter P Thompson returns to 100% Silk under his ambient and ambient techno-inspired alias, Akasha System. Dealing in waves of warming electronic colour, 90s ambient nostalgia, mid-80s 'new age' synth sounds, heady grooves and memorable melodies, the Portland-based producer delivers a set that's as sonically vivid as it is loved-up and unashamedly nostalgic. Standout moments are plentiful, with our picks including the delay-laden drums and delightfully drifting synth washes of 'Light Energy', the saucer-eyed Mr YT swell of 'Canopy Song', and the sunrise-ready wonder that is 'Life Cycle'.

Review: 'Symmetry Systems' is the new LP by Dennis Huddleston AKA 36. Inspired by Warp's 'Artificial Intelligence' releases from the early 90's, it's a melodic, synthesiser-driven record, with a wink to the past and a nod towards the future. "I have a deep love for those early Warp albums, particularly the Artificial Intelligence compilations. It was a wonderful time for UK electronic music. That beautiful, warm machine sound, with an optimistic (if somewhat naive) vision for the future. I found the whole thing incredibly inspiring and wanted to revisit those memories, albeit with a 36 twist" Like 'Wave Variations' before it, this record explores various approaches to the theme, with each track directly inspiring the next one. All tracks are sequenced in the order they were made. 'Symmetry Systems' is a collection of hypnotic machine music, made with a delicate human touch.

Review: The acclaimed sixth full-length from Swedish prog-metal auteurs and reluctant djent pioneers Meshuggah marked a notable return to their more raw and dexterous form of hyper-technical abrasion following the dizzying Catch Thirtythree which featured one ever-shifting piece divided into 13 segments. obZen saw the group utilising a live drum setup yet again following the Drumkit From Hell software synthesizer programming which Tomas Haake had exclusively pored over, leading to a more bombastic and feral sonic scope. Teeming with chaotic abandon balanced by their reliably overt calculation, cuts such as 'Bleed' served as latter day essential additions to their already bold catalogue while the absurdly vicious closing mammoth 'Dancers to a Discordant System' has become the band's go-to closer for live performances ever since.

Review: LA-based psych-punk band Frankie & The Witch Fingers have successfully built up their reputation as a kick-ass band with a wild, unpredictable sound, and they lean into that expectation with glee on this, their seventh studio album. Data Doom is a freewheeling ride where you might swing by the 7/4 rock n' synth-out of 'Mild Davis' or the brass-embellished blast of 'Burn Me Down'. There's space for monster riffs and smart rhythmic hooks to collide without falling into the math trap or getting too pretentious and when they want the guitar tone to really scream, it absolutely does.

Review: Over the last seven years, Shall Not Fade has become one of Britain's most consistent outlets for quality club music, with a vast roster of artists, a string of offshoot imprints, and a release schedule that refuses to settle on one specific sub-genre or sound. It's fitting, then, that the label's seventh-birthday celebration - a wonderfully produced triple-vinyl compilation of previously unheard cuts - does a fine job in summarising this eclectic, all-action approach. Amongst the 18 top-notch tracks you'll find warped UK techno (Alan Fitzpatrick and Reset Robot's 'Alpha'), wayward dancefloor psychedelia (Red Axes), jazzy and drowsy vocal deep house (Laurence Guy and Miller Blue), organ-fired 90s garage revivalism (Main Phase), sub-heavy breakbeat house hedonism (Borai) and even a dash of two-step UKG/grime fusion (Killjoy and Kwam).

Review: Armin van Buuren is now a global trance titan who has very much changed the game. It is 20 years since he dropped his debut album 76 back in 2003 on United Recordings and was titled after the year of his birth. It also came just after the 100th episode of his A State of Trance radio show which is still going strong today. The artists has often been voted as DJ Mag's Top DJ in their annual poll and this record has big collabs with the likes of Scottish singer Ray Wilson, Dutch pop band Krezip, fellow trance DJ Ferry Corsten and others. The big tunes from it were singles 'Yet Another Day' and 'Burned With Desire'.