Search results: JK

Review: A bumper double LP of hyper modernist techno shrapnel from an all star cast of remixers working with JK Flesh's 2022 debut on KR3 records, 'Veneer Of Tolerance'. Prime cuts include Rrose's snarling, overtone-laden remix of 'Empty Words', with reese bass glissandos lacerated by a clattering percussion and hollow harmonics, London-Detroit superhighway technician Steve Bicknell's stroboscopic, swampy spin on 'Veneer Of Tolerance', and Samuel Kerridge's hotwired amen lengdown of the same track. And that's just the first three tracks! Trust us when we say there's something for every dark techno diehard in this one.

Review: The sixth album from JK Flesh, Sewer Bait is a slo-mo, lo-fi, noise-inflected journey through the dirtier, grittier side of techno. The opening track, 'Soaked to the Skin' is a corroded, corrupted chugger - pulsing demonically, brushing against increasingly rougher textures, this is a track where everything is obscured yet each component comes together to create a groove that is intensely hypnotic. The titular track 'Sewerbait' feels more closely aligned to the industrial techno tradition - slamming drums meet searing synths to create a track that is powerfully alluring. The final track, 'Washed Up', is driven by a relentless, propulsive core - like an engine revving up, this track feels ready to take off. JK Flesh has a masterful skill for making the rough shine and highlighting the delicate amongst the rubble.

Review: The eclectic Canadian superproject New Age Doom are pretty un-pin-downable, with their contributing band members including Bowie Blackstar bandleader Donny McCaslin, and bassist Tim Lefebvre. While their last album was a drone metal epic known as 'Himalayan Dream Techno', their latest is a dub-inflected curveball, dedicated to the mastery over space and atmospherics commanded by the late producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Remix The Universe is a compilation of new perspectives on their final collaborative album, 'Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Guide to the Universe'. If ever we needed a spiritual guide for space exploration, Perry would be our go-to; it's evident from this short LP that Perry's influence is felt much further and wider than merely dub music, with gross-genre remixes from the likes of Daryl Palumbo, Quicksand, Tuvaband, Nick Reinhart and Andy Morin all in tow.

Review: If there's one collaboration that we have bowed down to over the last few years, it's most certainly this new found friendship between London's Kevin Martin aka The Bug, and American doom metal guitarists, Earth. One wouldn't immediately make the connection between inner-city future-grime music and suburban stoner rock, but the two styles were in perfect unison, and this is because they're both fascinated with dark, looming clouds of bass. Whether that's through virtual synths or badass bass guitars, it doesn't matter, because the mood is mightily present. Concrete Desert is the alliance's debut LP, and it's all guns blazing from start to finish; tunes like "Snakes vs Rats" or "Metal Drone" represent exactly the sort of freshen-up that each respective act needed - on the one hand, The Bug could have done with some more external influences to the melodic constructions, while Earth needed a new framework to enter the minds of a new, European audience. We've dubbed this style 'metal drone', and we're pretty sure that it's gonna stick after you've played it out for a few minutes. A blinding collab, right here.

Review: There's a slightly different feel to the latest instalment of the fantastic "Africa Airways" compilation series. While previous instalments have largely focused on heavy Afro-funk and Afro-soul, this fifth edition showcases material recorded during the disco and boogie era (1976-82). The ten included tracks are superb, with highlights including the fuzzy, Clavinet-driven thrills of "Sweet Sidney (Edit)" by Black Bells Group, the heavy grooves and dancing synth lines of Gyedu Blay Ambolley's "Highlife", the spacey Afro-boogie badness of Fotso's "French Girl" and the flash-fried disco-funk celebration that is Jide Obe's spacey, Moog-sporting "Too Young". As the old cliche goes, this is all killer and no filler.