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Review: Lempuyang makes it to release number 15 with a devastatingly deep new EP from Deepchord Records co-founder Mike Schommer. He kicks off with 'Scapegoat' featuring the alluring vocals of Milly James which echo out over super slow-motion dub rhythms and icy pads. The Pole rework brings more crisp hits and distant eerie drones over a more pronounced rhythm but one that remains devilishly sparse. On the flip, 'Deceivers' has more hypotonic drive - a fleshy dub stepper to lock in any 'floor and then 'Believers' slows it down to a crawl once more. An essential dub EP that promises no represses.

Review: Here's something to stir the hearts of all fans of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen's Panasonic/Pansonic project: a trio of long-lost remixes that were created, but for some reason never released, way back in 1996. Side A boasts an epic revision from long-serving Newcastle experimentalists Zoviet France, who turn an untitled Panasonic production into a ghostly trip through hypnotic, minimalist techno territory - all unearthly aural textures, drifting synth sounds and hazy, locked-in drums. Over on side B there's a pair of rare remix outings from the sadly departed Bryn Jones AKA Muslimgauze. He first wraps vocal sounds and twisted electronics around a raw analogue techno groove, before offering up one of his impeccable experimental ambient dub workouts. Of the two, this is undoubtedly the most mesmerising.

Review: Back in 2016, legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen approached techno pioneer Jeff Mills with the idea of working together. A series of live gigs and off-the-radar studio sessions followed, with the first fruits of their joint efforts finally appearing on this must-have 10". As you'd expect, the duo's collaborative work combines Allen's traditional Nigerian polyrhythms, traditional Afrobeat instrumentation, and the far-sighted, sci-fi inspired electronic futurism that has always marked out Mills' work. The result is a quartet of cuts that could arguably be described as retro-futurist Afro-tech - all delay-laden beats, basslines and organs subtly sparring with gentle acid lines, Motor City electronics, beguiling deep space textures and shimmering, 31st century motifs. It's arguably Allen's stylistic contributions that dominate, but that's no bad thing.

Review: Last year Burial and the Bug joined forces as Flame 1, delivering an in-demand EP on the latter's Pressure label featuring two sizable slabs of industrial strength soundsystem science. Here they return as Flame 2, once again offering up a pair of weighty dancefloor excursions. A-side "Dive" is a loud and claustrophobic affair, as the duo wraps dystopian dub bass and sparse, mutilated post-drill rhythms in layers of apocalyptic aural textures and mind-altering dub techno style processed noise. Flipside "Rain" is arguably more suitable for dancefloor plays and sees the esteemed twosome combine pulverizing sub-bass heaviness with dancehall style drums that come smothered in mind-melting effects and paranoia-inducing aural smoke.

Review: Emotional Response has described soFa's fourth compilation for the label as "internationalism for the adventurous DJ", full of club music for the open-minded. It's basically an eclectic, esoteric musical travelogue that serves of intriguing, entertaining and admirable electronic music for those of a leftfield persuasion. There's much to enjoy, from the undulating melodies, off-kilter beats and mind-soothing chords of Infuso Giallo's 'Torus', and the moody techno-not-techno wave minimalism of Puma & The Dolphin ('Grass Drum'), to the analogue-heavy cold-wave dystopia of Houschyar ('Intercontinental'), the dark ambient techno of Lamusa II ('Artificial') and the tribal tinged electronic psychedelia of Bolva ('Rite II').

Review: 
After his surprise drop with music writer and producer Blackdown on the Keysound label last month, the enigmatic Burial is now back with a fresh new EP all of his own. It comes on his longtime home of Hyperdub and features two more of his deft designed, ghostly deep dubstep post-nightbus joints. 'Chemz' is a strict raver filled with rushed up sounds, plenty of dance floor love and big hooks that is many different tracks, moods and vibes all rolled into one. As always, these Burial sounds look back to go forwards and do so in thrilling fashion.

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: 700 Bliss are DJ Haram and Moor Mother, and together they've come together to deliver a guttural take on noise rap. Packed to the brim with fuzz, like gravel clogging a phone line, Haram and Moor's vocal deliveries are clownish and playful, and hear back like mere fragments of thought, pushing against the notion of a sustained narrative. Lafawndah, Muqata'a, Alli Logout and M. Tellez all feature on various vocal and production appearances, while techno is even ticked off on a few Afro-diasporic dance music forays ('Anthology'). A postmodern revisionist history of dance music in LP form.

Review: Burial's first full-length EP since 2012's 'Rival Dealer' hears the South London enigma plunge the depths of his newest dark ambient sound, wrenching the emo essences of rave from their breakbeats to produce a purely ambient affair. Spanning every emotion from depression to triumph, 'Antidawn' opens with a cough, in a seeming nod to the COVID lockdowns of recent years. Meanwhile, disparate sections buzz and weave in and out of one another on 'Shadow Paradise' and 'Strange Neighbourhood', never quite landing on their feet before being whisked away again. One of Burial's most defining world-building works.

Review: Ace Records continue their series of compilations from Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, tapping into unique niches of British music culture under titles like English Weather and The Tears Of Technology to arrive at this latest joint, Fell From The Sun. This is a specific trip into the downtempo, after hours sounds prevalent in 1990-1991, as the acid house wave broke and Balearic selector ethics seeped into studio practice. The selections are absolutely on point, from The Orb's majestic remix of Primal Scream's 'Higher Than The Sun' to Saint Etienne's own moody roller, 'Speedwell'. It's bouncy and boundlessly optimistic as well as being supremely chill, absolutely of its time but still ringing with an eternal charm that feels ready for a revival. Let this compilation be your guide.

Review: Perhaps slightly better known for his dancefloor-enlivening electro productions, this is actually the third full length ambient album from UK producer Emile Facey under the Plant43 moniker. He's been writing and storing up atmospheric synthesiser experiments alongside his dancefloor oriented output since his last ambient LP The Countless Stones released in 2020, and the eight tracks here are meditative, ethereal affairs, Facey carving out a beautiful set of vivid emotions out of crystal clear pure sounds and arpeggios rolling like gentle waves lapping at a shore. Imagine classic Tangerine Dream combined with the balance and poise of Global Communication and you're getting close.
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Review: A collaborative new single by sampletronic master Kieran Hebden (aka. Four Tet) and guitarist and composer William Tyler, two acclaimed musicians and both longstanding friends. Part of a recent spewing-forth of Hebden-adjacent material to hit the shelves after the artist's oft-reported-upon "agent of chaos" phase, these two tracks, pressed to a furtive 12", provide a neat counterpoint to that assessment. Rather than a pair of riddim bangers, the record flaunts Hebden's signature electronic textures and Tyler's guitar into a hypnotic, nominally dark soundwhirl, reminiscent of the earliest days of Text, but with a unique edge - a sonic corner never quite scoured before by either artist.

Review: British electronic duo Future Sound Of London celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2018. In From The Archives Vol 9, unpublished tracks from their extensive archives see the light of day for the first time spanning the period from the early 1990s to present day. Discover progressive electronic experiments from the depths of the FSOL catalogue - timeless and innovative expressions in IDM such as "Semi Conscious Participant" or "Super Tide" could have been created during any era, through to sublime ambient house excursions like "Ocea" or "Riverbed". Upbeat moments can be heard on the drum 'n' bass influenced "Without You It's Meaningless" or the blustering beats of "Oska Traveller.

Review: Having built up his self titled label alongside his sterling work as part of Oscillat, Lazare Hoche and Will & Ink, the one and only Malin Genie delivers his debut solo album. Moving beyond the pure club focus of his singles and EPs, the Genie has seized this opportunity to present a widescreen panorama of his sound, leading in with the subliminal ambience of "You" as a springboard to explore breaks, electro, techno, and especially IDM. There are so many ideas swirling round Anthropomorphic Sympathy, it's hard to know where to begin describing it. A true headphone commute for the deep listener to burrow into.

Review: Apart from having one of the best and most singular names in electronic dance music, The Future Sound Of London have been one of the pillars of modern UK dance music, pushing through a mixture of house, techno, and breaks since the early 1990s - and, in fact, some of their tunes like "Papua New Guinea" are still getting regular play time in clubs today. While they have released a huge amount of music over the last 25 years, they've got an equally vast amount of unreleased gold in their treasure chest, a collection of tracks that have seen the light of day thanks to the present Archived series. This week it's time for the series' eighth instalment, another twelve unmissable bundles of electronic delight. However, this is a lot more than just a compilation, and the tunes work their fine mixture of melodies, breaks and electronic beats into a sublime collection of sounds. If you're into vast and explorative music with a cutting-edge, you needn't look any further.

Review: Given her stratospheric rise in recent years, it's something of a surprise to find Dust is Laurel Halo's first album since 2013. It's the Michigan native's third full-length excursion and was apparently recorded over a two-year period at the EMPAC performing arts centre in upstate New York. Interestingly, it's even more difficult to pigeonhole than her previous sets, with Halo and collaborators - including Lafawandah, Michael Salu, Maxmillion Dunbar and experimental percussionist Eli Keszler - gleefully fusing elements of wonky electronica, skewed R&B, drowsy synth-pop, neo-classical, humid Balearica, creepy jazz and off-kilter ambience. In other words, it's a hugely vibrant and entertaining set that's more than worthy of your hard-earned cash.

Review: Frequent Jeremy Greenspan and Morgan Geist collaborator Jessy Lanza was hailed as a future star on the release of her 2013 debut album, Pull My Hair Back. That album projected her as some kind of New York freestyle chanteuse dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, backed by an all-electronic band fascinated with the potential of future R&B and left-of-centre synth-pop. This belated follow-up, which was once again produced in cahoots with Jeremy Greenspan, is even better. Colourful, vibrant and attractive, the ten songs are truthful to their '80s NYC inspirations, but smartly avoid the pitfalls of such blatant retro-futurism. In other words, it's a superb collection of future R&B and pop gems.

Review: This one has been a very long time coming indeed. Work on Hapticality began, whether Phataphysical really knew it or not, back in 2013, with tracks crafted between then and 2021. Not that you'd necessarily guess this was an eight year writing process, such is the coherency between the pieces, and the overall sense of being one complete work.

A deep dive to say the least, perhaps what's most astounding is the tangible atmosphere that each track creates individually, all of which contributes to a wider feeling. Hardly easy to achieve, die-hard fans of the ambient outfit, who claim so much more than mere reverence in the scene, will likely contest that point, and argue that they would expect nothing less from these masters of dream-like electronic adventures.

Review: Los Angeles based ambient husband and wife duo, awakened souls join with Reunion Island native, From Overseas to create Keep The Orange Sun. After hearing each other's individual music, a deeper conversation started about shared musical influences and inspiration leading to the creation of this album. Keep The Orange Sun guides the listener on a thoughtfully curated path. Starting with the certainty of life's changes (Certainty of Tides) to arising self-doubt (Release/Adapt) and celebrating immersion in the present moment as the gateway to deeper connection with nature and one's life (Keep The Orange Sun). The instrumentation present in each track channels elements of electronic, shoegaze & ambient with each artist's distinct musical fingerprint highlighted.

Review: The high class Melodies International reissue label co-run by Floating Points and Elliot Bernard is back with the seance in its Melodies Record Club series. This time it is blistering club DJ Ben UFO who gets his pick after Four Tet had his go earlier in the year. The two tunes he pick have long been staples in his set either though on the surface of it neither are typical club tunes. They have never before been available on vinyl for that reason but we're glad they are now. 'Drums' is off Laurie Spiegel's 1980 experimental album The Expanding Universe and is all oscillating synths and computer generated percussion while Olof Dreijer from the Swedish band the Knife offers 'Echoes From Mamori' on the flip, a more tropical and whimsical cut of new age licked house made from arpeggios and frog samples.

Review: Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard created a landmark of ambient music when they released 76:14 back in the 90s. Their Global Communication project was never just about ambient though, and it also coursed through deep house and more besides. In the spirit of progress, Middleton has returned to thinking about the project from a contemporary perspective, stepping forth as GCOM with the epic scope of E2 XO. From stirring orchestral suites to high octane DSP, it's an expansive listening experience that shows Middleton pushing himself into new terrain in the studio. Whether you tie it back to the prior material or not, it's a towering piece of work from an elder statesman of UK electronica.

Review: South Korean-born and Toronto-based musician Jessica Chao aka Korea Town Acid spans the divide between disparate musical cultures with her new record Metamorphosis. It is a collaborative work with DESIIRE from Toronto, Korean pianist and rapper Pianwooo, as well as Seoul rapper PNSB, LA producer Dreamdave and New Jersey MC, L.J The Alien. Glitch, home, jungle, boom bap and trap are all distilled into the 10 tracks, with sultry grooves next to more dark and stark instrumentals, often with carefully deployed raps and whispers elevating each tune above mere ear chewing gum status.

Review: Melodies International is a real favourite label here at Juno HQ, headed up famously by Floating Points and finds including Mafalda. The third volume of their Melodies record Club is as good as anything the label has put out to date: it features a trio of jazz cuts selected by the one and only Hunee. First is Digital Justice's 'Theme From "It's All Gone Pearshaped"', a 13 minute live jam packed with synth action. On the flip is a spiritual piece from harpist Dorothy Ashby and Frantz Tuernal's 'Koultans'. Says Hunee, "these three distinct pieces of music tap into different layers of my memory."

Review: Guy J was making prog house way before it came back into fashion and likely will be doing way after it has passed through the hype cycle and out the other side. What that means is you get a certain quality from his work and that's evident again here. '94 Blossom' is his new one-sided 12" and is as broody and grandiose as you can imagine. The drums set the tone, rolling deep over a pulsing bassline with suspensory pads up top. The melodies eventually take over and sweep up to an infinite cosmos, leaving you looking on in awe.

Review: Japanese ambient dub maestro 7FO creates his very own niche brand of ambient, dub, and experimental music, his mastery of which has thoroughly justified in this latest 7" vinyl release. Just two new tracks adorn its twin sides, 'Healing Sword' and 'Snake (Live)'. The former track sounds like a malleted plod through a surreal Christmas market, backed up by electro-reggae instrumentation at a dancehall tempo, plus haunting vocal fly-bys. The B is equally weird, like a wintry paean for a swords-and-sorcery fantasies and the healing power of escaping into them.

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: Loraine James continues to trust her instincts and serve us some of the most honest and original music within the leftfield electronic sphere right now. Having recently paid tribute to the work of Julius Eastman on Build Something Beautiful For Me, now she retunes to Hyperdub with the record she claims the teenage version of her would have made. The label text makes explicit reference to the likes of DNTEL and Telefon Tel Aviv as well as math rock, but James is also way out in her own zone metabolising such influences into unique expression. There are some wonderful guest spots from the likes of RiTchie, Marina Herlop and Eden Samara, while James herself centres her voice for some of the album's most poignant moments. Gentle Confrontation is another outstanding chapter in James' ever-intriguing story.

Review: Shack is back! The master of intricately layered drumming, who has long been twisting our melons with his dark and intriguing experimental sounds, returns to Honest Jons here for some more mind-melting workouts. These feature drums the man himself played in Dakar in February 2020 across three layered and enchanting excursions. The first is a real awakening, the second is more twisted and tight, with toms and echo and bass and hand drums all jumbled up while the third is full of intrigue and mystery, ancient drums run through with modern synth sounds to make for something scrambled yet transcendental.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: 'Cutetronica' (for want of a better pun, perhaps) has been making recent waves in experimental electronic music circles, with artists like Boy Lucid, Toiret Status, Dialect or any other number of net-bound trailblazers building convincing, glitzy-shiny soundworlds. Mari Maurice, aka. More Eaze, is another expert in the field. Her latest eight-track LP nods to something between acoustic folk and slippery-plastic fantasy; from the off of 'Gentle Pets', it's as if a small child had gone wandering in a field and dropped their Nintendogs cartridge with such force that it caused the game's virtual universe to spill over into our world, with veritably soul-quelling results. The album errs off into darker and more emotive moments, as on 'Suped' or 'Goodnight', but this is for the most part a light-hearted yet emotionally complex LP, neither for the faint or the heavy of heart - it strikes just the right balance.

Review: Sure Thing presents Well of Sand, its second compilation. Six tracks from the label's friends and favourites, each new to the roster, offer bold, untempered explorations of tempo and weight, a concise yet expansive collection recalling the deliberate cadence of rippling sand and the sheen of shimmering oases. From Command D's subtly groundswelling, but snappy 'Half Blue (Violet Mix)', to Foreign Material's alarmingly alien 'The Living Planet' and Third Space's supremely stereoized, lowercase opus 'Push (Part 2)', this is a release for that large intersection of audiophiles and techno-philes.

Review: Belgian label nacht and The Pilotwings (Louis & Guillaume) present a compilation of works created in the STELPLAATS venue in Leuven, early 2022. In November 2021, right before the second Covid lockdown. Guillaume and Louis were invited by the nacht crew in Leuven to play their first dj-set together since the start of the pandemic. At the time, the nacht crew had just received the first physical release on their brand new imprint, and the team was eager to get the record out into the world. For the second release, however, everything was possible. Before the show, somewhere between the obligatory nasal swab and the third drink, the idea of an unusual collaboration sprouted. Leuven Works compiles five tracks that flowed out of the sessions in STELPLAATS and is a testament to the week that Louis and Guillaume had under the STELPLAATS roof. During their stay, the blood brothers got looked after with love by the nacht team, who provided homemade pizzas and a well-stocked fridge full of Duvels, allowing The Pilotwings to truly root into the Leuven soil and enrich the local landscape with their colourful presence.

Review: We first heard Doxa Sinistra's 'The Other Stranger' on the radio airwaves, but we suspect its status as an early coldwave oddball has been bubbling under for a good while. Instantly recognisable for its catchy, wahhy lead synth and unusual time signature - leaving the listener to wonder where on earth the inspirations for this track came from, not least for an early-eighties industrial band (Brian Dommisse, Hanjo Erkamp, Jan Popma, Ruud Kluivers) otherwise concerned with making crude rubbly dance - this track is an intense listen and one for the ages. Now remarkably reissued on Midnight Drive after its initial release over 40 years ago on Trumpett Tapes, this one stands the test of time; proof of this is the B-side 'Strange', which removes the obscure movie samples and sounds to recreate the track from scratch.

Review: Even in its sparsest moments it's impossible to hide from the funk that 'Runden' seems to have been built upon, a bedrock of toe-tapping, head-nodding groove that's infectious as hell, making for some real ear worm tracks that take hold and refuse to let go - whether that's the laidback 1960s espionage movie score-worthy 'Mikado', the sparse plucks and stabs of 'Horch' or sexiest of the lot, 'Parallellen'.

It's hard to really put your finger on genres here - this entirely instrumental collection owes a debt to jazz and funk yet isn't really either. Its arrangements often follow the patterns set out in more open-mined and freewheeling electronica, but it's entirely organic and natural in sound. Perhaps oxymoronic, then, despite the obvious contradictions the recipe makes for a coherent and incredibly intelligent whole.

Review: Robert Rental is an artist as influential as he is overlooked. An anchor of the early British DIY and post-punk scene, his name is most frequently uttered alongside illustrious collaborators such as Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Dark Entries and Optimo ally to illuminate some of Rental's early solo works with an expanded reissue of his debut 7" Paralysis /A.C.C.. Both labels have previously excavated Rental's catalog; we reissued the collaborative LP with Glenn Wallis in 2017, and Optimo released a collection of demos in 2018.

Review: Bambooman (real name Kirk Barley) is a London based producer who presents his fourth release on Matthew Herbert's Accidental imprint - which follows up last year's terrific long player, Whispers. His new offering is the trippy minimal techno kicker "Ricochet", with its sparse arrangement revolving around a stuttering bassline and nasty chord stabs awash in plate reverb. On the flip, the man himself Herbert steps up to deliver a wacky and glitched out remix in his own truly idiosyncratic style once again.

Review: Following up an impressive debut on Baaz's Office Recordings in 2016, the mysterious Trux return with a collection of dubby ambient electronica and experimentalism on Orbiter, for Avenue 66 - which has previously presented works by Joey Anderson and Lowtec. This diverse album takes in a wide variety of moods: lush and aquatic deep techno as heard on the title track or "My Row". Tracks like "Blinko" are hazy, texturised, beatless excursions geared for armchair journeys, while "In My World" or "Angoma" respectively delve deep into exotic electronica - much in the vein of artists on French label Antinote. A stunning and cohesive effort which indeed has been very much worth the wait.

Review: Local Talk hits the rather significant catalogue number of 100 with a forward thinking EP that stays true to its MO over the last few years. It finds MLiR aka Modern Life Is Rubbish joined by Arnau Obiols to serve up a brace of brilliant tunes that blur the lines between a myriad different dance styles. "Lajbans" is a playful, fun tune with tooting arps and cosmic melodies all married to a chugging beat that Todd Terje would be proud of. The Bellaterra dub on the flip reworks it with plenty of space echo, knob twirling effects and sci-fi atmospheres. A tidy little package.

Review: Jagged textures, ghostly tones and frenetic notes are omnipresent on "Filterealism", a highly experimental 9-track odyssey of warbling, jittering, metallic sounds that's quite possibly going to be like nothing you've heard before. Or at least that's the case on "Aluminium Dub", where tribalism meets futurism, or "Kosmaj", which could be read as an exercise in spatial awareness - a series of echoed synth stabs and whirring sounds where gaps say as much as the keys. Elsewhere things are less mind-bending, although only slightly. "All This Is Not A Dream", for example, might be an experiment designed to see what happens when freeform jazz meets feint touches of jungle percussion. "Continental Outcome" chugs without dropping a real beat, "Photon Garden" treads close to a prototype of electro while remaining staunchly eccentric.

Review: With a wealth of modular techno and experimental sounds to his name, Ralph Cumbers is a prolific producer by anyone's standards and he seems to be going through a particularly productive spell of late. As well as records on PAN and Public Information being announced recently, last year's excellent Acid Tracts cassette has now been reissued on vinyl thanks to the Alter label overseen by Luke 'Helm' Younger. Fans of Bass Clef's under rated Punch Drunk LP Reeling Skullways are encouraged to investigate here, as the potential shown on that album is opened up in glorious fashion across wider stylistic spectrum. Already an album filled with witty track titles, this vinyl edition comes packing an extra previously unreleased one in the shape of "Music Sounds Better Without You".

Review: There's no doubt that determined man-of-mystery Panoram has a unique musical voice, as anyone who checked his thrillingly evocative, impossible-to-pigeonhole debut LP for Firecracker, Everyone Is A Door, would no doubt attest. It's unsurprising, then, to find that this follow-up is equally as evocative, with even more musical reference points - skewed downtempo jazz, Balearica, solo piano pieces, vibrant synthscapes etc. - joining his usual liquid ambience, synth-doodles and immersive electronic moods. The album is nominally a meditation on "the nature of memories and reality", but it many ways the concept is secondary. At the end of the day, the music is magical, and that's all that counts.

Review: Luke Wyatt is an NYC lo-fi experimentalist, now dwelling in Berlin and heads up the Valcrond Video imprint: which in recent times has served up great work by fellow retroverts in the form of Aussie electro fiend Privacy, the L.I.E.S. affiliated Steve Summers and analogue techno heroine Xosar. The sludgy and slow burning midnight rock on the title track is reminiscent of The Birthday Party via Ry Cooder, until he throws us a curveball with the aquatic electro frequencies of "Poser". On the flip, the vibe remains the same however "Stealing Geodes From The Nature Company" is a much deeper and experimental take on the Dopplereffekt sound. Finally, Wyatt gives you his perspective of Bob Dylan on the cheeky post punk ditty "Not Quite Music".

Review: The MIC label has undoubtedly been one of the best things to happen this year. The London independent kicked off a few months ago with an excellent hidden gem by Mike Collins, a fringe drum machine enthusiast from the 80s, which was a record that we saw as totally unmissable (and one which flew of our shelves like hotcakes!). The imprint is back with LAPS, a cold wave duo who are making similarly stripped-back machine music, except that these two girls have only been around for a few years. This is a great signing from an indie, because it's the sort of crew that will likely be picked up by a bigger label in the future. The duo's sounds linger in mid-air beautifully, from the opening shots and burst of "Gush", to the more dancehall-flavoured chants of the leading "Who Me?", and the pensive twists and turns of "Ode To Daughter". "Edges" oozes a thick bass amid stepping drums, whereas "Lady Bug" offers the only real moment of r&b delight, all filtered through a raw and loose sort of framework. Top stuff. We love this label.

Review: We all have absurd memories but they are unlikely to be as beautiful as those in which Modeste invites us to share. Cannataci Records is a new outlet from Ripperton and Agnes Cannataci and offers up tons of empty space, bass, ambient synths and post-rave comedown sounds that are beautifully delicate yet emotionally impactful. The cavernous tracks come with exquisite vocal samples, plenty of hefty bottom ends but also meaningful melodies. There is an unpolished lo-fi sheen to much of the sound design that makes it all the more warm and lived in.

Review: Over the years, Sam Shepheard's work as Floating Points has become increasingly ambitious, moving further away from his dancefloor roots and closer to spiritual jazz, new age and neo-classical. Even so, it was still a surprise when Shepheard announced Promises, a 46-minute piece in 10 "movements" featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It's an undeniably remarkable piece all told; a constantly evolving fusion of neo-classical ambience, spiritual jazz and starry, synthesizer-laden soundscapes notable not only for Sanders' sublime sax-playing and Shepheard's memorable melodic themes, but also the intricate, detailed nature of the musical arrangements. It's a stunningly beautiful and life-affirming piece all told, and one that deserves your full attention.

Review: Japan's cult P-Vine label serves up some dazzling hip hop edits and mash-ups on this raw and ready double 7". The first tune out of the blocks is a brutal drum assault with crashing breaks and edgy rapped vocals from Darthreider on 'Subete Maboroshi.' Then comes a re-sung version of the classic hip hop anthem 'Said Knock You Out' with plenty of extra angst and bile. Flip it over and the angular drums and big stabs continue with Utamaru spitting hard bars over 'I Couldn't Become Robert De Niro.' Last of all comes 'I Need Love' featuring 'Seamonator & Darthereider in unrelenting fashion

Review: RECOMMENDED
It's not hard to hear where this album title is coming from. Fatima Al Qadri is a Senegal-born, Kuwaiti musician and conceptual artist who has definitely taken some inspiration from the timeless feel of Arabesque. A patient sense of spatiality and gradually evolving atmospheres that feel as though crafted over the course of several millenniums, Medieval Femme feels both rooted in tradition and forward thinking.

You won't be surprised to learn, then, that this collection of powerful tones finds inspiration and source material in aeons-old poetry from the Arabic world. Some of that even forms the lyrics of the vocal numbers, while it all helps inform the overall feel of the record. It's deep and meditative, but never loses itself too much in structureless ambience, instead choosing to offer some incredibly well formulated tracks that are as challenging as they are instantly enjoyable.

Review: "I resynthesized some vocals that almost sounded human, but not quite. That's why I decided to name the track after a monkey." Depeche Mode mainstay, and one of the UK's finest modern musicians and songwriters, on his website Martin Gore cuts to the quick in explaining his latest solo release, which takes its name directly from Jared Diamond's book about the similarities between animal and human behaviour, The Third Chimpanzee.

It's certainly a pretty wild experience. Like the preceding lone wolf album, MG, here MG the guy gives us five tracks of synth goodness made on modular consoles. Visiting post-ambient, IDM and industrial noise, or rather luring those elements out of their natural comfort zones and into an atmosphere that almost feels as though you're lost in nature, it's a real opportunity for escapism at a time when many of us have never needed one more.

Review: Etch on Ilian Tape; the stars have aligned on this one as the free-spirited breaksmith runs a fine yarn from deep meditative mindfulness ('This Morning, Transparently') to super wonky bass weirdness on the strange rolls and sways ('This Isn't Music') Constantly peppered with strange, well-dug samples and a tone and energy that grows across the EP climaxing with the devilishly cured breaks and sleepy arpeggio and trippy bass of 'Emmagedoon Snow Waltz'. No one else on the planet makes music like Etch.

Review: The Avidya label arrives with a bold new concept that sees it push itself to "step out of comfort zones to release a series of EPs of broad, challenging and deep music." The first affair is a fine one from four artists, the first of which is Lyon based procure A Strange Wedding from the Worst label. His slow trance locks you in and then Gothenburg trio Datasal come through with a prog rock and post funk and dance fusion. 84PC's contribution is peak time gold and Barcelona's Iro Aka arrive with another debut to round out this fine offering.