Review: Arutani's third album Who We Used To Be is a meditation on times passed and alternate lives lost, filtered through the decorative lenses of deep, minimal, tech and dub. As if to paint a character portrait of the artist himself, this is a measured, calm, light, mindful and modest album, replete with bulging concave chord undulations and synaptic percussive snaps for balance. Everything from electro's usual dotted rhythmic pattern to progressive house's woodblocky felicities are checked off here, plus the glissando'ing lead on 'In Case You Wondered What I've Been Doing' is a special highlight.
Review: De:tuned house As One on their latest album-length demonstration in melodic house and techno. With over 30 years of studio experience under his belt, the pivotal British producer also known as Kirk Degiorgio once again lands on De:tuned with the mesmerising eight-track album, Requiem. Now joined by Catherine Siofra Prendergast, this progressive melodic release spans every wondrous end from elegiac acid to fractal bleep techno, keeping every waking or sleep-dancing moment harmonic and blissful over its course. Only the cavernous 'Message Received' marks any comparatively sinister moment, its textural harmonics offering little respite for the purely diatonic ear.
Review: In a Catholic or other ecclesiastical context, a requiem is a song written and recited as an intended repose for the dead; a lyrical aid for mourning. And with over 30 years of studio experience under his belt, British techno producer Kirk Degiorgio lands on De:tuned with his very own 'Requiem', an eight-track excursion through ambi-mesmeric audio in the vein of digital, calculative ambient techno and other adjacent dance styles; though we are indeed left to wonder whether we're mourning anything here, because by the sounds of it, nothing at all has died. A longtime alias of Degiorgio, As One is nonetheless joined by fellow songwriter and producer Catherine Siofra Prendergast for this particular trip through the cyberspace sublime; best among these acid ambient apotheoses have to be 'Message Received', which slings low compared to the gaseous highs that precede it, and the closing 'Requiem', a masterclass in nimbus-floating techno.
Review: Space jungle master ASC returns with 'Hiding In Plain Sight', except this one is certainly not part of his usual repertoire. Rather than being drum n' bass, the producer focuses entirely on atmosphere and unusual rhythmic ambientscapes, leaning into electro when beats do pick up. Largely, though, this is a project that encourages sublime awe at the cosmos through huge synthwork, rather than drawing attention to its beats - a common trope for ASC. Favourites of ours include 'Orbiting Neptune' and 'Galaxies', both of which prove ASC has much more up his sleeve than most of his EP bits might reveal.
Review: Italian-born/Berlin-based DJ & Producer Pasquale Ascion delivers his second LP since 2016, comprised of largely 303 centered sounds. Acidtraum is a journey into the dark side of the genre, with a dozen tracks that combine lysergic synths, heavy drums and haunting ambience. Further showcasing the Neapolitan producer's wide sonic repertoire, there are moments of bass-heavy electro as heard on 'It Began With That Sound', throwbacks to early hardcore rave sounds explored on 'Needless' (Troller Coaster Kaos mix) and wild Italo reinterpretations ('Tribute To Bad Passion') in addition to many straight ahead techno bangers.
Review: The long-awaited debut LP from Atlantik does not disappoint. Hailing from Cologne, childhood friends Georg and Clemens have spent over a decade perfecting their hardware-driven live techno and are residents at Berlin's Sisyphos, and openers at Fusion's Turmbuhne. While their sound evolves on this record, its roots still lie in Cologne's minimal techno golden era. With that as a foundation, they blend glitchy percussion, delicate melodies and hypnotic atmospheres into evocative cuts that retain the precision and restraint of minimalism. From the loopy seduction of 'Stay The Fuck Home' to the darker breakbeat energy of 'Oblivion', it's a rich listen.
Review: DDS has tapped up the mysterious and enigmatic Japanese dub techno stylist Shinichi Atobe for another album. Discipline is his seventh for the label and each of those has been as faultless as the next - happily, this keeps up that impeccable run which started with a debut on the Chain Reaction label in 2001. The eight cuts on the record offer up delay-laden steppers, swaggering 909 rhythms, plenty of evocative pads and subtle backlit synths that bring a future feel to the soulful, authentic grooves.
Big Bag Of Imaginary Cans With The Imaginary Lads (4:21)
Starry Night (4:40)
Ringfort (4:24)
Raymond Tuesday's Big Day Out (5:15)
Walking Down Your Street (5:15)
Love's The Only Thing Gonna Make It Out Of This World Alive (5:00)
Review: Jonny Dillon is Automatic Tasty and One Foot in the Rave is his debut album on Winthorpe Records. An influential name in acid-driven electronic music, Jonny has spent over 15 years with labels like Acid Waxa, Further Electronix and CPU and knocks it out of the park once more with this new eight-track LP. It's immediately recognisable as his work thanks to its sonic blueprints, melodic acid grooves, bleepy funk and warm analogue textures. Tracks like 'The Apocalypse is Now' and 'Raymond Tuesday's Big Day Out' bring upfront energy, while 'Starry Night' and 'Ringfort' infuse subtle psychedelia to make this a captivating braindance workout.
Jeremy Kyle's Righteous Indignation Silences Us All
A Public Service Announcement
I Seen You Through A Crowd (She's So Cool)
Evening Coming Down, On A Hill Above The Town
Cheers Curtis! (Thx mix)
Talking At Right Angles
Jolly Dillon (Happy Autumn Drinking With Friends)
Review: Ireland's Automatic Tasty (AKA Wicklow-based producer Jonny Dillon) seems to be getting better with age. Having skirted round the edges of analogue techno, deep house and electro since 2008, he really came of age with a pair of inspired singles on Lunar Disko back in 2012. Here, he delivers his fifth full-length, a delightfully fuzzy saunter through good old-fashioned electronica, 8-bit electro, melody-driven analogue iciness and low-key alien funk. There's naturally much to admire, from the Mr Fingers-goes-acid deepness of "Cheers Curtis! (Thx Mix)" and vibrant ZX Spectrum-house feel of "Talking At Right Angles", to the rush-inducing bliss and delightful vintage synthesizers of "I Seen You Through a Crowd (She's So Cool)".
Review: Back in 2002, the Detroit Electronic Musical Festival concluded with something rather special: a rare live performance from the Aux Men - an expanded and upgraded version of legendary Motor City electro outfit Aux88. This must-have CD presents that performance, complete with the original introduction from Eddie Fowlkes and DJ Bone, from start to finish. Full of spacey synth sounds, heavy beats, weighty bass, it's effectively a whirlwind trip through the history of both electro and Detroit's contribution to electronic music history. Thus, we get killer versions of 'Planet Rock', 'Shari-Vari', YMO's 'Computer Games', tons of Kraftwerk classics, a breathtaking interpretation of Art of Noise's 'Moments in Love' and rip-roaring takes on foundational tunes by Cybotron and Funkadelic..
Review: Floppy haired indie techno wizard Daniel Avery has become one of the genre's most notable craftsmen. He has done fine projects with Nine Inch Nails's synth player Alessandro Cortini already recently but now is back with a superb new solo album for his home label Phantasy Sound. The 11-track work is composed entirely of piece he made for his London show Together in Static. It The socially distanced show took place at the recently restored Hackney Church which no doubt influenced the gothic sounds and shadowy drones that define the album.
Review: In recent times Daniel Avery has been busy collaborating with the likes of Alessandro Cortini and Roman Flugel (the latter as Noun), so few expected him to drop a new solo album in 2020. Yet Love & Light, his surprise third full-length, could well be his most sonically stunning set to date. Beginning with the gaseous ambient opaqueness of 'London Island', the set sees him blaze a trail through 1990s style Sabres of Paradise/Sabresonic techno, hazy dub techno, beatless soundscapes and intense drone tones, before switching focus to deep, gentle and melodious mutations of breakbeat, IDM and electronica.
Review: If UK talent Daniel Avery still feels like a new kid on the block then maybe that's because his music remains vital and fresh despite having actually been around for so long. We can't really believe it's been a full decade since his Drone Logic album arrived, but it has. This anniversary edition is a great reminder of its class across a bunch of dark and dirty, sleazy and seductive minimal, acid, and tech cuts. They are rife with his signature post-punk attitude and the early low-end chug he was known for, all with plenty of strobe-lit moments for the heart of the rave.
Review: While Daniel Avery's earlier LPs were deemed by the artist to be dissociative exercises - either working in dance or ambient escapism - his new album 'Ultra Truth' faces up fearlessly to life. Through mega washed out and blurred breaks and, it's the sonic expression of Avery "staring into the fire" of life, however dreamy and indistinct the experience of it may be, and living mindfully, completely in the body he finds himself housed in and controlling. Of course, dance music is embodied music, so we're more than blown away by this representation; Avery pulls it off by going in a direction we've not heard him move in before.
Review: Phantasy Sound's main man Daniel Avery has linked up with modular wizard Alessandro Cortini for a debut full length, "Illusion Of Time". It came together over many years, with no real concept or constraints but it has still managed to make a powerful impact despite its spare, lo-fi, ambient vibes. There are heavier, darker tracks like "Inside The Ruins" that are brilliantly bleak, but also thoughtful meditations like the title track, which has some magical piano playing at its core. It's the rays of light amongst the darkness that make this such a beguiling and beautiful listen, and a perfect soundtrack to long lost days at home during lockdown.
Review: LILA mainstay Ayaavaaki and ambient veteran Purl speak different languages but used a translator to convey ideas to one another as they made this record. And they very much foment their own unique musical language on Ancient Skies, an album that blends ambient, drone and space music into richly layered soundscapes that are constantly on the move. Each piece is meticulously crafted and suspense you up amongst the clouds, hazing on at the smeared pads and swirling solar winds that prop you up. It's a record that would work as well in the depths of winter as a bright spring day such is the cathartic effect of the sounds. Beautiful, thought-provoking and innovative, this is as good an ambient record as we have heard all year.
Review: Berlin Atonal returned two years ago from a long hiatus, 23 years to be exact. After three tremendous festivals this decade, they now present us with their first recordings since 1984. These particular ones from the 2014 edition. Cabaret Voltaire (in this incarnation featuring only Richard H Kirk) was a true highlight and contributes "Microscopic Flesh Fragment" and "Universal Energy". One half of Demdike Stare Miles Whitaker went solo, presenting his truly unique take on techno, and the slow burning attitude of "Vagabond No. 7" is evidence of this. New Zealand's Fis also appears; rather uncategorisable as always on "Dist CL (Atonal Version)." On the third disc we have Northern Electronics main man and modern auteur Abdulla Rashim presenting two commissions from his captivating atmospheric set that year. Limited to 700 copies.
Mike Parker - "Shakuhachi Two" (Hardspace mix) (4:50)
Review: Released on lovely transparent blue vinyl, the fourth volume of Figure's Hardspace series offers six fresh reinterpretations of Len Faki's favourite tracks under his staunchly underground Hardspace alias. Josh Wink's 'Sixth Sense' gets a powerful low-end rework while Aoki Takamasa's minimalist dub transforms into a high-energy and peak-time slammer. DJ Yoav B's iconic 'Energize' reaches new rave heights with its relentless groove and Huxley's dark take on 'Weapon 3' comes on with explosive force. Tuttle's 'Function' ups the intensity with Faki's signature claps and sirens while Mike Parker's '90s classic 'Shakuhachi Two' gains extra drive with Hardspace's propulsive percussion for a dynamic techno workout.
Review: Ma?h is based in Berlin but makes occult techno inspired by Tikal, which is the ruin of an ancient Mayan city in Guatemala. He creates a sense of ancient ritual, tribalism, primaeval drums and otherworldly atmosphere across five fantastically evocative and escapist cuts here. They all go deep, with rubbery rhythms marbled with wordless vocals, chanting, eerie FX and absorbing mysticism that is all expertly done and hugely authentic. 'Acat' is a standout with its lolloping bass and tom-peppered beats, while 'Exorcismo' is more intense and heady. 'Caiman Ritual' is a humid and intense dub techno bumper, and it rounds out one of the most original EPs we've heard in ages.
Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: A New Year Carol (part 2) (3:00)
Challengers: Match Point (3:21)
Compress/Repress (2:25)
Review: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, known for their remarkable work with Nine Inch Nails and film scores like The Social Network, deliver a techno-charged soundtrack for Luca Guadagnino's tennis-themed love triangle drama Challengers. The score is a pulsating mix of electroclash, synth-pop, and driving techno, expertly weaving traditional instruments with electronic beats. Reznor and Ross take Guadagnino's vision to heart, crafting a soundtrack that not only drives the narrative but also challenges expectations with its bold, rhythmic energy. Tracks like 'Compress/Repress', co-written with Guadagnino and featuring Reznor's vocals, showcase their ability to blend artistic expression with the film's themes of control and power. Overall, this is a excellent soundtrack that works well to support the visual or just listening to it without having seen the movie.
Friday Afternoons, Op 7: A New Year Carol (part 2)
Challengers: Match Point
Compress/Repress
Review: When Italian film director Luca Guadagnino commissioned long-term collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to write and produce the soundtrack for Challengers, he had a clear idea in mind: music rooted in Berlin techno and 90s rave'. Reznor and Ross undoubtedly delivered, creating heavily electronic music that veers between guitar-laden nu-rave ('Yeah x10'), throbbing peak-time workouts (the Moroder-goes-to-Berghain flex of 'Challengers'), tech-tinged nu-disco ('The Signal', 'The Points That Matter'), pitched-black EBM-techno fusion ('Brutalizer') and acid-fired insanity ('Pull Over'). There are occasional nods to more classical movie soundtracks - see the choral versions of Benjamin Britten's 'New Year Prayer' - but for the most part it is a thrill-a-minute ride through deliciously heavy rhythms, basslines and electronics.
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