Following the release of the ”Audio Track 5” EP, electronic producer and musician Darren Cunningham AKA Actress and the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO) are to release a full album of their collaboration entitled ”LAGEOS”.
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DJ Richard – Dies Iræ Xerox [DIALLP040]
Following 2017’s ‘Path of Ruin’, DJ Richard returns to Dial with his much-anticipated sophomore LP, ‘Dies Irae Xerox’. Undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and fully-formed electronic producers in recent memory, DJ Richard imprinted the sound of a bubbling US underground with his label, White Material, founded in 2012 alongside Young Male. Now firmly settled once more in his hometown of Providence, ‘Dies Iræ Xerox’ is a personal and uncompromising journey that finds the Rhode Island native in reflective form, journeying without compromise into both his creative influences and personal psyche.
Muslimgauze – Maroon [ARCHIVEFORTYTWO]
Separated from both its reputation and its sleeve art, the music of Muslimgauze explores the relationship of visual sensations – space, colour, depth, illusion – to the listening experience. The music on ‘Maroon’ is dub-like inspired techno music, laid back with voices appearing randomly in the mix. The thick drums and rich found sounds that densely populate the soundscapes on “Maroon” give materiality to the warm presence of the synth washes. The music is so layered and textured that it ceases to be aural and exists almost solely in the realm of sight and touch. Devoid of reference to any external reality, Muslimgauze’s Ambience gets remoulded by subjective experience and moved around in the memory. By shifting the quality of perception with the producer’s sleight of hand, Bryn Jones (the Mancunian behind Muslimgauze) makes explicit the interiority of the senses. Thus, the fact that our inner life determines our relationship to the world outside becomes the music’s unspoken subject. Divorcing Muslimgauze’s music from its image is like listening to Take That without seeing Robbie’s pelvis or Mark’s pouting. This is precisely why the music is so effective. Relocating music’s power within the listener instead of as an external force acting upon the listener forces reappraisal and reinterpretation. The muezzin’s wailing call to prayer and the shrieks of women mourning the dead conjure up images of a fierce ‘death-to-the-infidels’ fervour in the Western imagination, and are recast as holy prayers for the ultimate, womb-like peace that most Ambient music aims to express. The usually easy exoticism of sampled tablas and ouds instead hint at the dread on the road to the water coloured bliss of run-of-the-mill Ambient and force the listener to internalise difference and confront the received images of Islam that Muslimgauze detour by such strong powers of suggestion.
Violent Quand On Aime – Violent Quand On Aime [KH015]
Coming from different regions in France, Violent Quand On Aime’s members have joined forces to canalize their energies into something truly essential. Far away from hype and expectation they have created their own peculiar world. Expect a certain electronic griminess with hints of 90’s hiphop, postpunk alienation and an affinity for Musique Concrète. The overall experience is similar to the excitement one feels when hearing something genuinely original. This mini-album is the follow-up to their very impressive 7” on Le Syndicat Des Scorpions.
Aquarian Motion – North to South [VG006]
Morphology – Traveller [FS011]
The Finnish duo Morphology joins FireScope Records for their 10-track ‘Traveller’ LP, a vision of travel to destination unknown. Morphology’s third album continues their intensive deep-space exploration at the intersection of electronic/electro music and scientific discovery. Awash in the beautiful sounds of hardware-derived music direct from Morphology’s command center, the album takes listeners into their skilfully crafted universe. Each track is a new world in itself of crisp beats, deep basslines and melancholic melodies. Interspersing the frenetic pace of hyper-speed travel with ethereal landings, ‘Traveller’ is an intergalactic trip without taking off your headphones.
Yagya – Rigning (2018) [DSR/X14]
Yagya’s Rigning album from 2009 is the Icelandic producer’s most acclaimed dub, techno and minimal masterpiece. Due to popular demand, Delsin are now re-issuing it across three slabs of vinyl. Previously only available as a double pack with eight tracks, the new re-mastered version features all 10 of the tracks from the original CD.
Șerb – A12 Proceedings [NDWAXLP01]
Night Defined Recordings presents its first full-length album so far: Șerb’s „A12 Proceedings“. A record made in sparse moments while living between the crooked walls of an old apartment building in Bucharest.
Alexander Kowalski – Cycles [MORDLP003]
Triple pack by the long running Alexander Kowalski, containing 13 tracks on Mord Records.
Abu Obaida Hassan – Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour: The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan [OSTLP004]
Grammy-nominated Ostinato Records presents ”Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour: The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan” in a gatefold LP packaging with vintage photos and authentic Sudanese designs. A complex blend of Arab melodies, Nubian rhythms, and signature Sudanese call and response by a legend of Shaigiya music from nothern Sudan.
L.B. Dub Corp – Side Effects [MOTELP04]
Reflecting on a career spanning three decades, Luke Slater is a true dance music legend. The British producer has not only been pivotal in the rise of techno but his work continues to play a vital role in driving the genre forward, particularly under his Planetary Assault Systems name. Following its launch in 2006, Slater’s L.B.Dub Corp moniker has been responsible for refreshing house music on labels like Mote-Evolver and Ostgut Ton, with the latter hosting the pseudonym’s debut album in 2013. ‘Side Effects’ is the project’s first body of work since then. “I wrote the tracks over the last year between being on the road as P.A.S. and playing a few L.B.Dub Corp house sets, which naturally evolved into ‘Side Effects’ almost accidentally” – Luke Slater Crashing stabs and a rolling hook inaugurate the album in ‘Reel One’ before the meandering ‘Night Time Hawk’ demonstrates effervescent effects and bursts of white noise. Commanding kicks and a moody bassline make up the robust ‘Edge 7’ whilst ‘IELBEE’ exhibits a bouncy aesthetic complete with intricate melodies. ‘Float When You Can’ is dark and ominous from the off but an echoing note sequence adds a glimmer of light, making way for the reverberating mechanics of ‘Bass Machine’ before leading into the twisted sounds and ghostly air of ‘Forever In A Day’. Nearing the end, ‘LBEES Jam’ is the most lighthearted track on the album with its twinkling lead melody until Slater rounds off the release with a soulful and vocal driven affair ‘All Got To Live’.
Delroy Edwards – Aftershock [LIES110]
In the tradition of classic Chicago beat track records, Delroy Edwards comes on LIES with a 14 song double LP of stripped down drum track madness. This is straight up Saturday night WBMX mixs how material. Sparse rhythms, fat fm basslines, catchy melodies and even some italo arpeggios are the order here, all 100 percent tailor made for the working DJ. Standing strong on their own or to be layered and slammed in and out the mix, these are true to form old school cuts falling in line with the great tradition of dance music’s past which is all too often lost in the wind these days.
Betonkust & Palmbomen II – Center Parcs LP [DKMNTL058]
Recorded in an ageing holiday park during off-season, Center Parcs is the debut LP by Dutch artists Betonkust & Palmbomen II; a conceptual, musical-tristesse full of lo-fi harmony, and fanciful, psychedelic-coloured modulations, with an undercurrent of saturated, outsider-house beats, all recorded to tape. With a shared passion for experimental music, and gnarled Dutch electro, the duo have crafted an LP of esoteric-electronic-pop, reflective of the time the two spent holed-up in isolation, in the out-of-time Center Parcs setting.
J Dilla – Dillatronic [GSE781DLP]
The previous 3 volume series is now compiled as a compact 2LP. The late, great J Dilla is rightly celebrated as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, in part because his ear for music was so diverse and expansive. As Dilla’s mother Ma Dukes explains, “He didn’t come with a limited capacity, and real producers produce, produce, and produce. “There are no formats for genius workers…just non-stop creations.” Now, a fresh batch of those creations will be made available to the world for the first time, in the form of the latest official J Dilla release, Dillatronic. Presented by Ma Dukes and compiled by DJs Alien Villainz (fellow Detroit natives who worked closely with Dilla), Dillatronic contains over 40 rare instrumentals that showcase Dilla’s undeniable electronic influences. J Dilla’s music was impacted by the diverse musical history of Detroit – the birthplace of Techno and one of the most important cities in the history of electronic music. “You can hear it in songs like ‘Raise It Up’ for Slum Village or ‘Make It Hurt’ for Busta Rhymes,” says Young RJ (Dilla’s protégé and member of Slum Village). “The Detroit influence is part of what gave him an edge in production.” With today’s music sounding more electronic than ever, Dillatronic has a shockingly contemporary feel. “These tracks are still ahead of their time sonically,” explains RJ. “The things producers are doing now, Dilla did that 15 years ago.”
Vive La Void – Vive La Void [SBR198LP]
Vive la Void is the new solo project of Sanae Yamada, co-founder and keyboard player of Moon Duo. Yamada wrote and recorded the self-titled debut album over roughly a two-year period, during windows of downtime in Moon Duo’s substantial touring and recording schedule. The dense, shape-shifting atmospheres of the seven songs grew out of late-night basement experiments in the layering of synthesizer tracks, a process that also led to meditations on the changeable nature of memory and perception. The result is an undulating blend of ethereal swirl, low end thrumming, and electric crackle, buoyed by Yamada’s understated but captivating vocal melodies and her striking lyrics.
Hieroglyphic Being – The Language of Strings [MATH105]
The 105th record on Mathematics, freeform electronic artist Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss offers a selection of audio memoirs (Cosmic Bebop & Experimental House). ”The Language of Strings” features sonic madness, frequency enlightenment, & Hedonistic modulation.
Nexda – Words & Numbers [ERC037/MNQ097/BP102]
Mannequin, Emotional Rescue and Blowpipe come together to release the music of Dutch post-punk, industrial outsiders Nexda, by releasing a collection of music drawn from all their single and EP vinyl releases, to offer a compelling album. Taken from two 12′ EPs, a split 7′ and a flexi 7′, all released in 1982, the music within Word & Numbers captures striking compositions, part of, but some way removed from their contemporary post-punk bands coming out of the Dutch Ultra’ scene of the time.
Low Jack - Riddims du Lieu-dit [BZH001]
Editions Gravats kick off the club-ready “Les Disques De La Bretagne” series with 8 tracks by Low Jack, a re-working of tracks from “Glacial Dancehalll 2” (split tape with Time Cow from Equiknoxx).
Out 2 – Showcase [ERS035]
Jeremy Campbell and R. Zanzibar return as Out 2 with their debut full length, Showcase. Following their recent Moving EP, the duo expand their mix of New York off-kilter pop lyrical poetics riding over percussive desk-dub funk grooves.
Michal Turtle – Return To Jeka [MFM029]
Msic From Memory took a deep dive into the archives of obscure British multi-instrumentalist Mike Turtle, resurfacing with a fine double-album of largely previously unheard cuts. Two years on they’ve taken another stroll through Turtle’s well-stocked vault, resulting in another essential collection of quirky cuts. Check, for example, the psychedelic patchwork “Reincarnation”, where backwards drums do battle with exotic Indian samples, or the delay-laden, lo-fi synth-pop pulse of “Uiko’s Return to Jeka”, which boasts strange spoken word vocals from Turtle and South African style juju guitar solos. You’ll find these kinds of imaginative experiments throughout; tracks that really shouldn’t work, but instead entertain, excite and inspire in equal measure.
The Hipodrome Of Music 