Octave One – Burn It Down [4WCLLP2-600]

”This new album comes at a time when the pair are still evolving and searching out new forms. As live performers they are reaching an ever larger audience around the world and plenty of the energy they exude there is bottled up in this new LP. Made using a fine collection of hardware including bits by Roland, Moog, Dave Smith Instruments and much more besides, it follows 2008s Summer on Jupiter and proves that as individuals and as musicians we have grown with time and through our travels. Our music reflects that. Our work this time around has taken a lot longer to produce, but we feel it represents, more than anything else we have done to this point, our complete idea as an album project. Kicking off with the rooted kicks and sci-fi, slo mo techno of Eighth Wonder the album unfolds through elastic and triumphant diva house on Jazzo/Lose Myself [featuring Ann Saunderson], cosmic soundscaping on Afterglow and melodically enriched grooves and funky guitar licks on A Better Tomorrow (O1 Remake) [featuring Random Noise Generation]. Elsewhere there is breezy and anthemic fair with Believer, soul kissed sounds and lush pads on Whatever She Wants and then shapeshifting, industrial tinged beats and twisted techno in the later half. Things unfold on Burn It Down with a real sense of narrative, though, and despite being a techno album never do things grow to stern or serious. Instead the mood and tempo switches up knowingly, just like an Octave One live set, and really transports you to another place entirely in the process.”

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Octave One – Burn It Down [4WCLLP2-600]

The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

Now Berlin-based duo The KVB land on Geoff Barrow’s Invada label for the first in a series of releases. Mirror Being differs from most releases from The KVB as the pair’s deep set vocals, a key component of their sound, are largely absent from the 10 tracks but their reverb soaked mastery of guitars and analogue gear is still very much evident throughout.

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Continue reading “The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]”

The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

Cio D’or – All In All [SEMANTICA073]

While music in its definitive nature fills both space and time, creating environments in which we live and breathe, these miniature dramaturgies string together to become the screenplay to ones existence. Sometimes chosen, and often times forced, these sounds influence the subconscious and designate emotions. Purposely flowing fluently through a spectrum ranging from theatrical to rapturous tensions that mingle through the night. Cio D’Or’s cinematic compilation for Semantica explores another side of techno, a niche home to Cio where each intricate sound takes a risk for the sake of progression.

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Cio D’or – All In All [SEMANTICA073]

No More – A Rose Is A Rose [DE084]

NO MORE - A Rose Is A Rose

No More are a band from Kiel, Germany, founded in the summer of 1979. Their music is rooted in early Post Punk / No Wave. No More began as a quartet with Andy A. Schwarz (vocals, guitar, bass), Tina Sanudakura (synthesizers), Christian Darc (drums, vocals) and Thomas Welz (bass, vocals). In 1982 No More released the mini­-album “A Rose Is A Rose’ on 10′. Songs on this mini­-LP convey the desolate and bleak attitude of German youth in the early 1980s. This reissue compiles all 8 tracks from the mini­-LP, both tracks from the Suicide Commando’ 7′ plus 3 demos from 1982.

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No More – A Rose Is A Rose [DE084]

Trevor Jackson – Format [FV113.16]

Trevor Jackson releases a collected triple LP edition via The Vinyl Factory featuring 13 tracks including an exclusive bonus cut not available on any of the initial releases. Curated from an archive of over 150 tracks Trevor had built up over the past 2 decades, the inspiration for Jackson’s music, has come from “the times and places where genres weren’t quite formed.” While his synth and beatbox workouts might touch on proto-house, on new wave, on Italo and techno, on ambient and psychedelia, they are at the same time none of these things. Musically, Format explores Jackson’s usual obsessions – industrial, new wave, EBM, electro, post-punk disco and techno, in particular – with great gusto.

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Trevor Jackson – Format [FV113.16]

Fabio Monesi – Parasol Dance [WLS011]

Wilson Records boss Fabio Monesi returns with a blistering seven track LP. ‘Parasol Dance’ embodies the musical headway and fruition Fabio experienced exploring different soundscapes and rhythms in his London based studio this last year. The crisp analogue cuts in the album are peppered with Monesi’s organic evolution from the New Jersey sound drawing inspiration from Jazz, Funk and even Disco, all the while never faltering on the end product of raw undulating grooves. In a sentence, in ‘Parasol Dance’ Fabio has dished up a vibrant collection of raw and robust cuts that keep you locked from start to finish and will be no doubt be finding a welcome home in record bags across the globe.

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Fabio Monesi – Parasol Dance [WLS011]

45 ACP – Change Of Tone [LIES061]

Known for his work on the Antinote label as DK, 45 ACP is the alias of Parisian producer Dangkhoa Chau. Having seen prior releases on Italian label, Dog in the Night Records and French label Odd Frequencies, 45 ACP has caught the attention of L.I.E.S. Records where we see him issuing his debut six track LP. Not straying too far from his prior works, we get a wide yet cohesive grouping of tracks throughout the record. Sounds ranging from the slo-mo cosmic chug of 7th Circle, to the percussive boogie leaning Ground to Ground or the Sakamoto-esque lush b-side opener Hidden Garden, 45 ACP delivers start to finish proving equally effective on the dancefloor or in your headphones.

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45 ACP – Change Of Tone [LIES061]

Trevor Deep JR – TDJ LP [HPTY004]

The mystery man from Finland is dropping a shit hot album after a couple off critically acclaimed 12”s. Moving in the deep waters of timeless quality house and techno this album showcases the fine taste and production skills of Trevor Deep JR. Seven tracks ranging from cuddly and inviting, with undulating basslines and serene strings to darker, more meaning and atmospheric such as on ‘Kreuzberg.’ There is also airy, spacious stuff with distant piano motifs, fat bottomed acid house, timeless dub and freeform jazz cuts with big trumpets, walking basslines and lush percussive patterns. Closing out on a tender vocal number from legendary Detroit producer vocalist Niko Marks, with inviting Motor City broken soul.

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Trevor Deep JR – TDJ LP [HPTY004]

Exos – My Home Is Sonic [DSRX9]

Delsin is focussing on a re-issue project, the return to the spotlight is My Home is Sonic, a standout techno, dub and minimal album by Exos originally released in 2001 by Icelandic producer Arnvidur Snorrason aka Exos. Few have done minimal dub techno better before or since this masterpiece album, so it’s right that 2015 sees it revisited by fans old and new alike.

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Exos – My Home Is Sonic [DSRX9]

Jeff Mills & Mikhail Rudy – When Time Splits [AXCD047]

Jeff Mills has always tried to do things differently, but few could have foreseen his collaboration with classical pianist Mikhail Rudy. Back in February, the two men joined forces to write, and subsequently perform, a soundtrack for Henri-Georges Clouzot’s unfinished 1964 film L’Enfer. When Time Splits is a recording of that performance, with Rudy providing evocative piano motifs and thoughtful solos, accompanied by typically spacey, sci-fi inspired electronics from the Detroit maestro. At times it’s willfully discordant, at others immensely beautiful. Throughout, it remains a fascinating study in combining the worlds of modern classical, jazz, ambient and experimental electronics.

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Jeff Mills & Mikhail Rudy – When Time Splits [AXCD047]

Kartei – The Information Is Coming From The Server [FIELD016]

Dutch label Field is ready to complete its recent trilogy of album projects with ‘The Information Is Coming From The Server’, a debut album from Kartei, aka Crysta Patterson and Voiski. The duo started their cyber technopop act in 2007, performing contextual actions on more alternative scenes. Their working ethos is based on collecting data from the internet to create new material. Data and songs are preserved into their server systematically. The album they serve up here is a condensed compilation of their archive, which can be described as clean and melodic, subtly uplifting and calls on classic techno as well as plenty of futuristic ideals. Grooves are quick and slick, synths are well crafted and emotive and everything is underpinned by a motor kick that powers the album along. Tracks like the bubbly ‘Sunset’ make for moments of calmer reflection between more trip out kickers like ‘Kartei gets Fat’. New wave vocals and sombre chords, bleepy melodies and celestial pads also feature throughout this album, and all in all adds up to a terrifically journeying album of fresh electronic sounds.

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Kartei – The Information Is Coming From The Server [FIELD016]

Twilight Ritual – The Ritual [OS027]

The re-release of the first ever recordings by Belgian minimal synth masters Twilight Ritual. Released in 1982 in a tiny cassette edition this album has not been heard by many people. ”The Ritual” includes some of their best work, from mysterious dark synthpopsongs like ”Elegy” to club music and the epic 14-minute track ”Up To Now”.

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Twilight Ritual – The Ritual [OS027]

Ssleeping Desiress – Ssleeping Desiress LP [OS026]

Coldwave / darkwave debut album by San Francisco based producer Gabriel Ramos. While the band has gone through some lineup changes Ssleeping Desiress has essentially remained the sole recorded output of Gabriel Ramos, who has been the only constant member. The album runs the boundaries between minimal synth, coldwave, and electro with lyrical themes spanning gentrification to coping with loss.

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Ssleeping Desiress – Ssleeping Desiress LP [OS026]

Charles Cohen – Brother I Prove You Wrong [DOSER026]

Composer, improviser, and Buchla Music Easel master Charles Cohen returns to Morphine with a suite of new material. In keeping with the timbre spectrum of his semi-modular system, Brother I Prove You Wrong is built around pointillist analog tones—Cohen’s cosmic “beeps and boops”—that swarm and scatter in mesmeric patterns across four sides. Moving through surrealistic textural overlays and industrial miasma, the album’s nine tracks reveal a more introspective and personal side of the artist, following from a retrospective LP trilogy released via Morphine in 2013. Those assembled works, dating back to the late ’70s, quickly became essential listening and brought Cohen—at the time largely unknown outside Philadelphia’s experimental circuit—to critical renown.

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Charles Cohen – Brother I Prove You Wrong [DOSER026]

Jahiliyya Fields – Chance Life Moon Dance [LIES060LP]

Brooklyn-based experimentalist Jahiliyya Fields presents his second album on L.I.E.S. On Chance Life, Jahiliyya Fields changes track a little with the 11 tracks a tad closer to the dancefloor. While there are still out-there moments (including a bizarre spoken word cut), for the most part the album pairs his throbbing synthesizers and crusty electronics with dense techno grooves, psychedelic tribal rhythms and humid box jams.

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Jahiliyya Fields – Chance Life Moon Dance [LIES060LP]

Patrice Scott – Euphonium: The album [SISLP001]

Patrice Scott presents his first full length artist album: Euphonium, The Album. Encapsulating the essence of the Sistrum sound, Euphonium, The Album sees Patrice offering up 9 tracks cut from the same cloth as his previous work for the label – sublime and evolved with depth and authenticity as only he can convey. Without a doubt, it is the modern sound of deepest Detroit.

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Patrice Scott – Euphonium: The album [SISLP001]

Oppenheimer Analysis – New Mexico: The Complete Collection [MW059]

Remastered deluxe double album of archival material by pioneering 80s minimal electronic duo Oppenheimer Analysis, formed in London, England in 1982 by Andy Oppenheimer and Martin Lloyd.

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Oppenheimer Analysis – New Mexico: The Complete Collection [MW059]

Silent Em & Ortrotasce – Common Loss [FLEXI014]

silenem

Flexi Wave reviels the collaboration between Silent Em aka Jean Lorenzo and Ortrotasce aka Nic Hamersly. The LP is a 11 tracker with 5 solo-tracks and one collaboration track all carefully put together by the artists together.

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Silent Em & Ortrotasce – Common Loss [FLEXI014]

Oscar Mulero – Muscle and Mind [POLEGROUP031]

”Muscle and Mind is the return of Oscar Mulero to long plays, after Grey fades to Green and Black Propaganda. ‘Muscle’ and ‘mind’ may seem antagonistic terms in real life, but in terms of music they make sense together, especially when talking about techno. The coalition of introspection and abstraction is not incompatible with the rough and the percussive, and this album is a good example of this. The underlying message behind the title refers to the reflection of mental states in the body, the genesis of emotions where body and mind are managed by the sense of hearing. Throughout these twelve tracks, one can dive into the musical world of this producer whose discourse mutates in every album, always intricate, always meticulous. Darkness acts as a thread and repetition as hypnotic therapy. But now, he sets his usual hard sound aside and looks for a much more cared for and precise sound , where there is room even for a harmony and musicality that go hand in hand with danceability. The combination of atmospheres and rhythms is constant throughout the album. Each of the cuts has been prepared with few sonic elements. He takes elements away one by one, and keeps exclusively the necessary. A record that has been developed during endless hours in airports and travelling, absorbing influences from all over the planet. Made in solitude but surrounded by people who don’t know what you are really doing on that computer. To close the circle, the album was mixed in professional studio using solid state technology, which gives this work a unique warmth that cannot be achieved in a domestic environment.”

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Oscar Mulero – Muscle and Mind [POLEGROUP031]

Ilija Rudman – True Colours [IIBLP003]

Surprisingly, it’s been some four years since Croat producer Ilija Rudman dropped his much-played debut album, The Reveal, on Bear Funk. Happily, True Colours – his first outing on Is It Balearic – sees him in fine form, joining the dots between kaleidoscopic synth-funk, rubbery dub-disco, spaced-out boogie and glassy-eyed downtempo jams. Rudman is an expert at capturing the sounds of bygone eras, usually through the use of vintage equipment, while delivering tracks that sound thoroughly fresh and original. It’s this that makes True Colours such a fantastic set. Highlights are plentiful, from the close dance smoothness of “Bad Passion” and boogie dub vibes of “All The Time” (check the delay-laden hits and sweeping violins) to the jaunty electro-goes-Balearic brilliance of “Wild Guess”.

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Ilija Rudman – True Colours [IIBLP003]