Hieroglyphic Being going back 2 his roots taking a break from the 4/4 beat.
Hieroglyphic Being – The Moon Dance Vol. 1 [+++034]
experimental
Broken English Club – White Rats III [LIES165]
Almost two years after the second volume landed in record stores, Oliver Ho AKA Broken English Club has finally delivered the third and final instalment in his White Rats trilogy of albums. In keeping with its predecessors, the album sees Ho exploring a mixture of politically charged ambient compositions, post-apocalyptic electronic soundscapes, mind-altering industrial grooves and gnarled, post-punk influenced workouts. As you’d expect given Ho’s track record, the album sounds authentically dystopian, updating the Cold War era paranoia of early industrial music for a new century. Highlights include the acid-flecked industrial-electro number ‘Alone In The Hunt’, the strobe-lit EBM heaviness of ‘The Kill’, the creepy ambience of ‘The Burned The Villages’ and the clandestine, slow-motion stylishness of ‘Love Cuts Deeper’.
Jacob Stoy – Das Unendliche Konstrukt [UVMC04]
Snow white cassette in a special neon green snap box with printed foil inlay. The album is a relic of three sessions that were created next to or in bed. A small case equipped with a looper, an EQ, a chorus and a delay is the basis. Each track is unique due to the different sound devices used, whether it is a synthesizer, microphone or tablet. Searching for the mood of the moment, even if the next moment can be completely different, if not even should. A field recorder is an infinite tool for capturing these moments. Also, these songs are indeed infinite. In the sense of a spiral-shaped interplay of musical influences, states of the moment, errors and coincidences, almost like the magnetic tape of a MC. Fortunately, the acoustic proof of this creative process is now available on an appropriate sound carrier. Expect swirling excursions into brightly illuminated Ambient territories, Lo-fi beat adventures in the outskirts of hidden rave countries and inverted Hip-Hop-experiments from the parking lots of long forgotten shopping centers. ”Das unendliche Konstrukt” translates into ”The Infinite Construct”. And that is what this tape here truly is. Constructs are facts that are intellectually claimed but not directly tangible. The same can be said about the music that Jacob Stoy made in 2020 instead of writing Corona diaries. This is music that must be felt. But if you try to grasp it only with your mental powers, it will slip through your fingers.
Piero Umiliani – L’uomo elettronico [FLIES50]
Four Flies Records continues to explore the vast archives of synthesizer-loving cult Italian composer Piero Umiliani. This fine compilation focuses on the more cosmic and intergalactic side of his electronic work, drawing together a mixture of classic cuts, overlooked gems and previously unreleased material recorded between 1972 and ’83. There’s plenty of highlights to be found amongst the 16 tracks on show, with our picks including the echoing melodic motifs, spacey flourishes and chugging low-end of ‘Soundmaker Blues’, the deep space creepiness of ‘Fruitori’, the intergalactic minimalism of ‘Batticuori’, the Cold War-era spookiness of ‘Apocalisse Atomica’, and the gently funky ‘Eliogabulous’.
VA – A Call Too Close
A Call Too Close is a digital compilation released by brokntoys to raise funds for Tottenham food banks. Music from Aldrich, Alex Jann, Barking, Constructive nature, Das Muster, Dez Williams, Eduardo, Isolated Material, Jauzas the Shining, Marco Bernardi, Poperttelli, Rings Around Saturn, Rugon, Sam Lowry, The Jaffa Kid, Timothy J. Fairplay and XY0815. All profit from the release will be donated in equal parts to the Selby Food Hub and Tottenham Food Bank.
CV Vision – Tropical [SONLP005]
You could think of the collection of tracks here as a library record of sorts, and each track inhabits its own universe. Tropical fits various moods and situations, and it could soundtrack any number of activities at home or on a dancefloor – whether real, imaginary, or hallucinated. Strangely enough, it sounds like it could have been constructed from obscure Italian library breaks, when instead every instrument has been played and panned, several times over, across magnetic tape. The genesis of many of these tracks began when CV Vision moved to Berlin in 2014. His flat had a small chamber where he could fit a drum set, so he treated the walls with foam, and in true DIY style, dived headfirst into recording these tracks. It was the natural next step on an audio adventure that first began when CV Vision picked up the guitar in his teens, and a couple years later started recording with friends in his home town of Bayreuth. Fast forward ten years and here is his debut – a culmination of practising chops and learning instruments, mastering recording techniques and fine-tuning the CV Vision sound. It’s a sound that condenses elements of acid rock, psych soul, library funk and new wave oddities into a movie soundtrack for your mind. It’s a journey from ‘60s west coast LSD-drenched excursions to ‘80s synth and post-punk mutations. Tropical is a plunge into another time, another music you can simply swim around in and explore.
Alina Kalancea – Impedance [IMPREC491]
Alina Kalancea’s Impedance is an entirely instrumental album spanning four sides, contains powerful rhythmic sequences, heart-beating frequencies and hypnotic loops that are paradoxically encapsulated in carefully crafted compositions which are full of secret passages and hidden doors. Kalancea’s work creates ungraspable sonic experiences, which overtakes you, immersing its listeners in powerful and mind-altering soundscapes. There’s no quick payoff on Impedance. This is the sound of new, patient electronic music, full of depth and substance. Alina Kalancea is a Romanian sound artist and composer based in Modena, Italy. She has studied sound design and synthesis with Enrico Cossimi and collaborated with producer Alex Gamez, and artists Julia Kent and Raven Bush.
Wolfgang Voigt – Rückverzauberung Exhibition [AI-22]
Long-time AI associate Wolfgang Voigt returns to the London label with his newalbum – Rückverzauberung Exhibition. The Exhibition reimagines the concept with renewed purpose, opening the gates to deliver an arresting 60-minute journey into the underworld. Dense soundscapes mutate with alchemic fluidity, unravelling with vast symphonic counterpoints and synesthetic textures. Intoxicating in its Mephistolean dissonances and ambitious sonic structure, the sprawling ”Rückverzauberung” itself becomes a nebulous organism shrouded in the seeping mist of the unknown.
Amandra – 035 [WHYT035]
Transient Visitor – TV1 [SUBEX00024]
Transient Visitor are Alex Cargill and Martin Jensen. Formed in March 2020 when most of Europe was deep in lockdown due to Covid-19, Alex and Martin decided that the music should still flow, thus forming Transient Visitor and setting out on a mission to record a collaborative album together-apart in Kent, UK, and Luxembourg on the continent. TV1 is the first instalment from this process. Eight tracks unlocked and now being released into an uncertain world in the humble hope that it might help bring smiles to ears. TV1 is dedicated to Ray Cargill (1951-2020), Alex’s father who sadly fell victim to Covid-19 and passed away earlier in the year.
Ultramarine – Folk [FMOAW001]
For their first outing, new London-based reissue label Foam On A Wave resurface the remarkable debut album from one of the UK’s foremost artists of ‘ambient techno’, Ultramarine’s ‘Folk’. Like the surrealist collage of the sleeve designed by Benoît Hennebert, Ultramarine weave together unique instrumentation and sonic influences into rich, ethereal soundscapes, now fully remastered for its 30th anniversary. Conceived at a time when technology began reshaping the process of recording and production, the band’s interest in fusing the organic and the electronic is apparent, and one that has remained with them throughout their career. ‘Folk’ both sits apart from and serves as a precursor to the ‘pastoral techno’ sound Ultramarine went on to pioneer.
VA – Dalmata Daniel x EXILES x Farbwechsel [DDC03/FARB037][FREE DOWNLOAD]
After a heavy year that shocked the music scene all over the world, three fellow labels, Dalmata Daniel, EXILES and Farbwechsel joined forces to kick off 2021 with a massive 43-track compilation album. Contributed by 12z, Adam Krasz, AGA2L, A I W A, Alley Catss, Alpár, Carla Under Water – Máté Tulipán, CT Kidobó, David Harleydson, Dj Faktor X, FOR., Grabosky, ICR, Imre Kiss, J. Mono, Jeremiah Soft, Kobanya3000, Kokum, LAU, MA’AM, Maks, Marcibagoly, Max Sinclair, Mike Nylons, Microbeat, n o a h s t a s, Nemerov, Normal Tamas, Norwell, obwigszyh, OOO, Palmovka, Panoramic Barrier, Prince Matt, qvirk, ritual abuse, Roh Yugen, S Olbricht, Saint Leidal The 2nd, Sematic4, SILF, Sipowicz, SVR101, Tsering, Új Bála, Új Látásmód Fúzió, Wedding Acid Group This bold selection of contemporary Hungarian electronic music producers represents the three labels’ roster, including their core members and latest signings, alongside with other crews’ members and independent artists. The compilation ranges from experimental and ambient compositions across industrial, electro and acid bangers through the current techno sound of Budapest.
The compilation is available for download as name-your-price on bandcamp.
Mantris – Souvenirs From Imaginary Cities [SFIC001]
It has been almost 30 years since Mantris, real name Dirk Eggermont, shared music with the world. A driving force of pioneering Belgian house outfits The Black Sun and Brown Hardware Inc, Mantris had a productive music career forecasted, but he vanished into thin air and no more music was ever heard of him. Mantris is now transmitting again from his small apartment in Bombay, India. Completely insulated from hypes and scenes, these 10 rich, phantasy provoking cinematic jams are the inauguration for the Souvernirs From Imaginay Cities label, started by Kong DJ and Hill Men.
Amandra x Mattheis – Lettre Ouverte [NOUSLP005]
Two artists who have carved out their own niche in todays techno universe join forces for their first collaborative full length. Ten tracks across two vinyls demonstrate the unique synergy between these two friends. In their collaboration they each focus on their own expertise, combining best of both worlds. Amandra on drums and Mattheis on synths – creating overlapping, constantly shifting patterns, like an endlessly captivating moire effect as result.
Dissemblance – Radio Rituel 34
Biosphere – Angel’s Flight [WHYT037]
Angel’s Flight is the new album from highly-acclaimed producer and composer Biosphere. It features twelve tracks based on Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 that deftly tread the peripheries of classical and electronic composition. Much of the music was initially composed for Uncoordinated Dog, a dance production by the Ingun Bjørnsgaard Prosjekt in 2019 that explored the personal, the ambiguous, exposure and beauty – which gives you a sense of what the album holds.
Intergalactic Gary & mad miran @ Dekmantel Connects 2020
Anatolian Weapons / Linja – Split EP [SRNDS002]
The second release by Serenades features a magical adventure created by two talented artists from Russia and Greece. Believe it or not, with LINJA’s beckoning modular foghorn, you will find yourself in a desert heading towards the ancient lighthouse castle, while Anatolian Weapons is helping you walk through the vast sand dunes with his electrical mantras and spells.
Baruch Williamson – Sagittarius A*
Baruch Williamson is the alter ego of Boris Willems, a Belgian artist member of a string of psychedelic rock acts like Aavon Durckheim, cosmic super weirdo, Hugs of the Sky and The Insect Soldiers Of The Sky. In 2019 he started to release a more electronic, experimental sound. ‘Sagittarius A*’ is his second album as Baruch Williamson (both release in 2020) and is inspired by metaphysical themes, a fierce experiment in pop composition and mixing. The album it’s released digitally by Wagonmaniac and on CD by Dream Museum Records.
Smackos – Eden In A Sea Of Misery [NW027] FREE DOWNLOAD
Danny Wolfers striking another album at the Northsea Institute For The Overmind. This time is coming under the Smackos alias, providing a 11 track album free to download / name your price on his bandcamp.
The Hipodrome Of Music 