BAKK kicks off a new series of records with Plafond 1 made for drowning in the deep end of the pool. Legowelt, SFV Acid and Haron provide you with an eery collection of ambient harmonies and melodic rhythms best served when lying on the floor, gazing in to the abyss.
Berlin’s Nat Fowler renders his meticulous Novoline project to Not Waving’s Ecstatic with an inimitable marriage of automated electronic process and live improvisation on his 2nd album, Movements, continuing a lifelong quest for esoteric knowledge and a love of archaic computer hardware. Modelled with mis-used software, run on two separate Atari ST’s using only era-consistent hardware Yamaha FM synthesis via MIDI, pitch tuned to a pure 3:2 ratio Pythagorean scale centred on 432hz, Movements is the compelling, awkward result of obtuse production techniques and painstaking trial and error; basically experimentation at the service of discovering a sound he is genuinely warranted to call his own.
The Argentinian based NGLY had seemingly appeared out of thin air landing on the Brooklyn based L.I.E.S. label in 2014 with an untitled four track white label ep. On this ep, the unsuspecting track “Speechless Tape” ended up becoming a cult hit with select djs in the scene (I-F, Mick Wills, Intergalactic Gary…) eventually leading to it being voted as Intergalactic FM’s #1 track of the year in 2014. On the heels of his successful debut Rudolfo could have stayed the path and produced an easily digestable follow up dance record or two, instead he chose to take his time and reflect. Sitting back in the studio tweaking his live act, recording endlessly, transforming and refining his sound. In the end we get his debut eight track lp, Cities of Illusion, a record that walks a fine line between many of the original strains of the electronic realm. The elements are all there to be picked apart, to be used, to be abused, thrown against the wall smashed to bits…played in the club or on the late night mix shows, it’s magic you heard in the past and crave in the present. To say the music on the lp is one thing or another is an injustice…it pays reverence while at the same time turns a corner; held together by a loose yet cohesive thread. It is a full presentation that is unafraid to challenge or confuse, with no concern for genre imposed limitations.
Beau Wanzer returns with another LP of archival material plucked from the mutant mounds of shitty coughs and smelly feet. Wanzer digs deep and delivers twelve tracks in his inimitable style, with some dating as far back as 1999. The brutal electronic punk productions like ‘Something Stinks’ are balanced with moldy movements such as ‘Staring at at Fish’. This LP takes a more vocal heavy and menacing approach, but it’s not without moments of respite. Undoubtedly another oozing outing from the Chicago deviant.
Dominick Fernow presents another dark and confronting opus entitled Media In The Service Of Terror. Read between the lines of the titles then listen and learn via these harsh textural abrasions on offer. The sombre and brutalist opener “Ziad Jarrah Studied Mathematics” sets the scene well, the tunnelling slo-mo techno of “Take Vows” is great and follows the same path as Vactrol Park or L’estasi Dell’oro have in recent times. “Interrogation Mosaic” shows Fernow still has the knack for some chilling imaginary soundtracks while “More Of The Same (Tunisia)” has the classic outsider techno sound that Fernow has honed on previous efforts like Remember Your Black Day or Ghosts Of Chechnya.
Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977-1978. The name ‘Die Form’ means ‘(the) form/shape’ in German and is a play on the English homonym ‘deformed’ and on the French homonym ‘difforme’ (deformed). Die Form is the primary project of electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases in the late 1970s and formed the Bain Total label to release these early cassettes, as well as various side projects such as Krylon Hertz, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic. In 1982 Die Form released their debut vinyl album, “Die Puppe” in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. “Zoo” is a compilation of 10 tracks recorded during the “Die Puppe” sessions from 1980-82. These were the first esoteric electronic experiments, often improvised. Underlying themes of eroticism, death, and other ‘taboo’ subjects become apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produced. The album was recorded with entirely analog equipment, including a Roland MC4 Micro-Composer, TR-808 Rhythm Composer, ARP 2600, and Kawai 60F recorded to a Revox B77 reel to reel tape machine. Songs range from hypnotic, minimalistic proto-IDM to daring experimental sound manipulation. 4 of these songs were featured as a bonus 7” to accompany the 1989 vinyl reissue of “Die Puppe” but remixed for the project. The remaining 6 songs were also remixed and released on CD in 2001.
The return of the returner. 6 track Mini LP. Esoteric electronix produced By William Burnett, New York
Noisy & drone-ish debut 12inch by Bremen based artist Breaklab. Electronic organ dkb-44 sound studies.
Everyone’s looking for inner peace of some kind even warmongers. As most intelligent people know, music is one of the most effective ways to achieve that blessed, blissed state. The debut album by Seattle producer Monadh (Jake Muir) offers yet more crucial aid in the war on stress. Muara is an ambient album in the purest, chillest meaning of the term. Its seven tracks are awash in aquatic signifiers and textures; each one is a rejuvenating dip in healing, icy waters. (Muara is Javanese for “estuary.”) Which isn’t to say that Muara should be filed in New Age sections of record shops (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Rather, what the album most resembles is the ambient output of artists like Biosphere. Loscil, and The Sight Below—musicians who uncannily make you warm to cold tones. “The way I make music is really stream of consciousness,” Muir says. “My friend calls it ‘slow improv.’ I happened to be watching a lot of older Japanese cinema, especially samurai stuff, from the ’50s to the ’70s while making the album.” Natural habitats also played a significant role, Muir notes. “My favorite music is informed by mood and place.” This deep into the 21st century, it’s not easy to create ambient music that sounds vital and untainted by hackneyed tropes. Monadh succeeds in this difficult task, through a combination of his field recordings from the Pacific Northwest and meticulously chosen samples mostly lifted and pitchshifted from library records of a pastoral and romantic bent. He also cites Andrew Pekler’s Sentimental Favourites and Biosphere’s Shenzhou as inspirations.
Eleven, deft, darkly-lit, sometimes despairing soundscapes by the Osaka-based producer, for his third album. ‘The thoughts of a rebellious spirit are always accompanied by music,’ he says. Esto, existence.
Two compositions, scored for trio: Papyrus is excursive and melancholic, with giveaway distorted kicks; the flip is more hard-hitting and propulsive, with an industrial intensity lifted by simple piano motifs.
IXVLF is back at it again following the Language Of mini-album released earlier this year as part of our ongoing tape series. Pushing it further from where we last left off, Connor Clasen’s vinyl debut reflects our ever growing desire to re-interpret club music in its most primitive and cartilaginous nature. While cleverly obscuring any reference to a specific period of time, Involuntary Movement shows a sense of the American-based producer stretching disorienting imagery over the existing landscape of proto-industrial — matching the visual interpretation of Ailsa Ogden undertaking the artwork by way of a new collaboration to be expanded over a handful of releases — where unpolished synthesizers and rhythm machines collide and bawl in a controlled crash. It is an exercise of existing in various states of detachment; a fixation on mechanical repetition and unpredictable behaviors through the haze of helium laughter. Definitely one for the animals.
Known for his diverse releases on labels such as Bunker, Panzerkreuz, Further or Shimmering Moods Ian Martin has developed his very unique own brand of electronic music. To categorize his music is difficult which adds an immense appeal to his approch on his releases. Clairvoyant is no exception to this. It is an uplifting and beautiful album based around three of Ian’s favourite synthesizers: Waldorf Microwave I, Ensoniq ESQ-1 and Korg M1. Ian describes this album as an emotional collection of tracks with a lot of fantasy.
Geruis Uit Somberdorp’ (Rustlings from Somberville) is a concert for Harmonium, Mixtur Trautonium & Synthesizer, originally commissioned for the dutch classical Concertzender broadcast corporation in early 2016. Zandvoort & Uilenbal are Danny Wolfers and Jimi Hellinga.
Delroy Edwards has come a long way. 2012 marked his Introduction into the world of Dance Music via Ron Morelli’s Imprint LIES. After offering up essential dance floor singles like ‘4 Club Use Only’ and ‘Heart and Soul’ Edwards’ established himself as a producer with a unique touch and style. With a growing desire to control his own output and make a more significant statement, Delroy set off to start his own imprint, L.A. Club Resource. Creatively directing his own imprint became a platform for him and over the course of two years L.A.C.R. created one of the most palpable musical experiences in the field. The label released music in a range of styles from a span of generations, the only constant was the high output and stellar art direction. Many releases produced by the label head himself, Delroy’s production were lauded for their piercing simplicity, grace and attitude. In his first LP for the label, Edwards’ has arranged a sincerely personal moment. The 30-track effort marks a special moment in his growth blending current interests in punk and electronics into an outsider narrative like no other.
After crafting the deconstructed synth-pop of Soft Metals for the past 6 years, Portland OR – based synth artist Ian Hicks has resumed his solo output and has delved deeper into exploring the darker, weirder, more mutant alleys of his mind and studio. Inspired by the capricious winter of the Pacific Northwest, early industrial gear experiments, science fiction, horror and the explosion of the modular synthesizer scene in Portland, Ian presents VIY as his initial post-Soft Metals work. VIY is a snap shot of an ever-changing configuration of equipment, textures and moods captured with minimal processing and editing to preserve the original idea in the purest form.
Conceptual beat-maker Nick Klein returns with ‘The Lonesome Dealer’ 12” for Alter. Four disparate, industrial-tinged tracks that demonstrate a rough-hewn synthesis of noise and techno, ‘The Lonesome Dealer’ is born from a geographically transient point in Klein’s life spent between Miami and NYC. Despite this, Klein has turned personal disruption around to make his most focussed statement yet as an artist.
2845 is Gerard Hanson’s first full-length as Convextion in a decade. The new album is made up of seven characteristically spacy techno cuts, and is his first release with the Mojuba-affiliated a.r.t.less.
Robert Witschakowski takes a break from rewiring the rules of electro with his prolific The Exaltics project to deliver the eerie soundtrack album, ‘Acanthosaura’. Working with Nico Jagiella – with whom he co-runs the Solar One label – the pair have created the soundtrack for a world of flickering shadows, dark ambient textures and ominous bass tones. It’s the first Crotaphytus release in six years and according to Witschakowski, a project stemming from his love of reptiles and movie soundtracks. Like previous Crotaphytus releases on Solar One, ‘Acanthosaura’ is a deeply atmospheric affair. With each track title a reference to different types of lizards, from the death-paced drums of Cyclura Cornuta” to the slow-motion ebm-disco groove of Xenosaurus Platyceps” and the murderous subs of Caiman Latirostris”. In between, the dark ambient passages of Conolophus Subcristatus” and Amblyrhynchus Cristatus” as well as nods to The Exaltics’ spaced out electro in Iguana Delicatissima”. However, Robert insists that the album remains true to the project’s ethos. Crotaphytus is always dark and haunting. The project has no rules and that gives us the total freedom to make everything with it. I make also different styles with The Exaltics, but I have a concrete vision every time. With Crotaphytus, we let it flow and see were we land at the end. For this album, we tried to create an atmosphere like you are in a deep jungle, chased by giant lizards. Ambient has really the power to transport feelings. I guess this is subliminal in us from watching films.”
The Hipodrome Of Music 