Review: A fascinating new slice of neue Deutsche welle from the artist Eine Welt. The track romanticizes the traditional Middle Eastern dish, Knafeh, through the lens of post-punkish electronics, German rawism, and myriad layering and production. The fact that an artist would go to such great pains to record, master, press and distribute a song with such a niche subject matter truly shows the power of Turkish cuisine. Clearly, even in back the '80s, there was mutual cultural appreciation between the Germans and the Turkish.
Review: A veteran of the Berlin electronic music scene, Sascha Funke is no stranger to local expatriates Multi Culti, debuting for them back in 2016 with the terrific In Relationen EP. For his latest outing, he paris up with multi-instrumentalist Niklas Wandt, one half of Gehoelzpflege, for some trippy and low slung sonic shenanigans on the Kreidekreis EP. From the slo-mo tribal trance of opening cut 'Kometenschweif' which will propel you into the cosmos in vertically locomotive fashion, followed by the funky sundown nu-disco of the title track which receives a wicked rework by Alexander Arpeggio up next - taking the track into psyched-out lounge territory. Also on the remix is Neapolitan Whodammanny, channelling '80s Neue Deutsche Welle sounds, German vocals to boot, on a rendition of 'Kometenschweif'.
Review: Narco Marco returns to Pace In Stereo for more adventures through yesterday's tomorrow. As ever, the production is incredible, offering two tracks that pack a timeless sound informed by Italo, early electro-pop, cold and synth wave, a twin delight that somehow serves as the ideal home or headphone listen, yet is also dance floor ready and primed for proper parties. Starting on the slowest, tempo wise, 'Bald Tag' doesn't exactly owe a debt to Kraftwerk but certainly offers a place for sounds could have evolved in the back catalogue of the German pioneers. It's a weird and warbling, stepping, highly musical ride. 'Ice Tea', meanwhile, opts to get more of a stomp on, glittering harmonies painting stars in the sky above, vocals swapped out for more melodic depth.
Review: Detach Recordings is proud to present their third EP, 'In Order To See' by Nekyia. Following releases on re:st, UVB-76 and Voidance Records, the Italian producer further explores his introspective sound, joining the dots between experimental psychedelia, dark ambient and post-drum&bass. Opening with the heavy, drone-driven 'Meta' and 'Leave Your Flesh Behind', the pace soon quickens with 'Breaches', a driving 170bpm collaboration with Books (re:st, Detuned Transmissions). The pressure increases on the B-side with a fierce remix by Sam KDC (Auxiliary, Samurai, Sublunar). The EP closes with 'Form Constants', a 2017 dub unavailable until now.
Los Ninos Del Parque (Bionda E Lupo Neumisch) (7:16)
African Beat (Andrei Rusu dub) (7:46)
Review: Platform 23 platform the Italian 80s avant-garde and anarcho music scene on a fresh 12" compilation, kicking things off with an unreleased cover, by the band Nengue, of Los NiNos Del Parque's electro-pop-wave track 'African Beat'. Amid the political unrest of the Anni di Piombo (Years of Lead) - which saw the autonomist Marxist movement, and backdrops of government-mafiosi collusion, labour strife, and terrorist splinter group formations - underground artists found themselves transducing the radical energy of the time into rapidfire releases, put out through DIY networks. Rome's Nengue embodied this, blending industrial, jazz, and futurist influences. Initially, the release aimed to highlight their Kraftwerk-inspired African Beat, but the discovery of their cover of 'Los NiNos Del Parque', described as "powerful anarchic nonsense", became the focal point. Berlin's Bionda e Lupo contribute a remix, with Sneaker's sharp production and Sano's vocals adding a fresh dimension. Andrei Rusu (Khidja) delivers a deep, dub-heavy reinterpretation of African Beat, perfect for modern dancefloors while honoring its raw origins. A vital document of Italy's underground electronic resistance.
Review: You might think that you could cop a copy of New Order's seminal hit 'Blue Monday' fairly easily and cheaply given its ubiquity over the years. But no, copies in good condition still fetch around 50 quid, so this remastered reissue is well worth a cop. The single's iconic bassline and twitchy synth modulations very much soundtrack a generation, if not an entire youth revolution, but still enliven any dance floor many years later. What's more, the de-humanised vocals will always provide real singalong joy. On the flip is a 'The Beach', which is drenched in echo and reverb and general sonic filth.
Review: Kohei Matsunaga has spent over three decades dismantling and reconstructing the boundaries of experimental music. Born in Osaka and originally trained in architecture, his approach to sound is methodical yet unpredictable, reflecting a fascination with structure and abstraction. Across releases for labels like Raster Noton, PAN, and Skam, his work oscillates between dense rhythmic frameworks and fleeting bursts of sonic chaos, shaped through collaborations with the likes of Mika Vainio, Sean Booth, and Merzbow. His latest release continues this restless exploration. 'Filled With Vacuum' sets the tone with jagged percussive sequences and warped atmospherics, while 'Ancient Behave' layers hypnotic pulses with eerie tonal shifts. On the flip, 'Same Point Different Coordinate' pushes further into spatial disorientation, before 'Formulated Rhythm 4s' closes with a fractured yet intricate groove. It's another entry in Matsunaga's ever-expanding sonic architectureiprecise, disorienting and entirely his own.
Review: With just their third single, Exposed to Some Light, Nightbus continues to showcase their moody and atmospheric sound, drawing comparisons to many well regarded bands. The track unfolds like a captivating narrative, drenched in nostalgia yet tinged with a sense of dread. Originally born from a poem written during a cold January weekend, the song explores the idea of bringing something to the forefront of one's mind and current headspace. Through their minimal yet evocative video, Nightbus invites listeners to delve into their introspective world.
Imaginary Time (Gesloten Cirkel Keep Playing remix) (6:30)
Imaginary Time '99 (Revolutionary Industrial Trance mix) (14:48)
Review: Acoustic instruments played by Charlotte Bill, "disarranged" by Nigel Ayers, Nocturnal Emissions' Imaginary Time is as much of a landmark as it is a total obscurity. The album title itself references a theory prevalent in some approaches to special relativity and quantum mechanics, a representation of time also used in certain cosmological theories. It's not made up, or unreal, but expressed via imaginary numbers. We can understand where Nocturnal Emissions were coming from with this record back in 1997, then. A strange, beguiling percussive experiment that's at once linear and yet pretty obscure. Here presented with two incredible remixes - Gesloten Cirkel's pounding but fun techno take on things, and the misleadingly-titled 'Revolutionary Industrial Trance mix', a slow building amalgamation of drums and vibe - this is strange yet totally accessible business.
Review: Cult experimental outfit Nurse With Wound has had their Alas The Madonna Does Not Functiion 12" cut to picture disc for this special reissue. It has also been beautifully remastered by Andrew Liles and is one father band's more rhythmic and musical offerings. It joins the dots between their earlier and second phase work and sounds as good now as it did over 30 years ago. This one-off pressing comes in a lovely die-cut sleeve with Babs Santini artwork to make it an extra special collector's edition.
Review: For the second release on New York City's Peace Anthem Records, Annie Garlid
Aka UCC Harlo - a viola player and singer from Connecticut, living in Berlin - joins NY Graffiti for what the label so eloquently described itself as 'Ketamine-paced grooves, baroque miniatures, hazy-humid sonics, and dub inflections'. On the A side, you've got UCC Harlo serving up the minimal atmospherics of 'Let's See' awash in shimmering FM synth aesthetics, followed over on the flip by the evocative breaks of 'UN' by NY Graffiti, not to mention each of them delivering a remix of the other's track.
Russell Haswell - "Heavy Handed Sunset (Autechre Form Conversion)"
Viviankrist - "Creatures"
Powell Tillmans - "Stairwell"
NHK - "Binah"
Russell Haswell - "Hypersonic"
Review: Diagonal celebrates its 13th anniversary with a 4x12" release, highlighting both long-time label artists and notable collaborators. LP1 kicks off with a dark, atmospheric remix of Russell Haswell's 'Heavy Handed Sunset' by Autechre, transforming their 2016 version into something more intense. Label boss Powell joins forces with Turner Prize winner Wolfgang Tillmans for a quirky pop experiment, while NHK and Viviankrist deliver moments of striking beauty. Russell Haswell's nod to Cybotron rounds out the set, embodying the boundary-pushing, eclectic spirit that Diagonal has championed for over a decade.
Heartbreak Of A Broken Stitch (feat Harriet Morley) (2:37)
SM_FID (2:26)
Everything Ends With An Inhale (1:29)
Cement Skin (2:42)
Pixel Petals (2:52)
Slammd (interlude) (1:42)
Closer (3:12)
Terrence's Time Bomb (2:05)
Fragmentary (Eraser) (3:03)
Inside My Head (interlude) (2:12)
Still (feat Dawuna) (2:06)
Fawning (interlude) (2:02)
Kiss Me Again (6am In Helsinki) (feat Bennettiscoming) (2:39)
Review: Spanish producer Nueen and Manchester vocalist and rapper Iceboy Violet, who you might well recognised from appearing on Hyperdub releases by the likes of aya and Loraine James, come together for a collaborative work that follows the story of a four-year-long relationship. As you can imagine, therefore, it takes in peaks and troughs, emotional highs, depressive lows, and plenty in between that will all feel all too familiar to anyone who has ever fallen in and out of love. Drill-laced beats are laced with intimate melodies, and excitable chords spiral out of control while a menacing ambience percolates up from below. It's a powerful listen with a relatable narrative.
Review: New York artist Aaron Landsman and former Swans guitarist Norman Westberg kept vigilant watch with Night Keeper, a full nocturne named after Landsman's play of the same name. First performed in Spring 2023 at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens, with performer Jehan O. Young serving as narrative steward, the original piece filled the space with spoken word, projections, choreography, and music, moving between dim light and darkness. Now the recorded version posterises the performance, as Westberg's original texture-scapes come raggedly coiled around sombre loops and samples, as Young's laryngeal monologues course across the record's rough 44 minutes worth of gloaming. Inspired by sleepless nights and the wandering of the mind, Night Keeper lifts the lid on the wee small hours as would a well camouflaged nightjar, inviting listeners to embrace the subdued chaos of the dark.
Review: Even many years after his sad death, the global audience for Nujabes' music continues to grow. To honour the tenth anniversary of his passing, Hydeout Productions asked Haruka Nakamura to create a tribute album and encouraged him to move forward while preserving Nujabes' timeless essence. The project began with the release of the music video and 7" vinyl of 'Reflection Eternal' and now the full album Nujabes PRAY Reflections arrived featuring Nakamura's reinterpretation of Nujabes' melodies through piano and guitar. This is not a traditional cover album, but new music inspired by Nujabes with artwork by Cheryl D. McClure that blends both artists' creative worlds.
Review: Named in honour of an experimental silent movie of the early 1920s, Polish duo Nanook of the North are a unique proposition: a collaboration between composer/violionist Stefan Wesolowski and electronic musician/guitarist Piotr Kalinski that defies easy categorization. Heide, the pair's second album, was recorded pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and its' musical blend of effects-laden ambient electronics, simmering strings and acoustic guitar motifs was reportedly inspired by "wildness and untamedness". It's a genuinely brilliant, ultra-atmospheric affair that uses repetition magnificently (a nod, we'd argue, to American minimalism) and benefits from guest contributions from mezzo-soprano Margarita Slepakova.
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