Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Robert Rental is an artist as influential as he is overlooked. An anchor of the early British DIY and post-punk scene, his name is most frequently uttered alongside illustrious collaborators such as Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Dark Entries and Optimo ally to illuminate some of Rental's early solo works with an expanded reissue of his debut 7" Paralysis /A.C.C.. Both labels have previously excavated Rental's catalog; we reissued the collaborative LP with Glenn Wallis in 2017, and Optimo released a collection of demos in 2018.

Review: Regis and Female's Againstnature album from 2000 gets the full reissue treatment here by Berlin label, Tresor. Released under their given names Karl O'Connor and Peter Sutton, the record is a noted zenith of the Birmingham techno scene of the era. It has had a major influence on the music that was released in the years after and has here been remastered for a fresh double vinyl pack. As well as the original sounds, there is also 'Theme From Streetwalke,' a track that was previously released on a Tresor compilation. The tracks are heavy but relatively stripped back. They're packed with texture and atmosphere and never less than hugely compelling.

Review: Indica Dubs and Kai Dub link up here for their second collaboration, which is the first release of the year for the label. It features the full flavour and futuristic stepper that is 'Elevation Dub', complete with wooden hits and Digital pads, warrior chords and a nice sleek aesthetic. 'Higher Dub' then flip sit into a more heady affair with plenty of mad studio effects and endless reverb, floating toms and sizzled pads. These triumphant tunes are primed and ready for big plays on huge sound systems.

Review: Music From Memory are spending some time exploring the world of music created for dance and performance. There's a common interest in experimentation between the mediums, but not at the cost of musicality, which comes here with a distinct 80s veneer. Gerard Stokkink has a thread of drama and poise about the vivid synthscapes of "Yellow Turtles" while the self-titled track from Ivory Playground calls to mind the delicate fingerpicking guitar you might expect to hear from Alexis Georgopoulos & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. Atlantis Transit Project have a heavier tribal lilt to the percussion on "Bird Perspective", and Ramuntcho Matta's "Zoique III" holds a mirror up to the freaky disco drum work of Jan Schulte and Niklas Wandt.

Review: Versatile's new Uprooted project, masterminded by serial curator and long-time label contributor Vidal Benjamin, has an intriguing concept. It focuses on the 'duality' of musicians who grow up in one place, then move to another and absorb that culture. The two tracks on release number one were picked by Vladimir Ikovic, who has selected a track a piece from Belgrade, the city of his birth, and Dusseldorf, his current home. On the Serbian side, he offers up 'Track 1' by Rex Ilusivii, Goran Vejvoda and Milan Mladenovic, a trippy, slow-motion slab of dubbed-out, Eno-influenced slab of post-punk experimentalism from 1984. Flip for some rough, powerful, mind-mangling proto-techno from 1981: the stylish, lo-fi and pleasingly intense 'NBKE' by CHBB. Inspired obscurities that are well worth a listen.

Review: It's a big week for Berlin-based imprint Amatori, with two long awaited releases coming out of their HQ this week. In addition to some blunted and contemplative beats by Stefano Stereo, there's the addition of this one by a co-founder of the collective. Ruder takes you on a journey deep into the esoteric on the Rerajahan EP, which features the trance-inducing eastern polyrhythms of 'Antaboga', the pitched down hypnotic techno journey 'Antaboga' and the majestic beat rituals of 'Tari Barong Dan Keris' being just some of the highlights - tip!

Review: Vocalist and poet Roger Robinson has connected with Jabu producer Amos for this new single which finds them explore new grounds. After their fuzzy lovers rock outing last time out, here they head off into space with more cosmic and zoned out sounds full of intimate and slo mo grooves. 'Summer' goes first and is a blissed out cut with ambient pads and lonely piano keys encouraging you to get lost in deep thought. 'Feel Bad Smile' is even more of a cosy late night cuddle, with spoken word mutterings and lingering notes breaking your heart each and every time.

Review: After four years of work fusing acoustic and electronic sound worlds, Rand finally unveiled the fruits of their labours with Peripherie. The duo of concert pianist Jan Gerdes and minimal techno producer Dr. Nojoke have cooked up urban and sensitive music for piano and electronics that was all recorded live with no overdubs back in 2019 at Berlin's Chez-Cherie Studios. It was made across three pianos with improvisation at the heart of the process. It's a great collision of worlds, from dark and intense pieces of pulsing techno to more light and hopeful and empty soundscapes that perfectly blur the edges between the different tools used. Fans of Nils Frahm, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto will enjoy digging into this one.

Review: If you've ever been luck enough to attend the Freerotation music festival than plenty about this remix package will make sense. Not least the interpretation by event co-founder and modular synth hero Steevio, here delivering a remix on vinyl for the first time. Bringing in elements of jazz, ambient, field recordings, dub, house music and - albeit barely audible - subtle shades of tech, it's a sophisticated package that fully buys into the theory of electronic sounds being a form of high art. Running the gamut from the stepping, poised but decidedly free spirited 'Lucid' and Deadbeat's tense, drone-y take on'Sam Gimignano', to the lush keys and white noise of Andrea Cicheki's redo of 'Siegfried 2.0' and Dr Nojoke's beautifully blissed out smoky house, it's as dense as it is accomplished.

Review: Well, we couldn't really be happier. In fact, there is almost nothing to say about this album apart from the fact that it is absolutely, downright essential. Originally released in 1986 on Rough Trade here in the UK, it has been reissued a few time over the years but has always vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared on the EBay and Discogs circuits for big bucks. Finally, you can indulge in a beautifully remastered version on virgin vinyl. In what is seen by many cultic Russell fans as perhaps his biggest achievement, the LP drifts in and out of light and shadows with utter ease, truly portraying the genius of the man who paved much of the way for modern electronic music generally. From start to finish, it's an ethereal mixture of sparse beats, effect manipulations and folklore, charismatically told by one of the only artists in the history of experimental music to really combine and successfully bind so many unexpected musical terrains. We are only mere mortals, so we won't describe the music to you...just get yourself a copy and see...

Review: Romare's third album is another exercise in finding the exact sweet spot where happy and sad collide. By now he is something or a master at it and here laces those sorts of sounds with a sense of spirituality, hints of disco, touches of identity and plenty of funk. These more serious influences come as a result of the artist becoming a father, but the album never grows too sentimental (though "Deliverance" sure is a nice adult lullaby.) Elsewhere there is slow acid on "High" and joyous, heartfelt melodic house on "Dreams." Versatile, emotional, dancey - what more could you want?

Review: British duo Raime are back with the first album since 2012's brilliant Quarter Turns A Living Line and their signature style of dark ambience and haunting imaginary soundtracks which incorporate jungle, dub and post-punk influences into the mix also. The album is said to be largely influenced by their side project Moin which incorporates rock and metal influences too. According to Blackest Ever Black "the DNA of dub-techno, garage/grime and post-hardcore rock music spliced into sleek and predatory new forms." Highlights include the moody subtractive rock of "Dialling In, Falling Out", the dub and post punk crossover of "Dead Heat" and the brooding mood-lighting of "Cold Cain".

Review: Electronic icon Jeff Mills links up with fellow Detroit talent Rafael Leafar for this one on his own Axis, and it is yet another sublime exploration of the cosmos through the medium of techno. Leafar brings all his next level multi-instrumentalist skills and strong love of jazz to the duo and when combined with Mills' ability to speak through his machines, it makes for a unique record. The icy percussion rolls deep, taking you into another dimension each and every time while the noodling sax brings sombreness and soul. Big, splashy cymbals, dark chords and a real sense of mystery and intrigue keep you utterly locked throughout.

Review: Phoebe Guillemot's world-building as RAMZi has yielded us a plethora of exquisite albums since she first emerged in the tape-oriented scene around 2013. She's gone on to helm different projects, tour the world and generally blossom as a singular and gifted artist. After a string of self-released LPs, she's popped up on Music From Memory with one of her most refined works to date. Hyphea unmistakably belongs in the RAMZi-verse, full of the same mystical, softly shaped flora and fauna which makes her music so inviting, but there's also a sense of structure and purpose here which suggests she was honing her expressions - a natural progression for an artist who can make electronic music sound so very natural indeed.

Review: David Holmes' first solo album since 2008's The Holy Pictures, Blind On A Galloping Horse now comes to Heavenly Recordings. A politically-charged LP full of sonic interrogations of political disaster and turmoil, Holmes here joins the cast of artists using their art to provide solace to music fans suffering at the hands of the Uncertainocene. With updated versions of the previously released singles 'Hope Is The Last Thing To Die' and 'It's Over If We Run Out Of Love', as well as a recording of an unreleased song by Holmes' late friend Andrew Weatherall, we're reminded of conflict, migration and othering, as all manner of voices combine to form a diverse but unified whole against a backdrop of leftfield post-punk - be they the spoken word accounts from Afghan and Ukrainian refugees now welcomed as residents in Belfast, or the French and Irish observers of the UK's turmoil of recent years.

Review:  Mental Groove offshoot Music Pour La Danse knows a thing or two about tieless techno. And they don't come much more vital than the self titled 1994 debut album from Jonah Sharp (aka Spacetime Continuum) and David Moufang (aka Move D). It never quite got the props it deserved back then and has been an underrated gem ever since but this reissue should put paid to that. It is a holy meeting of lush ambient design, cavernous dub spaces, hints of glistening IDM melody and deeper than deep techno drums that leave you feeling cleansed inside and out.

Review: Back in the early-to-mid 1990s, Robert Fripp collaborated with numerous ambient house-era electronic artists, including the Orb (see the largely forgotten FFWD>> album) and The Grid, who invited the long-time Brian Eno collaborator to recording sessions back in 1992. While some of the latter material made it onto their '90s albums, much of Fripp's work - dreamy guitar textures, drone works and other electronic experiments -was left in their archive. Leviathan is based around these unissued recordings, with Dave Ball and Richard Norris adding their own new sounds to create a string of beautiful, meditative, and picturesque ambient compositions that sit somewhere between their own ambient works, Norris's recent modular electronic explorations, and the forementioned FFWD>> project.

Review: We are honored to release 'A Boy Alone', a double LP set from Manchester electronic music pioneer Eric Random. Best known for his early recordings for New Hormones and Les Disques du Crepuscule and collaborations with Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks), Cabaret Voltaire and Nico. As an original member of The Tiller Boys with Shelley, Random injected a healthy dose of Krautrock into the dour Manchester post-punk scene in 1978/79 before going solo the following year. Random's first 7" "Subliminal"/"23 Skidoo" was released in 1981 via Les Disques du Crepuscule and explored ominous sonic surrounds. That same year also saw the release of a second 7" single on New Hormones, "Dow Chemical Company"/ "Skin Deep". Both tracks offered bubbling, rhythmic sound patterns, and were the first to feature other musicians that would become know as The Bedlamites. Consisting of Lynn Walton on vocals, Ian Runacres and Andy Diagram of Dislocation Dance, and bassist Wayne Worm, aka Wayne Sedgeman. Their debut 12" single "Subliminal Seduction"/"Bedlam-a-Go-Go" was released in 1982 through Plurex, mixing arid funk textures and sparse melodies. That same year the group contributed proto chill-out track "6.55" to Plurex compilation 'Hours' and the highly filmic track "In Cassette Conference" to the Touch cassette package 'Feature Mist'. In 1983, Random spent several months in the Himalayas with a group of musicians from the Kulu Valley and studied non-Western instruments such as tabla. On returning to Manchester, Random convened a new group of Belamites including Walton, Sedgeman and drummer Graham Dowdall aka Dids of Ludus. They released the 12" single "Mad As Mankind"/"Dream Web Of Maya" in 1984 on Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision, embracing electronic, industrial and dub styles. In 1985 they contributed the soothing "Pure Power" to Food Records' "Imminent Episode One" compilation. Our reissue also includes 4 unreleased bonus tracks from Eric's archives recorded between 1981-1984. The whole set adds up to 115 minutes of sinister, somnambulant Random music. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each copy is housed in a gatefold jacket designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a spread of ephemera, photos with liner notes by James Nice of LTM.

Review: Here comes a special transparent yellow vinyl version of Romare's new album on You See. His latest album Fantasy finds the widely admired artist take something of a new approach to his work. The man born Archie Fairhurst gets nice and abstract with his samples as he also layers in his own vocals and instrumentation. He has said the album was inspired by log walks and watching films doing lockdowns, and it shows. Hints of 70s fantasy cinema also features and his trademark off-kilter electronic rhythms and kinetic grooves also play a big part in making this one another winner.