AREA レコード& CD

Review: Over the past decade, Area has successfully carved his own niche within techno, delivering EPs for the likes of Kimochi, Idle Hands and Mindshift Records that combine the spaced-out hypnotism of dub techno and the sparse, locked-in grooves of minimal, with the undulating electronics of Isolee, the immersive escapism of ambient and the buzzing fuzziness of lo-fi house. Where Am I Now, Area's long-promised debut album, further explores this trademark sound, delivering a set that's as icy and impersonal as it is infectious and intoxicating. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the intricate programmed percussion and melodies of 'Lag', and the deep space shuffle of 'Moving Away', to the glitchy minimalism of 'Mass Conserved' and the 'Beau Mot Plage'-goes ambient bubbliness of 'Lipod'.

Review: Chicago producer M50, aka Area, and hypnotic techno don Donato Dozzy inaugurate new mysterious imprint Tesuji. On the A side Area tears it up on "Entireless," an industrial strength monster with grinding and razor sharp synth textures buzzing about the place in restrained fury and reminiscent of Regis or more recently Perc. On the flip Signor Dozzy serves up a surprisingly fierce yet restrained effort that's powered by all the atmosphere and tunnelling vision that he's renowned for. Sure he had to work some pretty intense source material, but he's no doubt made this one his own!

Review: New York's Sequencias label returns with the mysterious Area, an artist who has appeared on everything from Ethereal Sound to Until My Heart Stops. The EP begins with "Circadian", a bass-heavy mind-sweller with subtle nuances of breaks and warm glows of techno. On the B-side, Area teams up with Jack for "One Less Me", a beatless experimentation featuring sci-fi vocal sample and swarms of bass, while "XxeXX (Crushkilled version)" combines drones with lo-fi noise to produce a truly singular piece of abstract sound.

Review: Having made some initial splashes with their sought after compilations, Russian label Arma spread their remit further with this EP from Chicago's Area. "Bourbon Skies" is an instantly engaging track, taking a roughly hewn yet also sparse bump of a house groove from wooden drums and splaying sinister vocal sneers around it in a bath of effects. What pins this together is an equally menacing bassline that growls and purs underneath the action, making for a beguiling and alluring jam. Vakula switches this up with a thoroughly soothing remix that lays the bubbles on thick, as sumptuous ripples of melody come rising through a rich delay in a perfect antithesis to the A-side.

Review: The amount of new records being pressed up on high quality, heavyweight vinyl is nice to see. This 12" from Area on freshly minted imprint Until My Heart Stops is one such piece of wax. Musically, it's an equally attractive proposition, delivering glitchy, atmospheric deep house with a twist. Opener "Not Waiting Any More" is the brightest - and arguably dancefloor-friendly - of the bunch, building a twinkling groove around a superb cut-up vocal sample and some distant atmospherics. "Until My Heart Stops" if cracklier and murkier, pushing distorted samples to the limit in pursuit of wonky thrills. "Brazil", meanwhile, is starry IDM with a twist.

Review: After a period of dormancy, Uncharted Audio signalled their return in triumphant style with a superb long player from electronica crew Octavcat and the London label show they mean business with the launch of a new vinyl only various artists 12" series. As the title suggests, the Dots series seeks to join the dots between the international house and techno community and features contributions from Chicago, New Zealand, Italy and the UK. The perennially under rated Luv Jam reps home soil with the excellent exercise in dubbed out house that is "Crickets & Bats" whilst Area goes abstract on "DJ Tool House". On the B Side, "Fernhill Loop" from New Zealander Plas Vegas is a oven warm piece of ambient techno that has set opener written into it's DNA whilst Rio Padice ends proceedings on a typically raw note with "Houze Leizure" under his Mystic Jungle alias.