LAURIE SPIEGEL レコード& CD

Review: Since it first appeared in 1980, computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel's debut album, "The Expanding Universe", has become something of a cult classic; an acclaimed, avant-garde masterpiece loved by ambient heads, experimental electronic freaks and neo-classical enthusiasts alike. Listening to this expanded reissue, which also includes 15 other rare or previously unreleased Spiegel tracks recorded around the same time, it's easy to see why. Sitting midway between the synthesizer works of Terry Riley, a computerized take on "Berlin School" ambient and electronica records produced years later, the music is becalmed, inspired, mesmerizing and otherworldly in equal measure. The title track, a near 30-minute epic of slowly shifting ambient electronics, is particularly memorable.

Review: The high class Melodies International reissue label co-run by Floating Points and Elliot Bernard is back with the seance in its Melodies Record Club series. This time it is blistering club DJ Ben UFO who gets his pick after Four Tet had his go earlier in the year. The two tunes he pick have long been staples in his set either though on the surface of it neither are typical club tunes. They have never before been available on vinyl for that reason but we're glad they are now. 'Drums' is off Laurie Spiegel's 1980 experimental album The Expanding Universe and is all oscillating synths and computer generated percussion while Olof Dreijer from the Swedish band the Knife offers 'Echoes From Mamori' on the flip, a more tropical and whimsical cut of new age licked house made from arpeggios and frog samples.