CD Album Recommendations May 2011

Review: Having waited some 21 years to produce his debut solo full-length, we perhaps shouldn't be surprised that D&B veteran Marcus Intallex has pushed the boat out a little. Yet even his most ferocious fans may be more than a little surprised by the breathtaking scope of 21. There are collaborations by the bootload most notably with Lynx & Danny Fierce, SPY and Zed Bias excursions into two-step jungle, future house and dubstep-acid, and even a suitably atmospheric cover of Radiohead's "Climbing Up The Walls". Plus, of course, a brilliant selection of alien D&B jams in his own inimitable style. It may have taken two decades to materialize, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Review: The album format suits some artists more than others. On this evidence, it's a snug fit for producer Ben Williams' Gatto Fritto project. Like his previous exemplary 12" singles for Dissident, Electric Minds and International Feel, this self-titled debut album quietly tiptoes between claustrophobic paranoia and dream-like bliss - on some occasions even within the same track (the calming and uneasy "Solar Flares Burn You"). These central themes underpin a beautiful and occasionally unsettling mix of tracks that draws on everything from Radiophonic Workshop synth-experimentation, classic Balearica and evocative ambience to smacked-out pop (see "The Curse" and "Lucifer Morning Star"), evocative ambience and groggy new wave disco.

Review: Alex Green and Damon Kirkham's debut album has been a long time coming. It follows an action-packed decade that's seen them morph from drum & bass punishers to dubstep fusionists and, more recently, bass music experimentalists. With such experience behind them, it's perhaps no surprise that Resolution 653 is an eclectic set. What's more surprising is the expansiveness of their approach. Within the album's 13 tracks lies glass-clear electronic futurism, brain-warping acid tracks, murky dusbtep, slo-mo 4/4 sweetness, hard edged electro bounce, off-kilter IDM and, naturally, 140 BPM bass bangers. As a summary of where British bass music's at in 2011, it's unsurpassed.

Review: The intellectual concept behind this first full-length from Zwischenfelt, a loose collective of electronic musicians and vocalists headed by the shadowy Heinrich Mueller, is far too complex to explain here. Yet when you consider that Mueller is a disguise for former Drexciya man Gerald Donald, it begins to make perfect sense. Certainly, all the Drexciya trademarks the dark, sparse atmospherics, the icy, hard-as-titanium electro beats and the dystopian imagery are present and correct, alongside an unsettling array of half-spoken, half-sung vocals. The resultant audio soup is every bit as paranoid and intense as Donald's previous work, if not more so. For those with a taste for the macabre, it's thrilling stuff.

Review: Here, Japanese deep house maestro Kuniyuki Takahashi reworks his most recent album, Walking In The Naked City, offering up a non-stop live mix of alternate versions and unreleased tracks. It's an intoxicating concoction, all told - a breathless global house fusion that combines Kenny Dixon Jnr style live playing and jazzual deepness with all manner of breezy world music influences. Yet the most noteworthy feature of Dancing In The Naked City is Takahashi's drum programming. Somehow simultaneously loose, tough, intense and rigid, it gives the album real energy and, strangely, extra depth. Considering the myriad of percussive influences on show (jazz time signatures, Berlin minimalism, Chilean maximal, future tribal, Afro-house etc), that's some achievement.

Review: For those with a passion for the musically advanced side of drum & bass, Icicle is something of a hero. Over the last few years, the Holland-born beatsmith has provided many memorable moments, promoting a next-level take on jungle that sidesteps cliches and stereotypes at every opportunity. Under The Ice, his second set for Shogun Audio, continues this voyage, offering up more breakbeat science for the enlightened. While it features some straightforward club rollers see "Dreadnaught" and "Breathing Again" the album's most memorable moments take far more risks. For proof, listen to the mutant two-step and re-booted broken beat collaborations with Robert Owens, the slo-mo grooves of "Europa" or the house-centric hidden bonus track all are the work of a producer with skills, inspiration and invention to spare.

Review: Upon releasing his first, limited edition 12" in 2009, Spatial was compared to Burial. Two years on, it's a comparison that looks frequently less and less valid. Where his early work drew clear influence from the likes of Burial and Basic Channel, Spatial, his eponymous debut album, boasts far more subterranean funk. Sure, the crackling atmospherics, unfeasibly heavy low end and sparse production are all still present, but there's little in the way of creeping paranoia or breathlessly intensity. Instead, Spatial teases and titillates with dancefloor promise, as rhythms pulse, acid house synths stab and reverb-laden vocal snippets ricochet between the speakers. It's dubby and atmospheric, but it's also a lot of fun.

Review: Mildly mysterious London trio LOL are an odd proposition. Their sound, in particular, is hard to pin down, coming on like a trip-hop head's take on dubstep-pop after an hour or two in the studio with Instra:Mental. At times, this debut album is mournful and introspective (the guitar-laden "Dare Me", the swirling "VHS"), at others forceful and mildly threatening ("Hello Hell", "Pinch Me"). It's also occasionally scratchily upbeat ("Squeeze Me"), and sometimes sounds like a 21st century bass head's take on Moloko ("Faze Me", "Quarter Life Crisis"). At first, this fusion of styles and influences is slightly unsettling, but Me Me will quickly grow on you. It's certainly a promising debut.

Review: Heavyweight hipster disco types In Flagranti return with their second album proper, and there are distinct signs of musical development. While elements of Worse For Wear still adhere to the duo's old "drunken night out in the company of a crack squad of disheveled party animals" ethos - not least the thundering punk-disco throb of "Hollow Discourse" and the grubby title track - there's more depth and subtlety on display than in most of their back catalogue combined. This is most notable on the woozy "Latter Day Methods", crystalline slo-mo discotronica of "Anglo-Saxon Pragmatism" and 'Prelude To Chaos", a sun-bright triple-time pulse that comes on like the soundtrack to Professor Brian Cox's illicit late night thoughts.

Review: Berlin-based producer Tommy Four Seven has come a long, long way in the space of a few years. This writer first encountered his music on Brique Rouge when he was making acid-tinged house, but there is little trace of this approach on his debut album. Indeed, Primate sounds like Tommy has been weaned on a strict diet of Downwards, Einsturzende Neubauten and Autechre, with the result that while the overall mood is dark and unforgiving, the album is captivating. Like the ghoulish tendency of looking through closed hands during the climax of a horror film, Primate is an irresistibly gristly listen, one that draws the listener back repeatedly.

Review: While their powers may have waned in recent years, there was a time when each new Autechre release was nigh on essential. This sumptuous box set from Warp revisits that time, collecting together all 47 tracks from their singles between 1991 and 2002. Naturally, it runs chronologically, beginning with their hard, rave-era floor fillers (see "Cavity Job") and early IDM experiments (various versions of the brilliant "Basscadet"), before moving on to the clattering rhythms of the Anvil Vapre and Envane EPs, the smacked-out bliss of Cichlisuite and the dystopian worlds of EP 7. Along the way there are two Peel Sessions, a raft of forgotten favourites and a skip load of cold and weary gems.