Juno Recommends Experimental August 2020

Review: Four years have passed since Jessy Lanza last offered-up an album, the Jeremy Greenspan co-produced leftfield space-pop masterpiece that was "Oh No". While plenty has changed in Lanza's working life since then - she now lives in New York and improvises more with "modular and semi-modular" synthesizers - her commitment to delivering a genuinely unique take on 21st century synth-pop remains. Those versed in the work of the Junior Boys will hear the hand of regular collaborator Jeremy Greenspan in the chords, melodies and synthesizer settings, but "All The Time" is undoubtedly Lanza's vision. Combining her usual glassy-eyed vocals and ear-pleasing, often melancholic synth-pop sounds with the colourful vibrancy of future R&B and grooves that subtly reference all manner of styles (dubstep included), it's most perfect underground pop album you'll hear all year.

Review: Three years after the original landed in stores, Martin Jenkins AKA Pye Corner Audio has finally delivered a sequel to his acclaimed "Where Things Are Hollow"EP on Lapsus. Predictably it's rather good too, with Jenkins drifting between drowsy, gently warming dancefloor melancholia (the wonderfully bittersweet opener "Self Synchronise"), blissful and colourful IDM/4-4 techno fusion (the even better "Weather The Storm") and meandering, slow-burn ambient ("Phase B"). There's a thrilling bonus in the shape of John Talabot's remix of "Resist" from the EP's predecessor, which he re-imagines as a stuttering chunk of intergalactic, left-field electro.

Review: This collection of rare recordings were first recorded as part of the legendary Prescription label's 1990's album series. They led to the Astral Disaster album, which was recorded during Halloween 1998 at the studios belonging to Iron Maiden and was known for having been a debtors prison back in Victorian times, with plenty of spooky chains, iron doors and manacles still left laying around. However, there was plenty of material that never made the cut for whatever reason. They are now presented here on The Astral Disaster Sessions, with all previously unreleased versions and alternate mixes included.

Review: Kraftwerk's Ralf Hutter has more or less disowned the krautrock-inspired music he and the late Florian Schneider recorded pre "Autobahn". From that album (1974) onwards, they became the electronic futurists we know and love today; before that, they swum in more organic musical pastures, mixing rudimentary synthesizer and other electronic instruments with guitars, drums, flutes and electric organ. It's this sound that's captured on "Soest Live", a rare recording captured for WDR-TV in 1970. Accompanied by drummer Klaus Dinger, Hutter and Schneider offered up a mixture of arty, proto-ambient experimentalism, and surprisingly funky, groove-based krautrock epics that combine prototype Kraftwerk grooves with the organic sounds of flute, violin and organ.

Review: Many critics have been quick to praise Arca's latest album (her fourth in total), highlighting the startling vibrancy and accessibility Barcelona-based Venezuelan's latest work. Where she was once renowned for wilfully challenging experimental sounds, "Kick I" combines her long-standing lo-fi noisenik instincts in ear-catching leftfield pop vocals, fiendishly heavy beats variously influenced by dancehall, reggaeton and Kuduro, sparkling bursts of kaleidoscopic synthesizer sounds, and bass beefier than a herd of highland cattle after a few months on industrial strength steroids. As a result, it's an album that beautifully balances ear-catching attractiveness with serious dancefloor grunt and just the right amount of experimental noise.

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: When he launched the "Xerrox" series way back in 2007, Alva Noto intended it to run to five volumes. Here he presents the fourth volume, which largely eschews "external samples" of everyday sounds - the series was inspired by the idea of creating new musical motifs from "copies of copies" - in favour of greater warmth, emotion and musical dexterity. There's much to enjoy throughout, from the appealing, slow-burn haziness of deep ambient opener "Xerrox Kirlian" and the distinctly cinematic, Angelo Badalamenti-in-"Twin Peaks"-mode beauty of "Xerrox Voyage", to the Radiophonic Workshop style creepiness of "Xerrox Cosmos" and the melancholic, string-laden swell of "Xerrox Canaux".

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: While every self-respecting electro fan will know the 1988 anthem 'Stakker Humanoid', less people will have spent time diving into the back catalogue of Brian Dougans - AKA Humanoid, AKA one half of acid house and rave veterans Future Sound of London. That's a shame, considering the genius at play across everything this moniker has touched. The latest addition to that oeuvre is no exception. Coming more than 30 years after that debut none of the vitality or essence that first blew us away has been lost. Eyes firmly set on the future, then, everything on this release finds a spot on some sci-fi dancefloor or other. Whether that's the frequency distortions and eerie, cavernous melodies of 'Turned', the waviness of 'Logique Abstract' or the unabashed ravey-ness of 'The Words of the Elders'.

Review: Four years have passed since Jessy Lanza last offered-up an album, the Jeremy Greenspan co-produced leftfield space-pop masterpiece that was "Oh No". While plenty has changed in Lanza's working life since then - she now lives in New York and improvises more with "modular and semi-modular" synthesizers - her commitment to delivering a genuinely unique take on 21st century synth-pop remains. Those versed in the work of the Junior Boys will hear the hand of regular collaborator Jeremy Greenspan in the chords, melodies and synthesizer settings, but "All The Time" is undoubtedly Lanza's vision. Combining her usual glassy-eyed vocals and ear-pleasing, often melancholic synth-pop sounds with the colourful vibrancy of future R&B and grooves that subtly reference all manner of styles (dubstep included), it's most perfect underground pop album you'll hear all year.

Review: Colure is the second album from Howling. Of course, it is a duo made up of singer songwriter RY X, real name Ry Cuming, and a member of The Acid, and Frank Wiedemann, most famous for being half of Ama and part of the Innervisions crew. One again the pair merge acoustic and electronic instrumentation into lush new soundtracks, with lead single "Bind" already out there and being well received. It features a striking vocal which continues their already well honed style, which start with 2015's Sacred Ground. Retro yet futuristic, it is another richly rewarding work.

Review: Whether offering up club-focused Motor City techno, futuristic tech-jazz, bubbly electronica or sofa-bound ambient compositions, John Beltran always wrings the maximum amount of beauty and soul from the machines he uses to make music. He's at it again on "The Season Series", an inspired album of picturesque electronic compositions on Delsin. Variously fusing swelling, almost classical chord sequences, stirring melodic refrains, effects-laden shoegaze guitars, effected vocal snippets and beats (when used) that touch on many of Beltran's main influences (think IDM and Detroit techno), Beltran has produced a simply stunning album that amply rewards those who give themselves in to its positive, emotion-rich charms.

Review: Matmos Member Drew Daniel was inspired to set to work on this new album following the election of Donald Trump as U.S President, and what he sees as the creeping rise of fascism around the globe. Yet instead of making it a solo musical expression of sadness, anger and frustration, he decided to gather together a bunch of like-minded musicians (guitars, strings, saxophone, vibraphone, percussion) and vocalists. The result is a suite of two 20-minute-plus tracks that smartly blend elements of Steve Reich style minimalism, neo-classical, ambient, deep electronica and otherworldly experimentalism to create stirring, emotion-rich epics. It may well be his greatest work to date, and that's saying something.

Review: Color Tapes was a vital 80s label that has been enjoy a successful relaunch. That continues with a sixth volume of Cold Waves of Color which shines a light on all the wave sounds - cold, synth and minimal, as well as electronic synth pop - that it championed first time round. It is all music from the 80s but still sounds utterly fresh and relevant. Obscure but well regarded British artists like Berserk In A Hayfield, Lives of Angels and Silicon Valley, Modern Art, Echophase and The Lord all feature and make for a compelling record.

Review: The key to Howling's success - musically, at least - most certainly lies in the disparate musical backgrounds of its two members: folk-loving, soft-voiced singer-songwriter RY X and producer, label owner and Ame founder member Frank Wiedemann. It's this unlikely blend of the acoustic and electronic - the worlds of soft-focus, heart-aching folk-pop and tech-tinged, underground club culture in surprise unison - that makes the duo's work so intriguing. These hybrid sounds are all over second album "Colure", a heady and evocative set that smartly combines hypnotic tech-house rhythms, minor key electronics and rugged TB-303 acid motifs - with swelling chords and RY X's tactile, emotive and often harmoniously layered vocals. Like its predecessor, it's well worth a listen.

Review: Timbre and textures pretty much define this exquisite album from the exceptionally talented Laurence Pike. Known to those who know as a multi-instrumental electronic musician and drummer, not to mention an alumni of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, while 'Prophecy' is an incredibly coherent work, when you start to analyse its tracks it becomes apparent just how many ideas have gone into creating that whole. Difficult to pigeonhole, then, it's a loose percussive jazz album with shades of ambient and electronica used to startling effect. Or perhaps that should be the other way round. The sort of thing that wouldn't sound entirely out of place on a Compost or !K7 release, its transportive stuff - taking you out of the everyday and dropping us some place where cymbals crash, synths whirl and rhythms are only found when you figure out their hiding place.