Juno Recommends Leftfield September 2020

Review: Consisting of Dennis White, Charlie May, and Dave Gardner, Quiet Places is a new project by the UK producers focusing on vivid and wide-screen journeys. Between the three, their production roots go deep into some of electronic music's most important outputs of the last few decades. Be it performing live as part of Sasha's recent Refracted shows, their own individual projects such as Spooky, Sentre and Cosmonauts or remixing the likes of M83, The XX, Thom Yorke, Little Dragon or Elizabeth Fraser, they are no strangers to electronica.

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: Iconic dub and reggae "rhythm section" Sly and Robbie (AKA Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare) first worked with Vladislav Delay back in 2018, during the recording sessions for their collaborative album with trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, "Nordub". It's therefore not that surprising to see them once again join forces with the Finnish experimentalist for another joint full-length. "500 Push Up" is based on grooves, vocalizations and field recordings made at Dunbar and Shakespeare's Jamaican studio, which the Finn then chopped up, reworked and overdubbed in his studio. The result is a set of tracks that take dub in intoxicating new directions, adding heaps of hazy electronic sounds and a distinctive swing that's hugely alluring.

Review: International specialists Soundway provide some superbly soothing and cathartic electronic beats here from Reuben Vaun Smith. The debut album follows on from his vocal and production work on
Expositions's Yellow Haze EP early in the year on the First Jams label. The seven tracks that make it up are all different perspectives on chill, with mature musical motifs, seaside sounds and trips down to the beach at sunset all checked off the list. Spare a moment to admire the artwork, too, a seamless fusion of pastel colours, 80s graphic design and tropical escapism.

Review: This first album proper from Polish composer/violinist Olga Wojciechowska was originally released on CD only by Time Released Sound, and has been out of print for some years. We are very pleased to be bringing you this long overdue vinyl re-press, in an edition of only 200 copies, each of which comes in a beautiful 24pt heavyweight jacket, with translucent 180gm disc.

Maps and Mazes is a stunning collection of 10 pieces that were originally written for various international theater and dance productions, and their overall feel reflects this performative nature. These electronically treated, modern-classical beauties are somewhat dark and moody at times, and with their elegiac violin and haunting horns are both elegant and absorbing, and the ultimately lingering effect is one of series of spine tingling, late night serenades.

Review: 'Melatonia' is the seventh album from drone duo Pausal, known for their releases on labels such as Barge Recordings, Students of Decay, Own Records, Dronarivm and Infraction. Individually, Alex has released numerous works under his Olan Mill alias and Simon has released on Hibernate Records.

Review: Helios released his debut album Unomia on cult electronica label Merck back in 2004 to hushed acclaim, the toast of IDM message boards and blogs alike. While the limited runs of CDs have long been fawned over, now the album gets the reissue treatment from Unseen Music, who are pressing it to vinyl for the first time. Fans of Shigeto, Kiln and the overall bittersweet vibe of much Ghostly International output will find much to love here, as achingly beautiful harmonic interplay meets with crisply rendered digital rhythms that hold a pleasingly consistent mood across the album. Utterly easy to melt into, but with enough depth and careful construction to hold your attention, this is a wonderful slice of cult electronics given a much-deserved new lease of life.

Review: It's always difficult when a track has such an immense legacy everyone knows it decades on from its release date, and the release dates of the many movies that made it such an iconic tune. Such is the case with Yello's 'Oh Yeah', the breathy and bizarre 1980s electro-funk stepper we all love to forget the title of but can always chime in with the 'ch-ch-chas' at exactly the right moment.

This one moment of glory does not a legendary Swiss electro outfit make, though, and Yello's entire back catalogue is worth anyone's time, and this latest addition, their first new outing since 2016's 'Toy', is as good a place as any to begin. From the whispered house groove of "Core Shift", to "Arthur Speak"'s twisted cold wave chug, or "Hot Pan"'s epic, movie-scale acid weirdness, once again it's about whimsy, whit, precision and huge vision - a serious trip.

Review: We welcome back extreme noise terror Cosmo Rhythmatic, the experimental offshoot from the Berlin-based Italians at Repitch. British luminary Shackleton is no stranger to the imprint, having appeared previously as as part of the trio Tunes Of Negation, but his latest offering entitled 'Primal Forms' sees him team up with Polish jazz clarinetist and co-curator of Tak Picture - Waclaw Zimpel. From droney exoticism morphing into hypnotic chiptune music on the 17 minute long title track, or the experimental folk of "Primal Drones" to the unholy, yet, not altogether unpleasant hybrid of bass, free jazz and classical minimalism on the final cut "Ruined Future".

Review: The wonderfully named Django the Bastard is behind the production on this retro-future package from Dorothy's Fortress on Burning Witches. It's a real melting pot of sounds from electro to Italo, synth to lo-fi. It's sleazy yet dazzling, dark but uplifting and was first put out more than 10 years ago and hammered by The Chemical Brothers. The flip is a fat bit of analogue grooving with trippy arps and frazzled bass. This group has had underground cult status for a while but are now back making new beats, and we're certainly pleased about that.

Review: You could be forgiven for thinking some of Belbury Poly's work was actually borrowed from early-90s RPG video game soundtracks, although the production is clearly based on much more than the limitations of chips and cartridges. Nevertheless, there's a real wholesome, back home on the ranch kind of ambience at play throughout much of what's here.

You might say folk moods built from Radiophonic Workshop and BBC library music parts, or something along those lines. Veering from the moody 'Copse', to 'Corner Of The Eye', a track that invokes a real sense of wonder and mystery, and 'Magpie Lane' with its take on psychedelia, despite stylistic variety there's consistency in the strength and lure of the melodies, not least the wonderfully plucked synth effects on the epic 'Sticks & Stones'.

Review: Fresh from an impressive outing on Lazare Hoche Records, rejuvenated duo Zoo Look pop up on E-Beamz with two righteous slabs of mystical peak-time goodness. A-side "Direct Contact" offers a near perfect blend of rugged, undulated acid lines, bustling hardcore-style breakbeats and shimmering, sci-fi inspired chords. While undeniably fresh sounding, there's no denying the early '90s rave influences at play. There's a similarly retro-futurist feel to flipside "Ravioli Ocean", a wonderfully glassy-eyed, sunrise-ready affair that smothers a driving beat in tactile chords, morning-fresh synthesizer flourishes and undulating piano lines that sent shivers up and down our spines.

Review: 18 months ago, the unlikely but dream team combo of electronic experimentalist Vladislav Delay and legendary Jamaican rhythm section Sly & Robbie came together for some studio sessions in the Caribbean. Now we are finally treated to the nine track resulting album, 500-Push-Up. Plenty of drums, bass, vocals and field recordings are all distilled into a hazy, lo-fi sound world where dusty rhythms and howling synths make for dark and menacing dubs that come from the dead of a dystopian night. This is the second record Sasu Ripatti has made with this cult dub outfit and is another winner that fuses the best of all members of the partnership into sometime entirely new.

Review: Lo Kindre's work in and around the Scottish scene has been exemplary thus far, and he returns to the Phase Group label he runs with Mr TC for a full-length EP that continues his trend of omnivorous electronics without too much regard for generic boundaries. "Dusk" is an expansive slab of melancholy electronica with nods to minimal wave and proto-trance, which isn't especially in line with his earlier works. "Grey Skies (i)" features similar synth voices, but comes on more like an ominous Giallo soundtrack off-cut in dub, which is a wonderful thing of course.

Review: It has been two years since the first 'Sowas Von Egal' compilation arrived courtesy of Hamburg label Bureau B and Hamburg party series Damaged Goods. The world is unrecognisable compared to then, but diving headfirst into a bunch of obscure tracks from one of Europe's countercultural epicentres, recorded during one of the country's most troubled but fascinating and creative periods, is still a wonderful experience. While tracks here veer from having one foot in indie punk to full blown electronic assaults, the energy levels are consistent throughout - in short, they all pack a punch, whether it's the runaway juggernaut of Vono's 'Fred Der Ritter' or the frenzied looped bleeps on 'Steig Den Luis Trenker' by 4712. Similarly, with distortions, fizzes, crackles and all manner of other audible DIY tells, it's hard to argue with the fact that everything here puts artistry first and foremost, giving commerciality short shrift.

Review: Toulouse Low Trax has always skirted on the fringes of wider recognition compared to some of his Salon Des Amateurs counterparts (think Lena Wilikens, Wolf Muller and Vladimir Ivkovic), but his legacy to date plots a fascinating course through underground and experimental electronic music with a kosmische bent. This 2012 album on Karaoke Kalk has been highly prized since its initial run first sold out, and it's great to see it being made available again as more people get hip to the incredible body of work behind this maverick auteur. The mood across Jeidem Fall is consistently moody and provocative, capturing the essence of Muslimgauze but replacing the explicit ethnic motifs with a murky abstraction of the Fourth World aesthetic, all tumbling percussion and un-placeable instrumental motifs.

Review: 'Geneva Loops' encompass five loops that were given to each artist for the 'Geneva Remixes' where in turn they reworked, manipulated and expanded upon this source material resulting in each artists' own unique creation.

Review: Finder Keepers is probably the most appropriately-named label to carry this collection of rare recordings by one of the foremost electronically-minded composers of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Dating back to 1973, Ciani's 'Music For Denali' is a stunning example of sound design and, in album format, a series of arrangements that actually feel like a score looking for the movie. Or, more accurately, documentary. At the time the music was written, the aficionado was just starting out in the field of film composing via a non-fiction project about the first ever skier's descent down the tallest mountain in Alaska. As you might have guessed, the peak is Denali, and the soundtrack here entirely befitting for that scale. Combining her work as pioneering synthesist and revered pianist, it's an emotionally rousing story told through riveting movements.

Review: They say good things come to those who wait. Suso Saiz has been waiting more than a generation for Suzanne Kraft to come along and re-contextualise his work. Finally, then, acclaimed new age guitarist who emerged through the La Orquesta de las Nubes and Musica Esporadica projects, meets his match with the precise but organic sound designs of one of electronic music's finest contemporaries, and the result is magnificent.

The whole thing feels like it should be heard in some kind of sensory deprivation tank - floating on the water's surface, blissfully allowing the drones, tones, chords and loose harmonies to wash our minds. Of course work like "Beloved Din" comes with more of a determined impact, its tribal drums and woodwind accents creating an otherworldly vibe, or at least a sense of the exotic. For the most part, though, this is lush, tranquil, mystical and wholly inviting stuff.

Review: It's a common misconception that ambient can't be loud or make itself known. This couldn't be further from the truth, with some of the canon's most special moments coming when the beats drop and the overall atmosphere is a strange kind of expanded intensity - a sense of build without blatant intent or obvious destination.

The relatively short, but impeccably sweet Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mine back catalogue is very much proof of this. One of a string of re-releases from the stable, here The Ambientist presents six tracks that veer from the opiate beats of '1', to the proto-jungle-tech of the deeply atmospheric '6', calling at loose Balearic rhythms, beautiful drones and crystalline acid house. Whatever you take from all that, don't forget to take it with you.

Review: Russian has long been a world unto its own when it comes to electronic music. Often the sounds reflect what we think we know about the vast country and that is the case here on a blistering new 2 x 12" from Buttechno. "Xsaw" is a dense blizzard of white noise and buzz saw synths that gets you on edge. "The Big R" is fun of suspense and paranoia and "Sirenius" is mysterious synth melodies with arresting blasts of dystopian noise. There are plenty of other haunting and unsettling soundtracks, art noise sketches and bleak moments of musical cinema that are brilliantly beguiling.

Review: If this is your first meeting with Croatian Amor, AKA Loke Rahbek, then you couldn't have asked for a more fitting introduction. You've missed several seminal albums, not least 'Love Means Taking Action' and last year's 'Isa', serene composition work with Frederik Valentin, and ravey collaborations alongside Varg²™, but this stunning addition to his solo oeuvre will help you catch up pretty quickly. For the most part it's about blissful, relaxed electronic moods - for example the chillwave Spanish-esque guitars and delicate beats of 'Jonathan' , or 'New Morning' and its beat-less serenity. But then there are more than a few nods to the dancefloors we all miss so much, just take the broken beat euphoria of 'Yoyogi Park', or 'Fires In The Dark' and its sprawling, sparse-but definite free party snares and kick drums.