Review: Towa Tei is best known for his membership of the influential house music troupe Deee-Lite, the legacy of which has helped sustain a prolific solo career. Now comes the two fresh bits 'Ear Candy' and 'Muse'. Channelling the aesthetic spirit of Tei's many collaborators and influenecs - that of singer and drummer Yukihiro Takahashi, once a member of the legendary techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, and the artist Yayoi Kusama - we get something between broken beat, electro-funk, and downtempo dadaist electronica as the result, as we are implored to "bring that funky music", an impulse almost certainly as addictive as the sugary highs elicited from actual candy.
Review: Luke Wyatt is an NYC lo-fi experimentalist, now dwelling in Berlin and heads up the Valcrond Video imprint: which in recent times has served up great work by fellow retroverts in the form of Aussie electro fiend Privacy, the L.I.E.S. affiliated Steve Summers and analogue techno heroine Xosar. The sludgy and slow burning midnight rock on the title track is reminiscent of The Birthday Party via Ry Cooder, until he throws us a curveball with the aquatic electro frequencies of "Poser". On the flip, the vibe remains the same however "Stealing Geodes From The Nature Company" is a much deeper and experimental take on the Dopplereffekt sound. Finally, Wyatt gives you his perspective of Bob Dylan on the cheeky post punk ditty "Not Quite Music".
Review: A couple of years ago, Max Stocklosa debuted the Trii Group project - albeit under the alternative TRjj moniker - via a couple of decent releases on STROOM. This limited 45 marks the first Trii Group outing of 2021 and was made in cahoots with Hipolito, a fellow Cologne-based artist who has previously contributed to Stocklosa's cassette-heavy TRii Musik label. A-side 'Circuit' is odd but rather good, offering a glorious mixture of tipsy, inebriated new age electronics, distant vocals and chiming melodies. 'Timer' retains the same reverb-laden vocal sound, this time placing Hipolito's vocals atop undulating, lo-fi machine drums and the kind of bubbly, alien-sounding modular melodies that were once a feature of compositions by the Radiophonic Workshop.
Review: Composer, sound designer, musician, artist. Vienna-based Ulrich Troyer has a number of strings to his bow, all of which have played into a world-building process deeply rooted in dub and sound system culture. Releases on the likes of Deep Midi Musik are a good reference point for newcomers. Here, though, we're in less structured and formalised places, with two pieces - well, one and a bit - of abstraction waiting for you to get lost in. 'Track 1' certainly comes with the kind of low reverberations and effects that call to mind huge speaker stacks in smoke-filled places. But it's also kind of deconstructed journey, it harmonises distorted beats and rhythms with beautiful melodic motifs in a way that's as innovative and beguiling as it is instantly pleasing. Flip it to find something we won't even bother trying to define, a celebration of the remnants of that opening arrangement, perhaps.
Review: Josh Dahlberg is The Valley and the Mountain aka TVTM and is an artist who has made a big move recently from the deep westside of Detroit all the way across to the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest. He he arrives on Central Scientific for its inaugural release with Detroit-based producer and Akka & BeepBeep founder, Jo Rad Silver, taking care of the flip. Next to an array of hardware, there is plenty of improvisation with guitars in this EP - 'Experiment Obscura' is a widescreen and dramatic ambient cut with a meditative feel and 'Immersion Theatre III' is another empty but inviting piece with curlicues, wispy pads, distant guitar echoes and moodiness to spare.
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