12th Isle レコード& CD

Review: Fresh from showcasing some of the buried treasure within Vasilu Stepanov and Vlad Dobrovolski's work as SAD, Glasgow 12th Isle crew has decided to deliver something undeniably fresh: a debut EP from Toronto scene stalwarts Cosmic JD and Jersua Leao as Bruxula. The EP is pitched as being sited 'somewhere between the dancefloor and the living room', showcasing an attractive fusion of electronic and acoustic instrumentation as well as Leao's Brazilian vocals. On side A the pair smother a warming, laidback mid-tempo groove with echoing jazz guitar and evocative vocals ('Pala Mo'), before delivering some woozy ambient stargazing in the form of the inspired 'A X'. Over on the flip, they bounce between Dubtribe-goes-ambient techno, slow-motion deepness ('The Bird on the Hell'), spacey ambient jazz ('Dark Farfisa') and meandering, melancholic ambient ('JD's Outerlude').

Review: Irish astral projectors 12th Isle are back, and we're interested in them because, more than anything, they offer up a sonic voice for mostly younger-generation experimental electronic producers from the nation. Cru Servers are are a fresh signee, a not incorporated, but incorporeal, entity of Rickie & Jamie McNeill. Judging by the words on the album's digital liner notes, the pair harbor a strange fascination with gooey concepts such as stickiness, globulation, tactility, and ectoplasm, which translates rather well to the very wet, very moist soundscapes heard on the record. The LP seems to set up a dialogue with the old-school 2010s wonky sound (think Distal, Flying Lotus) and magnifies it through the lens of, well, even more wonk.