Diagonal レコード& CD

Review: Japanese experimenter Kouhei Matsunaga has been quietly building an exceptional discography as NHK yx Koyxen and the numerous variances. With prior NHK yx Koyxen output on PAN, Skam and Raster Noton, Matsunaga's growing alliance with Powell's Diagonal label makes perfect sense. After debuting on Diagonal last year, he's back with Doom Steppy Reverb, a fresh NHK yx Koyxen LP that expands on his fuzzy, texture-laden, leftfield techno blueprint. So, while there's plenty of industrial-influenced darkness, claustrophobic tape hiss, and redlined rhythms, the Japanese artist also includes quietly beautiful textures and hazy, looped melodies. This is most evident on the foreboding, late night swing of "Y", where the application of dub delays helps emphasize the skewed, doom-laden mood. Superb artwork too!!!

Review: In interviews, Alessio Natalazia has freely stated his next album would be "very different" and "very intense". That album, his first for Powell's Diagonal stable, has finally arrived, and it's as ballsy, robust and full-throttle as he promised. While it contains nods to the woozy, shoegaze and ambient influenced soundscapes that have been a feature of his previous full-length excursions, these are well hidden behind clandestine fusions of techno and industrial, surging EBM-influenced workouts, post punk-goes-post rock explorations and atmospheric analogue electronics. For those well versed in his back catalogue, Animals makes for arresting listening. As for newcomers, they'll also find much to enjoy throughout.

Review: Diagonal boss Powell designed the New Beta series as a kind of re-set: an opportunity to go back go basics and make music differently. The first release in the series, which landed earlier this year, was certainly a stripped-back affair, notably free of many of the stylistic flourishes we've come to expect. This follow-up is similarly inclined and sees the lauded producer saunter through tracks that variously doff a cap to weird ambient, bubbly modular electronica, surging, sample-laden post-punk workouts (see "Rudeboy, Let's Funk"), mentalist fusions of jungle and synth-wave ("Drums VIP"), intergalactic noise and tracks that defy easy categorization. There are a few impressively melodious moments dotted throughout, with the colourful "Strobe" standing out.

Review: Always one to keep us on our toes, Diagonal bossman Powell steps away from his XL output for this sudden mini album that's strictly vinyl and likely to be limited. Unpredictably, fizzy, fun and often perplexing, no one blends influences and bends machines quite like this man. From the anarchic double-speed new beat paranoia of "Wormhole" to the weirded out time signature and spasmodic sines of "Dogs On Acid" via the mangled reece and death metal tones of "97", this is Powell at his most comfortable, insincere and experimental. Grab it while you can.

Review: Under his arguably better known Prostitutes alias, Cleveland producer James Donadio has already released an album on Diagonal (2017's industrial techno fired "Dance Tracksz"). This set, credited to his lesser-known StabUdown Productions moniker, is an altogether different beast. While it does make use of some of his regular musical elements - slack and groovy breakbeats, 8-bit electronics, moody bass and dusty machine drums, for starters - it's a far mellower and ear-pleasing affair, with Donadio making greater use of colourful synthesizer lines, drowsy chords, deeper beats and melodies. The result is a varied and highly enjoyable album that's well worth checking.