Sahko Finland レコード& CD

Review: Here's something to stir the hearts of all fans of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen's Panasonic/Pansonic project: a trio of long-lost remixes that were created, but for some reason never released, way back in 1996. Side A boasts an epic revision from long-serving Newcastle experimentalists Zoviet France, who turn an untitled Panasonic production into a ghostly trip through hypnotic, minimalist techno territory - all unearthly aural textures, drifting synth sounds and hazy, locked-in drums. Over on side B there's a pair of rare remix outings from the sadly departed Bryn Jones AKA Muslimgauze. He first wraps vocal sounds and twisted electronics around a raw analogue techno groove, before offering up one of his impeccable experimental ambient dub workouts. Of the two, this is undoubtedly the most mesmerising.

Review: Ambient EPs (as opposed to long-form LPs) tend not to be the order of the day, but the supergroup known as Quiet Voices are happy to buck that unfortunate trend. With their outlook focusing on a blend of cinematic atmosphere, ambient music and spoken word, this collaborative project - made up of the combined efforts of Jean-Yves Leloup, Helene Vogelsinger, Villeneuve & Morando, Wild Anima, Francois-Eudes Chanfrault and Maxence Cyrin - is an ode to the optic-sonic spectacle of film, recalling recently similar collage pieces such as Charle Shackleton's The Afterlight in its liberal use of monologue samples, many of which concern hot topics such as death, loss, and the threshold between them and life.