Skam レコード& CD

Review: Barely six weeks after dropping her debut single on River Rapid, Henrietta Smith-Rolla pops up on Skam with a surprise debut album. As first full length excursions go, "Break Before Make" is undeniably impressive. Beginning with the spooky, minor key electronics and angular IDM rhythms of "Day Turner", the 14 track set sees Smith-Rolla successfully turn her hand to bittersweet synth-wave ("And!"), dystopian pitched-down electronica ("Guess What"), spacey electro ("Work It", "Wtfwtfwtf"), clandestine electronic soundscapes (the panicked shuffle of "Blanket Ban") and grandiose sci-fi soundtrack fare ("The Middle Middle"). Throughout, the Manchester-based producer consistently delivers otherworldly musical melancholia with a panache not associated with a producer of her relative inexperience.

Review: Boom! Finally another reissue of Boards Of Canada's seminal Hi Scores LP from 1996! Along with the likes of Aphex Twin, LFO and Squarepusher, these guys have helped to define how we see electronic music today and this particular LP is arguably their most complete when it comes to the dancefloor. The title track is a twisted, floaty bindle of breaks and beats, but it doesn't end there. Tracks like "Nlogax" are inherently Detroitian in nature thanks to the bleepy drum machines inside, and all we can say is that if you haven't laid hands on this album yet, you shouldn't miss the opportunity to cop it now. It's still so relevant and contemporary, it hurts.

Review: It's been a long time between drinks for Darrell "Bola" Fitton, a long serving IDM explorer who released five fabulous albums on Skam between 1998 and 2007. D E G, his first album in a decade, is a predictably beguiling and atmospheric affair. Beginning with the sumptuously spacey ambient sweep of "Fhorth", Fitton delivers a master class in hard-to-pigeonhole electronica. While some tracks are reminiscent of some of Autechre's more melodious moments (see "Herzzatzz" and the acid-flecked "Pelomen Vapour 2"), others draw influence from Rephlex style braindance (see the sharp synth riffs and bustling beats of "Landor 50X2"), spaced-out post-dubstep electronic folk ("Evensong") and ghostly, post-apocalyptic ambience ("Pelomen Vapour 3"). Throughout, it remains a hugely entertaining affair.

Review: The new Bola album on Skam Records arrives after a long wait. "Kroungrine", the fourth full length album, drops like chewy beef and overcooked roast nuts; it has a crunch and fullness that satisfies and leaves you feeling truly replenished and unable to move.

Review: UK techno veterans Mark Broom and James Ruskin first joined forces under The Fear Ratio alias back in 2011, delivering the inventive - and hugely enjoyable - IDM-meets-techno full-length, Light Box. Several years on the pair realign as The Fear Ratio for a second album, issued somewhat surprisingly through Skam, which gleefully explores similar sonic territory, whilst throwing a few more influences - most notably experimental hip-hop and vintage electro - into the pot for good measure. The result is a hugely entertaining album that naturally doffs a cap to Skam Records' dystopian roots, as well as the heavyweight soundsystem throb of dubstep, the hypnotism of dub techno, and the crackling electronic wizardry of Autechre.

Review: Mark Broom and James Ruskin re-ignite as The Fear Ratio, with their third appearance on British IDM imprint Skam. Under this alias, the pair of techno figureheads explore styles outside of their usual techno trajectory - pushing their sonic repertoire into the realms of extreme electronics and UK derived splintered beat explorations. Featuring exclusive versions of tracks taken from their last album Refuge of A Twisted Soul, and made in preparation for their live sets. The industrial strength breaks of "GBA" can match anything by fellow brethren British Murder Boys, "Onefiveoooh" is as much hyperware as it is completely contorted, while the deep and atmospheric slow burner "Era" allows you a moment to come up for air.

Review: James Ruskin and Mark Broom return with a third installment of their wayward electronica project, The Fear Ratio. Far from the bruising techno they normally throw down, "They Can't Be Saved" is an introspective trip into the knotted realms of hip-hop influenced machine music produced down to the nth degree. The beats crunch hard and the atmospheres come shrouded in mystery, slotting in perfectly on the legendary Manchester label Skam. Both a wonderful revival of leftfield electronica and a vital, fresh approach, this third album is another triumphant one. Slap this one on and revel in the sound of two hugely accomplished producers cutting loose and having fun in the studio.

Review: As solo artists, James Ruskin and Mark Broom are celebrated for the uncompromising nature of their techno tracks. Yet when they come together as The Fear Ratio, the resulting off-kilter electronic music is much more akin to the angular, electro-influenced IDM work of fellow Skam associates Autechre, Gescom and Freeform. "They Can't Be Saved", their first full-length for five years, continues in this vein, delivering a distorted, mind-altering fusion of clanking, left-of-centre drum machine rhythms, otherworldly aural textures, alien electronics, ghostly chords and cybernetic melodies that more often that not skittishly race across the soundscape. Its impressive stuff all told and should appeal to all of those who appreciate the more skewed and unearthly end of the electronic spectrum.

Review: The reborn Skam comes through with an essential archival undertaking of one of the artists that helped establish them in the mid-'90s experimental electronic firmament. Dylan 'Jega' Nathan was highly lauded for his technically proficient, DSP-rich output on Skam and Planet Mu before sinking into the shadows to wide lamentation. Last seen on the latter label with the expansive album Variance back in 2009, Dylan pops his head back above the parapet with 1995, a double LP offering of early demos from the Skam archives. 1995 is made up of fifteen live, straight-to-tape jams from, oddly enough, 1995, mastered and collated together as a fine document of the flair Nathan possessed even in more technologically modest days.

Review: Autechre have had a long period of hiatus but this year saw the legendary pair reignite their chimerical touch on electronic music thanks to their ne alias Lego Feet, demonstrating the pair's previously unknown electro sensibility. Made up of 4 parts, the first takes a Chicago spin on things, with that muffled rave bassline prowling hastily over the freeflowing synths below it. "Part 2" sounds something like Autechre and Drexciya combined, but "Part 3" is where we enter videogame mode, flushing in a serious dose of Mario Bros melodies. "Part 4" differs greatly once again, working that drum machine to its full potential.

Review: After a break of almost a decade, one of Skam's most mysterious artists is back in action. Since debuting in 2001, North Manc Beds has steadfastly refused to reveal their identities, preferring instead to let their music stand on its own two feet. Helpfully, their standards remain high 18 years after they made their bow. Beginning with the dystopian, string-drenched dark ambient of "MoKo", the publicity-shy outfit saunters between off-kilter industrial rhythm tracks ("Jussbassoneandone"), murky IDM ("FRBounces") and creepy post-apocalyptic soundscapes (the odd field recordings, elongated tones and sparse beats of "Safebliss 53 Cond P455"). There's also a rather fine bonus remix in the shape of the Nabz & Cluff version of "Stelcore2", which sounds like a dancehall riddim conjured up by Autechre.

Review: Ever since the label's formation in 1991, Skam has strived to support innovative artists based around its home in NW England. VHS Head - AKA Ade Blacow - fits into this category rather well; not only does he hail from Blackpool, but he also sources the majority of his sounds from old VHS tapes. This second album follows some four years after the VHS Head debut set Trademark Ribbons of Gold arrived and is a thoroughly enjoyable listen, delivering a quirky but attractive blend of cut-up electronic funk, bespoke IDM rhythms, vintage synth melodies and wayward electronics. If Dam Funk, Funkineven, Autechre and Boards of Canada got down in the studio together, it would probably sound like this.

Review: VHS Head is an artist whose methods automatically bless him with an undeniable novelty appeal. Having made a name for himself by exclusively sourcing all of his samples from his very own VHS tape collection, he now presents his latest album Phocus for Skam. Recalling something akin to an entirely musical version of James Ferraro's 'Rapture Adrenaline', the album is a conceptual whirl of B-movie horror samples and gothic sci-fi splicery, synthesizing a new horror narrative unto its itself.