Review: Senking and DYL reunite after their notable collaboration back on 2020's EP Uniformity Of Nature, this time going long on their first full-length, Diving Saucer Attack. This new work spans a total of six tracks, two of which have been produced individually and so highlight their shared passion for dub-heavy and adventurous electronic music while also bringing out the subtle differences in their styles. The album opens with 'Six Doors Down', a track featuring throbbing bass and haunting synths while subsequent cuts like 'A7r380R' explore intricate soundscapes before culminating in the sombre closing piece, 'Not Just Numbers.'
Review: So what happens when a European post-punk outfit meets an American 'ambient country ensemble'? The answer: A Nanocluster. In fact, three. This being the third. Immersion first met SUSS in September 2021, and the results were mesmerising. Three years on and the impact was no less staggering. Originally landing in September 2024, part tres takes us into the kind of musical places we're used to finding Spiritualized or Mogwai, and even then the references are misleading. For as many times as Nanocluster Vol. 3 sucks us into a thick soup of ambient and atmosphere, inviting us to get lost in opiate cloud formations, it also asks us to jump on board a stream train of rolling and driving rhythms, juggernauts gathering depth and complexity as they forge ahead. A stunning collection of highly evocative and incredible musical instrumentals.
Sanderson Dear - "A Place For Totems" (extended version) (6:10)
Review: Sanderson Dear's Stasis Recordings released the original Time Capsule compilation in 2020 - a 20-track exploration of ten different ambient techno artists exploring two ideas each in compact form for a box set of 7"s. Now the label has revisited some of the project's standout moments and offered a chance to enjoy extended versions gathered on a single 12". From Maps Of Hyperspace shaping out atmospheric halls of synth work on 'Beta' to Glo Phase offering some gorgeous, sparkling grooves on 'Fire Flies', there's plenty of ground covered on this release. Of course the mighty John Beltran is a big drawer too, and his typically stellar 'The Descendent' doesn't disappoint in its full extended version.
Review: Developed as off-the-cuff cassette overdubs, work taking place in Manchester and Massachusetts, combined with syncopated vocals, Human Engineering very much lives up to its name. Narrated by Rick Myers, with long-time collaborators Andy Votel and Sean Canty in charge of the noises, it's a strange place to spend some time but it's also oddly beautiful. At first ear, the aesthetic feels rough and mechanical, definitely anything but human. But as things draw us further in to whatever this plain is, the organic at the root of everything rises to the surface. Suddenly, the obtuse noises no longer sound alien, and instead have taken on their true form - products of people, perhaps artefacts from a time we're about to forget. One in which machines were ours, not their own.
Gipsy Kings - "You've Got A Friend In Me (Para El Buzz Espanol)" (2:14)
Randy Newman - "We Belong Together" (4:00)
Review: Who doesn't love Toy Story? It's an on going classic with a heart of gold, some of The best animation in the film world and most loveable characters to ever make the silver screen. Whether young or old, snuggling down to watch this sone is always a treat, and now you can bring some of that magic onto your decks with the red vinyl compilation album. It brings together some of the best tracks and favourite musical moments of the movie such as, of course the most notable song of them all, 'You've Got A Friend In Me (Para El Buzz Espanol)' as well as 'I Will Go Sailing No More' and 'We Belong Together.'
Review: Sa Pa's mastery of dense, immersive sound design takes on fresh forms here, with four extended cuts that unravel in their own time, drawing deep from the wells of dub, ambient techno, and minimal groove. Opener 'Captigon' rolls out like a slow-motion mirage, its submerged rhythms and cavernous textures shifting like sand underfoot. 'So Simple' strips things back even further, a delicate interplay of drifting chords and weightless percussion that feels like it could dissolve at any moment. On the flip, 'Boredom Memory (Extended Mix)' lets a steady pulse guide its shimmering layers, balancing restraint with a quiet insistence, while 'Gausian Ecstacy' brings things full circleihushed, intricate, and hypnotic in equal measure. Designed for deep listening, whether warming up, winding down, or staying in, these tracks reward patience, letting their submerged details rise to the surface at their own pace.
Review: Dino Sabatini returns to his own Outis Music label with another mesmerising selection of deep electronic sounds that seem to take plenty of influences from dub, downtempo, ambient and trip hop. The open has a creeping melodic sequence that is forever subtly shifting and brings a sense of eeriness to the smooth and unhurried dub rhythms below. 'Inenarrabilis' is then a double quick flurry of tiny synth loops and trippy effects then 'Plena Lunae' allows you to breathe once more and sink into a vast dub soundscape. 'Ego Experior' shuts down with some paranoid baselines bubbling up through a slowly churning groove. Some quality work here for sure.
Review: The state51 Conspiracy label comes very much correct early on in the New Year with this two-track grey marbled vinyl 12" in a fancy spot-varnished sleeve. It takes the form of two fresh Santaka reworks of original compositions by Rytis Mazulis and avant-garde choir Melos Collective which were first released back in 2020. Santaka, which means "confluence" in Lithuanian, is the coming together of DJ and producer Manfredas and drummer and producer Marijus Aleksa and here they layer up disembodied vocals and dark jazz melodies on 'Ramybe' and then 'Autoportretas' is a textural ambient exploration packed with fascinating sound designs.
Review: Finder Keepers recently sent soundtrack lovers into orgasm when they reissue the rarest of them all, the Belladonna Of Sadness soundtrack, and now they score big once more. This one is another dive into the vaults of composer Masahiko Sato and upon returning to the surface we're presented with a bunch of the 13 lost cuts that never made it onto to Italian-only sound track album first time round. It makes for two tracks freaky fuzz, dense noise, post-punk rhythms and intense sonics that sound like nothing else.
Review: As the official soundtrack to Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson's documentary Texada, New-York based composer Elori Saxl's latest record comes issued on a steadfast, standalone vinyl edition. Texada explores the evolving connection between people and the remote Texada Island, British Columbia, shaped by ancient limestone formations and industrial history. Saxl transforms these themes into sound, blending analog synthesizers, processed baritone saxophone (by Henry Solomon) and field recordings of water and rock. Her compositions evoke stone textures and the lunar-tidal motion of waves, with tracks like 'The Quarry' capturing the drive of resource extraction, and 'The Most Special Place' reflecting nostalgia and discovery, merging human and geological scales.
Review: Mad About Records is back with another essential double dose of Latin funk with this limited edition 7" from Los Sonidos De F.M. and Sola. 'Tema De Los Adolesentes' kicks off on the flip with brilliantly lively samba keys and blasts of big horn energy next to more slinky and seductive lines. It's a true steamy dancer full of sex appeal while Sola take a different approach on the flip with 'Tabu.' This one is low slung and mischievous with its prickly rhythms and wet cymbals. The Spanish vocal is delivered with power and flair and backed by brooding harmonies that add extra weight.
Review: Pont Neuf approaches its quarter of a century of releases with Shore serving up a fresh blend of the old and the new on this Life Is A Blur EP. It kick off in laissez-faire fashion with some heavenly ambient, then 'Constant Motion' is a synth-drenched house kicker with jazzy leads. 'So Low' is more progressive and a little darker, while 'Thinking Out Loud' cuts loose and slows down from some sunset downtempo bliss. 'Ascent' rounds out with kaleidoscopic melodies that have you gazing off to the stars.
Review: Sleepnet is the now, firmly established solo alias of Noisia's Nik Roos. Splitting off from the trio after their disbanding in 2020, this is the second edition in what is now set to be a continual slew of releases under the name, the self-referential Sleepnet coming as the follow-up to 2021's First Light (which housed the no less badass, era-defining seraphic neurofunk cut 'Angel Blade' in its ranks). With only four out of seven tunes counting as solo endeavours here, this is Roos' first outing under the name in three years. After a dramatic introductory piano expurgation on the A1, 'Doorway', Sleepnet hears Sleepnet raise his snapneck audio-synaptics to all-out haywire levels. The mood is continual (as if we're picking up from where we left off in 2021, well into the throes of an evolutory, hi-tech (post-) vision quest) as the uncanny gurgle design of 'Face Dancer', and/or the brisk angelo-triumphalism of 'Surrender', stand out as the most biblically impressive of the bunch.
Chapelle XIV Music, Yoyaku's art gallery label, signs up Shaun Soomro for this beautiful EP which combines elements for mind, body and soul. 'Rage & Harmony' kicks off with some dusty breakbeats and is doused in silky pads awash with subtle euphoria. 'The Laughing Heart' is a blissful ambient interlude full of texture and timbre and 'Illusions Of You (dub)' is a moment of go-slow loveliness on a codeine-paced rhythm. 'Dusk God' shuts down with more misty, grainy, lo-fi ambient and dub fusions.
Review: As Detroit techno spread across the world and inspired a generation, Scotsman in London Jonah Sharp took up the mantle Space Time Continuum and crossed the Atlantic to shore up in San Francisco with a cutting edge sound steeped in the language of advanced chill-out room machine soul. His label Reflective kicked off with Flurescence, an EP of exquisite, dreamy trips which has since become a rare and prized piece within the buoyant deep techno scene. Musique Pour La Danse are all over this kind of stuff, and it's good to know the reissue of such a seminal work is being handled by the best in the business.
Emma Wild & Whale (DJ Sotofett Overdubble mix) (3:29)
Seance Of A Kondalike (DJ Sotofett Newseance mix) (5:26)
Out Of The Dark Into The Dawn (DJ Sotofett Lite Drum mix) (6:04)
Melting Grey (DJ Sotofett Grey Room mix) (4:55)
A Dead Rose (DJ Sotofett extended mix) (3:27)
Review: The words 'DJ Sotofett Remakes' is like catnip to lovers of obscure electric sounds. And here is the Allchival label with no fewer than six of them as the left-of-centre maestro adds his take to originals by Stano. His club mix of 'Room' is all spaced out and cosmic, then goes super slow and psychedelic with his snaking bass sounds on an Overdubble mix of 'Emma Wild & Whale' before Seance Of A Kondalike" (DJ Sotofett Newseance mix) picks up the pace but remains utterly psyched-out and intoxicating. There is still time for snaking dub techno and warped electronics on the remaining three sides.
Dreaming About Rollercoasters (Jakojako remix) (4:58)
Organic (Om Unit remix)
Feroit (Julia Gjertsen remix)
Review: Nadia Struiwigh's Pax Aurora was a standout ambient techno LP in 2022, and now Nous Klaer Audio have returned to the project to commission a grip of remixes which respond to the source material in distinctive ways. DJ Nobu takes a delicate, mesmerising approach to 'Nana', while Jakojako plumbs the depths of immersive, feathery techno. With Om Unit and Julia Gjertsen representing with equally hypnotic, elegant versions on the flip as well, this is the perfect example of a remix EP which truly adds weight to the original release.
Review: Italian label Suoni Incisi launched in 2020 with a mission to offer up hugely emotional electronic music that fuses experimentation with multi-genre explorations. The boss that gave their name to the label takes charge of this third transmission and it is a deep techno journey into sustained chords, mysterious pads and the sort of muttered vocals that add real atmosphere. 'Track 2' on the flipside is similar in make-up with liquid rhythms, cavernous and dubby bass and subtle musings, this time with some eerie flute melodies drifting up top.
Review: Harlem & Irving label partner Brian Kelly assumes his Supplement alias here for a new and limited edition 12" that features two of his tasteful and challenging sounds. Kelly is always out to disrupt and subvert and does so with aplomb here as the a-side title track starts with a whisper but soon grows with layers of found sound, piano, percussion, and ethereal voices. It then collapses before reemerging with melodic and tonal guitars and pulses. On the flip, the same tune comes 'Revisioned' but is much more cold and distorted, edgy and urgent.
Review: Spanish mainstay Sverca is one of those techno producers who very much has his own signature sound. You probably already know that if you're reading this, and the latest on his Semantica label finds some top talents all adding their own remix spin on his originals. Stanslav Tolkachev goes first with the booming, loopy kicks of 'AW08' and searching synth blips. Felix K flips 'Utero' into a rumbling bit of lurching deep techno that echoes through empty industrial spaces and after the original comes a CONCEPTUAL remix of 'Seda Muerta' that sounds like a train on a track pushing on through a stiff wind. Another version is also included that is more physical and Sverca's 'Jade' closes with warm and tense ambient winds.
Review: In typical Music From Memory fashion, their latest archival release shines a light on one of the UK's lesser-known bands of the early 1980s. The System released a lone single in 1981, followed by a now incredibly rare debut album, Logic, in 1983. Three of the cuts here are taken from that set, including the dreamy, downbeat Balearic-pop opener "Almost Grown" - a wonderfully evocative six minutes, all told - and the far-sighted, spacey, proto-techno shuffler "Vampirella". This EP also includes one previously unreleased track, "Find It In Your Eyes", which was rescued from long-forgotten master tapes during the licensing process.
Review: Following up 2021's acclaimed Vulture Prince, Pakistini American singer Arooj Aftab collaborates with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily on synths to present a striking exercise in dramatic, atmospheric composition. Aftab's voice remains the centre of a creative groupthink which began in 2018, and here the musical ornamentation is turned down to a simmer, eschewing percussion in favour of ambient pastures. There's also space for Iyer and Ismaily to stretch out on their own, but ultimately this is Aftab's vehicle and her voice goes from strength to strength on this standout record.
Review: Emerging from the ether in July 2024, Surfacing is the third collaborative long player from ASC and Sam KDC. Producers known for their ability to create and set moods with comparatively abstract ambient soundscapes, their latest is no exception. A collection of work which opts for an un-rushed approach to creating big feelings and moments from relatively consistent sounds and noises. Not much seems to happen, until you realise how much has been happening. In many ways, it's a maximalist thing - attempting to pick apart tracks like 'Mirage' and 'Shimmer' reveals the density of these sonics. Walls of sound that are acoustically and melodically light enough to float on air, yet actually so thick they swallow the listener hole, with little hope of escape until the final refrains fade.
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