Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Oh this is a big one! Nino 'Shapednoise' Pedone has already served up an enticing collaborative project on his Cosmo Rhythmatic label this year in the shape of his 12" alongside Black Rain, but the mere idea of pairing up Mika Vainio and Franck Vigroux should stop fans of the electronic avant garde in their steps. Purportedly brought together after a show in Paris in 2012, Peau Froide, Leger Soleil is comprised of nine tracks that sit neatly at the juncture between rhythmic techno and abstract noise. Sporting some fine artwork, the album will sate the appetites of anyone craving some new ear dynamite from the iconic Finn, with opening track "Deux" setting the tone perfectly for what unfolds. An epic listen that demands and commands your full attention.

Review: Just when you thought slo-mo proggy stuff couldn't get more cinematic or devastating, along comes Franck Vigroux with the opener to Atotal. A bombshell packing waves of sirens, snares a plenty, coldwave sensibilities and a feeling of urgency despite its BPM count. A sign of things to come, make no mistake, this entire record is like dipping into a futuristic place of immersive noises and clear intention, synths breaking through walls of noise to create these huge, soaring soundscapes.

Well, perhaps not the whole album. Efforts like 'Perdu' are actually more like the kind of patient sci-fi scores of Vangelis, 'Accelerando' is a distorted, frenetic percussive piece that sounds like you're being dragged backwards thought the flues of a factory on Mars. 'Desarticule' uses space saws to create a feeling of distress, the shrieks of melody crying above hoover and broken beat. Bold stuff.

Review: Believe it or not, Tony Morley's Leaf imprint has been running since the late 1990's, and it has featured some of the very best talents from around the globe; yes, that includes Caribou, minimal-ambient expert Murcof, and many others. This time, it's a two-headed album by the collaborative talents of Franck Vigroux and Matthew Bourne who have reimagined Kraftwerk's seminal album, created to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The moods abstract and imperceptible, with "Geiger Counter" starting things off with sparse bleeps and a little bit of computer love, before heading down a warmer path of pseudo coldwave synths and industrial beats. In between the romantic and 80's reminiscent tones of tracks like "Airwaves" or "Radioland", the pair throw down plenty of oddity and beatless wonder...it's a gorgeous whirlpool of clean sci-fi modelling and explorative sounds that's wholly befitting of the legends that inspired it.

Review: Radioland has its' origins in a unique live re-imagining of Kraftwerk's 1975 album Radio-Activity, which Franck Vigroux and Matthew Bourne performed with the assistance of visual artist Antoine Schmitt last year. Following the success of that venture, the two musical protagonists ventured into the studio to record this version. It's as alien, bleak and out-there as Kraftwerk's underrated, krautrock-era original, and largely makes use of similar analogue equipment. There are some nods to contemporary electronic music here and there - both in the recording techniques, instrumentation and sample sources - and it's these touches that help avoid the potential pitfalls of similarly minded tributes. "Intermission/News", for example, sounds like Stockhausen jamming with Scanner, while "Radio Stars" is a freaky ambient treat.