Friday, July 11, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
Froid Dub - Tears Maker Chant Remixes (Ransom Note)
Title: Tears Maker Chant Remixes
Artist: Froid Dub
Label: Ransom Note
Cat Number: R$N50R
Genre: Transcendental Beats
1:Control (Richard Fearless Remix)
2: Digital Pond (Lena Willikens Remix)
3: On The Nose (Zillas On Acid Remix)
4: Tears Maker (Timothy Clerkin Remix)
5: Just One (Strange Affair Remix)
6: Tears Maker (Vacant Heads Remix)
7: Terri’s Dub (Rainy Terrace Dub by Toulouse Low Trax)
It’s a remix package, so you hope for something different. A bit of variety and experimentation perhaps. Something in the spirit of Froid Dub’s innovation itself no less. And It would be great if everything hits the spot, whether you like it or not. So, starting off with Richard Fearless’s interpretation of ‘Control’, we’ve got full blooded drum & bass, albeit with a portentous edge that takes it somewhere special and slightly disembodied the longer you listen. And, without wanting to over generalise, a few of these fall into psychedelic cosmic chug territory. Lena Wiillikens, Zillas On Acid, Timothy Clerkin, Vacant Heads & Toulouse Low Trax all bang the drum on the abstract disco spectrum with varying outcomes. The primitive, dubby overtones of Zillas On Acid being the most transcendental, but with each composition offering a glimpse into a sonic event horizon, nothing can be discounted. Both Lena Willikens and Toulouse Low Trax turn in versions which are both lo fi and incantatory simultaneously. While Timothy Clerkin reaches for the stars with his soaring piece of disco euphoria. The Strange Affair Remix of ‘Just One’ feels a little at odds with most of what is featured here, except perhaps the opening track, offering, as it does, a different level of break beat science embellished with talking drums. Finally, Vacant Heads ceom correct with a version of Tears Maker’ that has simlialr production values to ‘Red Mecca’ era Cabaret Voltaire. Which makes it a clear winner.
Plant43 - Feeding the Machines (Plant43)
Title: Feeding The Machines
Artist: Plant43
Label: Plant43
Cat Number:
Genre: Electro
1: Information Decay
2: Crawling Ghosts
3: Feeding The Machines
4: Anthropomorphic Alogorithms
5: Nature’s Warding
6: Absolute Inertia
7: Shifting At Dusk
8: Echoes In The Abyss
9: Rain Isn’t Real (Digital Only)
10: The Watching Owls (Digital Only)
‘Feeding The Machines’, Plant43’s latest long player, follows on from last year’s ‘Luminous Machines’ and maintains an annual run of albums stretching all the way back to 2018, except for the fallow year of 2022. And ‘Feeding The Machines’, while not going off in any radically new direction, toughens up the beats and, I think, puts them centre stage. The characteristic emotive, melodic hallmarks haven’t disappeared by any stretch, but the package feels more percussively reliant. A nadir of sorts is reached with ‘Nature’s Warding’, which blurs the liners between techno and electro, (even though it is recognisably the latter), and has a real big room feel without an ounce of compromise. Having said that, what comes next in the form of ‘Absolute Inertia’ is full on techno and even though passable, lacks that bit of syncopation that makes its predecessor more engaging. ‘Echoes In The Abyss’ is neither of one world or the other, slowing the pace down to a respiratory, portentous fugue state. It’s all good. However, it’s tunes like those that open up proceedings, such as the title track, which show this albums most dramatic and proficient side; sticking to the electro template, and amplifying the low end for maximum machine funk tomfoolery.
Monday, July 07, 2025
Sunday, July 06, 2025
Saturday, July 05, 2025
Friday, July 04, 2025
Thursday, July 03, 2025
Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Tuesday, July 01, 2025
Monday, June 30, 2025
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Friday, June 27, 2025
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Monday, June 16, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Friday, June 13, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Yokoo & Haider Uppal Held-EP (Satya)
Title: Held EP
Artist: Yokoo & Haider Uppal
Label: Satya
Cat Number: SATYADGTL0022
Genre: Deep House
1: Held
2: Held (Mihai Popoviciu Remix)
3: Whatever She Wants
4: Whatever She Wants (YokoO Afterhours Love Mix)
A double-header of originals and remixes eh? So let’s dive in. ‘Held’ in its original form is characterised mainly by its respiratory beat pattern, along with a wistful vocal that drives it into a world of synth washes and airiness. Having said that, it retains a muscular drive and funky edge. Mihai Popoviciu’s remix is smoother and, therefore, more conditioned to the rigours of the minimal/trance crossover. ‘Whatever She Wants’ deploys beats of a similar intensity to ‘Held’, and again makes good use of a vocal. It’s a more dramatic tune than ‘Held’, however. Yoko0’s remix sacrifices none of the original’s potency, pounding its way along its almost ten minute length with admirable ferocity, making strategic use of breakdowns in the process.
MJSB - 5 Rhythms (Create Define Release)
Title: 5 Rhythms
Artist: MJSB
Label: Create Define Release
Cat Number: CDR005
Genre: Techno
1: Install
2: Connect
3: Movement Meditation
4: One Last Thing
5: Movement Meditation (Detroit City Remix)
MJSB’s ‘5 Rhythms’ is just that. Four original tracks that utilise a shifting percussive pattern at various junctures, topped off with a Terrence Dixon remix of what is perhaps the heaviest of the four, ‘Movement Meditation.’ Both ‘Install’ and ‘Connect’ come in at similar points. The former paving the way for the more limber latter with its slightly more studied approach. Both tracks make imaginative use of a subtle sub bass and space feels more abundant the further one gets to the end of each. ‘Movement Meditation’ takes things deeper by virtue of its weightier beats, vocal sample and vital tribal embellishments. It’s high is really hit, however, with the addition of the keys, which quickly become a sonic g spot. ‘One Last Thing’ is crisper than its precedent, but with a similar degree of emphasis and drama. While Terrence Dixon evokes the spirit of mid nineties French trip hop to get things started with his remix. It’s a feeling that continues throughout the track, thanks to the whispering voice and the key stab, stretched to its limit as far as bpms are concerned, it’s by no means linear, nosebleed techno, using as it does a completely different range of abstract harmonic flourishes to gather its momentum.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Monday, June 09, 2025
Sunday, June 08, 2025
Saturday, June 07, 2025
Friday, June 06, 2025
Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Tuesday, June 03, 2025
The Advent - Passado Distante (Paraiso)
Title: Passado Distante
Artist: The Advent
Label: Paraiso
Cat Number: paraiso016
Genre: Techno
1: Driven
2: Circulate
3: Tres Trax
I can’t remember when I bought my first Advent record, sometime in the mid nineties for sure. Back then tracks on Internal, and later on Kombination Research were an uncompromising mix of heads down techno and often quite brutal electro. Anyway, I generalise to an extent her, and it’s the former that gets a rinse on this new EP for Paraiso, a Portuguese label that I’ve had the pleasure to review a few times on these pages. I have to say that I’m really not feeling this latest release from Cisco Ferreira though. Three formulaic, functional panel beater techno tracks which are largely anonymous and lack variety. There’s no doubt that as far as this approach is concerned, then these three tracks hit the nail squarely on the head. However, they lack distinction and are largely anonymous as a consequence.
Monday, June 02, 2025
JWS - My Mylar Lungs (Multidim Records)
Title: My Mylar Lungs
Artist: JWS
Label: Multidim Records
Cat Number:
Genre: Minimal Folk Techno/Ambient
1: leaf blowr
2: gardn
3: sunbathr
4: 92’ point shoos
5: 92’ tutoo
6: flying buttrss
7: glu jemz
Although I have no idea what “minimal folk techno” is, I’m all for looking into its proclivities if pointed in the right direction. I suppose its an idea that’s been bubbling under for some time now. A lot of the music I’ve been sent over the past few years has had a pastoral veneer, existing within an inner landscape reared and nurtured in a rural environment. Up until now though, all of this bucolic hauntology has originated from Britain, particularly the south of England. ‘My Mylar Lungs’ - a title that feels very much at odds with its contents - comes from the US and is the work of Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens, aka JWS. And the impression it makes is a recognisable one, but also something that is difficult to categorise. Having said that, it broadly straddles the ambient/dubby divide. Perking up tonally 5 tracks in with ‘92’ tutoo’, a track which is brought into sharper relief by ‘flying buttrss’, only to dissipate into textural bliss in the shape of ‘ glu jemz’; the collectio0n starts with ‘leaf blowr’. A deceptively complex piece of deep, dawn of time beat – driven ambience, sounding not unlike an imaginary soundtrack accompanying the boat down the river Styx. On ‘gardn’ and ‘sunbathr’ there is development, with the former climbing down tonally from its predecessor, preparing the ground for the more bottom – heavy approach of what follows. In short, it undulates before the nursery rhyme fragility of ‘92’ point shoos’. Do I know what I’m talking about? Probably. Do these impressions have the slightest relevance to what I’m describing? Absolutely. Have I done this collection justice? God knows. I like it very much though, and really feel the effort and thought that has gone into its creation. It resonates with me, which is what really matters.
Sunday, June 01, 2025
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Friday, May 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Various Artists - Astral Projections (Alien Communications)
Title: Astral Projections
Artist: Various
Label: Alien Communications
Cat Number: AC016
Genre: Electro
1: ERP – Telenovela
2: Reptant – A Glimpse From Inside The Vortex
3: Moy – Pale Nimbus
4: Client_03 – Transonicdelta_a5
5: Plant43 – Tectonic Lakes
6: Abduction – Dyas/Hours
7: Carl Finlow – Woven
8: Trasparent Sound – Nervous Sounds
9: Radioactive Man – Space Junk
10: Domenic Cappello – Underwater Lights
11: Fasme – Underneath
12: DMX Crew – New Blue Goo
“a labour of love and a long time in the making, astral projections is a comprehensive and educational trip that tells you just about everything you need to know about electro past, present and future”
So sayeth the press release. Although a bold statement, looking at the artists featured it may well be accurate. ERP, Plant43, Carl Finlow, Radioactive Man and DMX Crew are the names that one notices first, with Reptant and Transparent Sound bringing up the rear. That’s not to sat that the other names aren’t any good, it’s just that they don’t all carry the same weight. Anyway, subjective innit. And it’s by no means an exhaustive list, with a list of those not present being as long as those that are. Not to worry. No one lets themselves down here, but picking favourites isn’t easy. I’m a little underwhelmed by ERP’s ‘Telenovela’, mainly because of the incredibly high standards that have been set thus far. It’s still a great track though but doesn’t give those that follow too much to live up to, which is nice. Reptant and Moy both layer the 303 on top of their respective templates and make quite similar tracks as a consequence, the distinguishing factor being who manages to sound the sleaziest. Carl Finlow out does both of them on that score though, with ‘Woven’ sounding like some sort of frictional, electronic swamp funk. ‘Space Junk’ by Radioactive Man has a great undulating bass which sound like something from a Resident’s track. It’s a twitchy track apart from this and, as such, is very different to what follows. ‘Underwater Lights’ harkens back to the golden age of what is still occasionally referred to as IDM, shorthand for deep, synthetic emotional emissions. Others in a similar vein are Fasme’s ‘Underneath’ and ‘Transparent Sound’s ‘Nervous Smiles’. Plant43’s ‘Tectonic Lakes’ takes a minimal route, its subtlety being its strength. ‘TranSonicDelta_A5’ from Client_03 has, along with ‘Hours/Days’, a capacious feel which in emphasised by their respective spoken word samples,. The latter setting itself apart from the former by its sinister synth swirls and added sense of foreboding. All tracks here deserve to be rinsed to within an inch of their lives. Some more than others, but that’s up to you.
