I must admit, I’ve been slow on the uptake of this record but after putting it on heavy rotation the last couple of weeks, it’s really started to embed itself in my consciousness. Balam Acab a.k.a Alec Koone, crafts deep, dreamy soundscapes that gently sway on their light static beats and lyric less floating vocal tracks, whilst simultaneously appearing to bury a startling and dark atmosphere just under the surface. The moments of light relief, such as when the opening track ‘Welcome’ breaks out from its tense beginning into beautiful clarity, with swirling, emphatic vocals and a pause in the stati or the gentle strings of ‘Expect’ provide moments that feel as if a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders, and are as remarkable for the emotional impact they have on you as they are for the perfectly craft sounds Balam Acab creates.

29 Nov 2011

Away from the Wighnomy Bros, Robag Wruhme has been around for a while as a solo artist. However, while he released his first solo album back in 2004, his solo output since then has just consisted of the odd single. Nevertheless his sound is highly engaging for those who have the patience to trawl his material. With his idiosyncratic approach to electronic music Wruhme has bubbled along in the background of the recent rise to prowess of German minimal techno. That is until this year however as 2011 has been Wruhme’s busiest yet. In January he released a brilliant ambient mix album on Kompakt, followed up by a this full length LP entitled Thora Vukk, a record which very much occupies the more elegant side of minimal techno music. Like his ambient mix, the palette for Thora Vukk is made-up of a series of field recordings including more organic sounds such as splashing raindrops and childrens chatter. This has already led many to draw comparisons with Nicolas Jaar’s stripped back electronic LP. There are similarities for sure, but Wruhme’s record is clearly a techno long-player at heart rather than something more minimalist. Although there are some ambient style minimalist soundscapes present, the record still maintains a clear techno backbone, even if there aren’t any club thumpers with pounding 4x4’s. Instead Wruhme takes a considerably more nuanced approach to techno music, combining the wonderfully motorik percussion with a delicate ambient instrumental palette.

22 Nov 2011

Thundercat is the alias of Stephen Bruner, former Suicidal Tendency, and now a protege and collaborator with the inimitable Flying Lotus. Thundercat played bass on the gorgeous ‘MmmHmmm’ from the still spellbinding FlyLo LP ‘Cosmogramma’, and this, Bruner’s debut album under this moniker is released on ‘Brainfeeder’, Flying Lotus’ own label. Like Flying Lotus, Thundercat is a man who sees the historic links and similarities between jazz and hip-hop, but it would be wrong to simply cast him as a FlyLo impersonator. Thundercat’s sound is based much more on live instrumentation, wonderfully smooth and erotic sounds, and souled-up funk grooves. There’s echoes of Millie Jackson’s sultry classic ‘Caught Up’, ‘Headhunters’ era Herbie Hancock, all strung out with taut beats, sparkling keyboards and a mixture of synthetic and live bass lines.

05 Oct 2011

Whilst Walls’ debut record was an aural foray into sun-drenched nostalgic electronica, drawing on those hazy summer days, timeless and spacious. It was well crafted, but to my ears lacked a little sparkle, that little kick to reward repeated listens. Now the duo have released their second album, ‘Coracle’ for the mighty Kompakt Records and boy is it an improvement. Taking off where the last record left off, the trademark atmosphere of the self-titled ‘Walls’ is now mixed with early Detroit techno and Chicago House, reeling off Mr. Fingers style bass lines and Juan Atkin’s pulsing drum beats. There are also strong elements of cosmiche music, the early experimentation into ambient music by those far out German brothers like Ash Ra Tempel, Popul Vuh and Cluster. Coupled with all these extra ingredients, Walls also take their previous attempts at recreating electronic shoegaze to another level. The guitars are so twisted and processed that they barely resemble guitars any longer.

28 Sep 2011

Ontario’s Scott Montieth, more widely known by his stage name Deadbeat, is a crafter of fine, dub based electronica, weaving techno, world, and sub bass together into a heady mix. Whilst his last release, 2008’s ‘Roots and Wire’ may have seen him heading for a more club-orientated feel, sublime new album ‘Drawn and Quartered’ hits heavy and low, back where Montieth works best, creating those moody sub dubscapes. Spread over five elongated tracks, ‘Drawn and Quartered’ acts as a run-through of some of Montieth’s prime sounds and influences, woven together with exceptional quality, leaving us with a truly excellent record.

17 Jul 2011

When someone mentions rap and hip-hop, the next word to come out of another's mouth isn't usually "Seattle". All that has changed as the city famous for genre-moulding the alternative scene has a new type of artist to add to its portfolio. Shabazz Palaces debut 'Black Up' has been hotly anticipated since last year's fantastic duel EP release 'Shabazz Palaces'/'Of Light', and it justifies the hype, although maybe not quite to the extent that it receives from our friends at Gorilla vs. Bear.

16 Jul 2011

There’s a reasonable chance you’ve encountered the Dutch sound bubbling over the last year or so (odd tracks have been appearing in mixes and on blogs for awhile now), but until now its impact has been slightly limited in the UK, despite bubbling’s disorientating synths and skittering drums fitting in so well with much of the UK’s current musical output, be it funky or UK bass/post-dubstep. Unless you’ve been willing to scour Dutch social networking websites, or even go as far as having Google translate assisted conversations with some of the producers like Sub FM’s Boomnoise, then the tracks you might have heard will have proved to be mysterious and hard to come by.

19 Jun 2011

Very rarely, I find these days, does music just stop you in your tracks and leave you in a stunned silence. However, Julianna Barwick's tremendous second album left me completely transfixed. Instantly gripping, it grows in stature and accomplishment with every listen and has left an impression on me in a way that no other album in the past year has come close to doing. 'The Magic Place' is serene, celestial and relentlessly and devastatingly emotional. It is 43 minutes of pure, unadulterated bliss.

26 May 2011

Much has been made of the link between LV and collaborator Joshua Idehen’s latest record ‘Routes’ and its intrinsic links with its birthplace and its surroundings, namely London. Whilst this is obviously an area that label Keysound Recordings are interested in, and LV and Idehen live up to the claim with track titles such as ‘Northern Line’, a whistle-stop tour along the underground line bouncily played around with by Idehen, there’s much more to this album than just London. It’s a soundtrack for urban life anywhere, invading the deepest recesses of city sprawls, the darkest corners and the wildest contradictions. There’s of course distinctly UK flavours, but there’s also elements that seem unable to fit in with any prevailing trend in the UK scene.

26 May 2011

Gang Gang Dance remind me of that blistering lyrical moment in 'I Heard Her Call My Name' by The Velvet Underground. Just before Lou rips into a scorching, fire at the gates of hell piece of feedback/guitar solo, he shouts 'and then I felt my mind split open!'. Gang Gang Dance, consistently make me feel like my mind is being split open. Future pop, tribal synths, organic dance music, hippy freaks, drug heads, I don't know what you would call them and their sound, but either way it�fs totally mesmerising. 'God's Money' and 'St Dymphna' are both standout records of the last decade, and 'Eye Contact�f, the Brooklyn collectives' latest album, and first for 4AD is another exceptionally brilliant record.

10 May 2011

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