I don’t know what they put in the water up there in Scandinavia, but whatever flows through the pipes makes for some interesting listening. Whether it’s the doom-mongering black metal popular in the region, or this, the space disco developed by Lindstrom and his cohorts, particularly Prins Thomas and Todd Terje. Terje started life as a bit of a protege to the aforementioned Prins Thomas, and was soon a leading light in Oslo’s space disco scene. Mixing sequencer era Tangerine Dream and proto synth bands with disco, both the pop end and the underground end, was a dizzying combination. That was all way back when of course, and yet still the genre is going strong. Lindstrom’s ground-breaking ‘Where You Go I Go Too’ back in 2007 was an epic that probably hasn’t been bettered, particularly the spectacular title track, a near 30 minutes of sheer synthetic disco bliss, but there’s been notable releases since, particularly Lindstrom and Prins Thomas’ collaborative LP ‘II’.

06 Feb 2012

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

Four Tet has continued to go from strength to strength with his last LP - There Is Love In You - arguably his strongest work to date. That was a record seemingly more flavoured by the club scene rather than his more delicate earlier work, a process which is seemingly set to continue. More recently Hedben seems to be most enamoured by goings-on in the bass scene, exemplified no least by recent collabs with broody dubstep man of the moment, Burial.

25 Nov 2011

The world that James Ferraro’s ‘Far Side Virtual’ inhabits is one of a dystopian future. Synthetic, superficial, endlessly optimistic to the point of falsehood. A soundtrack to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror themes perhaps. Vocal samples discussing how our lives could be better, Skype and Windows sound samples, lilting brite-piano pieces and the goofy 80’s inspired artwork. Gordon Ramsey and others’ services are offered by fake voiceovers. The song titles reference Pixar, Google, Dubai and other such symbols of the 21st century and its developments, for better or for worse. Like some eternally running advert for soma, or insurance you don’t need. Ferraro himself has admitted he’d like the album to be ringtones. Whilst this might sound like some kind of supressing nightmare, which in a way it is, listening to the record is completely fascinating.

22 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

When Male Bonding emerged in 2010 with ‘Nothing Hurts’, SBBS’s first reaction was “wait, they let British bands on Subpop these days?!” A cross between 90s grunge and the current noise-pop fad, both imported from the USA, we quickly realised that Male Bonding’s origins would be no obstacle to success on one of our favourite labels. With the same pace their music exhibits, they have returned a year later to quickly attempt the tricky second album ‘Endless Now’, as the boys from Dalston, East London look to consolidate the early successes that saw them become darlings of the all-important US blogosphere.

17 Nov 2011

Since releasing their first record back in January 2010, L-Vis 1990 (James Connolly) and Bok Bok’s Night Slugs label has gone from strength to strength, quickly building a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking UK dance music labels, their releases capturing a musical zeitgeist of diversity and innovation. However, innovation and a willingness to experiment can also be a barrier to mainstream success; an artist can either hope for tastes to change, for more popular artists to champion his or her work, or to simply pursue a more mainstream audience by changing the tone of their own creations. Connolly’s earlier EP on his own label, Forever You, marked him out as somewhat different from the other artists on his label’s roster, bringing a smoother, daytime radio friendly feel to proceedings. Choosing to his release his first album on Island imprint PMR Records have also led some to suggest that with his good looks and wax-filled haircut, Connolly’s decided it’s time to go pop.

18 Oct 2011

Zach Condon, the indie voice of the noughties, makes his first appearance in this decade (the teens??) with his thrid album, the Rip Tide. In many ways he was the poster boy of the last decade, arriving after the Arcade Fire had made orchestral arrangements constructed around deceptively effortless pop songs a sub-cultural norm, Beirut's voice propelled the theme to new sonic heights. The Gulag Orkestra, written when Condon was still in his teens was a beautiful cinematic exploration of Balkan folk music that was eccentric but not pretentious. Within a year, still brimming with creative ideas, he produced a record filled with Gaullist pomp with epic brass arrangements, accordion and song titles like "La Banlieue" and "Cliquot".

Unfortunately, 'The Rip Tide' possesses a synthesis of the styles but as a result lacks the character of the two previous records. Surprisingly there is no concept, which means the record can sound uncharacteristically disjointed. This has the detrimental effect that it comes across as a collection of the best Beirut B-sides rather than a new album of merit.

10 Oct 2011

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