summary 
Tuesday, 22 May
Monday, 21 May
Review to follow shortly…
Pantha Du Prince and his pal, Stephan Abry ease off with this mondo-chilled new collaboration as Ursprung. The pair have previously collaborated: Abry - a former member of German experimental group Workshop - contributed "sound sources played on prepared instruments" to Herr Du Prince's 'Black Noise' album, but it's the first time they've been credited side-by-side. Their title translates to "origin" in English and rings true with their stripped down approach to arrangement and playing. At a guess, Abry is responsible for the lushly languid guitar lines which percolate through the sonorous bass pulse… Read more
Thursday, 17 May
Recommended release
Laurel Halo's 'Quarantine' is one of the most compelling debut albums we've heard this year. Ever since she revealed the hyper-fused kinetics of 2010's 'King Felix' EP, there's been a certain weight of expectation on this unique artist, which has evidently been fulfilled with the likes of her technofied 'Hour Logic' and 'Spring' EPs, plus the criminally overlooked ambient holo-spaces of the 'Antenna' cassette for NNA Tapes. Yet, if you still haven't been convinced of her skills, a newly established connection with the esteemed Hyperdub and the utter brilliance of this album - from the sounds to the artwork - should be ringing your bel… Read more
Album of the Week
**Limited edition of 500** 'Kippschwingungen' finds Frank Bretschneider returning to a rare and obscure bit of East German electronic equipment with compelling results. In 2007 Frank was invited to compose music for the Subharcord, a unique electronic instrument developed in the 1960's for the creation of "special effects" at the RFZ, the technical centre for radio and television of the East German postal service. Of the eight machines originally made only three survive to this day in Vienna, Trondheim and Berlin, which could be considered as the Soviet counterparts to the Mixturtrautonium made famous by Oskar Sala. Give… Read more
Recommended release
**Limited edition of 500** 'Built Through' is a visceral, engrossing exploration of "acoustic architecture" schemed by prolific sound artist, collaborator, and Line Records boss, Richard Chartier (US), and sound artist/composer Robert Curgenven (AU/UK). As inferred by the title, 'Built Through' is focussed upon the aesthetics of space and features four pieces stemming from original source material (field recordings, older compositions) which was reprocessed/reworked by the two artists in order to further investigate theirs and our perceptions of the material's internal and extrenal spatial properties. Using se… Read more
Recommended release
One year since their 'Weathering' album landed to much acclaim from fans and the press, Epic 45 have invited The Remote Viewer, The Gentlemen Losers, Fieldhead, Jasper TX, E.L. Heath and Sarah Kemp to "weather" said album with lovely results. It opens with an exclusive new track called 'Leaving Traces' from the Staffordshire duo, before The Remote Viewer tickle their crackle box into action on a tenderly scuffed rework of 'The Village Is Asleep'. Meanwhile, their sometime collaborator and producer Charles Vaughan stirs 'People Say This Place Is Slowly Dying' as a diffuse piece of nippy pop-ambience and Fieldhead dissolves 'Leaving Traces' i… Read more
KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS
In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream
PLANCHA / ART UNION
CD // £13.99
Cat. Number: ARTPL027CD
*Two long sold out EP's and a rare 7" brought on to one CD for the first time* Priming the scene for their first full American tour, Tokyo's Plancha Records collude with Forest Family to premier KSIA's 'In Love With Dusk' and 'Our Own Dream' EPs on CD, backed with their Transparent 7" 'Hauntin' Me' and an exclusive new cut. The two EPs are now long sold out on vinyl and fetching a handsome sum 2nd hand, thanks to their sought-after and radio-friendly blending of '80s yacht pop, Balearic disco sway and chill wave suss. New bit 'A Tear In My I' is a perfect distillation of their sound; languid, dreamy and druggily skewed for your pleasure.
Recommended release
**Hand-numbered limited edition of 65 housed in sealed recycled envelope** Dozens kick off Under The Spire's limited edition 3" CD series with a nineteen minute electronic storm called 'Curving Quest'. Coming from Montreal's Francesco De Gallo of Hobo Cubes fame and Ryan Connolly aka Sundrips you might know what to expect, but that's not to say this is a predictable listen. Within minutes of entry we're submitted to a barrage of superheated electromagnetic radiation and soon enough left delirious and dehydrated in roiling ambience reminding of Leyland Kirby before our minds are extruded through interdimensional wormholes and reconstitut… Read more
Recommended release
**Hand-numbered limited edition of 85 housed in sealed envelopes** 3rd instalment of Under The Spire's 3" CD series is an eighteen minute astral projection by Greek synth explorer, Panos Alexiadis aka Lunar Miasma. Vangelis-style syn-Brass blooms like a slow-motion ecstasy rush, spiralling into the cosmos with wide-eyed galactic ambition and celestial spirit.
Recommended release
**Hand-numbered edition of 65 copies housed in sealed envelopes** 2nd in Under The Spire's limited 3" CD series comes from an improvisational electronic trio by way of Portland, Oregon. Deploying real-time synthesis as well as analog synth, drums and percussions, 'The Work' EP explores three intrepid zones of brooding drone and subaquatic pulses with a cinematic bent recalling the work of early electronic pioneers such as Suzanne Ciani and modern day revisionists like Panabrite.
Recommended release
**Lovely first album from Manual/Causa Sui's Jonas Munk under his own name. A very fine contribution to the pantheon of neo-Kosmiche explorations. Housed in gatefol slipcase and warmly recommended to fans of Panabrite, Expo 70, Seahawks** "Pan is the first solo effort from Jonas Munk released in his own name. Jonas Munk is a musician and producer from Odense, Denmark who has been active in a wide range of musical styles for the past decade. In the European psych-rock community he is mostly known as the guitar player in the respected stoner/jazz/krautrock-outfit Causa Sui as well as related projects such as Chicago Odense Ensemble, a joint ses… Read more
"The New York and Miami based duo of Roberto Carlos Lange and Matt Crum deliver this album of twelve energetic instrumental pieces. These two sound artists have been on the radar for a long time, as members of beloved projects such as Savath&Savalas (Warp, with Prefuse 73's Guillermo Scott Herren), Comic Wow (Asthmatic Kitty, with Tortoise's John McEntire) or Roberto's solo project Helado Negro. ROM's first appearance marked their self-titled debut on the Japanese WIMM imprint in 2005. Despite having been recorded over a span of three years, and in various locations in different cities, “Foot Signal” i… Read more
Thursday, 10 May
**Six panel digipack with 12page booklet** Depending on your tolerance for advanced electronic boogie jazz, Squarepusher's last album 'd'Demonstrator' as Shobaleader One was either the epitome of cool or unlistenably indulgent. Returning two years later as plain old Squarepusher, Tom Jenkinson presents what might well be his most popular side since 'Ultravisitor', focussing on a "big room"- friendly fusion of almost Trance-y hooks and dance-able machine funk, what he terms "…pure electronic music… Something very melodic, very aggressive." It's almost as though he's been listening… Read more
Thursday, 03 May
*CD Edition now in stock* 'Radiant Intervals' is the first Eleh LP on Important since '08s 'Floating Frequencies/Intuitive Synthesis Vol.3', and follows one of the Wire magazine's (and our) top records of 2010, the incredible 'Location Momentum' for Touch. Continuing with investigations into physically tactile tones and drones, this LP offers four further modular synth expeditions eternally moving towards the distant point depicted on the gorgeous, letterpress printed sleeve. After a stoically inert start 'Night Of Pure Energy' is unusually rhythmic (for an Eleh composition at least), propelled … Read more
SHACKLETON
Music For The Quiet Hour / The Drawbar Organ
WOE TO THE SEPTIC HEART!
2CD // £11.99
Cat. Number: SEPTICCD001
**Regular 2CD Edition in a gatefold sleeve** Eighteen months since their first issue, Woe To The Septic Heart!'s long delayed 2nd release finally dawns upon us. Comprising entirely new and previously unreleased Shackleton material - including collaborations with vocalist Vengeance Tenfold and musical spars Andreas Gerth (Tied & Tickled Trio) and Kingsuk Biswas (Bedouin Ascent) - it's also his most shocking and invigorating body of work. What strikes us first and foremost is the newfound vitality and visceral impact of his sound here. Any signature murk is replaced … Read more
"Substantial new work from Duane Pitre released on both CD & limited edition LP formats. Released just before as Pitre's split LP release with Eleh. The two major focal points in the creation of composer Duane Pitre's Feel Free, his new work for a unique sextet combination, were rhythm and melody. An open yet orderly system intended to produce potentially infinite variations of self-generating rhythm and melody was carefully created for this piece, allowing the sextet musicians to approach these factors in a freer manner. This 'musical system,' combined with the fixed elements of the composition,… Read more
Last Step, as you should know by now, is the stripped down sound of Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares) toying about with his analogue arsenal. As the title of his third album suggests 'Sleep' is concerned with hypnagogic states and was produced entirely while Funk was on the cusp of nodding off, as he elucidates: "For a while, when I was really tired and ready to go to bed instead of going to sleep I would make a tune. Get some stuff going on my sequencers, drum machines, patch up my modular and just jam it. Would fall asleep a lot listening to the sequences, few seconds of sleep or a few minutes, wake up in… Read more
Taking influence from his harmonica-toting grandfather, Sparkling Wide Pressure's Frank Baugh has put together a charming, understated collection of electro-acoustic vignettes on 'Grandfather Harmonic'. There is an undeniable homespun quality as the degraded instruments wheeze like broken trains and distant harmonica sounds crack and crumble with the stretched tape they've been recorded onto, and this only adds to the ambience and overall charm of the record. Baugh recorded the album in rural Tennessee and you can almost hear the setting; the distant wooded expanses, mud, d… Read more
GEOFF BARROW & BEN SALISBURY
'Drokk' Music Inspired By Mega-City One
INVADA
CD // £11.99
Cat. Number: INV105CD
Portishead's Geoff Barrow and soundtrack composer Ben Salisbury pay homage to Judge Dredd's fictional Mega-City One conurbation with 'Drokk'. Both avid, avowed fans of the comic book series, Barrow and Salisbury have realised a bleak fantasy soundtrack at once recalling classic John Carpenter themes, Tangerine Dream scores, the Black Rain cues to 'Jonny Mnemonic' and 'Neuromancer', and even their fellow Bristolian, Hyetal's 'Broadcast' album. As you might assume, with their credentials counting er, Portishead, and soundtracks to David Attenborough's 'Life Of Mammals' and 'Life In Cold Blood', the production is assuredly top notch, and brought to life in vivid detail.
Monday, 30 April
Don Preston is best known as the keyboardist in Frank Zappa's The Mothers Of Invention, contributing heavily throughout their career beside an uncredited appearance on Captain Beefheart's legendary 'Trout Mask Replica'. 'Filters, Oscillators & Envelopes 1967-82' collects his earliest, exploratory solo recordings made with homebuilt synthesizers, and also covers a number of compositions from 1975 and one longform piece from 1982. Around the time of his first piece, the abstract, freeform 15 minute composition 'Electronic Music', Preston had already been listening intent… Read more
Thursday, 26 April
BJORK
Biophilia Remixes: Part Two (Death Grips Mixes)
One Little Indian
CD // £5.49
Cat. Number: 1136TP7CD1
Exhilarating Hip Hop non-conformists Death Grips weigh in with two jagged remixes of 'Biophilia' cuts. Ms. Gudmundsdótir is placed in front and above of tightly wound drums and scattershot edits on the remix of 'Sacrifice', keeping a stable poise whiel everything buckles beneath. On their remix of 'Thunderbolt' she's lashed within a lattice of hyperkinetic electro convolutions, oscillating between Autechre-ian complexity and slow-motion lurch with chaotic unpredictability.
Kwes drops his anticipated debut EP on Warp, and it's a strongly written and performed, well-rounded affair, boding well for an impending assault on pop world. The BoC synth wobble of opener 'Klee' is really nice, and it sets the scene well for EP centrepiece 'Bashful', which finds Kwes singing ruefully (think Damon Albarn via Hot Chip's Alexis) to his beloved over a padded post-rock stomp. 'Honey' ploughs similar terrain, navigating the radio-friendly and the sonically interesting with aplomb; spaced-out closer 'Igoyh' sounds like the more interesting passages of Klaxons' first album. Recommended for th… Read more
"Environments 4 is another lost album by The Future Sound of London. These sessions have taken on an almost mythical status with the group's fanbase, but the difference is the group have been back in the studio adding new ideas to older recordings and 'Murmurations' is a brand new track, recently featured on an exclusive vinyl 10" release for Record Store Day coupled with the iconic 'Papua New Guinea. 13 other previously unreleased tracks also appear - roll on volume 5"
"Minneapolis continues its golden run of producing quality talent with the first project to arrive out the Gayngs collective, the super slick electronic pop-soul outfit Poliça. Fronted by ice cool vocalist Channy Leanagh (who sang with Gayngs), produced by Ryan Olson and featuring Mike Noyce from Bon Iver, it's a who's who of the current Twin Cities scene. The album features 11 auto-tuned songs that re-shape the intersection of pop and digitised R&B. And for all Poliça's synthetic manipulation, Channy's soft vocals and Ryan's electronic soundscapes reveal a tender heart, pulsating with life a… Read more
Thursday, 19 April
Full-length debut for Mohn, the new collaborative project from long-time sparring partners Wolfgang Voigt and Jorg Burger, following their teaser appearance on Kompakt's Pop Ambient 2012 compilation It might not seem a radical departure for either producer, but it certainly counts among their most accomplished and convincing collaborative work to date - and as anyone even half-acquainted with their illustrious back catalogues knows, that ain't no faint phrase. The default setting is dawn-break ambient and (in their own words) "extremely decelerated slow motion techno", but there's more of a heavy-lidded dub… Read more
"Sven Kacirek, the much praised multi- instrumentalist from Hamburg, releases his third album with Pingipung. Almost every single instrument on "Scarlet Pitch Dreams" has been played, recorded and produced by Sven Kacirek himself. Within these dreamy scéances of percussive virtuosity, Sven Kacirek has effortlessly found his original sound from the first whirring of the prepared grand in the opener to the massively rolling drumset crescendo in the last track. Jazzbrush patterns define Sven Kacirek's sonic identity. They create beat structures on wood, glass, and paper which sound like … Read more
Thursday, 12 April
CD // £15.99Die Schachtel present the premiere collection of electronic works by renowned and prolific Italian composer Martino Traversa. Martino studied at Salzburg's Mozarteum, at the CCRMA at Stanford University and with Luigi Nono from 1987 to 1989, preceding his activity as cultural promoter: he founded the Ensemble Edgard Varèse in 1990, with Luigi Nono's support; and launched 'Traiettorie', the internationally feted festival of contemporary music in Parma, where he's also a professor of music at the University. The most striking inclusion on his 1st collection is 'Variazioni sopra un labirint… Read more
Didn’t the whole remix album thing fizzle out back when we were still clogging up phone lines to download shareware from a BBS? Nevertheless, Warp’s math-rock-electo astronauts Battles follow their Tyondai-free ‘Gloss Drop’ with this waxy collection of reworks and retrofits. I won’t blind you with a list of the heavy hitters involved, but you’ll be pleased to know that Sandwell District’s Silent Servant turns in another stone-cold killer with his re-imagining of ‘Inchworm’. The chirpy quality of the original is all but dissolved into sizzling, post-industrial 4/4 minimalism and should keep any of yo… Read more
Wednesday, 11 April
Astro-minded drone-pop concept album debut from Torino, Italy's Davide Tomat. In reference to the title, it was created over a six day period in June 2010 in a series of solo improvisations using only voice, monophonic synthesizer and guitar fed through effects loopers, computer and samplers, recorded onto a multi-track desk. Crucially no overdubs were used, resulting in an effervescent, organically flowing and dreamy suite of inspired electronics. Each song is matched to a historical event that happened between 1st and the 6th of June during human history: the invention of radio (02.06.1896); the Mon… Read more
