DJ Babaz Fox - "Decicado Ao Dadifox E Edifox" (3:37)
DJ Nervoso - "Buzizz" (3:01)
Normal Nada - "Neusa" (afro trance club edit) (3:20)
K30 - "Familia Do Guetto" (1:35)
Puto Marcio - "Improooooo" (3:53)
Review: Warp return for Lisbon for their third and final Cargaa session and things are as hot, heavy and uncompromising as they were when they last took a trip there earlier this year. Melting down Afrobeat, cumbia, tech, hip-hop, house and bare-boned tribal funk, no other scene is making sounds like the Lisbon confederates are right now. Highlights include Babaz Fox's mangled time signature and tripped out bass plunges on "Decicado Ao Dadifox", the unrelenting ghetto-tech slaps of Nervoso's "Buzizz" and K30's deeper, Kerri Chandler-style percussive house gospel "Familia Do Guetto".
Review: Long time techno tastemakers Plaid were one of the many cult and innovative acts to record a seminal Peel Session with the late BBC maestro. Now they're all being pressed to vinyl as part of an on-going series by Warp, and this collection from the always out there Ed Hanley and Andy Turner is another essential one. Their pair's love of warped synths, unsettling atmospheres and the fusion of electronic, acoustic and organic textures still sounds like it's come back from the future all the years later. "Kiterider" is particularly brain melting, but each of these tracks explores a weirdly naive and innocent sound.
Review: Aside from a handful of tracks made available via his own website, Mark Pritchard hasn't released much in the last few years - though as this first EP as MP Productions shows, he's kept himself busy. More sharply club-focused than many of his albums, the six-track set sees him bounce between his melodious and summery take on early noughties eight-bar grime ('Be Like Water'), dreamy, high-tempo post-IDM lusciousness ('In My Heart'), next level lo-fi acid jack ('J Is For...'), child-scaring Drexciyan electro heaviness ('One Way Mirror') and an insanely percussion and bass-heavy take on gqom ('Rakatak'). The EP also includes his infamous and sough- after re-wire of LFO's 'LFO', here titled 'LFO Special', which re-imagines the bleep & Bass classic as a future dancehall anthem.
Review: In a rich and varied career thus far, collaborations and pseudonyms have characterised the multi faceted work of Mark Pritchard with Troubleman, Global Communication, Africa Hi-Tech and Harmonic 313 just four that spring to mind. No more it seems, as Pritchard aligns on Warp for a series of 12" releases under his given name that look to include all facets of his sonic palette in the lead up to a full album. The four track Ghosts 12" kicks this exciting phase off; The A Side pairs the ragga bruk styles of "Manabadman" with the hyper-kinetic footwork-Dtown Techno hybridity of the title track, whilst on the flip "Duppies" is a mammoth duel between 'ardcore sonics and Juke rhythmics - watch out for that bassline!! Final cut "Get Wyld" winds down the mood for a thuggish Dystopian half step finish.
Review: Never an easy artist to pin down for long, Mark Pritchard is back on his regular stomping ground of Warp Records after recent success with the likes of his Africa HiTech project. Following on from the leftfield madness of his Ghosts single, all manner of bass led tropes get fed into a masher and twisted up with a fearsome level of sound design and party starting nouse. "1234" features the vocal delights of The Ragga Twins over a garage shuffle both addictive and futuristic in its finish while inspiring all manner of hype in the process, whether you want the original or the instrumental version. "Ghetto Blast" meanwhile gets stuck into a mean trap roll with plenty of wild sample hooks, and then "Lock Off" darts off the map with a cheeky uptempo cut of minimal percussion, primal samples and scattered flecks of jungle. "Soundboy Fuck Off" is more explicit in its use of old-skool rave tricks, from the nightmare stabs to the wild snare rushes, triggered without a shred of mercy for maximum floor damage.
Beautiful People (alternative instrumental 1) (6:12)
Review: In more recent years, Mark Pritchard has moved further away from dubstep, and much closer to the smorgasbord of sounds and influences that is often referred to as 'electronica'. We don't mind the term because it gives us more room to interpret the music without any predefinitions, but "Beautiful People" is much more than that. Coming out courtesy of the mighty Warp, the tune is propelled forwards by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, where the legend's voice is perfectly infused with Pritchard's gentle Eastern chimes and tranquil beats. The whole track is a gentle walk into a far yet alluring sonic landscape, and this could well turn into a future classic. We already see it as a perfect accompaniment to a film, and if you're in the mood to totally zone out then you always have the instrumental cut to steer you further out into outer space.
Review: Given the nature of his densely layered music, patten's signature to UK institution Warp made perfect sense when it was first revealed last year, and following a EP shaped bow in the form of EOLIAN INSTATE, the Kaleidoscope boss graces the label with an eagerly awaited new LP. Those out there that indulged in excellent debut album GLAQJO XAACSSO, released on No Pain In Pop back in 2011, will find much to enjoy in EOLIAN INSTATE. The density of patten's music remains on this ten track set, though it's a noticeably more beat driven affair led by a typically diverse array of influences including "Sonic Youth, FWD, cognitive science and Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges". Dive in!
Review: As Warp gears up to celebrate its 30th birthday, it seems fitting that the label should be putting out a fresh album from one of its longest serving artists. As Plaid, Andy Turner and Ed Handley played a significant role in defining the label's approach to electronic music during the "Artificial Intelligence" era in the mid 1990s. All these years on, they're still capable of crafting fizzing, melodious, off-kilter electronic listening music that defies lazy categorization. "Polymer" is a hugely enjoyable and entertaining set, with highlights including the jumpy beats, post-electro melodies and mind-altering acid lines of "Los", the metallic bounce of "Maru" - a kind of twisted take on Afro-tech that's amongst their most club-ready cuts of recent times - and the disturbed, Autechre-style clang of "Recall".
Review: On their latest album, revered UK electronica duo Plaid are grabbing the advent of AI-art by the horns and seeing where they can take their sound. The answer appears to lie on a fictional planet called Falorx, and the titular Feorm is the name of the festival that takes place there. Yes, it's all steeped in sci-fi iconography even before we get into the mechanics of how they've used AI to generate the music and the visuals, but beyond all that, if you love Plaid, you'll love this album. Everything about their beauteous, intricate machine music remains, with those alien melodies and needlepoint sound design tropes present and correct as two trailblazers help nudge us a bit further towards whatever the future holds, without making it sound upsettingly different in the process.
Review: Plaid duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley have been active since the late 80s and are as synonymous with Warp Records as Autechre or Nightmares On Wax. Plaid have few rivals when it comes to mixing choppy electronics with intricate melodies, an approach that seems as fresh and rewarding as ever on Reachy Prints, a tenth album of a celebrated recording career. According to Warp, the nine tracks here find Handley and Turner opening the listener up to the possibility of a sonic "journey into a subterranean world" and you might view such press release speak with a pinch of salt, but tracks such as "Hawkmoth" and "Slam" feel like vintage Plaid.
Review: Plaid duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley have been active since the late 80s and are as synonymous with Warp Records as Autechre or Nightmares On Wax. Plaid have few rivals when it comes to mixing choppy electronics with intricate melodies, an approach that seems as fresh and rewarding as ever on Reachy Prints, a tenth album of a celebrated recording career. According to Warp, the nine tracks here find Handley and Turner opening the listener up to the possibility of a sonic "journey into a subterranean world" and you might view such press release speak with a pinch of salt, but tracks such as "Hawkmoth" and "Slam" feel like vintage Plaid.
Review: Despite now being 25 years into their career, Plaid duo Ed Handley and Andy Turner show no signs of showing up. If The Digging Remedy - their 11th studio set - is anything to go by, their instincts remain as sharp as ever. They've always been capable of creating magical music that contrasts experimental electronic rhythms with picturesque melodies and mood-enhancing sounds, and The Digging Remedy is full of the stuff. Intriguingly, many of the tracks seem deeper and more subdued than previous explorations, with clear ambient and neo-classical influences amongst the classic electro and IDM flavours you'll find on the album's more up-tempo moments.
Review: Despite now being 25 years into their career, Plaid duo Ed Handley and Andy Turner show no signs of showing up. If The Digging Remedy - their 11th studio set - is anything to go by, their instincts remain as sharp as ever. They've always been capable of creating magical music that contrasts experimental electronic rhythms with picturesque melodies and mood-enhancing sounds, and The Digging Remedy is full of the stuff. Intriguingly, many of the tracks seem deeper and more subdued than previous explorations, with clear ambient and neo-classical influences amongst the classic electro and IDM flavours you'll find on the album's more up-tempo moments.
Review: Given the length of his career, it's rather surprising to find that Under The Sun is Mark Pritchard's first under his given name. As critics have pointed out, it's an overwhelmingly beautiful and poignant set, built around an intoxicating fusion of ambient electronics, soft touch instrumentation, bubbling beats, grandiose chords, and on-point collaborations (check the vocal contributions of Beans, Thom Yorke, and Linda Perhacs). In some ways, it recalls Pritchard's pioneering work with Tom Middleton as Global Communication, while feeling altogether more grown up and musically complex. Regardless, it's an undeniably brilliant album.
Review: Given the length of his career, it's rather surprising to find that Under The Sun is Mark Pritchard's first under his given name. As critics have pointed out, it's an overwhelmingly beautiful and poignant set, built around an intoxicating fusion of ambient electronics, soft touch instrumentation, bubbling beats, grandiose chords, and on-point collaborations (check the vocal contributions of Beans, Thom Yorke, and Linda Perhacs). In some ways, it recalls Pritchard's pioneering work with Tom Middleton as Global Communication, while feeling altogether more grown up and musically complex. Regardless, it's an undeniably brilliant album.
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