POLYPORES Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Preston, UK-based Polypores (AKA Stephen James Buckley) is a great advertisement for just how fertile the North West England electronic music production scene is outside of Manchester, the region's sonic epicentre. Self-describing as "painting" sounds with synthesisers, suffice to say his a deep and patient aural world to step into, and one that reflects the rugged serenity of the region's stunning countryside. Multizonal Mindscramble is a case in point. With track titles like 'The Dream Incubator' and 'Machine Elves', it's clear these are computer sounds but made resolutely human through earthly and heavenly elements, gliding refrains, bubbling flourishes, and a vast, open feeling to arrangements. Naturally evolving, ebbing, and flowing, rather than being trapped in the regimented, hard-fixed loops and patterns that can often define output from musicians and their digital audio workstations.