Juno Recommends Experimental: May 2023

Review: Alan Myson returns once more as Ital Tek, continuing a not-so-well-cited yet important sound. There's never been much of a name for it, maybe thanks to its appearance in the meting-potty post-dubstep era - but Tek's is a sound of minimal aesthetics and glossy-wonky beats. Other artists might include Kuedo, Lorn or MssingNo (but it's not wave, witch house or purple). Genre-mindedness aside, Timeproof is Myson's fifth album for Planet Mu, following 2020's Outland for a long meander through the fluid timey-wimey nature of time, and how it varies depending on its perceiver(s)' mental states. Beaty sublimers like 'Phantom Pain' and 'One Eye Open' make this a staggering time-dilating journey, one whose appeal, true to its name, will surely last for electronic music fans decades into the future.

Review: Here come wild conceptronics from The Ephemeron Group, an as of yet little-known solo project of an artist known only as Vymethoxy Redspiders. Already being hailed as probably one of the most important underground albums of the year, 'Psychonautic Escapism' is a wildly intense journey evidently built with love, time and precision, written and produced over a span of 14 years and raucously colliding dream pop, dub techno and black metal influences. We hear ego deaths, abominable angelics and trudgy, vocal-processy brain fogs in this gargantuan world, all ultimately reflecting the artist's personal journey as a trans woman. Redspiders, otherwise known as Uroceras Gigas, was lead brain of the Leeds-based xenofeminist crisis energy rock duo Guttersnipe - as should be evident, they playfully break and remould their identity as they see fit, evidently staying rightly critical of the confines of genre, border or category. This effect is just as well translated into the music; this is a whopping protean statement, not to be missed.

Review: It's not always easy to keep up with the output of the relentlessly prolific Flaty, a core tenet of Moscow's Gost Zvuk as well as pursuing his own endeavours. From hard-edged experimentalism and dub-scuffed glitch to oddball ambient and wayward techno, he's a truly original spirit, and his new album continues that trend with yet another dimension to his sound. Intuitive Word is imbued with a strong pop and RnB slant which bleeds into the sample sources and the strong sense of melody, but still this remains a leftfield, compelling release for those with an experimental appetite. Quite how Flaty has squared off these contrasting forces is hard to express, but take a listen to 'Intension' with its tripped out beat and synth arrays shot through with vocal licks and you begin to get the picture. It's dope as hell and oh so sweet on top, like nothing else out there right now.

Review: German IDM and experimental electronic don Arovane, AKA Uwe Zahn, is a name well worth taking a deep dive into if you've not already. Rising to specialist prominence in the late-1980s as a result of him playing no small part in pushing the evolution of instrumental art-hip hop forward, by the mid-1990s he was recognised among the most innovative names in synthesised leftfield, occupying a place that's as commanding as it is peaceful, a futuristic sonic world that pulls us in closer with every drum and refrain.
Icol Distil is one of his earliest releases, but certainly makes it clear that by the time he got round to putting stuff out under the Arovane guise he was already incredibly accomplished. Ear worm broken beat beauty after ear worm broken beat beauty reside on the track list, so prepare to be fully immersed.

Review: Angelo & Jacoby are embedded fixtures of the international experimental music scene, both of them already having co-founded the esteemed ambient esoterica label Multi Culti. Now once more, they reap the fruits of their labour by releasing on their own imprint; 'In Your Mind' is a brand new two-tracker of surreal, hallucinogenic Balearism and phoned-in vocal samples. Emotive and serene, as if to describe a post-revolutionary world in which world peace had been truly achieved, 'All Your Time' and 'In Your Mind' are gutpunching deep downtempo cuts backed by ultra-deep string samples to boot.

Review: Cairo's trip hop, illbient and club beat maker Hashem L Kelesh aka Dijit brings totters a whole decade of home-based musical experiments on this new album from the superb Youth label. It is littered with vocals from Deedz, 7aleeb, and Lella who add human nuance to lush smeared chords and downbeat rhythms. It's a kaleidoscope of sound with several different genres overlapping (from Eno-style ambient to folk-y prayers and electric lullabies), melting into one another and making for an immersive listen that is late-night and low-slung.