Houndstooth Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Aisha Devi's brilliant Of Matter And Spirit release from last year gets the remix treatment by a stellar cast here, merging her esoteric electronica weirdness into new hybrids. Irish duo Lakker turn "Anatomy of Light" into a freeform techno excursion with ferocious broken beats and Devi's vocals chopped and morphed into new forms. No Pain In Pop/New Ninja Tune signing Throwing Shade turn in a rendition of "Kim & The Wheel Of Life" that's ethereal as much as it is jagged and unusual. Knives associates Mind:Body:Fitness give "Mazda" a turnover that mutates it into some alien urban flavour much like their associates on Kuedo's label. Finally there's another version of the track by Bristol's Killing Sound featuring MC Rider Safique and Bogues exploring the dark side of bass music and truly exorcising the demons.

Review: Formerly working as Kate Wax, primarily for Mental Groove, Aisha Devi debuts on Houndstooth having overseen the rise of the excellent Danse Noire label. This new EP from Devi is about 'sluts, awareness, death', but also makes nods to her grandmother who passed away recently. On "Aurat (tool)", the mood is mournful and melancholic as a female vocal is covered in fragile synths, while a similar mood prevails on "The Saviour on Spilled Blood". There, a powerful bass rumbles and throbs underneath shiny, sublime melodies and eerie, almost alien-like vocal tones. However, as its title suggests, there is also a more abrasive side to Devi's approach, and this is most notable on "Kim & The Wheel of Life". There, pounding industrial breaks are mixed with tortured, high pitched Middle Eastern wails for an expression of girl power that makes most militant feminism lame by comparison.

Review: It's a surprise that Aisha Devi's debut album hasn't come on her own Danse Noire label, where she's released the likes of IVVVO and El Mahdy Jr, but on Fabric's Houndstooth subsidiary. To be honest, we're big fans of the latter, so we're good either way! Of Matter & Spirit is a loos and free-floating collection of songs ranging from hard ambient to docile house and techno. "Initiation To An Illusion", for instance, wouldn't go a miss in a set comprised solely of music from Muslimgauze, whereas "Numen J" is the sort of techno tune with minimal low-end and maximal percussive and atmospheric damage. Her brand of dance music is vibrant, free and deeply exciting, we love it. This album is recommended.

Review: It's a surprise that Aisha Devi's debut album hasn't come on her own Danse Noire label, where she's released the likes of IVVVO and El Mahdy Jr, but on Fabric's Houndstooth subsidiary. To be honest, we're big fans of the latter, so we're good either way! Of Matter & Spirit is a loos and free-floating collection of songs ranging from hard ambient to docile house and techno. "Initiation To An Illusion", for instance, wouldn't go a miss in a set comprised solely of music from Muslimgauze, whereas "Numen J" is the sort of techno tune with minimal low-end and maximal percussive and atmospheric damage. Her brand of dance music is vibrant, free and deeply exciting, we love it. This album is recommended.

Review: We live in a vastly different world to the one Aisha Devi presented her last album to. The critically acclaimed DNA Feelings was a dark, ethereal, world-making record, the kind of thing that lures you deeper into incredibly original soundscapes that feel born from theatre as much as rave culture. Five years on, the follow up Death Is Home arrives and picks up where its predecessor left off, opening on the menacing, tense and eerie 'Not Defined By The Visible'. Release information puts this as her most personal record to date, and while we'll have to take that as gospel it's certainly - and remarkably - even more explorative than ever. Tracks like 'Unborn Yet Alive' marry weird choral, twisted art rock, euphoric electronica, and more. 'Lick Your Wounds' is a synthesised opera looking for a new Terminator movie (and hopefully a good one), while 'Azoth Eyes' leaves us in completely unfamiliar territory, closing out with impact that's hard to compare.