Review: Bjork and Rosalia team up for the limited marble vinyl edition 12" double-sider, 'Oral', now coming packed with a stunning remix by Olof Dreijer from The Knife. The record is described by its releasers OLI as not just a single release but a "call to arms", with 100% of the profits being funnelled directly to AEGIS, the Icelandic charity dedicated to eradicating intensive fish farming in the country. 'Oral' itself is now a staple of the latest incarnation of Bjork's ever-mutant career, consummating her and Rosalia's recent rapport; a sabre-wielding, purblind aesthetic - befitting also of another of Bjork's collaborative contemporaries, Arca - fits seamlessly with the elegiac reggaeton of the song. Dreijer's remix is rabid and wonky by comparison, its draggy, morphemic rhythms belying Bjork and Rosalia's equally wetted vocals, producing a wacky litany of faunal electronics and whizzing FX.
Yeah X 3 (Sonic Boom & Panda Bear Reset remix instrumental)
Yeah X 3 (The Vendetta Suite Reason To Drift mix)
Yeah X 3 (The Vendetta Suite Reason To live mix)
Review: Yeah X 3, the latest single from David Holmes and Raven Violet's album Blind On A Galloping Horse, diverges from the overtly political themes of the record, instead offering a personal revelation. Featuring remixes by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom, as well as The Vendetta Suite's Gary Irwin, the single showcases diverse experimental approaches. For the A-side, the remixes are atmospheric and heady, creating a euphoric feeling with your head in the clouds. The second remix being the more beat forward version. For the B-side, massive amounts of sound heavily affected the remixes processing. The first being more of an ambient version while the last version is more straightforward and radio friendly. If you like the original song, then these versions will sit alongside them very well.
About Tape (feat Brian Eno - Peter Kruder remix) (9:48)
Origami II (Takamovsky remix) (4:11)
Himmer Uber Lima (Ken Hayakawa remix) (6:59)
Review: Coming through in a limited quantity of 500 copies for Record Store Day 2015, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Christoph H. Mueller - two heavyweights of the German electronica tradition - offer up their tracks from the previously released Vienna EP for a bit of remixing action. "About Tape" features the great ambient master Brian Eno, but rather than just leaving it loose and hollow, Peter Kruder rewires the tune into a delightful blend of subtle tribalism and airy atmospherics; on the flipside Takamosky blends docile piano keys into more mechanical beat patterns with his remix of "Origami II", and Ken Hayakawa transforms "Himmer Uber Lima" into a laid-back, almost Balearic house cut. Wunderbar!
You Are In The Embrace Of The History (Iti remix) (8:00)
You Are In The Embrace Of The History (Kuniyuki Takahashi remix) (7:19)
Review: Rafet's You Are In The Embrace Of The History is a thought-provoking debut released on Research Records, where Daniel Rafet Grima delves into ambient and drone music with a sense of reverence for ancestral memory. Side-1 begins with the title track, a piece that carries an air of longing and introspection. The atmosphere is rich with layers of ambient sound and chamber music depths. The next song featuring DGrima, adds another dimension with its haunting, immersive quality. On Side-2, Iti's remix introduces a delicate piano melody and a subtle beat, infusing the original with a fresh, creative energy. In contrast, Kuniyuki Takahashi's remix takes a more abstract approach, deconstructing the track into an intriguing exploration of sound and texture. You Are In The Embrace Of The History is a meditative and deeply reflective work that resonates with both beauty and depth.
Review: After four years of work fusing acoustic and electronic sound worlds, Rand finally unveiled the fruits of their labours with Peripherie. The duo of concert pianist Jan Gerdes and minimal techno producer Dr. Nojoke have cooked up urban and sensitive music for piano and electronics that was all recorded live with no overdubs back in 2019 at Berlin's Chez-Cherie Studios. It was made across three pianos with improvisation at the heart of the process. It's a great collision of worlds, from dark and intense pieces of pulsing techno to more light and hopeful and empty soundscapes that perfectly blur the edges between the different tools used. Fans of Nils Frahm, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto will enjoy digging into this one.
Review: If you've ever been luck enough to attend the Freerotation music festival than plenty about this remix package will make sense. Not least the interpretation by event co-founder and modular synth hero Steevio, here delivering a remix on vinyl for the first time. Bringing in elements of jazz, ambient, field recordings, dub, house music and - albeit barely audible - subtle shades of tech, it's a sophisticated package that fully buys into the theory of electronic sounds being a form of high art. Running the gamut from the stepping, poised but decidedly free spirited 'Lucid' and Deadbeat's tense, drone-y take on'Sam Gimignano', to the lush keys and white noise of Andrea Cicheki's redo of 'Siegfried 2.0' and Dr Nojoke's beautifully blissed out smoky house, it's as dense as it is accomplished.
Review: The celebrated 'Live from Studio S2' performance is now available on vinyl once more featuring all four tracks from the session, including the unreleased 'Hawaii Oslo' and 'Glass'. Premiered on the Gondwana Records YouTube channel back in 2021, this session has since picked up over three million views and captivated fans worldwide in the process. It was recorded this session at the Berlinale Film Festival's EFM sessions in Studio S2 in Warsaw, where Hania Rani had previously recorded for her debut album Esja. The set includes new arrangements of beloved tracks that are all sumptuous and beautiful.
Rex Ilusivii & Goran Vejvoda & Milan Mladenovic - "Track 1" (3:40)
CHBB - "NBKE" (4:45)
Review: Versatile's new Uprooted project, masterminded by serial curator and long-time label contributor Vidal Benjamin, has an intriguing concept. It focuses on the 'duality' of musicians who grow up in one place, then move to another and absorb that culture. The two tracks on release number one were picked by Vladimir Ikovic, who has selected a track a piece from Belgrade, the city of his birth, and Dusseldorf, his current home. On the Serbian side, he offers up 'Track 1' by Rex Ilusivii, Goran Vejvoda and Milan Mladenovic, a trippy, slow-motion slab of dubbed-out, Eno-influenced slab of post-punk experimentalism from 1984. Flip for some rough, powerful, mind-mangling proto-techno from 1981: the stylish, lo-fi and pleasingly intense 'NBKE' by CHBB. Inspired obscurities that are well worth a listen.
Review: Lukid and Tapes are on a proper roll with Rezzett at the moment, following up on a knockout 2023 on The Trilogy Tapes with this self-released clutch of weirdo techno-not-techno nuggets from the outer reaches. There's distortion in abundance, and a laissez faire approach to soundsystem impact in favour of textural, atmospheric sculpting. It's dripping with intention even as it stumbles inquisitively from one lo-fi tweak to the next, sounding utterly inspired and delightfully unhinged in equal measure. What's most important is the melodic warmth which peeks through the noise, edging this above the usual murk associated with noise-doused electronics.
Sleep: Tranquility Base (Alva Noto Remodel edit) (5:37)
Sleep: Tranquility Base (Kelly Lee Owens remix) (4:03)
Review: Max Richter's latest work Sleep: Tranquillity Base first arrived on Deutsche Grammophon for World Sleep Day. Ot is a thirty minute work split across two parts and are inspired by the moon landings. It is music that "functions as a vessel that disconnects and travels through the body of work, allowing art to provide something which resembles peace within ourselves." It also comes with a couple of belting remixes from much loved contemporary innovators Alva Noto and Kelly Lee Owens. There is a reason Max Richter is so well revered and his music has had over three billion streams and this EP is one of them.
Review: Robert Rental is an artist as influential as he is overlooked. An anchor of the early British DIY and post-punk scene, his name is most frequently uttered alongside illustrious collaborators such as Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Dark Entries and Optimo ally to illuminate some of Rental's early solo works with an expanded reissue of his debut 7" Paralysis /A.C.C.. Both labels have previously excavated Rental's catalog; we reissued the collaborative LP with Glenn Wallis in 2017, and Optimo released a collection of demos in 2018.
Review: Vocalist and poet Roger Robinson has connected with Jabu producer Amos for this new single which finds them explore new grounds. After their fuzzy lovers rock outing last time out, here they head off into space with more cosmic and zoned out sounds full of intimate and slo mo grooves. 'Summer' goes first and is a blissed out cut with ambient pads and lonely piano keys encouraging you to get lost in deep thought. 'Feel Bad Smile' is even more of a cosy late night cuddle, with spoken word mutterings and lingering notes breaking your heart each and every time.
Review: Following 2023's When A Worm Wears A Wig, Robin Stewart returns with Crinkle and delivers a set of warped dub techno tracks that apply advanced dub logic to precise, pointillistic rhythms. Channelling influences like Peder Mannerfelt and Rrose, Stewart revives classic genre tropes with a fresh perspective that dives deeper into the physicality of sound and focuses on bass throbs over aggressive kicks. Standout tracks like 'Stomach' surprise with lolloping off-grid beats soaked in lysergic textures while 'Compact' delivers a more traditional peak-time vibe with innovative processing. The title track brings everything together with mind-bending spectral rhythms.
Review: The state51 Conspiracy label comes very much correct early on in the New Year with this two-track grey marbled vinyl 12" in a fancy spot-varnished sleeve. It takes the form of two fresh Santaka reworks of original compositions by Rytis Mazulis and avant-garde choir Melos Collective which were first released back in 2020. Santaka, which means "confluence" in Lithuanian, is the coming together of DJ and producer Manfredas and drummer and producer Marijus Aleksa and here they layer up disembodied vocals and dark jazz melodies on 'Ramybe' and then 'Autoportretas' is a textural ambient exploration packed with fascinating sound designs.
Review: It's fair to say Placelessness is the work of an Australian experimental supergroup. Oren Ambarchi has been a towering figure of hyper-minimalism since the mid-80s, most notably creating tense and elongated stretches of recordings and performance using guitar tone. Robbie Avenaim is an accomplished experimental drummer, and Chris Abrahams heads up The Necks. That's a very condensed biography for three incredibly accomplished musicians who finally make good on years of live collaborations and criss-crossed pathways to deliver a stunning album which brings their respective qualities into sharp relief, somehow fuller than their solo efforts without losing the vital subtlety and patience which has guided them to greatness.
Attack/Transition (LP6 & LP7: Utp_ with Ensemble Modern) (6:56)
Grains (6:46)
Particle 1 (6:13)
Transition (1:47)
Broken Line 1 (8:07)
Plateaux 1 (8:26)
Silence (7:50)
Particle 2 (5:55)
Broken Line 2 (6:26)
Plateaux 2/End (12:49)
Microon I (LP8 & LP9: Summvs) (2:54)
Reverso (6:28)
Halo (6:48)
Microon II (2:36)
Pionier IOO (5:48)
Ionoscan (4:06)
By This River (4:15)
Naono (11:09)
Microon III (2:49)
By This River - Phantom (7:52)
Monomom (5:23)
Kizuna (5:16)
Review: Spanning five EPs beginning with the 2002 EP 'Vrioon', the VIRUS compendium marks an important era in the shared history of minimalist magna Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto. The look-back comes after the duo first connected through a mutual appreciation for each other's work in the early 2000s: Sakamoto had become interested in experimental electronica and came across Nicolai's (Noto's) minimalisms under the Alva Noto moniker. Intrigued by the precision and texture of Nicolai's sound, Sakamoto reached out; though he was hardly able to predict the unbalanced, restlessly abstract expressionist sound to follow: the sonic equivalent of a sputtery colour field painting.
Review: Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto dropped this one first back in 2006. It was the third collaborative album between the ambient maestros and the third installment of V.I.R.U.S.'s five albums series. It was remastered last year and now gets served up as a reissue alongside three all-new pieces, namely 'City Radieuse', 'Veru 1', and 'Veru 2'. The first of those was written for a short cinematic essay in 2012. The album centres around the pano with padded bass and electronic frequencies adding extra depth and texture. It is another classic in their oeuvre.
Review: Vrioon was the first ever collaboration album between Alva Noto and legendary synth man and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. 20 years after it became the first instalments of V.I.R.U.S.'s five records together it gets the full reissue treatment. The original tracks from the album are joined by an all new composition 'Landscape Skizze' which was laid down in 2005. The record is defined by alternate piano chords, lush electronic tones and quivering timbres that are delicate yet impactful.
Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn & Katie Lopez - "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" (3:07)
Kristen Bell & Idina Menzel - "For The First Time In Forever" (3:49)
Kristen Bell & Santino Fontana - "Love Is An Open Door" (2:06)
Idina Menzel - "Let It Go" (3:37)
Jonathan Groff - "Reindeer(S) Are Better Than People" (0:47)
Josh Gad - "In Summer" (1:49)
Kristen Bell & Idina Menzel - "For The First Time In Forever" (reprise) (2:20)
Maia Wilson & Cast Frozen - "Fixer Upper" (2:59)
Demi Lovato - "Let It Go" (Demi Lovato version) (3:42)
Review: A cinematic sensation and an instant classic and record breaker, Disney's animated movie 'Frozen' celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year with this special zoetrope double picture disc featuring scenes from one of the, now, most iconic movies of all time moving before your eyes. Included is, of course, Idina Menzel's award-winning score 'Let it Go' which charted around the world and wormed its way into the ears of parents to this day. Not to be slept on, though, is Demi Lovato's rendition that plays over the credits sequence or 'Fixer Upper', the jovial chorus musical number.The perfect Christmas gift for the fan in your life, and trust us, there is statistically one somewhere, no matter how old.
Review: Hardanger is a collaboration between Mariska Baars, Niki Jansen and Rutger Zuydervelt. Named after Jansen's Hardanger fiddle, the album expands on Baars and Zuydervelt's established chemistry after beginning as Jansen's improvisations with Baars adding vocals and guitar, all later shaped by Zuydervelt into two long-form tracks-one an electro-acoustic collage, the other more meditative. Baars blends ambient and folk and is known for collaborating with artists like Peter Broderick, while Jansen is a folk violinist and Zuydervel's prolific output as Machinefabriek is well worth checking as are his film scores and collabs as Piiptsjilling and Fean with Baars.
Review: Joao De Bruco and R.H. Jackson come together here for what is said to be one fo the first proper fusions of electronic sounds with Brazilian percussive music. Synths, samplers and sequencers were a novelty in Brazil in the 1980s but this avant garde masterpiece showed the way forward. It's stuffed with references relevant to the ties and is both audacious and inventive with its off balance rhythms and woozy melodies. The original small pressing sold-out in 1989 and has been expensive and much sought after since. Remastered from the original tapes, this new reissue is an absolute must.
Review: Back in the early-to-mid 1990s, Robert Fripp collaborated with numerous ambient house-era electronic artists, including the Orb (see the largely forgotten FFWD>> album) and The Grid, who invited the long-time Brian Eno collaborator to recording sessions back in 1992. While some of the latter material made it onto their '90s albums, much of Fripp's work - dreamy guitar textures, drone works and other electronic experiments -was left in their archive. Leviathan is based around these unissued recordings, with Dave Ball and Richard Norris adding their own new sounds to create a string of beautiful, meditative, and picturesque ambient compositions that sit somewhere between their own ambient works, Norris's recent modular electronic explorations, and the forementioned FFWD>> project.
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