Review: Worldwide Heavy Industries Vol.1 is the latest wax drop from Flux Musical Art and Brutal Forms and it makes for an immersive trip deep into industrial soundscapes and futuristic themes. Dominik Muller's intricate 'Too Many Posers' soon sucks you in followed by Ryuji Takeuchi's dynamic 'In Your Mind' with its unusual rhythmic innovation. On the B-side, 6SISS and Hypnoskull's intense 'Losss' gets super raw with an industrial edge, while Low Order's 'Taste My Venom' explores darker experimental territory. Skumring's atmospheric 'Corpse-Ridden' closes the album with a mood as dark as you would expect given the title.
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: 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: 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.
Review: Verdant's tenth release is another meandering and mystic trip through ambient electronic sounds that leaves you a million miles away from wherever you started. All four artists here excel with electro producer Reedale Ris kicking off in languid, far-sighted fashion with their mournful synths and distant cosmic designs. Out.Lier's 'Track 2' is another one cast adrift on deepest space with smeared pads and floating aural details suspending you in mid air. Jo Johnson's cascading synth motifs are pure and innocent and cathartic and Romanticise The World's 'Track 4' is mellifluous and hopeful.
Review: Details - for now, anyway - about Respite remain shrouded in mystery, but this is the second release on their own label. It's a quietly profound exploration of minimal to kick off with as 'Track 1' layers up subterranean kicks with wispy melodic curlicues that get you in a dream state. 'Track 2' flips the script with bulky kicks that are in your face and softened by more swirling ambient pads. 'Track 3' is pure late night sub submersion coated in vocals crackle, dust and static that feels somehow intense despite being such a sparse sound. 'Track 4' allows some more light-emitting and radiant synths to cut through the murky atmospheres and it has a moving, uplifting effect.
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: Roy Of The Ravers takes a break from his mischievious outings on Acid Waxa et al to lay down some of his braindance tackle on Emotional Response. White Line Sunrise II.I (Le Roy Soleil) can rightly be considered a follow-up to White Line Sunrise II and indeed it represents a similar kind of spectrum of electronica. Roy's sound is edging further into the kind of 'artist' territory where slower, softer tracks, odd vocal diversions and some pop sensibilities merge with the acid, electro, breakbeat and other well-established tropes of his sound. It's the kind of record which could easily broach this quirky fringe operator of UK electronics to a broader fan base, and there's no doubt he's got the melodic, emotional heft on tracks like 'Versace 101624' to get everyone on board.
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: XXX is back with a steamy 16th EP and it features two original tracks by Anastasia Zems & Radial Gaze on the A-side, with remixes from Chinaski & S.I.R.S. on the B-side. The originals are characterised by dark industrial vibes, sharp kicks, and throbbing yet playful basslines that will persuade any dance floor to get throwing shapes. On the flip side, Chinaski's remix takes an unexpected turn as a trance-like trip that climbs higher and faster with each beat. S.I.R.S. offers a contrasting disco remix with an irresistibly groovy bassline, and just as irresistible is the playful artwork by Gees Voorhees that perfectly captures the eclectic nature of this EP.
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.
Review: This beautifully presented box set gathers all five albums from Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoti's V.I.R.U.S series, a collaborative project spanning five albums originally released between 2002 and 2011. Disc one (Vrioon) sets the tone, with Sakamoto's beautiful (and frequently effects-laden) piano motifs rising above glitchy minimalist rhythms and experimental ambient soundscapes. The albums that follow offer subtle shifts in their collaborative sound whilst retaining the same core artistic approach, with the pair frequently alternating between poignant, slow-burn minimalism and emotive, mood-enhancing ambient maximalism. Throughout, the pair beautifully balance hard-wired electronic experimentalism with classical musicality.
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: Truly living up to its name, Venusia - a word that has three meanings; a genus of moth, town in Italy, and the Roman goddess of love (who, as it happens, was named after the planet, Venus) - is essentially an homage to the fragile beauty of life, and the sense that our being present in this existence is something of a marvel. A one in a billion gamble that paid off without us even having to decide if the odds looked good enough to bet.
A collaborative work from four friends, with Henrik Meierkord on cello, Pawel Kobak playing flute, Marco Lucchi in charge of electronics, and Rocco Saviano on guitar duties, this atmospheric and cinematic ambient soundscape is grand and small, expansive and intimate, but overwhelmingly emotionally captivating in each of those modes. Complimented by gorgeous butterfly artwork by Valerii Bogorod, it's impossible not to fall for this intoxicating experience.
Review: Pianist Rachel Grimes is Rachel's and their sophomore album Music for Egon Schiele was originally released in 1996 on Quarterstick Records as a live score for a theatrical production about the titular Austrian painter. The performance of it was premiered in 1995 by Chicago's Itinerant Theater Guild with Grimes and two string players. The music is intimate and emotionally rich material that is stripped down to chamber pieces that rise and fall with real intensity. More focused than their debut Handwriting, this album blends melancholy, romance and beauty into a deeply affecting narrative that lingers long after the final note.
Review: Recorded at the legendary Eglise du Saint-Esprit in Paris, Blue Veil is the very first time we've been given a record fully dedicated to the incredible solo cello work of Lucy Railton. A spectacularly talented composer who is a master of the world's most mournful-yet-beautiful instrument, this is as much of a heart-stopping performance as it is a concept work of art. In many ways, Blue Veil is an experiment in resonance. If it were synthesised, we might refer to it as drone, although by nature the label infers a level of dullness. Here, we're talking about the natural refrains of an orchestral sunrise, the ebb and flow of contemporary classical tides. We're invited in, hypnotised, lulled and then let go. Free to wander back into the world after a brief respite from its relentless pace.
Review: A Monster's Expedition + Earlier Adventures is a double disc collection of music from four different video games (namely A Monster's Expedition, Sokobond, Cosmic Express and A Good Snowman Is Hard to Build) all composed by Eli Rainsberry, Allison Walker, Nick Dymond, and Priscilla Snow. Each one is utterly unique to the game and each one comes laden with beautiful soothing atmospheres delicately coloured with ponderous and whimsical melodies that will distract you from whatever you are doing they are so gorgeous. This is music to get lost in and it comes with superbly serene artwork from Andre Rodrigues.
Riham - "Erja Ya Habebi" (DJ Srulik Einhorn remix) (6:44)
Amanaska - "Wonder Of The Storm" (5:48)
Panjabi Hit Squad - "Hasdi Hasdi" (feat Manpreet Kaur - Hit Squad mix) (3:24)
Sean Bay Vs Medhi Mouelhi - "Maktoub" (feat Arabella) (4:00)
Parov Stelar - "Chambermaid Swing" (5:46)
Review: The Buddha Bar series is one of the most enduring in all of dance music. It made famous the bars of the same name which started in Paris and are now found throughout the world, all with a signature soundtrack of gentle downtempo, jazzy house and stylish Balearic. French label Wagram attempt to pull together some of the very best bits from the very many cosmos over the years onto this one triple pack. And they do a fine job too with nice horizontal sounds from Ravin, Carlos Campos & David Visan, Consoul Training & Pink Noisy and Panjabi Hit Squad amongst many more, all with a nice worldly feel and cocktail-sipping atmosphere.
Review: Rain and experimental music have long shared an intriguing connection. Hanns Eisler's 1941 work "ierzehn Arten, den Regen zu beschreiben explored rain's musical qualities while later artists like The Beatles and David Toop found inspiration in its rhythms. Today, amidst pressing climate change, rain's once poetic allure has dimmed. However, Razen's album Rain Without Rain, which was recorded in an abandoned Dusseldorf tunnel, revisits rain's musical potential. Blending early electronics and traditional instruments, the Brussels collective led by Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour captures raw acoustics in unconventional spaces and cook up a unique soundscape that thrives on restraint and silence.
Review: Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder is Recoil. This musical project found him landing on Mute with a great series of albums including the likes of Liquid and Unsound Methods as well as his sixth LP, subHuman. This one dates back to 2006 and came after a 6-year break from recording. It is dark and broody electronic music "which sets the listener a challenge to analyse what makes us human and subHuman." It's a collaboration with bluesman Joe Richardson who served up guitars as well as harmonica and eerie vocals. Themes in the record include murder, death, and religion while guest singer Carla Trevaskis did a fine job of serving up ethereal sound on 'Allelujah'.
Review: Mind Express boss Refracted, AKA Berlin's Alex Moya, emerges from the depths of some murky, oily, opaque lake. A place unsettling and unnerving - the site of some unknown tension - but also wonderfully inimitable and hard to countenance. Powerful stuff, just not really in a way that immediately presents itself as such. Nevertheless, before you know it these tones have enveloped and ensnared. Call it ambient techno, call it ambient, call it pure futurism - parts here almost feel like the ambient noises of familiar things that haven't been invented yet. If that makes sense? A moody precog of a record, it whirs and drones, echoes and dissipates. There are moments when structure become more defined, like the mystery of 'Initiation', but for the most part these are aural infinity loops.
Review: The London trio of Molinaro, Moreiya, and Wendy Lavone aka Rest Symbol's self-titled debut brings together exotica, orchestral ambience, psychedelic dub and smoky soul for Brian Foote's new label FO. It's a record that reinvents downtempo music by transforming crumbled breaks into gooey caramel with string phrases aged under tape noise and Moreiya's voice sunk deep into endless reverb. There is a surrealist style to this album that brings new life to the embers of trip-hop as crackling samples and orchestral drones make for something decidedly futuristic.
Review: Finish dub techno powerhouse Joachim Spieth welcomes UK artist Rhubiqs to his well-regarded Affin label for a debut appearance that sinks you into a widescreen world of ambient lushness. His Aegis of Silence album takes cues from divergent sounds like post-rock and soft ambient as well as drone and even modern classical. It's an ever-shifting soundscape with smeared pads and nostalgia dreams, half-remembered thoughts and a sense of mood that ranges from escapist and blissed out to more ominous and paranoid.
Review: Marlene Ribeiro's cult status has already guaranteed copies of this will be flying out faster than you can say "first album under own name after years as Negra Branca, a member of GNOD, and collaborations with luminaries from Valentina Magaletti to Thurston Moore". And her first offering as herself, as it were, rockets straight to the pinnacle of career highs to date, a record that's so full of ideas yet consistent and complete.
Produced between Ireland, Portugal, Madeira and Salford, partly inspired by Ribeiro's grandmother, Emilia, introducing her to the concept of "recording things, here and there". The result is this incredible combination of hallucinatory dream pop, found notes and captured moments, resulting in a vivid tapestry of hook-laden songs that are meditative yet catchy, late-night but bright and breezy.
Review: Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn reunite for new album Quiet in a World Full of Noise, which is driven by their shared curiosity and desire to defy genre conventions. Following their 2022 collaboration Pigments, this new work together blends atmospheric, orchestral soundscapes with soulful jazz and intimate, confessional vocals and the result is a raw and exposed performance from Richard who delivers stark lyricism that feels both personal and profound. The album redefines the worlds of progressive, avant-garde r&b and jazz with an ethereal yet grounded approach, heavenly melodies and plenty of wide open space in which to luxuriate. By merging the familiar with the unexpected, this fine pair create a sound that makes a lasting impression.
Review: Max Richter's ninth solo album, In A Landscape, is his first recorded at his tranquil new studio in rural Oxfordshire, Studio Richter Mahr, which is a minimalist, eco-conscious retreat he shares with his wife. The album explores "reconciling polarities" and blends electronic and acoustic elements with the human experience and elements from the natural world. Comprising 19 exquisitely well-crafted and coherent tracks, this record serves as a reflective counterweight to the urgency of previous projects and focuses on Richter's immediate surroundings and a range of influences from Bach to Keats. In capturing moments of introspection using a simple palette of string quintet, piano, organ, and analogue synths, Richter impresses once again here.
Review: This debut from the mysterious duo Atiq and dreadmaul is an immersive concept album which explores the ancient themes of transformation and initiation by blending mysticism and archaic rituals with modern electronic beats. Each track transports listeners into a haunting soundscape rich in organic elements like bone flutes, throat singing and shamanic invocations, all woven into intricate electronic arrangements. The album strikes a perfect balance between the ancient and contemporary with a feeling of ritual and cermet in the long form and immersive rhythms that are as unforgettable as they are hypotonic.
Review: It's hard to believe that Steve Roach's landmark space ambient exploration is now four decades young. Emphasis on the young, considering we're getting new releases through that sound pretty similar. No disrespect to those that do - the point is Structures From Silence was so massively ahead of its time it still feels like the rest of us are catching up. Floating on a dust ring somewhere close to Saturn, maybe, this is lush, dreamy, cosmic synth stuff to lose yourself in. Just be sure there's a yurt close by, because this one's all about lying down and staring into your own thoughts. An exercise in escapism, without needing to move a muscle. In 2025, there's plenty of off-world talk as Earth buckles under the weight of capitalism. Little do they know some of us left that place behind decades ago.
Review: Robert Rental is back on the mighty Dark Entries as the cult label reissues his Mental Detentions album as an expanded double pack. Rental is a Scottish pioneer of DIY electronic music who played a key role in shaping the UK's countercultural sound alongside collaborators like Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Though he released little solo music, his 1979 cassette Mental Detentions was a standout of the era that featured raw demos made with budget equipment like a Roland drum machine and Stylophone keyboard. Tracks like 'Stuck' offer a distorted take on the classic motorik sound, while 'Vox' delivers an 18-minute ambient journey in which it is easy to get lost. Rental's work captures the spirit of experimentation and innovation in the face of limited resources.
Review: Hadley Roe is a UK-based artist whose debut album on peerless ambient label Past Inside The Present adds up to a healing sonic journey crafted with electric guitar, synths and software trickery. Themes are drawn from Roe's personal struggles with mental health, trauma and isolation so make for sounds that blend melancholy, bliss and moments of calm and comfort. Take the serene 'The First Day' or the evolving 'No One Ever Touched Me Before You' - both are hugely emotive and absorbing for the way they patiently unfurl. Roe's ability to express herself through intuitive, wordless music is truly standout.
Review: Samuel Rohrer's stylish new solo album is a fine advert for his expertise as a multi-instrumentalist as it blends percussion, modular synths and keys into lovely downtempo grooves. The title may suggest romantic simplicity, but the music delivers nuanced emotional and tonal complexity and is dedicated to "brave lovers" seeking truth. Tracks like 'The Parish Bell' reveal Rohrer's focused, unhurried style with ephemeral sounds emerging and fading gracefully and guest contributions like Nils Petter Molvaer's muted horn on 'The Gift' add layers of warmth at a record which rewards attentive listening.
Review: RRUCCULLA finds fresh new ground to explore here on his new Zero Freq album for Lapsus. It is a wide-ranging one with vastly cinematic tracks taking you on a trip through magnificently realised compositions that pair electronic sound design with an almost orchestral architecture. The tracks sound both synthetic and abstract but organic and real world. Rhythms range from dubby and persuasive to barely there at all. In combining such grand ideas with relatable structures the Spanish composer, percussionist and multidisciplinary artist once again shows why he is in a class of one.
Review: Rues Des Garderies, Rues Des Garderies, Rues Des Garderies. Desire Bonaventure & Zach, two to watch on the Parisian alternative electronic scene, make a case for themselves in everything from EP title to the delivery of individual tracks. Opening on bathtub-level hazy bliss, 'Deus Custoviat', we're quickly absorbed into this warm melting pot of noises. 'Soulseekerz' makes it clear that this is undoubtedly a journey, sound evolving from one another, an arrangement that speaks to the last and the next in joyful, beautiful refrains. Drone in the technical but not necessarily implied sense. Later, we get 'Gurum Nation', yet another example of chill & bass' resurgence, and the most uptempo piece of the pack so far. Regardless of individual specifics, though, you're still getting something complete here. Ambient, experimental, whatever. Ultimately it's music for a mood.
Review: Polish audio artist and sound designer Wojciech Rubin apparently draws a lot of inspiration from gnostic texts. If that's your blank drawn, we're talking about a collection of religious beliefs that took root in the first century AD and pointed to humankind's salvation coming through knowledge, as oppose to faith. To quote South Park, "we didn't listen" and so we are where we are today. Thankfully, at least someone remembers this moment in the story of civilisation, although you'll need to listen pretty closely to spot how this has influenced Rusin. Nevertheless, Honey For The Ants is captivating stuff, giving us powerful and somewhat spiritual vocal solos, meandering piano wonders, droning didgeridoos, soft string movements and a sense of the fantastical, forgotten, and dreamt throughout.
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