Cuts - A Gradual Decline [Village Green Recordings 048]

Put on the circuit via Village Green Recordings on November 30th, 2k18 is "A Gradual Decline", the latest album outing created by composer and filmmaker Anthony Tombling Jr. under his artistic nom de guerre of Cuts. Opening with the title track "A Gradual Decline" we see Tombling Jr. paving the way for things to come with yearning Ambient soundscapes, off-kilter synths and pounding, organic Electronica / IDM structures whilst "Shattering Through" brings on beautiful synth melancholia, "Polar" polar employs pulses of crackly distortion atop warm, organic IDM / ChillOut before epic, uplifting, trance-inducing arpeggios and hovering pads take over whereas "From Here To Nowhere" drifts off into tender, emotional Piano Ambient territories accompanied by fragile dreamy, dreamlike female vocals from planet ballad. Realizing that "Time Is Not Your Friend" Cuts is drawn into a floating world of cascading synth chords and heavenly background beauty with certain Balearic qualities, "Pollen" are a bit on the romantic, score'esque and cliche side of the Ambient genre with their plangent string arrangements, "Beauty Collapsing" brings forth elements of Clicks'n'Cuts and highly digital Phonk as a foundation for playful melodic structures for advanced dancefloors before "Keynel Panic" leads us only deeper into a highly abstract, yet totally enjoyable variations on string-driven dancefloor Phonk slightly reminiscent of early releases on labels like Skam or by producers like Marco Passarani beatwise being the albums main hit from our perspective and angle. Experiencing "Gravitational Loss" we're floating alongside streams of soft Ambient clouds once again, "Maboroshi" weighs in timeless Electronica / IDM vibes bringing back memories of the softer side of labels like Dyslexic Response paired up with elements of (Neo)Cosmic and the final cut "Fear Of Everything" fully indulges in widescreen, panoramic Ambient for a calm and solemn closing with a bit of a (Neo)Classical twist.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Gudrun Gut - Moment [Monika Enterprise 093]

Released on December 7th, 2k18 via the long term label staple Monika Enterprise is "Moment" , the new album by Berlin's electronic music pioneer Gudrun Gut who's been, as we all know, around since the Industrial and Ingenious Dilettantes era launched in the early 80s. Opening the fourteen track journey with "Startup Loch" we see the producer fusing elements of catchy German SynthPop with epic synth arrrangements and massive Breakbeats reminiscent of the clunkier side of the NuSkoolBreaks genre whereas "Musik" branches out into mysterious, dark'ish 4/4 based Wave territories and "Shuttle Service" meanders somewhat in between MicroHouse and MinimalWave for 72 seconds. The super short interlude "Seltene Erde" brings on dark, jarring synthesizer experiments, "Baby, I Can Drive My Car" aims straight at shuffling late night dancefloors with a love for SynthPop, Indieelectro and ElectroClash, "Boys Keep Swimming" caters smokey, big bass driven ElectroPop with quite a seductive attitude whilst "FMP" comes across as a spine-tingling  amalgamation of electronics and a reprocessed drumset that would well be suitable for the score of a forthcoming espionage thriller for a reason. With "Schienenersatzverkehr" which might by a reference to Berlin's desolate public transport system Gudrun Gut once again employs 4/4 drums and Wave / Minimal Wave-oriented synth melodies for the darker creatures of the night, "Lover" harks back to the mechanical, muffled, hypnotic speed-changing rhythms of the Ingenious Dilletantes-years, "Glieder" indulges in romantic high grade melancholia and SpokenWord poetry and "Biste Schon Weg" introduces the most abstract rhythm signatures and harshest sounds on this album albeit sporting a deeply romantic, hand-played organic bass figure as a main motif. Furthermore we see "Are You Hungry?" implementing dark, fever'ish FutureTribal rhythms of minimal nature into the albums' score, "Sein" gets down on a raw, lively MinimalWave-tip for hyperadvanced dancefloors longing for killer underground hits and the final cut "Backup" dives deeps into the realms of crackly, alarming electronics for an intense, yet highly experimental closing. Good stuff, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi & Deaf Society - The Velocity Of Velocities [Opa Loka Records]

Released via the ever active label Opa Loka Records on November 24th, 2k18 is "The Velocity Of Velocities", a conjunctional effort in which the rewritings of texts originally put down to paper by classic figures Teresa Of Avila and Mina Loy by Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi are paired with the music of Deaf Society to form a five part, 22 minutes long mini album. Musically this combination comes down to Spoken Word poetry as an integral part of the albums concept paired up with intense Dark / Ritual Ambient in "Part 1" as well as floating, playful and fully instrumental early 90s Ambient / ChillOut in "Part 2" whilst "Part 3" brings on dark, intense droning and unrest as a foundation for Porcelluzi's partly horrifying vocal morphings. Furthermore "Part 4" is exploring crackly, buzzing, spaced out territories and hoarse non-vocalisms before the final "Part 5" fully indulges in multi-layered vocals and brooding ambience for rituals going way beyond what religion would allow ever to happen. Praise the dark lord whilst listening to this last cut.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Lena Hessels - Billow [Terp Records]

Another one released on November 9th, 2k18, this time via the Dutch Terp Records label, is "Billow", the debut mini album of 17 year old Lena Hessels who brings us eight songs on this 21 minutes EP. With her first ever official release Lena, happening to be the daughter of The Ex's drummer Terrie and Terp Records manager Emma, explores the smokier, inward looking realms of Indie / Singer-Songwriter music, embeds elements of raw Garage production, bits of PostPunk melancholia and a good portion of Blues into her musical world, accompanied by sparse, haunted electronic backdrops occasionally, adding even more matureness, deep emotionality and spine-tingling intensity to an album that goes beyond everything one might expect from a teenage debut these days. This is beyond great for more than one reason.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Various Artists - Teklife VIP 2019

A massive 31 tracks free download compilation release from the one and only Teklife crew for all Juke / Footwork connaisseurs out there.

Sascha Müller - Auf Den Punkt: Punkt 0 [Sascha Müller Music]

Forthcoming as a limited, hand-numbered DVDr edition of 13 copies worldwide is Sascha Müller's epic new compilation album "Auf Den Punkt: Punkt 0" which goes beyond any reasonable thought in terms of total runtime and / or amount of tracks featured. Comprised of all 100 - !!! - digital two-track singles released in his still ongoing weekly 'Auf Den Punkt'-series the total amount of tracks featured on here sums up to 200 with an estimated total runtime of somewhat between 16 and 17 hours, covering a musical spectrum ranging from hypnotic TechTrance to Techno, Trance, Acid, futuristic TribalTechno, Detroit Techno, even some experimental Breakbeat-infused workouts and beyond, bringing forth quite an overload of good stuff which, qualitywise, puts the output of many other contemporary Techno labels to shame for a reason. Check!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Public Memory - Demolition [Felte 055]

Released via the Felte-imprint on November 9th, 2k18 is "Demolition", the new album outing by Robert Toher's musical project Public Memory. Opening with "The Line" the artist immediatly captures our attention with dark, yet melodic large scale basslines and Dope Beats bordering both TripHop and Illbient in combination with Toher's distinct voice harking back to great longing SynthPop ballads of the 80s to a great effect whilst "Red Rainbow" fully gravitates towards the haunted side of the SynthPop genre and so does "Mercy" with its touching strings and calm, floating feel atop a lively, tribalistic drum foundation. With "Falsetto" we see Public Memory explore cute, touching melodies and emotional drama, "Aegis" follows on a similar path whilst adding more ethereal vibes, echoes of Jungle and jarring low frequency synths to the mix before the "Redeemer" once again provides deeply touching melodies and a poising Goth approach for lovers of the genre. Finally we see "Doorstep" rocking every late night underground SynthWave / MinimalWave dancefloor for a reason before the final cut "Trick Of The Light" is closing the circle with more TripHop / Illbient references and ethereal SynthPop references as to be found in the albums opener as well. Good stuff. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Refree - La Otra Mitad [Glitterbeat / Tak:til]

Put out on the circuit via the Glitterbeat sister imprint Tak:til on December 7th, 2k18 is "La Otra Motad", the new album outing by Spanish producer Refree, known for his involvement in the so-called 'New Flamenco' movement happening both in his homeland as well as in certain hotspots around the world these days. Although admittedly biased by this information as Latin music never has done much for us musically in the past we're diving into the fifteen track album with an open mind, exploring the full 37 minutes of runtime throughout which most of the tunes don't even hit the two-minutes mark. Over the course of the album we're experiencing short, acoustic and seemingly direct recorded experimental Flamenco pieces as well as dreamlike, psychedelic pieces of Ambient infused with typical Flamenco guitar motifs in the background as well as non-vocal singing alongside acoustic, stripped down balearic romanticisms for intimate sunset moments with a loved one. And it is these tunes, the acoustic, instrumental miniatures that work best for us due to their obvious unobtrusive Easy Listening-vibe although the other compositions might be well functional when experienced in the full context of the score of Isaki Lacuesta's film "Entre Dos Aguas" for which they were originally written and commissioned.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Hanno Leichtmann - Nouvelle Aventure [Karlrecords 049 Promo]

Released via Karlrecords on November 30th, 2k18 is Hanno Leichtmann's most recent album outing named "Nouvelle Aventure" , a conceptual 16 track piece in which the artist distills and reworks recordings from the 70 years spanning history of the legendary 'Darmstadt Summer Courses Of New Music' in which experimental music greats like Xenakis and Stockhausen participated alongside many others over the years. Laid out as a 46 minutes six-channel sound installation and mixed down to stereo we experience Hanno Leichtmann creating a dark, tense multilayered atmosphere from the unsettling, demonic opener "Versuch Einer Übersicht" onwards, drifting into collage'esque sci-fi realms with the follow up "Kristallische Bindung", touches on Fluxus, Dada and Plunderphonics with "Selbstbespiegelung", presents haunting, off-kilter vocal layerings and intense, piercing Ambient signals with "Merkwürdige Klänge (Zwölftonspiel)", goes down on Noize vs. loop techniques in "Geschmack und Funktion" whilst exploring musical lectures vs. Ambient and Field Recordings in "Einheit Von Mass Und Zahl" or "Anmerkungen Zur Situation" just to pick a selection of tunes from this longplay piece to build a conceptual reference base of what the remixing, rearranging, relayering and compositional work on "Nouvelle Aventure" is all about.  Defo one of the most experimental, yet most fascinating and demanding albums released in late 2k18.    

Guy Van Nueten - Contact [Bolli Records / Sony Classical]

Released on November 30th, 2k18 as a collaboration of Bolli Records and the major player Sony Classical is "Contact", the new, trilogy concluding, album by composer / pianist Guy Van Nueten. Presenting a set of four multi-part compositions we see the 1965-born artist diving deep into the realms of solo piano play, indulging in deep romanticism and spatial melodic elegies which surely will be appreciated and loved by die-hard followers of (Neo)Classical / Contemporary Classical music crossing over into the realms of Easy Listening and tender scores for intimate candle-light dinners but, although being musically and sonically pleasing and therefore not a bad album at all, seems a little arbitrary, kitsch-driven and cliche for our ears which are surely gravitating towards the harsher, experimental and more demanding side of any musical genre there is. A little too nice, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 076]

Another fresh release coming straight out of the vaults of Uelsen's ever buzzing production machine that is Sascha Müller is his most recent album outing on Supersix Records, bringing forth a new serving of 11 previously unreleased tracks opening with "See My Tears (Original Mix)", a 2k18-blueprint for what quality, yet slightly over the top Trance used to be back in the 90s, followed by the tripped out, off-kilter Tribal Acid workout that is "Captured By Acid". With "Transmission (Original Mix)" we're entering a world of bleepy sci-fi Ambient modulations, gurgling swamp sounds and cold computation stretched out over a timespan of 20+ minutes, "Termination X" caters funky, metallic, filtered uplifting House with hard-hitting bassdrums and Trance-oriented strings before its successor "Termination XX" picks up on the same synth main motif, adding sweet hypnotic AcidTrance modulations to the mix. Futhermore "Termination XXX", the final part of this triplet, weighs in a rolling, muscular approach for bigroom floors gravitating both towards classic (Deep)House and soft, dubbed out chord structures whilst lively, jacking Acid lines remain present, the "Cosmic Playground" outlines string- and piano-infused classic PsyTrance / GoaTrance as Sascha Müller sees it and "Acid Wave" brings a heavily distorted, brutalist marching Techno / HardAcid vibe to the table that has become a rarity in these streamlined days and therefore is a refreshing braincell rinse for sure. Furthermore "12345678 (Original Mix)" serves a twisted, slightly blurred out variation of uptempo French / FilterHouse, "Airdrill" indulges in oscillating, buzzing TechTrance and the final "Train To Transilvania" takes us on a ride fueled by deep, minimalistic and quite gooey AcidTechHouse for a twisted, hypnotic final.

Kim Myhr / Quatuor Bozzini / Caroline Bergvall / Ingar Zach - Pressing Clouds Passing Crowds [Hubro Music]

Released on November 23rd, 2k18 via Norway's ever active Hubro Music imprint is "Pressing Clouds Passing Crowds", the latest album effort created by guitarist and composer Kim Myhr in collaboration with Montreal's string quartet Quatuor Bozzini as well as Ingar Zach and poet / performer Caroline Bergvall. Stretched out over a runtime of 42 minutes within six tracks we see the pack of artists develop a score'esque, musical landscape of repetetive, tender beauty and intense Contemporary Classical qualities, accompanied by Bergvall's striking, permeating vocal poetry, incorporate elements of experimentalism and (Post)PostRock - all falling into place in a maelstrom of magic and mystique, an echanted, captivating sonic realm that puts a fascinating, life-long spell on each and every listener whilst standing out as the most enthralling Hubro Music release we've reviewed on these pages so far. File under: 100% pure excellence.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Merzbow - Monoakuma [Room40 Promo]

After more than 20 years of reviewing music we've been thrilled to find the first ever incoming Merzbow promo in our postbox recently, his "Monoakuma" album which has been released via Room40 / Australia on November 30th, 2k18. The single track release which captures a live recording of Masami Akita's performance in Brisbane in 2012 spans a stunning and well demanding 50 minutes, a perfect explaination for and example of why the Japanese artist has managed to remain a well relevant staple and driving force within the Noize / HarshNoize scene over a period of four decades now. Obviously recorded with on location microphones we experience a combination of deep, melancholia-inducing and partly even melodic beauty underneath brutal layers of Digital HarshNoize and ear-piercing lo-fi bleeps mixed with faint echoes of audience noise, all glued together in a grinding, overwhelming maelstrom that leaves our brains in total silence after sitting through this album in one headphone session. Great stuff. Excellent!

Maverick Sabre featuring Chronixx - Her Grace (Official Video)

A beautiful take on NeoSoul taken from the forthcoming Maverick Sabre album "When I Wake Up" which is scheduled for release on March 22nd, 2k19 via FAMM / The Orchard.

Spill - Stereo [Corvo Records 015 Promo]

Released via Corvo Records on November 23rd, 2k18 is "Stereo", the latest collaboration album created by Magda Mayas and Tony Buck employing their shared artistic alias of Spill for this longplay piece. Consisting of two tracks which are both hitting home close to the 21 minutes mark each we experience both artists in an extended studio session setting, adding improvised percussion and piano layers on top of previously recorded improvisations as well as pre-structured recordings, building on and bouncing off sonic events, amalgamating things into one coherent, thrilling and danger-indicating atmosphere, a sonic depiction of hours spent in the damp, tropical heat of a post-sunset jungle, surrounded by multiple layers of nightly noises, unknown critters, crackling bushes and outerworldly predators, haunted souls and the ever present spirits of powerful, omnipotent voodoo masters, roaming the dark as disembodied entities of old, watching over their homelands for aeons, withstanding the passage of time as a free floating incarnation of everlasting wisdom in "Magnetic Island" whilst "Sway" gravitates towards a minimalist Jazz Noir / Score Noir attitude, tempering with autumnal or cold winter night melancholia as well as tender romanticisms for lost, solitary souls... and friendly ghosts. Check.

RY X - YaYaYa (Official Audio)

As folksy as electronics can get - beautiful, dreamlike stuff taken of the forthcoming RY X album "Unfurl".

Lionel Marchetti & Cat Hope - The Last Days Of Reality (Performed By Decibel) [Room40 Promo]

Another fresh release on Australia's Room40 imprint, released on November 23rd, 2k18, is "The Last Days Of Reality", a six track album piece in which compositions by Cat Hope and Lionel Marchetti are performed by the ensemble known under the name of Decibel. These pieces, written and performed in between 2011 and 2018, present themselves as spine-tingling, tense works incorporating elements of Ambient, Drone and Electroacoustics as well as echoes of experimental (Neo)Classical music especially prevalent in the opening composition noir which is "Une Serie De Reflets", being dreamy, nightly and in parts romantic whilst being paired with piercing space bleeps and childrens laughter like in "Pour Un Enfant Qui Dort" or coming across as sweet, score'esque Deep Listening Music with droning qualites as found in "The Earth Defeats Me" just to pick a selection of tunes from this defo recommendable longplay piece that will apply both to the tastes of experimental electronic fans as well as to score collectors and followers of Contemporary Classical music.

Makh - Fragmented Dimensions

This is the deepest, most touching and beautiful Ambient track we've come across in years. Everybody needs to hear this!

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 075]

More goodness from Uelsen's ever busy producer Sascha Müller comes on this new eleven track album released via Supersix Records. The opening tune that is "Thermonuclear" brings forth a mere 29 minutes of gooey, experimental Acid textures in overdrive mode for exoterrestrial swamp raves and "Slut My MS20" follows on a similar path whilst adding bits of psychotic Phonk to the mix before "Pleasure With My 808" weighs in pure dry ElectroPhonk for all breakers, b-boy and pop-lockers out there. Following up is a set of subsequent tunes - from "Nummer 1" to "Nummer 4 " - which explores various variations in House music ranging from pumping HardHouse with a warped and filtered Disco-twist to clumsy, bass driven Minimal House whereas the "Wall Street Money Burners" take distorted Phonk to a next level whilst adding beautiful space synth atmospheres and economics-related vocal snippets to the mix. With "Untitled" the journey into Phonk-driven territories continues, "Raumschnitt" caters a more metallic, abstract, clanging and noisy variation on the genre and the final cut "SID On Acid" weighs in a straight, muscular 4-2-the-floor foundation garnished with a psychedelic, multi-layered take on AcidTrance for ecstatic dancefloors lit by massive strobes, laserlights and fog-machines.

24.12.2018 Raven Gegen Santa @ Beat Boutique / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings]

file under: TechTrance / Progressive / Big Room / Techno

doors open: 10 pm

Beat Boutique
Max-Brauer-Allee 219
22765 Hamburg
Germany

Eau Rouge - Melt (Official Video)

Our Stuttgart-based friends of Eau Rouge are back with a new single and video, exploring a sonic realm of discoid DreamPop with their latest musical outing. Proper, this!

Caecilie Overgaard - There Is A Home [Clang 062 Promo]

Recently released via the ever busy Clang label as their cat.no. 062 is "There Is A Home", the sophomore album by Danish composer Caecilie Overgaard in which she provides a musical home for fans of experimental electronic music within seven brand new tracks spread over the course of 32 minutes runtime. Opening with "Mic Test One" we see Caecilie Overgaard mixing electroacoustic crackles with deep, psychedelic melodic shifts and an overall feel of dreaminess before the subsequent title track "There Is A Home" provides heartfelt melancholia and yearning paired with a stripped down Future Jazz attitude whereas "A Simple Mind" is built on a foundation of static Noize and beauteous, hovering Ambient / IDM melodies turning into more panoramic AmbientJazz and "Skyggeplet", the first vocal tune on this album, brings on forth a contemplative, yet hypermodernist and Electronica-driven take on Nordic Folk in all its glory and ever present mystique. Furthermore there's "Static", a highly abstract variation of polyrhythmic Phonk-based Electronica / IDM, "Nightfly" digs even deeper into crackling, perfectly sculpted polyrhythms and spatial, crystal clear tonality before the final cut named "Moondance", stretching out over 7+ minutes, fully settles in hyperfuturistic ChillOut territories with its captivating Tribal rhythms, overwhelming deep end and FSOL'esque bleeps alongside masterly crafted sound layers sweetly feeding of each other over the course of the tunes runtime. Nice.  

22.12.2018 Pure Garage & Silk Floor @ Rosenkeller / Jena

main floor -  Bass Up? Drum & Bass X-mas 2018

Cerasus
CBRA
Kobee
Lion C
Minuz
Pull180
TKR ART

2nd floor - Pure Garage & Silk

baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings / Combat Dubs]

log in via Facebook!
doors: 11 p.m.

Rosenkeller e.V.
Johannisstrasse 13
07743 Jena

Sascha Müller - Auslaufrillen Megamix [Kein Label In Sicht 001]

I'ts there, finally. We knew this would be coming at some point for quite a while now and now the Uelsen-based producer Sascha Müller finally brought one of his weirdest, most experimental musical ideas to life as a limited, hand-numbered edition of 100 gold vinyl 7"es. Following the concept of recording crackling run-out grooves from various classic Pop albums and glueing them together into one crackly mess of a megamix this one is a collectors novelty piece for those searching for the most extreme, unusual vinyl releases they can get hold of. Expect looped crackles, pops, surface noise and all the good stuff related to listening to vinyl on a regular but do not expect any kind of structure or user friendly listening experience at all. This is for the die-hard collectors and vinyl freaks only.

Historische Aufnahmen / Historical Recordings Vol. II [Gagarin Records Promo]

An interesting, because well unusual, release is this album put on the circuit via Gagarin Records on November 1st, 2k18 on which Hamburg's famed artist and sound researcher Felix Kubin has compiled a ten track selection of rarely heard, interesting historical recordings recorded as early as 1930 as well as recent as in 2002. Extracted from sound carriers like gramophone records, reel-to-reel tapes and DAT each of these recordings, partly sounding like Musique Concrete despite being of historical and contextual nature, cover distinct historic or political events, document certain automatic mechanisms or even weird jingles, technical teaching materials for the use of leak detectors and what seem to be early experiments in electronic music. Highly fascinating stuff. Get!

Jana Rush - Flight Of The Bumble Bee

Jana Rush takes Juke / Footwork to a next melodic level whilst providing tense, dark'ish sci-fi business as usual, staying true to her minimalist trademark sound aesthetics. A massive tune, this!

Martin Ptak - River Tales [Col Legno]

Released on November 2nd, 2k18 via the experimental Col Legno-imprint is "River Tales", the latest album outing by Austrian composer / trombonist Martin Ptak who is presenting an array of eleven new compositions stretched out over a timespan of 60 minutes on this one. Brought to life with and through an ensemble of 13 musicians including Martin Ptak himself we see the "River Tales" floating slowly and majestic like the Danube river in Ptak's hometown of Krems, meandering festively between classical Ambient structures and Contemporary Classical / (Neo)Classical composition techniques, serving touching, dramatic piano pieces like the fascinating "Stream", the thundering, dark'ish "Merging", the frolicking (Neo)Classical etude that is "Flood" or the highly Jazz-infused "Cyclo", just to name a few outtakes from this longplayer which will surely apply to an audience beyond (Neo)Classical circles for a reason.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda - Ke I Te Ki [Room40 Promo]

Released via Room40 on November 2nd, 2k18 is "Ke I Te Ki", the latest three track collaboration album by Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda, recorded in fall 2015 at The Emily Harvey Foundation in New York. Spanning a total album runtime of approx. an hour we see the opening title track clock in at 23+ minutes, presenting an array of scraping and squealing noises as well as spaced out, outerworldly modulations atop a slow moving background bass drone and early morning Ambient arrangements whereas the follow up "Yo Ru No To Ba Ri" weighs in what seem to be slightly reworked Field Recordings of motor sounds or similar alongside decent electronic atmospheres and subaquatic echoes whilst the final cut "Hi Ka Ri" presents a sequence of vintage computational bleeps as a main motif, accompanied by various, not necessarily tempo-tied flute abstractions and eerie, wafting strings alongside disembodied vocals from various sources meandering through the tunes sonic realm even after the whole track is taking a turn towards ultra abstract Jazz and uncomfortably noisy territories around minute ten or so, causing a general feel of tension and unrest, not only because of the unidentifiable utterings seemingly coming from some strange, hell'ish beast of sorts ever present towards the compositions end. Dark.

The Dorf / Achim Zepezauer - Das Ende Der Kohle [Umland Records 020]

Fresh and forthcoming on Umland Records is this new DVD collaboration between the improvisational ensemble known as The Dorf and artist / musician as well as The Dorf-member  Achim Zepezauer who, conducted and led by composer Jan Klare, created quite a visual trip starting off following an obviously poor and suffering artist - cliche galore! - into his sparse, greyscale and slightly depressing flat and kitchen before taking a surprising turn into stop-motion psychedelia, colourful repetition of previous motifs and tripping visualisms, all accompanied by a non-stop mixture of (Experimental) Jazz, DarkJazz, Funk and intense PostRock with a raw, vintage touch and smokey vibes as well a quite surprising cover version of a well known classic towards the films end. Furthermore we'll find a full recording of the movies live premier with all music performed live by the whole The Dorf ensemble alongside two more live recorded pieces performed at the same occasion - the movie premier on May 14th, 2k15 in Essen. Defo an outstanding release, not only for fans of Jazz / Experimental Jazz but also for followers of arthouse and experimental cinema for sure. Check!

DVD artwork on Instagram!

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 074]

Another recent album coming in from Germany's most active underground producer is this one on which the man Sascha Müller himself treats us with twelve new tune from his studio vaults. The opening track "Return In" comes with loads of pumping, technoid energy, thrilling shakers and a fast-paced rave attitude, the subsequent "Return Off" engages in an even faster take on metallic-sounding TribalTechno sporting killer stabs and twisted, single note synth sounds whereas "Closer To The NDS Part 10" engages in dry, stripped down ElectroPhonk for advanced late night dancefloors loving dreamlike melodic sequences before "Return On" goes back to tool-oriented Tribal territories with a bang, bringing decent string atmospheres in to the mix as well. With "Katakomben" Sascha Müller presents a deep, stripped down variation of electroid, subaquatic Space Electronica, "Return Out" weighs in more Latin- / TribalTechno heat for steaming summer nights whilst "Network Exit" slows down significantly to employ a gooey variation of spaced out Ambient / ChillOut characterized by swampy analogue bassline pulses and outerworldly sweeps and the "Perfect Sunrise" follows on a similarly swampy, jet slightly more IDM flavored path. Furthermore we see "Reloaded" on a scraping, slighty distorted ToolTechno tip, fusing high energy with distinct DubTechno aesthetics, "Telecontrol" weighs in more late 90s Ambient vibes accompanied by decent digital clicks as a rhythmic foundation, "MS 20 Suicide" is a blueprint of a twisted, acidic, over the top modulation workout and finally "Burn Korg Burn" explores swampy modulation as well for a fascinating finish.

Lars From Mars - Oh Happy Man [Clang Promo]

Back with a new digital five track EP on Clang is label head Lars Graugaard a.k.a. Lars From Mars who's released his latest solo approach towards electronic music on November 23rd, 2k18. Opening with 74 second of "Mochos" we see Graugaard employ a super clean, scientific and slightly electroid Electronica feel for a start before "Anna Cook" takes us to the dancefloor with speedy, muscular and heavily pumping Techno, oozing nothing but power from its gooey bassline and tripping minimal sound. Following up is "Gint", another short and more bass heavy Future Tribal / Future Jazz interlude whilst "Show Motion", the EP's main piece at approx. 10 minutes runtime, presents raw, brooding, yet melodic Broken Techno / Techno Jazz for followers of Surgeon, Hi-Ryze or fans of classic Steve Stoll material whereas the concluding "Ikk?" waves goodbye on a warm, bass-driven Future Jazz note again.Good stuff.

Tomasz Bednarczyk - Illustration For Those Who [Room40 Promo]

Released via Australia's Room40 on November 16th, 2k18 is "Illustrations For Those Who", the first ever full length CD album by Polish producer Tomasz Bednarczyk in nearly ten years. Coming back from his Ambient hiatus although having employed a few other monikers for musical exploratitons since we see Tomasz Bednarczyk return to the source with his opener "Theme I", a crackly, blurred out take on the genre accompanied by mechanical background rhythm signatures whereas a walk through the "Botanical Garden" provides a deep dive into total calm and introspection before the "Jukebox" emits tender, soft pads and slow moving beauty whilst a "Rainy Drive" fuses, well, falling rain with a beauteous soft flow and soothing atmospheres - Ambient in perfection. Furthermore "Sunny Ambient" is exactly this on a warm summers day, with "Theme II" Tomasz Bednarczyk harks back to the crackling aesthetics employed by the albums opener, "Sunday" floats warm and easy like a cosy Sunday afternoon with a loved one and the final tune "Six Sounds" rounds things off with a shoreline-reminiscing swell and droning beauty over the course of nearly seven minutes. Ambient as Ambient can be and defo a sweet comeback to the genre after a decade.

Styrofoam - We Can Never Go Home [Sound In Silence 056]

Styrofoam is back! After eight years of silence the Antwerp / Belgium-based producer Arne Van Petegem unearths his beloved artistic moniker again to return with a new hand-numbered, limited album on the Greek label Sound In Silence. For the first time, after building a fanbase with early releases on Morr Music and other imprints in the early 2000s, we see Styrofoam present a full-on instrumental approach to his music, opening with "Fully Present" which is built from intricate, complex and polyrhythmic synth layers atop a slightly glitched out Electronica foundation before "It Isn't Real So It Doesn't Count" brings forth 186 seconds of shimmering, panoramic Synthtronica. With "The Crook Of Your Elbow" Styrofoam fully drifts off into warm, playful sonic realms, "Did Your Mouth Buy You This Scar?" opens with cascading, carefully layered melodies and warm, all embracing large scale bass waves whilst the follow up named "Love Restores Almost Everything" brings back a hint of Slow Phonk to highly advanced dancefloors. Furthermore the title track "We Can Never Go Home" follows on a path of raw, yet tender bass notes accompanied by climaxing, complex melodic arrangements for Electronica lovers able to handle dark, hard-hitting and splintered beats, "This Terrible And Beautiful World" is a crystalline, highly detailed uptempo affair which will be loved by the Post-Dubstep / Post UK Garage scene for a reason and the concluding "Blind Spot Safety Procedure" weighs in nearly nine minutes of frolicking, multilayered Ambient cascades, sweetest bass chords and a good portion of dope beats for an epic finish. Styrofoam fans surely will be deep into this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Michele Mercure - Beside Herself [RVNG Intl. / Freedom To Speed]

Released as a collaboration between the great RVNG Intl. and its sister label Freedom To Speed on November 9th, 2k18 is "Beside Herself", an anthology and archive of tapes self-released by the Harrisburg / Pennsylvania-based electronic music pioneer Michele Mercure somewhat between 1983 and 1990. Not only a sole artist but also producer for theater, film and performance music, activities covered in detail in the extensive liner notes, Mercure developed her own musical language based on experimentation and advice of several mentors, creating storming, yet stripped down and heavily miniatures like the fascinating opener "A Little Piece" which turns into a surprisingly melodic little tune over the course of 132 seconds whereas the follow up "Ghosts Before Breakfast" seems to be influenced by cascading SynthWave and Library Music, "Dreamplay 2" fully harks back to calm, widescreen Production Music with twangy guitars and a late summer nights feeling before "Beside Myself" weighs in a certain Industrial darkness beatwise nicely contrasted by very 80s synthesizer chords and field recorded vocal loop techniques. Celebrating "Liberation Day" we see Michele Mercure weighing in echoes of SynthPop, slightly asiatic melodies and subtle influences of cut-up and scratch techniques from the early HipHop scene, "The Sky Is Falling" provides quite a mixture of what  seems to be lo-fi video game music and dramatic synth chords pointing towards Berlin's Ingenious Dilettantes movement of the time, "Beginning" re-introduces cliche Asian sound aesthetics before "No More Law In Gotham City" provides an ultimate mental thrill due to its hypnotic abuse of multilayered backward vocal loops and experimentalist, dark electroid atmosphere of dystopian nature despite cascades of synthesized repetition introduce climaxing beauty throughout the further progress of the tune. The "Time Piece" seems to even incorporate elements of Country into its melodic, Synth-based foundation, "A Void Dance" is getting deep into cold science fiction realms before revealing distinct metallic lo-fi rhythms and minimalist bass melodies reminiscent of highly experimental P-Funk or Dub, "Mother" trips out on layers of reverb-heavy melodies and psychedelic simplicity, the title track "Beside Herself" explores synth-based romanticism and contemplation on top of syncopated beats and "Dinosaur Dancing" caters fascinating water droplets for a rhythmic structure whilst the crystal clear Synth works evoke memories of other electronic music greats of the time, like Jean Michel Jarre. Furthermore "An Accident Waiting To Happen" opens with noisy, militant Industrial rhythms and presents itself as the most aggressive track on this album with guitar and bass works resembling what would be become known as Chemical Beats later in the 90s, "Reverie" brings forth the exact opposite of its predecessor with distinct minimalism and, once again, Sinotronica whilst "De Dunk" turns out to be a dark, minimal and Phonk-infused affair once again revealing parallels to Berlin's Ingenious Dilletantes. Finally Michele Mercure's "Night Music" provides a score'esque touch for lovers of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze, "Antigone" is on a more naturalistic tip, musically depicting green meadows along an untouched shoreline under attack from giant subsurface forces of evil and the concluding "Antarctica" waves goodbye on a level of large scale harmonic production and ethereal, angelic non-vocalisms alongside kitsch-dripping, slightly esoteric guitars. Defo an interesting glimpse into a window of mostly unknown or unrecognized electronic experimentation, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Reinier Van Houdt - Igitur Carbon Copies [Hallow Ground Promo]

Another one released via Hallow Ground on November 16th, 2k18 is "Igitur Carbon Copies", the new album outing by Reinier Van Houdt which has been inspired by Stephane Mallarme's unfinished goth tale 'Igitur' from as far back as 1869. Employing the voice of David Tibet as a narrating layer reading fragments of the text atop an overall atmosphere of score'esque brooding darkness, intense, partly electrifying Drone, threatening Noize outbursts, multi-layered, reprocessed Field Recordings, single note pianos and scientific bleeps alongside elements of Cold Ambient this one does work best when listened to like a radio play / audio drama, in one session and with high levels of unperturbed concentration, allowing the sonic realm built around David Tibet's voice to create depictions of horror and suspense, a dark cosmos emerging from one's inner cinematic imagination, hypnotizing, spine-tingling and surely one that doesn't ever leave one alone throughout one's darkest dreams again. This is a movie without pictures, shot in grainy black-and-white and yet a well remarkable one for sure. Made for headphone consumption. Check. 

S.E.T.I. presents S.E.I.T. - Sleep Environments For Interplanetary Travel (Official Trailer Video)

Mr. Andrew Lagowski a.k.a S.E.T.I. is coming at us with a massive 8xCD album box.

Sascha Müller - Mr. Robot [Sascha Müller Music]

Coming soon on Sascha Müller Music once again as a limited to 10 - !!! - copies floppy disk release is his very own single named "Mr. Robot", a one track piece that's all about rocking both Electro as well as Minimal Wave / Synthwave dancefloors with cute little melodies, a seductive text-to-speech vocal sample and, of course, dreamlike harmonies that will settle down in a very dear place of your heart for now and ever. Define: Braindance.

PLYXY - Gloryland EP [Hallow Ground Promo]

A new one on the Swiss label Hallow Ground, released on November 16th, 2k18, is PLYXY's "Gloryland EP", the latest musical outing by Russian producer migrated to NYC Ros Knopov. Originally being a strictly limited tape and now available on vinyl as well the five track piece opens with "It Will Be Beautiful", a deep crackly take on floating Ambient beauty whereas the title track "Gloryland" follows on a path of crisp, floating calm evoking memories of an undisturbed, untouched winter landscape after an overnight snow fall. Furthermore we see "Ungod" unfold in a calm, yet dramatic manner, breaking off into icy, dubbed out pieces in the second half of the tune, "KatYusha" fuses highly melancholic Ambient with a kind of (Neo)Classical string section and the final "March Of Youth" floats along a blurry, crackling and meandering river of tonal shifts alongside illusions of ghostly whispering voices and musical surprises which are taking a turn towards the noisier, warped side of the electronic spectrum.

Erik Grisworld - Yokohama Flowers [Room40 Promo]

Freshly released via Australian label Room40 on November 23rd, 2k18 is Erik Grisworld's latest album "Yokohama Flowers", a longplay piece influenced by his collaborations with experimental film maker Louise Curham over the past years. Catering a menu of fifteen tracks within a total runtime of 47 minutes with each of them rarely exceeding the four minutes mark we see Erik Grisworld diving deep into the realm of unprocessed composition on his favorite instrument which is the prepared piano. Employing a distinct technique of repetition and variation whilst seeing beauty in simplicity over the course of this release the listener is drawn into a world of crystalline beauty and untouched purity within a few minutes only, focusing on nothing but the playfully intertwined melodies, finding calm and joy in these undisturbed solo exercises and etudes which will defo be appreciated way beyond the circles of Ambient and (Neo)Classical composition for a reason. Sweet.   

Maze & Lindholm - Where The Wolf Has Been Seen [Aurora Borealis]

Put on the circuit via the Aurora Borealis-imprint on October 26th, 2k18 is "Where The Wolf Has Been Seen", a collaborational album effort by created by Otto Lindholm and P. Maze which are working their ways through four compositional parts created for electronics and double bass on this one. With "Part I" the duo explores a deep, ruminant Ambient realm based on constant, low-frequency droning, fuzzing crackles and naturalistic string arrangements whereas "Part II" is on a more intense, threatening, yet also desolate and longing tip, depicting the isolationist feel of living in a lost enclave of a post-apocalyptic civilization sitting somewhere in the desert, surrounded by nothing but nuclear waste and ever rolling tumbleweed. Furthermore we see "Part III" presenting a quite uneasy sci-fi vibe with warped low frequency modulations, noisy interferences and cold, spooky atmospheres as a foundation for eerie strings before the final part, "Part IV", relies on a noisy, ever moving maelstrom of electronic and radio static progressing into intense Drone accompanied by highly melancholic low frequency string works bordering on Contemporary Classical / (Neo)Classical and elaborate score works musically, exemplifiying ultimate sadness and despair for now and ever. Thrilling!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 073]

Another fresh collection of tunes coming from Uelsen's most active underground producer Sascha Müller is this twelve track album, once again released via Supersix Records. Opening with "Light Performance" we're taken into a realm of spatial, dreamlike IDM fused with ChillOut and Ambient structures over the course of nearly nine minutes whereas the follow up that is "Teta" fully employs playful, slightly electroid and Plaid'esque Electronica with a beautiful, ever repeating melodic sequence reminding us of a multilayered glockenspiel soundwise whereas "Baum 1" follows on a frolicking, yet crystalline path of pure joy and happiness. With "Mind Over This Planet" Sascha Müller provides a beautiful, melancholia-infusing variation on off kilter Ambient whilst presenting hints of DubTechno-stabs and modular warping in the same cut, "Baum 2" keeps up with the crystalline vibes of its predecessor and "No Response To Base" leads us into a wobbly, hypnotic, Trance-inducing MinimalTechno realm that fans of Plastikman / Richie Hawtin or the Perlon label will love for its spiralling nature drifting through an Acid / Intelligent Techno void before "Baum 3" seems to indulge in SinoElectronica and scattered, echo-heavy clap workouts over the course of 319 seconds. "Physical War" employs more of a bouncy, oldskool'ish assault technique for lovers of acidic ProtoTrance and ever so heavy claps. Furthermore "Baum 4" caters more of a subaquatic take on Ambient / IDM, "Closer To The NDS Part 09" weighs in twisted, aggressive ElectroBreaks with a jazzy twist for the darkest hours on the dancefloor whilst "Run Stop Return" brings more hypnotic, Acid-infused Minimal Techno with a few feedback overdrive moments to the table and the closing tune "Baum 5" is on a calm, yet intense and moving Electronica tip for highly advanced dancefloors.

Frederik Leroux & Kris Vanderstraeten - Zonder Webben [Aspen Edities 004]

Released earlier this year on the Belgian label Aspen Edities is "Zonder Webben", the collaborational album effort of guitarist Frederik Leroux and percussionist Kris Vanderstraeten built upon a series of improvisational sessions the two have been holding on a regular in the small village of Zichem / Belgium for the past four years now. Over the course of this time the two artists developed a distinct musical language of their own which is now manifesting within seven tracks rolled out over the course of 37 minutes, bringing forth calm and collected, yet highly improvisational textures which include echoes of remnants of fragments of what once was Post-PostRock but now has become a layer of of naturalistic, yet somehow disturbing outerworldy ambience in the opener "Wonderwel" whereas the follow up "Lui Uil" weighs in a very free understanding of Rock and Ultra FreeJazz, "Het Schuim Op De Golven" meanders in between Post-PostRock and reverberating Ambient realms before "Druppels En Knuppels" amalgamates tongue-in-cheek cuteness and minimalism in a way that makes up for our favorite track on this album. With "Nachternoen" we see the pair of artists go down a deep, emotional route of naturalist, slightly twangy guitar play which could be described as an experimental, stripped down to the bone take on Desert Blues, "RRR" continues on a similarly minimalist path despite relying on a harsher, more distorted and scraping metallic sound aesthetic and the final cut "Liever Lag" is as calm and beautiful as the end of a hot summers day out there in the desert for sure. Recommended!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Geneva Skeen - A Parallel Array Of Horses [Room40 Promo]

Another new one put on the circuit by the ever busy Australian imprint Room40 is "A Parallel Array Of Horses", the latest album piece by Los Angeles-based Geneva Skeen who's dealing with the theme of a collapsing, decaying society on her new longplay outing. The five track journey starts with "The Sonorous House", a tune comprised of several layers of partly reprocessed Field Recordings and warm atmospheric droning of varying intensity whilst "Los Angeles Without Palm Trees" surely seems to be a quiet, undisturbed, yet somewhat desolate and isolationist place disturbed by prevalent subfrequent shifts and mechanical repetitions somehow related to the now vanished genre of Clicks'n'Cuts, evoking memories of former Muslimgauze-releases on the former Audio.NL imprint paired up with beautifully dramatic Ambient arrangements over the further course of the track. Furthermore the title piece "A Parallel Array Of Horses" brings forth a fragile, ethereal take on Ambient influenced by echoes of (Neo)Classical composition and longing, melancholia-infused score works, "Frain, Refrain" presents a variation of outerworldly, warped choir performances with obvious parallels to Ayshay's 2011-released novelty smash "Warn-U" vibewise before the final composition "Flutter In Place" fully drifts away into fluffy clouds and calm Ambient territories. Defo recommended for all ChillOut heads out there.

baze.djunkiii Chart Haul 12/2018

Dan Mind - We Love You [Psychocandies 074]

Another one scheduled for December 20th, 2k18, this time via the Psychocandies imprint, is the new digital two track single by underground producer Dan Mind who's offering a raw, unprocessed and slightly oldskool'ish Techno effort alongside low frequency Tribal-influences on the title track "We Love You" whereas the second tune named "Klirrfaktor" weighs in some quirky, highly distorted Breakbeat / Phonk structures that reminisce Nitrate's legendary tune "Dust Bucket" being mixed up with fucked up Electro, experimental BigBeat and releases on Biochip C.'s former Anodyne label. Sick.

Sascha Müller - Traxxx Vol. 7 [SM Traxxx 30-2018]

In the pipeline for December 20th, 2k17 is "Traxxx Vol. 7", the next digital two track single by our favorite underground producer Sascha Müller coming straight out of Uelsen / Germany. With "Track 13" he brings us a storming, fast-paced take on wonky, spiralling AcidTechno for pumping underground peaktime parties whereas "Track 14" stays in the Acid lane but referes to a more screaming, mind-wrecking aesthetic that leaves punter struck with total ecstasy and an immediate urge to work out as hard as they can on the dancefloor. Killer!

2000 - Plant [Umland Records / El Negocito Records]

Put on the circuit as a label collaboration between Umland Records and El Negocito Records is "Plant", the first ever album released by 2000, a new evolution of Jan Klare's former band outfit 1000 which is now revived as a six member group - mostly due to the demand of bookers and festivals wanting them to make a return to the live circuit after one of their members left for New York city in 2017. Now, serving a bundle of twelve new tunes on this longplay piece, we see the sextet explore a deep, intimate feeling resembling the warmth as well as a live-and-direct touch usually provided by Chamber Music and stripped down Contemporary Classical arrangements whilst musically gravitating more towards a feeling of autumnal, late night Jazz Noir that gives room for sequences of Free Improvisation, large scale drama like in the epic "Toss", violent Free Jazz in "Rott" or even High Speed Funk affairs in the 125 second of "Shill" whilst "Teasy Venus" catches quite an easy, positive vibe on a classic Jazz standard note just too pick a few tracks out of this album that surely sets out to please quite a lot of Modern Jazz lovers out there.

The Vegetable Orchestra - Green Album [Transacoustic Research 009]

Put on the circuit on November 17th, 2k18 via Transacoustic Research is the "Green Album", the latest musical outing by the infamous group known as The Vegetable Orchestra which has been using  and abusing dried and fresh vegetables for musical purposes over the course of nearly 20 years now. With the ensembles fourth album they're continuing on this path for sure, catering a vegetable menu comprised of 14 tracks over the course of 48 minutes. In this, they're touching both on genres like Contemporary Classical whilst also serving a grotesque, tongue-in-cheek take on Novelty and Phonk,  especially prevalent in tunes like "Perfect Match" and "Internal Crisis", or even bringing elements of feedback heavy HarshNoize to the table as done in "Fasern". With the epicly named "Schwarzmooskogel" The Vegetable Orchestra even manages to incorporate oriental mystique and klaxon'esque horn-resembling sequences into their Novelty Music, "Hyperroots" even leads to an excursion to MinimalHouse-infused dancefloors similar to Matthew Herbert's unique take on the sample-based edge of the genre, "Bamako" caters African-infused Tribal Funk and somehow evokes memories of Was Not Was' legendary "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" basslinewise as well as digs down into more fever'ish, yet cute, tripped out and funny tribalisms with "La Valse Ephemere". But these are only a few tunes mentioned, taken out of this extraordinary, unique and interesting album release. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Eternell - Still Light [Sound In Silence 054]

Coming in from the Greek Ambient-staple that is the Sound In Silence-imprint is the label debut by Höör / Sweden-based producer Ludvig Cimbrelius, better known in the world of highly relaxing music under the name of Eternell. Named "Still Light" the longplay piece, which once again is limited to 150 copies, is comprised of a total of three tracks with the opener "Inner Song" paving the way for things to come over the course of 19 minutes, fusing soft, slowly moving pillows of Ambient with inward-looking, slighty twangy guitar play for ultimate relaxation. Following up is the title track "Still Light" which brings half an hour+ - sic !!! - of the purest floating comfort which might classified as Pop Ambient by some, especially by followers of the Cologne-based Kompakt label, and the final cut "Resting On The Surface Of A Stream" perfectly describes the calm, all embracing nature of this 23 minute epos built on more billowing pads and slightly esoteric, yet even more romantic guitar workouts. Beautiful.

baze.djunkiii Charts 12/2018

01. Horsepower Productions - Reefer Max / Phantasy Rush [Effective 96]
Horsepower Productions are back on track with a new 12" and probably it's their best work ever in their nearly 20 years spanning career. With "Reefer Max" they're catering greatly to an audience craving for heavily dubbed out Jungle - or Jungle Dub ? - with basslines as deep as the deepest subaquatic abyss and great spiritual vocal samples whereas "Phantasy Rush" on the flip brings back the ecstatic vibe of early 90s UK Hardcore / Proto-Jungle Breakbeat in a quite modernistic way. Get!

02. LA-4A /  Alden Tyrell [Delft 017]
More Acid goodness. Whilst LA-4A brings on both a dark, twisted take on BrokenAcid as well as proper, dry electroid stomper on his side of the 12" Mr. Alden Tyrell goes down an expertly crafted, fast-paced Chicago jack route with his offerings, lifting up bouncing to new levels of true madness and ecstasy. Killer.

03. Various Artists - Scotch Bonnet Records Presents Puffers Choice Vol. II [Scotch Bonnet Records]
Reggae, Reggae, Reggae... and a hint of Dub as well as Dubstep. This is what's to be found on this excellent 12 track compilation delivered by Scotch Bonnet Records. Featuring massive tunes like the most beautiful opener which is Bim Sherman's "Lightning & Thunder (Mungo's Hi Fi Remix)", the anthemic future classic that is "Dance Inna New York" by Chief Rockas ft. Supercat, Nem's highly melancholia-driven piano-led "Purest Force (Mungo's Hi Fi Remix)", Dreadsquad's killer Dub excursion "Space" or the excellent Joy Division-rework "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Capitol 1212 feat. Earl 16 alongside many other great tunes this one is an essential cut for all lovers of the aforementioned genres for a reason.

04. Christian Smith & John Selway - Count Zero (Part II) [Tronic]
Dark, modernistic Techno tools for those who know. A1 tune "Delirium" is going down a gooey Acid route, B1 "Royal Movement" caters to the lovers of large scale basslines and the final B2 cut "Virtual Light" brings back excellent, pumping ClubTechno proper and therefore is the winning cut on this 12" release.

05. Air Liquide - This Is A Mindtrip [Intergalactic Research Institute For Sound]
Air Liquide are back and they're back after a long time! With the title track "This Is A Mindtrip", once again featuring the great Mary S Applegate on Spoken Word duties, we see Cem Oral and Dr. Walker explore deep, tripping Illbient structures, "Die Singende Säge" employs a subaquatic, bass-heavy ChillOut strategy and the final cut "Zeitgeber 3" kills late night dancefloors with an amalgamation of DubTechno reverberations and raw, spiralling Acid lines for a reason. Check.

06. Le Crabe & Optimis GFN - EP [Hirntrust Grind Media / Amertume / Urgence Disk Records / Et Mon Cul C'Est Du Tofu? / BRK / Bruits De Fond / Ccrecordz / I Feel Good Records / Sweat Lodge]
See review for details...

07. Various Artists - 303 303 EP [Planet Rhythm Records]
Acid, Acid, Acid. Four untitled tracks by four different, and unnamed, artists on clear vinyl, all highly addictive, banging and spiralling from here to a smoked out, strobe lit nirvana, a place of eternal workout and happiness to be found in humongous warehouses of the past or underground basement dancefloors of today. Timeless and good.

08. Hi-Ryze - 4-Track Progress EP [Yozmaz 002]
UK Techno is all the rage again these days and this re-issue is taking us back to the year 1993, a time when things were less formulaic, faster and freeform and electronic music still was a form of electronic expression. Too dancefloor-focused to be described as Intelligent Techno these four tracks fully convince with outerworldly, spine-tingling atmospheres, elements of Bleeps'n'Clonks, hints of Acid as well Motor City abstraction, making us wish that we could listen to them once again on unlimited warehouse sound systems whilst laser lights are flashing high above our heads like they did in the old days. Good stuff.

09. Koazoamo - Synapskollaps [... 001]
See review for details...

10. Heavee - WFM [Teklife Records 008]
More goodness from the Teklife camp on their 8th release which sees Heavee building a bridge between dry, dirty GhettoHouse and complex Juke / Footwork within eight tracks, oftentimes collaborating with genre greats like DJ Phil, Gant-man, DJ Paypal, DJ Rashad (R.I.P.) and Sirr Tmo. Highly recommended tunes: "It's Wack" and "Big Body Bass". 

Keisuke Matsuno / Moritz Baumgärtner / Lars Graugaard - Crush [Clang 064]

Released as a three artist collaborational effort via Clang on October 12th, 2k18 is "Crush", a new album recorded over the course of one day in September 2k16 in which Keisuke Matsuno, Moritz Baumgärtner and label head Lars Graugaard push forward into the realms of experimental music with five brand new tracks. The opener "Wheefing The Hoofer" totally starts to puzzle the listener with a highly experimental, 70s psychedelic take on what we only can describe as electric guitar meets modular electronics FreeJazz Improvisation, "Tomorrow Never Comes" is following up on a similarly psychedelic, yet more Blues meets dubbed out, ambient'esque PostRock orientated tip whereas the 144 seconds of "Grindle" provide an exciting, yet noisy variation of grinding, brain twisting Abstract Phonk / Illbient for those who know - or for those remembering projects like Zwei Tage Sauerstoff or 40 Sekunden Ohne Gewicht from a long gone past. Furthermore we see "Blended Conurbation" combine panoramic Ambient vibes with a fusion of Jazz and Rock drumming, tricky guitar works and haunted atmospheres before the final cut "Keep Something On" takes up nearly 24 minutes of the albums total runtime, filling these with an amalgamation of Isolationist Ambient, thundering background drums and distorted guitar feedback to make up the most intense and most thrilling track on this well-demanding album that is defo catering to a small, yet highly specialised audience.

Siavash Amini - Foras [Hallow Ground Promo]

Released via the Swiss-based label Hallow Ground on September 7th, 2k18 is "Foras", the second album produced by the Iranian composer Siavash Amini for the imprint after making his label debut with "Tar" in 2017. Focusing on a conceptual idea of how the surrounding world, especially so-called 'dark' places, influence and interact with one's psychological experience we see the artist employing and reprocessing Field Recordings of such spaces, transforming them into something new which, in the case of the opener "First Came Their Shadows", results in a quite intense, thrilling take on unsettling, doomed, droning (Un)Ambient from the planets deepest vaults with a lighter episode towards the tunes end whereas the follow up "Aporia" provides a raw, static buzz of varied intensity as a foundation which, over time, despite its noisy nature surprisingly unfolds to be a well calming and soothing affair. Furthermore "The Beclouding" features more electrical buzzing in a Cold / Isolationist Ambient context evolving into tender, classic Ambient structures over the course of ten minutes proper and the final "Shadow Of Their Shadows" indulges deep in desolate Drone and a feel of dark, greyscale, post-apocalyptic dystopia similar to the classic beatless pieces once to be found on Christoph De Babalon's seminal "If You're Into It I'm Out Of It" album.