Review: Dagobert & Kalson deliver the third instalment of their serial Stellar Mode project, which sticks out like a rogue planet amid a sea of drab and unremarkable stylistic orbiters. This four-track cosmic fulguration consists of two tracks by each artist, and is notable for its ultra-glossy action-packed ambient breaks content; they've just done something wonderfully extra to the sound here, treating each element like exoplanetary objects of study and refinement. As Kraftwerkish sequences and ambient soundscapes collide with planetary ring systems of bass and plucksynth, what's not to love here?
Review: Here is the third and final chapter of the 'Systema Naturae' series on Berlin-based 012, with fresh deep techno visions from newcomers such as Daniel(i) from Belgium (Whispering Signals) who ventures into foreboding and murky territory on the off-kilter journey of 'Carabus', and there's the return of Greek producer Alex Tomb who gets into some hypnotic minimal techno on 'Paradisaea'. Elsewhere, Leipzig-based Kontinum pushes into full mental overdrive on the strobing cut 'Octandria' and finally you have the collaboration between Mary Yuzovskaya and label head Claudio PRC titled 'Marmor' which perfectly nails that ethereal Sound Of Rome vibe.
Review: French synth-dub duo Froid Dub return with a fresh sonic exploration on their new six-track album, taking their blend of synth wave and dub to new depths. Known for their organic-meets-digital sound, they push the boundaries even further with this release. The album features the unmistakable rhythms of the TR-808, now more submerged than ever in the thick, swirling echoes of digi-bass, creating a hypnotic atmosphere. Perfect for fans of experimental electronic and dub, this latest offering is another testament to Froid Dub's ability to fuse genres in a way that feels both timeless and forward-thinking.
Review: The young but already impressive Headset label is back with a third outing and it is a various artists affair with a distinctly futuristic edge. Kami O's 'Blutak' rides on lurching rhythms that sway up and down with great force as percussion percussion and wiry electronics bring it to life. smiff's 'Blinker' is a broken beat with thudding kick and hits and clanging metallic sounds while Sweet Philly's 'Acid Siren Tool' is a raved-up jam ready to blow up the dance floor. Dubmonger & 9 Tails Fox tap into an old school,. high energy judge sound with darting rhythms and drilling sub bass nailing you to the floor on 'No Profit.'
Review: After the impressive scope of the first volume of Dysphoria |Euphoria, Ka-One and St-Sene have returned to their Flyance label with a second installment that goes even deeper into adventurous electronic pastures. There's a cinematic quality to the original productions that make up the first disc of Chapter Two, using mournful melodic refrains and a widescreen approach to production that draws the listener in to their emotive electro and techno world. In terms of remixers on the second disc, they haven't held back as AWB, Setaoc Mass, Luke Hess and Anetha all provide a more propulsive, club ready perspective on these thoughtfully crafted electronic gems.
Review: The No Agenda label takes its bow here with a new EP that features a first appearance from the US's Bridget Barkan. Kimono is behind the beats and they are couched in house. 'Waiting' opens with rattling chords that bring steely determination next to the time-keeping hi-hats and echoing vocal swirls that speak of a patient wait. The Aubrey rework is super fresh with daubs of dancing synth and sci-fi details over a barely-there rhythm. Shuffling deep house sound 'Forgiveness' closes out with more slight sound designs, dusty drums and plenty of suggestion rather than in-your-face maximalism.
Review: Before I Die have been putting out some high-grade leftfield delights from respected operators like Bernardino Femminelli, Tungusku and most recently Sewell & The Gong. Now it's the turn of Klangkollektor, indulging a collection of hazy dub excursions which sit somewhere near Balearic splendour, piano-charged melancholy and isolation tank meditation. In the dub tradition the approach is consistent and evenly paced, but it's certainly not aiming for any kind of typical Jamaican sound. Instead, there's a gentle introspection to the melodic content which gels perfectly with the spacious approach to mixing, unfurling across four sides of wax for an album you can just melt into.
Review: Koenig Cylinders always kept it hella real with their techno. The pair of John Selway and Oliver Chesler were pioneers of the hard stuff first time around and now that it is back en vogue, why not reissue this classic? 'Untitled' opens with a freaky vocal and eerie synth sound before '99.9' brings a wall of white noise and slamming drum patterns. 'Carousel' is an urgent wall-rattler with cantering drums and rave sires that light up the 'floor and 'Choreomania' shuts down with razor-sharp synths and acid flashes that tickle your brain. Arresting tackle of the highest order.
Review: Kop-Z reveals that he first encountered the term 'A Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamic System' in a book costing L2 in a Manchester junk shop. It is a term to describe humans as systems constantly battling entropy and the world's challenges to survive. "But we're also systems that work together, creating art and music," he reflects, appreciating the contrast between opposites like day and night, love and hate. His work merges autobiographical field recordings, looped vinyl and childhood video games with kinetic programming systems that are all influenced by jungle, footwork, noise, rave, post-punk and reggae. The result is a rich fabric of sound that blends human experience with machine chaos.
Review: Wiesbaden, Germany-born Florian Kupfer has spent the last decade exploring around the edges of the dancefloor with hugely evocative sounds that are always much more than mere tools. This latest mad-limited 12" is another doozy that opens with the menacing and mechanical rhythms of 'Sidelined' topped with eerie spoken word loops. 'Integrating The Shadow' is a more rugged electro rhythm with hissing hi-hats sweeping through the mix and downbeat chords adding a touch of melancholy. 'Unmasked' gets dark, dirty and messed up for those 5am wig-outs and 'Severed Lines Of Communication' is a hypnotic roller alive with static electricity.
Charcoal Estates/Votes For Pinnochio/No Gateway (5:01)
X Marks The Spot (5:47)
No Show Tonight (5:19)
They Seek Her Here (6:06)
Platform (5:59)
No Show Tomorrow (4:37)
Review: The second solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel to appear on the Lumberton Trading Company label offers eight spectacularly original compositions from the outsider artist. These are tracks that bore their way into the heart and mind through startlingly personal moods and meanings. The atmosphere is often tense, and, when it's not, 'surreal' is the word that springs to mind - albeit more unusual hallucination than comical experiment. 'Platform 5' might be the best example of how unnerving things can get, the low, rumbling synth bassline underpinning spoken word, distant, almost inaudible harmonic refrain and eerie chorus. 'No Show Tomorrow' asks "what if they had a war and nobody showed up' to seemingly disconnected tones, notes and noises. 'They Seek Her Here' ups the tempo with a synth-wave-breaks trip through dystopian spaces.
Review: Two years after his critically acclaimed album Ultrachroma, Kangding Ray makes a typically bold return to ARA with his dance-floor-focused new long player, ZERO. The artwork reflects his diverse explorations and influences which converge here into a cohesive sound designed to ignite movement in the club. This album revisits the essence of his early work and is rather reminiscent of his debut on the experimental label Raster-Noton but it also incorporates the hypnotic elements characteristic of his DJ sets. Continuously evolving his sound and pushing the boundaries of the genre, all 10 of these tunes are mend melting and atmospheric rollers speed in great sound design.
Review: Fresh from launching their Voam imprint via an EP of clanking, mind-mangling industrial techno workouts, Blawan and Pariah don the Karenn alias once more for their first full-length outing. In keeping with their fuzzy, hardware-based approach, "Grapefruit Regret" is fiendishly forthright - a buzzing, crackling collection of club cuts built around armour plated kick drums, creepy and dystopian aural textures, chunky basslines and hypnotic, opaque lead lines. Occasionally it sounds like the product of two guys banging bits of metal against towering Brutalist buildings, at others the breathless soundtrack to illicit raves in car parks beneath crumbling Soviet-era municipal buildings. Throughout, it delivers some of the most intense and intoxicating techno jams of the year.
Review: Since delivering his debut album on PNN a decade ago, Matt Kent AKA Matt Karmil has proved adept at adapting the club-focused sound of his EPs to the long-playing format - as his inspired and wonderfully atmospheric sets for Idle Hands and Smalltown Supersound prove. He continues this notable run of form on this Studio Barnhus released set, crowding ultra-deep, dusty grooves in opaque chords, cut-up sample snippets, lo-fi crackle, hazy ambient textures and nods towards a myriad of ear-pleasing electronic styles and sounds. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks being the dubby, mind-altering late-night hypnotism of 'Still Something There' and the becalmed, meditative ambient deepness of superb closing cut '15 Mins' (which, confusingly, is just 13 minutes long).
Review: French electronic duo KaS Product were proper enigmas. Their first decade of activity, from 1980 to 1990, was marked by carving out their own niche within a fertile and noisy corner of music close to punk, early cold and minimal wave, and indie-electro. Compared by some to Kaleidoscope-era Siouxsie and The Banshees, Soft Cell and Suicide, it's no stretch to say that without this pair -the late Spatsz (Daniel Favre) and Mona Soyoc - the likes of Prinzhorn Dance School would sound different. By Pass was up there with their finest hours and most defining creations. Arriving in 1983, it's packed with a kind of dark, back-room-of-a-dive bar venue edge that is at once anarchistic, surreal, and beautiful. 'Tina Town', for example, will raise the hair on the back of your neck, 'W Infatuation' seems to belong in some batshit Broadway musical, 'Mingled & Tingled' is all about groove and seduction. Excellent all round.
Review: Iconoclastic artist Kat Von D explores themes of love and sobriety in her sophomore album, My Side of the Mountain, inspired by the famous adventure novel. This synthwave, goth, post-punk album was crafted amidst her journey of covering tattoos and embracing a new faith, reflecting her experiences of love, darkness, and vulnerability. Collaborating with respected songwriters Shep Solomon, Fernando Garibay, and featuring guest vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, Kat creates a compelling sonic landscape. Kat's impressive resume spans shaking up the tattoo industry, starring in TV shows, writing best-selling books, and building a beauty empire. However, music remains her first love. With a background in classical music and an eclectic appreciation for various genres, My Side of the Mountain stands as an impressive follow-up, showcasing her growth and artistic evolution.
Review: Kiasmos is the duo of Icelandic composer olafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of their iconic debut album, it now gets reissued on a limited blue vinyl pressing of only 2000 copies. This album has been streamed over 100 million times on Spotify and is a cornerstone of experimental and ambient music that has inspired many artists around the world. Following the success of their recent album II, this anniversary release reminds us of the pair's beginnings when two friends were simply experimenting and creating music together in the studio. It has aged well and prices a great release from busy modern life into a world of supple rhythm and delicate, tender melody.
Review: Kiasmos, the dynamic duo of olafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen, returns with their long-awaited second album, II. This vinyl is a celebration of their evolution over a decade since their self-titled debut in 2014. Known for blending minimal techno with orchestral flourishes, Kiasmos has refined their sound, adding richer textures and a sense of place and space. II opens with Grown, setting a delicate atmospheric tone that showcases their matured sound design. Tracks like 'Dazed' highlight their innovative use of traditional Balinese percussion and field recordings, creating immersive auditory landscapes. The album seamlessly transitions from electronic to classical and rave, maintaining their signature style of whisper-quiet ambience evolving into explosive dance beats. Songs like 'Sailed' and 'Laced' exemplify their knack for blending intricate percussion with organic synths, resulting in tracks that are both effervescent and serene. olafur's cinematic influence and Janus's DJ experience shine through, pushing the boundaries of genre with frenetic broken beats and catchier melodies. The grand strings recorded with SinfoniaNord add a majestic layer to the complexities, making II a truly expansive work.
Review: Kid Machine enters his Terminal Phase with an expansive new double album on Spain's Hypnotica Colectiva. This is an electro compilation with one eye on the future and as much detail as to work in a wide range of settings away from the club. After the glistening synths of 'Terminal Phase' comes a retro 80s sound on 'You Know' and then the dazzling electro-disco of 'Metallic Insects'. The widescreen nature of these sounds are laid bare on 'Electromanctalo' while the 'The New Rage' has something of an 80s electro-pop feel and 'Missing In Action' is a winky acid workout full of menace.
Review: Kike Pravda is back on his Senoid Recordings outlet with a new album one year in the making. The eight cuts find him further hone in on the essentialness of techno with nice hardware textures and that lived-in analogue feel that always elevates things. 'The Chaos Of Silence' is an intense opener with loopy bells and dark bass, 'Sequential' sounds like a futuristic factory floor at peak production and 'Late In The Night' is classic deep space afterparty minimalism. A proper album that covers plenty of ground.
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