POLE Vinilo y CD

Review: Stephan Betke has always pushed musical and conceptual boundaries with his work as Pole, perfecting a trademark sonic style that's both unmistakably his and fiendishly tricky to pin down. 'Tempus', his latest full-length excursion, is reportedly his attempt to "consider the connection between the past, present and future" and sees him pepper hazy, minimalistic electronic dub rhythms with a combination of classically fluid jazz instrumentation, enveloping ambient chords, wayward synthesiser sounds and heavily manipulated and processed instrumentation. The result is an album that sounds more human and emotionally rich than some of his more out-there excursions, whilst retaining the heady, dub-wise pulse that has always been one of his aural calling cards.

Review: The latest artist to delve into Conrad Schnitzler's vast archive of synthesizer sounds and Con-Struct new tracks is Pole, AKA dub-tronica stalwart Stefan Betke. In the liner notes, Betke admits to never warming to Schnitzler's brand of synthesizer experimentalism, despite respecting the German pioneer's vast body of work. Yet despite these misgivings, Betke has produced an impressive set which melds some of Schnitzler's trademark electronics - woozy, evocative, out-there and occasionally hugely challenging - with his own glitch-heavy rhythms and dub techno inspired textures. The result is a collection of finely tuned tracks that effortlessly joins the dots between 1970s electronica, '90s IDM, and Betke's distinctly dub-wise production style.

Review: Lempuyang makes it to release number 15 with a devastatingly deep new EP from Deepchord Records co-founder Mike Schommer. He kicks off with 'Scapegoat' featuring the alluring vocals of Milly James which echo out over super slow-motion dub rhythms and icy pads. The Pole rework brings more crisp hits and distant eerie drones over a more pronounced rhythm but one that remains devilishly sparse. On the flip, 'Deceivers' has more hypotonic drive - a fleshy dub stepper to lock in any 'floor and then 'Believers' slows it down to a crawl once more. An essential dub EP that promises no represses.