Electro Recommendations March 2013

Review: Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker adopts the rarely used alias The Reflektor for this finely judged debut on Wild Oats. The Los Angeles based artist is most commonly know for his work as Gifted & Blessed, and anyone familiar with that music will certainly need little additional information to investigate the Las Ruinas Mayas 12". Purportedly recorded as "a tribute to one of the many Mayan spiritual sites known to date", musically these influences manifest themselves with considered subtlety, allowing Reyes-Whittaker to showcase his undoubted mastery of soulful electro and primitive house music. The extra layers of sonic dust make it all the more appropriate for Kyle Hall's label.

Review: Ah yes a new release from the mysterious Photodementia project surfaces in timely fashion following the issue of last year's warmly received Fig 03c. If you believe the blurb, this album is the result of Newcastle born but Vancouver based Ellen O' Malley working with Photodementia's Victor Baudet in the aftermath of that aforementioned debut album with co-conspirator Bernard Davies. If you believe the conspiracy theorists this is actually the work of Richard D James or Gerald Donald or Plaid or Stingray. Perhaps ignorance is bliss in this case, why bother focusing on who when the music itself is some seven tracks of industrial and electro infused techno that gleefully ripples with neck snapping skittering rhythms.

Review: Roxy Music's guitar legend Manzanera has undergone a series of remixes on well heeled Dalston based fashion/sound/leisure hub LNCC. Third in the series, here we find Tokyo's Cos/Mes getting jaunty and psychedelic and altogether Chicken Lippsy over the 1982 classic "Big Dome". Meanwhile on the B, Secret Fingers have cast such a cosmic spell on "Islands" that it's almost impossible to lift a limb while you listen to it. Utter bliss, Manzanera should be proud.

Review: It's amazing how fresh and forward-thinking much of Juan Atkins' early material still sounds, nearly 30 years after it was first created. Take Cybotron's "Alleys Of Your Mind". Recorded and released in 1981, it's sparse electro beats and wonky electrofunk synths - clearly inspired by Kraftwerk and Conrad Schnitzler - sounds like it was beamed down from another planet, billions of years in the future. You could say the same for much of the material on this reissued Metroplex 20th anniversary set (first issued in 2005); from the far-sighted intergalactic hypnotism of Model 500's "The Future" and "Vessels In Distress", to the clanking proto-techno of Channel One's "Technicolour" and Inifiniti's rush-inducing "Game One", Atkins has consistently stayed ahead of the game.

Review: Longstanding leftwing electronica stable Abstract Forms heads to Germany for this generous offering wonk oddball Ekman. Running the fine line between Detroit, early London acid house and the more ethereal electro charms of Jori Hulkkonen, each cut on Tessellation Automata rumps and pumps with off-kilter analogue mischief. Highlights include the draw out bass groans of "Space Is The Circles" and the warbling bass obesity of "You Tell Me". Funky, wonky and minimal... Ekman has the Holy Grail.

Review: Reckless Ron Cook belatedly gets his chance to shine courtesy of Big Strick's 7 Days Entertainment label on this Lost Tapes 12" that presents four cuts from the producer's archives. The former Submerge and Metroplex artist is no stranger to 7 Days Entertainment having signalled his return from the wilderness with "Night Moves" a rattling, electrofied contribution to last year's Resivior Dogs LP from Big Strick. That track should set the tone for what you can expect on this 12" which snaps viciously into action with the viper like Detroit machine funk of "Electro Soul" and the pace doesn't relent from there until "Urban Beat" reaches the run out groove.