Juno Recommends Leftfield October 2021

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Decada 2's musical and visual playfulness trailblazed the electronic scene in Mexico in the mid-80s. The project channels Mateo Lafontaine's luminous mind and otherworldly persona into an audible experience. The Mexican producer is a sonic alchemist, exploring and combining a multitude of electronic genres. The result - Mateo's interpretation of the club music zeitgeist.
2020 marked not only 35 years of Decada 2 but also the sudden passing of Mateo.
Philoxenia is proud to present Decada 2's first vinyl release, a testimony to the legacy of a pioneer of electronic music in Latin America. These remastered tracks showcase Mateo's unique take on EBM, proto-house and early rave sound, ranging from the mid-80s to the early 90s.

Review: The aural aesthetics of Flying Lotus go hand-in-hand with film scores. There was the original music contributed to the Blade Runner 2049 anime prequel, tunes for Carole & Tuesday, and the small matter of his label Brainfeeder's new film division. Now we have Yasuke, his first full score.

If you're unaware, Yasuke is the Japanese animated series that's been a hit among fans of Far Eastern cartoons since arriving on Netflix. So far so factual, what about the actual tracks themselves? Well, this collection of arrangements is at once very FlyLo, and then not that FlyLo at all. Yes, there's plenty of deep genre diving going on, nodding to freewheeling jazz, prog rock, trap and more. But here it's much more minimalistic than many might be used to - resulting in a thoroughly original approach to soundtracking a samurai story, void of stereotypes, while never fully breaking from tradition.

Review: Sarah Davachi is nothing short of mesmerising whatever you find her through. On Antiphonals it's a case of deceptively simple instrumental work that has elements of acoustic folk, dreamy ambient, and drone-y electronica, all of which helps create an abstract but immersive world of tonal adventures, the overall aim being to explore the subtle nuances of gradual note development and harmonious refrains.

The deceptively simple part comes from the sheer number of different instruments involved here. All the research and music theory she has taken in over the years i often through some of the word's most respected institutions i has certainly paid off. Understanding how to combine harpsichords, Mellotrons, tape echoes, Korgs, pianos and more, this is a fine example of everything being in its rightful place.

Review: Controversies surrounding 007 are well documented. Questionable sexual ethics and a drink problem that goes well-beyond borderline alcoholism are just two examples. Emotional trauma and mental health issues being one, or maybe two, more. In comparison, the soundtracks to the films we all grew up around are much less open to interpretation and subjectivity. Simply put, the scores - not least the main theme for each flick - are always huge.

Hence the sheer volume of albums that celebrate the sonic world of this super spy. This release is just one in a number that have come and gone over time, and it's hard to know what's left to say. Presenting the likes of Carly Simon, Shirley Bassey, Garbage, Madonna, Adele and - from the forthcoming flick No Time To Die - Billie Eilish, here's proof, if you needed it, that the studios always punt for on-point artists, defining of their era.

Review: Los Angeles based ambient husband and wife duo, awakened souls join with Reunion Island native, From Overseas to create Keep The Orange Sun. After hearing each other's individual music, a deeper conversation started about shared musical influences and inspiration leading to the creation of this album. Keep The Orange Sun guides the listener on a thoughtfully curated path. Starting with the certainty of life's changes (Certainty of Tides) to arising self-doubt (Release/Adapt) and celebrating immersion in the present moment as the gateway to deeper connection with nature and one's life (Keep The Orange Sun). The instrumentation present in each track channels elements of electronic, shoegaze & ambient with each artist's distinct musical fingerprint highlighted.

Review: Newcomers to Astral Industries have happened upon the label at a great moment here. Hanyo van Oosterom is continuing the fantastic work he was involved in with J. Derwort under the Chi project name following the latter's death in 2019. Now producing under the moniker Son of Chi, it's an extension rather than a repetition of what has come before it.

Tonal vocabulary expanded, it feels more immersive and grander than ever before, and yet retains the fundamentals that first enraptured us. Organic instrumentation and the sense of falling ever deeper into dreamlike states of consciousness are just two ways of describing what both Chi and the new offspring concept bring to the table. These are new sonic worlds opening up before our mind's eye, packed with mystery, lamentation, and hope for tomorrow.

Review: Nenad Markovi? cooks up some more of his magisterially slow and seductive sounds for the Sahko label outta Finland. Using his trusted tools he opens up on 'Iz Usta,' with a balmy vibe, dreamy pads and percolating beats all finished off with distant bird calls. It goes on for nearly ten minutes and makes great use of every single second. A real epic. On the flip is 'Danasananas,' another super slow workout that gets you in raptures with its gently jostling drum work and aqueous effects.

Review: "Romanticism, witchcraft, and necromancy, drifting in an ocean of sentiments." So says Kashual Plastik of this compilation, which seems to transcend not just genre but years, or more accurately from what we can hear, centuries. It's not often you'll find us completely stuck for words, but we are when presented with a track like 'Sommerzeit Erntezeit' by Kirschstein & Agnes Beil. Think woozy sea shanty meeting folklore fireside anthem with waves of synth dropped on top, slowly finding a peculiarly familiar, hypnotic rhythm.

It's just one example from a huge, 31-track collection that refuses to sit anywhere immediately recognisable. This is a place where traditional, avant-garde, ambient, dramatic, chilled out, ancient, and modern collide. One minute it feels like you're in a remote Bulgarian mountain village, the next a future-focused experimental music festival, bathed in the soft blues of spotlights amid some overtly conceptual performance.

Review: It Was is an appropriately-named album if ever we saw or heard one. Colin Potter was an enigmatic and hugely influential member of the 1980s cassette underground, and while much work came before what's presented here, the contents of this record represent close to the apex of his creative output - carefully chosen selections from the 1989 tapes Recent Histories Volumes 1 & 2.

It had taken seven years to return to the release schedule, and the gap between these tracks and the early-1980s output on ICR clearly paid off. Deftly combining sequencers, guitars, percussive accents, reversed synths and more, this is everything Potter fans fell in love with him for and then so much more besides. Definitely one of the best ways to get acquainted, or find your old obsessions reignited.

Review: This is the unreleased soundtrack from Bartleby, the British drama film from 1970 directed by Anthony Friedman. It was an adaptation of the short story Bartleby, the Scrivener; A Story of Wall-street by Herman Melville. The plot revolved around the young audit clerk Bartleby, who as a result of being overwhelmed by the pressures of modern life withdraws into his own world. 31 years later, there was another remake directed by Jonathan Parker, with Crispin Glover in the lead role. Sound wise, it is a' blissful mix of British pastoral jazz and serious drum, double bass and string action'.

Review: If you've ever set foot in either Iceland or the Faroe Islands then this startlingly beautiful, incredibly intelligent dance-not-dance album will make perfect sense. While the beats are certainly capable of moving floors early on, there's a serenity and a bliss here that can only come from people who have grown up around spectacular barren vistas. Places where things aren't, as much as where they are.

Quiet but commanding, BAFTA-winning composer olafur Arnalds, known for his minimalist piano stylings, complements the electronic ends introduced by Janus Rasmussen of the excellent Bloodgroup band. Together, they create tracks that are hypnotic, precise, and full of timbre. Fans of Innervisions, All Day I

Dream, and other deep, wave-y, floaty, house-y affairs shouldn't sleep on this, because we're not expecting anyone else to.

Review: The esteemed gang at Dark Entries have been hard at work on another one of their always eye opening compilation. This time they turn their focus to Mexican new wave and post-punk on the 10-track Back Up: Mexican Tecno Pop. None of the tunes here have ever made it to wax before and they come with a 12 page magazine that is packed with extra context, lyrics and bios about the artists. The tunes all shine a fine light on the flourishing DIY scene that was present in 1980's Mexico when much of the world's focus was on the more well documented synth pop and obscure electronics from Europe and the United States.

Review: This is a big collection of eight 12"s, a poster and in sept for only the most ardent Depeche Mode fan. The collection features faithfully reproduced original artwork and audio masters and all singles first released on CD singles during 1997. This is an ongoing single Series that will apparently continue over the years so that eventually all recordings previously only available on CD will make their way to wax. This instalment features big remixes from legendary names like CJ Bolland, Kruder + Dorfmeister , Underworld and Jedi Knights amongst many more.

Review: 'Fragments + Distancing' cultivates a profound sense of meditative stasis with the use of a Moog Mother 32, custom built filters, and various Eurorack modular sequencers, modules, and effects. James continues his proven and unique efforts in creating ethereal tones on this latest collection of songs. Fragments was created by using a method of composition James has been perfecting, where he takes small pieces of unreleased music that he has written stretching over the last 10 years, and runs them through different modes and methods of granular stretching and FFT processing. In some cases, the original audio source was no longer than 20-30 seconds long. PITP is honored to share this collection of music.

Review: JD Twitch's archival label Optimo Music Archive is back for a second release, this time with a fully remastered 2021 edition of this 1993 gem. It came at a time when acid music had been hugely popular and seemingly every avenue had been explored. Until, that was, this record arrived from future Optimo ally Khan alongside Kerosene. It was recorded in a Brooklyn kitchen and is a sublimely syncopated album of hypnotic rhythms that are in constant but subtle flux. Muted acid lines that weave in and out and rubbery kick drums that root you to the groove. The record still sounds beamed back from the future today, more than 25 years on.

Review: In partnership with VRrOOm, the City of Paris and under the patronage of UNESCO, French electronic legend Jean-Michel Jarre played an epic gig on New Year's Eve to see in 2020. It was a trailblazing live-streamed concert set in the virtual environment of Paris's famous Notre-Dame. The artist himself was actually playing in his nearby studio while his avatar was projected into the cathedral. The setlist took in some of his classics from the cult Oxygene album as well as material from his newest record Electronica and a few special reworks.

Review: If life came down to 'Bar Solitude' then we'd at once be in a lot of trouble and a truly easy going place. Airports aside, drinking in bars on your own is a mixture of frustration and hope. Sean La'Brooy makes the very phrase feel like it couldn't do more to invite you in, and pick up the tab. A jazz-inflected slice of late night ambience.

In all honesty the rest of the EP doesn't let track four down. You can pick between the wet shuffles of 'Triplet Falls', the pseudo acid house beauty that is 'Northcote Winter Solstice', the deep and timbre-filled immersive dive that is 'Thank You For Everything' (in the running for best use of guitars with synth on a chill out track), or either the post-rock or glittering chimes of 'Splash'. The point being it's all going to go your way.