14 days

Review: An Ambassador For Laing sees the Edinburgh-based duo of Marc Dall and Alex Ander further explore their new sound as Dalhous, having previously surfaced with film score influenced gothic pop under the Young Hunting moniker. As Dalhous, the pair has traded in the Young Hunting sound which perhaps sounded a bit too close to Blackest Ever Black label mates Raime for an approach more explicitly concerned with lurching industrial rhythms and sweeping orchestral vistas. Across the eleven tracks on the album, Dalhous explore soundscapes that feel dreamlike yet there's always a sensation matters could take a wholly more foreboding turn at any moment. Standout moments include the bristling instrumental hip-hop of "Who's Here You're Here I'm Here..." and the hazed out finger snaps of "The Cruel Practice Of Art". Overall the album marks another compelling entrant into the Blackest Ever Black canon.

Review: Eccentric Swedish sitcom enthusiast turned producer DJ Seinfeld is hot property right now, so it's hardly a surprise to see him mixing the latest instalment in the DJ Kicks series. It's rather good, all told, offering a good run through of his influences and inspirations whilst also packing plenty of dancefloor punch. Taken in isolation, the Swede's on-point selections (think breakbeat-driven lo-fi house, dreamy deep house, skewed techno and bubbly post-IDM jams) are often deep, melodious, atmospheric and left-of-centre; brought together, the result is a wonderfully fluid and entertaining mix. Highlights include the downtempo bliss of the producer's own "I See U", the bass-heavy breaks/deep house fusion of Rudolf C's "Deep Sea Survivor", the rushing dancefloor mania of FaltyDL and the loved-up goodness of Project Pablo.

Review: In 1979, a year after he co-founded Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono joined forces with acoustic guitarist Takahiko Ishikawa and keyboardist Masataka Matsutoya to record "The Aegean Sea", a gloriously sunny set of jazz-fusion, disco and jazz-funk cuts shot through with Mediterranean musical influences. It's the kind of thing that would now be considered "Balearic", so it's little surprise to see the set getting a European reissue for the very first time. There's much to admire throughout, from the funk-fuelled dancefloor cheeriness of "Reggae Aegean Woman" and Bob James/Jimmy Smith-influenced bliss of "Image", to the sun-baked gorgeousness of "Day Break" and thrillingly jaunty "Atlantis".

Review: To get away from the 'one track after the other' compilation concept K&D checked in at Havlis Super Sound where their man Alex (don of the echo chambers) has a secret dub-laboratory. There K&D did a dub session on the selected tracks to inject some dynamics and life into it. They took two bottles of Highland Park whisky and their old dub-echoes from the cellar and did a smoked-out dub echo-orgy.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Last year, Giegling regular Leafar Legov (real name Rafel Vogel) delivered his first ever full-length release, a low-key tape of lengthy ambient explorations entitled "Never Ending Beginnings". Six months on he returns with "Mirror", his "official" debut album. He sets the tone with the swelling orchestral ambience of "Intro", before brilliantly joining the dots between ambient and jazz on the wonderfully string-laden simmer of "Wave". As the album progresses, Vogel sashays between ultra-deep synth-pop, jazzy downtempo soundscapes, ultra-deep and hypnotic house, revivalist DJ Cam style trip-hop, ambient techno and more seductive, jazz-inspired late-night warmth. In other words, it's a rather fine album from an artist on the rise.

Review: Before Lone became one of Britain's most celebrated kaleidoscopic rave fusionists with the R&S-released Echolations EP and Galaxy Garden LP, he was best known as a beat-maker with a passion for experimental MPC rhythms and dreamy exotica samples. The highlight of this portion of his career was undoubtedly debut album Lemuria, which here gets a deluxe reissue - with new artwork - on vinyl. It still sounds just as magical, dusty, picturesque and otherworldly as it did back then, with brief moments of rush-inducing clarity nestling side by side with jazz-flecked workouts and shimmering, Boards of Canada-go-glitch beatscapes.

Review: The feels you get from looking at the artwork on this one - which it must be said bears more than a passing resemble to the series of pool paintings David Hockney did while living in LA - perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the music. It's laidback, stupidly warm and very much a place you want to be. The gently lilting disco-dub of "Groovin" is one for any outdoor session, while the Silent Dream version on the flilpside is a little more noodly and loved up. Either way, these are two choice cuts.

Review: Seven years since the last Smith & Mudd album kissed our ears... Gorthlek is a long-awaited treat that's landed (by no coincidence we suspect) right at the start of prime sandy season. Picking up where they left us (together and as part of the Bison collective), it's every bit as soul soothing, soft-focus and poised as you'd expect. It's the weight and richness that will grab most fans the hardest; amid the floral pastoral instrumentation on tracks such as "Alrick" and "Gorthlek Part 1", there's real swampy bluesy fusion such as "Mr Coats", there's fiddle-flipping cosmic folk on "Enos" and naked piano striking drama on the closure "Gorthlek Part 2". Instrumental Balearic bliss.