Back catalogue: Experimental/Electronic

Review: Berlin Atonal returned two years ago from a long hiatus, 23 years to be exact. After three tremendous festivals this decade, they now present us with their first recordings since 1984. These particular ones from the 2014 edition. Cabaret Voltaire (in this incarnation featuring only Richard H Kirk) was a true highlight and contributes "Microscopic Flesh Fragment" and "Universal Energy". One half of Demdike Stare Miles Whitaker went solo, presenting his truly unique take on techno, and the slow burning attitude of "Vagabond No. 7" is evidence of this. New Zealand's Fis also appears; rather uncategorisable as always on "Dist CL (Atonal Version)." On the third disc we have Northern Electronics main man and modern auteur Abdulla Rashim presenting two commissions from his captivating atmospheric set that year. Limited to 700 copies.

Review: "Tracks play out like beatless symphonies of wayward folk music who's basement transmissions have been intercepted from the ether; a stirring limbo of grotty emotions that inspire and conflict in equal measure. Portals into zones of sampladelic oddities, haunted vocals and scatty euphoria that is collectively driven by an (un)willingness to straddle familiar pastures." Firnis DC certainly paint a pretty vivid picture of their latest album, on which things are stripped back to the basics, allowing each individual element to breathe properly. This space really works, creating the sensation of endlessness in sound, and a depth of ideas that you can fall through, slowly descending into a world of strange post-rave ambience, looking up at fluffy clouds passing overhead the morning after that night before.

Review: Originally released digitally in 2013, Pink collated a series of 12" releases from Kieran Hebden issued over an 18 month period on his Text label. Hebden and record club and subscription service Vinyl Me, Please have teamed up to give Pink a double vinyl release for any Four Tet fans that weren't quick enough to nab those 12"s at the time. There is plenty of classic Four Tet to be had here too. "Jupiters" experiments with swung garage beats in an unmistakably UK Bass style, while "128 Harps" is a whipcrack MPC workout given his light melodic touch and "Peace On Earth" is a beatless 11 minutes of analogue kosmische. But it's the centrepiece of Hebden's Fabriclive mix, the brilliantly moody "Pyramid", and the loose limbed jazz-house of "Pinnacles" that really set this album apart from his other long-playing efforts, two examples of timeless dance music which demonstrate why after nearly 15 years in the game Hebden is only improving with age.

Review: Released back in 2003, Rounds was the third LP from Kieran Hebden as Four Tet and perhaps the first long player that widely established him as a pioneering voice within electronic music. Though it doesn't feel like a decade since it was released, Domino celebrate the album's tenth anniversary in requisite fashion here, reissuing it in double LP format and slipping in a CD of Four Tet performing live in Copenhagen in 2004. Listening back now, it's easy to understand why Rounds is viewed as an early classic in the Four Tet canon, transferring his love for free jazz records to a beat template that's more palatable on the ear (Fact pickers might want to know that Hebden recently revealed to Pitchfork the LP was made entirely from samples) "She Moves She" still sounds absolutely haunting too!

Review: While the mythical The Future Sound Of London duo are usually associated with the late 80s and early 90s wave of techno and acid house, they two producers haven't exactly been quiet over the last five years. Their original material is what made them famous, larger than life personalities within the electronic music world but, over the last five years, their Environment series have taken developed - and even matured - their style significantly. That's because they're free to experiment here, just as they did back in the golden years of club music, except that they're now doing this without the restriction of 4/4 patterns, Roland drum machines of acid baselines. The sixth volume of Environment is is a work of beauty, an all-out journey into the deepest reaches of electronica, downtempo, and and drone. Seen through the lens of two veritable pioneers of modern, experimental music. Don't miss it.

Review: Since the mid 2000s, veteran ambient duo Future Sound of London has been doing their own thing, occasionally dropping a new installment in their Environments series of albums. This edition - 6.5 - is their second of the year, and continues the pair's tradition of blending trippy elements to create soundscapes that veer from creepy iciness (the melancholic "Some Degree of Sanctuary"), to mystical ambient dub ("Something Approaching Happiness"), via deep space explorations ("Amplification of Intelligence"), and electronic psychedelia ("Halodule"). While they've arguably sanded down their rougher and weirder edges over the years, FSOL are still capable of crafting distinctive downtempo music that's as hallucinogenic as it comes.

Review: To say that The Future Sound Of London are legendary would be an understatement. Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain continue to stupefy and amaze with this fifth chapter in the Environments series, this time allegedly exploring the space and dimensions after death. That might sound a little gloomy, but the music itself is actually surprisingly funky and upbeat. The opener itself, "Point Of Departure", is a gorgeous slap-bass beat track backed with some stupendous female vocal chops. There's a bit of everything across the thirteen tracks, such as the eerie soundscapes of "Beings Of Light", or the break-ridden lo-fi jam that is "Somatosensory". These guys have never stopped and they still mean business. Recommended.

Review: The legendary Future Sound Of London have finally started dropping their Environments series on vinyl format, which will no doubt please the countless numbers of FSOL junkies out there! These sessions, the present title being the penultimate in a series of five, have been long sought after and they have been pivotal in shaping the sound of today's electronic dance music. Fifteen tracks in total here and the interesting thing about this album is the fact that it can be heard either as single tracks or as one developing and morphing wall of sound. All but one of these tracks, "Murmurations", are from way back and haven't seen the light of day, so get listening and indulge yourself in some pioneering sounds!