Back catalogue: Experimental/Electronic

Review: Detach Recordings is proud to present their third EP, 'In Order To See' by Nekyia. Following releases on re:st, UVB-76 and Voidance Records, the Italian producer further explores his introspective sound, joining the dots between experimental psychedelia, dark ambient and post-drum&bass. Opening with the heavy, drone-driven 'Meta' and 'Leave Your Flesh Behind', the pace soon quickens with 'Breaches', a driving 170bpm collaboration with Books (re:st, Detuned Transmissions). The pressure increases on the B-side with a fierce remix by Sam KDC (Auxiliary, Samurai, Sublunar). The EP closes with 'Form Constants', a 2017 dub unavailable until now.

Review: 1990s electronica duo Neural Network - renowned for their contemporaneity with the likes of Biosphere and Autechre - are currently seeing a large reissues campaign by the samaritans at the label Re:discovery. These 'Excerpts' highlight the bulk of their work made from 1993-1997, which, unlike their albums, didn't gain label / distributor traction at the time. Following up part one of the EP series that focuses on the period 1993-1995, these two cuts are the dreamiest cream of that year's ream. 'Brain-State-In-A-Box' is an unusual and almost creepy acid tune perhaps drawing on the 'jokey' presentation of tracks by the likes of AFX or BoC, while 'Modernite Part III' functions as a minimalistic, arpy, electro-bossa-nova reminiscer for deep-sea plungings.

Review: The work of 1990s German electronic group Neural Network is titularly apt for the times. The mood around public-facing AI like ChatGPT and DALL-E has aroused much anxiety and curiosity of late, and they're only the tip of the iceberg. Surprisingly enough for new listeners, though, they'll find that the work of Neural Network - renowned for their contemporaneity with the likes of Biosphere and Autechre - is serene compared to the current mood of AI furore. These 'Excerpts' highlight the bulk of their work made between 1993-1995, which, unlike their former albums, didn't gain label / distributor traction at the time.

Review: Lewis and Void take themselves out of their own stylistic realms on this Full-On album in order to explore new and unique collaborative worlds. They are both known for their work on Editions Mego and for pushing noise, abstract and ambient boundaries, seeking out their own voices in the extreme ends of the spectrum. They fire ideas back and forth at one another here in order to find a dialogue with their tools - guitars, synths, euro rack modular systems, voices, samples and outboard processing. It is brutal and playful in equal measure with wild new shapes, sounds and textures coming at you thick and fast.

Review: Two key pushers of New York tactile ambient-techno, Anthony Naples and DJ Python, here present a fittingly named compilation (and the third in the series) curating only the best found in that style and scene: 'Air Texture VIII'. Spurred on by a cost of living crisis in Manhattan, areas further afield in neighbouring Brooklyn have become much more central to artists such as Beta Librae, Downstairs J and 5AM, spurring their rise and that of producers like them. Don't miss this important chronicling of the scene, which still unfolds in real time.

Review: Secret Circuit's Eddie Ruscha and Rub N Tug's Thomas Bullock joined forces as Laughing Light Of Plenty for an EP back in 2008, and followed it up with an album on Whatever We Want Records in 2010 which largely got lost in a warehouse stock malfunction. Now Emotional Response are doing the right thing and giving the record a second airing under the duo's alternative alias The Naturals, and it's not hard to see why they wanted to do the reissue. Loose and funky, but also deliriously psychedelic and indebted to the 1970s golden era of songwriting, this is a quintessential Emotional record if ever we heard one.

Review: Istanbul born, Berlin and Copenhagen based artist Nene H (real name Beste Aydin) had amassed a hardcore following for her slew of early releases. She then finally came good on all her promise with a debut album that blended bass, techno and plenty of her own cultural heritage. Ali arrived in 2021 but only now lands on wax via Incienso. It's an album that processes personal grief and mourning with melancholic melodies, moody grooves and introspective soundscapes that allow for deep thought processing. At times psyched out, at others manic, and always alluring, it's a real triumph.

Review: Japanese maverick Kohei Matsunaga, aka NHK yx Koyxen explores far and wide on this new album Climb Downhill 2. It comes after many years of unusual but ultimately excellent sounds on the likes of Diagonal, DFA, Pan, L.I.E.S. and right back to Mille Plateaux and WordSound. Across 13 cuts he truly gets loose and abstract, mishmashing endless genres and sub-genres into lively cuts that are both dance yet cerebral. His sketch-pad style approach to building sonics makes each tune a live and restless collision of freaky frequencies and squealing synths, busted bass and broken beats.

Review: Lisbon has a lot to answer for in electronic music. Not just a great city to party in (and we mean great), the Portuguese capital has, for a very long time now, been responsible for some of the most cutting edge beats and pieces being made in Europe as a whole. More impressive still, it has managed to build this reputation due to the predominance of location-specific noises. The country's colonialist history means the population is hugely diverse, resulting in a real cultural melting pot, and tunes are a major outlet through which people can express their identity.
A place packed with characters as big as the impact of their respective sounds, Teteu, AKA Normal Nada the Krakmaxter, AKA Qraqmaxter,AKA CiclOFF, AKA Erre Mente, certainly accounts for a good number of those personalities on monikers alone. And, as Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal shows, his tunes are also hard not to notice. At once harsh and yet also delicate, or at least spatial, we run from a plain evil gabber-chip music-fairground ride oddity ('Alive'), to dubby proggy techno ('Da Gamer'), off-kilter pianos and UK funky drums ('Batida 2 Dance'), and snare-bass minimalism ('Nai Na Chi (Na China)'), among other adventures.

Review: Nuke Watch made a big debut on this label back in 2021 and since dropped live snapshots on the likes of NYPD Records and WEEDING but now return with new full-length World's Gone M.A.D.. The ensemble features Chris Hontos and Aaron Anderson and between them, they explore modal jazz infused with dub undercurrents and plenty of rhythmic and electronic invention. Spoken words and warped folk guitar lines, plucked strings and ritualistic dances, whirring machines and drifting sax notes all make this a record that is alive with detail and brilliantly beguiling.

Review: There has been a steady stream of Nurse With Wound material released and reissued recently, with the fathomless creaks of Salt Marie Celeste still looming in our lower registers. Now Dirter are digging right back to the start to present a definitive version of the very first Nurse With Wound venture, originally recorded back in 1980 with a line-up of Steven Stapleton, Jim Thirlwell and William Bennett. Although it wasn't released until 10 years later, this amalgam of tape cut ups, sludge and noise make for a compelling time capsule on the various extremes of sonic exploration that were to come from all three. As you might well expect, there are additional tracks included here you would never have heard before, making this one for long time fans as well as those just beginning their NWW journey.