12th Isle Vinilo y CD

Review: Fresh from showcasing some of the buried treasure within Vasilu Stepanov and Vlad Dobrovolski's work as SAD, Glasgow 12th Isle crew has decided to deliver something undeniably fresh: a debut EP from Toronto scene stalwarts Cosmic JD and Jersua Leao as Bruxula. The EP is pitched as being sited 'somewhere between the dancefloor and the living room', showcasing an attractive fusion of electronic and acoustic instrumentation as well as Leao's Brazilian vocals. On side A the pair smother a warming, laidback mid-tempo groove with echoing jazz guitar and evocative vocals ('Pala Mo'), before delivering some woozy ambient stargazing in the form of the inspired 'A X'. Over on the flip, they bounce between Dubtribe-goes-ambient techno, slow-motion deepness ('The Bird on the Hell'), spacey ambient jazz ('Dark Farfisa') and meandering, melancholic ambient ('JD's Outerlude').

Review: Scottish textural experimentors 12th Isle venture across the pond once more, with the label's founder Stewart Brown topping up its exquisite techno-tropical fold for an exclusive look-in to his music made between 2015-2020 (hence the name). A combo of hardware and live-drummed dribblings makes for what might classify as an electroacoustic album but without the usual pretensions, as each track from 'How's Life' to 'Westway' trudge through a million different disparate scrapes and clanks, which each nevertheless retain enough of a similarity to each other, within their difference, to form a part of the same soundbath. The album is also something of an allusion to London living, with many of its rhythmic luminaries (such as multi-rhythmic maestro Pike Ogilvy and fellow 12th Isle affiliate Vague Imaginaries) also in tow.