Different Circles Vinilo y CD

Review: For their first release of 2016 on their occasional Different Circles imprint, Mumdance and Logos' have turned to Rob McAndrews' Airhead project. Since setting his stall out with a number of lauded EPs on R&S records a few years back, McAndrews has been relatively quiet on the solo front but kept busy in his capacity as guitarist for James Blake. "Kazzt" is quietly impressive, with trippy electronics, delay-laden percussion hits, out-there textures and fizzing builds creating energy atop a sparse but weighty kick-drum. Mumdance provides the obligatory flipside remix, increasing the low-end pressure and percussive intensity - mostly via machine-gun drum bursts - while retaining the sparse weirdness of McAndrews' original.

Review: The first artist album to be released on Mumdance and Logos' Different Circles imprint is from Chevel. The Italian producer (Dario Tronchin) presents his most focused and realised vision on the Always Yours LP, serving up some textural, abrasive, industrial edged and UK influenced perspectives. A lot has changed since his early releases on labels like Stroboscopic Artefacts where he created his brand of ethereal techno. From the contorted techno of dynamic opener "The Call", to the bass heavy sludge of "Bullet" or "Arp 2600" to moments of jagged/angular IDM like "Data Recovery", Tronchin's sonic realisations prove they've certainly reached another level in his career.

Review: Since his last solo album dropped six years ago, James "Logos" Parker has spent much of his studio time collaborating with fellow Tectonic alumnus Mumdance. Fittingly, the latter makes a brief appearance on "Imperial Flood" - on the high-octane, mind-altering madness of "Zoned In" - but otherwise the album is the solo Logos set we've been craving for some time. It sees Parker saunter between moody, unsettling ambience, psychedelic electronica, spaced-out experimental soundscapes (see the clandestine "Lighthouse Dub"), and the kind of hard-to-define workouts whose hard-edged rhythmical pulse plays second fiddle to atmospheric electronics and intergalactic modular noise. In other words, it's Parker veering away from the dancefloor with impressively out-there results.

Review: After their first few outings, which included the efforts of Mumdance and Logos, Different Circles are back with their third release, this time an EP from Rabit (Soundman Chronicles) and newcomer Strict Face; the latter has only put out a handful of tunes to date. Bass wizard Rabit dominates the A-side with "Tearz", an aptly moody experimentation into piano keys, sparse bursts of noise and percussion - perhaps the oddest tune form the man yet! Strict Face comes through with the beat-heavy, hip-hop-leaning "Into Stone", followed by a dubbier, beatless version from Widows. Enticing and fresh.

Review: Raime are one of those outfits that have kept us intrigued and excited since they first appeared on our shelves. That was way back in 2012, when the boundaries of house, techno, bass and industrial were re-merging to form the start of a 'post' aesthetic to the UK hardcore continuum. Joe Andrews, Tom Halstead, and the more recently added Valentina Magaletti, have produced different EPs operating uder different vibes, but their fundamental vision hasn't shifted all too much. In short, they're about dark and cavernous structures that permeate all corners of the electronic music spectrum, often executed with a distinctly 'dubby' feel. This new EP for Mumdance and Logos' Different Circles imprint, Am I Using Content Or Is Content Using Me?, indirectly references the post-truth world we live in, but also successfully encapsulates a new, more minimalistic sound from the trio. In particular, "Our Valleys Are Always Uncanny" lingers in mid-air, spewing out subtle infusions of drums at every turn, while the excellent "The Nourishment Cycle" wastes no time in going for an all-out tribal experiment, and the following "Real People, Not Actors" builds on that with some fine poly-rhythmic work in the finest of London traditions.