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Live
Ame
Innervisions
2012-05-07
Frank Wiedemann and Kristian Beyer are celebrating 10 years of collaborating as duo Âme, and this collection of exclusive remixes seems a fitting way for the house act to provide a showcase of their sounds as stands in 2012. Their diversely-influenced house sounds have been touched by jazz, funk, soul and Detroit techno, heard the world over. Âme Live offers a retrospective of their work, but given a new twist of being freshly remixed. There’s early records on Sonar Kollektiv, later works on Innervisions and unreleased material in a continuous mix that captures their dynamic club sets.
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Galaxy Garden
Lone
R & S Records
2012-05-19
Lone came of age with his first release for seminal dance music label R & S Records. The Manchester producer who confirmed his reinvention of styles from to a blend of 1990s old skool rave and forward-thiking electronic with Coreshine Voodoo, now develops his style on Galaxy Garden. His refreshed ethereal sound with layer-upon layer-of intertwining bleeps and beats make for melodic bliss or inventive dancefloor fillers.
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Rays
Coppe' + Nikakoi
Mango + Sweetrice Records
2012-04-23
The artist often dubbed the Legendary Godmother of Japanese Electronica Coppe’ has teamed up with Georgian producer and filmmaker Nikakoi (WMF Records, Laboratory Instinct) for her latest album – her 14th in a career spanning 17 years. The latest entry in her remarkable body of work is also given a special release in the form of a limited edition, dual format boxset named Coppe’ In A Bloc – the CD version packaged with a Lego-shaped USB memory stick with three hours of audio and video as a treat for fans.
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Memory
Lazer Sword
Monkeytown
2012-04-30
Lazer Sword’s first release on Modeselektor’s label Monkeytown echoes their bosses’ varied big beat electro stylings with a nod to hip hop. Dou Antaeus Roy (aka Lando Kal) and Bryant Rutledge (aka Low Limit) may have moved on from living together in San Francisco to relocate to Berlin and Los Angeles respectively, but they continue to produce music together via online collaboration and adaptation to differing timezones. Perhaps that is why the resulting album – Memory – has such disparate tunes. It’s no bad thing as their influences, while experimental at times, still pack a mighty punch or pull you into their deep grooves.
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Reform Club
Claro Intelecto
Delsin
2012-04-16
The deep house and techno soundscapes of Claro Intelecto have not been given a full length release since 2008’s Metanarrative, his second album that is held in high regard. The Mancunian has links to old skool rave having completed a sound recording course at Spirit Studios where 808 State created their 90 album, but he’s embarked on finding a more soulful, measured sound which soothes and excites in equal measure. It’s an inviting and warm LP which beckons you in, then engulfs you with its subtle intricacies.
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EFUNK
Soul Clap
Wolf + Lamb
2012-04-20
Eli Goldstein AKA Elyte and Charles Levine AKA Cnyce are Soul Clap, and their EFUNK album aims to represent all their musical exposure over the years – particularly their 1990s pop sensibilities . Born in Boston, USA, they chose Miami to create their retrospective album that looks to the future having already worked with DJ Harvey, Little Dragon, Metronomy and Robert Owens. Using members of the Wolf + Lamb family to add their zest to the productions, the result is an inventive range of tunes, though it skirts around finding a solid groove.
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Feorm
Feorm
Fen Tiger
2012-04-09
Locking yourself away from the world in a barn won’t win you many friends but, if you’re a member of Norfolk instrumentalist band Feorm, you will be able to emerge back into civilisation having captured your inner spirit. That is what this free-thinking act have achieved with their eponymous debut which brings together their love of post rock, post punk, 60s Birtish psychedelia and krautrock into a largley improvised album that evolved from jamming in a barn.
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The Isolated Rhythms of...
Ukkonen
Uncharted Audio
2012-04-23
The Finnish producer known only as Ukkonen is a man of mystery who, despite a background in classical composition and no interest in dance music, found his output supported by esteemed DJs such as Agoria, Ame, Colin Dale and Norman Nodge. He went on to remix for Patten and produced mixes that were more reinventions of classic Detroit techno than DJ sets. Now he’s produced debut album The Isolated Rhythms of… which disregards any kind of house or techno conventions in favour of his own unique style. The result is five tracks: two coming in at nearly 10 minutes and three 16-minute marvels.
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Free Treats vol. ii
OWSLA
OWSLA
2012-03-14
All in all, the release is pretty good. There are no blow-your-brains-out-holy-shit jams but its free so I won’t complain. OWSLA is definitely the place to be for American electro/dubstep and this release showcases the electro side of things more prominently. It is great to get a look at some of the lesser known artists on the roster and see the current state-of-things.
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Both Lights
AU
The Leaf Label
2012-04-02
AU are Portland, Oregon duo Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka who have moved to The Leaf Label for their third album release as they attempt to capture the energy and vibrancy of their live shows in their recordings. Wyland developed AU into a band due to touring needs, bringing drummer Valatka on board full time for Both Lights to create a stripped-back sound that is just as powerful as his densely-layered previous release Verbs.
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