featured releases
(3024) CD & 3LP
Martyn holds the brightest torch for the crew of producers orbiting around the dubstep/techno axis. His now-legendary remix of TRG’s “Broken Hearts” was one of 2008’s hilights, regardless of your sub-genre preferences. Released on his own 3024 imprint, Great Lengths is great indeed – after Burial, Martyn has established a new direction for the dubstep producer as album-oriented artist. Much of the record operates in a netherworld between dubstep & straight up minimal techno; 130 bpm 4-to-the-floor kicks pin down glacial sub-bass movements that usually swell below melancholy arrangements. Features the sweet jam “Vancouver”.
3 June 2009 by Chris Long
| Electronic
(Mute) CD, LP coming soon
After two years hibernating under the glacial underworld that was fused by Silent Shout, The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson returns with a solo record that is just as ethereal. Departing somewhat from the dance floor grooves that slithered through The Knife’s last album, Andersson’s solo debut is a more minimal headphone affair, boasting spacial tones that reverberate & loom amidst the album’s broad depths. In turn, Fever Ray is a project of acute resonance, perception and mood; stripped down & intimate with its eerie imposition. This is the subsequent chapter to those who carried Silent Shout beyond the dance floor.
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26 March 2009 by Tara Campbell
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
(Warp) CD & LP (which comes with a free CD copy!)
Mark Pritchard’s many guises run the gamut of contemporary electronica’s different molds, but with his latest offering as Harmonic 313, Pritchard manages to comment on bass culture’s current electronic impact with poignant accuracy. When Machines Exceed… is littered with dubstep, crunk & plodding post-Dilla hip-hop-scapes, all refined with immaculate sound composition & production. A pleasant surprise, this should do well for fans of Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73 & Madlib.
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26 March 2009 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic
(Creaked) CD
A sneaky little affair from this Swiss crew, who’ve collaborated with Victoria’s own Hrdvsion. Larytta take basic laptop pop composition & jiggle it around a bit – think Hot Chip with funny accents & minus the arena-sized bangers. “Ya-Ya-Ya” is a strange but affecting mash of melancholy vocals & lyrics with hi-energy B-More-ish club vibes. “Bauch Amp” is robo-organic one minute & then hooky-as-hell hilarious chorusing. Lyrically, these dudes are tongue in cheeky, with hilarious babbles about “when we make love girl“ & “I am driving a car. I am driving a car.“ (wtf!?) “Wonder Vendor” opens with perplexing phrasing, but once the rhythms kick in, it makes sense & the picture of perfectly imperfect digital pop becomes clear. There’s much here, from Beach Boy-isms (“Love Love Odessey”) to Congotronic jam-outs (“Voodoo Things [Difficult Lee]”) & nimble electro-bangers (“Spoiled Kids”). A nifty find eh?
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5 February 2009 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
(Studio 1/Kompakt) CD
Last year brought the complete collection of Wolfgang Voigt’s material as GAS; 2009 brings us a reflection on his pivotal Studio 1 releases. Released in mysterious 12” title-less coloured sleeves & out of print on CD since 2000, Studio 1 was Voigt’s pre-minimal techno venture that pretty much re-defined what the genre could do. Much of what’s here will be sonically familiar to those in touch with contemporary electronic music, but at the time of their release in the mid 90’s, these dub-influenced framings of ticks, sucks, skips & pops were startlingly skeletal. Artists from Matthew Dear to Ricardo Villalobos owe a huge debt to these blueprints. In conjunction with his re-issued GAS output (originally released around the same time), and subsequently positioned with his founding of Kompakt (arguably the most influential label in contemporary techno), the release of Studio 1 should hopefully properly re-align Voigt’s status in the annals of electronic music with credited influential peeps like Richard D. James, Jeff Mills & Daft Punk.
Best listened to on headphones or extremely loud on your stereo.
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5 February 2009 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic
Yes, we’ve expanded our selection of techno, house, electro & dubstep. Nothing crazy — we’re tiny y’all — but ya know, we’ve got a separate section & some decent titles in on LP. Here’s a list of what showed up yesterday… for audio samples, visit Boomkat – they’re pretty extensive.
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20 January 2009 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic
(Dial) CD & 2LP
Better late than never? This 2008 release needs some recognition… Sten aka Lawrence runs Dial Records, the label responsible for brilliant releases from both Pantha Du Prince & Efdemin over the last 18 months. The Essence is soothing & simple in execution, employing eerily familiar rhythms & tones, all laced with subtle melancholia that keeps this feeling human each time you venture into it’s deep blue waves. A sleek house excursion that often recalls the dark atmospherics of The Knife’s Silent Shout.
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20 January 2009 by Chris Long
| Electronic
Brian Eno called this little device “essential”. Enough said.
To the delight of everyone who picked up the first Buddha Machine, FM3 are back with 9 new tape loops to let you hone in on or lose track of time to. The new model comes with a pitch wheel (!) which kinda means that those 9 loops are actually an infinite amount of loops.
For those not in the know, this little box has its own lil’ speaker that plays 1 of 9 different ambient tape loops. They vary in vibe from classic sounding drones to quirky plinkety-plonk piano sounds to some welcome rhythmically-oriented sketches. There’s an rca-out for those that feel like broadcasting on a higher quality system.
Totally cool gadget with hours & hours of rewarding sonic adventuring at your disposal.
13 December 2008 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic
(Wagon Repair) CD & 2LP
Now stationed in the techno mecca of Berlin, Montrealer Scott Monteith has chipped a distinct pattern out of dub’s storied lineage. His career has been a dichotomy of sorts to date, juggling his own take on post-Basic Channel dub techno with a future-purist strain of classic skanked-out dub. As the title indicates, Roots & Wire maintains this path. Opening with “Rise Again”, the esteemed chants of Paul St. Hilaire litter a classic dancehall dub track; he blesses the sparse, echo chamber scape with energy & soul. The paced ventures are great, but when Deadbeat hones in on the dancefloor, Roots & Wire really opens the meditative channels. “Xberg Ghosts” is flawless textbook dub-techno; familiar delayed chords whisper around, finding ground in rhythmic basslines. And then the kick & clap drops & you’re sucked down the vortex of techno-hypnosis. “Deep Structure” & “Sun People (Dub Divisionaire)” follow this same brilliant form of spectral lures inside of throbbing, undeniable rhythms. Turn it up loud.
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5 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic
(Warp) CD & LP
So far, these NY hipsters have tap danced in the chasm between spaced-out tribal-psych meanderings & arty synthetic pop. But on Saint Dymphna, Gang Gang Dance congeal around their fondness for hip-hop, house & Eno with a fizzy, fresh outcome. The new material twinkles in technicolour, devouring stuttering grime beats, phasing synths, Animal Collective manic sound environments & striking melodicism. Just skip directly to “Prince” to have your mind blown: UK grime MC Tinchy Stryder creeps out of a Pink Floyd-esque cloud of psychadelia & faster than you can say Anti-Pop Consortium, you’ve got yourself one of 2008s weirdest/catchiest hip-hop tracks. “Inners Pace” is part loping dubstep (think Burial in a k-hole) & part electro-drum machine workout. “House Jam” feels like Kate Bush fighting with Digitalism. But make no mistake: Gang Gang Dance feel no gravity toward the past; Dymphna is the patron saint of hybrid future-pop. Totally, completely, utterly fresh.
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3 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
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