Reviews

Mark Broom - Acid House

Mark Broom is one of those figures who have bubbled on the periphery, seemingly forever. His latest album is simply entitled Acid House, and though not strictly a collection of acid tracks, it is a selection of music that has one purpose in mind - to make you move. Preferably in a robotic, repet...

Matthew Dear - Black City

I suspect like many people I was hoping for a record in a similarly upbeat vein to Asa Breed when I received Black City - the second full length from Matthew Dear where he uses his own name for more pop-orientated releases. Therefore getting my head around the significantly bleaker beats contain...

PVT - Church with no Magic

A different set of sounds and instruments, and I would hazard a new way of working, has led to a significant development in the sound of PVT as aptly demonstrated on the nausea inducing video for 'Window' (which you can see below). However, for better or worse it's still the same band a...

Altered Natives - Serial Vendetta

Danny Native aka Altered Natives must be a restless soul. It was only a couple of months ago that he released his first full length - Tenement Yard. Rather than being a cohesive opening statement (although it was), it was closer to a compendium of the house orientated tracks he had developed up...

Jimmy Edgar - XXX

Channeling the energy of fellow mid-west native Prince, Jimmy Edgar's second full length album XXX - this time on !K7 - is riotous mix of electronic funk that is at times utterly futuristic and at others like a homage to the Pac Jam Band. Album opening 'Function of Your Love' is a strutt...

Feindrehstar - Vulgarian Knights

Germany’s small town of Jena has not only spawned techno superstars Wighnomy Brothers and the associated Fat Plastics recordstore, but now the seven piece instrumental collective, Feindrehstar. The techno-jazz collective has happily chimed and freestyled their way through their first album Vulga...

Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers

One of the years most highly anticipated releases, Mount Kimbie's debut album Crooks & Lovers goes to show just how far what was once termed 'dubstep' has come. SIgned to Scuba's Hotflush label and preceded by a brace of stunning EP's (and a fair few remixes), Crooks & Lovers feels like...

Various - Seed X

I wish there were more record labels like Seed. From the stylised Italo of Antoni Maiovvi to Sleeps In Oysters’ wind-up pop charm, there is no logic to the direction of the label, just the impeccable taste of label boss ‘Bruce’. This three CD retrospective celebrates 10 years in the game...

Various - Shangaan Electro New Wave Dance Music From South Africa

I was very excited to receive this album. I had read the press release, checked out a whole load of videos and waited patiently for the postman to come knocking. Shangaan is hugely popular type of South African music that originates in Limpopo. It was dominant in the seventies and eight...

Various - Brownswood Electr*c

Brownswood Electr*c is the new compilation from Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings imprint based out of London. The release marks a decidedly different direction from his usual Bubblers outing’s or even the earlier Worldwide Compilations that were all centred in radio friendly, down-tempo,...

Mim Suleiman - Tungi

First album (and CD) release for Gerd Janson's cult label Running Back. Hailing from Zanzibar, now living in Sheffield, Mim Suleiman has been a force on the afro-beat scene for quite a while, but this is her debut album - produced by none other than Maurice Fulton. How she hook up with Fulton ha...

Arandel - In D

I feel hunted when I hear this album, like a walrus being stalked by a polar bear. A visceral creature in the night, this strange evocative LP In D by French producer Arandel conjures up some very dark haunting images. His label calls him a character not an artist, but Arandel being sup...

Alexander Robotnick - The Analogue Sessions

When a video surfaced last year of Alexander Robotnick jamming around his studio with a friend, tweaking and massaging banks of vintage synthesizers and generally having a lot of fun, my interest was, well, piqued. For those of you who are not aware of the one -man italian disco machine, Alexand...

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

How do you successfully combine the breezy elements of romantic-boat-pop and fuse it with hipster folk from the deep dirty boroughs of New York? Just ask Ariel Pink. Pink crafts uniquely bound pop elevated by the foundation of semi-abstract lyrics, to be honest, most of the time I’ve no...

!!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It?