Anders Ilar "Sworn"

Artist: Anders Ilar
Album: Sworn
Label: Level
Release date: 9 May 2008
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno
RIYL: Efdemin, Ellen Allien, Isolée

---

Tracklisting:
01. Hillside
02. Colors Of Rain
03. Icarus & Pegasus
04. September Nights
05. Made For Us To Love
06. Imaginary Trees With Silver Leaves
07. Tomorrow Never Came
08. Can't Force A Tree To Grow
09. Path To The Sky
10. Brokenhearted
11. Lakeside
Total running time: 78' 22"

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[Anders Ilar - Open MySpace page]

"Minimal techno albums have a propensity for using nearly the entire available 80 minute runtime of the compact disc. Deep immersion is a prerequisite to fully appreciating the nuances of a meticulously wrought, long-form minimal groove. But the beauty of minimal is its versatility; use it for background music and it polishes a room’s atmosphere to the icy, Teutonic cool of a Berlin nightclub; coil up with some headphones and a comfortable chair and you fall into it like a dream; and of all the musical idioms regarded as synergistic with drugs, minimal techno is the most unsung.

An on-form Anders Ilar metes out 79 minutes of wan, hyperborean micro-tech and svelte minimal in his latest full length, his fifth, Sworn. The first track, Hillside, sets the tone with melancholy, pelagic strings floating dreamily above a deep bass hook and a mid tempo 4/4 kick drum. A seesawing processed keyboard loop lolls into the spectral reverberating ether. Delay-soaked bleeps stutter sublimely in phase with the beat but at slightly unstable intervals. Eight minutes passes too fast. Colors of Rain, the second track, evocatively and aptly titled, mines similar territory but is busier with flickers of snare drum and hi-hat fulgurating in counterpoint to an epic, meandering, minor key keyboard solo that slips into different tonal shades courtesy of minutely shifting filter envelopes. The attention to detail Ilar exerts on tracks like this is staggering, following the lively percussion around the keyboard and pulses of bass is a demanding task. Icarus and Pegasus recalls Martes era Murcof. A ghostly piano refrain sweeps through the track; notes slur and tug on each other, teasing your ears with their peculiar texture, and land slightly off the timing of the clinical beat. Low in the mix but streaked with reverb are synth tracers flying through a hooky coda and glitching out. Sampled 50s dialogue dissolving in soft static conveys you to the album’s crucial fourth track, September Nights. Muted, crackling spangles of feedback garnish this sweet emotive pair of bass and synth loops that play lambently back and forth. It’s the most minimal track on the album and it’s my personal favorite. When the liquid piano comes in its ping pong delayed patter wobbles like a little wave and will thrill anyone infatuated with Pantha du Prince’s recent album on Dial. September Nights is unaccountably expressive; it feels sad but hopeful, sort of recalling the downcast euphoria that Burial shot for with Untrue. Absolutely timeless.

This expressiveness unfolds like a silent narrative throughout the album. On Imaginary Trees, the sixth track, Ilar redeploys some more beautiful twining keyboard and jumps between major and minor keys with the clarion rattle of an electronically stretched hi-hat mediating and oozing the first wintry isolation and then cool vernal shade. The last three songs, Path to the Sky, Brokenhearted and Lakeside, are a departure from the musical paradigm of the previous eight. Brokenhearted is a straightforward piece of sinuous house, its mix is a little weaker than the rest of Sworn but it eschews the direct and obvious payoff of a blinding melodic hook for a complex weave of texture and rhythm that gradually gains currency with listens. Lakeside would be at home on a pop ambient compilation with its dense sonic gauze but tacks away from the Kompakt aesthetic with a propulsive Detroit bass and vaguely menacing synths. Masterfully executed." [experimusic]

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Four Tet "Ringer"

Artist: Four Tet
Album: Ringer [EP]
Label: Domino
Release date: 21 April 2008
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno
RIYL: Pantha Du Prince, Efdemin, Lawrence

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Tracklisting:
01. Ringer
02. Ribbons
03. Swimmer
04. Wing Body Wing
Total running time: 31' 33"

---

[Four Tet - Open MySpace page in a new window]

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[Four Tet - Smile Around The Face - Video Clip]

---

[Four Tet - She Moves She - Video Clip]

"Four Tet returns with four tracks of techno (not techno). The Ringer mini album is a 32 minute, four-track excursion into the kind of wide-open spaces you might find if you set out to make techno with an afrobeat/krautrock sensibility.

Ringer locks together gloriously rich synthesizer arpeggios; ‘Wing Body Wing’ slips from crisp clusters of disco percussion to Steve Reich polyrhythms; and in between are another two euphoric ripples of sound, ‘Ribbons’ and ‘Swimmer’. These are tracks that make you think of Berlin – Dakar – Detroit - but they could only have been made in London. All four are headphone epics, but are mixed in such a way you know you have to hear them at Plastic People or The End.

The techno heartbeat comes from Kieran Hebden’s regular DJ residences over the last couple of years – but also from his ongoing collaborations with legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid. Whether in the studio or live, Kieran and Steve often click into the kind of deep 4/4 grooves that can depart in any direction with a little adjustment.

Ringer carries that minimal pulse over into Four Tet, and while Kieran’s trademark recuttings of jazz breaks may be less in evidence, his feel for harmony and melody is, as always, unmistakable." [Domino]

[Kudos to nodata.tv for this link.]

[Download.Buy]
[password: no-datta.blogspot.com]

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Clark "Turning Dragon"

Artist: Clark
Album: Turning Dragon
Label: Warp
Release date: 28 January 2008
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Experimental
RIYL: Mouse On Mars, Vitalic, Basement Jaxx

---

Tracklisting:
01. New Year Storm
02. Volcan Veins
03. Truncation Horn
04. For Wolves Crew
05. Violenl
06. Gaskarth / Cyrk Dedication
07. Ache Of The North
08. Mercy Sines
09. Hot May Slides
10. Beg
11. Penultimate Persian
Total running time: 46' 35"

---

[Clark - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"Since he first appeared on the scene, in 2001, with his debut album, Clark has systematically upped the stakes with each new release, first by refocusing his sound essentially around electronics and gritty textures with Ceramics Is The Bomb and Empty The Bones Of You, then by refining his template and pushing into darker and dirtier territories with Body Riddle and its companion EPs, Throttle Furniture and Ted. With Turning Dragon, Clark steps up the pace, pushes up the experimentation levels and gets down and dirty on the dance floor.

Recorded in his apartment in Berlin, where Clark has recently moved, Turning Dragon is a much more immediate and incendiary collection, which builds on the momentum of the recent Throttle Promoter EP, yet those expecting a whole album of blasting Dirty Pixie or Kin Griff may be in for a shock. Built from a now familiar pool of processed acoustic sounds, gritty electronics and environmental noises, Turning Dragon is much sharper, more angular than its predecessors. Clark leaves behind the complex refined textural motifs of Body Riddle and casts his attention onto resolutely techno formations. New Year Storm and Volcan Veins, which open the record, demonstrate this shift particularly well. On the former, Clark splatters a heavy beat with caustic squelches and occasional melodic debris, while he blends processed vocals and harsh metallic noises to give the latter an edge that is maintained pretty much thereafter.

For Wolves Crew, Arch Of The North, Mercy Sines and BEG all share with the aforementioned a taste for loud and abrasive sounds, powerful beats and gut-twisting bass. The metallic tones and loose soundscapes of For Wolves Crew are echoed by the contrasted sonic collage of Mercy Sines, which, caught between the vast reverb of its background section and the sturdy rhythmic pattern that are pressed on top, gives out an uneasy claustrophobic feeling, while the dense layers off the heavy duty BEG eventually dissipate to reveal the quite magnificent spreads of Penultimate Persian, occasionally reminiscent of Autechre, especially in its middle section.

On Truncation Horn, Clark adopts a cut’n'paste technique which evokes label mate Jackson, but the addition of a guitar-driven groove gives the piece a much funkier twist, while Violenl and Radiation Clutch are resolutely darker and more oppressive. Clark seems to accentuate the corrosive aspect of his music by reducing it to more minimal forms. Deprived of their natural breathing space, these two tracks recoil into some of the most inhospitable territories he has visited. The Berlin techno influence is never more obvious than on the latter, where Clark applies vast reverbs to blur the boundaries of the backdrop and pushes the linear beat to the forefront. Only Hot May Slides seems somewhat too straightforward and well behaved to fit in properly here.

Fuelled by a much rawer and more spontaneous energy than its predecessors, Turning Dragon puts on record what Clark has been experimenting with on stage and allows him to expand further his panoply of moods. It is certainly his most immediate record. Turning Dragon at time craves the intricate detailing of Body Riddle but the sheer energy of the music largely compensates and contributes to make this Clark’s most entertaining release." [themilkfactory]



[Link removed at the request of the label.Buy]

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Lawrence "Lowlights From The Past And Future"

Artist: Lawrence
Album: Lowlights From The Past And Future
Label: Mule Electronic
Release date: 10 June 2006
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/House
RIYL: Superpitcher, DJ Koze, Pantha Du Prince

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Tracklisting:
01. Lawrence "Friday's Child"
02. Lawrence "Spark"
03. Superpitcher "Happiness [Lawrence Remix]"
04. Lawrence "If You Can't Understand"
05. Lawrence "Further"
06. Antonelli "The Morning [Lawrence Remix]"
07. Turner "My Aeroplane Mania [Lawrence Remix]"
08. Lawrence "Swap"
09. Lawrence "Lowlights From The Past"
10. Egoexpress "Aranda [Lawrence Remix]"
11. Lawrence "Untitled"
Total running time: 76' 31"

---

[Lawrence - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"Lawrence is an artist best enjoyed patiently over the duration of an album. The more house-bound project of Hamburg's Peter Kersten (whose other activities include friskier dance-floor fare as Sten, abstract hip-hop as Lloyd and slow-core guitar ambiance as Bordeaux), Lawrence productions are characterised by lazy tempos, spacious rhythms, bright bell-like tones and a keen sense of (minor-keyed) melody, fitting neatly into the catalogues of Kompakt and Dial. On albums ‘The Absence of Blight’ and ‘The Night Will Last Forever’ Kersten wore his indie-miserablism on his sleeve, with successive tracks falling like raindrops on a misty windshield: subtle variants on the same, monochromatic model. There's little variation in either pace, mood or basic components used, but wallowing in these grey shadings is joyously indulgent.

His latest release, ‘Lowlights From the Past and Future’, is collection of singles, b-sides and remixes, and what it suffers from in less cohesive programming, it compensates with in quality. His mix of Antonelli's 'The Morning' is worth admission alone: dark grey pads lifted straight from the Twin Peaks theme growl down low while rattled handfuls of chipped china provide the top-end. There's also a pogoing up-down bassline, sparse, functional drums and a melody of fractured rave keys, all seductively moody and gloriously assembled. Egoexpress' 'Aranda' receives similar treatment, moving from gloomy atmosphere into pseudo-acid bounce, where each element is made to seem entirely necessary. His mix of Superpitcher's microgoth anthem ‘Happiness’ makes the concept more elusive than ever, losing the urgency in favour of a nihilistic hopelessness, conjured from dying tape loops, off-kilter chimes and weeping dub tones.

With tracks like 'Swap' and 'Spark' Kompakt have returned the favour, their mournful funk fittingly showing up on mixes by Superpitcher, Michael Mayer and Tobias Thomas, but even they'd be reluctant to feature the adolescent whine of Turner's 'My Aeroplane Mania', left far too intact to excite. 'Lowlights From the Past' is itself hardly a highlight, feeling spare to the point of blandness, while 'If You Can't Understand' left me confused, but these reservations are few and petty, and this collection - like the whole Lawrence back-catalogue - can be highly recommended." [source]

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The Field "From Here We Go Sublime"

Artist: The Field
Album: From Here We Go Sublime
Label: Kompakt
Release date: March 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Trance

---

Tracklisting:
01. Over The Ice
02. A Paw In My Face
03. Good Things End
04. The Little Heart Beats So Fast
05. Everday
06. Silent
07. The Deal
08. Sun & Ice
09. Mobilia
10. From Here We Go Sublime
Total running time: 65' 41"

---

[The Field - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"Every track on the debut album of Axel Willner, the Swedish ambient techno producer behind the Field, feels both buoyant and wholly submerged in something horizon-fat and translucent. Listening to it is like holding your head under heated water with only one iPod earbud attached—vague, blurry, a snub of the eye that makes clarity seem so goddam dull. Look at From Here You Go Sublime’s ten-minute centerpiece, “The Deal.” Placed just after the record goes from its relatively floor-fit starter’s shot—if you can really call anything on From Here ‘floor-fit’—Willner begins to play strange with the moist, hypervisual atmospheres he’s worked up in the album’s first-half. After a stiff bass drum pulse and what sounds like an overworked refrigerator motor whirring, Willner splices in his patented severed vocal loops, and gives it a strangely beatific sense of gravitas. It’s a weightless sound that neglects the retina to the reverb and odd shimmer of senselessness, and it’s just one of ten smothered gems in what is surely a timeless entry in Kompakt’s catalogue.

Of course, not many will be surprised by the Field’s stunning debut record. Hyperbole and instant idolatry have been with him since his debut 2005 single on Kompakt, “Things Keep Fallin’ Down,” the b-side of which saw Willner slicing the Four Tops’ “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and other samples into a gorgeous reinterpretation of laser-guided melodies. With his second single “Sun & Ice,” three tracks from which are included here, it became clear that “Things” was no fluke but instead an introduction to a producer capable of the most perplexingly simple fusions—something again struck home by his scene-stealer on Pop Ambient 2007, “Kappsta.” But even with dance music’s oft-stated reshaping for the home listener and expert full-lengths the last few years from Matthew Dear, Alex Smoke, Lindstrom, Ellen Allien, My My, Gui Boratto, Pantha du Prince, etc., techno often still has a difficult time shaping its furious twelve-inch time cycles into the recline of the full-length. This ain’t an issue for the Field. From Here We Go Sublime may not be an evolution for Willner, but it’s a singular distillation of his talents into one album. Mixing gauzy shoegaze, slippery ambient loops, and two-cheeks-on-the-floor bass drum bounce, the Field offers an idyllic work of startling novelty, and perhaps ‘techno’’s most widely appreciable offering in years.

Evolving with a sense of cohesion and sly foresight that almost belies the album’s inclusion of past singles, From Here We Go Sublime is a success of temporal shifts and shy, first-morning sidesteps in mood akin to the way a day fills itself without your noticing—like how time often gets misinterpreted as its absence, just yesterday I was. . . Everything seems hyper-realistic, both its dances and its doldrums. He gently pokes and subdues, allowing you to forget moments just-gone and back now, but clearer the second time. And yet Willner manages to create something so hypnotic out of a seemingly effortless and basic set of ground-rules—something that’s bound to play to critics of From Here as Willner simply hitting on a good formula and overusing it.

But, more to the point, Willner’s precise reconstruction of old sounds and songs into these new, shimmering forms feels somehow old-hat and startlingly inventive. Both “A Paw in My Face” and “Good Things End” wind their AM gold samples—“Paw”’s coming from Lionel Richie’s “Hello”—around healthy beats in gentle progressions that mount into full-out disco struts, in ways you can’t help but feel Jason Forrest should be studying at short-arm’s length. The samples become rhythmic guitar parts to spell Willner’s exhaust of space, and the songs’ bold, simple beats have to play into their clear atmospheres or give into the expanse. On “The Little Heart Beats So Fast” though, perhaps the album’s most stunning inclusion barring its last, the Field stunts and grunts with his samples in a Perlon sense, adding them into the block of rhythms, hallucinatory, grandiose, and darkly ambiguous. Likewise, “Everyday” makes astral ambient techno out of its referentialism, dissolving just after the 2:30 mark to show you just what you were listening to, RPMs gear-stripped so everything’s clear. But that’s when it really settles into itself, with Willner’s vocal-circles upping the ante on atmospheric glee for the next twelve months.

But looking back at “Kappsta” specifically, it’s clear the Field likes to play the mope sometimes. Opener “Over the Ice”—from last year’s “Sun & Ice” single—chops shards of Kate Bush’s “Under the Ice” into a gale of shoegaze, while “Sun & Ice” puts the same MBV-like touchstones toward creating an elegant, almost sylvan suite of quietude. Near the album’s end, after the slight tidal shift of “The Deal,” “Mobilia” stitches its loops into trim pokes of synthetic strings, powderburst against its peppery drum-patterning—a rarity for Willner—and stretched taut until you hear the clean guitar sheen Willner may have been using all along.

Even given a nine-track familiarity with the Field’s techniques, closer “From Here We Go Sublime” will have you stinking. Starting with a stark tonal reverb like a church organ spilled through dented pipes, Willner’s at his loosest with his samples; his shadow teasing is more overt now, prodding your sense of both collective and personal history, tugging apart one of the more recognizable choruses in music to show you just how much atmospheric bliss he can make of something so naked of novelty. And just after wrinkling them into grandfather clock noises, tock-tock-whoosh, his loops slowly lengthen and uncurl, and at 2:14, Willner opens his hand to the Flamingos and their “sha-bob-sha-bob.” And, if you’re impressed—and you should be—you wonder why you didn’t hear it before. But, with a debut album like From Here We Go Sublime, it’s becoming clear that perhaps the only one intimately concerned with the spatial gospel of these records and sounds we’ve remembered to forget is the Field. And, hell, if he can give us another album so comforting in its creativity every few years, he’s entitled to our amnesia." [source]

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Lost Tapes #2: Autechre

The complete Autechre discography. Get them while they're hot!

That's right people, the complete discography of one of my favourite electronic artists is here. Please note that you will need close to 2 Gigs of hard disk space if you want to go on a download frenzy. Yes, it's about time you ditch those Dido and Celine Dion records that you secretly love and make room for this mammoth collection. ;)

For those of you who don't know Autechre (how could you not? tsk tsk tsk...) I included a short biography, courtesy of Wikipedia. I would recommend that you start discovering Autechre with their early records, instead of jumping straight to their last few albums. My personal recommendations are marked with an asterisk (*).

For those of you who already know Autechre, you might be surprised to find some rarities you hadn't heard before. BTW, what's your favourite Autechre album? As for me nothing can beat "Incunabula", my favourite electronic record of all time. Have fun!

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Bio
"Autechre is an English electronic music group consisting of Rob Brown (born c. 1971) and Sean Booth (born c. 1973), both natives of Rochdale. The group is one of the most prominent acts signed with Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music artists. Some journalists consider Autechre to be a paragon of IDM and one of the driving forces behind its development, though Booth and Brown are ambivalent in relating their sound to established genres.

The two members formed the group in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. They began their career making and trading mixtapes between each other, and gradually moved on to their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR606 drum machine. Since then they have employed a wide variety of electronic instruments to create an evolving style.

Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent (IPA [ɔˈtɛk.ə] — approximately "awe-teh-ker"). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth explains: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name." They are also commonly referred to by the abbreviation "Ae".

Autechre have also recorded under various pseudonyms. One of the duo's earliest recordings was a 12" under the alias "Lego Feet", released in 1991 on Skam Records. The majority of Gescom releases, most of them on Skam, have been attributed to Booth and Brown, among other artists. Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and were responsible for curating the 2003 festival.

Many describe Autechre's music as cold and austere, whereas others perceive a warmth and sentimentality that touches even the most cerebral pieces. Much of Autechre's music has a strong focus on complex rhythm, driving percussion, and meticulous sequencing. Often unusual rhythmic loops repeat and change incrementally, with the music constantly in transition. Sometimes patterns are set against one another, implying several time signatures at once. Later work has been notably experimental and abstract, in contrast to the more club-friendly and conventional early 1990s releases.

Reactions to their music have varied. Many of their tracks contain complex or chaotic rhythms and close harmonies which some hear as random and noisy. Fans of their recent work tend to find the value of their music to lie in its unique fusion of rhythmic and melodic elements, percussive noises being tweaked to sound like they have pitches, and clustered, often inharmonic synthesizer patches implying numerous melodic lines and chord structures simultaneously. A recurring element in Autechre's work is the use of extremely short snippets of sound to create a fragmented, grainy effect.

True to their early techno roots, Autechre use a wide array of analog synths in their production, as well as analog and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, softsynths, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesized sounds. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, SuperCollider and Kyma – amongst others – from 1997 onwards, though it is unclear which are still in use. In 2005, they used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine in their live performances.

Autechre have emphasized that their music-making involves using new techniques on old equipment and old techniques on new equipment, and that their sound comes from combinations of tools and techniques, and "creative routing", more than any single magical machine. This has been the case since their early days, when, for example, they used a Boss delay that had a pitch/trigger input, allowing it to be used as a realtime sampler. When the square wave input it received for determining pitch had resonance added, the pitch would drift between notes in a special way. If the output was mixed back in as a control pitch, it could produce unusual fractal patterns, something that cannot be recreated easily with software, or on an embedded system. Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead.

Autechre sometimes use generative techniques, most notably on Confield and EP7. In response to comments about their unique sound, Autechre argue that given the incredible range of tools available to modern composers, especially in the electronic genres, it is incomprehensible that any band should "sound like" any other band." [Wikipedia]

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[Note1: For accurate tracklistings and jpegs of all the covers have a look on Discogs.]

[Note2: Whilst some of the albums here are no longer available to buy, for those that are for sale you can find them at Warp.]


01. Autechre "Cavity Job" [EP] (1991)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


02. Autechre "Incunabula" (1993) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


03. Autechre "Amber" (1994) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


04. Autechre "Anti EP" [EP] (1994)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


05. Autechre "Basscad EP" [EP] (1994)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


06. Autechre "Anvil Vapre" [EP] (1995)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


07. Autechre "Garbage" [EP] (1995)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


08. Autechre "Tri Repetae" (1995) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


09. Autechre "Chiastic Slide" (1997)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


10. Autechre "Cichlisuite" [EP] (1997) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


11. Autechre "Envane" [EP] (1997)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


12. Autechre "Radio Mix" (1997) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


13. Autechre "LP5" (1998)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


14. Autechre "EP7" [EP] (1999)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


15. Autechre "Peel Session" [EP] [FLAC] (1999)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


16. Autechre "Peel Session 2" [EP] [FLAC] (2001)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


17. Autechre "Confield" (2001)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


18. Autechre "Gantz Graf" [EP] (2002)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


19. Autechre & The Hafler Trio "æo³ & ³hæ" (2003)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


20. Autechre "Draft 7.30" (2003) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]


21. Autechre "Untilted" (2005)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]

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MHV "EP04"

Artist: MHV
Albums: EP04
Label: Konfort
Release date: June 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Techno/Experimental
RIYL: Autechre, Monolake, Aphex Twin

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Tracklisting:
01. Pasaje 0.2 v3
02. Obbservanndddo
03. Finalmente La C De La F
04. Vertebral C. In.
05. Too Fucking Pure
Total running time: 30' 09"

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Short Bio
"Unlike Metaculto, MHV (Miguel Herrera Vega) includes fragility; eternal union and isolation, inclusion; present, past and future evolutions; rational facture; deconstruction and specificity; simplicity and complexity. These rhythms bring him closer to pop mixed with experimental tendencies such as drill n’ bass, abstract hip-hop, IDM, glitch, and so on. Miguel Herrera Vega a.k.a Miguel Meta 21 years old from the atypical and abstract project Metaculto show us with his work a clear example of what we could call music without labels, without classification, geometrically irregular but not at all lacking of meaning or force. Simultaneously, he cleverly and without prejudices includes within his own style different elements from so many but at the same time complementary genres. He thus creates a twisted ultra-futurist amalgam with fantastic structures, oneiric textures, multiple atmospheric layers, microscopic sounds, epileptic rhythms, melodic capsules, cold and endless digital processes and an accurate confection of shades that sometimes become polarized creating a sweety sick opposition feeling, almost always against obviousness." [source]

Review
"Alternate project that unlike “Metaculto” brings us with its particular style closer music; where rhythms, its peculiar micro-hacking, sound layers that recall melodies living inside the heart, devastating beats, sharpened frequencies, stained sequences, unbounded syncope, devastating glitch, merciless program and digitalization hours give us a quick look of its fantastic world.

Fiber optic and cables coming out directly from the brain and forming complicated hanks intertwined with the heart, the eyes looking at the monitor, electronic impulse broadcasting devices, scanned images passed straight forward to the synthesizer, silicon everywhere, cables and interfaces, sparks, short circuit, low-energy, blackout, screen showing error, to roll eyes…endless loop, the machine is taking control again." [source]

[Kudos to Robot for this discovery.]

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MHV "EP 777"

Artist: MHV
Albums: EP 777
Label: Konfort
Release date: September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Techno/Experimental
RIYL: Autechre, Monolake, Aphex Twin

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Tracklisting:
01. 21 Cycles (Ascn)
02. Nothingness
03. Tmp Yr
04. Vrd2
Total running time: 16' 38"

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"An old master in the Ancient arts of beatmaking and sound experimentation, MHV strikes back on No Copy Protection with a new EP filled with fierce rhythms and sonic blasts. Percussions fight each other for the listener’s attention. Subliminally interlaced with the challenging rhythm patterns, sweet melodies keep the whole enterprise from spiraling downwards into darkness. A truly remarkable accomplishment, equal parts music and noise, EP 777 packs more novel ideas than your average MENSA mind." [source]

[Kudos to Robot for this discovery.]

[Download]

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Gescom "A1-D1"

Artist: Gescom
Album: A1-D1
Label: Skam
Release date: 22 October 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid/Abstract/Techno/Experimental

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Tracklisting:
01. A1
02. A2
03. B1
04. C1
05. C2
06. D1
Total running time: 39' 27"

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"Beginning its activities in the early ‘nineties, the shadowy Gescom collective has released material on Clear, Leaf, Chocolate Industries, SKAM, Warp, Worm Interface, and Source labels.

Incorrectly perceived as simply an Autechre side-project, Gescom in fact exists as a platform for a number of aligned artists to work in various different combinations, whilst remaining-otherwise-anonymous. Personnel in Gescom has varied from release to release and even track track. Releases have included 'Minidisc' in 1998 on the Or label, which was reportedly the first ever Minidisc-only release. This comprised of 45 tracks sliced into 88 portions, and encouraging the listener to loop and shuffle at will.

Working members for the minidisc project were Russell Haswell, Sean Booth and Rob Brown. For its split series incarnation, Rob Brown was joined by SKAM DJ Rob Hall (aka Ad Vanz). Gescom continues to operate and shift its identities.

Early Gescom is probably best described as friends of Booth/Brown with production help by Booth/Brown, aka Autechre. Apart from that, the actual personnel seems to vary from release to release or even from track to track. Quote from the Autechre FAQ: "Actually the whole Gescom crew consists of almost 20 people. Sean Booth calls it an 'umbrella-project'."

But there are also a number of releases by a Gescom which is purely Booth/Brown. If it's on Skam they call themselves Gescom regardless of cooperation, it seems.

Gescom is an abbreviation of "Gestalt Communications"." [source]

"A1-D1" is a much more old school affair than anything Gescom have released before, with the opening "A1" employing the kind of fast-edit arrangements favoured by the likes of Secondo, particularly their earlier b-boy aping releases. There's a sample-heaviness here that will come as quite a surprise to ardent Gescom/Autechre followers among you, but play this track once or twice and it'll stay ingrained in your mind for weeks to come. A2 is a more analogue affair with a stripped acid template while B1 returns to sampled matter with a P-funk reduction that sounds like Autechre playing with their samplers - which is probably exactly what it is. C1 is another reduced funk edit with some smart tempo shifts while C2 is an abstract radio mashup in a concrete style while the massive D1 ends the set with an immense mashup of what sounds like Adonis' classic "No Way Back" fucked with good and proper. Sick business - lets hope we don't have to wait another four years eh?" [source]

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Efdemin "Efdemin"

Artist: Efdemin
Album: Efdemin
Label: Dial
Release date: April 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/House

---

Tracklisting:
01. Knocking At The Grand
02. Lohn & Brot
03. Le Ratafia
04. Acid Bells (Album Version)
05. Back To School
06. Stately, Yes.
07. Further Back
08. Salix Alba
09. April Fools
10. Bergwein
Total running time: 71' 51"

---

[Efdemin - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"It slots quite comfortably between albums from Dial labelmates Lawrence and Pantha Du Prince, but Efdemin's red-eyed, late-night take on deeper techno and house (and occasionally, trance) is less about emotion and more about groove. A sophisticated and fluid debut, the Berliner is a self-assured producer who knows what he wants to do. His structures and builds are quite linear, but never too much: the attention to detail and subtle use of contrasts – key changes, unexpected drops, ambient fades – put flesh on the bones. Some opposites are key: the fluid, half-tempo, neo-Detroit stabs versus perky beats on 'Further Back'; the flowing euphoric strings versus chopped, ringing synth on both wonderful former single 'Bergwein' and 'Salix Alba', the latter of which begins as Prescription-sounding padded deep house and ends up twisting into tangled trance. Opposite is the uniform 'Back To School': amid the hypnotic stabs, the slow-rising deep chords match the submerged old-school bassline and delayed drums. It's one of the trackier outings, but stick around for the ambient coda. 'Stately Yes' turns that template inside out: a stripped groove, comprised of dry, spitting drums, odd, prodded bass, a daft vocal sample and one solitary tapped triangle note. The hypno-house of former single 'Lohn Und Brot' still shines, while 'Acid Bells' is the album's dark middle: the ringing bell refrain building into something marvelously menacing. If this sounds a bit too much, you can find solace in the deep strings and bright drums of 'La Ratafia' or the hallucinatory warmth of 'April Fools'. Efdemin's debut and Pantha Du Prince's 'This Bliss' have two things in common: both are tailor-made for that lovely place between dancing and dreaming, and both are two of 2007's best." [source]

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Pantha Du Prince "This Bliss"

Artist: Pantha Du Prince
Album: This Bliss
Label: Dial
Release date: 29 January 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno

---

Tracklisting:
01. Asha
02. Saturn Strobe
03. Walden 2
04. Moonstruck
05. Eisbaden
06. Urlichten
07. White Out
08. Florac
09. Steiner Im Flug
10. Seeds Of Sleep
Total running time: 74' 14"

---

[Pantha Du Prince - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"Black ice is deadly. You don’t even see it across your path, and suddenly you’re sideways. This Bliss is similarly slippery, so tread carefully. While you’re still wondering how a tundra heart can conjure such warm emotions, you may have already gone head over heels.

Tracks like “Saturn Strobe” are a case in point. The rhythmic use of delay, a hallmark of the album’s sound design, creates a blizzard of tapping hats which swarm over an elegiac string melody borrowed from composer Robert Skempton. Between ping-ponging chimes and a warm grooving bassline, Pantha weaves the slow, heavy strings together with squalls of bells and taps. It’s a troubling synthesis, one which causes dissonance between its influences just as it creates dissociation between its elements, which, ironically enough, becomes the problem and the pleasure of the work.

The album flows along beautifully, maintaining its mood throughout, with the tracks first ascending, then intensifying, then dissipating, with the clatter and swarm of delayed percussions hitting in a barrage of sixteenths followed by crystal stillness, then long cascades back into basking loopscapes, like “Asha,” where glassy bells sing and metallic dulcimers bang like stays on masts. Both “Moonstruck” and “White Out” move this bouquet of icicles firmly onto the dancefloor, but while both work, the track’s “anger” remains in inverted commas and is never so convincing or immediately moving as the melancholy that Pantha manages to conjure effortlessly.

The two epics “Urlichten” and “Walden 2” re-appear here after their initial appearance on last year’s majestic Lichten/Walden EP, and although on first listen sound “pasted in,” repeat plays reveal them to be simply two longer parts of a larger whole. Fundamentally, This Bliss’ success as an album rests in its conceptual integrity, the way it moves through ten parts of an arctic season with cool intensity, crafted by an artist successfully extending an idea into an ambitious, ambiguous album as dangerously slippery as it is seductive." [source]

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SuperMayer "Save The World"

Artist: SuperMayer
Album: Save The World
Label: Kompakt
Release date: 17 September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Electro

---

Tracklisting:
01. Hey
02. The Art Of Letting Go
03. Saturndays
04. Superbrain Transmission
05. Us And Them
06. For Luzie
07. The Lonesome King
08. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
09. Please Sunrise
10. Planet Of The Sick
11. Psychoprogs Attack
12. Two Of Us
13. Cocktails For Two
Total running time: 63' 13"

---

"Despite its stark minimalist aesthetic, there’s no denying the underlying sense of humor pervading Kompakt releases. Founded by veterans of the Cologne techno scene, its playful song titles, singsong melodies, and oft-eccentric samples suggest that with age comes an almost child-like compositional approach. Additionally, The Orb, the patron saints of techno absurdity, have a slough of characteristically silly releases on Kompakt. The Orb’s eclecticism, infatuation with dub, and willingness to throw out genre boundaries are a likely reference point for the risk-taking and consistently rewarding Save The World.

Before discussing the music, it’s important to discuss the eye-drawing cover art. The comic book-style cover depicts the two “heroes”, Superpitcher (Aksel Schaufler on his tax forms) and Michael Mayer, in full costumed garb and a space-like setting, with the title encircling a distant planet. It’s a far cry from the dots, blank space, and angular fonts that compose the liners for Kompakt’s Total series. It’s a telling foreshadow, as the sound of Save The World is far removed from minimalism. This is, as the title suggests, a concept album, in the vein of its clear prog rock influences. Complete with interludes, krautrock-inspired jams, and even a semblance of a plot, World is markedly distant from the normal “collection of tracks” style techno album.

After a calamitous intro collage (Hey), Save The World lays a framework with The Art of Letting Go. Immediately noticeable are the full, unclipped, acoustic sampled drums. For most of the album, Supermayer ditch the sparse, over compressed, driving percussion that normally populates their respective solo releases, in favor of a more live and melody-driven sound. The Art Of Letting Go features numerous hallmarks of seventies pop music - funky slap bass, faux-skank guitar, and even horn stabs which sound like they’ve been lifted straight out of War’s L.A. classic Low Rider. Superpitcher’s solo cover of Brian Eno’s glam nightmare Baby’s On Fire is a clear antecedent to this kind of style-mashing. Supermayer do not, however, completely abandon their roots - the song is occasionally overcome by a steady crescendo of reverberated shouts and synths. Think George Clinton jamming with Lee Perry, Sting, and… Michael Mayer and Superpitcher.

Despite blazing a trail firmly off the beaten path, Save The World, still finds room to feature some classic pieces of Kompakt techno on tracks like Saturndays and Planet Of The Sick, though, even the latter features a seductive, pitch-shifted vocal chant amidst its filter sweeps and kick pounds. Dub is another omnipresent specter here, as tracks are frequently punctuated by heavily delayed, distorted, or otherwise processed sound objects. Single Two Of Us, appearing here in a glorious, 10-minute album cut, runs through chimes, bubbly synths, clicks, acidic squelch and flowing pads, each like a separate chapter, or at least different musician in a rather large band.

With Save The World, Supermayer have created a wonderous pastiche of electronic dance music, past and present. From disco to krautrock to techno and beyond, the group has made a concept album, where the concept might as well be how excellent and truly catholic Supermayer are in their influences and compositions. In a year that has seen a number of high-profile Kompakt releases (The Field’s lush From Here We Go Sublime, Total 8), Save The World is the most adventurous, and, perhaps, the best." [source]

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Underworld "Oblivion With Bells"

Artist: Underworld
Album: Oblivion With Bells
Label: Vital
Release date: 15 October 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno

---

Tracklisting:
01. Crocodile
02. Beautiful Burnout
03. Holding The Moth
04. To Heal
05. Ring Road
06. Glam Bucket
07. Boy, Boy, Boy
08. Cuddle Bunny Vs. The Celtic Villages
09. Faxed Invitation
10. Good Morning Cockerel
11. Best Mamgu Ever
Total running time: 57' 51"

---

[Underworld - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

---

[Underworld - Crocodile - Video Clip]

---

[Underworld - Two Months Off - Live In Moscow]

"It's no surprise that there's only a handful of electronic music groups who've been able to stand the test of time by shaping their sounds around both pop and underground music. Chemical Brothers are brilliant at it, but Underworld can lay claim to being the best at it.

Their last record 'A Hundred Days Off' was staked as 'a grower' and it certainly lived up to that theme (if you paid attention for more than three seconds, you'd realise that it was a bloody good album).

With a few days' rest in between projects, minus the anthology, the duo (we wish it was 'the trio') is back with new record, 'Oblivion With Bells'. It's been slated as a journey, but if you've listened to the last few outings, you'd already know that. It's kind of like saying Monopoly is about money.

True to form Underworld tread their own path through modern electronic music tipping a nod to current sounds, styles and production techniques but never afraid to let their song writing and musicianship shine out in this digital world. 'Oblivion with Bells' draws heavily on Rick and Karls’ vast array of musical influences (Nick Drake, Def Mix, Ricardo Villalobos, Can, James Holden, Eno) and experiences performing worldwide to create a truly unique Underworld journey.

The album kicks off like Saturday night with Sven Väth, Simian Mobile Disco and Frankie Knuckles all fighting to get on the decks, then takes you over the flat fields of rural Essex, through Kings Cross with its olympic dreams and piss stained alleys, ending blissed out in a hidden cove in Ibiza.

Epic techno nestles next to frail acoustics, beatific prose next to sharp urban observation, amazing sound texturing mixed with mobile phone recordings, rarely has the Underworld palette been so rich.

You can tell yourself you won't go into this with expectations, that you really want to just listen to what the boys are doing, but you know that no matter what, there's always that little bit of 'I can't bloody wait for this to be in my CD player'.

Neither can we." [source]

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Luke Vibert "Chicago, Detroit, Redruth"

Artist: Luke Vibert
Album: Chicago, Detroit, Redruth
Label: Planet Mu
Release date: 16 July 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid/Techno/Drum 'n' Bass/Hip Hop

---

Tracklisting:
01. Comfycozy
02. Brain Rave
03. Radio Savalas
04. Breakbeat Metal Music
05. God
06. Clikilik
07. Argument Fly
08. Rotting Flesh Bags
09. Comphex
10. Rapperdacid
11. Chicago, Detroit, Redruth
12. Swet
Total running time: 63' 00"

---

"A true veteran of the UK electronic scene, Luke Vibert has, in the last few years, finally gained the recognition he deserves. His first dispatches saw him go from the ambient textures of his debut album as Wagon Christ to a much more acute and varied sound, infused with hip hop, soul, electro, techno, acid house and drum’n'bass. Distilled under a variety of pseudonyms (Wagon Christ, Plug, Kerrier District, Amen Andrews, Spac Hand Luke to name but a few) these have progressively become the staple diet for his fans. Yet, it took for the man to focus on one of his until-then somewhat overlooked strengths, acid, with his monumental YosepH (Warp, 2003) for the world, or at least electronic followers, to finally take stock and listen.

This second album for long term friend Mike Paradinas’s Planet Mu imprint branches out more than its predecessor, Lover’s Acid (2005) by incorporating, beside healthy servings of acid house and classic techno, decent helpings of drum’n'bass (Comfycozy), groovy hip-hop and trip-hop (Rotting Flesh Bags, Swet) and classic electronica. And as if to get his point across right from the start, it is with the bip-bop-infused drum’n'bass groove of Comfycozy that Vibert chooses to open the hostilities. All the way through, Vibert jumps from one genre to the next with disarming dexterity, effortlessly clocking mile after mile of dance floor mayhem without ever breaking into a sweat.

From the playful Speak’n'Spell assault of Breakbeat Metal Music and the heavy groove of Clikilik to the hypnotic Argument Fly, the slightly sombre Rotting Flesh Bags or the closing Swet, on which he spills library music all over an incendiary funky rhythm, Vibert gathers beats and grooves, stuff them with acid squelches and warm bass lines and delivers an extremely convincing collection of fresh and imaginative electronic pieces.

The standards rarely drop at all here, and despite the wide range of genres forming the core of this record, Chicago, Detroit, Redruth is surprisingly consistent. Fans of Wagon Christ will be as much as ease as those who prefer Vibert’s more purely dance floor orientated incarnations. It may take a few listens to truly appreciate the breadth and reach of this album, but the reward is well worth the effort.

Vibert was never a front-of-house master, at least in the early years. Often found circling in the background of more flamboyant friends, Paradinas included, his versatility was sometimes mistaken for a lack of particular focus, but he has proved the most reliable of long distance achievers as he continues to deliver slices of beats and grooves with insistent regularity. A truly hedonistic collection, Chicago, Detroit, Redruth is undoubtedly one of his strongest releases to dates, and it is incidentally also one of the most entertaining records released this year." [source]

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Modeselektor "Happy Birthday!"

Artist: Modeselektor
Album: Happy Birthday!
Label: BPitch Control
Release date: 10 September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Electro/Hip Hop/Acid/Glitch

---

Tracklisting:
01. Godspeed
02. 2000007 [Feat. TTC]
03. Happy Birthday!
04. Let Your Love Grow [Feat. Paul St. Hilaire]
05. B.M.I.
06. EM Ocean
07. Sucker Pin
08. The First Rebirth
09. The Dark Side Of the Frog [Feat. Puppetmastaz]
10. The Dark Side Of the Sun [Feat. Puppetmastaz]
11. Black Block
12. Edgar
13. Hyper Hyper [Feat. Otto Von Schirach]
14. Late Check-Out
15. The Wedding Toccata Theme
16. The White Flash [Feat. Thom Yorke]
17. Déboutonner [Feat. Siriusmo]
Total running time: 69' 40"

---

[Modeselektor - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

"Ellen Allien's BPitch Control is one of Germany's more eclectic dance-music labels, firmly rooted in the dark Deutsche techno sound but constantly stretching beyond. Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary of Modeselektor, arguably the label's most celebrated artists aside from Queen Ellen, mark the arrival of their second album with an even broader range of beats than what was displayed on Hello Mom!, their 2005 debut.

Techno-influenced dubstep, grime, and breaks abound on Happy Birthday! alongside some interesting guest vocalists. Opener "Godspeed" takes a dancehall riddim and adds grimey bass and techie synths, setting the tone for an album's worth of cross-genre juxtapositions. Not too far removed from U.K. grime, entries like "2000007," featuring French hip-hoppers TTC, and "The Dark Side of the Sun," featuring the Puppetmastaz, border on cheese only because of their proximity to hip-hop's often silly British sibling. Still, the Selektors' rhythms keep things interesting, and the slower tempo ends up putting the tunes somewhere between the hyperspeed of the English sound and the jiggy grooves of current U.S. hip-hop.

The album's title track actually sounds like some Balkan gypsy jam from the twenty-fourth century, and a pair of dance-floor destroyers that could sound at home on Ed Banger Records makes sure that all bases are covered. Even the few deeper cuts, including a collaboration with Thom Yorke that sounds like an outtake from Eraser, can't help but break up the beats and keep the album from dipping into straight techno. There's a ton going on in every tune, so you can listen intently for the multitude of hidden bits and bobs or simply rock out to the crunchy breaks. The duo has managed to make an album to please both the blogging music nerds and the hipper club-hopping set.

Their influences are obvious, but Bronsert and Szary never rest in any one style. Although many deejays bring a variety of sounds into a single set, these guys have taken things a big step further and crammed multiple genres into each song. They even make dubstep danceable, and deserve quite a bit of credit for that." [source]

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Ellen Allien & Apparat "Orchestra Of Bubbles"

Artist: Ellen Allien & Apparat
Album: Orchestra Of Bubbles
Label: BPitch Control
Release date: 17 April 2006
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Microhouse

---

Tracklisting:
01. Turbo Dreams
02. Way Out
03. Retina
04. Rotary
05. Jet
06. Sleepless
07. Metric
08. Floating Points
09. Under
10. Do Not Break
11. Leave Me Alone
12. Edison
13. Bubbles
Total running time: 57' 26"

---

[Ellen Allien & Apparat - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

---

[Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out - Unofficial Video Clip]

"If the oldest trope of electronic music criticism is placing the ‘warmth’ of a particular record against the brisk tundra of the genre, then both Ellen Allien and Apparat have inspired more than a few writers to fall victim. That said, Orchestra of Bubbles won’t change any opinions. But let’s get the obvious out of the way: this album isn’t great because it’s warm. It’s inviting and involving, but the playfulness between the co-conspirators is what trumps both artists’ previous solo releases.

Although Orchestra is their first official joint creation, B-Pitch controller Ellen Allien and Shitkatapult co-hurler Apparat (Sascha Ring) have remixed and produced each others work in the past. The two have also inspired more than a few admirers. A Venn diagram of fan-boys would feature Allien’s set with the ogling club-kids and Apparat’s set with the pasty kids who get short-of-breath when they hear the word microsound. Allien, as a solo artist, has shown an uncanny ability to cross-over without sacrificing the unfriendly future-shock coolness or steady jack. Apparat’s Duplex took the IDM blueprint and discarded enough masturbatory gestures to reveal that the house wasn’t entirely corrupted by eggheads with no sense of style.

Within their own spheres, the two have etched distinct enough approaches that beg for a whodunit on the anatomy of Orchestra of Bubbles. And with “Retina,” there is a joy in pointing out snippets of musical dialogue (Apparat’s strings, Allien’s synths). But genealogy can only go so far to describe how striking the whole album sounds. Sure, there might be a dull minute or two on “Floating Points,” but I’ll be damned if I can find much else to criticize. Even when the album’s sequencing might seem dicey—like the disorienting transition from “Way Out”’s digi-croon chorus into the cello-driven “Retina”—it eventually only further endears Allien and Ring. They’re too busy splattering new ideas onto their canvas to “artfully” craft an album.

And that might be the best discovery of Orchestra of Bubbles. Neither Allien nor Apparat sound restricted to the creation of a hermetic, singular work and the result is things like the surprising dubstep-via-Berlin of “Metric” or the shimmering pink sky of “Jet.” Even “Do Not Break”’s collage of mandarine-synths, “ow” samples, and record-scratches somehow work. The ability to mesh the ‘everything goes’ ethos is more than a bit overwhelming. It can make Allien and Apparat’s take on something as oppressive as dubstep feel downright affable." [source]

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Kim Hiorthøy "My Last Day"

Artist: Kim Hiorthøy
Album: My Last Day
Label: Smalltown Supersound
Release date: 5 November 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Nu Jazz/Hip Hop/Breakbeat/Techno/Acid

---

Tracklisting:
01. I Thought We Could Eat Friends
02. Beats Mistake
03. Skuggan
04. Album
05. Same Old Shit
06. Den Långa Berättelsen Om Stöv Och Vatten
07. Alt Går Så Langsomt
08. Goodbye To Song
09. Wind Of Failure
10. Hon Var Så Otydlig, Som En Gas
11. I'm This I'm That
Total running time: 44' 56"

---

[Smalltown Supersound - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

---

[Kim Hiorthøy - Alt Måste Bli Anorlunda - Video Clip]

"Norway's Kim Hiorthøy is not only regarded as one of the most exciting graphic designers in the world today (he has been on the cover of Creative Review, Grafik and Eye, and many more) - he is also an acclaimed musician and producer. "My Last Day" is his long-awaited follow up to his seminal and critically hugely acclaimed "Hei" album from 2000.

Since then he has also released the 2002 album "Melke" (a collection of remixes, 7 inches, rejected tracks and tracks for compilations), several 7 inches and 12 inches as well as his three EPs in 2004: "Hopeness", "Live Shet" (a live recording) and "For The Ladies" (a limited edition collection of field recordings). Since his debut album he has also toured the USA, Europe and Japan several times, as well as a tour in China.

Extraordinarily talented and expressive, Kim Hiorthøy operates in many different fields in addition to music. As a graphic designer he is responsible for the Rune Grammofon artwork, as well as most of Smalltown Supersound’s artwork. He is also an artist (check out www.standardoslo.no for more information about his art) and a writer. Kim wrote the book "Du kan ikke svikte din beste venn og bli god til å synge samtidig" on Norwegian literary publisher Oktober Forlag. He has released a book of photography in Japan, a book of drawings, Alt Fins, and a design book, "Tree Weekend" on Die Gestalten Verlag in Germany. Additionally, Kim has illustrated several children’s books, and has worked in film as a photographer, having shot the acclaimed Norwegian movies “Kroppen Min” and “Ungdommens Raskap”, as a video director for the concert film “Supersilent7”, and as a filmmaker, having just debuted as a director/screenwriter with the Swedish/Norwegian co-production, ”Hur Man Gör”.

Kim Hiorthøy is based in both Berlin and Oslo, but has mostly lived in Berlin over the last couple of years. He has worked on "My Last Day" on and off throughout the last two years; most of it was recorded at his Berlin studio. Compared to "Hei", the new album is less fragmented and more song based. It is also more melodic and complete, all with Kim’s characteristic sound. He often has an organic and folk-like tone to his music which XLR8R magazine recognized when they placed him in the forefront of the new electronic folk music movement with artists such as Herbert, Matmos and Four Tet. Kim Hiorthøy’s music draws influences from folk, jazz (his live sets these days are with free-jazz drum virtuoso Paal Nilssen-Love), lo-fi/leftfield electronics, acid, hip-hop, field recordings and samples. All his music is created on an MPC sampler, the original hip-hop instrument. The use of the MPC also makes Kim’s live performances much more physical than the often mundane laptop live sets in electronic music.

The music and everything else Kim Hiorthøy creates has his own unique and strong signature - that Kim Hiorthøy feeling, you might call it. On “My Last Day” Kim Hiorthøy continues to create great electronic pop music all in his distinct way and style, and all in his very own universe." [source]

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AFX "Analord"

Artist: AFX
Album: Analord [11 EPs]
Label: Rephlex
Release date: 2005
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid/Techno/Electro

---

Analord 01


Tracklisting:
01. Steppingfilter 101
02. Canticle Drawl
03. MC-4 Acid
04. Untitled
05. Where's Your Girlfriend?
06. Grumpy Acid
07. Analord 158b
Total running time: 20' 21"

---

Analord 02


Tracklisting:
01. Phonatacid
02. Laricheard
03. Pissed Up In SE1
04. Bwoon Dub
Total running time: 23' 10"

---

Analord 03


Tracklisting:
01. Boxing Day
02. Midievil Rave 1
03. Klopjob
04. Midievil Rave 2
Total running time: 18' 48"

---

Analord 04


Tracklisting:
01. Crying In Your Face
02. Home Made Polysynth
03. Halibut Acid
04. Breath March
Total running time: 18' 33"

---

Analord 05


Tracklisting:
01. Reunion 2
02. Cilonen
Total running time: 10' 44"

---

Analord 06


Tracklisting:
01. Batine Acid
02. Snivel Chew
03. I'm Self Employed
04. 2 Analogue Talks (Part 1)
05. 2 Analogue Talks (Part 2)
06. Analoggins
Total running time: 23' 15"

---

Analord 07


Tracklisting:
01. Lisbon Acid
02. Pitcard
03. AFX Acid 04
Total running time: 20' 33"

---

Analord 08


Tracklisting:
01. PWSteal.Ldpinch.D
02. Backdoor.Berbew.Q
03. W32.Deadcode.A
04. Backdoor.Spyboter.A
Total running time: 20' 00"

---

Analord 09


Tracklisting:
01. PWSteal.Bancos.Q
02. Trojan.KillAV.E
03. W32.Aphex@mm
04. Backdoor.Netshadow
Total running time: 16' 16"

---

Analord 10


Tracklisting:
01. Fenix Funk 5
02. Xmd5a
Total running time: 12' 52"

---

Analord 11


Tracklisting:
01. W32.Mydoom.AU@mm
02. VBS.Redlof.B
03. Backdoor.Ranky.S
Total running time: 19' 24"

---

[AFX - Xmd5a - Unofficial Video Clip]

"Since the overprogrammed debacle that was 2001's Drukqs, there've been zero transmissions from Planet Aphex. So when Richard D. James re-emerged at the start of the year with the launch of an extended series of EPs, the resulting response from his still-sizable cult mingled rejoicing, skepticism, and a heap of curiosity. Could techno's onetime greatest melodist possibly have anything more to give, or was he definitively burned out?

The analog-only concept underpinning Analord seems like a tacit admission that, like so many of his peers, during the late '90s James had gotten lost in the mire of options offered by state-of-art technology. Riddled with detail and addled by effects, Drukqs's delirium tremens of twitchy-glitchy beats and fruitless fruit-loopery suggested it was time for a drastic rethink. In the Dogme-like spirit of Holger Czukay's maxim "restriction is the mother of invention," on Analord James stages a strategic retreat to the sort of setup he used at the very start of his career some 15 years ago. He shuns digital signal processing, plug-ins, and "virtual studio technology" programs in favor of analog synths and sequencers, plus house music's favorite tools, the Roland 909 drum machine and the Roland 303 acid bass generator.

Consistent with the analog concept, these EPs are vinyl-only releases, high-quality pressings from whose deep grooves emanate sounds as thick and glossy as the platters themselves. Vinyl fiends always bang on about "warmth," but that's not exactly what you hear on Analord, given that the music is electronic and therefore innately icy. But even before you appraise the tracks as compositions, your ears are struck by the rich presence of the sound. Vinyl fetishism is also a crucial aspect of the EPs' visual appeal: Transparent sleeves invite your eyes to feast on the inky blackness.

Analord 11 is where the series has paused (for breath, or permanently, it's not clear), which makes now a good moment to survey the length and breadth of what by any standard constitutes a formidable amount of music (three 74-minute CD-Rs' worth) to have issued in barely six months. Alongside reverting to the restricted means available to him as a youth, it seems like James has also tried to recover the creative mind-set. Circa '95, jungle threw the entire "electronic listening music" community off balance, making producers focus their creativity on rhythmic complexity rather than haunting melody (the genre's true forte). Analord reverses that priority. The beats, while deftly programmed, assume a largely subservient role; mood and melodiousness return to the fore. These tracks invoke a time when the concept of "machine soul" was fresh and inspirational: the era of classic releases by Derrick May, Fingers Inc, LFO, et al., long before chopped-up breakbeats impinged on the "purity" of electronic music.

The crucial question, though, is whether any Analord tracks approach the heights of James's own classic phase (1991's "Analogue Bubblebath" to 1995's "Alberto Balsalm," approximately). The answer: not quite, but close enough. If the weaker material recalls the output of his early-'90s second-division pseudonyms, the better pieces—the lustrous chitter of "Boxingday" (A3), the cybernetic toad- jabber of "Analoggins" (A6), the writhy glisten of "Backdoor. Netshadow" (A9)—display his unique flair for clustered dissonances, ghostly harmonic wisps, and eerie in-between emotions. (Consumer Guide: Your best buys are 2, 3, 10, and 11). Intriguingly, the pieces that linger in the memory all possess a somber, sorrowful quality: the pensive, frowning chords of "Pissed Up in SE1" (A2), the weepy-eyed melody-foam of "Pwsteal.ldpinch.D" (A8), the dank mazes of glum that take up side two of Analord 11. Instrumentally, the most valued player isn't the near-omnipresent 303 but whatever reverb unit James uses to drape the sounds in his signature shroud of muzzy melancholy. You start to wonder: Could it be that the Aphex Twin is, like, depressed? Has he been dumped recently (one mournful ditty is titled "Where's Your Girlfriend?")? Or is this simply the blues of the innovator who ran out of future, and who's gone back in the hope of finding a better way forward?" [source]

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