OCHRE
Lemodie
BEN034CD
Benbecula Records 2006
10 Tracks. 57mins15secs

Chris Leary first got noticed with his debut EP, Sound System Bangers Vol. 1, in 2003, yet he had spent the previous few years freely distributing his music on the Internet and on CDrs. This led him to work on a series of remixes for artists such as Rusuden or Melodium, while his own tracks regularly got picked up to be featured on various compilations. His debut album, A Midsummer Nice Dream, published two years ago on London-based Toytronic, collected tracks created over a long period of time, but this sophomore effort is the fruit of a much more focused gestative process. Continue Reading »

SQUAREPUSHER
Hello Everything
WARPCD148
Warp Records 2006
12 Tracks. 63mins41secs

Four years ago, Tom Jenkinson was asking ‘Do You Know Squarepusher?‘ If the album that hid behind this title lured you to think that you did, think again. With his eighth album in eleven years, Tom Jenkinson shakes off his compulsive beats and driving grooves in favour of a much more chilled and eclectic sound.

Tom Jenkinson burst out on the electronic scene in the mid nineties with a series of EPs for Spymania, Rephlex and Worm Interface, and a debut album published on Richard D James’s Rephlex. A seasoned self-taught bass player and drummer, Jenkinson’s particular blend of experimental drum’n’bass dipped in a bubbling bath of digital jazz and acid house and his seminal live performances rapidly brought him a huge following, Since, he has cleverly set the pace for his contemporaries with each new release by cleverly dodging expectations. Continue Reading »

QUINOLINE YELLOW
Colour Index 47005
UCHEL0047005
Uchelfa Recordings 2006

Answering to the evocative E104 name and deemed ‘not recommended for consumption by children’, Quinoline Yellow is a synthetic greenish yellow dye used in the food industry. It is also the name adopted by London-based electronic artist Luke Williams, who has in the last few years released a series of critically acclaimed EPs on Skam and is own Uchelfa imprint. His debut album, Dol-Goy Assist, was released last year on Skam.

Quinoline Yellow’s new EP, Colour Index 47005, named after the industrial reference of Quinoline Yellow, is the unapologetically electronic follow up to Dol-Goy Assist. Continue Reading »

GAGARIN
Ard Nev
GEO009
Geo Records 2006
09 Tracks. 42mins39secs

Gagarin is the solo project of Graham Dowdall, whose career as a musician extends far beyond this project. Originally a percussionist and sound designer, he has played with some of the biggest names on the music scene, including Nico, John Cale, Cabaret Voltaire and many more, has worked on a variety of dance and theatre projects and has performed all around the world. Continue Reading »

CHRISTOPHER WILLITS
Surf Boundaries
GHI54
Ghostly International 2006
12 Tracks. 37mins23secs

There is something opulent and comforting in the smooth tones and processed sounds of Christopher Willits’s new album. Hailing from San Francisco, Willits has released records on labels as diverse as 12K, Fällt, Sub Rosa, Nibble and Plop, as well as collaborations with Brad Laner as North Valley Subconscious Orchestra, and with Kid606’s Miguel DePedro and Hella drummer Zach Hill, with whom he is currently recording as Flössin. If this wasn’t enough, he also regularly contributes to diverse multimedia projects and installations. Continue Reading »

SVALASTOG
Woodwork
RCD2056
Rune Grammofon 2006
10 Tracks. 45mins25secs

Svalastog’s take on folk music is nothing short of interesting. Using traditional Norwegian acoustic instruments as a basis for his work, Per Henrik Svalastog then processes them to create a series of delicate hypnotic pieces with impressive evocative power.

Originating from Tromsø, Norway, home of Biosphere, Röyksopp, Alog, Mental Overdrive and many more fine electronic artists, Svalastog is perhaps best known for being one half of electronic duo Information, with who he has released three albums to date, the last one, Biomekano, published on Rune Grammofon four years ago, but he has also contributed a number of 12” and remixes under a variety of monikers, and released his debut solo album, Silencer, last year on Beat Service. Now returning to Rune Grammofon with his sophomore effort, Woodwork, he continues to explore the sonic imprints of various traditional instruments. Continue Reading »

ADRIAN KLUMPES
Be Still
BAY56CD
The Leaf Label 2006
09 Tracks. 51mins05secs

Adrian Klumpes usually officiates as part of Australian formation Triosk, with whom he has released two albums, including the recent The Headlight Serenade, and collaborated with experimental sound artist Jan Jelinek. Be Still is his first foray into solo work.

Built from recordings made during a single five-hour long improvisation session, Be Still originally intended to capture part of the creative process behind his music, yet the subsequent processing revealed a much more complex and somewhat abstract tone. While the recording context certainly influences the nature of this record, the nine tracks collated here appear especially suspended in both time and space. Continue Reading »

COLLEEN ET LES BOITES A MUSIQUE
Colleen Et Les Boîtes A Musique
BAY53CD
The Leaf Label 2006
14 Tracks. 38mins55secs

Colleen is a very singular artist with a sharp visionary mind and a deep understanding of a wide range of music genres. Based in Paris, where she has spent most of her life, Cécile Schott as she was born, was classically trained, but she has since embraced modern technology to support her work.

Colleen’s work first emerged on a joint compilation from French imprints Active Suspension and Clapping Music, which rapidly lead to her being signed on Leaf. Her first album, Everyone Alive Wants Answers (2003) made good use of electronically treated acoustic elements and samples to create rich evocative soundscapes in which she dressed her compositions. Her second effort, The Golden Morning Breaks saw her abandoning this process to focus solely on acoustic instruments, something she had been using during live performances for some time. Continue Reading »

TRIOSK
The Headlight Serenade
BAY49CD
The Leaf Label 2006
11 Tracks. 56mins05secs

Triosk were formed in Sydney, Australia, in 2001 by Laurence Pike (drums), Adrian Klumpes (piano and keyboards) and Ben Waples (bass), three musicians with deep roots in improvised jazz. The first manifestation of the band was their collaboration with Jan Jelinek on 1+3+1, published in 2003 on ~Scape. The music on this album was created out of largely improvised sessions over pre-recorded loops, a process they also adopted for Moment Returns, their proper debut album, released on Leaf a year later.

The Headlight Serenade is the fruit of a much more considered approach. While improvisations still serve as the main basis for the compositions presented here, the tracks were developed over a longer period of time, each idea being worked on to its full potential. Continue Reading »