RUBENS
Carnivalesque
HERB001CD
Herb Recordings 2007
10 Tracks. 55mins16secs

Scotland is once again taking the lead on the melodic electronica front with this rather fine debut release from Rubens, a duo formed of Mark Flanagan, who has previously been spotted transmitting from Glasgow under the ~ism banner, and Ayrshire-based Gordon MacDermid, AKA Gump. Yet, this is about where the connection with at least part of the Scottish electronic scene ends. As its title leads to think, Carnivalesque exults with refreshing joie de vivre and enchanting playfulness. Music flows through its ten tracks like a wild highland stream, jumping from one to the next with disarming ease. Continue Reading »

CHRIS WATSON / BJ NILSEN
Storm
TONE27
Touch 2007
03 Tracks. 50mins09secs

Back in 2000, Swedish musician recorded a series of storms over the Baltic sea, and consequently suggested that him and fellow Touch sound artist Chris Watson coolaborate on a project focusing on weather conditions.

Watson, once of pioneering electronic outfit Cabaret Voltaire and, later, of The Hafler Trio, is an established wildlife recordist, who has, beside his three albums for Touch, worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and recorded nature for a variety of wildlife programs for the BBC. After a few years away from the music scene, he returned in 1996 with his first solo album for Touch, Stepping Into The Dark, which was built from recordings he had made all around the world during previous years. Continue Reading »

ZAINETICA
Redirection
BOLT035
Botlfish Recordings 2006
14 Tracks. 76mins25secs

While Redirection is only Zainetica’s third album released on CD, London-based artist Mark Streatfield has, since Escaping Dust (2003), accumulated an impressive body of work, from MP3-only EPs and albums on labels such as Boltfish, IVDT, Enpeg or Laced Milk Technologies, to countless compilation contributions. He has also been running his own imprint, the ever-excellent Rednetic, releasing music from the likes of Joseph Auer, Mint, Utility Player, Cheju and The Vizier of Damascus. Continue Reading »

POLE
Steingarten
~SCAPE44CD
~Scape Records 2007
09 Tracks. 45mins06secs

It has been a while since Pole’s Stefan Betke’s last poured his bouncy grooves down our ear canals, and it is fair to say that the electronic caravan has moved on a fair bit. Betke has certainly not remained on the side of the road though, as this new slice, his first output since his 2003 self titled album, proves at length.

Moving away from the monochrome aesthetic of previous records, the cover of Steingarten depicts one of King Ludwig II’s fantasy Bavarian castles, built to protect him from reality. The album itself also moves away from Betke’s original template as he ornates his minimal dub radiation with various soundscapes. Continue Reading »

THE MARCIA BLAINE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Halfway Into The Woods
HPLL024
Highpoint Lowlife 2007
11 Tracks. 61mins01secs

Scotland has been delivering some fine electronic acts with insistent regularity, from the beautifully melodic and innovative Boards Of Canada to some of the acts from the Benbecula stable. The Marcia Blaine School For Girls, a trio hailing from Glasgow, have released some very promising EPs on Static Caravan, Awkward Silence and Metal On Metal, since they first appeared in 1997, and the compilation of Scottish electronica they put together for Highpoint Lowlife in 2005, Some Paths Lead Back Again, which predominantly featured work from the collective and its satellite projects, as well as tracks from the likes of Izu or Chris Dooks, was a rather tasty appetizer. Continue Reading »

FUNKSTÖRUNG
Appendix
!K7210CD
!K7 Records 2007
11 Tracks. 52mins02secs

It is quite astonishing to realise that, in the ten or so years they worked together, Funkstörung only released three albums proper. Beside their own releases, the duo, formed of Michael Fakesch and Chris De Luca ran their own imprint, Music Aus Strom, for a while, produced a handful of records for other artists, worked on solo projects and remixed an incredible amount of tracks for people as diverse as Björk, Wu-Tang Clan, A Guy Called Gerald, Nils Petter Molvær or The Notwist, some of which have been collected in Additional Production (1999), Vice Versa (2001) and this latest offering. Continue Reading »