KINGBASTARD
Lost Property
HERB022
Herb Recordings 2012
16 Tracks. 53mins15secs

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Choosing a name link Kingbastard as your nom-de-guerre could be seen as a flamboyant fit of arrogance, yet Chris Weeks, who has been using this as his stage name for the best part of ten years, offers a rather different image of himself through his music, an often rich and luxurious blend of ambient soundscapes and sleek electronica occasionally perked up with edgier electronic textures.

Stepping away from the infectious electro shockwaves he exposed on Bastardize, Lostatsea and Tied Up To Machines four years ago, Kingbastard’s Chris Weeks follows his last album, Beautiful Isolation (2010), with another smooth, chilled, electronic soundtrack which builds on its predecessor’s cinematic scope. Continue Reading »

RUBENS
Puggies / Vertical Hold
HERB002
Herb Recordings 2007
02 Tracks. 07mins52secs
Format: 7″

RUBENS
Breaking Into Smile
HERB003
Herb Recordings 2007
04 Tracks. 25mins09secs
Format: 12″

Rubens is a Glasgow-based duo formed of Mark Flanagan and Gordon MacDermid. They released their debut album, Carnivalesque, earlier this year on Herb Recordings. As the album is just about to be re-released, the pair have extracted two tracks from it for a very limited seven-inch single, followed by an EP, Breaking Into Smile, also on Herb, featuring remixes from The Black Dog, Kirk Degiorgio and Dextro.

Puggies is a wonderfully ornate and melodic piece with elegant electronic swathes building around a central progressive melodic theme which is not without recalling the Spooky of Gargantuan, albeit in less clubby attires. Continue Reading »

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 »