Various - Decima Circuits_Cottage Industries 10

Neo Ouija: 2020

If y'all are wondering why I ended up with a whole bunch of Cottage Industries, it's because of this volume right here. How could I resist nabbing something with such an awesome display of minimalist architecture and all the shades of blue? And hey, it's something from Neo Ouija, the Lee Norris label I'd heard so much about but never really dove into before. What's this? A bunch of Cottage Industries collections have CDs available? Sure, I may as well splurge! Shame I only ended up with, like, two of them. That's my fault though, not keeping track of all the orders I make. Not so egregious, mind you, as this one arriving with yellow on the cover, diluting Decima Circuits' blue purity as advertised! Makes me wanna'... ooh, argh! *impotently shakes fist*

Cottage Industries 10 not only has the best bit of cover art of the series, but may also have the best collection of tracks too. Right, I can't make that a definitive statement since I've only gathered half of them, but for what I prefer hearing out of these compilations, it hits the mark more often than not.

For one thing, it's only two CDs long, which is about the right length for music as deliberately leftfield as this stuff goes. Sorry, but three discs is just too damn much, Clockwork Manor turning into almost a chore to get through (so no, I won't be getting Cottage Industries 12). And a single CD never seems quite enough, barely an appetizer in showcasing all the esoteric artists willing to contribute. Finally, as this is one of the later additions, we're firmly in the era where electro and ambient techno tend to be more of a focus than stylized IDM experiments. There's still a few scattered, but give me the simple future funk of Zainetica's Soyokaze Park or sweet acid jams of Xylic's Basfoldintis 7 over the off-kilter broken-beats of illocanblo's Alma or twee electro-pop of Germain Fraisse's Everything Is Green any day.

Actually, I thought we were in for a real retro love-in after the first few tracks. Night Haze's Abandoning Safety is some vintage Jean-Michel Jarre vibes, while Milieu's Pan Of Green Fables will get your classic Aphex Twin flares firing. And it feels retro including an Ambidextrous cut, a staple contributor to Cottage Industries since the second volume. Soon enough though, its clear we're in latter era Neo Oujia, where the electro and techno vibes Lee and Árni have been cultivating on Móatún 7 amd Intellitronic Bubble start dominating. A few outliers like the urban slowbeat of Keiss' Behind The Glass and spaced-out acid d'n'b of Daveeth's Lélegur and Ruxpin's Ruffneck keep things fresh for a playthrough. And naturally, an ambient closer from Nike Vomita's Nymphaea Alba, though I was more surprised by the previous blissy chill-out track Anna Maggý from Futuregrapher, including a self-help spiritual speech. Huh, and here I thought Árni mostly peddled in rough electro. Maybe I ought to check out some of his works proper-like.

Various - Cottage Industries (A Neo Ouija Compilation)

Neo Ouija: 2000/2020

Humble beginnings for this humble label, a tidy single CD kicking off the continuing Cottage Industries series. Seriously, it just came out with its twelfth volume this past month, once again indulging in a triple-disc collection of... well, if you don't know what the deal with Neo Ouija's musical showcase by now, I don't know what else to say.

That does leave me wondering how Cottage Industries: Da' Kickoff fared when it first came out. Obviously it didn't have commercial aspirations – almost nothing with this much glitchy-twitchy rhythm making had much financial hope at the turn of the century. Surely though, the abundant twee melodies lurking underneath all the leftfield beatcraft would lure in many a passerby, melancholic moods in a rapidly digitizing age. Some, I wager, but if the original CD's Discoggian data is accurate, this was not a widely distributed compilation. Less than three-hundred folks claim to hold a copy, which is a shockingly low amount for a release nearly a quarter century old now. Or perhaps it never had much promotion in the first place, forever remaining ultra-niche in an already incredibly niche micro-scene, unable to gain the critical attention similar prints like Raster-Noton and Mille Plateaux attracted.

Does this make Cottage Industries: Comin' On Cool an overlooked gem within said scene? I honestly don't know, as my own interactions with it remain skint. I'm sure the CD has its die-hards proclaiming its genius, but nor have I seen it relentlessly name-dropped abroad. It just doesn't contain those essential tracks or artists a classic compilation needs for that demarcation. Sure, a few familiar names crop up: Geiom would go onto a decent career in future garage and dubstep, Clatterbox made his way into techno sets throughout the '00s, Yunx has featured in Nick Warren set, and that Lee Norris fella' collaborating with Geiom as the one-off Consumer Durable seems to have done well for himself. Other names are complete blanks to me, however, some of whom have sparse Discogs data beyond this CD. Sometimes its hard getting hype for names like Phonem, Penfold Plum, and Plod.

And I have to be honest: this era of clicks 'n cuts has long been hit or miss for yours truly. It's an aesthetic thing, the micro-glitchy sounds too often rubbing against my cochlea the wrong way. Not to mention I can't shake the assumption some of these producers are just showing off what they can do with whatever plug-ins or gear they're using, rather than composing an actual tune worth listening to. And there's only so much the twee melodies included can do to hide that postulation. Eegh, now look, this egg-headed music making me use egg-headed terminology.

It's not all skittery micro-edits, mind. Quinoline Yellow's Eythl Maltol goes more drill 'n bass on his beats, Clatterbox' Power Up gets on the chiptune vibe, while Yunx' Nemo-Sis sounds like a regular ol' ambient techno tune. Beyond that though, expect lots of experimental digital rhythms coupled with charming synths.

Various - Clockwork Manor (Cottage Industries 9)

Neo Ouija: 2019

As mentioned in my first review of a Cottage Industries, the Neo Ouija series has pretty much become the label's sole output in recent years. Really, it's kind of funny Lee Norris would dust off the old print just for this reason. Then again, he's got so many labels and affiliates since this one's early '00s heyday, I doubt he'd be able to keep track of what artists should go where and so on.

Yeah, its relaunch probably had as much to do with releasing new Norken and Metamatics material than anything else, but why waste the opportunity to bring other talents into the fold, even if its only via compilations. Still, it must have proved successful, as after the first couple Cottage Industries tested the waters with single CD options, the ninth edition, Clockwork Manor, goes hog wild with a triple-disc, thirty-six track extravaganza. Or overload, depending on what your enjoyment threshold is for various forms of experimental IDM glitch-pop.

Of these thirty-six, I only recognize a handful of names: John Tejada, Ambidextrous, Ruxpin, Drøn. That led me to believe I was dealing with a bunch of new artists, the compilation going out of its way to highlight up and comers. Yet clicking through most of their Discogs entries, that's hardly the case, many actively releasing material throughout the '10s. They may have been extremely obscure, getting shine on Neo Ouija their biggest break and all, but still, some spent in the trenches getting there is good.

This is also one of those collections of music where you could assign a unique genre to every single track, if you're anal-retentive enough about music classification. I gave a very generalized style-salad above, but that's only scratching the surface. There's honestly something enjoyable for everyone here. Randomly picked, there's Boards-like downtempo (Velum's Break Infinis) or confounding skitter-skatter beatcraft (BLN's Ly Oc) or noisy electro (Carbinax' Capable Beast) or shuffly frigid-acid (Octavcat's Icefield) or clicky mood music (h7 buffer's Qwon Trill). Only duff I recall is a lone dubstep track, 4D3x from Dialed, sounding like an out-of-place 'alleyway toff' among so much undeniably dorky music.

If there's this much music worth discussing across three CDs, why don't I split this review up as I've done in the past? Well, despite ordering the 3CD option off Bandcamp, I never received them (not the first time this happened from this label, sadly), leaving me with the thirty-six track digital version. And believe you me, when trying to sit down and take in nearly three hours of this stuff, a lot of it kinda' mushes into your brain. Matters aren't helped when the sonic diversity is wildly abrupt, with track lengths averaging four-to-six minute, such that material doesn't have much chance of standing out in single playthroughs. Frankly, I often felt like I was listening to a glorified label sampler rather than a thematic compilation. Which kinda' sums up my thoughts about most mega-massive 'streaming playlist' collections of the modern era.

Humanoid - Built By Humanoid

fsoldigital.com: 2019

After three decades, Brian Dougans felt time was right to dust off the alias that started it all for him. Why such a long gap? Well, he had a little side-hustle called The Future Sound Of London commanding much of his attention, so there's that. Also, I suspect he had lingering harsh feelings over the moniker, the label Westside Records releasing a 'debut' Humanoid record without much of his input involved. He did put out a 'from the archives' item from those sessions on Rephlex, but for the most part seemed content leaving the project in the distant past.

Wouldn't you know it though, that ol' spark of techno inspiration kept nagging at him, eager to try his hand at something more proper acidy and robotic. Can't do much with that in all those FSOL Environments though, lest they muck up whatever psychedelic chill vibes they maintained. Plus, who knows if Garry was even up for such IDM experimentation, his muse often wandering off to parts unknown. No, to truly sate his techno fever, Brian would have to use a completely different alias. Or dust off an old, mothballed one, that'll do too.

A track on a compilation here, a track on a charity collection there, and soon enough, Mr. Dougans had enough material for a new Humanoid album, which in some ways is the real debut. Of course, he hadn't the studio or technology to make anything remotely similar to what's offered on Built By Humanoid way back when, so leave whatever preconceptions of what a Humanoid record should sound like behind, because this ain't it.

Fortunately, Brian doesn't waste your time letting you know what you're in for, opener Orfan Atmosphere three minutes and three seconds (nice) of abrasive glitch-core and acid distortion. Ol' school IDM is back, baby! And as if that session wasn't enough to get your techno-dork on, follow-up Polymath is apparently one of those experimental tracks that uses something called a 'probability theory'. Cool, but mostly sounds like burbly, dubby acid ambient.

That's what the bulk of Built By Humanoid entails: lots of IDM beatcraft, lots of digital acid crunch... the sort of stuff you would expect to have appeared on Rephlex. Is there any of that classic FSOL album narrative though? After a fashion, sure, the track titles suggesting a future dystopia ruled by cybernetic man-apes tweakin' on acid. It's not a touch on Dead Cities' cinematic post-apocalyptica, but then what is?

I feel like there should be more talking points to Built By Humanoid, but without venturing into the weeds of production techniques, there really isn't. Like a lot of Brian's other solo ventures, this sees him pushing a particular sound to a particular limit, the outer edges of sonic styles emanating from the EarthBeat studios. It may be a bit much for those still forlorn for more Stakker acid, but for those willing to hear any ol' indulgence from the FSOL boys, this is a fun record.

Various - Annexe (Cottage Industries 2)

Neo Ouija: 2002/2020

Though the original run of Neo Ouija never made a huge splash across the world of electronic music, it was successful enough to garner a dedicated cult following while it lasted. Among the various releases that helped solidify said following was a series of compilations called Cottage Industries, three volumes worth springing forth during its initial heyday. Whenever the label would stir awake after many years absence, it was usually a Cottage Industries collection that would declare its arrival.

In fact, it's about all that Neo Ouija releases now, including digital uploads and CD re-issues of the early editions. I even bought a few, but for some reason, those CDs never showed up. Hmm, are those the items that got switched for all those Intellitronic Bubble CDs? I swear, I appreciate all the various labels Lee Norris juggles with these days, but there's sadly been a few too many missing orders as of late for me to buy any more from them. One more reason to just stick with digital, I guess.

Annexe (Cottage Industries 2) came out two decades ago, and boy does looking at the track list ever feel like a time warp. So many names within the ambient techno and IDM scene getting their start here: Sense, Ambidextrous, Bauri... Erm, that's honestly all I recognize off hand. Hey, can't be a proper cult label known for giving ultra-obscure artists within your scene their starts if you don't have a compilation series doing the work for you. Like, where would the likes of Biosphere, Autechre, Black Dog, and Speedy J be without Artificial Intelligence, right? Okay, pretty well-off regardless, but you know what I mean.

And just because I'm not familiar with them doesn't mean some of the featured artists didn't have fruitful future careers. Yeah, names like Phonex, Idmonster, Sica, Pem, and Qeshi didn't amount to much after, but Yellow6, Maps & Diagrams, Kettel, and Ilkae remain active to this day. By and large though, many of the acts on Annexe had respectable output throughout the '00s before petering off as the '10s took hold. So it goes.

Ah yes, the music. Lots of simple, charming IDM and melodic, glitchy techno. It feels like Neo Ouija was throwing a little bit of everything into the original double-discer, which is great in providing variety. When you're dealing with music as esoteric as this, however, much of it can slip on by during a casual listen. So it's no surprise tracks with more melody in them (Sense's Icyltap, ENV(itre)'s Atodeq, Kettel's Nestingbox Seventeen, Qeshi's Island Dryad, Maps & Diagrams vs Pem's Orteip) stick with me more than the more experimental stuff (Qeshi's Schem, Sica's Mykeys, Tandy's Bell_Libbing). One thing's for sure, if you like your micro-pop rhythms, Annexe has you covered but good. Xela's Don't Talk To Strangers, Bauri's Neo Robot Party Crash, EU's Lytop, Ilkae's Pilve, and so on. Not that it's surprising, the early 2000's pretty much peak micro-pop within IDM circles. Darn clicks 'n' cuts hype machine...

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: TIPPER

You know the type of fan: those who are so enraptured by an amazing artist, they can't help but endlessly go on about their genius, all the multiple layers of ingenuity within each construct, and will make damn sure you know about it, whether you care or not. The Tool Fan is probably the most famous of the lot, but many such acts have had such fans over the years. Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Kanye West, and so on. And it's never enough that they simply enjoy their fav's while letting others be, oh no. They must preach the Genius Gospel to others any chance they get, as though they're revealing some forbidden knowledge to the plebs that only they understand.

And I get it. No, really, I do! I've had moments like that in my own musical crusades. Early on in my Trance Wars, I would invade any unsuspecting forum or chat going on about the latest Dutch DJ, proclaiming their prefered trance as the bunk, espousing the true artistic genius of such God-like names as Kox Box or Oliver Lieb. And you know what? I was wrong to do so. Nothing turns folks off from an act faster than some twat invading their space telling them their taste in music is wrong, and it would only be right if they would just listen to the finer details of this particular style. Nay, 'tis better to create your own podium (re: blog) if you absolutely feel the need to sermonize about your taste in music - let the people come to you.

Where was I? Oh, right, Dave Tipper. Yeah, he's got one of those fanbases too. Not nearly as obnoxious as some other electronic music acts (Boards Of Canada, Porter Robinson, Illenium, Ricardo Villalobos, nearly any popular tech-house DJ, really ...Bassnectar, before all that), but I've definitely had those conversations with Tipper fans. That he'd be so much more popular and recognized by the industry at large, if only more people heard and "actually understood what he's doing in his music". Yet when I listened to a couple tracks or watch a festival vid', I seldom came away thinking any more of his talents than what was presented. Maybe I needed to hear the whole story, then, all of his works (or at least, his albums), then I would see the light? Let's get that survey on, then!









After all that, I'm sure folks are wondering: do I feel Tipper's hype is justified? After a fashion, I'd say so. His attention to sonic detail cannot be denied, and if that's what gets your jimmies off the most about electronic music, then have at 'er. Whenever he'd get super-deep into the weeds, however, I more often than not would start checking out. It's just a style of excessive production I care little about, and truth of the matter is, not many others do either. Tipper's style fills a particular niche, and for those fond of that niche, he's their God favoured son. I just don't always need to hear about it.

*whew* All this Serious Artistic Music has made getting hype during my 'sportsing' endeavours difficult. I think I need to get back to some 'dumb' music again. Gonna' do another Mastodon poll, but don't be suprised if my next survey is significantly less musically challenging.

Iempamo - ...Now What?

Lemony Records: 2021

I feel bad for Iempamo. Oh, not specifically for the life she's had, though as a trans individual in the state of Kentucky, I can't imagine it being terribly easy. No, I'm talking about with regards to this review. It was requested via Patreon, but not via the 'Skip The Queue' tier, so the CD sat in the regular alphabetical stack like everything else. Unfortunately, the last time I dealt with 'N' albums was July ...of 2021! Not that ...Now What? has been waiting that long, but it has been over a year since I received this. Matters weren't helped that I also grabbed not one, not two, but three full discographies of artists in that time too, substantially inflating the length of my alphabetical queue. The fact I dealt with an 'N-titled' release from each of these artists right before Iempamo's (hell, four from one!), I wouldn't blame her for feeling a little bit trolled over this.

Anyhow, Iempamo's kept up a modest music pastime these last few years, releasing some dozen items through her own Lemony Records label, self-described as “sour and abstract electronica”. ...Now What? was the latest of these releases on her Bandcamp, and looks to have remained as such since. She freely admits to going through depressive states in our recent bought of Strange Days, music serving as an outlet like so many artists old and new. ...Now What? was apparently crafted as something of a reconciliation, coming out the other side maybe not so worse for the wear, but nor as hopeless as what was once thought possible. Hey, if even The Bug couldn't help himself succumbing to such trepidation in Fire, what hope any of us? Iempamo ain't sayin' it's all hopeless – after all, she got out of it – but what does one do in the aftermath? I don't know about any of you, but me, I go swimming a lot! Ain't no way I'm taking open pools for granted anymore, nosiree.

Anyhow, this all comes off as dressing to hang a concept off for a round of twee-leaning IDM works. Ol' school Aphex Twin and the like are definitely an inspiration, but then what isn't in this lane of music genres? I'm hearing more a connection to the output of Suction Records, who for sure occupy their own ambient-electro-pop lane as well, though Iempamo's sound goes a little more crunchy than theirs.

Some tracks, like opener What Now...?, Uncertain, and Hustle, bring heftier beats for sure. Mostly though, we're in that pitter-skittery, digital scratchy style of rhythms, often getting quite frenetic by track's end (Trans gets especially noisy).

Regardless, this album's strengths are in its melodies. If you like yourself some charming, IDM-pop jangles, you'll dig Iempamo's go with 'em. Again, I'm reminded of acts like Solvent or Skanfrom, music where you can imagine some robot coming to terms with weird, human concepts like positive emotions. Seems appropriate for someone coming out of a depression.

Various - Adykt

Dyadik: 2021

So I get an email from Touched Music via their Bandcamp page, as you do when you subscribe to artist and label pages. I normally don't pay them much attention, inundated with updates from multiple subscriptions as I am. This one though, caught my attention with big proclamations of this being an immediate second-run of CD copies, the first selling out so quickly. Well gosh, if that don't trigger my FOMO like few other items. Who cares if I know nothing of this Dyadik label, or that out of twenty-two tracks on this double-LP, I only recognize John Tejada? LIMITED QUANTITIES! FAST SELL-OUT! Man, is Adykt ever an appropriate name for this compilation.

Still, there was a nice bit of nostalgic thrill, diving into a compilation with practically no info or background of what I was getting into. Heck, I only assumed this would be on the ambient techno spectrum because of the Touched Music association. It could have been grime for all I knew. In fact, the track Oliver Sutton, We On from Min-Y-Llan has some of the rappity-raps going on, which is weird considering the backing track sounds like some electro-ambient thing. Oh, and it's produced by the guy behind the Touched compilations, that's weird too. Or unexpected, at least.

But nay, CD1 opens with exm's Kolder, a gentle bit of loopy, shoegazey, piano ambience as I'd expect. HRYM's Heimferd follows and, good gosh, is this Balearic trance? It sure gives me those classic Solarstone feels, though just a little more subtle with its rhythms. Weld's Premises goes glitch-hop, while dialed's The Cat's Whiskers actually does go acid-grime. Okay, Adykt, you've sold me. You're one of those 'anything goes' compilations, aren't you? Even if I don't end up liking all the tracks, I appreciate the gumption.

Fortunately, there's plenty to enjoy. The synthwave vibes of Buspin Jieber's Never Say These Words. The old-timey Berlin-School leaning If You Had One from The Gasman. The classic neurofunk of Karsten Plfum's Breaks And Morphoids. The chiptune quirkiness of DTACK's Polyhedra. Plus a whole pile of ambient techno, braindance, acid, and chill electro scattered about the rest. I actually do recognize a couple others artists since picking Adykt up – Urban Meditation, Drøn, Z-Arc... I think. Plenty more are totally new to me though, with oddball aliases that really put your character key skills to the test (Auberg1ne, MⒶ, ΠΕΡΑ ΣΤΑ ΟΡΗ).

On one hand, that's great, in that plenty of folks are getting extra shine, especially those who haven't had much after many years making music. On the other hand, you're gonna' have to do some serious sleuthing in hunting down everyone here. Despite being around a couple years now (so sayeth Lord Discogs), this Dyadik label only has three releases to its name. Is Martin Boulton (the aforementioned Min-Y-Llan) just more focused on Touched than keeping pace with this print? Whatever the case, here's hoping Adykt acts as a springboard of sorts for future releases from these artists. They deserve it.

Ylid - Transcend!

Unknown Tone Records: 2014

I kept getting this album and Le Moors' Tendrils mixed up, and not just because they're side-by-side in my current queue, nor because they're both items from Unknown Tone Records. It's the cover art, see, with that muted beige-yellow border, and a blue-something in the middle. Having absolutely no prior knowledge of who either act were, they naturally meshed into my mind as a singular entity, for so long leading me to believe Ylid was Le Moors, and Transcend! was Tendrils. In fact, the only way any of this stood out to me as something distinct from the other is when my new Sony Walkman MP3 player would oddly default first to the Ylid album whenever I plugged it into whatever car I was renting for this past summer's road trips. And boy howdy did it ever leave an impression with that Chant track being the kick off. Ain't nothing like hearing heavily synthy 'aahh's just as you're about to hit the open road, believe you me. Who knew Ylid was a fan of Skin To Skin?

Anyhow, it seems we're back to the outright obscure material again, very little information available regarding Ylid via my usual Discoggian means. One Robert Lyon, he released some half-dozen mini-albums and EPs throughout the mid-'00s, then disappeared for a spell before reappearing out of the blue with this album for Unknown Tone. The only connection I can find between these two periods of Robert's music-making career is Tim Martin, whom he worked with as the short-lived project Somme. Tim Martin's career has been more fruitful, especially as Maps & Diagrams, which led him to Unknown Tone along the way (among other labels I've name-dropped in the past). That good will likely helped give Somme some in with Unknown Tone, after which Robert got to dust off his Ylid project for the label as well. So it does all tie together, guy, but boy, are these ever tenuous strings used.

That's a huge chunk of word count burned getting through particulars, which always means I don't have much to say regarding the actual music within Transcend! It's quite clear Ylid comes from the indie side of things, the Kid A influences dripping throughout the album. Sparse electric and acoustic guitar plucking, fizzy-poppy glitchy treatments, overlaying ambient drone tones, abstract twee electronics, all presented in a sketch-book sort of manner. It's clear Mr. Lyon has lots of little ideas for minimalist compositions, but isn't sure how to present them as a cohesive whole, so here they all are as emerged straight from his brain matter.

For sure there are a few that grab my attention. Thames has a peppy, dreamy pulse going for it, while tracks like Volume Of Air, Overhead and Death Thoughts do the thick, layered reverb ambience nicely. Can't say much else does it for me though, but hey, if you prefer your experimental music from a post-rock angle, this may come off better.

Pleq - Our Words Are Frozen

dataObscura: 2010

This was my doorway into the world of dataObscura, in case you're wondering. Oh, you're not? Well, I'm gonna' feed you the wonder whether you like it or not, for that self-imposed word count won't burn itself through discussion of the actual music within (such as it is, but more on that in a bit). As you may recall (it's been many months), I did a review on Pleq's collaboration with Segue for Databloem, The Seed. Segue was my intro to Pleq, but in doing the obligatory Discoggian research, I took in a nice gaze of Pleq's extended catalogue, this album in particular catching my eye. Like, there's just something about frozen vistas that my mind is impeccably drawn to. Arctic, alpine, ice balls in deep space... just send me to the places where time and motion remains in near-perpetual stasis. And naturally, where one album resides, surely th'ar be more near-abouts, leading me to the dataObscura options out there. Ooh, so many more examples of snowy cover art. Sci-fi stuff too! Must... consume... more...

Now that I'm dealing with Pleq specifically, here's what you need to know. Goes by Bartosz Dziadosz when dealing with the driver's depot. Classically trained, but prefers staying in the lane of glitchy dronescapes. Released quite the bundle of solo and collaborative albums at the turn of the decade, though seems to have slowed some as of late. Has also released on Dronarivm, Chemical Tapes, Murmur Records, Progressive Form, Ginjoha, Pocket Fields, Felt, and The Long Story Recording Company. Ooh, that could be a cool label, if they got Ian McKellen or Morgan Freeman to do the recordings. Not so much Ben Stein or Gilbert Godfrey. That's assuming they even do actual long stories, and not just have it as a clever label name. One thing's for sure though, even the above narrators couldn't make this aimless rambling listenable.

Man, I wish I had more to say about Our Words Are Frozen. I so wanted to have a lot more to say, but Pleq isn't giving me much to work with here. And yes, that kinda' is The Point, sounds so minimalist it practically forces you to clear all the clutter in your brain if you're to have any hope of focusing on the sparse drones and static fluff. Glitchy echoes and sporadic skittery percussion have you feeling like you're lost inside frozen desolation, while minute tones suggest melancholic moods, but are never beholden to them either. In some ways, I'm reminded of Andrew Heath's compositions, but he always has destinations in mind with his works, slow and languid though they are (all the better to take in the scenery). Pleq would rather have you remain fixated on specific moments and thoughts, letting them slowly erode from your consciousness, morphing through repetition as it melts into abstract memory. Challenging soundscapes, is what I'm say Our Words Are Frozen is, though highly recommended played at high volume. Let those drones envelope your being, yo'!

Twincities - Memoirs: To Dust

Unknown Tone Records: 2015

Is this really the first Unknown Tone Records album I'm reviewing? I feel like I've touched upon them at some point before. Maybe a name-drop from an associated producer? I guess I technically covered the Lee Norris and Porya Hatami collaboration Every Day Feels Like A New Drug, though that was via a digital version offered by Mr. Norris, not the original CD as released by Unknown Tone. I can only assume that's how I came across this label the first place, after which I must have visited their Bandcamp, spotted a CD bundle deal, ordered a bunch of stuff, and ended up with a pile of albums I barely have any recollection of getting. Having reviewed most of my old collection, methinks this blog has turned into nothing more than a glorified record of how I'm getting all my new stuff. It's grown increasingly difficult keeping track of it all, what with too many options now available to indulge my weakest impulse. Why can't I be internet addicted to something more traditional, like gambling or porn?

Twincities is Fletcher McDermott, an individual that doesn't have much Discoggian presence beyond his work for this project. I assume he's done work elsewhere, just because he seems like the sort of chap who'd have plied his trade with a variety of indie or abstract musicians around the Long Island region. Or this project is just something he does in his spare time, his day job some mundane thing that's prevented him from expanding further into the domain of 'fifty releases in one decade' ambient producers. Wouldn't surprise me, given the state of living conditions in the New York City region. Music don't pay the bills like it used to there. In fact, did it ever? Maybe in the grimy '70s.

Mr. McDermott describes his music as 'noisy ambiance', though there's nothing terribly racket-inducing about his stuff. Nay, he makes very calm, minimalist droning material, with static and glitch treatments giving his sparse arrangements a lived-in feeling. It's not too dissimilar to Porya Hatami, come to think of it, which makes sense they'd both appear on the same label. And sparked my interest enough to spring for a few albums off them in the process. It's all coming back to me, guys!

Also, as the album's title implies, a hazy sense of faded memories permeates the mood, whether of wandering urban locals or sitting at home with some long forgotten classical music tugging at the back of your mind. He does have a few musicians contribute for those moments (Ysanne Spevack on cello, Tanya Lam on viola), but they serve the mood of the pieces rather than take lead in any way. Well, maybe at the end of A Stuck Bird, their soothing tones coming after the most abrasive stretch of static-drone Memoirs: To Dust subjects you to. Also, damn but does that steel-pedal guitar drone in A Flown Bird ever stretch to the furthest reaches of the horizon. Fly on, my son.

sgnl_fltr - Exhalo

Databloem: 2008

As I perused the Databloem catalogue for a half-dozen items or so, I couldn't just rely on eye-catching cover-art for all my purchases – not every release of theirs is a shade of blue or features a picture of Saturn. Nay, sometimes good ol' name recognition does the trick, and the label has many artist names I recognize indeed. Mick Chillage, Lingua Lustra, Oophoi, Mathias Grassow, Nacht Plank, and on and on. I prefer digging a little deeper though, checking out artists I'm certain I know from somewhere, but can't quite recall. Absolutely I'm talking sgnl_fltr. Something about that name incites positive feels, but considering he's a dub techno guy, I couldn't remember where. Perhaps a Silent Season album? No, that can't be it, Mr. Kreutzfeldt essentially mothballing the project before the turn of the decade. He's since focused his efforts on Periskop, which features dark industrial dub and ...submarine noise? Ooh, bathymetric bass!

As always, The Lord That Knows All enlightened me. Turns out I first came across sgnl_fltr way back in my earliest explorations of Ultimae Records, specifically as featured in Oxycanta 2: Winter Bloom Boogaloo. The track, Waters, also earned an Ace Track nod, and I even had the audacity to call it akin to old-school trance. Compared to what passed itself as trance in the year 2007, okay, sure, but that sure was a stretch on my part way back when. Just goes to show how desperate I was to hear 'authentic proper trance' in those dire mid-'00s years. Would even accept some dub techno as a worthy substitute.

Anyhow, Exhalo was the album sgnl_fltr released after that Ultimae appearance, so seems appropriate I'd end up stumbling upon it after the fact. Would likely have been the album I'd have picked up had I known there was any out there to be had. Not sure what I'd have made of it back in 2008 though, my interest in dub techno definitely on the wane at the time due to market saturation. It wasn't as bad as minimal-tech, but DeepChord left an undeniable wake of copycats after his success. Still, Mr. Kreutzfeldt had been making similar music thoughout the '00s, Exhalo his fifth to that point (he'd release another with Stadtgruen the following year), so he ridin' no coattails on this wagon, nosiree (too... many... cliches...)

I do know I'd have been initially disappointed, just because I wouldn't be expecting what I hear on Exhalo. That would have been then, however, and when I threw it on in the today-times, I quite enjoyed this, in a very low-key manner. Absolutely it's another dub techno album with some broken-beat glitch thrown in, but man, the headphone space this creates is lush. Par for the course in this genre, and certainly extensively explored this past decade. Sometimes though, you just want to get lost in endless sonic space as crunchy micro-beats with thudding bass cruise along, and Exhalo provided that right when I was ready to hear it again. Timing is everything.

Spielerei & Mantacoup - Cold War

Silentes: 2007

Amplexus was dead, but that didn't mean someone could gather the ashes and relaunch another Italian ambient label in its stead. There's always room for more Italian ambient labels, especially ones you've barely heard of. I'm not sure who used the Phoenix Materia on Amplexus, giving rise to Silentes, but in short order Michael Mantra, Rod Modell, and Seele found comfortable homes there. It's a label that's quietly kept a small number of annual releases these past fifteen years, doing little to attract attention to itself but always drawing in a few well-regarded countrymen for an album or three.

The duo of Spielerei & Mantacoup falls into that category (though they're Dutch rather than Italian). They haven't released much, mind you, this Cold War and earlier Wichman And Other Pieces their lone collaborative works, and practically nothing since (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Each have put out solo works on dataObscura, while Spielerei has an additional item out on Databloem. And right he should, since Spielerei's real name is Dennis Knopper, owner of Databloem. Oh yeah, have I mentioned that dataObscura was an offspring of Databloem too? I don't think I have. Good to have that tidbit of info logged somewhere in the pounds of words contained on this blog. Point being, considering he has such a highly regarded label to his name, it's surprising he and Mr. Vermeent (Mantacoup) went with a different label for a second album together. Was it a request from Silentes? A favour owed to Michael Mantra? Figuring a 'cold war' theme fit better with a label that resides closer to the former iron curtain?

Now that I've got all that rambling out of the way, here comes the part where I must confess Cold War hasn't made much of an impression on me. For sure I'm hearing a lot of things I like, but it feels like I'm spending too much time wanting to like it more than just the basic appreciation I have for ambient techno glitch. There's a concept here, lurking, urging to get out and expose itself, but can't quite break through. Maybe I've been too spoiled by dark ambient exploring similar themes – that scene always knows how to construct a narrative out of their albums. I struggle in hearing where Spielerei and Mantacoup's muses are going here though.

Where It All Ends opens Cold War with a suitably melancholy mood, while the frantic, glitchy percussion of follow-up Cuba Crisis hints at the technological monstrosity that the battle of super-powers created. Pigs Bay has urgent burbling electronics, Meanwhile In Moscow goes minimalist and sonically paranoid, but the album's momentum kinda' dies after that, with far too much dithering experimentation interspersed with soundtracky ambient pads. As I said, all stuff I like hearing in general, just lacking the strong songcraft structure I've come to expect of such music. Oh well, final track After The Shockwave is a nice lead-out of micro-hop and synth-glitch – nicely sells the reckless futility of cold wars.

Modeselektor - Hello Mom!

BPitch Control: 2005

(a Patreon Request)

T'was neigh impossible missing out on Modeselektor throughout the '00s, if anything because of their unique logo. By the time they established their own Monkeytown Records print, you couldn't go anywhere within German tech-house circles without stumbling upon some variation of it. Then they teamed with Apparat to form Moderat, and hoo, were the tech-haus press ever a'twitter over it. They've actually kept that group together ever since as their creative output, Modeselektor receding to the background of DJing and label management. It all had to start somewhere though, so let's go back to beginnings of the Modeselektor empire, all the way back in ...1996? Whoa, too far back! Better at least fast forward to the current millennium, when Misters Bronsert and Szary actually started releasing music under the guise.

So the lads Gernot and Sebastian got chummy with Berlin tastemaker Ellen Allien, whom in a city filled with so-called tastemakers, actually does make hay with her taste. They signed to her BPitch Control print and released a few EPs of left-leaning IDM wonk techno and electro, even getting in on that trendy micro-glitch stuff. Not much of which would have any commercial appeal, is what I'm saying, so the fact they seemed to settle down on the experimentation leading up to this debut album must have had their long-standing fans concerned. Or maybe not, eager to finally hear Modeselektor bust out some club-friendly jams.

I don't know if they expected 'euro-crunk' though, as the Mode-boys likened their opening few tunes off Hello Mom! It sure ain't American crunk; more like 'glitch-grime', but hey, can't let those Brits think you're style-bitin' for a minute. So tracks like Dancingbox, Silikon and Fake Emotion cut up and glitch up their beats and vocals in a super-micro sort of way. Some other tunes are clearly in line with what German clubbers were flailing about to (before the ketamine kicked in), Tetrispack a jolly bouncy electro-house ditty and Kill Bill Vol. 4 reminding you that Alter Ego's Rocker was barely a year old still.

Then there's the IDM stuff. Oh lordy, is there every IDM stuff, sounding as though it's coming from an entirely different album than one with the above tunes. Vote Or Die is the one you all know, a lovely ambient-electro ditty that needed more compilation shine than just James Zabiela's Renaissance set (the great one!). And how can you not adore the retro-Aphex vibes of Ziq Zaq? Or the gothic electro-funk of The Rapanthem? Or the crunchy organ shuffle-crunch of In Loving Memory? Or the Artificial Intelligence techno bliss of I Love You?

Oh, it's because you just wanted more Kill Bill Vol. 4s? Don't worry, mang, there will be plenty of such tunes in the half-decade following this album, though not from Modeselektor. I think. I dunno', I haven't listened to all their output yet. If it's more the middle of Hello Mom! than the outer portions of the album (save closer I Love You), count me intrigued.

Death Grips - The Powers That B

Third Worlds: 2015

(a Patreon Request)

Impossible to ignore Death Grips, isn't it? They were among the heaviest hyped acts to emerge this past decade, in no small part due to their on-again, off-again disbanding antics; y'all better get this latest album of theirs, 'cause it might be their last! While I wasn't in a rush to check them out, I figured they were worth a scoping if most of the talking heads I trust with musical opinions were showing interest. Like, if savvy folks were going on about how that one Kanye album was essentially style-biting Death Grips, then there had to be something to this Oakland trio. I've heard all their albums are quite unique from one another though, so where to start, where to start? (Note: this Patreon Request left it to me with which album I'll review)

Most professional reviews recommend all their albums, though for differing reason, while fan lists have them arranged in all manner of random order. The Money Store seems easiest to get, but also feels kinda' wrong, being on a major label and all. Not so sure about that No Love Deep Web cover art being on my blog either. Their latest? How can I critique it without proper background comparison? Fine, I'll go with this double-disc one – should be a good sampling of their stuff.

The Powers That B is essentially two albums, each disc radically unique from its companion. The first, Niggers On The Moon, came out early as a download, and had the gimmick of featuring Björk samples throughout. Eh, I only really hear one, a consistent “ah ah-a” chopped and screwed with over digital hardcore beats (reminds me of Chemical Brothers' Song To The Siren). As for the beats, yeah, they're frenetic and spastic and experimental and Kaos Pad'd to the nth degree, but it all sounds kinda' samey throughout too. Without watching the tracks play through, I honestly couldn't tell when one ended and another began. It's an interesting listen, for sure, but strikes me as something only the dedicated Death Grips fans will get much out of.

As for Jenny Death on CD2, hole Lee bovine...! Now this, this is worth the hype. Just viscera, balls-to-the-wall thrash-punk bedlam, squalling guitars and chaotic drums over forceful, pissed-off shout-rapping from MC Ride. This is the music Liam Howlett probably wanted to take The Prodigy, before all that commercial success neutered his rebellious streak. I know Jenny Death is no more indicative of Death Grips' style than Niggers On The Moon is, but I've no doubt this is as solid an introduction to the group if you're itching to expose them to the undecided.

Hell, even the obligatory 'RnB tune', Pss Pss, is like some crazy psychedelic romp about a dirty festival. And that insane digital hardcore closer of Death Grips 2.0 is greater than anything on CD1. Okay, that Say Hey Kid was amusing, in that it reminded me of another long-since forgotten California rave-rap genre-fusion act: The Movement! (don't O.D., yo').

Vector Lovers - Afterglow

Soma Quality Recordings: 2007

I sure wasn't expecting this. My lone exposure to Vector Lovers around this point was the Late Shift / Babette EP, two tracks clearly with tech-house DJs in mind, and which I assumed his most recent album, Afterglow, mostly focused on. Never mind neither track appeared on the album, and that they were released on a label that has nothing to do with Mr. Wheeler's usual outlet. It's just standard practice that, within a window of a couple years, the music on EPs will sound like the music on LPs. And while those were fine for what they are, they didn't urge me to check out Afterglow, presumptuous as I was in thinking it'd be a record full of the stuff. I mean, geez, there wasn't any of the electro-anime aesthetic that made me love his self-titled debut.

I was half-right. Afterglow is definitely a much different beast compared to Vector Lovers and Capsule For One. Rather than dealing with feelings of loneliness in a hyper-technological age though, this album shoots far further into the future, in the aftermath of a nuclear wasteland. There's still that characteristic Martin Wheeler melancholy lurking in the melodies, but they're far more sparse and isolated, a sadder, darker tone permeating the atmosphere as a barely surviving civilization comes to grips with just how fucked up shit has turned.

Okay, Afterglow may not specifically be about that. I mean, that ominous mushrooming glow in the background of the cover art could be the sun setting over a hilltop. On the other hand, the opening track is called Half-Life, which mostly features Geiger Counter pops, despondent strings, and the sounds of something scuffling through abandoned radio frequencies. I'm pretty sure the Fallout games start like that.

Following Half-Life, we get tracks with titles like Far Side Of The Tracks, Rusting Cars And Wild Flowers, Piano Dust, and Dusk Panorama, all painting a rather bleak and desolate vista from which this music dwells. And things don't lighten within the the tunes themselves, a fair bit of empty space and twitchy experimentation going on throughout. Even the tracks with those vintage twee Vector Lovers melodies can't escape the ominous overtones. Example: an inky, oozing bassline accompanying the chipper, sliding leads in A Field. Of what few 'upbeat' tunes Martin provides, even they can't escape the omnipresent gloom. Crash Premonition features what sounds like klaxon bells echoing from the distance before settling into a groovy tech-house number, complete with lyrics about the freedom of the open road, long lost in this wasteland. No funky dancing robots in this place.

Overall, Afterglow reminds me of Boards Of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest, similar ideas and themes explored, though through Wheeler's electro-glitch lens. And despite a slight glimmer of hope emerging in the titular closer (nature reclaiming its lost lands), this is one depressing album. It's a good kind of depression, mind you, the sort you savour for rainy days, but man, do I need to mentally prep for it before going in.

Pleq & Segue - The Seed

Databloem: 2010

For as much as I've name-dropped Databloem, I sure haven't gathered much of their discography, a lone double-LP from Mick Chillage the only release to have entered my coffers. Time to remedy that, said I, and wouldn't you know it, they too offer some bulk rates of their catalogue. Sweet deal, that means I can round out a few discographies of artists I already- no, wait, I should use the opportunity to explore new artists, ones I've never heard before! Like, who knows what wonderful artists I've yet to discover, names like Skua Atlantic or James Shain or The Circular Ruins or Mnnsk. I mean, it worked with another pseudo-ambient label that started in the early '00s, before going completely tits-up. Somehow though, I figure Databloem has some longevity behind it. Call it a hunch.

Anyhow, I'm not going into this one totally ear-blind, as one of the players involved I do know: Segue. Most folks these days know him for his contributions to the Silent Season catalogue, his Pacifica in particular hailed as among that label's best works (eye-grabbing cover art helps). This was released before that though, when he was doing a little collaborative work with a chap named Bartosz Dziadosz, but you can call him Pleq. Now this dude, he's got himself an extensive discography, releasing a few dozen items this past decade on such labels like Crazy Language, Impulsive Art, Dronarivm, Chemical Tapes, and vu-us, vu-us. As he mostly plies a minimalist glitch ambience with modern classical leanings, I should have stumbled upon him sooner, but no, this collaboration with Segue is the fist time Pleq's graced my ears. That Our Words Are Frozen on dataObscura looks intriguing though.

As the Pleq genre-drop implies, we're in minimalist glitch territory here, though I wasn't expecting things to be this loopy and spacious. The Seed isn't a full-on collaboration between Pleq and Segue, only a couple tracks billed as such (The Piano, The Seed, The Mornings Begin Chilly). Pleq crafts two pieces on his own (Lulled By The Rhythmic Creaking, Calm Coolness), Segue gets a solo outing of his own (Late April), and both trade remixes on two tracks apiece.

If this seems confusing, don't worry, you won't tell much difference between the artists within the music itself. This is an album with lots of fuzzy static, clicky-poppy glitch, and minute looping melodies wrapped in a soft blanket of white noise. Melancholy headphone music, to the extreme!

Okay, it's not extreme, but it is very ambient, in that modern glitchy sort of way. I find things are more interesting when there is some form of melody leading things, whether pad work, piano work, or string work – the pure drone-gltich works like Calm Coolness and No Sky evaporate in my brainpan too easily. Overall, I feel like Pleq's aesthetic dominates over Segue's, but as I've only taken in a couple Segue albums, and none of Pleq's (yet), take that conclusion with a pound of sodium carbonate.

Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort

Darla Records: 2003

(a Patreon Request from Philoi)

This is what happens when indie kids discover IDM. Okay, that's not fair, Sweet Trip having debuted with an album that cribbed from acid and jungle drum programming. They were even featured on a couple compilations called Drum & Bliss - what, was Chill & Bass already taken? - and while such a title sounds daft, after hearing their tune Follow Me, yeah, it fits. However, considering their third and final album went full-in with the shoegazey dream-pop, it makes this middle album of Velocity : Design : Comfort stand out all that much more. With fancy production tools and tricks pioneered by ADHD studio rats and IDM wonks far more accessible by the year 2003, such that You Too could create a frenetic glitch-hop schmoze-fest if you so fancied, it seems Sweet Trip fancied it indeed.

I can only imagine the shock older fans had when first throwing this album on, opener Tekka a spastic glitchy, breakcore ditty, leagues removed from whatever 'drum and bliss' business Darla Records initially billed Sweet Trip as. But then it moves onto Dsco, as standard a gentle dance-punk jam as you'd ever hear. Familiar indie territory then, but completely out of sorts from that opener. I cannot deny wondering if this was even the same album, despite all evidence proving it was.

Velocity : Design : Comfort essentially plays out like that for the duration: glitchy IDM stuff, followed by dreamy indie fluff, often within the same track. The rock stuff, I quite like, though as I don't take in much of it in my regular music diet, I've no clue how it stands against the great contemporary dream pop pantheon. In any case, whenever tunes like Velocity, Sept, Chocolate Matter and Fruitcake And Cookies let the indie vibes through (mmm, such lovely vocal harmonies between Roby and Valerie), I'm down.

And that's funny, because I'm not an indie guy – I'm a 'techno' guy. You'd think it'd be all the electronic stuff that tickles my fancy – the twee glitch-hop of International and steady groove of Design : 1 sure do - but there's just so much glitch (just... so much), I too often find it excessively distracting and pointless. Like, all those stutters and fills in the minimalist To All The Dancers Of The World, why do that? The song's fine without them, and they add nothing beyond showing off some technical wankery. Are they there because they can be there? They don't have to be though. Why is this so dense, with so much going on all the time? You had enough sense to leave them out in the dreamy, wall-of-sound climax of the song, so why not the rest?

Hey, to some ears, such wankery is genius. I'm not about to deny them their thoughts. I'm sure that's even part of The Point in this album's concept (it's in the title, mang!). It just comes off needlessly overstuffed to my ears, and maybe even Sweet Trip's too, since they abandoned all that gimmickry when they released their third album. Just sayin'.

Lusine - A Certain Distance

Ghostly International: 2009

(a Patreon Request from Omskbird)

Jeff McIlwain (ergh, there's that 'upper case, lower case' thing again) seems like the sort of producer I should have stumbled upon more recently than via a Patreon Request. And while I do have a single track of his under his L'usine handle, it comes care of a James Zabiela Renaissance Masters set that must have completely passed me by, as I failed to name-drop him in that review. Yet taking in his back-catalogue, I'm hearing things I like, and would have vibed on had I come across them sooner. Well, maybe not so much that self-titled first album, itself treading into the sterile domain of serious IDM. Following that though, it seems Mr. McIlwain fell sway to Boards Of Canada-itis, slowing his songcraft down to a laid-back trip-hop tempo with warm, hazy melodies, while still retaining some of his glitchier tendencies. Then Wolfgang Voigt made shoegazey ambient dronescapes popular with Pitchfork sorts, so we got to hear a little of that as well in subsequent albums. Along the way, Jeff hooked up with Ghostly International, they the home of such Very Important people in the world of techno like Matthew Dear, Solvent, Tycho, and Com Truise. Ah, that's probably why I kinda' flaked on L'usine: my nonsensical instinct to bypass labels techno journalists sing praises of. I blame minimal's overexposure for this gut reaction. No no, it's fine, minimal all too aware of its past sins – it's a burden it can bear.

Anyhow, despite having crafted a half-dozen LPs by the end of the '00s, A Certain Distance was only McIlwain's second proper album with Ghostly International (Podgelism being a remix album of Serial Hodgepodge). Trends had definitely continued changing in all that time, and Jeff had no problem keeping his L'usine project at pace with them. Oh yes, there's blip-bloop, white-noise tech-haus on here, though only one track, Every Disguise. Ignore its hilariously dated hausiness, and enjoy the tunes that haven't dated so much.

Yeah, that opener Operation Costs, with it's low-key electro funk and toasty-crisp glitch, that's the stuff (apparently also the tune on that aforementioned Zabiela set – how did I miss this?). Or how about a song that wouldn't be out of place on a classic Hed Kandi chill-out CD, Two Dots a peppy electro glitch-pop romp featuring soul-jazz singing from Vilja Larjosto - Twilight and, to a lesser extent, Gravity, also get in on that action. Wait, you came here because you fell sway to L'usine's earlier IDM-hop? Don't worry, Jeff has you covered with Tin Hat and Baffle. And don't worry, disc-jockeys, you get your dancefloor pounds of flesh as well in Crowded Room (smooth electro house) and Cirrus (pure crowd pleasing anthem, in that muted Booka Shade vein). Man, hearing how effective these two tracks are only highlights how out-of-place Every Disguise comes off. Please don't tell me Every Disguise somehow ended up the most rinsed-out tune off this album. A Certain Distance has far better tunes on it than that one.

Perturbator - New Model

Blood Music: 2017

Yes, there's trap on this album. Like, only the slightest bit of it, mostly in the hi-hats, but really, it's all anyone associates with the genre now, those triple-time rat-a-tat-tat-tat rhythms. It's a sound so ubiquitous in modern music, it might as well be this era's Funky Drummer break, or James Brown sample, or Phil Collins hall effect, or Dick Dale guitar reverb. There may be a genre of music that was dominated by it (breakbeat; hip-hop; 80s pop; surf rock) but became so popularized that everyone got in on that action. Heck, it wasn't that long ago we were trudging through Top 40 dubstep drops, though it seems trap hi-hats have more lasting power than that. Their range of use has proved more dynamic than most other trend-whoring gimmicks of music past.

Still, when Perturbator stated this mini-album would feature a change of direction, I'm not sure folks would have expected trap hi-hats. I don't know why though, as beyond the aforementioned musical homogeneity of them, they're also a necessary staple for most festival headliners these days. James Kent's profile currently isn't anywhere near the top of the pyramid, but his style of music wouldn't be too out of place among the Black Tiger Sex Clubs out there, where aggro-synth drops and death electro can appear in tandem with all the other EDM racket performed. And if any synthwaver has a hope of getting his name in such rotation, there's few out there with more clout that Perturbator. I, for one, would most welcome such music at the peak hours of Shambhala – be a nice change of pace from all the glitch-hop, that's for sure.

That's basically the gist I get from New Model, a collection of tracks mostly intended for a concert roll-out, with all the huge, explosive synths and sounds that come with stage shows. I don't know if he has actually gone forward with that – it's not like any European synthwavers ever tour on my side of the globe – but I can definitely see them played best in that context. Big, loud, aggressive, head-banger fodder, with almost no care or concern for the album narrative most previous Perturbator LPs provide. The first two tracks - Birth Of A New Model and Tactical Precision Disarray - are especially some of the nastiest, sludgiest darksynth jams I've heard from anyone, save maybe some of GosT's demon-possession sounds.

The final three tracks are more straight-forward, skewing closer to the vintage Perturbator stylee, though throw in their own glitch-hop twists too (also, does Tainted Empire ever want to be an apocalyptic death-metal outing). And no Perturbator album, mini or otherwise, is complete without at least one vocal track, Vantablack doing something of a darkwave ballad, a surprising piece of downbeat songcraft compared to New Model's overall feral sound design. And damn, that sound design, these tracks some of the most spacious I've yet heard from Mr. Kent. I knew he'd get beyond that brick-walled mastering eventually!