Hello,
In a ridiculously strong week for new releases, Wolf Eyes’ Nate Young’s ‘Stay Asleep’ looms large over proceedings. It’s a record that has dominated our office listening since arrival, spilling unheimlich synth sounds and glutinous bass around sparse and blunted drums set somewhere between Raime and Photek’s ‘Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu’. Frankly, it’s one of the very best records of this, or any ilk in 2011 – we urge you to check it out.
Despite only releasing two singles to date, Raime’s reputation is inversely proportional to their output. Their third 12″ ‘Hennail’ is an exquisite distillation of their shadily disclosed influences, isolating elements of hardcore Jungle, militant Industrial and swooning Post-Punk, before moulding them into something utterly modern and deeply affective. Initial copies come in a printed ultra-gloss LP-style sleeve – these just ain’t gonna last.
Continuing a rarified, arcane theme across this week’s recommendations, Stephen O’Malley’s Ideologic Organ presents Nurse With Wound’s incredible transformations of Sunn 0)))’s ‘The Iron Soul Of Nothing’. Within, Potter and Stapleton find a purgatory betwixt drone Metal atmospheres and more miasmic ambience, yielding a genuinely jaw-dropping listen, with packaging to match.
And hovering around more celestial climes, Motion Sickness Of Time Travel (Rachel Evans) and Nova Scotian Arms (Grant Evans), offer a sumptuous LP through Belgium’s Aguirre imprint. Grant’s half is one of the best we’ve heard from him, romantic and sincerely wide-eyed, while Rachel’s is typically lush and blissed out, making use of those ethereal, spine-tingling vocals in a beautifully submerged and fuggy fashion.
Mark Fell records are ever welcome round ours, especially so his ‘Periodic orbits of a dynamic system …’ for Editions Mego. Unlike his previous material, this one’s structured around two 23-minute pieces and comprises some of his most scrambled yet accessible works to date. His fans will have giddy fingers at the mere sight of a new record, you know what to do.
Ekoplekz, meanwhile, returns with a super limited 7″ for the Snug Life imprint – made in a run of just 100 copies for the world. The original is a wicked, bilgy piece of lowland jak, while the ‘So Allein Replekz’ guts it and leaves the entrails flanging in a darkside chamber dub.
Like we said up top, it’s a really choice week for new stuff, but we neglected the old. ‘White Savage Dance’ is a remarkable collection of vintage, nascent productions by the elder statesman of UK Techno, Karl O’Connor aka Regis in his Sandra Electronics guise. If you’re only familiar with his dancefloor productions this may be a shocking listen, but if you’re aware of his tastes, you’ll hear echoes of the Cab’s, T.G, The Normal and DAF, all conducted with a pure, darkside elegance which is hard to mistake for anyone else. It’s a huge recommendation, as if it needed saying!
Throbbing Gristle, meanwhile, complete the first phase of their colossal reissue programme with the arrival of ‘Greatest Hits’, reissued for the first time in 30 years in limited runs, entirely remastered and with restored artwork, plus an additional CD’s worth of extra material.
Oh aye, maybe we’ll just quickly mention: we’ve got a few boxes-worth of mint, unplayed original 1989 copies My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Ecstasy And Wine’ LP for the taking. Enough said. First come…
Finally a couple of dancefloor aces from Zomby and Egyptrixx. Fresh from his 4AD album, Zomby gives the label a hot plate of seven new cuts spanning jungle, juke, and Bass with that inimitable UK flex, while Night Slugs’ Canadian ambassador drops his most intriguing and esoteric single to date, covering Dylan Carlson’s Earth (of all people!) on a brilliant 10″ for This Is Music’s This Is Less sub label.
Also out this week, new releases from Sandwel District, Vladislav Delay, Fulgeance, 1000names, Charlatan, Kingdom, Fatima Al Qadiri, FM3, Peter Broderick, Cotton Goods, RVNG Intl, Mr Oizo, French Fries, DVS1, Anthony Shakir, El Kid, Jeff Mills, Star Slinger, Persian, Terror Danjah, Russel Haswell vs Hecker, Soundhack plus re-presses of incredible albums from Julia Holter and The Caretaker.
have yourselves a fabulous week…
Peace! nekkers…xx
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