Boomkat – new ZOMBY, LEYLAND KIRBY, ASVA, etc.

*Initial copies come on limited edition transparent vinyl.* Out of the blue and onto your platter, HAFTW presents Vol. 2 of Leyland Kirby’s four-part ‘Intrigue & Stuff’ sessions. There’s absolutely no predicting what direction this series will take, and in this instance we’re privy to an internal ocean of quieter thoughts and moods, smudged with a majestic yet somehow solipsistic glow. As ever, there’s a wealth of cultural mulch swirling below the surface, siphoning the slyest hints of Harold Budd and dormant spirits of the new age with a dissolute mix of cynicism and sincerity. Embarking at ‘Eventually, It Eats Your Lungs’ we navigate the crests of swelling choral samples and strangely tactile blasts of blurry bass, delivered with a physicality not unlike being touched in a dream. The two elements tussle and tumble in this fluctuating mindspace, reaching irregular resolutions that still leave us baffled – in the best possible sense. After dilating our sense of time with this passage, we’re briefly extruded through the cosmic chrono-chaos of ‘Speeded Up Slow Motion’, a piece that feels like gazing into localized miniature black hole. That’s all preparation for ‘Complex Expedition’, one of Leyland Kirby’s most breathtaking masterpieces to date. Spanning all 20 minutes of the B-side, the milk sea is curdling and we’re stranded, eons away from anyone or anything. Now, unless you’re a card carrying member of his inner drinking circle, it’s highly unlikely you’ve ever heard this music before, or even anything quite like it. Get to know.

**200 copies for the world** Trailing in the wake of a stunning eponymous debut album, comes a vital vinyl pressing of the ‘Observatory EP’. The first pressing was on tape and limited to 31 copies, so don’t fret if you missed out! This material is quite removed from the album, and almost feels like it was made for a medieval goth rave in the woods. The title track track is built from pummelling, pistoning Industrial kicks and a twirling, wyrdly eldritch synth which hypnotises like a more primal, arcane version of the lead from Carl Craig’s ‘The Climax’. Flipside, ‘Hounfour’ is slower, lurching forward like the marked offspring of Sleeparchive’s Stamp Release 12″ and Raime. Gob-smacking material, do not sleep on this!!!!!

It’s not like it’s his first full-length offering, but nonetheless there’s a weight and a composure to this release, right down to its sequencing, presentation and home on 4AD, which screams “debut LP proper”. Fair play to the geez, he’s done himself proud here: the eldritch, tranced-out double-punch of opening tracks ‘Witch Hunt’ and ‘Natalia’s Song’ sets the tone for an album that delivers unabashed emotion, narcotic drift and rudeboy grit in equal and complementary measure. The absolutely boss ‘Riding With Death’ is like grime from outer space, smacked-up and dubbed-out but iterated with an almost Teutonic discipline, while ‘Vortex’ and ‘Lucifer’ team the kind of brazen synth stabs favoured by R&B overlords like The-Dream and Timbaland with a heart-catching isolationist sensibility more in keeping with vintage Ae or Source Direct. In the context of the album, the Panda Bear-vocalled ‘Things Fall Apart’ makes perfect sense, preparing the ground for the fetid fourth world techno of ‘Salamander’. ‘Digital Rain’ and ‘Devil Lay Here’ are pure, Zomby-patented dubstep bubble-bobble, the latter knocked nicely off-kilter by ear-worming horn sounds, while the wild-pitching arpeggios of ‘Mozaik’ and ‘Black Orchid’ hark back to his game-changing Hyperdub double-pack. ‘Florence’ teams the most delicate, tremulous piano sequences with scuttling junglist breakbeats, prompting inevitable comparisons with classic Aphex gear; pianos are in fact all over the album, culminating in the straight-faced, unadorned solo piece ‘Basquiat’. The guy has really cultivated his patch of digital flora to perfection, and we just can’t fault him here; Dedication is a hugely recommended journey into the heart of soundsystem psychedelia, Zomby-style.

The Advisory Circle’s 2008 album Other Channels is one of the best things Ghost Box have ever released, and having kept himself busy since then with various releases on his own Cafe Kaput label, Jon Brooks is now back in AC mode to drop the eagerly awaited follow-up, As The Crow Flies – and what a fiendishly good record it is. As ever with this project, the primary inspiration is the sinister undertones of public information films and wyrd 70s TV broadcasting in general, but As The Crow Flies charts less obviously sample-based territory than its predecessor; this outing is a little less about those hauntological ambiences and paternal monologues (though they’re still very much attendant), more about composition and songcraft, with elaborate synthesizer arrangements and elegant folky inflections aplenty. An agreeable psychedelic whimsy characterises the record, but it’s not all library music twee; you never know when there’s going to be a handbrake-turn into darkness, dissoluton and abstraction: see ‘Modern Through Movement’, which is proto-techno by way of Berlin school kosmische, and especially ‘We Cleanse This Space’, a truly eerie, inspired concoction of reverbed children’s choir and limpid afro-dub percussion. Hell, closing number ‘Lonely Signalman’ is nothing short of vocodered pop. This is perhaps As The Crow Flies’ greatest achievement: that it manages to adhere to the very specific rules and requirements of the Ghost Box universe while also representing a hefty artistic leap forward for its maker. Terrific stuff.

*Limited edition LP from this U.S. underground supergroup Feat Oneohtrix, Laurel Halo, Ferraro and more. Housed in thick black jacket with two-colour adhesive wrap. Includes download code for full album and bonus track redeemable directly from the label** RVNG Intl have assembled one of their most exciting editions for vol. 7 of the Frkwys series, which has previously seen pairings between Pyschic Ills and Juan Atkins, and ARP with Anthony Moore, among others. This one started as a mutual appreciation of David Borden’s ‘Music For Amplified Keyboard Instruments’ between Daniel “OPN” Lopatin and the label, and soon evolved into this modern day super troupe of synth stars; highly regarded film and TV composer, Samuel Godin, far-out savant James Ferraro, electronic dreamer Laurel Halo, and Lopatin, collaborating with the venerable Borden. The sessions were entirely improvised and recorded between august and december of 2010 and sound little short of incredible. Their “Ensemble synth explorations for other green worlds” feature distinct elements of each players sound, but it’s difficult, and probably pointless to try and pick them apart from the whole. It’s hardly a competition, quite obviously, and they’ve balanced their contributions accordingly to create five sumptuous pieces of star-gazing contemporary kosmische. It breaks down as two longer tracks divided into two sections, and a majestic final kiss off. They range from the glorious 12 minute expanse of ‘People Of The Wind Pt.1’ to more chaotic and alien expressions in ‘Internet Gospel Pt. 2’, and one truly captivating final dialogue on ‘Twilight Pacific’, and must surely rank as one of the more impressive records of its ilk this year. Recommended!

**Edition of 500, housed in hand screen printed DIY black french paper jacket** Conrad Schnitzler is without a doubt one of the most important figures in 20th century electronic music. His CV includes a prominent role initiating the seminal Zodiak Free Arts Lab in Berlin circa 1967, essentially creating the nucleus of what would become known as the Kosmische movement. From this he became a founder member of Kluster and collaborated with the likes of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, laying the foundations for future generations of Techno and Ambient electronic musicians. It’s not often that unreleased material of his comes to the surface, but Further Records have somehow gained access to this 1972 live session, salvaged from cheap old tapes. Considering the time frame, this stuff is just incredible, spanning twelve tracks of signature metallic pulses and starry synth plumes framing his beautifully restrained melodic arrangements. What separates Con from the rest of the crowd, and makes him so important to the development of electronic music and Techno in particular, is that intuitive and engrossing element of restraint and repetition, especially when coupled with his knack for darker, moodier melodies and that brooding sense of space. No hyperbole intended, this is a genuinely exceptional piece of work, easily one of the very best reissues we’ve encountered in the recent deluge. Mastered by CGB at D&M, Berlin

‘Transamorem – Transmortem’ is a staggering, transcendent composition rescued from the dust of Eliane Radigue’s archives by Important Records. It has been virtually unheard since it was first premiered on March 9th, 1974 at The Kitchen in NYC, at an event organised by the venue’s music programmer, Rhys Chatham. Like the majority of Eliane’s works, it was created with her favoured ARP Synthesizer, and would surely count as one of her most subtle and still pieces – which is quite something, considering her status as an almost peerless master of sonic stasis. Like the very best of her canonical works, she challenges, or heightens, our perceptions of temporal awareness, seemingly expanding carefully organised frequencies or even a single note, or moment, into a meditative stillness with only the slightest of timbral transformations to create a near-unparalleled effect of immersion. If you’ve ever submitted yourself to one of her compositions before, i’m certain you’ll know what we mean. If not, perhaps Eliane’s notes may enlighten you, “Preceding the greatest achievement, Preceding the greatest detachment. Outer edge of the frontier space of the unconscious. Waves in tune, “the consonant things are vibrating together.” Where is the changing point? Within the inner field of perception, or the external reality of something on the way to becoming. “Then, time is no longer an obstacle, but the means which permit the realisation of the possible.” Because the piece was originally intended as an installation, it’s organised with clearly spatialized high, mid, and low frequencies to be played on a quadrophonic speaker set-up. If you follow her instructions for this setup you may well experience the localised physicality of these frequencies quite differently, but we’d equally recommend simple, linear home listening on a stereo setup for equally enveloping results. Let’s be fair, walking around is the last thing we’ll be doing while this is playing at home. And, this is one of the few times we’ll admit to the advantage of CD over vinyl pressing, because it would definitely detract from the experience if we had to get up and flip the record! Simply, this album is a massively, massively recommended experience.

*Strictly limited edition set of 4 x Coloured 12″s feat classic and rare tracks by Ron Trent, Larry Heard, Isolée, Morphosis +++* Glorious compilation of classic and future vintage House and Techno, including tracks by Ron Trent, Larry Heard, DJ Qu, STL, Morphosis, John Daly, Isolée, Reggie Dokes, Herbert and many more. On the yellow 12″ we find Sven Weisemann remixing his own ‘Deep Passion’, and Morphosis looking to the stars with ‘They Just Don’t Care’. besides more deep and raw House styles from Lowtec and STL. For the red vinyl, John Daly pushes slow and deep with ‘Birds’, next to lushed-out Detroit pirouettes from Derek Carr and John Beltran, plus a more abstract groove by Sam McQueen. The ‘Special’ 12″s are just that, loading the first wax with Ron Trent’s deeply inspirational ‘Piano Track’, Larry Heard’s magical ‘Dolphin Dream’ and Herbert’s ‘Fat King Fire’, and the 2nd with Isolée’s ‘Raum Zwei’, Reggie Dokes’ ‘Black Thought (Koomba Project remix)’ and DJ Qu’s hypnotic ‘Be Who You Want’. Choice selections – hurry. Full Tracklisting: Styrax Records 009 = A1 Sven Weisemann “Deep Passion (Sven’s Repassion Mix)” Remix by Sven Weisemann A2 Morphosis “They Just Don’t Care” B1 Lowtec “Stamping Ground” B2 STL “Laio” C1 John Daly “Birds” C2 Derek Carr “25th” D1 John Beltran “Rainy Day Savior” D2 Sam McQueen “Simple Pleasures” plus: A: Ron Trent “Piano Track” B1: Larry Heard “Dolphin Dream” B2: Herbert “Fat KIng Fire” C: Isoleé “Raum 2″ D1: Reggie Dokes ” Black Thoughts the Tribal Mix” D2: Dj Qu “Be Who You Want (Main Mix)”

*Hand screen printed sleeve, mastered at D&M* Wicked slab of avant-Dub doings by Ekoplekz, captured last year at his debut live set for Bristol’s Dubloaded. The entire 45-minute set is spread over two sides, no gaps or nuthing. Much like charming platters for Mordant Music and Punch Drunk, all the music is improvised, deploying an array of cheap effects units and synths to create something quite deliciously spaced-out, lo-fi and inimitably intuitive. In other hands this could be boring, but Ekoplekz is constantly tweaking, folding and nudging his sounds into ever more alien arrangements, doing away with beats to allow the pulses of the synths to keep rhythm while he renders their shapes into arcing star bursts and wonderfully bloopy atmospheres. For our money it’s one of the best bits he’s released yet. It sounds more like Sun Araw meets Carlos Giffoni than anything strickly dub-related. Mastered at D&M. Won’t be around for long.

*Limited edition triple CD set housed in a clam-shell/cartridge style outer pack.* Transmitted from the edge of English civilisation, ‘Receiving Calls’ is an eerily evocative ambient suite by Thanet. We’ve crossed paths with this artist before in his Mr Maxted guise, but while that project was under the spell of Belgian New Beat and DIY tape music, this one occupies a peculiar location on the edge of light-industrial ambient zones and soundtracky library music. The entire collection clocks in at just under 3 hours, or long enough to do the Ramsgate-Oostende crossing if you really wanted to buy into the experience – we’d imagine this would sound amazing between the ports of Belgium and the UK in the hazy distance. The mixture of minor key pastoral baroque motifs and more greyed and oxidised light-industrial moods subtly evoke the low-rolling landscape and port town bleakness of the district he borrows his name from, distinguishing the suite with an end-of-the-world stillness dappled by silty North Sea light. These could be the soundtracks to particularly haunting reels on the bunkers of the Kentish coast, or equally some slow-moving ’90s detective series on an ashen faced sleuth solving labyrinthine, Kafka-esque mysteries in a tiny village, or more likely the comedown music to a chilly rave held on a pebbly beach. Either way, it’s got us hooked, and we reckon fans of Leyland Kirby or Massonix will be too. Highly Recommended.

**Limited edition, one-sided pressing with etching** If, like us, you’ve got a bit narked at trying to beatmatch your 7″ copy of Actress’ Panda Bear remix, then rejoice, ‘coz some clever b*gger at Kompakt has cut an extended version to 12″ for the fat-fingered jocks out there! The original surely stands as one of Actress’ finest remixes to date, but now the pleasure is extended, slightly dilating that mesmerising mid-section and lengthening the second half for crafty players to get busy with the mix. That lovely matt black centre label is going to be covered in oily finger marks soon enough. Highly recommended!!!

**James Blake returns to the label that helped make his name with two dark, killer new productions**. Given the hype surrounding his debut album, you could be forgiven for forgetting what a uniquely talented proposition James Blake is, and how powerful his work can be when aimed at the ‘floor of DMZ rather than the housewives of Middle England. This 12″ is just superb, bringing two instrumental, back-to-first-principals but still hugely inventive dubstep reductions with real balls to them ‘Order’ is a bruising, purist minimal half-stepper, off-kilter 808 hits nudging it forward and no doubt straight into the box of Mala and anyone else who still remembers how devastating a producer Blake can be. It’s ‘Pan’, though, that’s the real prize here: stalking, sub-heavy business for the the paranoiacs and occultists, tortured vocal textures that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Raime or Haxan Cloak record peeling off a ruthlessly stripped groove that’s reminiscent of early Shackleton and Mystikz productions but nonetheless possessed of its own unique presence.

**Seriously tasty new EP on Night Slugs from the boy wonder, Jam City.** The clue to the sound of opening bomb ‘Aqua Box’ is in the title: imagine a pumping Chicago box jam torpedoed down to the ocean floor and souped up with some South London subs and you’re in business. ‘Countess’ is the kind of grime-influenced house at which JC so excels; militant, broken drum syncopations buttressing spiky, stop-start electro arpeggios to bone-crushing effect. ‘Island’ has been knocking around on dubplate for the best part of two years; it’s lost none of its lustre in the interim, butch 808 drums jolting and jabbing around airy, melancholy synth sounds – an out-and-out masterpiece, just killer. ‘Barely A Trak’ takes the tried and tested formula of combining UKF syncopations and bending Moomin synths, but caresses it into something properly unique with the help of some nifty edits and an ‘ardkore-style vocal loop. ‘Waterfalls’ gestures towards Chicago again, with its Virgo-esque tom hits and starlit synths, but breaks down into something altogether more mutant and LDN-flavoured. Banging, breathlessly imaginative stuff from start to finish.

Clouds are the most consistently intriguing characters on the estimable Deep Medi roster. Their first 12″ for the label in two years is split between smudged and dusty midnight jazz styles and more swinging, but melancholy electronica. ‘Lots Of Calls From No One Pt. 2’ hits the jazz mark with wisps of sampled instrumentation aquatically tumbled with blunted, Fly Lo-style bass and mournfully screwed beats, proper end-of-the-bar, end-of-the-night business. Flip over for ‘Rest Of The Cycle’, with flickering, insectoid 2-step scuttles embedded against phat, warm analogue subs and tender chords that could have come from a Fonal release, a fact aided by the deliciously fuzzy tape recording. Full colour sleeve, choice.

*Limited edition, hand-stamped white label* Proper skulkin’ riddims straight outta deepest darkest Bristol on the freshly minted Livity Sound. Frontside, Kowton goes on a sparse and slinkin’ groove driven by pneumatic subbass pulses and coordinated by tuff yet limbre drum programming, all cloaked with roughed-up string pads. Rolling off a cracking run of tracks on Hessle Audio and Left_Bank, Pev’s mix on the flip feel more tensile, synching rumbling dread bass, slippin’ Toms and sheared hi-hats with a more junglist intent compared with Kowton’s Garage/House flow. No fuss, just stone-cold aces.

Cracking 12″ from Finland’s Desto, landing deep in Tranced-out Bass zones shared by Teeth and Araabmuzik right now. Title tune ‘Mako Wrap’ is an A grade banger, heat-sealing crisp 808 rolls with Teched-out dread bass and aerial trance chords. ‘Neptune’ is trickier in that Foot-steppin’ Teeth style, with trickling synths synched to filigree rhythm programming for the agile rollers, next to the Grimier flex of ‘Overkrookd’. We can easily imagine Oneman slicing through these joints. Best thing Rwina have put out? we think so. TIP!