That lava flow on the cover artwork of the second release by this Brooklyn-based trio of young cosmic couriers, made up of Mark Dwinell, Sophie Lam and George Bennett, didn't make me thought about geophysics, volcanology, hot gullies, after my eardrums got pleasefully stimulated by OFF/ON, their second release which follows the critically acclaimed self-named debut. Although their sound could be easily associated to some eruptions or outcrops from buried electronic music styles, their sound could be associated to another lava-related iconic object, the legendary decorative lamp, produced by Mathmos and developed by Edward-Craven Walker, as its blobs of coloured wax could be considered as one of the most representative emblem of retrofuturism (!), the concrete simulacrum of some relic, which could be linked to a somewhat kitsch and fetish idea of future in the teeth of its belonging to the past, whose symbolic meaning never fades, just like an aged record you enjoyed or a chocolate candy with oxidized surface which still tastes delicious! After such a premise, looking through their equipment - Moog Prodigy, Roland SH-1000, Yamaha CS-15, Korg Lambda, DSI Mopho, Roland TR-707 and TR-606. Oberheim SEM, Akai AX73, Roland RS-09 (the relatively cheapest device to play Jarre's "Oxygene"...) and more - could let you surmise they retraced the glorious pathway of some legendary knights such as the above-mentioned Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream or Vangelis and by their own admission, they deconstructed the Motorik, a slang term coined by some older colleagues to describe the typical 4/4 ostinato rhythm by many krautrockers such as Neu! or Kraftwerk, but it's clear since the initial "OFF" dynamics behind their majestic cosmic rides, twisted sequences and flowing arpeggiations are not a simple homage to those sonorities, but often show an impressive homogeneity, an attention to detail and computational splashes, which sound like fitted to a refurbished enthusiasm for an upcoming space age, for a primordial return to synth-music source or maybe for a conscious and sage return to innocence!

I'm getting into the habit of blindly listening upcoming releases by playing them without worrying about the author or the label: it happened during this kind of random listening that when my eardrum met the first track of this release "Comme Ãça", some scenes from Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" and the moving poetry behind his tender awkwardness and his touching care in the love affair with a blind flower girl, in the attempt of collecting money for an expensive sight-saving operation, have been immediately rendered into my mind. You can just imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of the co-signers of this graceful release is no less than Christopher Chaplin, the youngest son of Charlie Chaplin, who remixed a live piano set by another musical living legend as it is the German avantgarde composer and krautrock pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius for Fiona Talkington's "Late Junction Session" on BBC Radio 3. When Roedelius was invited to choose a musician to remix his live set, he opted for Chaplin, whom he first met at the "Gugginger Irritationem 2", a festival in Wien, focused on Art Brut. I've not read anything about source for inspiration and themes behind "King Of Hearts", but the title could let you imagine the tale about a dethroned noble-minded and big-hearted king, who decides to return to his previous kingdom in order to restore justice and peace after hearing and ascertain his previous beloved subjects in despair. The first part of the album seems to evoke a grim reality where oppression and covetousness muted poeple's souls, whose gravity resounds with the sad piano arpeggios and anxious bells on "Autrement", the menacing atmosphere evoked by "Mais oui", the solitary remembrance, which seems to be activated by electronic chirping birds, on "Tout à fait", the aching emotional outbursts on the catchy tangle of a torn and disquiet piano melody, an afflicted violin in "Parce que", which precedes the consciousness raising, the recovered temperament and the declaration of intent by this imaginary king, whose heartbeat and voice first appear on the amazing "Evidemment", whereas the slow slapping on lead guitar and the organ on "Bien Sur" evokes a cogitation about a strategy. The delicate cover of notorious "By This River", the song Roedelius co-wrote with Brian Eno and Moebius, on "Aussi Bien", the regal portamento of jazzy "N'est-ce pas", the sliding joint between a distorted guitar and faltering piano melody on "Tant mieux" and the amazing final track "Voici", a sort of crossbreeding between improvisational jazz techniques and suffused lights Roedelius applies on sounds, are going to let you imagine how the story could end. A somewhat unorthodox piece of good contemporary classical music.

Sometimes the unspectacular looking releases have got the richest musically content to offer. Ashbed is the Electronic music project of David Tatlock, who hails out of New Waterford, NS, Canada. In his earlier years he has been often supported by Nightwaves zine-editor and Synthpop supporter (... and Chain D.L.K. author...) Gary Flanagan through some compilation appearances. Also some of Flanagan's reviews on his early demo recordings have been throughout positive, although Ashbed's music is for the most part far away of Gary's preferences. 'If We Should Part' is filled with haunting and dense athmospheres, the music combines darkest Electro with Noise, Dubstep and Ambient. Skinny Puppy gets often mentioned, but also Controlled Bleeding, Gridlock, Scorn plus I would add the ominous textures of projects like Little Sap Dungeon as being quells of inspiration for Mr. Tatlock. Mostly his tracks are drowning into Downtempo-like sick and noisy sound-walls. 'So It Goes' is such an example, which adds a monotonous Dubstep-rhythm to lead the track. 'In Between Dreams' stands for a clearer, more Puppy-an Dark Electro-inspired tune. Also thanks to the inclusion of vocals this one is a nice addition to fans of this beloved genre. 'Third Coming' then brings back the abstract, Experimental-infiltrated side of David, and this style still leads most tracks of this album. Also 'The Hidden' or the title-track are dwelling pretty much in obtrusive synthesizer sound-drops, plus the drastic rhythm section brings both near to a Gridlock-like experience. While I would recommend here and there adding a bit more clearance in his song structures, maybe too with a consideration to present more vocals like on 'In Between Dreams', I am generally quite impressed by the efforts of Mr. Tatlock. Regarding the above mentioned artists for possible comparisons it should be quite clear, that this album won't satisfy meaningless dancefloor attributes. Ashbed could need a bit more exposure by press and listeners for a better out-coming, while the talent is without doubts presented on here.

Thirty-six hours on a train could become a so mind-altering experience for the most inveterate traveller that you can easily argue it could be a prodrome for mystical experiences and result into a safe-conduct for any kind of barrier, which locks any door of perception. Jacob Burns, former bass player with Scottish band Damn Shames and one of the youngest force of post-punk experimental band Cindytalk, was none the worse for such a train travel across India (hopefully not for a delay or I could surmise this record could have been more harsh and bloody furious than it is...) and maybe he couldn't imagine after he stepped down the train, the sensorial feast he experienced inside Tundla Station could be so inspirational. According to his own words "the arches of the place were alive with birds, flicking off the walls and the top of the crowds, delicate bodies who seemed drawn up, in ever more numbers, to the vaulted roof, where they were coming into roost. The host of them were all singing, in a high, pure pitch that was contained and multiplied by the masonry of the station into an incredible noise, loud but not painful". The second source for inspiration Jacob poured into "Starlings" was his toing and froing over East London Line. Both of these two excitements astonishingly merge on this one-track album, whose 9 parts are easily recognisable while sliding on impressive sonic interbreeding between tweets and chirps on one side and mechanical clattering, puffing brakes, jumps on rails and other typical noises the ear usually grab during a train journey. An appetizer of "Starlings" already delighted eardrums of all those who bought the July edition of The Wire Magazine's Tapper CD, who could confirm the remarkable way this sound designer followed to encapsulate two of the most proper juggernauts and inspirational sources for many contemporary electronic jugglers: transport and birds!

This entrancing operation of sonic prophylaxis comes from American sound designer and minimalist sound artist Richard Cartier, mainly known for his brisk activity within his label/artistic platform LINE, who signs his second release under the Pinkcourtesyphone moniker, whose title "Elegant & Detached" tautly describes its main features. Richard seems to pour sonic splits of echoed female voices, sonic objects and other listenable entities into pools of seemingly flat and looping close frequencies, whose "flambe" treatment with light distortions could remind that underlying wind on membranes of abandoned microphones or the typical noise of jet engines when the surrounding atmosphere gets remarkably rarefied, so that you could imagine that each track is the resounding of some lunar module while wandering out of orbit in a void, which gets occasionally filled with rings, quavers, pitched echoes, repetitive airy melodies, background radiation, dull thuds, silenced clangors, imaginary porpoises ("Sans Motif/Closer To Here Than You Care To Be"), squawks ("Petraglyph (for Ranier)") or even barking birds, as those one appearing in the astonishingly cinematic journey of "An Awaiting Room (for Tati)/Starts Fell" - maybe together with some hints in "Sans Motif/Closer To Here Than You Care To Be" the one which recalls some hallucinated audiotrips with ironic and iconic sonic clues by The Orb more than other moments of the album -. All these sonic appearances sound like wavering in amniotic solvents and belonging to a sort of encrypted and somewhat tricky code many listeners could understand. His long-lasting entrancing journeys could be approximately associated to that cerebral branch of ambient which had a certain rush in the 90ies and first year of new millenium (I could mention some stuff from Kim Cascone's Silent, Bent Recknagel's Syrup, Lagowski, laudanum sonic juice by Todd Gautreau's Tear Ceremony or even Robin Storey's Rapoon) as well as to the vague daydreaming of some ghostly womanizer.