Lucy At Juno Download

Review: Lucy's label has become as well known for its Monad digital series as its physical releases. Previous Monad releases have done a lot to further the industrial influence on techno and as he steps up to the plate, it's clear that the Italian producer has his work cut out. However, it also quickly becomes apparent that he is easily up for the task. "Pentad" cuts a menacing shape, its intense, doubled up beats providing the basis for wave upon wave of noisy, swirling textures ring fenced by barbed wire percussion. This veritable assault lasts just over ten minutes and during that time it feels like Lucy has taken an excavator to the listener's cranium. "Tetrad" and "Decad" are less direct and by default sound less intense, but neither could be mistaken for easy listening. The former tumbles along to rattling, broken beats as bursts of noise are unleashed, let off like steam screeching through a loosened pressure valve. The latter is more introspective as Lucy uses droning soundscapes and, nearer the outro, an eerie vocal to give vent to his reflective side. Neither however can prepare the listener for "Triad". Like "Pentad", it is based on stomping off beats, but it goes through a number of sonic transformations, from the menacing sound of an industrial saw edging closer to its target, through a dubby fugue before bringing this instalment in the series to an end with a raucous, blaring foghorn riff. On X, Lucy shows that Monad continues to mark the spot for wired industrial techno.

Review: 2011 is the thirtieth anniversary of electronic music - if we take the 1981 release of Cybotron's "Alleys of Your Mind" as the starting point - so it is apt that this year sees a number of producers releasing benchmark albums. The format has plagued artists in this sphere for a long time, and always poses the same dilemmas - should they focus on song-based styles in a bid to prove themselves as artists, or just deliver dancefloor tracks? Thankfully, Lucy's debut long player circumvents these issues, opting for an experimental approach, albeit one that is not entirely unfamiliar to fans of his Stroboscopic Artefacts label. The recoiling, menacing bassline and ominous feeling on "Thear" and the pounding yet eerie "Bein" sound like they could have formed part of the label's digital-only Monad series, while the dreamy breaks and half-heard vocals of "Eis" would also not have sounded out of place on the label's spin-off. The rest of the album sees more experimental outcomes from the production approach Lucy applied. Armed with a digital recorder, he recorded every noise and sound he encountered in his everyday life. The sound of water dripping is audible on "Mas", while indistinct snippets of a conversation emerge on "Gas". Wordplay For Working Bees is steeped in techno's culture of advancement and proves that after three decades, it is still possible to challenge convention.