Review: Manchester based producer Joe McBride has incorporated disparate influences across the spectrum of bass culture and electronica over recent years for respected imprints such as Apollo, Exit Records and his own Synkro Music. His latest outing, the Information EP, comes courtesy of the mighty R&S Records and features four tracks with a distinctly UK underground feel; the half-time grey area beats of the title track call to mind the Autonomic sound the late noughties, leading into the ominous atmosphere of the seething slow burner "Signal" and ending with the celestial, immersive ambient journey "Last Breath".
Review: Rightly so, Paul Woolford sees his Special Request project stamped and approved by R&S with this fully sick Spectral Frequency EP. Lifting the title-track from the Zero Fucks compilation Woolford released last year, this insane banger of experimental jungle comes backed by a sidewinding beatless version in "Inverse Frequency". The EP sees two new numbers in the bassline driven bliss of "No Other Way To Say It" and the uplifting arpeggios of "Family Doggo" that offers some respite in techno from the bonafide mad breaks of "Spectral Frequency". Undeniably good. Tip!
Review: Some six years ago we met Mr. 8040. It was 2357 A.D. and our hero was in the throes of hazardous journey back to his home planet. This premise was set up with Welcome To Mikrosector-50 LP in 2013, a debut Space Dimension Controller album for R&S. Love Beyond The Intersect, it is told, sees Mr 8040 again exploring "the unknown world in the hope of finding help." With Space Dimension Controller at the controls, this return represents a deeper touch to the story, with Moodymann levels of deep house depth reached in "Alone In An Unknown Sector" alongside the equally ambient and evoking sounds of "Sundown On Memory Point". A new level of maturity and minimalism shines through on the album with the power of subtleness is on display here. Cue ambient swells of cosmic atmospheres dusted up by the soft pitter-patter of luscious drums and sweet shining synths. Godspeed Mr. 8040!
Review: Fresh from the release of his low-key, self-released "Redemption of the Cryonauts" album, Jack Hamill once again dons the Space Dimension Controller alias for a first outing on R&S Records in nigh on two years. The headline attraction is undoubtedly opener "Beyond Pulso-IV", a suitably epic, stargazing affair that sees the Northern Irish producer layer his trademark colourful synthesizer lines and deep space electronics over a classy mid-tempo groove that sits somewhere between spacey deep house and '80s electrofunk. He ups the tempo to 128 BPM on the Motor City inspired futurist warmth of "First Contact With System Lobitso", before wrapping luxurious ambient electronics and lilting lead lines around a soft-touch drum machine groove on the deliciously loved-up "Valuts of Arcadia".
Review: Apoca is Lakker's fourth artist album and follows 2016's highly conceptual Struggle & Emerge work. In what marks a change for the duo's approach, it features them singing, with opening track "Shoulder to the Bat" and the droning, stepping "Dropped Shoulders" mixing up evocative human tones with dubbed out techno. On other occasions, like "100 Bar", "A Juggling of Numbers" and "Nest", their love of abstract comes to the fore, with knotted, glitchy rhythms providing the basis for atmospheric textures. The pair also delves deep into experimentation with the neo-classical stylings of "Clavier", while "A Whisper In Your Ear" is an irresistible piece of lumbering, ghostly techno. No matter what direction Lakker turn in, they never fail to impress.
Review: John Talabot and Axel Boman released their debut album as Talaboman last year, and now R&S are issuing remixes of tracks from The Night Land. First up is Superpitcher, who is tasked with reworking "Dins El Llit". The Kompakt star uses a stripped back, bleepy groove as a basis to conjure up blurry vocal samples and pulsing 303s, making for a subtle, tripped out affair. The same can be said about Samo DJ's take on "The Ghosts Hood". While it is more pacey than Superpitcher's rework, the break beats are understated and the acid line keeps niggling away. The final remix comes from Luke Slater under his LB Dub Corp guise; on his version of ""Brutal Chugga Chugga", the UK veteran delivers a superb, low-slung, jacking Chicago workout.
Review: As producer for American rapper Danny Brown, South London's Paul White collaborated with him on the acclaimed XXX album back in 2011. Since making his name with debut The Strange Dreams of Paul White, he went on to create some real innovation in contemporary hip-hop production on a further nine albums, in addition to working with Jamie Woon, Homeboy Sandman and Charli XCX. With his new album Rejuvenate, the producer and multi-instrumentalist tries something new, incorporating psychedelic pop elements with cosmic rock, ambient, electronic, jazz, folk and more. Vocal contributions come from Sarah Williams White, Denai Moore and Shungudzo and he's said to have abandoned sampling altogether and instead played and recorded all the instruments himself.
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