Review: Crosstown Rebels boss Damian Lazarus seems to be mellowing with age - or at least getting more artistically adventurous. This follow-up to his 2009 debut, Smoke The Monster Out, was co-produced by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford in LA. London and Mexico, with the assistance of an impressive cast of musicians from around the world. While rooted in the kind of tactile house and techno most associated with the evergreen hipster, Message From The Other Side is impressively psychedelic, otherworldly and stargazing in outlook. The album's woozy, horizontal appeal is therefore enhanced by Lazarus and Ford's use of Indian instrumentation, African percussion and impeccable keys-work from American jazz pianist Eric Lewis.
Review: It certainly has been Michael Wollenhaupt's year. Since going solo with the Ancient Methods project without Conrad Protzmann, collaborating with Regis as Ugandan Methods and remixing everyone from Powell to Bourbonese Qualk; he's more active than ever and the music speaks for itself. For his latest release on the Hands imprint, Wollenhaupt unleashes more of his epic war techno which collides head on with gothic, industrial and extreme metal aesthetics. "Guided By The Force Of Compassion" has all the hallmarks of his sound: buzzing, distorted melodies, pounding tribal beats and doom-laden atmospherics. "Protection Had To Be Given" and "This All I Could Do" are similar to his Pogo Im Saurebad/Korpersaure '91 remixes for Powell with their oddball compositions stuttering and crashing about the place before some demonic synth roars, executed amazingly well. Finally "My Ice Baby" takes things down a notch but comes across even more sinister as it glitches and scrapes back and forth, dancing in its own filth and static, accompanied by a disturbing, pitch shifted
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