Just the usual. And I’m pretty sure that’s what I wrote of their last album, too.
(Edit: and checked, and yes. That still means good though.)
Fujiya & Miyagi – Flashback
Various Artists – 25 Compost Records
As much as I like Compost there’s nothing groundbreaking on this compilation. It’s nothing like the Ninja Tune XX collection. Still, it’s a 5 hours long great selection of stuff for the background that doesn’t need one skip button.
Fixmer/Mccarthy – Let It Begin EP
This sound is so recognizable. Intersting how this does not translate outside headphones for me. First listen of Let It Begin with headphones felt like my head exploding (in a good way). Re-listening it on loudspeakers of different kinds just didn’t give the same vibe back. I guess in a club it would be good again. Anyways, headphones it is. Sidenote: great album cover photo.
Yak – Termina EP
I could swear I heard at least half of these tracks in the past decade. In the crossroads of “nothing new” and “sounds classic”. Anyhow, Stampede is something that’s new and instantly recognizable – soundtrack to a car chase in an action movie.
YONAKA – Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow
Power pop. That kind of band that has a few great and powerful tracks, and then an album packed with the same stuff with minor differences, which feels repetitive. Probably this is the kind of pop music that’s better and just enough in single format. They should write and focus on pop hits and there’s no need to push out a bunch of fillers just to make it a long player’s length worth.
C.L.A.W.S. - Splat City EP
First half is slow tempo electro, or as he says “cold-wave disco throb”. Great background for work or staring out of a window. Then the second half is more like an acid beast along the lines of Nid & Sancy, absolutely love it.
Dollkraut - Holy Ghost People
Krautrock with the mood of the Only Lovers Left Alive soundtrack. I got back to this one a few times befor posting. (Usually this doesn’t happen because of hesitation but when I don’t want to remove something from my Play Later list because then I come across it a few more times.) Also, nice album cover.
ZAMILSKA – Uncovered
We would have called it trip hop a decade ago, now she labels herself as techno. Things just go around. Thumping rhythm, humming bass, noisy soundscapes, eerie vocals.
HEALTH – Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear
It’s like The Knife with more tempo and an industrial touch. Ends up with a cyberpunk soundtrack feel to it.
Anthony Rother – 3L3C7RO COMMANDO
The Hacker is a timeless classic of Rother’s that I will always list within my top electro albums. I love this dry, cold, glass-eyed android electro that he served at the time. After a while he had faded from my radar and sometimes when I checked back I didn’t quite get some of his releases. And now it seems like he returned to the roots. It’s like classic Anthony Rother even with some Kraftwerk to it, too. Although, in full honesty looking at this from 2019 (and as something written in the recent years) some lyrics seem rather vintage and in that sense funny. Like saying “creator, the code is my command” has an aesthetic to it that I love but it’s retro, like how grandpa imagines the soul of an electronic calculator.