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.
ZAMILSKA – Uncovered
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.
Tim Hecker – Anoyo
Hecker’s Japanese trip is an elegantly spaced ambient composition. Negative space, Japanese instruments, digital noise, ritual, calm, sacral scents.
Elder Island – The Omnitone Collection
Electronic, pop, soul. It’s like the Bristol rework of German nu jazz. Great concept of cover series for the singles and the album.
Various Artists – Furi (Original Game Soundtrack)
This is the best piece of retro futuristic synthwave record I heard in a while. I haven’t played the game yet, but definitely makes me want to.
Snow Ghosts – A Quiet Ritual
Eerie and beautiful. Couldn’t say whether it’s electronic or not, totally not the appropriate attribute to address this music. I feel some resemblence of Björk, Portishead, and Lamb, but not so much because of the musical style but rather that it has depth filled with meaning and weight. It’s almost not about the music specifically but the attention put into creating these songs and the feelings they invoke.
Also: “recorded in a castle in the countryside and two years in the making”. Both I can hear coming through.
PS: I just realized that Houndstooth is one of my favorite labels.
RX-101 - Dopamine
I like that they call this braindance.
John Digweed – Last Night at Output
Pretty good backdrop music for a long afternoon working session. The mixed version is four and a half hour long roll of uncut house.
Red Axes – Sound Test
The tune in Shabak Shalom gets me hooked like when I couldn’t listen to anything but Forget the Timing on repeat. Fantastic tech house.