Juno Recommends Experimental March 2020

Review: While some of the hype surrounding Acting Press may have cooled in recent times, the Berlin-based label remains in rude health. That much is proved by this album-length double vinyl excursion from Intera, an all-star collaboration between PLO Man, Hashman Deejay, C3D-E. The trio starts in stunning fashion with the spaced-out, far-sighted dub techno/ambient fusion of "697", before brilliantly wrapping huggable, ultra-deep chords around a skittish techno beat on "463". They pay tribute to the glory years of Detroit techno on the all-action bustle of "548", while "653" sees them place bouncy, glassy-eyed riffs and Modem-style electronic sounds atop another retro-futurist techno groove. "414" is techno-funk after an extra-strong dose of shrooms and "410" is a superb ambient techno excursion.

Review: While most records invite you to listen, this retrospective celebration of Brazilian songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Priscilla Ermel feels more like something that's inviting you into its own universe. A strange, exotic place to most western ears, if World Music wasn't such a generic and painfully sweeping term we'd apply it here. Sounds of the Amazon, sounds of the other, sounds of traditional emigre folk and a load of stuff that defies accurate description, this collection is impossible not to fall in love with. Having spent time learning the sonic ways of indigenous tribes in her homeland, then taking those instruments (among others) and re-appropriating them via field records and electronic synthesisers, she manages to create things of sombre beauty ("Meditacao"), work of percussive seduction ("Americua") and tracks packing mysterious, fantastical, futurist experimentation ("Mensageiro").

Review: Corporate Park (aka Shane English/Jonah Lange) and Beau Wanzer are the pair behind the CP/BW project. This is their second album and one that brings together various recording sessions done in Texas over the past 5 years. "Nightclub Foot" is a hiccupping mix of wave styles and hypnotic electronics, "Stammer Time" is unhinged techno experimentation and "Symbionese Take Out" is crunchy noise slowed to a paranoid and dystopian crawl. Dark and gloomy yet fascinating and filled with sound worlds you want to explore, "BW 05" is another wining effort.

Review: Sometime Jahtari and Sex Tags sort Tapes (real name Jackson Bailey) is on fine form on this tidy ten-inch for Japanese imprint EM Records. "Summer Jam" more than lives up to its title, with the on-point producer peppering a rich, analogue-heavy electronic rhythm track with lo-fi sounding synthesizer flute solos and cheery, sun-kissed melodies. His digi-dub roots come further to the fore on undulating, delay-laden flipside "Salavere", where echoing electronic melodies seemingly drift above a sparse, clicking drum machine rhythm track. It too is rather fine, albeit in a deeper, woozier and altogether more spaced-out way. In a word: ace.

Review: The first release on the freshly minted Molt label is special on a number of levels, not least a transparent marbled vinyl pressing and the inclusion of ten specially prepared locked-grooves from lead artist DB1. He also provides two superb A-side cuts too: the hissing, deep space hum of "Late Night" - a fine fusion of abstract electronics, dub techno and pitched-down grooves - and the abrasive, slowly shifting ambient creepiness of "Tone". Over on side B, DYL offers up a wonderfully creepy slab of sparse, minimalist and metallic techno/bass music fusion while Paragon delivers a druggy trip into alien electronics and strange, sludgy beats and abstract sounds.

Review: Since launching in 2011, James Healy's Air Texture label and compilation series has become something of an institution within the ambient scene. As with its predecessors, the seventh volume in the series has been jointly compiled by two artists with an existing musical relationship, in this case Rrose and Silent Servant. Their selections are on point, drowsily drifting between academic ambient compositions (see Rrose and James Fei's "For Bass Clarinet 8.97 (Rrose Version)", uncomfortable electronic explorations (Ron Morelli, Anthony Child), modular movements (Not Waving), jazz-flecked deep space soundscapes (Luke Slater), horror-influenced throb-jobs (Phase Fatale, June & An-i) and 1990s style ambient electronica (Octa Octa, Function).

Review: Katie Gately's second album "Loom" is a very different beast to its predecessor, 2016 debut full-length "Color". Deeply personal and recorded during her mother's ultimately unsuccessful battle against a rare form of cancer, it sees Gately reflect on grief and loss in a surprisingly confident and musically alluring manner. The assembled tracks make extensive use of both densely layered vocal textures and her own distinctive lead vocals, elements which she mixed with ear-catching melodies, woozy electronics and beats that were crafted in part from recordings she made of Californian earthquakes. You'd expect it to be tonally dark given the subject matter, but it's actually far more bold, beguiling and melodic, drawing just as much influence from more pastoral styles of music as Gately's usual experimental electronics and intricate sound design.

Review: The label prog is often applied pretty loosely to anything that we struggle to throw into other piles. In the case of the latest LP from Australians Dreems and Kris Baha, it's more a case of record defining term rather than the other way round. Produced with their vast and culturally fascinating homeland very much at the forefront of their minds, it's hard not to feel captivated by the air of surrealism and compelled by the grooves on offer. Opener "Wires In The Outback" sets the scene well. Waves of weird synth work gradually immerse the listener before huge drums rolls begin crashing in. From there it's adventure abound, calling off at the head-nodding alt-pop of "The Island (Back To Me)" and the slo-mo chug of "Desert Metallika", seemingly without pausing for breath. Psychedelic, shimmering harmonies deliver a trippy conclusion, here entitled "Fur Alle", a modus that's also employed, albeit with darker undertones, on "Cape Grim", while "Deep Chrome Red" brings things closer to deep, weird club beats.

Review: John Talabot's Hivern Discs could be a case study in suggestive dance music. Made for serious soundystems, finely tuned to perfection, the spectacular level of detail means even when there's a hint rather than definitely defined beat, there's always a sense of rhythm that's easy to feel with feet, while the arrangements themselves are aiming straight for the mind. An expansive six tracks form this EP, which pretty much define that idea. Oma Totem's "Amb Minus", for example, uses tom-style drums to create urgency, with scarcely a kick in earshot. "Center Of Things", by Mioclono, counters that by bringing the 80s vibes via a purposeful punch, reverbed synth line and low-bleeps, threatening to put you in a trance. Closer "Bretonn", meanwhile, sees Odopt adopt a dark, desolate mood that sounds as though it was born on a factory floor.

Review: Jagged textures, ghostly tones and frenetic notes are omnipresent on "Filterealism", a highly experimental 9-track odyssey of warbling, jittering, metallic sounds that's quite possibly going to be like nothing you've heard before. Or at least that's the case on "Aluminium Dub", where tribalism meets futurism, or "Kosmaj", which could be read as an exercise in spatial awareness - a series of echoed synth stabs and whirring sounds where gaps say as much as the keys. Elsewhere things are less mind-bending, although only slightly. "All This Is Not A Dream", for example, might be an experiment designed to see what happens when freeform jazz meets feint touches of jungle percussion. "Continental Outcome" chugs without dropping a real beat, "Photon Garden" treads close to a prototype of electro while remaining staunchly eccentric.

Review: South Korea's intimate and acclaimed venue, The Edge, was the address Parisian IDM and electronica talent DK chose to record this limited 12" journey into deep, atmospheric sound. Given the shamefully sweeping and stereotypical view of everything East Asia being steeped in traditions of spirituality, it's hard to imagine a more fitting location for these wares to be laid out. Less a case of individual tracks, and more along the lines of movements - to borrow from the classical world - listeners should prepare for a slice of avant-garde ambience here, with compositions offering moments of tension, release, subtle rhythm and soaring sonic scapes. Very much one for those who want their keys to grow and build like organic lifeforms, there's not much else to be said, other than you should prepare for a real aural experience.

Review: Welcome back Tycho, on a productive roll and ready to dive straight back in after 2019's stellar "Weather" album for Ninja Tune. This follow-up continues in the vein of Scott Hansen's creative arc to date, fusing traditional band dynamics with electronics in the most fluid of ways, and making a heart-stirring brew out of the resulting interplay. The drums bite with urgency on tracks like "Outer Sunset", but never at the expense of the winsome guitar lines and swooning synths. The tempo ups and the beats diversify on "Easy", but the overall mood remains consistent throughout "Simulcast". It's a cohesive world that wraps around you from the first bars to the last, and it's a very pleasant place to be.

Review: Superior Viaduct have done the world a service by putting together a retrospective of key works by Jon Gibson, a virtuoso reeds player who became an acclaimed minimalist composer in his own right after working with scene pioneers Terry Riley and Steve Reich. Much of the material on "Songs & Melodies 1973-77" is reminiscent of those composers' work in that period - think hypnotic woodwind, piano and string cycles that subtly evolve - and is every bit as alluring. Impressively the cast list of musicians features some of New York's finest avant-garde artists of the period - Arthur Russell included - while some of the vintage recordings are appearing in public for the very first time.

Review: There's so much said about Russian techno icon Nina Kraviz it's easy to forget about the important stuff. This collaboration of remixes of her St Vincent collaboration could be used to set any record straight - it might comprise interpretations by an enviable list of name-droppable producers, but the vast scope is entirely in keeping with Kraviz's broad musical knowledge and penchant for experimental ends of dance music. Hessle Audio chap Pearson Sound delivers some post-dubstep starkness, Batu - prince of forward UK techno noises - goes for something far more ravey, setting things up nicely for another of today's leading lights, Laurel Halo, to continue on that route. Elsewhere, though, Jlin opts for a broken, dirty trap-infused bounce, while Emika Allegiance turns "Sugarboy" into a beautiful, arpeggiated synth overture. In short, sum total is equal to the impressive parts.