Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Golden Lion Sounds is the label attached to the legendary pub in Todmorden that has hosted everyone from Andrew Weatherall and ALFOS to synth wizard Richard Norris. It is he who is behind this latest 7" alongside Rude Audio. 'This Song's For You' (feat Findlay Brown) is fusion of indie, cold wave and synth with dreamy vocals drifting over typically lush chords and silky drums from Norris. It's a perfect soundtrack to a lazy afternoon in the sun. On the flip, Rude Audio's 'The Grinning' has a more psychedelic sound with loopy synth arps spiraling up to the stars and back again in colourful fashion.

Review: "Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah blah blah. Hope is telling the truth." So said the world's most visible climate activist Greta Thunberg in her pre-COP26 speech in Milan, blasting world leaders for inadequate (or near-non-existent) responses to the environmental crisis. Given we're 12 months down the line and the vast majority of promises made at said 2021 climate summit have not been actioned, with emissions continuing to climb, it's unsurprising direct action has turned much more direct and disruptive this year, and people are now sampling the young orator to amplify her message through music.

If that sounds like it may lack subtlety, fear not. Renude19 have managed to achieve something pretty difficult - a protest dancefloor track that doesn't ram things down your throat and works very well without you knowing that context. Essentially a dystopian-vibed broken beat synth workout with electro-pop vocals and occasional "Blah blah blah" hook, it's timely and well executed.

Review: Big week for Dutch imprint Gooiland Elektro who bring on the maximum possible bleakness; first with Radko and now with the foreboding hydra that is Roberto Auser and Melting Dogma. Auser aka Derk Reneman on side A contributes the typically Dutch greyscale electro snarl of 'Man With Dead Leg' followed by a mental slow techno cut 'Imperative'. On the flip, Melting Dogmas, a side project of 4cantons, continues to go at it full force with the hypnotic 303 tunnel vision of 'Wanting To Be With' followed by the body bashing IDM fury of 'Indistinguishable Indications'.

Review: Orange Tree Edits are back once again with more of that super fruity dance floor juiciness. Jimmy Rouge is the man at the controls this time and he wastes no time in heading off to the stars with the cosmic disco workout that is 'Bay Leaf' and its stiff retro arps. 'Rounders' sinks into a more laid-back vibe, with late night chords and gently tumbling drum breaks perfect for seaside dancing. 'Night Train' is a real cosmic chugger with spangled synths spiraling round the mix and 'Fever Dream' then locks you into a lush late-night reverie with lo-fi boogie bass.

Review: Back in the early-to-mid 1990s, Robert Fripp collaborated with numerous ambient house-era electronic artists, including the Orb (see the largely forgotten FFWD>> album) and The Grid, who invited the long-time Brian Eno collaborator to recording sessions back in 1992. While some of the latter material made it onto their '90s albums, much of Fripp's work - dreamy guitar textures, drone works and other electronic experiments -was left in their archive. Leviathan is based around these unissued recordings, with Dave Ball and Richard Norris adding their own new sounds to create a string of beautiful, meditative, and picturesque ambient compositions that sit somewhere between their own ambient works, Norris's recent modular electronic explorations, and the forementioned FFWD>> project.

Review: Space Oddities (1972 - 1982) are the results of Frenchman Georges Achille Teperino aka Nino Nardini, fellow countryman Roger Roger and German Eddie Warner's collaborations over ten years at Ganaro recording studio. Given some underground recognition in the late nineties by the likes of Barry 7 of Add N to (X) (with his Connectors series) or UK electronica legend Luke Vibert, they can now add Alexis Le-Tan (Les Edits Du Golem) and Jess as devotees, who made the effort of compiling the release. As Born Bad stated quite succinctly, the trio used their "strange instruments to sketch out the beginnings of something that resembled the future of music. This collection presents some of the highlights from their light-hearted, electronic pop sessions."

Review: Twenty nine years ago (can you believe it) Alexander Robotnick released his first album, Ce N'Est Q'Un Debut, featuring what's arguably his most defining track "Problemes D'amour" with the Harajuku-cute vocals of Martine Michellod. It's this album that has influenced countless French synth pop acts and a horde of old school electro lovers, and all this time later it's been repressed (again) by the label that first released it, Medical. Keeping the sacredness of this LP firmly intact by sticking with the keyboard-head artwork, Ce N'Est Q'Un Debut - along with Man Parish's 1982 self-titled debut - should be in all of our record collections.

Review: 70s space disco and laser-rock outfit Rockets started out life in Paris as Crystal. They later renamed and had singles such as 'Future Woman' and debut album 'Rockets' which helped establish them and win them a wider fan base. 1980 saw them record their Live album and offer up a cross section of their tracks in all their synth and futuristic glory. The aforementioned 'Future Woman' features along with the heavy sounds of 'Drum Solo' and Kerouac-referring 'On The Road Again' which is a jaunty disco groove with vocoder vocals.

Review: Lithuanian DJ/producer Liudas Lazauskas aka Roe Deers first appeared on a radar several years back with some impressive releases on Nein and Sulk Magic. Since then, the Opium Club resident has appeared on Throne Of Blood and Turbo, leading up to his much anticipated debut album. Salt Town Boy is a leftfield collection of wild sonic tales filled with dusky moods and punk attitude and the first LP to be released on Good Skills - which he co-runs with Titas Motuzas. There's many collaborations throughout the album, like on the low-slung and off-kilter attitude of 'Trident' featuring C.A.R., the slo-mo deep chug of 'Late Night Story' featuring Israel's Niv Ast, as well as the playful indie-dance of 'Theme' (feat. Order89) and the druggy drums of 'Walking Down The Streets' (feat. Aquarius Heaven).

Review: Jameszoo and Niels Broos are Rolrolrol and Music is their first album. They describe it as "a puttylike exercise in pop, modern jazz and electronica" and it builds on many years of working together on the likes of Brainfeeder and Alpha Pup. The whole thing is doused in vivid and vivacious synth work that brings life and colour to every groove, whether a broken beat or a future hip-hop workout, an experimental cosmic house cut or an infectious bit of boogie. Amongst the magnificent melodies are guests like Jamie Woon who bring real soul to 'Surprise', and it all makes for a playful but triumphant record of brain-cleansing electronic sound.

Review: Royksopp declared their 2014 album The Inevitable End to be the last time they would release a traditional album, and after eight years they lived up to that promise this year with a new audio-visual approach titled Profound Mysteries. The first instalment appeared in April, while the second volume landed in late summer, and now they're underlining the project with this appropriately epic conclusion. Drawing on collaborators such as Alison Goldfrapp, Susanne Sundfor and Jamie Irrepressible, we get another 10 slices of glittering, melodious synth pop magic from one of the finest duos to do it.

Review: Royksopp declared their 2014 album The Inevitable End to be the last time they would release a traditional album, and after eight years they lived up to that promise this year with a new audio-visual approach titled Profound Mysteries. The first instalment appeared in April, while the second volume landed in late summer, and now coinciding with the appropriately epic conclusion to the series, the true believers can cop the entire collection as a six-LP box set which comes embellished with a 32-page booklet designed by Jonathan Zawada, featuring every part of the series and encased in a die-cut rigid slipcase. If you're a Royksopp devotee, this is the definitive edition you need in your life.

Review: Electronic pop trailblazers, Royksopp, announce the second part to their expansive Profound Mysteries project, Profound Mysteries II. They declared their 2014 album The Inevitable End to be the last time they would release a traditional album, and after eight years they lived up to that promise this year with a new audio-visual approach titled Profound Mysteries. This second instalment of three is the andante-minuet of said electro-symphony, in which the band unveil a gargantuan selection of self-generated tunes, in contrast to the totally collaborative third part).