New releases this week: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: Digital Imagination first dropped their The Essence of Thought back in the nineties and now the cult favourite gets a nice reissue in time for summer when it will be perfect post-rave comedown tackle. It is a sci-fi inspired mixture of house, transcend trip hop of the era with lots of analogue action and dusty drum breaks, smart little samples that add a cinematic edge and some lovely basslines. It was produced by a young Ted Heinz and originally release by Concept Records. OGs are hard to come by so don't sleep on the one which has been restored from the original DAT tape.

Review: Albertan experimenter Dylan Khotin follows up last year's full-length with an equally impressionistic two-tracker and logical successor, 'Alterac Acid/Mornings II'. Both tracks here are curious digi-Balearic offerings, with spacious episcopies of sound cast across meandering landscapes once seemingly trawled by space invaders and/or deep-cosmos probes. A nearly aimless acid line unfurls across the A-side, locking things into a nice stasis, before a more subdued, dare say clipped stab-womp drives the action of the B-track, which hardly so much as teases its drum line, nor avails itself of a need to even use drums at all (at points) to compel the listener into a driven, awestruck state of bliss.

Review: There are not very many labels that are as successful and revered in electronic music as Mood Hut is, coming up with gem after gem after its inception in 2012. 'Water Seeds' by Oro Azul offers four tracks that range from sub-aquatic, mellow and relaxing to tribal percussiveness that really takes things to another level. A little more chilled out than their normal output, perhaps, but certainly not a massive departure, there are some serious island vibes here.

Review: Maurice Fulton has delivered countless killer remixes over the last two and a half decades, including plenty that for one reason or another remain hard-to-find. This remix of LA r&b/indie-pop fusionists Rhye - first released 11 years ago - fits in that category. Fulton's version, showcased on side A, is a typically atmospheric, spaced-out affair rich in trademark crunchy disco drums, fluid and wayward electronic synth-bass reminiscent of his Syclops project, elastic bass guitar, effects aplenty and tactile female lead vocals. As the B-side original mix - a piano-laden downtempo pop number that swims in similar sonic waters to Sebastien Tellier's 'La Ritournelle' - shows, Fulton's mix is a genuinely radical re-build that exemplifies the very best of remix culture.