Experimental/Electronic charts

Review: Analogue synth spooks rejoice, Pye Corner Audio is back with further explorations of the sweet spot between nostalgic fuzz and circuit-borne futurism. Ghost Box is a spiritual home for Martin Jenkins' flagship project, and he continues to edge out the scope of the Pye Corner sound without derailing the fundamental atmosphere. On The Endless Echo, warm, pulsing melodics set to eerie keys abound, and there's a fine balance between gorgeous ambient atmospheric pieces and sinewy, danceable rhythms, but Jenkins manages to sound fresh and inspired even while reliably holding true to the overall project aesthetic.

Review: Something of ground-breaking album on its initial release in December 1994, ISDN is one of Future Sound of London's most name-checked sets. It's effectively a re-edited and rearranged collection of live recordings - jammed out tracks that were initially broadcast to the world via ISDN links to clubs and radio stations, which FSOL brilliantly moulded into a mind-mangling journey through IDM, trip-hop, proto-big beat, dub, ambient, found sounds, field recordings and wayward electronica. To celebrate the album's 30th birthday, it returns as a two-disc set, freshly 'amalgamated and re-sequenced' by FSOL to include material from both previous editions of the album. It is, then, a kind of 'definitive version' of the LP, and one that still sounds as joyously weird, trippy and psychedelic as it did first time around.

Review: Originally released in 2005, Silenced captures the essence of The Black Dog's enigmatic allure, transporting listeners to otherworldly realms with its lush, tuneful compositions and angular genius. Each track on the album is a testament to the group's unparalleled ability to surprise and entrance, evoking a sense of both unease and beauty. For fans of The Black Dog, Silenced serves as a welcome treat, while also serving as an entry point for those new to the group's mesmerising soundscapes. Definitelt one of their best full length albums yet to date.

Review: The third full-length studio album from Singaporean singer-songwriter-producer Nat Cmiel (aka yeule) released to rave reviews earlier this September, following an ethereal rollout with singles 'dazies', 'ghosts' and 'inferno' showcasing exactly what yeule excels at: worldbuilding. 'softscars' is now the 3rd instalment in one of the most exciting album runs in modern alt-pop, shifting away from the glitchy, electronic ambience of predecessor 'Glitch Princess', moving in a more rock-centric, brighter direction. This isn't to say the album doesn't have its soul-crushing moments, opening track 'x w x' closes with a defiant scream of frustration, whilst the drums, guitar and synths fight each other for dominance - bottoming out into a gentle outro sequence. The calm after the storm. We could go on about this album for hours, as a yeule fan it feels so fresh but so perfect with it's oscillating directness in delivery. Whereas 'Glitch Princess' felt like travelling through a clastrophobia-inducing tunnel at time, 'softscars' is that moment you burst out of the tunnel and are hit with a huge green vista. It's my album of the year but, hey, what do I know?

Review: Given the uniqueness of his madcap and mind-altering trademark sound, the release of any new album from Tom Jenkinson AKA Squarepusher is big news. Given that his last new full-length landed four years ago, the arrival of Dostrotime has got an awful lot of experimentalists in a bit of a lather. Like many albums that have surfaced in the last couple of years, it was apparently inspired by the "novel, eerie, sublime silence of lockdown", with the title being a reference to "how time passed differently". Quite how this plays out within the music itself is open to interpretation; for the most part, what's on offer is prime Squarepusher - all distorted, full-throttle acid lines, mutilated experimental D&B beats, analogue electronics and rasping, strobe-lit nods to raves,

Review: Einsturzende Neubauten's description by label Potomoak - as a band that constantly evolves - is accurate enough. Over forty years on from their debut album Kollaps in 1981, Rampen appears as the latest and most unruly incarnation of their sound yet. Here, Blixa Bargeld, N. U. Unruh, Alexander Hacke, Jochen Arbeit, Rudolph Moser and Felix Gebhard present their least predictable and conventional sides: APM is described as alien pop music; the songs therein have been specially crafted not only for our universe but for every adjacent parallel universe to ours, with every slight multiversal variation in humanity's collective tastes held firmly in mind. The album fully lives up to its billing as anti-pop as alien pop, its challenging twists and turns fully sating the difficult whims of society's outcasts and cosmic punks.

Review: Klamm is the new label dedicated to the artistic output of Saele Valese. After "Ivic", a collection of old and new materials published on Alva Noto's label (NOTON) at the beginning of the year, Saele Valese releases now his first real album "A White, White Day". Written and recorded between 2018 and 2021 the material of this work was sliced, glued and recreated several times, just like a filmmaker in the editing process, before finding its final form. Inspired indeed by the most poetic cinema, 'A White, White Day' represents, in the form of a non-linear and enigmatic narrative, a personal and psychological reflection on time, memory and dreams. Mastered by Rashad Becker.

Review: Few bands have sidestepped expectations as cannily as Mount Kimbie. Initially a duo but now expanded into a quartet, the British band has previously excelled in mixing, matching and fusing a wide range of experimental and left of centre electronic music influences. On The Sunset Violet, their first full-length as a quartet, they've shifted sonically once more, leaning into their indie-rock influences on a set recorded in California. The latter aspect - and the impact of being surrounded by sunshine and desert - is reflected in the warmth and haziness of the sound, which draws on the layered vocals and guitars of vintage shoegaze while also reaching for more familiar aspects of the band's previous experimental electronic sounds (for proof, check the ghostly musical vision that is King Krule collaboration 'Boxing').

Review: In recent interviews, Justice explained that fourth album Hyperdrama - the wildly successful French duo's first for seven years - was born out of the idea of getting elements of disco, funk and electronic music to "fight with each other" (rather than smoother co-existence). Given the forthright and sometimes abrasive nature of their work, it's an idea in keeping with their career to date. Musically, what we get is a mixture of their usual electroclash and rave-inspired riffs and motifs, and basslines, strings and other instrumentation rooted in black dance music of the 1970s and '80s. When the fusion lands - as it does much of the time - it's a unique and thrilling fusion. For proof, check Tama Impala hook-up 'One Night/All Night', the Italo disco/jazz-funk/electro-house fusion of 'Incognito', and the wonderful slow-boogie mutation 'Saturine'.

Review: The 1990s was arguably the first 'golden age' of ambient - a time when the inherently atmospheric and laidback style not only exploded in popularity, but also became the post-club soundtrack of choice for a whole generation. This personal survey of the 90s ambient scene from journalist and author Jon Savage does a good job in gathering together a representative selection of genuine gems and overlooked classics, drifting between the bubbly, deep space brilliance of Richard H Kirk's Sandoz project ('Limbo'), bleeping ambient house ('Calm' by 2 Cabbages on a Drip), early progressive house (React 2 Rhythm), electronic psychedelia (the tabla rhythms and swirly noises of Rapoon), ambient blues (Underworld), IDM (U-ziq), and glacial, slow-motion bliss (Biosphere).

Review: While Ben Frost's work has long been marked out by deft-touch dark ambient, experimental instincts and clandestine aural textures, he's always thrown in surprise excursions and drawn on musical inspirations that other like-minded producers would fear to embrace. This latter characteristic comes to the fore on Scope Neglect, his first solo set for six years. Remarkably, it utilises the moodiness, weight and ten-ton guitar licks of metal - played by Car Bombs guitarist Greg Kubacki and bass-slinger Liam Andrews of My Disco fame - as a starting point. Frost naturally puts these through the sonic wringer, combining them with his own skittish, IDM-influenced beats, dark ambient soundscapes and razor-sharp electronics. The results are unusual, impressive and emphatically enjoyable, sitting somewhere between timeless electronica, Nine Inch Nails and experimental metal.

Review: In line with the timely reappraisal of all things R&S related, the resurgent Apollo have seen the opportunity to bring one of their most celebrated records back for another round on CD. Aphex Twin's ambient recordings mature magnificently with age, sounding ever richer and more emotive as the rest of electronic music continues to play catch up all around. From the gentle breakbeats of "Xtal" to the aquatic techno lure of "Tha", the airy rave of "Pulsewidth" to the heartwrenching composition of "Ageispolis", every track is a perennial example of how far ambient techno could reach even back then. It's just that no-one quite had the arm-span of Richard D. James.

Review: Back in 2016, Martin Jenkins unveiled the first instalment of a "loose trilogy" of vaguely conceptual albums for the Ghost Box label. Entangled Routes is the third and final part of this trilogy and lands two years after its predecessor, Hollow Earth. Though not expressly acknowledged within the music, Jenkins' inspiration this time round was apparently "mycorrhizal networks" - subterranean networks of funghi that transfer water, carbon and other minerals and nutrients to the roots of plants. Musically, what's on offer is intoxicating and far-sighted, with Jenkins mixing up trippy ambient psychedelia with modular-rich, melodious electronica, throbbing, arpeggio-driven dancefloor cuts and what would once have been called IDM. As usual, the album is full of great ideas, beautifully executed, and sequenced in such a way as to provide a genuine aural journey.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: Some four years after the death of Jhonn Balance in 2009, This Immortal Coil's album The Dark Age Of Love arrived as something of a tribute to the work of British band Coil over two previous decades. The album brought together a ragtag team of musicians and was well-received by critics, as well as by Peter Christopherson who himself died in 2010. That promoted another crew of musicians to assemble to record a new album which was eventually titled The World Ended A Long Time Ago. Featured on it are the likes of Shannon Wright, David Chalmin, Matt Elliott aka Third Eye Foundation, Christine Ott, Aho Ssan, Gaspar Claus, Aidan Baker and more.

Review: Given that Four Tet's recent 0181 LP was comprised of material from Kieran Hebden's archives, and last year's Pink was largely compiled of tracks from the previous 18 months of 12" releases, it seems fair to say that Beautiful Rewind is his first proper album since 2010's There Is Love In You, and as such, it arrives with some degree of expectation. The past few years have seen the producer engage increasingly with the dancefloor, and these rhythms are most definitely present across the LP, particularly in the jungle breaks of "Kool FM", pirate radio-influenced techno of "Buchla" and hesitant dubstep style rhythms of "Parallel Jalebi". For the most part however Beautiful Rewind is as varied as the likes of Rounds and There Is Love In You, with the minimalist kosmische of "Ba Teaches Yoga", analogue gurgles of "Crush" and dawn chorus sounds of closer "Your Body Feels" all as beautiful as his most enduring tracks.

Review: Standers is the second album by anonymous musician Craven Faults, amounting to a pilgrimage through sound to the ancient stone monuments that dot the region of northern England - known as standing stones or standers. Using vintage synthesizers and tape machines, the producer plunges the depths of English folk mysticism, coinciding with the nascent pagan revival that has cropped up in recent times. Sonically, meanwhile, each track moves through cinematic pulses, arpeggiating and filter-sweeping through nods to different eras and years; 1213, 1908, 1966.

Review: Music has the power to fan the folk-mystical and spiritual flames inside even the most ardent of rationalists. Anonymous artist Craven Faults knows as much, which is mostly the reason why he's released his latest album Standers. Named after the colloquial term for the standing stones that pepper much of the north of England, the analog electronic music that makes up this album evokes the mood of trekking across wild country in search of these ancient monuments - occasionally stranded, always awed - sonically reviving and clarifying the oft-murky past of the English north.

Review: Loraine James continues to trust her instincts and serve us some of the most honest and original music within the leftfield electronic sphere right now. Having recently paid tribute to the work of Julius Eastman on Build Something Beautiful For Me, now she retunes to Hyperdub with the record she claims the teenage version of her would have made. The label text makes explicit reference to the likes of DNTEL and Telefon Tel Aviv as well as math rock, but James is also way out in her own zone metabolising such influences into unique expression. There are some wonderful guest spots from the likes of RiTchie, Marina Herlop and Eden Samara, while James herself centres her voice for some of the album's most poignant moments. Gentle Confrontation is another outstanding chapter in James' ever-intriguing story.

Review: La Planete Sauvage, or Fantastic Planet to give its Anglicised name, is a landmark of animation. In technical terms, it's perhaps not the most advanced film to have come out in 1973, but the creative vision, storyline and atmosphere of Rene Laloux's film remains an enduring influence, and that's helped no end by Alain Goraguer's surrealist, expressive score. As the film celebrates its 50th anniversary, Decca are pulling out the stops for a high-end reissue that remixes and remasters Goraguer's score from the recently discovered multi-track tapes, including seven previously unreleased pieces and three alternative mixes.

Review: The hype machine may have kicked into overdrive at the announcement of a new Aphex Twin EP, but after all there's a reason we all get so excited. Richard D. James is just a rare sort of artist - one who can wrench untold depth, detail and feeling from the oddest of angles and still keep it rave-ready in the process. It's been a while since we had some new material from the Cornish wonder, but now he's gifting us four fresh slabs of braindance par excellence which bristle with his distinctive touch. Those subtle microtonal shifts in the melodies, the particular flair with which the drums are dissected, the overall head-spinning tapestry of the whole thing - no one does it quite like Aphex, and this CD single gives you his considerable skills in the highest definition.

Review: During recent interviews, James Blake framed Playing Robots Into Heaven, his sixth album, as a kind of return to his club roots - an idea borne out by his decision to structure the album as a kind of imaginary "night out raving". Of course, this is Blake we're talking about, and while the album does lean heavily on the post-dubstep sound that made him famous (which itself drew as much from experimental electronica and outsider pop as dubstep, house or techno), it's not like he's suddenly turned into Ben UFO, Scuba or Mala. It's a highly enjoyable album, though, and one that combines his most familiar and cherished elements - heavily treated, emotive vocals, piano motifs, woozy electronics and ghostly chords - with grooves rooted in techno, house and UK bass. If you're a fan, you'll love it.

Review: Los Angeles based ambient husband and wife duo, awakened souls join with Reunion Island native, From Overseas to create Keep The Orange Sun. After hearing each other's individual music, a deeper conversation started about shared musical influences and inspiration leading to the creation of this album. Keep The Orange Sun guides the listener on a thoughtfully curated path. Starting with the certainty of life's changes (Certainty of Tides) to arising self-doubt (Release/Adapt) and celebrating immersion in the present moment as the gateway to deeper connection with nature and one's life (Keep The Orange Sun). The instrumentation present in each track channels elements of electronic, shoegaze & ambient with each artist's distinct musical fingerprint highlighted.

Review: Ace Records continue their series of compilations from Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, tapping into unique niches of British music culture under titles like English Weather and The Tears Of Technology to arrive at this latest joint, Fell From The Sun. This is a specific trip into the downtempo, after hours sounds prevalent in 1990-1991, as the acid house wave broke and Balearic selector ethics seeped into studio practice. The selections are absolutely on point, from The Orb's majestic remix of Primal Scream's 'Higher Than The Sun' to Saint Etienne's own moody roller, 'Speedwell'. It's bouncy and boundlessly optimistic as well as being supremely chill, absolutely of its time but still ringing with an eternal charm that feels ready for a revival. Let this compilation be your guide.

Review: There's something undeniably tactile about Japanese composer Ikeda's Ultratronics which here comes as a special Japanese Edition on CD. The bass is metallic and dense, the grainy and glitched-out synths ringing out in a mathematical tempo on tracks like 'ultratronics 05'. There's a philosophy of high art, a scene that Ikeda has dabbled in before with installations and exhibitions, that is a hallmark of Japanese electronica composers old and new. The album has just as many pared-back moments (like in 02 and 07, scattered throughout vocal samples of rocket and space radio transmissions) as it does hardcore electronic industrial thrashing (06 and 14 spring to mind for mind-blowing explosions of synths).

Review: In interviews promoting Fossora, her tenth album, Bjork joked that it started life as "her Clarinet album" - a nod to the set's extensive (and sometimes experimental) use of regular and bass clarinet instrumentation. Really, though, it's her lockdown album, and one partly inspired by the grief she felt following the passing of her mother in 2018. In many ways it's an astonishing set, with the Icelandic artist adding her own distinctive lyrics and vocals - still effortlessly emotional and addictive after all these years - to tracks that brilliantly fuse, mix and mangle red-lined tribal drums, fuzzy IDM style electronics, brass band arrangements, jazz instrumentation and, on the inspired title track, increasingly intense, break-neck dancefloor rhythms that tend towards the gabber end of the spectrum. Unusual, entertaining and utterly beguiling; it's another brilliant album from a genuine one-off.