Galaxiid 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Bryn Jones' complex musical legacy as Muslimgauze will still be pored over for a long time to come, but even by his obscure standards this release from 1999 is a bit of a curveball. Without knowing the exact back story, it seems that Jones wound up creating an album by remixing parts from two different records by Species Of Fishes, a Russian duo who were in the early wave of techno and electronica artists in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. Compared to the heavily Arabic sound sources and pervasive drums of most Muslimgauze releases, this is a much lighter affair which glides between dislocated electronica and dub, never taking a particularly safe or obvious route but certainly not as ominous as much of Jones' venerated catalogue.

Review: The story of this unexpected collaboration dates back to the summer and autumn of 1998, when Bryn Jones aka. Muslimgauze, the politically conscious music genius from Manchester, discovered Species Of Fishes' albums through the Dutch label Staalplaat. Jones embarked on a journey of reinventing the Muscovites' tracks, infusing them with hypnotizing noise pulsations that were both harsh and sharp, yet profoundly humane, while evoking ethereal Arab echoes. The original remixes became the inaugural release on Species Of Fishes' self-titled label in 1999, with a limited circulation of 500 CDs. The first edition featured a selection edited from the original DAT cassette, accompanied by minor revisions, while the second one faithfully reproduced the entire studio session, providing insight into the creative process rather than focusing solely on the final result. In this new reissue, Species Of Fishes have curated the tracks, discarding repetitions, unsuccessful takes, and technical pauses. The result is a more dynamic compilation that retains the core elements of the original work while reducing the total duration by almost half.

Review: Under the SolarX alias, Roman Belavkin was one of the leading lights of the Russian IDM scene in the mid-to-late '90s, though very few copies of his cassette and CD releases ever made it in to record stores outside the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, this is the first ever reissue of Belavkin's 1997 sophomore set, "X-Rated", an album that remains a firm favourite in the Russian electronic underground. There's much to admire throughout, with Belavkin effortlessly joining the dots between the skittish, angular rhythms of Autechre, Rephlex-esque "Braindance", Aphex Twin style ambient, early Squarepusher-esque "drill and bass" business and hypnotic ambient techno.

Review: Russian twosome Species of Fishes first emerged in the mid 1990s during the period's infamous IDM book. While still active, it's their early work - and specifically 1996 full-length Trip Trap - that gets collectors hot under the collar. The album was largely overlooked on its initial release, but is now considered something of a classic: a joyously weird, distorted and moody take on the Skam/Autechre sound with a chilling Eurasian twist. There's perhaps a little more dub influence than you'd perhaps expect - "Theweb" is particularly good - while the duo's trips into more melodious, spacey territory recall the icy brilliance of vintage Biosphere. Brilliantly, this reissue stretches the tracks previously crammed onto one record over two, allowing for a much louder and bass-heavy cut.