Planet Mu 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Inimitable footwork titan Jlin returns for yet another challenging take on footwork and juke, Perspective. A pivotal follow-up to her 2017 album Black Origami, it comes as a comparatively terse mini-album, and consists of electronic versions of her compositions for the percussion ensemble Third Coast Percussion. Something about Perspective seems to appreciate footwork's rhythms as rhythmic "impossible shapes", owing to the genre's loose and sometimes off-kilter triplets. On the likes of 'Fourth Perspective' and 'Disonance', she seems to equate juke with minimalism, introducing Reichean additions and subtractions, not to mention a glassy, surreal timbre overall.

Review: After the massive impact of Vex'd in the breakthrough years of dubstep, it was big news when Jamie Teasdale chose to swerve in his own direction and emerge as Kuedo. Released in 2011, Severant was a bold statement of intent which didn't wholly shirk what had come before, but placed emphasis on the kind of romantic synthesis you'd readily associate with Vangelis and saw trap and other influences sneaking into the mix. In hindsight, Severant is typical of the times we live in, drawing on a glut of influences and presenting its own idiosyncratic vision, but above all that the emotion and intent of Teasdale's ideas make it an enduring, captivating listen.

Review: RP Boo is a footwork originator widely credited as being a pivotal and foundational figure. He started producing in 1995 inspired by the house sounds of Chicago and broke through in 1997 with 'Baby Come On' which is credited as being the first proper footwork tune. Legacy Vol.2 is a collection of cuts created between 2002 and 2007 that tell the story of Boo's musical evolution as well as that of footwork itself. There is everything from the darkness of 'Eraser' inspired by visiting club War Zone on the west side of Chicago to 2005's 'Pop Machine', which was made when Boo worked at Speedway Oil Change and made use of a temperamental soda/pop machine. This is vital music history, frankly.

Review: Finnish producer Vladislav Delay is releasing their sophomore album as an industrial drone narration of the juxtaposition of returning to urban life after exploring the northern arctic (an idea explored in his previous works). After a long walk or meditative experience of peace, the moment when we thrust ourselves out the front door onto the main road - that is Isoviha. No track better encapsulates the synthetic incessant noise of city life than 'Isonuha' with it's synthetic incessant noise. Industrial crushing and experimental cymbal crashes fight each other in this bloodsport of a track. 'Isoviha' is intense and heavy on the soul, a reflection of it's anti-synthetic narrative.