Tags: IDM

Review: When it comes to a reissue such as this it can't be understated just how arresting the work of Boards of Canada can be in the right situation. This EP, that came to light in between Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi, represents the enigmatic duo at their most powerful, channeling their energy into four long-form tracks that draw on all of their combined strengths. "Kid For Today" is haunting and dark but utterly heartbreaking, whilst "Amo Bishop Roden" heads into more mysterious territory. "In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country" is eerie in its titular invitation to join a cult, and "Zoetrope" tips its hat to Terry Riley et al in its looping phrases, but really there's no describing the magnificence of these gems, pleasingly reissued on vinyl to beat the Discogs chancers.

Review: It's rare that an electronic album is the biggest album of the year, or at least the most hyped. That's certainly the case with Syro, Richard D James first official release under his Aphex Twin moniker for some 13 years. So, is it in any good? For starters, it sounds like an Aphex Twin album. Listen through to the 12 tracks, and many of his familiar staples are present - the "Digeridoo" era rave breakbeats, the mangled synth-funk mash-ups, the intoxicating ambient-era melodies, the warped basslines and the skittish drill & bass style rhythms. There's madness, beauty and intensity in spades. In other words, it's an Aphex Twin album, and - as so many have pointed out since the album's release was announced - there's no-one else quite like Richard D James.

Review: Warp's Boards of Canada reissue campaign reaches Geogaddi, perhaps the duo's most expansive (if not their most popular) record, presented here on a 3LP gatefold edition. Considerably darker than its predecessor Music Has The Right To Children, the claustrophobic sounds of "Gyroscope" and sampled spoken word in tracks like "Dandelion" and "Energy Warning" present a somewhat dystopian setting, filled with unsettling sounds, such as the light but eerie melodies of "Alpha & Omega" and "1969". Undoubtedly one deserving of reappraisal.

Review: Some 25 years after delivering his debut 12", Richard D James hasn't lost the ability to thrill or inspire. By his obtuse standards, the material that makes up the surprise Cheetah EP is actually rather laidback and melodious. "Cheetah2 (LD Spectrum)", for example, sounds like a slow house jam written by robots, while the even deeper "Cheetah7B" shuffles along in a metronomic fashion, seemingly oblivious to the increasingly aggressive World at large. Of course, those trademark skittish IDM rhythms are present - see the B-side's lead cut - and the Cornishman has thrown in a couple of hazy ambient cuts for good measure.

Review: You wait three years for a new Arca album and then two come along at once. The Barcelona-based, Venezuelan artist has already dropped 'Kick I' and 'Kick II' on his standard XL stomping ground this month, and has now decided to remind us why we fell in love in the first place. &&&&&& is the producer's seminal debut album, and it still sounds fresh today.

Occupying a space somewhere between techno, the proto-footwork and juke popularised by the likes of Addison Groove at the turn of the last decade, IDM and ambient, it's a difficult thing to get your head around, from the strange piano discordance of 'Mother' to 'Feminine''s suggestion of intense 140s and the submerged liquid downtempo of 'Anaesthetic'. A seminal moment in recent dance history.

Review: Froid Dub return to the dubbing fold full of cold sang-froid with new one 'Tears Maker Chant'. The landmark 50th release for the label and editorial Ransom Note, this new progeny of Paris duo Stephane and Francois, known both for their own distinctive productions and self-released Delodio label curations, offer a stripped-back, slow-smouldering blunderbuss of bass-heavy minimalia with the sliest of sly nods to Italo disco on the B, creating what they call "low-slung mood music. Measured, murky, magnetic. It's a debut outing on Ransom Note for the duo, and a sharp alignment with the label's taste for genre-blurring system oddities.

Review: The Fourier Transform label outlay an arresting sonic journey on their debut release, bringing together breakbeat, ambient IDM, ambient techno, and prog house under a single banner. Opening with Inkipak's 'Betwixt', we're met with sonorous low-mid square waves and machine-gun-fire breaks, recalling the breathtaking, verging on apocalyptic expanse of a warehouse rave turned laser light show turned warzone. We break from this warring weir with 'Omnicron Acid' and 'City Of Tomorrow' by Gimmik and Brian Kage respectively, which lowers the intensity and sonic flow via spacious atmospheres and dudding percussive pops. Finally, the perfect fusion of the former two moods is achieved on 'Corrosive Tongue', the lead synth on which sounds like just that.

Review: On his long-awaited debut, Osaka's Takuya Matsumoto draws a clear line between the tactile futurism of 90s IDM and the emotional depth of Detroit techno, finding beauty in grit and structure in chaos. There's a cinematic quality to the sequencing, from the shimmering opener 'Drifting On The Ocean' to the gnarled syncopations of 'Dril and Acid' and the broken funk of 'Fonseca'. But what makes this record truly sing is its refusal to sit still: 'Mini' dances with jazzy irreverence, while 'Triangles' feels like a dusted-off memory from a lost Rephlex archive. Matsumoto's palette is warm, spiky, and full of movementian album built not on pastiche but on devotion to groove and experimentation in equal measure. You hear shades of Underground Resistance's urgency, Mike Paradinas' off-grid detail, and Floating Points' melodic intricacy, but none of it feels borrowed. 'Traverse' and 'Mercy on the floor' close things with a spacious melancholy that lingers beyond the final fade. This is a conversation with dance music history, spoken fluently in rhythm and mood. A richly detailed, deeply personal statement from one of Japan's most quietly consistent producers.

Review: This 12", a third release from the freshly minted (and relatively mysterious) Private Post imprint, arrives with little or no information about either the EP or the artist behind it, Conny. We think (though it has not been confirmed) that it's the same Conny who put out a fine EP on Krystal Klear's Cold Tonic imprint back in 2018. Either way, opener 'Bongo Groove' is attractive, undulating and dancefloor-ready in equal measure, with heady hand percussion, layered drums, marimba melodies and new age bells rising above a deep, warming bassline and metronomic kick-drums. On side B, he delivers a genuinely revolutionary rework of Steve Reich's American minimalism classic 'Music For 18 Musicians', wrapping elements of that outstanding piece around lo-fi, slow-motion hip-hop beats and trippy electronics.