Tags: Leftfield Disco

Review: For the last ten years Japan's reissue market has blossomed into one of the most fruitful for western listeners eager to explore very rare Japanese releases and artists from the 70s and 80s specifically. In no other genres has this been most displayed then in the new age, ambient, folk and synth realms. Alfa/Yen Records 1980-1987: Techno Pop & Other Electronic Adventures In Tokyo follows this fantastic era of passing on to a new generation. This compilation features many luminary figures in the Japanese scene with an extra emphasis of it honing in on Yellow Magic Orchestra and its members. After the popularity of similar compilations in the past five years, this looks to be one of the most successful reissues of Japanese electronic music in 2024!

Review: Desire once again demonstrate their prowess in the field of coldwave synth escapism with this new long player for Italians Do It Better. As soon as 'Black Latex' kicks into gear you know you're in for a red-lit thrill ride that captures all the seduction and mystery of nocturnal body music played the old-skool way. The kit list features such staples as the Jupiter 8, D-50 and Mellotron, while a revolving cast of ghostly vocals impart their message in English, French and Korean. This multi-lingual vibe only serves to take us further away from familiar territory into the displaced surrealism of the sound world Desire like to call home.

Review: .It's pretty much impossible not to fall in love with Desire, no matter where you arrive in their discography. Formed by Johnny 'Chromatics and Glass Candy' Jewel and vocalist Megan Louise, and formerly synth-drum maestro Nat Walker, the group debuted on Jewel's now-legendary Italians Do It Better in 2009, and their first record, II was heralded as one of the decade's finest. More than ten years later, Escape reflected how things had developed during the years betwixt. Still saturated in a kind of borrowed nostalgia, yet focused firmly on crafting innovative arrangements, few outfits can simultaneously sound so polished and yet born to play in the reddish glows of darkened rooms in grimy DIY spaces. As unique today as the record was when it landed, and the outfit were when they initially emerged.