Mille Plateaux – Review Three Pack

After lying dormant for several years Mille Plateaux makes and an unexpected but welcome return to the fray. Following an ill-fated attempt to resurrect the label in 2004 finally fizzled out in 2006 it seemed the label was gone for good until news started to circulate that the label would be re-launching again in mid-2010. This time with a more focused and defined plan of action, Mille Plateaux returns with several new artist releases and a new volume in the popular Clicks & Cuts series entitled Clicks & Cuts 5: Paradigm Shift which revisits a genre the label originally championed with three stellar big name compilations between 2000 and 2002.

Continue reading…

Various Artists – Auto-Reverse

[CD, Boredom Product]

Auto-Reverse is a low-priced label compilation with a difference; it features 17 tracks from the French label Boredom Product’s back-catalogue with each covered by a range of artists including their own bands Celluloide, Dekad and Foretaste alongside Komputer, Psyche, People Theatre and The Rorschach Garden amongst others. Most contributors choose to cover Celluloide tracks as they feature most prominently in label’s discography dating back to 2002.

In keeping with Boredom Product’s agenda, Auto-Reverse compiles a series of modern electronic covers with a distinct retro feel harking back to the classic 80’s synthpop/new wave sound. This isn’t however an attempt to replicate or resurrect that sound, these tracks draw on that influence but bring it up to date using new technology and mix it with modern electronic sensibilities. Continue reading…

Dissolved – Symbiotic Colouration

[Ltd CDR, Binkcrsh]

Glaswegian Paul Daniels’ solo project Dissolved has appeared on various netlabels since 2003 and although he only really began regularly releasing material around 2005 he has since become increasingly prolific with his output.  He has released material on a range of formats from freely downloadable MP3 albums and EPs to small run cassette, CDR and CD releases on a wide range of labels and through his own website.  Symbiotic Colouration is a compilation of tracks, some new and some previously released on cassette, almost all of which have never been released on CD before.  Mastered at Metarc, the compilation is released as a very limited run CDR by Binkcrsh, a label perhaps better known for its free netlabel output than for its physical releases. Continue reading…

Various Artists – MMX

[MP3, n5MD] [AEONFLOW RECOMMENDS]

In the opening days of 2010 Californian label n5MD released a free MP3 collection of tracks drawn from their forthcoming release schedule.  Released in conjunction with Bandcamp and exclusively available through the n5MD page on the Bandcamp website, MMX – the Roman numeral equivalent of 2010 – is the first in a series of label samplers to be released through the partnership.

Featuring one track from each of their upcoming releases for the year, MMX is a teaser of what to expect from their roster of new and long-standing artists, all of whom continue to develop their sound or introduce themselves to fans of the label. Continue reading…

DJ Hidden – The Words Below

[CD + 12” singles, Ad Noiseam]

Although he already had an impressive back catalogue of 12 inch singles to his name, 2007’s The Later After was Noel Wessels debut album and his first release as DJ Hidden for acclaimed German label Ad Noiseam. After the reception his debut received, the label has supported his follow-up album, The Words Below, by issuing a series of three 12 inch singles entitled The Words Below Limited Edition Vinyl Series Parts 1-3. Containing slightly different versions of tracks from the album, the first two singles hold three tracks each while the third contains two exclusive new remixes; “The Narrators” remixed by Wessels’ Outside Agency cohort Frank Nitzinsky and ‘DJ Hidden’s Other Side Remix’ of “The Devil’s Instant” by Wessels himself. Continue reading…

Access to Arasaka – Oppidan

[CD, Tympanik Audio/Spectraliquid]

Rob Lioy is a 25 year old electronic musician from New York with an avid interest in all things cyberpunk.  So much so in fact that he named his musical project Access to Arasaka after an evil corporation in cyberpunk related card game Netrunner.  A big fan of art in its many forms and of visionaries such as esteemed American writer William Gibson and Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky, Lioy has been composing music for the best part of the last 10 years.  Self-releasing several EPs (that are still available) through his own website and a an album and EP through net label Illphabetik, his debut release Oppidan – named after a building in his own as yet unfinished story set in Detroit in the future – is jointly released by the respected US label Tympanik Audio and Greek label Spectraliquid. Continue reading…

Displacer – X Was Never Like This

[CD, Tympanik Audio]

Now with five albums and numerous remix and compilation credits to his name, Toronto-based electronic musician and visual artist Michael Morton – otherwise known as Displacer – has found a new home with US label Tympanik Audio.  Having released his first three albums between 2003 and 2006 on French label M-Tronic, Morton releases X Was Never Like This, his second album for Tympanik in as many years. 

Like The Witching Hour before it, X Was Never Like This is a combination of new tracks with a couple of collaborations and several remixes from an impressive line up of artists including Daniel Myer of Haujobb/Architect, Keef Baker, labelmates Lucidstatic, Marching Dynamics and Morton himself.  Continue reading…

Ninth Desert – Neyss

[CDR, Deserted Factory]

Ninth Desert is the solo project of French artist Cyril Herry that was born out of the ashes of his previous solo project Lecanora in July 2005.  Released by the Japanese label Deserted Factory, Herry’s fifth solo album as Ninth Desert and second for Deserted Factory – the first being a collaborative release with Matériel Brouilleur – is limited to 150 hand-numbered copies. Continue reading…

Ninth Desert / Matériel Brouilleur – Ainos

[CDR, Deserted Factory]

Ainos sees the debut of both Ninth Desert and Matériel Brouilleur on Japanese label Desert Factory and is released as a hand-numbered limited edition of just 150 CDR copies.  Ninth Desert is the solo project of French artist Cyril Herry formed in 2005 and has four previous albums under its belt, the fifth being Neyss released around the same time as this album.  Although he started using the name as far back as 2006, Jean-Francois Fanton’s project Matériel Brouilleur makes its debut with Ainos. Continue reading…

Tracy Lee Summers – My Favourite Color

[CDEP, More Mars]

My Favourite Color is French artist Tracy Lee Summers’ first CD release on the Greek label More Mars and follows three earlier MP3 downloads still available from the LEEP netlabel.

Trying to categorise Summers’ work is a particularly difficult task as it is a mix of many styles and techniques fused to form something new and original.  Although largely based around a core of minimal drone work, the combination of instruments highlights the contrast between crisp synthetically generated sounds and the warmth of traditional instruments.  Continue reading…