Best New Releases from November 2020
The cold weather and dark evenings of November encourage us to focus our energy on creativity and reflect on the holiday season, carried on by stunning new music emerging from the underground electronic music world.
From map.ache, Iron Curtis, natural/electronic.system, Human Space Machine, Eversines , RDS to Pole, Surgeons Girl, Iota & Sam Brickel, HVL and the Lawrence’s remix of Nadia Khan' "Rain Again," we compiled a list of our favorite releases of November.
map.ache
Jahreskarte
Giegling
German electronic music producer, one-half of the Manamana DJ duo and KANN Records label boss, the label he operates in partnership with Sevensol and Bender, map.ache unveiled his third full-length album "What Does That Mean." The beautiful twelve-track affair presents an immaculate display of subtle harmonies, understated grooves, ambient flourishes, and delicate flickers of emotion. From the opening seconds to the very last, map.ache creates timeless musical compositions that are radiant in their nuanced sound design and stunning in their execution.
Delving into the album with a graceful elegance, the D-side opener "Jahreskarte" blends ambient and electronic music elements into a multifaceted yet subtle sound whose beauty is built upon careful layering of instrumental lines and atmospheric textures.
Surgeons Girl
Sympathetic Cycle
Livity Sound
Bristol-based audiovisual artist Surgeons Girl debuts on Perevelist's highly respected imprint Livity Sound with the "A Violet Sleep" EP. Permeated with emotive yet dreamy vibes, the four-track record injects an analog synth and impressionistic twists into the encompassing sound that amalgamates influences from the likes of Suzanne Ciani, Laurel Halo, and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, according to the label.
Steeped in hazy nostalgia, the closing track "Sympathetic Cycle" is a fruitful exploration of introspective melodies mixed with driving power and a synth induced funk.
Iron Curtis
Psycho Dancer
Hudd Trax
Berlin-based multi-talented producer Johaness Paluka, better known as Iron Curtis, presents the second part of his double EP "Total Art Of Living Part 1 & 2" released through Manchester-based label Hudd Traxx. A versatile artist who always loves to experiment and explore different sounds turns his attention to detail absorbing fragments of echoing from Detroit house, breakbeat, and techno.
On the B-side, the vibe of "Psycho Dancer" permeates through the funk-based groove filled with jazzy piano chords, boundless elegance, and a brightly atmospheric swell of nostalgia.
natural/electronic.system
Chimera
Midgar Records
Following on from their impressive 2020 "Mediterranea" EP released on Moroccan label Tikita and the most recent "Mantis 02" EP for Delsin Records' Mantis series, Italian duo natural/electronic.system join Midgar Records family for a new record "Mýthos." Antonio Giova and Valerio Gomes De Ayala take listeners down a mystical tunnel of vibrant fringes of deep techno throughout the four tracks thematically inspired by Greek mythology.
The closing track "Chimera" sculpted with the most delicate essences of the deep techno sounds with its dark ambient motifs, deep pads, and ritualistic percussive rhythms, dwelling on a hypnotizing fluctuation somewhere between myth and reality.
Human Space Machine
Distance
De Lichting
Dutch electronic music producer Human Space Machine returns to his home base De Lichting label with three new tracks that showcase his musical diversity and creative take on techno's immersive strands. "Cycle" EP is his first solo outing on the label since the 2018 "Ornithogallum" EP through Native Response.
Dazzling in its breakbeat rhythm, "Distance" builds on the nostalgic feeling and unstoppable energy that radiates naturally from the sophisticated sound arrangement.
Pole
Drifting
Mute Records
German musician and electronic producer Stefan Betke, better known as Pole, reveals his third album through Mute Records. Returning with his first long-player since 2015, Pole presents "Fading" though dripping in darkness melancholy sounds. Evocative and often abysmally dark, this concept album's inspiration is triggered by his mother's Alzheimer's. "The album was mostly inspired by the idea of memory loss," Betke says. "My mum had dementia and I saw her losing all the memory that she had accumulated over her 91 long years."
"Drifting" slowly opens the album with a beatless cloak of dark ambient sounds filled with psychedelic texture and experimental oddness. Gravelly, cavernous sounds dominate the soundscape, evoking emotional vulnerability, and melancholia.
Nadia Khan
Rain Again (Lawrence Remix 2)
Scissor and Thread
Scissor and Thread welcomes back Nadia Khan with a stunning mini-LP. Five years following 2015's cassette release on Where To Now?, the North Carolina-based producer returns with the sophomore outing "Port Ana." The five-track collection effortlessly blends textured ambient and electronics into a form of musical expression that meditative as it is beautiful. The package comes complete with two remixes from Dial Record co-founder Lawrence who provided two versions of "Rain Again."
Lawrence delivers an utterly transportive take on "Rain again." He expertly injects intricate textures and his signature rumbling bassline into a tapestry of introspectively ambient sounds while maintaining the original's essence.
HVL
Rva Tepshi
HVL
Georgian prolific electronic producer HVL brings shape-shifting sounds with his latest album, "Aura Fossil" released via his own imprint. The album presents a vibrant collection of seventeen tracks encompassing ambient soundscapes, IDM, and electro patterns with tinges of acid flourishes pitched to a wide range of tempos and moods. Emotive depth, micro ambient deconstruction, and hypnotic rhythms all swirl into a coherent palette of sounds.
One of the standout tracks on the album, "Rva Tepshi," takes the listener on a hypnotizing journey through a world of ambiance molded with acid-filled sequences, atmospheric tones, elegant melody, and brimmed with subtle textures.
Iota & Sam Brickel
Interzone
Animalia
Kia's Animalia imprint continues to nurture an output of the lesser-known electronic music artists from Melbourne's northern suburbs. Their sophomore release highlights a welcome return from Iota, the Melbourne-based artist who debuted Animalia's inaugural outing. Entitled "Aeiro," the package contains two original tracks and two collaborations with Ménage and Sam Brickel, exploring the outer realms of vivid electro, deep techno, and drum & bass.
"Interzone" features Iota teaming up with Sam Brickel for an ambient techno excursion that shifts percussive rhythms beneath the dark soundscapes of layered patterns and textures.
Eversines & RDS
Missing (Mix 1)
Kalahari Oysters Cult
Kalahari Oyster Cult continues to bolster their already outstanding catalogue with the release from the Amsterdam-based producer and De Lichting affiliate Eversines. Entitled "Plooi," the package is an eclectic collage of musical ideas from acid-tinged electro to twisted crispy house to leftfield electronics. It features two original tracks, two versions of the "Missing," created in partnership with another De Lichting collective member RDS, and a remix from De School resident DJ Oceanic. The label describes the release as "a stupendous mini sonic odyssey of sorts, taking us from vaporous skylines to brightly hued seascapes. Both captivatingly melodic and kinetic to the full, the four tracks composing the backbone to Eversines' new jaunt into elegiac dance territories work their magic in the gap betwixt zen-like atmospherics, velveteen acid, sun-bleached electro and chiseled breaks that step up to the plate."
Eversines and RDS teamed up to compose two versions of "Missing" stretching shapes and morphing sounds into a broad sound palette using densely layered leftfield and four-by-four rhythms. Employing jazzy funk flavors accented by piano chords, light improvisations, and widescreen instrumentals, the first version of the "Missing" creates an evocative and mysterious soundscape that circles an infectious groove.