Best New Releases from October 2020
The hot summer days are finally over! The leaves are gradually transforming into canopies of red, gold, and orange, giving us a pleasant crunchy feel under the feet. Nature is slowing down until it enters into the silence of winter wonderland. The fresh breath of crisp air brings new and exciting albums, releases, and remixes featuring Axel Boman, Vril, Rødhåd, Lord Of The Isles, Koraal, Call Super, Dorisburg, Fantastic Man, Zenker Brothers, XDB, and Full Circle.
Vril and Rødhåd
Apophenia
WSNWG
Masterminds of dystopian techno, Vril and Rødhad, mark their first artistic partnership on the undeniably beautiful album "Out Of Place Artefacts" released via Rødhad's WSNWG imprint. The eleven-track album is recorded over two sessions in 2018-2019 and contains each producer's signature production prowess and reflects a mystical journey of sounds and tempos.
Read a full album review by Theresa Baumel via the link here.
Koraal
La Casa Del Volcán 7
Nous'klaer Audio
Catalan highly regarded producer Oriol Riverola, better known to the electronic music world as John Talabot, fully embraces his Koraal moniker to produce an impressive concept album "La Casa Del Volcán" via Rotterdam-based imprint Nous'klaer Audio. Koraal is no stranger at the label, having graced their second edition of the "Paerels" compilation series with the evergreen track "Vuurduin." He now returns with the much-anticipated album, which continues the legacy of his outstanding discography.
The label describes the album as "a voyage of nine tracks echoing the spectacular landscape of Lanzarote, from damp, fathomless caves to deserted planes of volcanic rock, from a solitary palm tree to a fertile oasis. Intense, spacial atmospheres, and sparse, reverberating drums combined with dark textures and dubby rhythms. All written and produced in chronological order in November 2019 by Oriol Riverola, in a three-night session on the island."
The closing track "La Casa Del Volcán 7" is a meditative textural journey into the frosty reaches of inner worlds. It wraps its listeners in futuristic rhythms beautifully elusive in a cocoon of enveloping dark atmospheric sound.
buy on Bandcamp
SoundCloud
Instagram
Zenker Brothers
Intense Incense
Ilian Tape
Following their 2015 "Immersion" album on Ilian Tape, the label founders Dario, and Marco Zenker join forces to present their second album "Cosmic Transition," revealing the intricate artistry on display throughout. This album’s hazy void blossoms an organic fusion of IDM, techno, ambient with a delicate touch of psychedelia. In Zenker Brother's own words:
"In another time it felt like only an unpredictable extreme event could change the way we choose to live together. Now it feels so crazy, it can be overwhelming, but always remember we are just a tiny micro spaceship traveling through a gigantic universe. When nothing is safe, all is possible. We are one—one love."
The third track, "Intense Incense," carries the dissolving into textures, irresistible rhythms, and melodic shapes into the endless layers of trippy ambiance with its vibrant psychedelic tones.
XDB
Desert Night
Dial Records
This October sees Dial Records releasing “Inspiron,” the second album of 2020 from the veteran producer and friend Kosta Athanassiadis, better known as XDB. The long-overdue album marks his first solo output since 2015, making an outstanding contribution to the Dial Records Jubilee celebration following an ongoing series of the label's anniversary compilation and gorgeous debut album from Soela. Over the nine tracks, "Inspiron" traverses multiple dimensions of minimalistic sounds, radiating quality and influences of Detroit techno and house.
The eighth track on the album "Desert Night" is filled with a euphoric eccentricity accentuated through deep melodic pads, shuffling drum patterns, and bassline sewn with a soul-filled electronic funk.
Axel Boman
Moon Street
Live At Robert Johnson
The ever-impressive Live At Robert Johnson club celebrates its 21st birthday with a five LP "Lifesaver 4" compilation, a tribute to its recently-departed beloved resident, DJ, producer, musician songwriter Andrew Weatherall. "Lifesaver 4 is a compilation as diverse as the nights and mornings on c's wooden dance floor," the label explains. "Young talents and seasoned companions have paid their musical tribute in order to celebrate Robert Johnson's twenty-first year and to commemorate the sabresonic Captain now resting in his paradise. As the club culture experiences a worldwide disruption in this current stasis, we may find ourselves on the verge of a much-needed cultural change. The tracks on this compilation -- spread over a sumptuous box set of five LPs -- are the acetates for the future of the Robert Johnson club. At times Balearic, discoid, dubby, eccentric, energetic, haunted, lush, and raw; they all make the most of it."
The compilation spread features twenty one tracks including music from Perel, Panthera Krause, Benjamin Fröhlich. Massimiliano Pagliara, Koga, Red Axes, TCB, форм, Davis, Portable, Gerd Janson, Portable, Chinaski, Johannes Albert, Roman Flügel, Damiano von Erckert, Secretsundaze, Cedric Dekowski, Black Spuma, Axel Boman, Fort Romeau, and Llewellyn.
The Swedish producer Axel Boman brings his unique touch to the compilation. "Moon Street" creates an airy tapestry of sounds combining evocative harmonies, enigmatic atmosphere, and introspective synth patterns with subtle modulation resulting in a delicate blend between rhythm and sonic ambiance.
Lord Of The Isles
Glisk Science
Beats In Space
Scottish producer Lord Of The Isles brings astounding artistry to Beats In Space with his new "Glisk Science" EP. The breath-taking record echoes Lord Of The Isles' unique approach to building a compelling, multifaceted narrative offering an immersive montage of live improvisations and flourishes of experimentalism captured in various settings over the past few years, including his performance at ADE and a live mix for Dekmantel's podcast series.
The four-track package also comes with two beautiful ambient pieces written for a special performance at the Sydney Opera House.
The title track "Glisk Science" shines with its beauty that comes from a place of introspection with its slowly unfolding synth sequences breathing life into the music as multilayered sounds rise and fall to create a wonderful cosmic atmosphere.
buy on Bandcamp
SoundCloud
facebook
Call Super
Pay As You Glow
Incienso
Call Super presents his third album "Every Mouth Teeth Missing" on NYC's Incienso run by Anthony Naples and Jenny Slattery. The 10-track long-player is the first release on Incioso following two studio albums via Houndstooth, 2014's Suzi Ecto, and 2017's Arpo. "Its composition has been a strange constant rain in his life, replenishing over the last three years in which it has been made," described in the press release. The album also features a clarinet played by his father, David Seaton.
Bringing playful and uplifting vibes, "Pay As You Glow" assembles multiple layers of sounds thriving in juxtaposition, creating abstract harmonious patterns and surprising contrasts with a trailing ambient sequence driven by low-key clarinet passages.
Fantastic Man
Utopioid
mule musiq
Australian producer and Superconsioul label co-head Mic Newman step up to Takahashi Kuniyuki's mule musiq as Fantastic Man for a debut "Utopioid" LP. After a slew of EPs, including the long-player on Parisian label Antinote under his Mind Lotion alias, Fantastic Man debuts the esteemed Japanese imprint with a diverse nine-track album combines each of his distinctive styles into a fusion of sounds swirled in the hemispheres of electronica.
Here is what the label has to say about the release:
"Written in 2019 and 2020 across berlin, the carioca spheres of Rio and his hometown of Mel-bourne, utopioid expands and adapts fantastic man's much loved musical tropes for long for-mat. it's a well-balanced and deeply crafted album and features a cameo by fellow Melbourne rising-star memphis lk on 'mazes', resurrects the spirit of the nineties rompler on 'forbidden fiction', and glides you through peak-acid euphoria with'd' oxygen' and 'diaspora.'"
The vibrant title track "Utopioid" draws upon the retro-futuristic utopia with its breakbeat injected rhythms, upbeat mood, and endless beautiful piano melodies leaving its listeners with an ever-growing sense of 90s nostalgia.
Dorisburg
House Organ For The Lonely
Phonica Records
The latest installment on the British Phonica Records, the record label named after the leading vinyl shop in London, comes courtesy of the Swedish hypnotic techno maestro Dorisburg. The new "House Organ For The Lonely" EP follows his new improvisation-driven album "Patterns for Piano," which was recorded "during the early days of Covid isolation" under his Flyter moniker. The three-track package focuses on the raw and diverse atmospheric sound punctuated by dark, percussive rhythms, moody synth lines, and rich textures.
The title track masterfully balances the twisted groove and eerie multilayered atmosphere filled with abstract sonic intricacies.
Die Orangen
Krautback (Full Circle's Fail We May Sail We Must Remix)
Malka Tuti
The third installment of Die Orangen's Saft series on Malka Tuti brings together dear friends Full Circle, Ivan Smagghe, Cross, Mungolian Jetset, and Eva Geist to remix tracks from Die Orangen's sophomore album "Zwei Orangen." Released in December 2019, the album was built on a sturdy foundation of obscure samples, field recordings, and krautrock motifs, offering a glimpse into the duo's musical realm.
Alexis Le Tan and Joakim team up as Full Circle to spin on "De Krautback." With raw energy edging towards the flourish of psychedelia, their "Fail We May Sail We Must" remix version is stretching and dubbing out the original for almost nine hypnotizing minutes