Best New Releases from April 2020
The smell of flowers and trees in full Spring glory is nearly here. May has finally begun, and if you are as excited as we are to feel a new season in the electronic music world, a spring-inspired swirl of exciting new albums, releases, and remixes are just what we need.
We selected ten favorite tracks of the month featuring two extensive charity compilations from Enisslab Studio Records and Konstrukt supporting the fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic; also included are impeccable new albums from Italian artist Andrea on Ilian Tape, Russian via Berlin producer Soela on Dial Records, Giegling affiliate Vril on Delsin Records, British producer K-LONE on Wisdom Teeth Records; John Talabot giving facelifts to Darkstar's new single "Wolf" on Warp, the legendary Aphex Twin who quietly uploaded six new tracks on his not-to-secret Soundcloud page for free download, Dorisburg and Efraim Kent who reunited on the fledgling imprint Kontrolleri, and Feral’s marvelous return to Hypnus records .
K-LONE
Cape Cira
Wisdom Teeth
Renowned for his contributions to Idle Hands, Wych, Soundman Chronicles, and Badimap, the British producer K-LONE presents his debut album on Wisdom Teeth Records, which he co-runs with Facta. "Cape Cira" wanders the realms between ambient electronica and tropical-flavored UK house, diving into dreamy soundscapes perfectly complimented by mallet-driven rhythms across eight tracks. "The result of a short creative burst during a grim British winter," the label explains, "Cape Cira explores music as escapism, comprising a series of lush, warm vignettes that demonstrate music's unique transportive power."
Behind the breezy percussion, airy atmospherics, and textural subtleties, the title track "Cape Cira" conjures up impressionistic images of sun-drenched beaches and sparkling ocean, creating a magical balance between real and imaginary.
Andrea
LS September
Ilian Tape
Italian producer Andrea returns to Zenker Brothers’ Ilian Tape with his first full-length album, in which delicately evolving sounds, harmonically rich textures, and intricate break-driven rhythms are all tastefully combined to define this superb work. Entitled "Ritorno", the 12-track album is a sophisticated amalgamation of drum n' bass, breakbeat, IDM and ambient music.
The third track on the album, "LS September", evokes the otherworldly beauty through cinematic soundscapes, where warm melodic flourishes and funky bass lines generate vibrant drum n' bass rhythms.
Erika
Xenon Moon
Enisslab Studio
In light of the current Covid-19 Pandemic, Studio Enisslab, headed by Italian DJ / Producer and live act, Neel released a very special 56 track charity compilation project. Its purpose is to raise funds for The Red Cross, an organization that is hard at work in helping various international health services to fight the corona-virus outbreak right now. The compilation is available for a limited time via Bandcamp, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to The Red Cross to help the world's most affected countries in the Covid-19 pandemic.
This particular release features over 6 hours of previously unreleased and unheard material featuring an impressive ensemble of multi-talented artists such as Donato Dozzi, Forest Drive West, Caterina Barbieri, Sebastian Mullaert, Eva Geist, Voices From The Lake, Valentino Mora, Marco Shuttle, Leafar Legov, VRIL, Wata Igarashi, among others.
Neel, who is one half of live duo Voices From The Lake, and LF58 speaks out on behalf of the initiative, organized in collaboration with improvised live project Circle Of Live, and visual art collective Sbagliato. He explains:
"In this situation we all need to look after each other and this project is a start. I wanted to reach as many people as possible to spread this message, so I started to share the idea personally with lots of artists and the response was amazing. I wanted them to take their time with whichever tools they had available at home to produce some music that reflects this time we are living in, a contribution for this special project and to portray a special message."
One of the stand-out contributions comes from the Detroit-based artist Erika. With its infectious rhythms giving way to brooding futuristic atmospheres, "Xenon Moon" hypnotizes with subtle percussive elements, cosmic textures, and a meditative musical sensitivity.
Soela
Shadows On The Wall
Dial Records
Lawrence and Carsten Jost's respected Dial imprint celebrates its twentieth anniversary with a new album by Russian-via-Berlin producer Soela. After releasing music on Kompakt, E-Beamz, Lost Palms, Axaminer Records, Nerang Recordings, and Detroit Underground, Elina Shorokhova a.k.a. Soela continues showing her creative side on the gorgeous debut album "Genuine Silk." The label describes the 11-track record as "an exploration into the deepest shades of contemporary house music and ambient. With a continuous stream of essential compositions, Soela creates a mesmerizing undertow of enchanting atmospheres and moods."
Aphex Twin
qu 1
April sees the legendary music producer Richard D. James, better known as Aphex Twin, generously uploading six unreleased tracks to his not-to-secret Soundcloud page for free download.
The new songs include ambient tracks like "qu 1" and "s8v1 [brooklyn]," the downtempo "prememory100N pt2," the bass-oriented feel-good house tracks "Tha2" and its remix and "Tha2 [world scam mix], and acid-house '"m11st lon".
The ambient track 'qu 1', which James dedicated to his recently passed away father, is a mesmerizing soundscape filled with rich harmonies and intricate sonic textures flowing elegantly over one another with a great sense of tranquility.
Vril
Psionik
Bad Manners
German producer and Giegling affiliate, Vril brings dystopian moods and dark soundscapes to Marcel Dettmann's newly fledged imprint "Bad Manners." Using undeniably powerful rhythmic force, the full-length album "Bad Manners 04" draws upon an obscure, psychedelic fringes of techno, and blends these elements with experimental aesthetics and atmospheric melancholia.
Built around a single melodic pattern, the album's highlight, "Psionik," combines hypnotic techno-utopian elements with textured atmospherics to create a hazy melancholic landscape slowly unfolding its beauty.
Amandra
Armorique
Konstrukt
The Amsterdam-based imprint Konstrukt has released an extensive Various Artist compilation to support the Red Cross in the Netherlands in the battle against the Coronavirus pandemic. All Bandcamp proceeds are donated to the Red Cross, which will distribute the money around the globe to help those who need it most in the fight.
Entitled "THIS IS NOT A DRILL Volume 1", the 23-track charity compilation project features music from the label, friends and extended family in the likes of Natural/Electronic.System. , Evigt Mörker, Shoal, Peter van Hoesen, BLNDR, Amandra, among others.
With an alluring intensity, "Armorique" invites on a journey through an abundance of infused melodic flares, evocative moods and analog-injected rhythms. Placing bewildered atmospheres and intricate textures at the forefront, Amandra oscillates effortlessly between abstract and complex arrangements.
Dorisburg & Efraim Kent
Veto
Kontrolleri
Swedish sonic architect Dorisburg, a.k.a Alexander Berg, teamed up with Efraim Kent for another collaborative EP, this time on Dorisburg's new imprint Kontrolleri. On their new "Veto" EP, the pair weave a richly textured tapestry of hypnotic deepness, densely layered atmospherics, and dubby rhythms with a hint of psychedelic beauty. The creative force follows the output of their 2017's "Tecken" EP released through Moroccan's Tikita imprint.
The opening title track "Veto" is an excursion through atmospheric dub-techno, where minimal textures meet hazy abstract ambiance and subtle percussive brush strokes.
Darkstar
Wolf (John Talabot's Materia Dub)
Warp
The latest release from the legendary electronic music label Warp welcomes Barcelona-based producer and Hivern Discs label boss John Talabot, who delivers two immense versions of Darkstar's new single "Wolf".
Darkstar, an electronic production duo of James Young and Aiden Whalley, has been continuously shaping their unique sound and establishing themselves as modern purveyors of electronic synth-pop, since the release of their first 2010 album "North". Their new single "Wolf" gives its listeners a taste of Darkstar's first original material since their 2015's Foam Island album. The package comes complete with remixes from John Talabot, who provided "Euphoric Mix" and "Material Dub" versions of the ambient original.
Here is what James Young intends to say about this release:
"I'd been checking in on Talabot's Instagram and always liked his studio videos, the records he played out, he just seemed like a good music brain and nice guy, we'd occasionally go back and forth on message and when Wolf was finished I really thought he'd do a great job with it and asked him. He really liked it so it went from there. He sent two remixes back, both completely different from the other and both stand out a mile."
Futuristic in approach, "Wolf" (John Talabot's Materia Dub) channels polyrhythmic krautrock vibes elegantly twisted and shaped into slow-burning psychedelic dub bliss.
Feral
Ultraviolet Radiation
Hypnus records
Italian producer Alessandro Barchitta, in the underground techno scene better known as Feral marks his return to Hypnus Records with astonishing deep tribal techno package ‘Ultraviolet Radiation’. This is Barchitta’s 6th solo record on this respectable label in which he continues with further exploration of deeper shades of techno.
’Ultraviolet Radiation’ is a mysterious deep techno delight. With its intricate and broken rhythm, driving percussions, sinister bassline, warm pads and haunting vocals this track caught our attention almost instantly when listening to this EP.