Favorite Releases from January 2021
The New Year starts with a great sense of excitement for the latest albums, inspiring releases, and impressive remixes. January sees fantastic collaborations from Multicast Dynamics and VC-118A as Mohlao,Fantastic Man, and Roza Terenzi as B'Zircon; dazzling albums from Gacha Bakradze and Illuvia, and EPs from Vril, Lord Of The Isles, Forest On Stasys, Tom Trago, Carmel Villain and Christopher Rau.
Mohlao
File (Dorisburg Remix)
Hypnus Records
The next installment of Hypnus Records' 'Serum' series further explores music drawn from temporary creative collaborations. The fourth edition of the series presents the 'Cut' EP by Mohlao, a collaborative duo of Multicast Dynamics and VC-118A. Deep and foggy in tone, the three-track package maintains a dubby and minimalistic by nature atmosphere. The EP comes complete with a remix by Dorisburg.
The Swedish producer uses subtle tribal sound emanations, shifting textures, and soaked in the dark ambiance dub-techno rhythms to etch his unique mark on the original 'File,' resulting in a hypnotizing interpretation.
B'Zircon
Azure X Ultramarine (Perko Remix)
Kalahari Oyster Cult
Kalahari Oyster Cult continues its hot streak into 2021 with a mighty EP from B'Zircon, a fruitful collaboration between two key figures in the Australian underground electronic music scene Fantastic Man and Roza Terenzi. On the new 'Lazulination' EP, the influential tandem experiments with dusty breaks, crunchy synths, and drenched in euphoric trance and techno rhythms. The record comprises two original tracks, 'Azur' and 'Ultramarine,' and the hybrid interpretation of both tracks by Perko.
The Copenhagen-based Scottish producer Fergus Jones, better known as Perko, reworked both tracks into a beautiful downtempo version filled with subtle melodies slowly rising from its introspective moodiness, delicately revealing the emotive synth elements of the originals.
Lord Of The Isles
Skylark (Tourist Kid Remix)
ESP Institute
Four years after the release of the acclaimed 2016 'In Waves' album, Lord Of The Isles revisits the release and gives a remix treatment to its leading single, 'Skylark.'
Entitled 'Skylark b/w Linkwood & Tourist Kid Remixes,' the new EP is housing a previously unreleased track 'OmniMulti' and two remixes by the Scottish artist Linkwood and Melbourne-based producer Tourist Kid.
Here is what the ESP institute intends to say about the release:
"Neil is simply prolific. In 2016 he shared with us a vast catalog of unheard beauty, which over a long span of time was collaboratively shaped into his debut album 'In Waves.' In the span between the album release and now, Neil has performed on a number of ESP Institute label showcases from Los Angeles to Amsterdam to Berlin and released a few efforts with our peers, but all throughout he's been holed up working on his sophomore album [sigh]. Though patience has become a sort of meditation during this global upside-down, we couldn't help but squeeze out an interim release to uphold the fantasy. So, four years after the release of 'In Waves,' we're proud to present a very long-winded follow-up single for the album's monster track 'Skylark.'
The Aussie artist Tourist Kid deconstructs the infectious, bleep inspired "Skylark" into a stark beatless exploration that focuses on sparkling synth tones and shape-shifting sound alchemy.
Carmen Villain
Two Halves Touching
Geographic North
Norwegian multidisciplinary artist Carmen Villain displays her musically sophisticated sound on the latest mini-album "Sketches For Winter IX," which contributed to Geographic North's "Sketch for Winter" series. "'Perlita,' named after Carmen's grandmother living in Puebla, Mexico, is a sweetly somber reflection on the ever-present cycle of hibernation and reemergence," the label explains in the press release.
Composed of six tracks, the album shines with a delicate balance between electronic and acoustic instrumentation, drawing from an amalgam of soundscapes, murmuring voices, subtle melodies, and field recordings.
"Two Halves Touching" is a beautifully constructed composition. It is guided by rich ambient textures, manipulated field recordings, flute motifs, and soft echoing vocals that conjure images of impressionistic winter landscapes.
Illuvia
A State Of Emergence
A Strangely Isolated Place
Swedish versatile musician and composer Ludvig Cimbrelius brings his Illuvia alias to A Strangely Isolated Place, the Los Angeles-based label which excels in its focus on ambient and electronica. The ambient and drum 'n' bass inspirations find a perfect union in Illuvia's project, channeling an ethereal complexion. Since the debut release of his self-titled album, the artist partnered with the label to create a follow-up record in the style of the album's closing track 'Illuvia (Exaltation).' "This record was born upon first hearing Ludvig's self-titled Illuvia album and in particular, the last track 'Illuvia (Exaltation),' explains the label. "It's an absolutely immense, atmospheric drum'n’bass tune, and left me yearning for more. So once I had picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked Ludvig to complete an entire record in this style for ASIP."
The eight tracks presented on "Iridescence of Clouds" are each mantled in lush, dreamy soundscapes, which are elated with an impeccable use of drum 'n' bass rhythms and a sense of melodic finesse.
Fashioning a rich tapestry of ethereal textures and distant vocals, Illuvia weaves driving drum 'n' bass rhythms into an introspective framework of "A State Of Emergence”.
Gacha Bakradze
Endless Tool
Lapsus Records
January heralded the return of Gacha Bakradze to Lapsus Records with the new album 'Obscure Languages.' As one of the Georgian underground music scenes' leading lights, he first appeared on the Barcelona-based imprint with a gorgeous 'Word Color' LP in 2018. After a slew of releases on Fever AM, Apollo, Horoom, and Die Orakel, he now returns to usher in a dynamic, supercharged package that channels sonic creativity with inspirations ranging from ambient, IDM, and bass to the leftfield sounds of techno.
Scattered with euphotic sweeping waves, the eighth track on the album "Endless Tool" is dazzling in its breakbeat rhythm matched to driving bass and futuristic free-floating synth melodies.
Forest On Stasys
Ramree
Lowless
After releasing an impressive track "End Of The Line" on the Rhizome 02 compilation, Guido Camino, a.k.a. Forest On Stasys, debuts his new "Ancestral Lineage" EP on the Lowless imprint.
Skillfully assembled, each of the four tracks morphs and evolves, connecting the dots between deep and dubby techno rhythms, eerie atmospherics, and delicate melodic elements.
The opening track, 'Ramree,' establishes a cohesive sonic aesthetic present throughout the EP. Its foggy ambiance echoes through distorted nature sounds, an ominously dubbed bass-line, and dreamy pads to create deep, atmospheric-driven techno.
Vril
Alte Seele (Voiski Remix)
Delsin Records
Following his highly praised concept album "Out of Place Artefacts," released in partnership with Rødhad via WSNWG imprint, the German multi-talented producer Vril brings the apocalyptic dystopia to Delsin Records. The new record "Alte Seele'' comes with immense diversity containing remixes from Vril's close friends Voiski, His Master's Voice, and his collaboration with Marcel Dettmann, radiating dark ambiance, atonal electro-industrial sounds, and futuristic sci-fi atmospheres.
Voiski's version of "Alte Seele" beautifully morphs into hazy drifting atmospherics complimenting Vril's, fused with ambient widescreen textures and brooding rhythms, dystopian soundscapes with dub techno influences.
Tom Trago
From Above
Jong Nederland
Tom Trago is opening up the New Year with the second release on his newly-fledged label Jong Nederland. “Earlier this year, Tom Trago established the DIY label Jong Nederland as a vehicle for the improvised, straight-to-tape tracks he records every day at his home studio in Bergen, a sleepy town on the Netherlands’ North West coast,'' describes the label. “His intention was to surprise and inspire in equal measure, delivering emotive musical material crafted with a small selection of electronic instruments, drum computers, and effects units.”
The new “You Deserve Better” EP is a melodically rich collection of electro’s signature rhythms and analog-injected sequencers.
Driven by undulating synth arpeggios and twisted bass-line, the meticulously crafted “From Above” shifts effortlessly from the melancholic synthesized atmospherics to the vibrant electro-funk.
Freund der Familie
PRS (Christopher Rau Remix)
Freund der Familie
Leipzig's Freund der Familie is a musical project and record label of Klaus Rakete & Mirko Hunger. In 2018, Freund der Familie released the diverse 'Panorama' EP that is now getting remixed by artists such as Christopher Rau, Pole, Van Bonn, and Roger Gerressen.
German Deep House producer Christopher Rau comes on board with an introspective reworking of the breakbeat-flavored "PRS." His original version is a musical menagerie of the groovy analog drums laced with a subtle but effective sub-bass, widescreen pads, and electro-synth flare.