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Bitstream - Domestic Economy 7 - 28-Feb-06 03:08 PM
It's not techno. It's not electro. It's not (sigh) IDM. It's Bitstream's first long player proper, a heady mix of brusing aural assaults, stuttering vocals and oldschool scratches, dipping a finger into almost every electronic honey pot and still coming up with something that can only have been done by by the Conner brothers. Never have an act - especially an electro one - established such a unique sound so quickly.

Doing away with the traditional 808, Bitstream pound you into the ground with scattershot kicks, processed snaps, pops, squeals and any other sound they can get their dirty hands on, forming challenging, awkward - almost dominating - soundscapes that flick from theme to theme without ever losing their thread.
Often sounding like several different, disparate tracks played at the same time, their music defies description, although its pretty safe to say this is one sick album, from two sick minds. Check.

Rhythm & Sound - See Mi Yah (Remixes #1) - 28-Feb-06 03:08 PM
If the prospect of a new Rhythm & Sound release wasn't enough, the prospect of remixes by such luminaries as Tikiman, Villalobos and Vladislav Delay are almost enough to get the headnodding techno beard-strokers of the world soiling their combats.

So what a disappointment it is to find that instead of the cream of european electronic dub, we get a wonky glitch-fest that confuses you into thinking the remixer actually cares what he's doing (Villalobos), unimaginative, plodding house (Delay's offering, sounding very much like a 5 year old Luomo offcut) and Burial Mix-by-numbers (Tikiman).

Are you ready to be heartbroken?

Ellen Allien - Magma - 28-Feb-06 03:07 PM
While hardly reaching the lofty heights of her tribute to the city of Berlin 'Standkind', Allien is still very much the top Bpitch bitch - Magma is a rolling, shuddering tech-electro minimal groove fest, hot and fluid. A bit like magma itself.
On the flip, Ellen moves over to give two electro-upstarts some room to breathe in the sweltering heat - The MFA and Modeselektor hack away, but neither of them justifies the intense hype that surrounds them, opting for either dry, over-processed funk-devoid loops (Modeselektor) or waifer-thin 90s trance (MFA).

Seek out Ellen's latest long player instead......

Rotters Golf Club - 28-Feb-06 10:29 AM
Rotter's seemed to die a death midway through 2005, when Weatherall and co. appeared to solely concentrate on their (equally hit-and-miss) Firewire label, and especially spikey-punky-shouty newcomers Battant.

To be truthful, RGC never really left the runway, and with opening salvos like Klart's dumb n' bass booty bouncing silliness, or Aramchek's dull as ditchwater follow-up, you have to think that Weatherall & Tenniswood should have found some new blood, instead of building up a back catalogue of different monikers and unfunny injokes (with Satamile favourites Decal the only non-Swordsmen related signings actually making an impact on the discography).

Granted, when RGC works, it really works. Tenniswood's own Uranium EP fizzes and buzzes with cartoon electricity, while the Machine Funk Specialists is essentially a 2 Lone Swordsmen LP, and a hip-shakingly good one at that. Remote takes the action into synthpop terrority - imagine Joy Division if Curtis hadn't, er, left the band early. Dark atmospheric alleyways with only an 808 for company.

Weatherall is, by his own admission, a "classic under-achiever" - lets hope his next project will really set dancefloors alight. Once he gets round to it of course.

Scanner - Delivery - 11-Jan-06 03:18 AM
The mid-90s were not kind to our Robin. Being at the forefront of electronic oddness for nearly a decade, he suddenly found himself playing second fiddle to a second generation of producers. Young turks like Autechre were scorching the electronic soundscape with music that was not only brave and challenging, but also incredibly well produced.
Scanner, like much of the isolationist camp (with the likes of Kevin Martin, Oval and Main to name a few), were 'sound collage' artists, using found sounds and samples, not the complicated algorithms of Autechre or Mouse On Mars.

Its not suprising then, that 'Delivery' sounds somewhat confused, incorporating the empty vistas of his previous work, with more dancefloor orientated rhythms, a mix thats misses more that it hits; Scanner seems uncomfortable in this environment, his mobile phone scanning reduced to a gimmick for the likes of the NME to latch on to. A bit like Aphex Twin's beard.

Saying that, the album itself, out of context, is not that bad. 'Fingerbug' and 'Barcode' both shuffle along in their own Orbital-esqe digi-funk kind of way, but its 'Heidi' and 'Affaire' that are the standout tracks here - dark and almost desperate ambient pieces, complimented by some truly odd scanning material - a prostitute talking to one of her regulars, a rudeboy intimidating his girlfriend - rank as some of Scanner's most affecting work.

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