genet

The greatest living North American songwriter, Joe Pernice can make his guitar and voice sound like a prayer wheel or a hatchet. If he hadn't been born, there would have to be a lost twin because how else would his genius take its proper place in... See full review

In the same way that 'Rock On' by David Essex, was a No. 1 hit in the early '70s, and remains a radically experimental piece of music, 'Tusk' still stuns after all these years. The sandblasted symphony playing to attack-and-decay strip mining, all... See full review

This relentless slab of dancefloor dynamite was a welcome release, presenting a clutch of stunning hard house tracks, mostly assembled in the Cleveland City record shop. Fortunately, the term 'progressive house' hadn't quite found its way into dance... See full review

Not only is this a demonstration of the drum & percussion genius of Keith LeBlanc, it has more political, rhetorical power than most of Malcolm's recorded speeches. Sadly, the superb black & white cover photograph was not used when the 12" was... See full review

I've gotten a lot of flack and derisive laughter for simply owning this record. But those folks don't know what they're missing. This has to be one of the strangest collaborations I know of: Dolly Parton covering a Cat Stevens song with Ladysmith... See full review

This Pet Shop Boys single, in particular, shows that Chris Lowe & Neal Tennant understood that the best dance music (of any variety) combines immense energy and a lethal groove in counterpoint to a strain of minor-key melancholy. Keeping the two... See full review

Though often aligned with close partners Morr Music and City Centre Offices,
Multipara's Lux Nigra is, sadly, the most consistently overlooked electronic label. Despite releasing towering epics like Zorn's "The City's Collapsing..." (frequently... See full review

dj/rupture's Nettle collective with their best record. With his vast point of reference for 'world musics' and turntable manipulation with live instrumentation, these are difficult grooves-not readily apparent, but after a second listen? it's rhythmic mayhem. See full review

Chep Nunez-R.I.P.
Chep Nunez died, tragically, in a fire. He was, with The Latin Rascals, the most skilled edit wizard in the US. Nunez could cut up soul records with a razor blade, and stutter 909 kick drums, letting delayed handclaps bleed into the... See full review

"The Box" is the rawest, dirtiest, acid track ever recorded. Sure, countless others have used the 303, but here it runs circles around most acid practitioners. It comes from another place altogether.

"Morpheus" is one of the most beautiful, "Salsa Life"-era Rhythim is Rhythim <i>trance</i> tracks of the 1990s. What surprised me and a few others is that the track is produced by Simon Berry, who would go on to start the Platipus label and release... See full review

Sensational is the hip-hop equivalent of Thomas Mann's Aschenbach character, "the patron saint of all those who labor at the edge of exhaustion".
His brutal, minimalist style rubs some folks the wrong way, as if it were pretentious or overwrought.... See full review

Simply put, how can you refuse this record? Utilizing the already unorthodox, brilliant tracks by Vienna's Sofa Surfers (they ain't 'trip-hop'), a stellar cast work their magic. Junior Delgado, Sensational, and Mark Stewart on the same record?... See full review

This is probably the most poignant Chicago house record I've heard. "Thanks For The Trax U Lost" has the analogue drum chicanery of anything from the classic Trax years with a profoundly melancholic vocoder vocal. Early house provided path-breaking... See full review

Graham Sutton, former 'axe-wielder' and songwriter for British band Bark Psychosis turned to drum-and-bass after the band went on hiatus. The transition was surprising but he made gruelling, brilliant jungle tracks in the early Photek/No U-Turn darkstep mode. See full review

Brendan Gillen of Interdimensional Transmissions released the most far-reaching, forward-thinking electro compilation I've ever heard. <i>Years</i> before anyone started talking about the electro revival, he gathered some of electronic music's most... See full review

Though it may be self-conscious, this is a still a grimy, '85 style Chicago warehouse record a la early Steve Poindexter, Paul Johnson, Armando, et. al.,
and he shows a great respect and love for that era of midwest lo-tech floorslammers.

A gorgeous, superbly assembled album of Russell's more abstract, free-jazz excursions assembled lovingly by Steve Knutson, who worked at the 'old' Tommy Boy label for a long time, doing A&R on dozens of great projects. This record is on Knutson's new... See full review

Clair, the brilliant mind behind Clear knew she was onto something after hearing Morgan Geist. As was her wont, she recognized his talent quite some time before he became a 'household name' among electronicians and chopped disco phreeks.

Stumbled across this obscure, stickered, white sleeved record in Glasgow, and it threw me across the room-my first exposure to Vladislav Delay's now immense body of work. Along with his work on Sigma Editions, this is the best music he ever made.

At a time when music in general, and electronic music is no exception, is retreating from the political (not in the sense of <i>electoral</i> politics, but the everyday as political for those who have been made a surplus population by global capital)... See full review

Eric "Errorsmith" seems to be working with equipment provided by aliens. Quite how he coaxes the sounds on his tracks from this gear remains a mystery. And his editing skills come close to those of the late Chep Nunez,
NY 80s hip-hop/freestyle... See full review

This is the creation of Keith LeBlanc who not only made the Malcolm X "No Sell Out" record on Tommy Boy, but also was a former house drummer for Sylvia Robinson's Sugarhill label before going on to work with Adrian Sherwood in Tackhead (with Doug... See full review

Beautiful gospel-influenced, vocal house from a moment in the complex histories of house in which house records were less 'tracks' than 'songs'.

Licensed from the Belgian new beat/italo label Hithouse, this is label owner Peter Slaghuis going hell for leather. Love it or hate it, this is a massive floorslammer.