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Kritzkom: Void Minus Matter

Deftly maneuvering her way in and around tangled leftfield motifs and further well-beaconed techno grounds on her new album for Seagrave, Kritzkom weaves minimalistic scales of oddball machinic spurts and clinical-precise metronomic grooves within a widespread gamut of stark post-industrial synthscapes and other deep-and-steep subductive layers.

Various Artists: Moon Rock Volume 4

Moon Rock Volume 4 is possibly the best chill out compilation you can get that is also committed to vinyl. Eternally comfortable to just slip into, it befits chilly early mornings as much as it does a hazy afternoon.

Ashan: Air & Ether

Meditative and intensely immersive, solar and vibrant, Ashan’s debut for Elestial Sound – ‘Air & Ether’ – couldn’t be more aptly-named with its vaporous complexions and sedative attraction, casting a spell on you the second you press play. Just as spirited and enchanting on play as it is remains inspiring and haunting once the sound is off.

The Long Now: An Ode to Architectural and Sonic Magnitude

This is our report of “The Long Now” hosted at Kraftwerk Berlin, a place for the enduring present, comprising over thirty hours of concerts, audio-visual installations and live electronic performances, which the public are invited to experience in many ways: be it listening, watching or even sleeping to them.

SZCH: Learning To Cope

A key element of on-the-rise Croatian collective and label low income $quad, SZCH gained further exposure last year with the drop of his fantastic ‘Untitled’ EP on Ron Wilson’s 777 sub-label LLL – notably charted by the ever choosy and discerning Objekt. Busy as ever, Filip strikes back with a shape-shifting funky four-tracker for UK based imprint Departures. Lush as it gets.

Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri: La Equidistancia

Leandro Fresco and Rafael Anton Irrisari ’La Equidistancia’ released on Ryan Griffin’s A Strangely Isolated Place imprint is ambient of the most epic kind – with layer upon layer of undulating sound. A delicately unfurling liminal hinter world at times as cold as the cover art, at others warm and embracing.

Solitary Dancer: Dualism

Montreal duo Solitary Dancer return with a vengeance on the continually gratifying Dark Entries, giving full vent to their sleek and sensual blends of cold wave-imbued synth melodies, neo noir ambiences and fast-flowing electro dynamics over three plus one full-on floor burners of the finest standards.

Nocow: Ledyanoy Album

Stylistically complex albums can be difficult to pull off. Ledyanoy Album – roughly translated as ‘Album Made Of Ice’ – spans house, techno, experimental, ambient and everything in between, but it continues to ask why this can’t be the case, when one pervading mood so cleverly invites us to look upon the album as a whole.

Tom Demac: Sink Or Swim

Walking the line of techno and deep house notoriously, Tom Demac’s array of production can go from the soulful grooves and melody that turn a dusty warehouse into saving Grace, but more importantly he’s got the rare capacity to flip the script, energizing crammed rooms into blissful mania. Hype man ting wha wha.

Phil Struck: Klint

If LL.M.’s first three releases ploughed a more “regular”, club-ready furrow with some outstanding contributions from Berlin’s favourite Annanan, Phil Struck’s ‘Klint’ makes for a massive bend towards antimusic and concrète realms that won’t fail at surprising those who expected the Münster-via-Berlin based imprint to stick to the tried-and-tested 4/4 recipes.

Piezo: Lume EP

Milan born-and-raised producer Piezo – who unsurprisingly lived a few years in Bristol before returning to Italy – steps up with the motley ‘Lume EP’, a three-track plate where Kowton’s pared-down structural formula meets the shuffling grind of vaporous deep house and borderline abstractness of dubby riddims and drone’y meanderings.

Objekt: Objekt #4

Both tracks introduce themselves eagerly, like a knock at the door followed by “can you come out and play?” In response, you can’t help but hurriedly pull on a pair of trainers and fly outside with laces flapping in the wind.

Sordid Sound System : Fear Eats The Soul

Green Door Studio co-owner and engineer, Stuart Evans, resurfaces his Sordid Sound System moniker for another belter of an EP via Glasgow based Invisible Inc. ‘Fear Eats the Soul’ takes us on a global trip as a concept EP made of “four imaginary bands from Detroit, New York, Paris and Munich”. And the results are as rich in history as they are a satisfying listen.

Varg: Nordic Flora Series Pt.3: Gore-Tex City

Nordic Flora Series Pt.3: Gore-Tex City is one of Varg’s most approachable albums to date, yet, it never fails to sound as genuine as you could expect. Given the fact the record is more than seventy minutes long, it is quite an achievement.

Views: Godspeed Dancefloor

‘Godspeed Dancefloor’ is infectious. From the off, it is pure dopamine and far from an MSG laden guilty indulgence. January has been dry in many regards but we have the first big hitter of the year right here. Don’t let it slip under your radar.