Wata Igarashi – Kioku EP

Igarashi’s ultra-psychedelic swirl of techno is unbelievably idiosyncratic, customarily a chaotic monolith of twisting and twirling electronics evolving in such a way that, when mixing, it’s hard enough to keep your head screwed on let alone try choose tracks that straddle it. The Kioku EP is truly the Japanese producer’s best exhibit of this hectic, …

Duster – Stratosphere

Why Duster? Out of all the long-forgotten bands that have become casualties to the endless churning of time, why Duster? As old records go out of print and labels go into administration, why Duster? As band members find other occupations and equipment gets placed into storage or even sold, why Duster? All these years later, …

Momus – Voyager

Beside his marriage to a 17 year-old, Momus’ Voyager is one of the weirdest things tied to his name. It’s try-hardness and kitsch factor is so unavoidable and poignant that confusion is the only appropriate reaction as you realise that very thing is its greatest strength. Voyager is a busy oddity that represents the Pet …

Boris – Flood

Repetition is an odd thing. Often considered monotonous and lazy, it’s a very difficult concept to balance well, let alone create beauty through. At face value, repetition seems to offer comfort in the delivery of something we already know and enjoy, utilising familiarity to its advantage. While this is often the case, the best repetition …

VA – Still In My Arms (Compiled by Bayu & Moopie)

When I think of labels like Melbourne’s A Colourful Storm, I wonder what sounds I’d collect on one of my own. I love the lack of theme, the fact that it can delve into the depths of breakcore, forgotten Australian twee pop, musique concréte, and now IDM in only a short period of time. If …

CAN – Tago Mago

The Germans always seem to know how to do things right. From automobile engineering and financial banking right through to beer and festivals, the Germans have always been a step ahead. Looking from a musical angle, again it’s no different. Not only making landmarks with extreme precision in futuristic left-field techno and statements of grand …

Chihei Hatakeyama – Void XX

Chihei Hatakeyama drones paint canvas’ with just about every colour you could imagine. A full platter of sound, swirling a full array of ambience speckled with everything. Like a child’s early artworks where the idea of splatting the entire rainbow came before actually painting something, his landscapes are constant and thick and free. Although this …

Earl Sweatshirt – Some Rap Songs

The concept of ‘being comfortable in your own skin’ seems to be one that Thebe Kogatstile (a.k.a. Earl Sweatshirt) is consistently working towards. Recently, the way he has tentatively answered interview questions with a kind of shy awkwardness and perceived the world with an acute, unabashed balance, has presented a man with wisdom beyond his …

Steve Reich – Different Trains // Electric Counterpoint

I’m not usually one for big statements in music. If albums try to do too much I find they get bogged down and lose sense of what should be their main purpose: musicality. So, Different Trains, which sees Steve Reich at his most ambitious, pulling out all stops to compose a complex exposition that details …

Unwound – Leaves Turn Inside You

A monolithic statement of post-hardcore