Favorite Releases from July 2022
“The secret, Alice, is to surround yourself with people who make your heart smile.
It’s then, only then, that you’ll find wonderland.”
Summer is in full swing hitting up with fresh albums, exciting releases, and impressive remixes featuring music from the mighty duo of Dorisburg and Arkajo as Genius Of Time, tdel, Mosam Howieson, map.ache, Inner Science, Forest Drive West, John Beltran as Placid Angles, Dauwd, Acronym, Francis Harris, Hidden Spheres, Melon, Anthony Naples, Jacques Bon, and Drux.
Genius Of Time
Sunswell
Oath
Oath are incredibly proud to present the latest EP from duo Genius Of Time, which continues to showcase the pair's deep affinity with charming melodics, succulent rhythmic structures, and an overall deep love affair with warm, soothing electronics.
Genius Of Time consists of Nils Krogh and Alexander Berg, who have been actively making music for a good while but began their journeys as Genius Of Time in 2010. There's a deepness to their music that is hard to define in its perceptual and physical beauty, with each record they released concerning finding the right balance between ethereal textures and technical application. This finely-struck relationship has allowed the duo to explore the parameters of their sound, engaging the listener via sequences that take their time to unravel and hit all the right notes when the going gets good. From jazzy steppers through to bouncing 90s-inspired gems, there is little that the pair feel is off the table. That approach indicates a healthy experimentation mindset and ensures that room is consistently found to grow into and dwell deep within. Giving and taking is always a great sign in electronic music. Genius Of Time provide breathing space within their music, which invites you in and takes you to particular and magical types of places.
As two different sides to the expressive spectrum, there is plenty here to dive into, and it helps to serve us up very nicely to their latest effort, 'Sunswell,' their first record together in three years. In keeping with their most recent efforts, the duo wasted no time bringing forward some extraordinary vibes, with the title track kicking things off in spectacular fashion. Simmering, engrossing synths start proceedings before delightful breakbeat slides into view underneath, with 90s-leaning vocal samples fuelling the momentum as we slide onwards and upwards. The additional key work that comes into view around the halfway mark ensures that the heart and soul are fulfilled.
Mosam Howieson
Aphelion (tdel Remix)
Mysteries Of The Deep
New York-based Mysteries Of The Deep unveiled the long-awaited remix package from Mosam Howieson's 2021 album 'Aphelion.' The four-track "Interpretations Vol. V" sees an unreleased bonus track, "Fade," from the album and remixes from Abby Echiverri, tdel, and Svreca.
Taking on the album's title track, "Aphelion," the Atlanta-based producer tdel flips the original into an over 12 minutes journey with delirious textures, an intricately woven web of atmospheric sounds and harmonies.
Inner Science
Momentary Spread - Ambient ver (map.ache remix)
Cosmocities
Landing on Cosmocities right on cue for the summer season ahead, Japanese producer Masumi Nishimura, alias Inner Science deals out a new entry into his shimmering, shape-shifting mindset. Flying us off to a soothingly dreamy and colorful headspace, bristling with vibrant sound design minutiae to wrap your ears around, Inner Science exhibits the elevating power of his music through three original joints, complemented by two exquisite remixes from multi-faceted British genius Joe Goddard and Giegling staple, map.ache.
Tackling the "Momentary Spread" map.ache treats us to a different dynamic, floor-friendly approach, routing its listener onto proper functional, gridlocked tracks. Bleached-out pads evaporate into the aether as the bass etches into your mind with a long-lasting effect. It's a proper oneiric roller that engulfs you down its gushing throat of faded escapism and brittle, post-discoid melancholy.
Forest Drive West
Creeper
Ilian Tape
Following releases on Livity Sound, Echocord, Hidden Hawaii, Midgar, AD93 (formerly known as Whities), Delsin, and Rupture London, London-based producer Forest Drive West takes the listener through an inhabited musical territory somewhere between drum&bass, techno, and jungle with his new EP. Entitled "Creeper," the four-track collection highlights the artist's talent for melting infectious percussive rhythms into a shape-shifting atmospheric tapestry of textures and arrangements.
The opening track, "Caduta Di Massi," is a futuristic twist of drum & bass-influenced rhythms and contrasting moods of darkness and euphoria mixed with raw and driving power.
Placid Angels
Clouds Over Clifden (Dauwd Remix)
Figure
"One year after its original release, the Placid Angels album Touch The Earth is being remixed by an impressive array of artists from the extended Figure family. With John Beltran being a distinct voice within the electronic music scene for over thirty years, Figure is thrilled to reveal a whole LP's worth of reinterpretations, including two works by the original artist himself.
Opening up is Marcell Dettmann, who seamlessly has integrated the lush soundscapes of the original album into a beat-driven but equally serene journey. Picking up on the LP's underlying dark garage tropes, Planet Mu headmaster M-ziq infuses his rework with even more rolling drums and ethereal vocal chops. The also inherent IDM roots of Touch The Earth have been kept close by Warp-veterans Plaid, who deliver a shuffling flurry full of horns, synths, and syncopated rhythms. More straightforward interpretations include Dauwd's dazzling piece of feathery, fast, atmospheric techno, a gorgeous melodic house remix by Baltra and Cassy, who turns in a rigid UK stomper.
Among all the reworks, John Beltran makes two appearances across the record. As Placid Angels, he adds another heads-down percussive/ambient swirl, representing exactly what the producer has been hailed for over three decades. His remix finishes the record on an epic note, with an organic drum track that celebrates the life and the necessity for communal gathering to dance."
Acronym
Flashing LED
Benthic
Acronym delivers his latest EP, 'Millennial Lowlife' via Benthic this July, comprised of four originals from the Swedish artist.
Across the past decade, Dan Vicente, aka Acronym, has been unveiling his twist on murky, hypnotic techno via the likes of Semantica Records, Northern Electronics, and of course, his own Stilla Ton imprint, showcasing a more esoteric and experimental approach to the genre and steadily rising to prominence as a driving force for the Swedish Techno scene. Here we see him joining the roster of Benthic following its inaugural release back in September 2021 from Lucid Void.
'Flashing LED' rounds out the release, returning to an ambient feel with cinematic strings, meandering sub-bass tones, and shuffled percussion throughout.
Francis Harris
Earth Moves (Hidden Spheres remix)
Scissors and Thread
Francis Harris' "Thresholds" album dropped on his Scissor and Thread earlier this year, garnering rave reviews for an album steeped in atmospheres, drone textures, and electro-acoustic explorations.
It's an album far removed from the dancefloor. Still, Harris has managed to curate a remix package from some of the most talented and boundary-pushing artists active on the fringes of the electronic music space.
Manchester resident Hidden Spheres provides an undeniably stunning interpretation of the “Earth Moves,” accentuating the jazzy and atmospheric nature of the original with balmy UK broken beat-driven rhythms adorned with the Balearic sounding percussive patterns, Eliana Glass’s seductive vocals, and Greg Paulus’s hazy jazz-infused trumpet passages.
Melon
She Was
SoHaSo
To celebrate the summer, Utrecht-based record label Something Happening, Somewhere decided to release no less than three digital compilations in the coming weeks. Celebrate the summer with SoHaSo.
Part one of the summer series contains four tracks. The label asked those involved to reflect on their contributions in their own words.
One of the stand-out tracks in the compilation comes from Jeroen Hofer, also known as Melon. In the artist's own words, he describes this track as:
"I made this many moons ago with emotions of forbidden love between two-star signs which didn't connect because of being opposites in need of compassion. They say opposites attract, and I guess it does but not in the long run."
Anthony Naples
Right As The Sun Goes
Running Back
Welcome to Anthony Naples' first outing for Running Back. Swerve sees the New York resident putting his dancing shoes back on and pausing from his admittedly brilliant other side. A development that last year's Club Pez on ANS already foreshadowed. While his music is at times ethereal and cerebral but also engaging and compelling, Naples manages to fill the gap between finesse and function with idiosyncratic abilities.
Starting with the title track that builds a bridge between a beehive and Joey Beltram's hoover sound, it's clear that Naples has something unique in case of temperature and tempo. Swerve flows around an addictive bass line, adds a splash of piano, and manages to feel big without the usual cheap tricks. Played by Four Tet and Pete Tong. If bangers-not-bangers was a genre, Naples would have created one of its prime examples.
The rest follows the lead: 'Here With You' uses skippy beats underneath a TB-303, 'Right As The Sun Goes' extracts elements of its two predecessors but mirrors them with delightful mellowness, and finally, Be To feels like the continuation of the sprawling hypnotism of the mid-nineties.
Jacques Bon & Drux
Distant Voices
Smallville
The latest release from the influential Hamburg-based Smallville comes from the key family member and the now closed Parisian branch of the Smallville records Jacque Bon. The multi-talented artist and the vinyl collector joined forces with his studio partner Vincent Drux to deliver a beautifully deep and atmospheric debut album, "A Long Way. "
The eight-track journey explores an intricate array of rhythmic elements combining tonal textures and abstract sonic intricacies with ambient atmospheres of futuristic house and techno. We had the pleasure to premiere the album's opening track, "Distant Voices." Read a complete article by Sabrout