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CEPX002 is around the corner and marks the second chapter of the X Series on CEP Records. With this release we welcome vinyl head Eubo from Glasgow to the label. From the first track he sent us it was clear that this is the direction we want to push. A strong old-school influence, shaped by vinyl culture and the energy of the early two thousands. The connection felt natural from the start.

A1 'Iron' is probably the most intense track on the record. A rolling bassline, sharp and slippy drums, and a lead that lays over the track with deep mids. It brings a short moment of calm, while the drive stays constant. A2 'Aluminium' stands out with its clear high hats and a modular synth that recalls sweaty and dark mornings. The sound has a slightly hypnotic and metallic touch. On the B side, 'Steel' moves through the interplay of its synths. The kick and bass stay steady and driving. A timeless track that can underline the peak moments in a DJ set. Closing the release is 'Lead'. It brings a funky bass together with serious, almost contrasting synth stabs.

Mastering by Paul Mac

KSRX003 introduces French producers Benales and Clotur. On the A-side, Benales delivers direct, groove-led tracks with solid low-end and tight drums, built for club use. On the B-side, Clotur takes over with a deeper, more hypnotic approach and a raw edge. The B2 switches to breakbeat, adding a different angle without losing flow. Straightforward tools for the floor.

Sufrimiento Records heads south. Buenos Aires-bred LRNZ delivers five cuts of no-nonsense techno with the kind of drum programming that does exactly what the title promises. West Code and Jose step in to add their weight on the flip.

Originally released in 2012 the "Collider EP" by Romanian producer x sound artist YVAT caters a hefty set of six tracks for advanced, yet bass aware and low end loving late night dancefloors. Fractured IDM meets HyperPhonk, dense layers of slightly off-kilter synths, fragmented echoes of Bass Music and Post-Glitchstep, scattered remnants of Drum'n'Bass, cheeky vaporchrome melodies and highly detailed structures, all bound and glued together by gnarly, oftentimes overwhelming sawtooth synth basslines for the braindance crew. This sounds like a WARP Records release that never happened.

Press quote:
".... this one can be best described as a conjunctional work of Autechre and Aphex Twin, teaming up with the likes of Michael Forshaw on a dark'ish, but still melodic structure of Industrial patterns. Heavy, but still accessable and even spiced up with a slice of humour, a release to hunt down and watch out for - hard to find but important for the collection of an open minded spirit." [baze.djunkiii / nitestylez.de / 07/2012]

Lonely Man's Dream marks a milestone for Forager Records: our tenth release, and perhaps our most personal. More than a compilation, it is a self-portrait. A reflection of the musical obsessions, late-night discoveries, and restless digging that have defined this label from our first record to this latest one.

Spanning the dreamy psychedelic folk of the 1970s to the cool shimmer of 1980s synth pop, Lonely Man's Dream traces a decade of curatorial wandering. Eleven artists. Eleven songs. Each one rare, obscure, or otherwise lost to the margins of music history. Among them, two tracks surface here for the very first time: “Never Say Goodbye” by Cocktails and Dreams, a synth pop transmission from Norway, luminous and weightless as the skies on the cover. “True Love” by Keith Jones, a drum machine backed demo that pulses with a late night intimacy.

What unites these songs across genre and era is the same quality we have always chased; a transporting ache, the sound of someone searching, or the feeling of a memory you can't quite place. Like every record before it, this one asks nothing of you but your full attention and an open ear.

Ten releases in, we are still looking for the same thing we started with. We hope you feel it too.

* Featuring a selection of songs sourced from rare records of the 70s & 80s reissued for the first time.
* Includes 2 unreleased songs from the 80s
* Original artwork by Eric Thompson
* Very limited initial first pressing

Drumcode returns with its flagship A-Sides series, led by a huge new Adam Beyer single that highlights the 20-track compilation.

If you want a snapshot of techno in any given year, look no further than Drumcode’s annual A-Sides compilation. The release broadly charts the evolution of the genre, while giving a platform to standout demo’s Adam Beyer has received across the course of the year with many emerging artists finding their music on Drumcode for the first time. Case in point – Wehbba, Charles D and Raxon who all debuted on the label via a track on the A-Sides series and have gone on to become regular contributors to Beyer’s influential labels.

This year’s compilation features an exciting mix of established heavy-hitters, alongside a slew of new faces set to make their mark on the genre. ‘We Don’t Say Please’ – is emblematic of Adam Beyer’s sound in 2025 – fresh, experimental and thriving on cross-genre pollinations, as elements of bass music, rap and techno collide, underpinned by a distinctive UK vocal. The results are inspiring.

Elsewhere, the 20-track compilation brims with highlights. HI-LO’s ‘NYC to Amsterdam’ has inflections of New York house fused with driving techno elements. Nicole Moudaber returns to DC in cahoots with the rising ZLATA for the super-charged ‘Report to the Dancefloor’. Oscar L & Charles D mint a new collaborative partnership with the immersive, spacey cut ‘Lift Me Up’. LUSU continue their red-hot run following the recent ‘Move 2 the Groove’ EP, and craft a straight-up mind-mashing single ‘LIKE THIS’. Mark Reeve is in trademark strong form with hypnotic ‘My Mind’, which comes to life via a massive synth led. The fantastic Kaufmann shares her ‘People are Strange’, a nod to a classic vox, re-contextualised for a modern techno audience.

As is tradition, a troupe of ascendant producers land on Drumcode for the first time. They include Uruguay’s Enzo Monza, who delivers the crisp ‘Late Night’ – a favourite of Beyer’s; Mattia Saviola, whose ‘Parallel Dimension’ is a powerful cut with fantastic sound design; Romanian artist Tao Andra, who shares the celestial ‘Unity’; and long-time industry stalwart AdamK, who makes a richly deserved Drumcode debut in partnership with Vikthor feat. MC Stretch on the stunning ‘Silence + The Sound’.

2026 Repress

Laurie Torres is a Canadian musician and composer raised in Montréal, Québec by Haitian parents. Since 2008, she has been a trusted stage and studio performer for Julia Jacklin, Pomme, and Land of Talk, as well as being a founding member of Folly & The Hunter, with whom she recorded four studio albums and toured Canada, Europe and the UK.

In 2023, Laurie shifted focus to work on her own creations, a process of making time - the will and the need becoming omnipresent. Drawing creative inspiration from contemporary artists like Tirzah, Gia Margaret, Valentina Magaletti, Tara Clerkin Trio and ML Buch, 'Après coup' finds Torres intersecting at a pivotal moment where artists whose marginalized identities are at the forefront in creating a beautiful array of "other options".

"Being othered and tokenized as a woman who plays music, as well as a queer and black person, takes a toll, while also positively feeding a strong urge to push and be seen."

Centering around piano, drums and synthesizer with interweaving field recordings, 'Après coup' follows the precursor ep 'Correspondances' in the form of a sprawling 11-track album. Translating directly from French - afterwards, after the event - its title subliminally points at something deeper between the lines. Recorded in 2023 between tours in a small window of time where 'normal' life hadn't quite recommenced, Torres meticulously crafted her debut solo material in view of surrounding nature, all providing the perfect nourishment for long streams of improvisation. Built right up to the edge of a lake, Studio Wild in St-Zénon, Québec offered an unparalleled location and set up for her freeform creativity.

Instrumental music seemed like a natural response and evolution for Torres who had long basked in the world of "pop music" as she elaborates: "I had an urge to use creativity as a sort of resting place, a place where things can unfold slowly and take time to reveal themselves. In other worlds words, I felt the need to make something slower, more elusive"

The immediacy of Torres' recorded takes doubled with minimal overdubs create a fiercely direct, intimate and unpolished lo-fi beauty. 'Après coup' then is self-reflective, open and inclusive with Torres allowing herself to be fully seen. An album to be felt at close distance with unrivalled authenticity. This album stands as a testament to Laurie's artistic evolution and serves as a beacon, inspiring her to continue nurturing her own creative pursuits and finding exhilarating freedom.

Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album find the producer taking yet another sonic right turn. "These records were made in the same year with a very similar creative process. I moved almost completely away from sampling, experimented more than ever with ambient and techno elements and used the album format as a way to tell a story about moments in my life." Once I Was Young is a storytelling work that journeys through analogue synth-pop, modulated techno and raw, dusty drums with otherworldly melodies. Moments of beauty come through escapist, naturalistic ambient tracks and fusions of Kraftwerkian sequencing with more classical piano, while stark, clubready grooves keep things moving. Airplane contrasts similar shades of light and dark, synthetic and organic, rough and smooth. Glitchy, imperfect analogue sounds, knackered drum machine grooves and eerie synth phrasing evoke a post-human world with icy atmospheres. Elsewhere, warmth comes from bittersweet melodies and loose, funky drums that ooze retro-future charm.
Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album show a diff erent side to Escobar, one that embraces introspection and experimentation while exploring a whole other world of meaningful machine soul

Following the critical success of last year’s ‘Cold Feet’ LP, producer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist Alek Lee returns to Isle of Jura with his most introspective work to date, the ‘Blue Bird’ album. Across eight tracks, the Athens-based artist explores what he describes as a "Peculiar state of minds & Dub Orientated Feelings," blending his signature guerrilla style production with deep, organic soul.

The album’s centerpiece and title track, ‘Blue Bird’ features the haunting vocals of singer-songwriter Keren Ilan. It is a raw, heartfelt exploration of the aftermath of a breakup. The lyrics speak of a "desert heart" and a "loss that grows tall and loud," eventually finding a path toward healing as the "blue bird sings the dawn." Musically, the track is anchored by hazy, sun drenched guitars, a central instrument that weaves a consistent Balearic thread throughout the LP.

The journey through ‘Blue Bird’ is one of shifting shadows and unexpected textures. ‘Treasures’ is a standout instrumental, leaning into a grit-flecked, bluesy "twang" reminiscent of Duane Eddy, while ‘The Beach Road’ sees long time collaborator and ‘Shame On Us’ bandmate, Yovav, lending his magical bass and guitar work to a track that feels like a slow drive toward the horizon.

Side B shifts the energy toward the dancefloor and the sophisticated leftfield pop of the 80s. ‘First Rain’ is a subtle house leaning gem underpinned by a kick drum and lush, synth heavy emotive chord progression. ‘Thanks to Sade’ is a seductive downtempo groove with epic guitar lines shifting through, while ‘Remember the Good’ brings a subtle reggae skank and a French-influenced organ sound into the mix. The LP comes full circle with a smoked out Dub version of the title track ‘Blue Bird’.

A 180 gram pressing in a 3mm spine full colour sleeve and sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

Ruby My Dear returns to Analogical Force with Iterations EP -- five cuts of precision-engineered electronica forged from repetition and control. Originally conceived for a videomapping project by Barcelona-based studio VPM and premiered at SIGNAL and MIRA festivals the music quickly evolved beyond its audiovisual origins into a fully independent sonic work. Razor-edged IDM, glitched breakcore and high-velocity drum programming collide with dark harmonic pressure and microscopic detail. Brutal yet deliberate. Chaotic yet exact. This is Ruby My Dear operating at full resolution.

Dylan Thomas of Patchouli Brothers fame is back with a pair of disco belters for the fifth edition of Dancing In Space's edits series. The opener, 'Sinner Man', is a real floorfiller with strings that reach for the heavens and trill with self-satisfied joy, while belting vocals bring a raw edge and funky bass gets lips curled. On the flip is 'Street Player,' which has a more lithe and jazzy vibe. This one is driven by live drums and big horns with a hooky vocal and majestic solos all sounding brilliantly lush. Two absolute weapons.

Bristol's Pessimist returns to UVB-76 Music with four tracks, zero filler and no wasted space. He is one of drum & bass's most distinctive voices and shows why once more here. 'Pess One' opens with clinical precision - pin-sharp drums where every element earns its place 'Pony Boy Club' drives harder, laser bleeps piercing cavernous reverb and kicks that never quit. 'NRG-97' reaches back into a nostalgic palette with dread-filled bass and dark percussion. Closing track 'Under Surveillance' is the moodiest of the lot - a claustrophobic, paranoid and unsettling world of Terminator terror.

The Saint Wax label branches out with a new series of edits from founder Eduardo Barbi aka Gledd, who traverses funk, disco and soul across five irresistible cuts. 'Street Preacher' has a spoken word that reminds of early rap days paired with a rousing choral backing, then 'Stevie's Word' turns up the funk with a chunky bassline. 'Do It For Me' is another gospel-fuelled pumper with big stabs ramping up the intensity and then 'Under The Moonlight' is a classy disco stomper lead by florid and chunky funk in the drums. 'Your Love' is an excitable finish with big horns, bigger chords and even bigger vocals. It's big, basically.

Dublin deep house fixture Glenn Davis returns with four tracks steeped in the smoked-out warmth of classic Chicago and New York house music, though there's enough personality here to stop things drifting into pure revivalism. 'The Journey' opens through supple drum movement and glowing Rhodes figures that unfurl lazily across the groove, as little chord flourishes flicker at the edges like light catching dust through half-drawn curtains. 'Love Is' softens the mood further through hazy vocal vapour and richly upholstered keys that melt gently into the rhythm. On the flip, 'Free Your Mind' introduces firmer rhythmic pressure without disturbing the record's low-lit sensuality. 'Da Jazz' closes things beautifully through brushed percussion and featherlight piano motifs with a rolling swing that feels most elegant in its looseness. Very classy deep house, this.

Sasha's collaborative hot streak continues with Manchester-based duo Cortese. The pair were last on Last Night On Earth in 2024.

A big 2025 saw electronic titan Sasha linking up with a mix of fellow pioneers and next-generation stars. He collaborated with the likes of Artche, Henry Saiz, and Joseph Ashworth, always pushing forward his signature sound, steeped in meticulous synth craft, built on transportive grooves, and packed with rare levels of universal emotion.

Cortese are new school artists with an emotionally rich mix of garage, breaks, and house. They head up their own Plaza Recordings and, as well as appearing on Sasha’s LUZoSCURA compilation, they dropped their 'All U Do' EP here in December 2024. Following gigs in support of mainstays like Bicep and Mike Skinner, they now hook up with one of dance music's most recognisable names.
The result is 'One', a deep and heavenly odyssey with warm, supple drums infused with subtle garage swing. Wordless vocals bleed into the mix, heightening the sensuality, as the majestic arps and shimmering chords light up the airwaves. It's an irresistible invitation for the dance floor to take off on a wave of cautious hope and optimism without ever losing sight of the grounding groove.

On the flip and the fantastic 'U Disappear' is an Ibiza anthem in the making - the synths are widescreen and sun-kissed, while the bass is dark and transportive. Balearic piano chords ripple through the mix alongside arching pads and soft, wordless vocals, lending a dreamy edge to what is a powerful track, both physically and spiritually.

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

REVIEWS/RADIO/FEEDBACK:

“Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s ‘Higher Than The Stars’.” BAN BAN TON TON
"Dust Tears sees them sharing vocal duties over a synth foundation reminiscent of Moby’s Go - Artist Of The Week” THE SCOTSMAN
"Woozy pop" NEMONE (Mary Anne Hobbs Morning Show, BBC 6Music)
"Nice one, very David Lynch meets Euro dream pop" YOUTH (Killing Joke, Paul McCartney, U2, The Orb, Spiritualized etc)
"Music sounds killer! Real emotion” DAVID HOLMES
"I’m enjoying it” TIM BRINKHURST aka LONDON (IKLAN, Young Fathers, Callum Easter)
“Oh, this is lovely!” SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"It’s totally my cup of tea with milk and biscuit" BRENT RADEMAKER (Beachwood Sparks/GospelBeach)
"Beautiful, ecstatic electronica! Short and to the point" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Soulsavers, BE)
"Makes me wanna sit in the sun and sip an Arnold Palmer" CHRIS DIXIE DARLEY (Father John Misty)
“Really beautiful - Cocteau Twins / Spiritualized vibes but has its own thing going on, too - worth checking out!” JULIAN CORRIE (Franz Ferdinand, Miaoux Miaoux)
‘Sounded nice on a sunny day, makes me think of Twin Peaks, nice moods’ EAMON HAMILTON (Sea Power)
"Dealing in nostalgia, no bad thing at all, great to play that (Dust Tears) for you” RODDY HART (BBC Radio Scotland)
“I'll give the vocal tracks a spin before the release." VIC GALLOWAY (BBC Radio Scotland)
"Rather good!" IAIN ANDERSON (BBC Radio Scotland)

CREDITS:

Lyrics, Guitars, Keys, Synths, Drums, Drum Programming, Percussion, Mandolin, Glockenspiel: Shaun McLachlan
Lyrics, Vocals, Keys by Sarah McLachlan
Guitars, Synths, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Engineering: Jaguar Eyes Percussion/Drums/Effects, Fire Extinguisher: Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz)
Guitars by Daniel Land
Slide Guitar by Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty)
Brass by Bruce Michie
Keys, pre-production & engineering on “It’s true what they say”: Gavin King
All produced by Jaguar Eyes and Shaun McLachlan and then mixed at Glasgow’s Chem19 Studios by David McCaulay (From Scotland With Love, Rick Redbeard, BBC TV’s Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard score).
Artwork: Jamie Walman (Fourteen Admirals)

MORE INFO:

Although Shaun released a pair of solo singles (When We Dance and Give Your Love To Me) during Lockdown, he will be better known to many via his work as the multi-instrumentalist in Edinburgh band Delta Mainline. With two albums released to date, Oh! Enlightened and Bel Avenir, both rapturously received by fans and critics alike, Delta Mainline have developed an international, cult following. Oh Enlightened (2013) achieved widespread critical acclaim on release, earning the band comparisons to Arcade Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen, while 2019’s Bel Avenir pulled in references to The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and krautrock. A third DM album is currently being mixed and due for release later this year…

After an exceptional and well-received collaborative EP with Tina Ramamurthy on Amotik 014 earlier in 2024, Amotik picks up where he left off and delivers four sublime solo works for Amotik 015. His self-titled imprint, running since 2015, has been a steady home base for his own productions, quickly becoming an essential catalogue in modern techno. Here, once again, he delivers a full pack of pure techno jams. Whether its the swinging percussion hooks in Assi, the hypnotic groove of Unnasi, or the banging kick drums of Ikyasi, this is yet another essential release for every techno enthusiast.

Dave Wallace is one third of Aquasky, as well as a founding member of Mad Dog and Fugitive. He also released his own EP’s on Moving Shadow and R&S in the 90’s and more recently an EP on TeeBee’s Subtitles label as well as a return to the rave with various Fugitive tracks and remixes on Vinyl Fanatiks over the past few years.

But one track has always alluded a release, there was always something that prevented it from being released. Originally written in 1995, it wasn’t until 1996 that he sent it to LTJ Bukem who went nuts for it, advising Dave to speed it up from its original 156bpm so he could play it. Upon doing so, it was also sent to Fabio and the pair of them played it on Kiss, Radio 1 and various gigs and festivals across the world. Dave was just in discussions to release it when Dillinja made a Bladerunner track using the same samples. In light of that and how the hierarchy worked in the 90’s drum and bass scene, Dave decided to pull the release and the track went back into the DAT draw… for 26 years!

This track has been requested by many to be pressed since Vinyl Fanatiks started as it had such a huge fanbase, so many people loved the track after hearing it either back in the day or on copies of mixes uploaded in recent years to the internet. An extremely desired track! But there was never a B-side to it… until Dave stepped into his Fugitive guise and brought the track up to date with one of the baddest basslines we have released on the label.

Join us as we take you on a ride from the smooth to the ruff!


Its all an expression!

This is the third of the Mad Dog releases – and is often cited as the best release they did back in the day. Pure hardcore jungle flavours written in 1994 in sunny Bournemouth by Dave ‘Aquasky’ Wallace and Shaun ‘Aurora’ O’Hara.

Originally released by Olly on Underdog Recordings, who shared a house with Dave and also Brent from Aquasky. A hub of hardcore – the studio was on the ground floor, the bedrooms on the second floor and the top floor was the record label and pirate radio that ran for a while!

Around the same time this record was made, Dave was also producing as Fugitive and engineering for Kieron Aquasky’s various drum and bass tracks. On top of that he was making happy hardcore as Rebel Alliance and engineering hip hop for Brent Aquasky. A very busy guy who is still producing in 2024!

Pressed by the mighty Phil ‘The Vinylman’ East on 180g heavyweight vinyl. This release is a bespoke product as no one record is the same. Designed to look like the planet Neptune and part of a 4 vinyl Cosmik series.

OMG!

Newly remastered version of Oren Ambarchi’s long out-of-print classic Hubris originally released on Editions Mego in 2016. Expertly remastered by audio wizard Joe Talia who worked with the original mixes, highlighting the myriad details of the audio with forensic precision, previously unheard up until now.

From the 2016 press release:
Hubris continues the exploration of relentless, driving rhythms heard on Ambarchi’s Sagittarian Domain (2012) and Quixotism (2014). Where those records looked to Krautrock and techno for their starting points, the sidelong opening track here begins from the perhaps unlikely inspirations of disco and new wave, drawing particularly from Ambarchi’s love of Wang Chung’s soundtrack to William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. Leaving behind the song-forms of these reference points, Ambarchi weaves a sustained and pulsating web of layered palm-muted guitars from which individual voices rise up and recede, eventually setting the stage for some lush guitar synth from Jim O’Rourke. Arnold Dreyblatt collaborator Konrad Sprenger contributes overtone-rich motorized guitar, pushing the piece into a satisfying intersection of shimmering minimalism and rhythmic drive that smoothly builds up until the entrance of Mark Fell’s electronic percussion in its final section.
After a short second part, in which Ambarchi, O’Rourke and crys cole pay tribute to the skewed harmonic sense of Albert Marcoeur with a track built from layered guitar figures and abstracted speech, the long final piece pushes the concept of the first side into darker and denser areas. Joined by electronics from Ricardo Villalobos and the twin drums of Will Guthrie and Joe Talia, the layered guitars of the first piece are transformed into a raw and tumbling fusion-funk groove that calls to mind early Weather Report or even the first Golden Palominos LP. As this stellar rhythm section rides a single repeated chord change into oblivion, a series of spectacular events emerge in the foreground: first, aleatoric synthesizer burbles from Keith Fullerton Whitman, then slashing skronk guitar from Arto Lindsay, until finally Ambarchi’s own fuzzed-out harmonics take center stage as the piece builds to an ecstatic frenzy. Few artists could hope to include such an incredible variety of collaborators on one record and still hope for it to have a unique identity, but Ambarchi manages to do just that, crafting three pieces that emerge directly out of his previous work while also pushing ahead into new dimensions.
Players: Oren Ambarchi, crys cole, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie,
Arto Lindsay, Jim O’Rourke, Konrad Sprenger, Joe Talia, Ricardo Villalobos, Keith Fullerton Whitman.