Electronic gems from the vaults
String Theory – Modularity (Rhythm Section International). This excellent four-tracker from Glasgow, on Peckham’s always-interesting Rhythm Section label, dropped out of nowhere in April. Opening track Dirty High is the instant winner, channelling early Floating Points-style swung house drums with analogue arpeggios, live bass and light-fingered Rhodes keys, but the one I’ve returned to most… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #12: String Theory
Fourth Kind – Fourth Kind (Omniverse). Much like his former 4hero partner Dego, Marc Mac has been steadily ploughing his own personal furrow through post-broken-beat music, from the politicised hip hop of his sample-driven ‘beats & knowledge’ mixtapes to the organic Detroit-inspired techno of his long-running Nu Era project. This year’s Fourth Kind album is… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #11: Fourth Kind
Cosmic Handshakes – In The Mist (Going Good). Going Good has become a ‘buy on sight’ label for me, and this wonderful LP from Detroit duo Cosmic Handshakes, released at the start of the year, is one of the reasons why. It works perfectly as a home-listening experience, segueing from beatless interludes to hazy Balearic… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #10: Cosmic Handshakes
Flora FM – Atomic Garden (Argot). Flora FM – Flora FM EP (Vanity Press). It’s always great to discover a new artist that’s on your wavelength, and the first two EPs from Taylor Hawkins’ Flora FM project are right up my alley. Taking the current trend for breakbeats and 90s ambient house influences, and adding… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #8/9: Flora FM
Perko – NV Auto (Numbers). Sneaking onto my list of the year's best records just in the nick of time is this seven-track debut EP from a 23-year-old artist which blows most of 2018’s music out of the water. The standout cut is probably Rounded, which updates the classic dub techno template with fizzing breakbeats… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #7: Perko
Loidis – The Floating World (& All Its Pleasures) (Anno). I have Rubadub to thank for alerting me to this stunning three-tracker released under a new alias for Huerco S. I’ve always liked his stuff but this feels to me like a step up from his previous output - it keeps the hazy ambience and… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #6: Loidis
Other Lands – Pattern Transform (Firecracker). Another belter from the mighty Firecracker crew was this four-track EP by Edinburgh’s all-round good egg Gavin Sutherland. It includes a vintage from-the-vaults house gem in the shape of Late Feeling Yourself - which I’ve been desperate to own ever since hearing it dropped on a DJ mix a few… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #5: Other Lands
