The Predatory Wasp
Sleep D and Mosam Howieson join forces for an EP that sits between peak-time bangers and deep hypnotic terrain, with Intetia my pick of the bunch thanks to its Barker-esque melodic synthline and the fact that the breakdown reminds me of 00s prog.
Functions’s new LP Aeternum (Existenz) brings to a close a body of work that began with 2019’s Existenz. Written between 2016 and 2019 during an intensely productive period in the studio, the six-track release explores ideas of transformation and renewal, taking inspiration from the seven stages of alchemy. It also serves as a tribute to Sumner’s friend and longtime collaborator John Mendez aka Silent Servant. If there’s a track that encapsulates the record’s atmosphere, it’s City Of Luz. Running for close to 13 minutes, layers of synth and texture gradually emerge before dissolving again, sitting somewhere between ambient electronics and hypnotic techno. Just how I like it.
https://function-inf-ny.bandcamp.com/album/aeternum-existenz
Forest Drive West’s new album Mantis 1920 sits somewhere between Donato Dozzy and Andy Stott, so you know I’m loving it! Right lads? Lads!??
The entire Be The Mountain EP from STS is absolutely brilliant, especially the title track which strongly evokes the beatless techno excursions of Barker, and this closing track, which is one of the most beautiful electronic pieces I’ve heard this year. The Detroit-based producer wrote the EP “during a period of sustained physical and mental strain” and while that sounds deeply unpleasant, the results are extraordinary.
Dozzy! Dozzles! The Big Doz! Whatever you like to call the world’s greatest techno maker, he’s back, with three mindbendingly hypnotic DJ tools on Spazio Disponible’s Nero division. What a guy.
Meticulously assembled from a good 15 years’ worth of source material, Cong Burn boss John Howes’ second Paperclip Minimiser album takes as its source material an unreleased album that Howes engineered in various locations across the north of England, starting way back in 2011. The result is a sparse but satisfying mix of bass, techno and drone, with A2 a glitchy highlight.
Sometimes all you need to start the day right is a nice, fried slice of deep, dubby house; so here’s Mammo serving up the goods. Taken from his new album Lateral which clocks in at an intimidating 99 minutes, but is well worth your time if you’re into stripped back techno, sketchy ambient and a few things in between.
Appendix.files rolls out its second LP with Irradiated, an eight-part excursion from Berlin-based sound artist and producer Kurt ‘Reinartz’ Salgado. If you’re a fan of Barker’s beatless techno deconstructions, you’ll likely find plenty to like here.
Voices From The Lake’s eponymous album came out way back in 2o12, and I’ve probably returned to it on a nearly weekly basis every since. Donato Dozzy and Neal’s collaborative project started as a one-off live performance in the Japanese Alps before birthing an album that, according to the press notes, “become a touchstone in ambient techno, reshaping the global landscape of hypnotic and atmospheric electronic music.” I heartily agree. I cannot express how much I’ve loved this album over the last decade and more. The follow up, Voices From The Lake II, arrived today, and is already in my top 10 of the year.
I love The Field, to the point that I attempted to create a remix by entirely ripping off his sound. I would link to it, but it seems to be entirely expunged from the internet; probably for the best. His output over the last decade has been extremely limited, so I was delighted to this this sun-bleached, beautifully atmospheric remix of Sachika Nayar & Nina Keith’s Disiniblud project pop up, reminding me of why I fell for his mesmerising loops all those years ago.
The Predatory Wasp 