Various Artists Irma on Canvas: Exhibition #2

Having heard the excellent Volcov-compiled Irma compilation’ had high hopes for Irma’s latest release. It’s not quite as accessible, but chances are that’s where the Exhibition title comes in. Repeat listens provided a better view of its broad scope and more adventurous nature. Whereas Volcov’s genius was in juxtapositions, Exhibition #2 seems like the efforts of a thorough “dig,” as sublime remixes of Nubian Mindz and the Easy Access Orchestra cozy up next to the likes of Tibet’s United Peace Voices and Japan’s Soul Bossa Trio. It’s almost frustrating the way these songs seem so unique in their own right, yet share space with each other so well. It’s all down to Irma and the breathing room they give the material. Give this exhibition the same courtesy.

Various Artists Seasonal Greetings

So what does a seasonal compilation sound like coming from a place where the winter holidays aren’t garish displays of commercialism? Germany’s Mobile label offers a much more serene reflection on love, loss and grander themes with Seasonal Greetings. Essentially still a Christmas and winter song compilation, it manages to hold together more thematically than the usual collections of silliness and schmaltz. Hood’s “Winter Will Set You Back” cuts deep, and Badly Drawn Boy soars high with his late- ’50s/early- ’60s pop opus “Donna and Blitzen.” Perhaps best capturing the overall tone of Seasons Greetings is Herrmann & Kleine’s “Catch a Snowflake,” which is every bit as mesmerizing as the first snowfall.

Referenced For Your Safety

My introduction to “Pork and the Future Sound of Hull” was at a house party in LA. Somewhere between those quaint coastal towns, the label happened upon Bloomington’ndiana and the music of Referencered. For Your Safety takes downtempo formulas and gives them a vigorous shake. Hauntingly beautiful at times, disorienting and goofy at others, the album coaxes smiles either way. Even the song titles (“Electronic Beats Made Easy”) get to poke fun. Even “Tribute to the PSS-140” (named after an old Yamaha keyboard) wears this lo-fi aesthetic on its sleeve. Great to see that even after arguably creating their own genre, Pork can still introduce some odd agents.

Various Artists The Detroit Experiment

Derrick May once prefaced a comment about techno by saying, “Detroit is a complete mistake,” as if the city wasn’t expected to kick out great music. Thankfully, the context for that quote was over a decade ago. The city has since figured techno out to some degree, and this new project on Ropeadope continues the healing process. The Detroit Experiment brings one of the oldest Detroit musical traditions-jazz-together with two of the newest, techno and hip-hop. Musicians ranging from Headhunter Bennie Maupin to Jeremy (Ayro) Ellis were recorded during sessions at the White Room. Producers Carl Craig, Karriem Riggins and Ace Levinson were sparing in their treatments, yet the end results are mind-blowing bits of alchemy that surpass even Innerzone’s journeys. Experiment? Mistake? No longer.

Umek Neuro

The artist album is a tool that many use for different means. Some view it purely as a collection of tracks, while others see it as a chance to expand their horizons and do something, well, special. Current techno darling Umek has decided to do the latter in a move that will no doubt equally excite and upset fans. Rather than simply welding together the kind of crunching, industrialized clanks that he’s become famous for, he’s opted to create an album that explores far greater depths. Using an array of sullen moods, Umek builds a darkened electronic soundscape that only finds its dancing feet towards the end, but always maintains a high standard of quality. If you skipped lessons at school, avoid this-otherwise lap up a genuinely brilliant album.

Andy Votel All Ten Fingers

With fingers in design, production, label management, DJing and a whole bunch of other pies, Twisted Nerve honcho Votel has to have every single one at his wanton disposal. With such a busy lifestyle, it’s no surprise that it’s taken him so long to muster up his first full-length album. The result is as a 15-track album that borrows as much from his label’s love of lo-fi acts as it does from their love of electronic noise-smiths like Mum and Dad or Sirconical. All in all, though, it’s a dark album where water drips down the studio walls as moody, sullen beats interrupt themselves occasionally with churns of garage-rock guitars. Votel lets his fingers do the talking.

Scanner Spray

With his phone-tapping days safely behind him, Robin Rimbaud keeps exploring implicitly intimate paths in abstract post-techno, as on this EP for this nascent Florida label. The title track’s blend of whispery rhythms, percussive tones and ominous, buzzy effects bounces nicely against the sensual ambient tech of the flipside’s “Bette” and the elastic, dubby meanderings of “Lambertia.” Quality stuff.

Swollen Members Monster in the Closet

Rocksteady affiliates Swollen Members side-stepped the spotlight by moving to Canada and deciding to go with their own label. Yet, they still ended up the hottest MCs in the land of white tanks. Now the members are set to trample the US with this collection of singles, rare tracks and B-sides. Retrospective albums are usually wildly uneven, but these songs just move. A few of the R&B numbers on here aren’t my cup of tea, but the collaborations with DJ Vadim and Nelly Furtado are refreshing breaks in the harsh world of the Members’ paramilitary dreams. “Northern Lights,” shows the crew getting a little emotional, while the rest of the album has these cats cutting their teeth on live ammunition.

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