Communards
Communards

EXTERMINADORAge Of ConsentBad Manners Germany

On the event horizon for a while, at last we’re able to share the first full length hard copy from Bad Tracking - known in the flesh as Gordon Apps and Max Kelan. Edge-to-edge, this duo inhabit a cold realm where every endpoint is compromised and circuit board is fried. Their notorious and blistering live show immortalised in the thousand yard stare of its survivors - innocent bystanders who often struggle to erase the experience from their now, corrupted memory dumps.LP opener ‘Heart’ promptly sets the tone - greeting us with an auditory blue screen of death, jittering and shuddering forwards with no known resolution…. But it’s not long before blasts of harsh rhythmic noise erupt from static, dissociated fog. By ‘Black Rew’, proceedings reach full velocity before crashing abruptly to a halt. Beneath the squall, you can almost hear the drone back at the data centre as the operator pulls frantically at the underlay, struggling to distinguish sinew from circuitry and meshwork.Reboot the system onto Side B, and we’re even treated to a guest appearance from Harry ‘Iceman’ Furniss, who’s cornet eructs some of the only distinguishably organic matter on the record. Then, power on through more mechanical, pulsating chaos - until outro ‘Leisure Park’ hoses you off and sends you on your way.Hardwire yourself into this one...

Sorang, the debut album of Yalta native Wulffius, represents his work over the last eight years. The playful creature on the cover, Stone Eater, is based on childhood sketches of the producer's father. The album's name alludes to the first collection of his father's poems, which took its name from a short story by Konstantin Paustovsky, a master of nature writing in Russian prose. Sorang is the name of the south wind that "blows once in centuries," and you can hear its unique warmth in these tracks. There is a sense of wholeness here, a palpable style and atmosphere that permeates the individual pieces.Wulffius creates what he refers to as "B-sides": something too strange to be danceable, with "complex ease" and rhythmical variety. The music has a charming serenity and beauty thanks to Wulffius' intuitive approach, which is childlike and whimsical in the best possible sense. By the way, Paustovsky wrote Sorang in an hour and a half at a speed writing competition. You can hear a similar spontaneity here, but make no mistake, this is the work of a master that has been crafted over a period of years. It all comes from experience.

Dublin duo Long Island Sound present their first ever full-length “Lost Connection LP”, a dreamy and dynamic expedition of breaks, electro, techno and house.Since breaking through in 2019, Dublin DJ/Producer duo Long Island Sound have cemented their roots in the Dublin scene. With an impressive back catalogue spanning the likes of Remmah, Body Fusion and Fabric Presents compilations, they now step up for their first full-length on their Signs Of Space imprint with the genre-bending “Lost Connection LP”. The album is brimming with emotion, seamlessly fluctuating through moments of intense euphoria, solitude and melancholy.‘Ataria’ opens the record with airy synths and rippling, phased percussion. A deep UK twinged sub bass is introduced with a subtle burst, soon followed by gated vocals and crisp highs that transcend listeners into the album’s euphoric space. Truly embodying the theme of SOS productions is the celestial ‘Dusk’. Using stretched out reverbs, a hypnotic riff and washed out percussion, the cut is eerie yet beautifully ethereal. ‘Fragments’ takes the title as the most energetic track on the record - a wild SH101 jam with a brooding bassline and breakbeat elements. Gliding leads glitter above the chaos, creating a deep and textural stomper. Next up is ‘Every Time I See Your Face’. While romantic and dreamy, this is undoubtedly an old-school hip-hop & electro-influenced cut. The kick and bass inject a grooving element, with a vocoder effect on the vocals and atmospheric percussion again inducing that element of space.On the flip is ‘Power’ - a bassline-driven production that ignites a swift change of pace. Dubby stabs combine with scattered percussion to create this 8-minute roller. The record crescendos with the trancey, techno-inspired ‘Turbulence’. Rhythmic chords bounce around driving percussion and distorted samples to create the record’s apex. Rounding off is title track ‘Lost Connection’ - an ambient, modular piece that uses sequences and layers to create the sensation of drifting before culminating in one final moment of relief as the album draws to a close.