Ital – Dream On (Planet Mu / November 5 2012)
Italʼs finessed debut Hive Mind established him firmly as an experimental house artist; if anything, the EP was too short to convey his dazzling creative energy. Now, with his second release for Planet Mu, Ital, aka Martin McCormick has carte blanche to make a weightier, more conceptual record, allowing all the creative freedom afforded by the full-length format.
LV – Sebenza (Hyperdub / August 27 2012)
By Maya Kalev
LV’s acclaimed 2011 debut Routes featured the incomparable spoken-word poet Joshua Idehen. His meditations on inner-city life were wrapped in hazy, smogged-out production that oozed London from every pore. Their follow-up Sebenza is another vocal collaboration, this time one that takes a journey to the heart of South Africa with MCs Okmalumkoolkat, Ruffest and Spoek Mathambo. It’s also one of the electronic albums of the year.
Lorn – Weigh Me Down (Ninja Tune/ September 10 2012)
By Maya Kalev
‘Weigh Me Down’ is the final single from Lorn’s stellar album Ask The Dust, a record that refined the sound of his hard-edged, glitched-out debut Nothing Else. With live drumming, vocals and warm synth timbres, ‘Weigh Me Down’ embodies a warmer yet more visceral spirit than on Nothing Else. Field recordings are layered to create a clamourous introduction that mirrors the darkness of the vocal refrain while percussion stabs and plangent synths give way to a vocal refrain that builds under the weight of its own message. Yet while these are Lorn’s own vocals, they are warped to such an extent that they could be anybody’s – which may be the point, as Lorn’s music treads a precarious line between deeply personal and coldly detached.
FaltyDL – Hardcourage b/w Our House Stab (Ninja Tune/ August 20 2012)
By Maya Kalev
Drew Lustman, like Aaron Funk, is one of those producers whose name is so good you wonder why they come up with a musical moniker. Nevertheless, this producer has decided to go by the name of FaltyDL, and since his stellar debut album Love is a Liability on Planet Mu all the way back in 2009, he’s honed his sound from what was essentially an Americanised version of UK garage to the multifarious, eclectic style of his new release on Ninja Tune, ‘Hardcourage / Our House Stab’.
The Gaslamp Killer – Flange Face / Seven Years of Bad Luck for Fun (Brainfeeder/ August 20 2012)
By Maya Kalev
Any devotee of electronic music, particularly the off-kilter, fidgety hip-hop exemplified by the Brainfeeder label, worships The Gaslamp Killer as a god, for he is one of the founders of Low End Theory in LA, a Mecca for beat-lovers and a hub of creativity that has spawned countless talents.
Regardless, The Gaslamp Killer (or, as he sometimes prefers to be known, THE MOTHERFUCKING GASLAMP KILLER), is yet to release his debut full-length, entitled Breakthrough on Brainfeeder. Fortunately, if ‘Flange Face / Seven Years of Bad Luck for Fun’ is any indication, it will be worth the wait.
