july charts

ok, been meaning to do this for a while, here some of my favourite recent and upcoming releases. i've been listening to a lot more albums than i usually do, which is reflected in my choices:

oni ayhun - OAR003 [oni ayhun records]: you may have seen me twitter about this. probably my favourite ep of 2009. who is oni ayhun? i don't know exactly. but what i do know is that he/she/they are completely awesome. i don't have a record player right now, but i still immediately bought it for my friend so i could listen to it on their turntable. both sides are completely awesome. you can listen to samples at oni's page here. currently in the process of getting oni on board for a ssg mx, lets hope it happens because this person (people?) are doing something very different. and totally amazing.

humate - 'love stimulation' (radio slave remixes) [flying circus]: to be honest, i don't actually know how good these tracks are. i have a feeling i like the concept of them more than anything else: radio slave remixing humate? it somehow seems to make sense. the 'vox' remix is the one i like. while it has the standard radio slave sound - which is growing very tired - he is working with strong enough source material to make it work.

silent servant - 'negative fascinations' [sandwell district]: recent ssg mixer delivers what could perhaps be my favourite out and out techno release of 2009. violent, powerful, so much pressure and dynamism. 'discipline' is an absolute killer.

traversable wormhole - 'volume 1' & 'volume 2' [traversable wormhole]: another new label sticking with the hard wax style - printed labels, no info etc. - that works fine for me, but i am curious who is behind these sounds. both eps are very good, cut from a similar cloth to the ostgut sound, but not quite so 'clean'. worth checking.

giorgio gigli - 'observation document' [prologue music]: this is the next ep from giorgio, who put together a great ssg mx for us this week. definitely in the italian deep tripping techno style, but at the same time, he clearly has his own take. deep, subtle sounds. recommended.

dozzy & nuel - 'aquaplano 1111' [aquaplano]: staying in italy... this is also one of my favourite releases of 2009. not much to say really. wow. find a copy before they disappear. definitely a label to follow very, very closely.

donato dozzy - 'rudeboy' [unreleased]: ok, last italian one, i promise! expect the unexpected... donato told me about this in london then played it to me, and all i'll say is that i think this is going to be a big, big track. love it.

cv313 - 'live' [echospace]: this is a japan only release so far, but hopefully the rest of the world will see it. cv313 recorded live at smart bar, chicago, plus a bonus cd with a recording from the DEMF 2008 after-party. no surprises here, spatial dubby techno done extremely well. dub techno really has reached saturation point - there is so much junk out there right now - and even the people who do it the best (like these guys) are only just managing to still pull it off. this is a nice release, though. kind of like comfort food. soothing sounds well suited for a sore or tired head. but dub techno better start reinventing itself soon.

brock van wey - white clouds go on and on [echospace]: this eagerly awaited album is as good as you'd expect. unsurprisingly the bvdub cd is intense, emotional music. my only complaint is that it is perhaps too much so (but you can say this about most of brock's music). sometimes i just can't listen to it. too much! but this is more a reflection of its quality, that it can have such a strong impact. the intrusion reshapes are also really nice, and he mostly manages to escape the trap he sometimes he falls into of sounding very 'samey'.

moritz von oswald trio - 'vertical ascent' [honest jons]: i don't think this album was ever going to be shit, but even if it was i think i still would say it is awesome because of my love for these guys. if moritz and sasu recorded farts and put it through a vocoder i'd probably call it release of the year. it does, however, happen to be an excellent album. very dense and complex. there is a huge amount going on in each track (not surprising given the talent of the 3 contributors).

lawrence english - a colour for autumn [12k]: been listening to a lot of more ambient stuff recently, and this is probably the best of the bunch. i discovered english quite late - only last year with his 'kiri no oto', but i prefer this album. very delicate, beautiful sounds. definitely worth checking.

ok, that's a pretty decent summary of my favourites of late. please feel free to leave charts, listening suggestions etc. in the comments.

have a good weekend. off to see tobias. tonight!