This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.
RamonPang: Life Cycle Waves (Self-released)
Nature is awful. Have you ever read The Day Of The Triffids?! There's an outdoorsy natural feel to Redditor RamonPang's third album, with pastoral ambience washing at the edges of this hugely enjoyable collection of speckled, characterful IDM. Like being in a sunlit field full of robot flowers.
Rian Treanor with Rotherham Sight & Sound: Action Potential (Electronic Music Club)
The star of 2024's No Bounds festival gets some visually-impaired Yorkshire pensioners to play metallic Autechre-style techno. I'm not making that up: here they are rehearsing. The result is a right old boogie: it sounds like everything including the kitchen sink twerking like crazy on the dancefloor. Genius.
Roc: Makina Trax 2013-2023 (Reel Torque)
From is opening squirples to its hardcore trap denouement, this sprawling collection of offcuts will have you reeling. Is it rave? Is it "computer music for hooligans" (Discogs description of his Evol outfit)? Is it a defencless arpeggiator being poked by a thousand 303 bassline machines? A glorious digital mess.
R.Rebeiro: Unrendered Language (Downwards)
When lost in the gloom, your attention is drawn to the shadows, not the objects you can see. Rohan Rebeiro recorded these low-key acoustic experiments in a vast Melbourne hall, and around the taps and clonks and rhythmic stutters, we're really listening to the reverb and the spaces inbetween. Nice.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (Milan)
A slow piano masterpiece that is worth your time and investment. From my Electronic Sound review: "Sakamoto’s final performance was the concert film ‘Opus’, directed by his son Neo Sora... by the time we get to the spacious Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, it’s almost too much to bear. Almost. What a legacy."
Scanner: Alchemeia (Alltagsmusik)
This album launched a new record label, Alltagsmusik or "everyday music", dedicated to the music of ambient master Scanner. Ever the detail geek, Scanner recorded Alchemeia using limited 1960s library music techniques. Its forced simplicity makes for a surprisingly complex and haunting listen.
Seefeel: Everything Squared (Warp Records)
Vogue magazine called this album "sadcore", which is hilarious. The melodies are rather melancholic on this long-awaited return of these post-rock ambienteers. The music is unrushed and soothing, contemplative and gaunting, and wavers between shimmering fuzzes and gasping, grasping ambience
Shinichi Atobe: Discipline (DDS)
Why are you not listening RIGHT NOW to Atobe's latest collection of addictive dubby house goodness? Just listen to those signature hi-hats rasp, and those head-noddy loops that chug endlessly for your pleasure. Put this blog down immediately, and wrap your ears around Discipline. It'll make your life better.
This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.
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