aLBUMSREVIEWS 9.0


Light Asylum Light Asylum Mexican Summer Call to arms


Say what you will about the uncertainty derived from an age of hyper- communication — this cyber revolution — one thing it does cultivate is hair-raising pop music. And while labelling LIGHT ASYLUM as “pop” may only scratch the surface of a sound that rolls up the tenets of industrial post-punk, nu wave and electro into the sonic equivalent of nitroglycerine, its ethos is the backbone of an album that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and barks an inch from your face ferociously for the first four tracks. Rapid-fire ‘Blue Monday’ snares, succulent Korgs and growling goth vocals from an androgynous front girl, as inspired by Pete Burns as she is Grace Jones, named Shannon Funchess. Synth frequencies fit for The Units (but sharper) and stabs that make late ‘00s rave wannabes like The Klaxons look as toothed as a barber shop quartet. This is a warrior’s call to arms. Adam Saville


Lorn


Ask The Dust Ninja Tune


Hell is round the corner


Wisconsin producer Lorn’s music is more about shivers down the spine than wobbles in the bassbin; the drop he’s interested in being a slow descent into the abyss. In fact, if his second album seems influenced by anyone, it’s less dubstep than drone metal merchants like Sunn 0))), with whom he shares a similar knack for using abrasive noise in subtle ways. The windswept melodies of tracks like ‘Everything Is Violence’ might make ‘Ask The Dust’ slightly more accessible than last year’s ‘Nothing Else’ on Brainfeeder, but they still feel as thin as cotton wool wrapped around a rusty straight-edge razor. Lorn never goes straight for the jugular, though, with the metallic stabs of ‘The Gun’ slowed right down until they seem more like saws tearing into flesh. That might sound like torture to some, but there is a bleak beauty to this brutality. Paul Clarke


7.0


quIckIES


Alex Niggemann Paranoid Funk Poker Flat 5.5


Hamburg not cheese-burg


Robust but largely featureless deep house from Hamburg’s Alex Niggemann channelled through a Hot Creations/ Crosstown filter, with rolling 909 beats, swallowed 303 chords and the occasional phantasmagorical vocal refrain obligatorily thrown in. Spread over 11 tracks, it’s a frayed formula likely to squeeze the last drops of life from any dancefloor willing to endure it. Lisa Loveday


Sleepin’ Giantz Sleepin’ Giantz Tru Thoughts 8.0


Meeting of mindz


What do you get when you put garage/ broken beat don Zed Bias and fire UK MC veterans Rodney P and Fallacy in the studio? Supergroup Sleepin’ Giantz, of course. With clever, witty rhymes, sick flows and a variety of imaginative beats, from tough futuristic hip-hop to dutty UKF and grime, to rough garage, pretty much everything on offer here is brilliant.Ben Murphy


Becoming Real Solar Dreams/Neon Decay Not Eve 8.0


Mighty real


Becoming Real’s music is beguiling and strange. Steely atmospheres, songs flicking between fluttering techno, stripped and to-the- point grime, and a ghostly garage step, all laced with vocals that sound like a glacier melting. It’s a promising move forward from a young London producer who is walking his own icy line. Tamara el Essawi


Amon Tobin Amon Tobin Box Set Ninja Tune 7.0


Abstract delights 7.0


Tomas Barfod Salton Sea Friends of Friends Music Barf Vader


There’s no time wasted in the company of Tomas Barfod, drummer with Danish band WhoMadeWho, with previous releases on labels such as Kompakt, Turbo and Get Physical. He’s straight in with the rhythmic chug of opener ‘D.S.O.Y.’, a real 4/4 power trip that’ll get anyone’s attention. It’s a strong start, and throughout the subsequent 12 tracks, he deftly explores a variety of ways to keep things pumping. ‘Till We Die’, with its feathery vocals courtesy of Nina Kinert, sounds light and elegantly underpinned by the crisp thunk of a woodblock, while ‘Came To Party’ drives steadily on carefully treated strings. There are poppier moments, like ‘Don’t Under’, but Barfod is at his best when he just lets a track power through, as the ecstatic ‘November’ and thumping ‘Nighthawke’ do so competently. Tamara el Essawi


8.0


Peaking Lights Lucifer Weird World Sympathy for the devil


One of the first things new parents should learn is that no-one else finds their kids as fascinating as they do. So the fact that American husband and wife duo Peaking Lights’ second album is inspired by their newborn son should theoretically be as appealing as them showing you a dirty daiper as evidence of how sweet his bowel movements are. Yet Peaking Lights’ follow-up to last year’s ‘936’ album is adorable without being cloyingly cute, once more combining airy dub basslines with blissful ’60s psychedelia and Indra Dunis’ lackadaisical vocals on tracks like ‘Beautiful Son’ and ‘Dreambeat’, all swathed in analogue echoes and electronic effects that sound like a baby’s contented gurgles — which on ‘LO HI’ they actually are. ‘Lucifer’ radiates a sense of family contentment that makes the Waltons look like the Windsors, but this is a bundle of joy that everyone can share. Paul Clarke


086


A ‘greatest hits’ package? Hell, no. It’s a typically Tobin-ish abstract curveball of a collection: mostly unreleased tracks, deleted bootlegs, remixes, film scores and live tracks. A thoughtful electronic tapestry that’s impossible to label, but fascinating to explore with time and patience, particularly if you’re already a fan. Tristan Parker


San Proper Animal Rush Hour 7.5


Does it San Proper?


Having released metallic late-night jackers for the likes of Perlon, San Proper’s former experience as a bassist in a Dutch funk band is reasserting itself once more. Moments are primed for the dancefloor, but on the whole, ‘Animal’ eschews straight up 4/4 beats for more vocal-heavy languid rhythms. A curious beast, but worth a spin. John Power


Daniele Baldelli & DJ Rocca Podalirius Nang 6.0


Still the master?


Daniele Baldelli, a founding hero of Italo disco, is back. Collaborating with DJ Rocca, the partnership has spawned ‘Podalirius’, a cosmic disco album. Far-out tunes range from the relentless synth riff and breathy flutes of ‘Podalirius’, to ‘A TV Show’ feat Ghostape Boy. A little indistinct and unmemorable. Zoe Wallis


repeatTHE LPS WE CAN’T LEAVE ALONE...


Actress R.I.P Honest Jon’s 9.5


The private mythological musings of a very serious man.


www.djmag.com


Justin Martin Ghettos & Gardens Dirtybird 9.0


A jovial party in an urban garden with Justin, a quirky florist.


Ghosting Season The Very Last Of The Saints Last Night On Earth 8.5


Stormy, atmospheric, melancholic bliss.


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