spending more time at the piano i'm beginning to understand the
spacious, freeform sentiment of harold budd's music. finally it makes
sense that one my favorite albums (can't remember whether it's 'avalon
sutra' or 'la bella vista') was recorded by budd's partner while he
played alone in a room, unaware of the music committed to tape - music
like daydreams, half-formed trains of thought fading in and out of
view - to listen to these songs is to hear him think, ruminate on a
subject. holding a stone in his hand, turning it over and over.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2975814957_cde0e56a51_o.jpg

from wikipedia: 'Harold…

Late 2009. Praveen Sharma and I are shooting the shit via IM, trading Dropbox links and he’s giving me the rundown on what’s going on in NYC bass-wise. FaltyDL’s been churning out some epic twelves, and a guy named Dave Q’s been doing great things with a local night called Dub War. Praveen’s just finished up a collaboration with Portland’s Benoit Pioulard/Thomas Meluch and exclaims excitedly, ‘I totally got Thom hooked on Mount Kimbie this weekend!’ There’s much talk of Synkro, iTAL tEK, DFRNT and Pangaea, particularly that killer plate ‘You & I/Router’ that came out on Hessle awhile back.…

DJ Sprinkles’ Midtown 120 Blues has been my go-to house record since its 2009 release, a shining example of that warm deep house sound executed with confidence, melody and a subtle hand. Sweden's Alveol is likewise dialed into this lethal brew, Glitter Path EP much lauded by Terre Thaemlitz himself. Though seated on the B-side, the record truly begins with the Kassem Mosse ‘Glitter Path’ rework, this version a sparkling, aquatic deep house number raging like the most lavish waterfall. The machinations of hollowed, metallic drums serve as the underpainting of this idyllic scene, while Alveol's original ‘Glitter Path’ is…

While it's easy to get lost in the haystack of quality electronic music coming out of Germany right now, a clever pairing is far harder to miss. Enter Paul Frick, one third of Berlin techno fixture Brandt Brauer Frick, and Emika, the Bristol/London-based songstress whose ethereal, dulcet tones have featured on a number of dub/techno collaborations of note. Given these tracks have been more on the broody end of the spectrum (check the Scientist and Scuba remixes if you haven't), the pop sensibility of I Mean shines all the more brightly. It's Emika's elegant vox that serve as the bread…

Let’s set the scene: Nightfall. A top-secret research station on the outskirts of some deserted, snow-covered expanse, the crimson lights of radio towers blinking dimly around the perimeter. Inside the compound sits a man in a red mask, seemingly holding down the fort before a vast panel of knobs, screens, buttons. Wait a second…I see a Moog! The man is Sebastian Kramer, and what you don’t know is he’s really having a bit of fun in that there power chair, summoning the mechanical spirits of Future Shock, the fifth release on Delsin Records. This is classic Redshape fare, and thank…

Montreal-based Jacques Greene secured a pretty lofty spot in my heart with ‘(Baby I Don't Know) What You Want’ on last year’s Night Slugs Allstars, a collection of UK funky and house numbers presently blowing up dancefloors at the Night Slugs club nights across the pond. While there’s little known of the elusive young producer, what we do know is he’s one to watch, one of the few North American producers currently pushing the limits of the sound that's so prevalent on UK soil. The Look EP is the labor of the young producer’s love affair with techno, r&b, ukf…

because a list couldn't say all this:

2010 was the second track of an unmarked dj krust cd-r that magically appeared within my possession - i played this song on repeat, driving in e's car from 29th avenue to brisbane to bernal heights, bass as high as it would go. this year was pulling out all the cd-rs i'd collected over the years, some my own making, some compilations from friends or would-be boyfriends, many from mk ten years ago when he first gave me my education - things i've only really come to appreciate now that i'm as old…

Jamaican dub pioneer Hopeton Brown, best known as Scientist, showcases his immense and enduring talent on Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space, reworking a slew of heavyweight dubstep cuts from the likes of King Midas Sound, Pinch, Cyrus/Random Trio and RSD. The untouched originals were top class in their own right and are readily available on the second disc for the curious, but it’ll be hard to stray from Scientist’s expert treatment on the first. This is as fresh as dubstep’s sounded; raw, primal, and made for the floor–label boss Pinch rates Scientist Launches Dubstep as his ‘proudest moment for…

Shackleton’s always been a bit of a wild card, most noticeably when venturing out from his tower of isolation to play for a crowd or record for a new label (last year’s release on Perlon was a bit of a strange one). We had the pleasure of witnessing him on the decks at Club Six earlier this year, and were eager to hear a set resembling anything from the brilliant, now-defunct Skull Disco imprint. His set fell a bit short, however, comprised mainly of tedious tribal rhythms that left many in the audience wary and wondering. I suspect the man’s…

The Glaswegian outfit’s ‘Cool World EP’ is a hyperactive handful of neon noise, retro electronics and explosive, elastic math rock drum programming. Think Battles and Mercury Program with a pronounced penchant for Galaga and Pac-Man–less mood and languor, more gloss and pixels. ‘AM System’ could easily be an M83 lost track with its wistful vocals and rapturous synthesizers. Bass scene kingpins Ikonika, Machinedrum and Hudson Mohawke make an unexpected arrival at the tail end of ‘Cool World’ with a clever array of remixes on hand: Ikonika’s infectious rework of ‘Claude Speed’ applies a well-paced 8-bit aesthetic, while HudMo’s redux of…