New ears for the year...

RIYL: Dopplereffekt, Drexciya, I-F, Jensen Interceptor, 96 Back

Revelations

Silicon Scally - Revelations

TL Premiere #547 (2021.04.19) : Silicon Scally - Revelations [Central Processing Unit]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

For this 99th Premiere of 2021, we have a track by veteran UK Electro producer, now based in France, Carl Finlow, aka "Silicon Scally", titled ‘Reveleations’ from the upcoming EP "Revelations" on the independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 2012, specialising in electronic music : Central Processing Unit (CPU Records).

"Silicon Scally - Revelations" will be available on May 28, 2021 in Limited Edition 12" Vinyl EP + Digital here : https://centralprocessingunit.bandcamp.com/album/revelations

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Release Info :

Silicon Scally - Revelations [Central Processing Unit]

Preview : www.soundcloud.com/cpurecords/silicon-scally-revelations

Since debuting on Central Processing Unit with 2018’s Projections EP, Silicon Scally has averaged a release a year for the Sheffield label. New offering Revelations finds the one born Carl Finlow keeping up that hit rate. Both Finlow’s name and his many aliases have become bywords for top-draw electro productions since he first emerged in the mid-90s, and Revelations is no different - this is dystopian machine-funk of the highest quality.

With its burbling electro groove, piston-precise drum programming and plethora of gurgling synths, Revelations’ opening title-track comes beamed in direct from the Dopplereffekt realm. However, as well as being a mid-set weapon of serious heft, the manner in which Finlow daubs the track with some plaintive synth chords will also bring just a hint of pathos to the dance. That wistful edge quickly dissipates when following cut ‘Walk Over’ homes into view - ushered in by eerie, paranoid synth work, ‘Walk Over’ has an air of technoid ghoulishness to it which invokes John Carpenter sparring with Egyptian Lover. 

Revelations’ flip is taken up by a pair of remixes that go deep on the A-side jams. The first of these sees Finlow himself setting aside his Silicon Scally cap and reworking ‘Walk Over’ under his own name, upping the eerie feel of the original still further by enveloping the track in icy atmospherics as well as phasing grizzled synths and wailing sirens in and out of the mix. Following close behind is Fleck E.S.C, whose reworking of Revelations’ title-track marks a first appearance on CPU since 2018 for this French electro expert. Fleck E.S.C delivers a low-slung synth-funk masterclass here - as the track’s laser-gun bassline invokes Drexciya, the producer guides the listener through a variety of shadow-realms populated by metallic clangs, insectoid chattering and some strangely hypnotic textures.

Silicon Scally (Carl Finlow) continues his fine run on Central Processing Unit with the Revelations EP, a set of steely electro bangers which comes backed up by remixes from Fleck E.S.C and Finlow himself.

RIYL: Dopplereffekt, Drexciya, I-F, Jensen Interceptor, 96 Back

Join the CPU Discord.

Tracklist :
1. Silicon Scally - Revelations
2. Fleck E.S.C - Walk Over
3. Fleck E.S.C - Walk Over (Carl Finlow Remix)
4. Silicon Scally - Revelations (Fleck E.S.C Remix)

Revelations written and produced by Carl Finlow.
Walk Over written and produced by Franck Collin.
Track B1 produced by Carl Finlow.
Track B2 produced by Franck Collin.

Mastered at Computer Club Sheffield
Design by Human / www.humanstudio.com

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Follow Silicon Scally :
Bandcamp : www.carlfinlow.bandcamp.com
Discogs : www.discogs.com/artist/5055-Silicon-Scally
Facebook : www.facebook.com/groups/272001402207 | www.facebook.com/groups/1060324197712077

Follow Central Processing Unit :
Discogs : www.discogs.com/label/424941-Central-Processing-Unit
Facebook : www.facebook.com/cpurecords
Instagram : www.instagram.com/cpurecords
SoundCloud : www.soundcloud.com/cpurecords
Twitter : www.twitter.com/CPURECORDS
Website : www.cpurecords.net
YouTube : www.youtube.com/user/cpuoutput

TL PREMIERE : Silicon Scally - Revelations [Central Processing Unit]

German electro producer Martin Matiske has recently breathed new life into his Blackploid alias. The project’s revival continues to bear fruit with the Strange Stars EP, Matiske’s third Blackploid release of 2021 and second for Central Processing Unit after issuing March’s Cosmic Traveler EP through the Sheffield label.

Blackploid’s two CPU drops have more in common than just stargazing titles. Those who enjoyed Cosmic Traveler will find plenty to like again in these four tracks, with Matiske serving up another quartet of snappy machine-funk joints this time around. However, while there is certainly a throughline between Cosmic Traveler and Strange Stars, this EP also finds Blackploid pushing the envelope at points by taking risks with his synth tones which thrill and enliven the record.

In keeping with the cosmic theme of Blackploid’s recent output, Strange Stars kicks off with ‘Star Patrol’. While this opening cut is full of the same needle-gun basslines and dinky synths that characterised Cosmic Traveler, the drum programming eschews the broken beats favoured by many in the scene for a straight house/techno snap. It makes for a very groovy jam, one with Drexciya, Computer World-era Kraftwerk and a pinch of Space Dimension Controller in its mix.

Indeed, the only track on Strange Stars which skips along on a broken beat is second entry ‘The Signal’. ‘The Signal’ also features some of Blackploid’s most impressive electronics programming to date, announcing itself with a brilliantly unusual synth that sounds like an old video game unit which has just gained sentience. When this alien tone is combined with another precision-engineered bassline the track invokes the grizzly bangers of the L.I.E.S. label, though the keyboard stabs which enter periodically also hint to the funkier electro of, say, Egyptian Lover.

‘The Unseen’, the first B-side of Strange Stars, finds Blackploid bringing together many of the things which made the two previous tunes such standouts. A steady four-on-the-floor and a slightly haunted feel to the synth choices casts back to ‘Star Patrol’, but much like ‘The Signal’ this joint also features some rather weird tones which are a hair’s breadth away from machine malfunction. It’s a feeling which runs through to closing cut ‘Light Corridor’, a number where melodies and anti-melodies zip around an array of gurgling electronic cells.

Martin Matiske’s fine run of Blackploid EPs continues with the intergalactic electro stylings of Strange Stars.

RIYL: Drexciya, Cardopusher, Legowelt, Beau Wanzer, Jensen Interceptor

Strange Stars

Blackploid - Strange Stars

TL Premiere #726 (2021.10.14) : Blackploid - The Unseen [Central Processing Unit]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

For this 278th Premiere of 2021, we have a track by the veteran German Electro DJ, producer & composer Martin Matiske, aka "Blackploid", titled ‘The Unseen’ from his forthcoming EP "Strange Stars" on the independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 2012, specialising in electronic music : Central Processing Unit (CPU Records).

"Blackploid - Strange Stars" will be available on November 5, 2021 in Limited Edition 12" Vinyl EP + Digital here : https://centralprocessingunit.bandcamp.com/album/strange-stars

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Release Info :

Blackploid - Strange Stars EP [Central Processing Unit]

Preview : www.soundcloud.com/cpurecords/blackploid-strange-stars

German electro producer Martin Matiske has recently breathed new life into his Blackploid alias. The project’s revival continues to bear fruit with the Strange Stars EP, Matiske’s third Blackploid release of 2021 and second for Central Processing Unit after issuing March’s Cosmic Traveler EP through the Sheffield label.

Blackploid’s two CPU drops have more in common than just stargazing titles. Those who enjoyed Cosmic Traveler will find plenty to like again in these four tracks, with Matiske serving up another quartet of snappy machine-funk joints this time around. However, while there is certainly a throughline between Cosmic Traveler and Strange Stars, this EP also finds Blackploid pushing the envelope at points by taking risks with his synth tones which thrill and enliven the record.

In keeping with the cosmic theme of Blackploid’s recent output, Strange Stars kicks off with ‘Star Patrol’. While this opening cut is full of the same needle-gun basslines and dinky synths that characterised Cosmic Traveler, the drum programming eschews the broken beats favoured by many in the scene for a straight house/techno snap. It makes for a very groovy jam, one with Drexciya, Computer World-era Kraftwerk and a pinch of Space Dimension Controller in its mix.

Indeed, the only track on Strange Stars which skips along on a broken beat is second entry ‘The Signal’. ‘The Signal’ also features some of Blackploid’s most impressive electronics programming to date, announcing itself with a brilliantly unusual synth that sounds like an old video game unit which has just gained sentience. When this alien tone is combined with another precision-engineered bassline the track invokes the grizzly bangers of the L.I.E.S. label, though the keyboard stabs which enter periodically also hint to the funkier electro of, say, Egyptian Lover.

‘The Unseen’, the first B-side of Strange Stars, finds Blackploid bringing together many of the things which made the two previous tunes such standouts. A steady four-on-the-floor and a slightly haunted feel to the synth choices casts back to ‘Star Patrol’, but much like ‘The Signal’ this joint also features some rather weird tones which are a hair’s breadth away from machine malfunction. It’s a feeling which runs through to closing cut ‘Light Corridor’, a number where melodies and anti-melodies zip around an array of gurgling electronic cells.

Martin Matiske’s fine run of Blackploid EPs continues with the intergalactic electro stylings of Strange Stars.

Tracklist :
1. Star Patrol
2. The Signal
3. The Unseen
4. Light Corridor

All tracks written and produced by Martin Matiske.
Mastered at Computer Club Sheffield
Design by Human / www.humanstudio.com

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Follow Blackploid :
Discogs : www.discogs.com/artist/520721-Blackploid
Facebook : www.facebook.com/Blackploid

Follow Central Processing Unit :
Discogs : www.discogs.com/label/424941-Central-Processing-Unit
Facebook : www.facebook.com/cpurecords
Instagram : www.instagram.com/cpurecords
SoundCloud : www.soundcloud.com/cpurecords
Twitter : www.twitter.com/CPURECORDS
Website : www.cpurecords.net
YouTube : www.youtube.com/user/cpuoutput

Strange Stars EP

The Unseen

Pre-order

TL PREMIERE : Blackploid - The Unseen [Central Processing Unit]

TL Premiere #818 (2022.01.20) : Silicon Scally - Inhibitor [Central Processing Unit]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

For this 16th Premiere of 2022, we have a track by veteran UK Electro producer, now based in France, Carl Finlow, aka "Silicon Scally", titled ‘Inhibitor’ from his forthcoming LP "Field Lines" on the independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 2012, specialising in electronic music : Central Processing Unit (CPU Records).

"Silicon Scally - Field Lines" will be available on February 11, 2022 in Limited Edition 2 x 12" Vinyl LP in gatefold sleeve + Digital.

▶︎ Pre-order : https://shop.cpurecords.net/album/field-lines

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Release Info :

Silicon Scally - Field Lines [Central Processing Unit]

Carl Finlow keeps on keeping on. As the world changes around him, the veteran producer continues to do what he does best - craft top-quality electro tunes which invoke the sound’s Drexciyan heyday, yet carry themselves with an assurance that is all of Finlow’s own. 

Finlow remains a prolific producer more than a quarter of a century on from his emergence. Still averaging several records a year across a variety of aliases, recent times have seen Finlow forge particularly strong links with the Central Processing Unit label. Now, after a run of EPs for the Sheffield imprint which began with 2018’s ‘Projections’, Finlow’s Silicon Scally project offers up CPU’s first drop of 2022 in the form of the ‘Field Lines’ LP. 

Silicon Scally productions have long been marked out by how they combine piston-precise beat programming with more textured synth play. ‘Field Lines’ runs with this formula to deliver some of Finlow’s most atmospheric material to date. At once shadowy and expansive, listening to ‘Field Lines’ is the aural equivalent of taking a night-time drive around some futuristic metropolis. 

The beats cruise sleekly here. Many of these burbling machine-funk numbers hover at mid-tempo, the crisp clip of their drum programming given shape and depth by all sorts of percussive tones fizzing around at the fringes of the mix. Even when ‘Field Lines’ seems to set its sights on the club - the Bunker Records-aping ‘Amino’, for instance, or the dystopian whizz-bang of ‘Static Fire’ - the tracks here strut sturdily rather than giving in to full-on freakouts.

However, from this sturdy base, Finlow moves outwards. Working with tones which range from rapid-fire machine-gun bass to keening, dawn chorus keyboard pads, Finlow leads us through the futurescape with the expertise of a seasoned guide. Cuts like ‘Submerged’ and ‘Yield’ are brilliantly cinematic, blooming from those reliable drum pulses into miniature masterpieces of nocturnal electronics. Elsewhere on ‘Field Lines’ there is a mechanical majesty to ‘Inhibitor’ and ‘Altered Domain’ which invokes the brave new worlds that Kraftwerk repeatedly conjured in their heyday.

Central Processing Unit’s first release of 2022 is ‘Field Lines’, an LP of electro-funk explorations from Carl Finlow’s Silicon Scally project which will thrill regardless of whether it’s experienced through headphones or out on the dancefloor.

RIYL: Drexciya, Kraftwerk, Cygnus, Annie Hall

Tracklist :
1. Receptors
2. Empty Subways
3. Inhibitor
4. Amino
5. Homage
6. Submerged
7. Static Fire
8. Yield
9. Altered Domain

All tracks written and produced by Carl Finlow.
Mastered at Computer Club Sheffield
Design by Human / www.humanstudio.com

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Follow Silicon Scally :
Bandcamp : www.carlfinlow.bandcamp.com
Discogs : www.discogs.com/artist/5055-Silicon-Scally
Facebook : www.facebook.com/groups/272001402207 | www.facebook.com/groups/1060324197712077

Follow Central Processing Unit :
Discogs : www.discogs.com/label/424941-Central-Processing-Unit
Facebook : www.facebook.com/cpurecords
Instagram : www.instagram.com/cpurecords
SoundCloud : www.soundcloud.com/cpurecords
Twitter : www.twitter.com/CPURECORDS
Website : www.cpurecords.net
YouTube : www.youtube.com/user/cpuoutput

Field Lines

Inhibitor

TL PREMIERE : Silicon Scally - Inhibitor [Central Processing Unit]

Link for single:
► https://cyberwalker.bandcamp.com/album/future-waves-vol-2
===================================
Social Media links:
► instagram.com/cyberwalkerofficial/
► twitter.com/Cyberwalker9
► @officialcyberwalker
► facebook.com/officialcyberwalker
► youtube.com/c/cyberwalkerofficial
► spoti.fi/3qNjyuc
► https://www.tiktok.com/@cyberwalkerofficial
===================================
Support me:
► www.patreon.com/cyberwalker
===================================
I have met on my way a discovery that is not always easy to make but gives a unique feeling, what is the awakening of the mind? True freedom that no one can take away from you...
===================================
#Synthwave #Retrowave #Chillwave #80s

Awakening of the Mind

The Blackploid resurgence of recent years continues to gather steam. After laying dormant for some time, Martin Matiske’s project roared back into life in 2021 with a pair of EPs for Central Processing Unit. It doesn’t look like he’ll be taking his foot off the gas any time soon - not only does the new Blackploid collection Planetary Science complete Matiske’s hat-trick for the Sheffield label, but it also serves as a prelude to the full-length album which Blackploid will deliver on CPU in 2023.

If that LP is as good as the tracks we get here, then it’s safe to say that we’re on to a winner. This EP contains a quartet of top-tier machine-funk productions, the kind of crisp post-Drexciya joints we’ve come to know and love Blackploid for. Each track on Planetary Science makes good on the record’s title by delivering club tackle flecked with FX which sound distinctly like spaceships blasting off into the cosmos.

There is also progression across Planetary Science. While it still aims for the dancefloor, Planetary Science is a somewhat more textured listen than either Strange Stars or Cosmic Traveler, Blackploid’s previous CPU drops. Most notable is the increased use of synth pads, with Matiske draping chord progressions over all of these tracks in order to give his music a newfound depth.

Blackploid’s subtle evolution is clear from the opening track. ‘Dimension Unknown’ may begin with a precision-engineered groove reminiscent of an early Legowelt joint, but things soon soften with the introduction of some rich keyboard chords. A few well-chosen bleeps and bloops flit in and out of the mix, but whereas some would use these to scuff up the track further here they are warm and playful.

The more confrontational stance of following cut ‘Magnetron’ makes it a yin to ‘Dimension Unknown’s yang. Blackploid works with similar tools here - machine-gun beat programming, chords playing off boinging bass - but there is a tension and buzz to the track which isn’t apparent on its predecessor. The synths have a slight Eighties deep space thriller vibe about them, and the FX cut through the mix with more bite.

‘Magnetron’s energy carries through to ‘Wire’, the first track on the Planetary Science B-side. Here a big, brutish bassline takes centre stage from the off, a chunk squarewave equal-parts Dopplereffekt and early Eskibeat. Around this swirls a queasy brew of synthesised tones, with the component parts all arranged in order to channel ‘Magnetron’s sense of unease.

Planetary Science closes out with ‘Neurotransmitter’. On this cut, Blackploid returns somewhat to where we started off, finding a midpoint between ‘Dimension Unknown’s more spacious feel and the livewire flavour of ‘Magnetron’ and ‘Wire’. Tension remains, particularly when Matiske serves up one of the EP’s snakiest basslines, but there’s also a deftness to the synth pads here which makes ‘Neurotransmitter’ a little softer around the edges.

Blackploid limbers up for a forthcoming full-length on Central Processing Unit with Planetary Science, an EP of stargazing electro joints that quietly expand the project’s sonic world.

RIYL: Drexciya, Dopplereffekt, DMX Krew, I-F, Annie Hall

Blackploid - Planetary Science

soundcloud.com/mikegolding
soundcloud.com/b12band
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/2236-B12
https://www.discogs.com/fr/label/1224-B12

B12 - Live @ I Love Acid (2007)

It begins in your face with booming bombastic rhythms, almost pummelling, and you immediately know the world you’re inhabiting but then abruptly there’s a sugary melodic left turn that would make Aphex Twin blush.  This piece Wooly Mammut is something as a signifier of the album as a whole. Just when you think you have Tim Koch pegged, suddenly a whole other world appears.  

Volplaning is a master class in edgy machine funk, a dance party on the edge of the circuit board, where a feverish psychedelia breeds within the rigidity of locked grids and sequenced loops. It’s subtle but it grows throughout the pieces, whether it’s the periodically exuberant hyper energised squelches, the dystopian pitch downs or mournful synthetic Blade Runner laments, these flourishes are the sounds of subversion, of a refusal to adhere to expectation. They’re anti-establishment electrics – because Volplaning is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Do electrics dream of scattered nightmare dubs?  Or do they prefer complex skittery rhythms, taut ironclad bass and oscillating synthetic flourishes? Volplaning is new world electronica, a place where genres collide, techniques collide, tempos collide and expectations collide.  

So much is happening beneath the surface, more often than not the foreground keeps you rhythmically locked, while all manner of atmospheric weirdness roams freely behind. At first you think this music is rigid, percussive, even repetitive, but Volplaning is the audio equivalent of those magic eye pictures where if you focus on the beats and taut machine funk, and relax your ears, a whole other world appears often moving in an entirely different direction. So turn on, tune in and open your earlids. It’s all here.

RIYL: Plaid, Autechre, Jega

Tim Koch - Volplaning

Splitradix FFT is a fast Irish transform (FFT) rhythm for computing the discrete musical acid (aux note relative), and was first described in an initially little-appreciated paper by R. Yavne (1978) and subsequently rediscovered simultaneously by Central Processing Unit label owners in 2021. (The name "Splitradix" was coined by one of these re-inventors, S. Hennelly.) In particular, Splitradix is a variant of the Electro-Vocoder FFT rhythm that uses a blend of analogue 2 and 4: it recursively expresses an emotion of length N in terms of one smaller aux of musical N/2 and two smaller DFT of Fenix PCM/70.

Synthesizing Your Future

Splitradix - Synthesizing Your Future

soundcloud.com/dubsyndicateofficial
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/7871-Dub-Syndicate

Dub Syndicate - 1996-2002 Ital Murder Mix

soundcloud.com/prince-far-i-official
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/10352-Prince-Far-I

Prince Far I - Cry Tough Dub Mix

soundcloud.com/bill-laswell
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/661-Bill-Laswell

Bill Laswell - 1996-1998 Dubadelic Meltdown Mix

Blackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit’s stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske’s project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue.

Now, for CPU’s first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LP Enter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he’s a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music. Enter Universe does not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound’s greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid’s own.

The tone is set from the first frosty chords of opening cut ‘Pulsation’. The track traverses the starscape on pitter-patter drums and chirruping synths, a lively and slightly dystopian roller with an adventurous undercurrent reminiscent of classic Rephlex drops. It’s a style which Blackploid often draws for throughout the rest of Enter Universe, albeit with elements added or subtracted at each stage.

Indeed, this album features some of the most unusual production you will hear on any record this year. While the grooves pulse away in a manner reminiscent of Drexciya or Legowelt, Blackploid layers the mixes with a whole cornucopia of synth tones. ‘The Mission’ boasts a bleep-bloop breakdown that sounds like malfunctioning rotary telephones; ‘Silent Room’ is a ghoulish jam which harks back to Warp’s legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations; ‘Automatik’ and ‘Wormhole’ are defined by some brilliantly strange low-ends - you’ll be thinking of Mr. Oizo’s ‘Flat Beat’ with the wiggly former, while the gurgling, writhing anti-lead that dictates ‘Wormhole’ is oddly thrilling and more than befits the track’s title.

This inventive approach is also apparent in some of the structural choices on Enter Universe. While the tracks here all keep a steady, dancefloor friendly pulse, several of them surprise you by switching up the approach after a minute or two. ‘Pulsation’, ‘Automatik’ and ‘The Mission’ all feature moments where a new element - extra hi-hats, a synth line entering from leftfield - inject fresh impetus into the tune to keep the listener on their toes.

Blackploid may push the sonic envelope on Enter Universe, but this does not mean there is no room for melody. In particular, the cuts here which most strongly channel ‘Computer World’-era Kraftwerk do so by fronting some slyly tuneful work, particularly in the low end of the mix. ‘Unidentified’ serves up delightfully springy chords, ‘Cell Mutation’ leads from the bassline, and ‘Space Curve’ features little cells of melody and counter-melody working together to close Enter Universe out on a high.

Blackploid’s debut LP Enter Universe marries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.

RIYL: Legowelt, Cygnus, Proswell, Jensen Interceptor

Enter Universe

Blackploid - Enter Universe

https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/76271-Kaos-3

Kaos - Teknival 1995 (Side B)

Kaos - Teknival 1995 (Side A)

soundcloud.com/unitmoebius
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/460-Unit-Moebius
https://www.discogs.com/fr/label/2865-Acid-Planet

20 Years of Acid Planet - Unit Moebius Classic Mix

GULLS - YARD SOUNDS Special Mix for pdxindub.com

-Pantytec-”Micromission” (Perlon)

-Mahmoud Guinia-”Side B” (edit)

-Huun-Huur-Tu-”Altai Sayan Tandy-Uula” (edit)

-Gulls-”Boom Miami” (Boomarm Nation)

-Gulls-”Running Times” (unreleased)

-Harmonious Thelonious-”Mokambo” (Diskant)

-Gulls-”SOID Dub” (unreleased)

-Busy Signal-”Launch It Out” (Victor Entertainment)

-Gulls-”4V” (Forthcoming-Boomarm Nation)

-Nass El Ghiwane / Dabrye–”1.b” (DJ Rupture/Mutamassik)

-The Durian Brothers-”Mille Yeux” (Diskant)

-Nas vs. Pan African Orchestra-”Represent” (Gulls Mash)

-Gulls-”To Sconce” (unreleased)

-Scientist-”Dance Of The Vampires” (vocoder edit)

-Studio Geordie-”Redline” (unreleased)

-Gulls-”Various Bounce” (unreleased)

-Dadawah-”Run Come Rally” (Dug Out)

-Can-”Bel Aire” (edit)

http://pdxindub.com/?q=node/317

GULLS - YARD SOUNDS

soundcloud.com/evanmarc
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/335195-Evan-Marc
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/4452-Steve-Hillage

Evan Marc + Steve Hillage - Dreamtime Submersible (2008)

In one sense Central Processing Unit is familiar territory for London Modular Alliance - group members Pip Williams (Phil Ventre) and Koova (Gavin Pkyerman) have both dropped EPs through the Sheffield label in the past, the former offering outer-space street-soul on 2017's Outer Limits after Koova had channelled Drexciya for 2015's This Is Not My Future. However, the Cracked Dice EP represents the first time that the trio have come through on CPU in full force, with Simon Lynch completing the lineup alongside Koova and Williams here. Cracked Dice finds them on top form, blending broken-beat machine-funk grooves with latent house and rave tendencies to thrilling effect.

Cracked Dice is ushered in by the weightless atmospherics of its title-track. The combination of synth washes and gurgling electronics here sounds so alien that it could pass for a piece of incidental music from 'The X-Files', but things don't stay that way for long - the track soon snaps into a stargazing club joint in the Detroit mode, one in which spaceship synth wobbles are pushed onwards by lithe, rumbling sub-bass. The combo comes off like an interstellar throwdown between the Midwestern masters of old and modern practitioners of UK soundsystem techno stylings - Lurka, Batu and the like. Following number 'Head Of The Keeper' maintains the energy of its predecessor, warping junglist archetypes around a breakbeat stomp in a manner reminiscent of Special Request.

London Modular Alliance's brand of electro has always been marked out by its playfulness, a feature derived from how snappy drum and synth programming anchor the group's off-the-cuff improvisation. That sensibility is apparent throughout the entirety of this EP, but perhaps nowhere more so than on first B-side cut 'Chemical Peel'. 'Chemical Peel' is at once stiff-necked and rubbery, the hissing hats and old-skool breaks phasing in and out of a boinging bassline which is pure Mr. Fingers goodness. That machine-funk scuttle carries through to closing track 'Lemon Mishap', a piece of insectoid acid-funk so gnarly it will have the crowd convinced that they're hearing the DJ receive an alien transmission in real time.

Cracked Dice sees esteemed electro dons London Modular Alliance whip up machine-funk, junglism and Midwestern house/techno into a quartet of club tools which are as sleek and futuristic as a lazerbeam.

FFO: Baby T, Batu, Jensen Interceptor, Mr. Fingers, Special Request

New ears for the year...

muddy mike