Nite Jewel: Liquid Cool review – neon-lit synth pop

About eight years ago, LA’s Ramona Gonzalez was at the forefront of a wave of faintly avant-garde female bedroom artists reimagining synth pop (her friend Julia Holter had another trajectory). The early 80s have been revived more times than is … Continue reading →

Jamie Isaac; Edgar the Beatmaker review – kings of the stoned age

Two south London singers and Brit school graduates breathe fresh life into downbeat dubstep with the help of jazz beats and hip-hop

Clams Casino: 32 Levels review – sleepy, punch-drunk symphonies

Clams Casino’s three Instrumental mixtapes – and the gauzy, slump-hop productions they advertised – have redrafted the outer limits of rap, while various versions of his syrupy, discombobulated sound seep into the charts. At best, Clams’s beats seem beaten, staggering … Continue reading →

The Avalanches: Wildflower review – the feelgood album of the summer?

A pastoral, wistful brand of psychedelia works its retro magic on this long-awaited comeback

Anohni review – a world of pain, and tears all round

The live debut of Anohni’s Hopelessness combines performance art and political despair to powerful effect

Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve: The Soft Bounce review – sweet psychedelia

Phantasy Sound

Deep Minimalism festival review – exploring the minutiae of sound

A closing programme of compositions by Laurie Spiegel, Éliane Radigue and Edmund Finnis gave some focus to this festival’s slightly slippery concept

Cassius: Ibifornia review – squelchy tunes pack summer sunshine

A comeback from a much-missed French electronic duo, with an eclectic guest list that includes Pharrell Williams, Cassius’ Ibifornia (Ibiza-meets-California, might work better in French) shares much theoretical shelf space with Daft Punk’s magisterial Random Access Memories (2013). Featuring the … Continue reading →

Mala: Mirrors review – pioneering Andean dub

(Brownswood Recordings)

DJ Shadow: The Mountain Will Fall review – winning reboot

Mass Appeal

DJ Shadow: The Mountain Will Fall review – cut-and-paste turtablist’s inventive return

Coinciding with the comeback of fellow plunderphonic luminaries the Avalanches, Josh Davis returns with his first album in five years. Like the former, he no longer works exclusively in samples – though nor has he abandoned them entirely: an ambient … Continue reading →

Transglobal Underground: Digging the Underground Vol 1 review – eclectic dance pioneers’ early magic

Transglobal Underground shook up English music in the 1990s by mixing house, hip-hop and dub with influences from Africa, Asia and the Arab world. The band are still going, but this new selection, modestly billed as “rare releases, unfinished remixes … Continue reading →

The Invisible: Patience review – smooth, floaty grooves

(Ninja Tune)

Nite Jewel: Liquid Cool review – hermetic, out-of-step synth pop

Faced with writer’s block, and following a dispute with her record label, Ramona Gonzalez recorded this album in a closet. Two closets, to be exact, in two different parts of LA, where Gonzalez has crafted Nite Jewel’s glassy, minimal synth … Continue reading →

Vince Clarke and Paul Hartnoll: 2Square review – electro-pop for dad-dancing

As (early) Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure electro tunesmith and rave-era giant with Orbital, respectively, Vince Clarke and Paul Hartnoll have made 50 years of electronic music between them. However, 2Square sees them bonding primarily as fathers. Hartnoll wryly describes … Continue reading →