Various Artists
A.R.G.: Advanced Rhythm Generator EP

For the second release on Lord Of The Isles’s Dusk Delay imprint we see the Kimochi Sound and Hanagasumi regular, Shine Grooves deliver one of his best organic electronic odysseys to date. Spanning 6 tracks; it masterfully traverses an exciting intergalactic sonic landscape. Aptly titled ‘Pictures Of Mood’, the EP conjures vivid imagery through evocative deep experimental introspection, soul enhancing optimism and eyes-closed dancefloor dreaming. Limited vinyl run with Riso print.

First friendship, then unconditional love for the music and dancefloor. These are the secrets between the new label OCV, collaborative project between London’s OPIA Records and Cuneo’s Club Vision. From the first party together, to the endless travelling together. We knew there was only one way to go. Welcome to OCV.

Originally released in the mid 80's on UK cassette label Bite Back!, this nearly lost gem finds new life 30 years later on Cocktail D'Amore Music. Steve has cobbled together a superbly melancholic electronic concept album. Wistful melodies often evoke sentiments of a lost childhood and hazy English mornings. Each song within remains untitled allowing full perceptive freedom as to what they all communicate, a language for the feelings that have no name. Untitled A1 - A6 leads one along intimate soundscapes of pattering drums and tinkering piano, a sense of closeness and trust develops with the introduction of each new idea much like the beginning of a bed time story. Untitled B1 - B3 then begin to breathe more openly awash in angelic colours before abruptly turning downward on B4, a wall of booming drums and atmospheres from the furthest reaches of the galaxy before the last trio of songs settles gently back on Earth.

Generative music seems to imply a systems approach to music, or a system that once created can utilise randomness in a creative way. The benevolence of nature’s creativity belies this musical term, and can flip the word ‘generative’ to mean to involve constantly flowing creativity with purpose. In Europe there was a time in the Pagan Renaissance when architecture would mirror nature’s generative quality. Sculptures and columns were to imply animation or movement.That’s where Milan W.’s album comes through in 2021. His music involves the night shadows of Europe’s architecture and its growth. In Bloom personifies itself by showing Antwerp’s influential ‘Night Play’: a term that can relate to many European cities such as Bologna, Vienna, and so on and so on. The leftovers of Renaissance and gothic architecture are everywhere in Europe still; layers of ruins that can generate the impression of simultaneous time periods. Tracks like Spa and Helium Queen reveal and revel in the power of shadow movement that is generated by the night. In Milan W.’s past works, the poignant and simple creative play of dark wave and synth beat music was his vehicle for expression, but now on In Bloom he departs to a touching sidereal impressionism allied with Coil’s instrumental pieces on Horse Rotorvator — an album whose cover portrays the potential powers of the pavilion just as Milan W. is portraying the generative soul and alienation of Europe’s ‘Night Play’. Because of In Bloom we can come to believe that there is a secretive energy in alienation, a playfulness that is alight at Night.

Low End Activist on an industrial dancehall tip featuring Vybz Kartel approved vocalist Sikka Rymes including alternate updates from Low Jack and Loraine James.

Norwegian producer Mikkel Rev debuts on A Strangely Isolated Place with his most accomplished album to date; traversing nostalgic chillout, slow-burning downtempo, and euphoric trance, in a similar approach to the diverse styles found within the early pioneering electronic ambient albums of the ‘90s. As part of the growing label collective Ute Records, Mikkel Rev can often be found entertaining uninhibited ravers amongst the forests of Norway, where he and his label mates are spearheading one of the many so-called Trance revivals. Just as comfortable releasing high-energy 140bpm electronic music alongside Filip Storsveen as Omformer, or creating expansive space-ambient pieces on the flip for the Sinensis label, The Art of Levitation is the perfect gateway into the diverse array of electronic music to emerge from the world of Mikkel Rev. Moving through various energies and BPMs, The Art of Levitation is clearly vivid in approach and concept, based on track titles and art alone. In a similar parallel to the main room and the chillout room often found at raves, the album invites you to take a journey through both over time. Touching on moments of early electronic ambient, to begin with, it soon evolves into a blissful beat-driven progressive chapter, culminating in a nostalgic nod to the very best moments Trance music has to offer. The ending can be found in the back room, as the journey finally tails in to a more emotional point of reflection. The Art of Levitation is a mirror to the feelings created, the friends made, the dance floor antics witnessed, and nostalgic moments earned, by everyone who experienced the spectrum of energy and euphoria electronic music can offer during those special times.The Art of Levitation is available on March 20th, on Gatefold orange 2LP, plus digital. Featuring artwork photography by Wendy Carroll and mastered by Andreas Lupo Lubich.