JakoJako Tells Synthesized Vietnam Stories on ‘Tết 41’
JakoJako’s Tết 41 is a truly artful work of modular synthesizers, compelling even at its most sedate and brilliant when it opens further.
mute records
R&B Artist Cold Specks Sings Across the Human Spectrum
Cold Specks’ new LP works as a concept album, diving across the spectrum of human emotions: grief, sorrow, euphoria, energy, anger, lust, and acceptance.
Post-Punk’s A Certain Ratio Continue Their Revival
A Certain Ratio find inspiration in their past work and the music that initially inspired them to create art that exists quite nicely in 2024.
A Kind of Beauty: An Interview With Ben Frost
Ben Frost, Australia’s premiere avant-garde composer, unleashes his first solo album in seven years by returning to the pitch-black metal he loves so dearly.
Can and Damo Suzuki Shimmer Brightly on ‘Live in Paris 1973’
Part of a recent series of archival releases, Live in Paris 1973 provides an indispensable glimpse of Can and their lead vocalist, Damo Suzuki, at their peak.
A Certain Ratio Move the Past Into the Future with ‘1982’
A Certain Ratio have always been willing to fiddle with their sound. That they do so in 1982 doesn’t surprise and fits with their rejuvenation in the 2020s.
M83 Get Lost in the Synth Clouds of ‘Fantasy’
With a bloated runtime and a tendency toward monochromatic synth textures, M83’s ninth studio record Fantasy indulges one too many of the group’s clichés.
Daniel Avery Hosts the Party and the Comedown on ‘Ultra Truth’
Electronic producer Daniel Avery’s Ultra Truth is both a danceable and listenable collection that packs a corporeal punch and a spiritual cleanse.
Duet Emmo’s ‘Or So It Seems’ Is a Testament to Analog Electronic Music
Duet Emmo’s Or So It Seems is an experimental one-off between Wire’s Lewis and Gilbert and Mute Records’ Daniel Miller. Pedigrees don’t come much better.
Yann Tiersen’s ’11 5 18 2 5 18′ Is Surprising and Entrancing
11 5 18 2 5 18 makes it sound like Yann Tiersen has been dabbling in deeply abstract instrumental synthesizer mood music for decades. Yes, he pulls it off.
’80s Synthpop Duo I Start Counting Release Rarities on ‘Re-fused’ and ‘Ejected’
Thirty-five years later, twin albums of demos and outtakes from cheeky British synthpop duo I Start Counting have surfaced, and they’re not without their pleasures.
Lee Ranaldo Writes the Quintessential Score for High Anxiety with ‘In Virus Times’
Lee Ranaldo’s In Virus Times is a lockdown project through and through. Its sound, execution, and overall aesthetic stem from uncertainty and isolation.