DARKSIDE
Spiral

‘Soil’ by Amsterdam-based producer and musician Jelee is heavily influenced by video game world-building. Like a beat alchemist, he carefully pours his love for beats into his lifelong passion for video game soundtracks. That far exceeds your typical 8-bits and bobs: Soil unfolds like a challenging adventure game, held together by a sonic palette of hip-hop-minded drum programming, jazz-inspired chords, and synthesized sounds.The album features tight-knit homegrown collaborations with jazz multi-instrumentalist Guido Hoek, rising deejay Jerrau, producer lofi prototype (“one of Amsterdam’s best-kept secrets when it comes to beatmaking,” says Jelee), deejay, producer, and keyboardist Mo Wrights, and singer Erosi. With influences ranging from Brainfeeder’s roster to Zelda games, Jelee presents a multifaceted take on music.

The Alias Sessions by MurcofMurcof, the primary project of producer Fernando Corona, returns to The Leaf Label for the first time in thirteen years with a mammoth and visionary double album, The Alias Sessions. This collection brings together all the elements incorporated into the project to date - meticulous sound design, ghostly samples, forceful beats, diaphanous atmosphere - but pushes the sound even further in terms of both abstraction and beauty. This is electronic music of exquisite tension and ecstatic release, moving from barely audible details to explosive peaks, much of it delivered by earth-moving bass.Murcof first emerged during an exciting period of electronic music, operating at its cutting edge. Debut album Martes appeared on Leaf in 2002, when alternative possibilities enabled by advancing technology were just starting to come into focus. By combining stark beats - minimal techno, microhouse and glitch were all entering their heyday - with carefully layered sampling drawn in part from modern classical music, Martes was compelling in its moment but also looked to the future. It refused classification, even as its parts had clear antecedents. It grooved, but wasn’t quite dance music; it experimented with tonality, but each track was memorable. And it sounded like no-one else.

Double A sided release by Basic Bastard! 4 tracks of House infused Technosoul from the master Orlando Voorn!

"Echoes" is the Ethno-Wave love child of collaborators Frank Harris & Maria Marquez. A collection of sublime songs dating back to '85, avante-pop flourishes are married here to the heart strings of a synthetic Amazon- think MFM's "Outro Tempo" meets a tropical Sade. With much contemporary interest in South American electronic music, Echoes is a window into two musicians prescient dreamings of tradition, melody & technology.

Sticking to the trusted format of 4 superlative cuts from equally talented producers, the quality and talent on show does not disappoint on WGD007. Tin Man, Rai Scott, Sound Synthesis & Roger Van Lunteren.

LEVA LEVA : LITANY OF THE PORTUGUESE FISHERMEN by Various Artists