As The Cosmological Constant opens up slow in its intended listening session, Bitbasic’s approach becomes clear, he plays games with the listener, toying with genre, pulling from IDM, glitch, trip-hop, and jazz without settling into any one space.
Author: J. Batista
Vaag :: Tracker Mini Works (Self Released)
For listeners expecting linear progression or clear melodic arc, Tracker Mini Works will feel incomplete. For those who understand that fragmentation and glitchy manipulation can be more emotionally resonant than perfect production, this will feel exactly right.
tsx x sue tompkins :: recur⁷ (farmersmanual)
tsx and Sue Tompkins have carved out a niche so specific that almost no one else occupies it. recur⁷ is further proof they’re fine keeping it that way.
anthéne :: Air Signs (Dronarivm)
Air Signs rests at its distinct sound. Everything is pieced together very well, and all the noises, melodies, and synths are family—they all align track after track. Deschamps has a gift for cohesion. Even when he’s working with degraded loops, reversed recordings, and heavily processed guitar, nothing feels fragmented. Everything belongs.
Jim O’Rourke & Jos Smolders :: Albumin (Moving Furniture)
Albumin is limited to 500 copies on vinyl through Moving Furniture Records, and it’s exactly the kind of release that rewards deep, focused listening. Put it on, turn it up, and let the textures do the work.
Unruly Disturbance :: Frisson (Not Yet Remembered)
Frisson is proof that Collingburn’s years in the club scene weren’t wasted. He knows how to build tension, how to pace a track, how to let moments breathe. But he also knows when to pull back, when to let the ambient drift take over. For an artist who’s spent nearly two decades navigating the underground dance world and another stretch exploring pure ambient, Frisson feels like the convergence of both.
threehz :: Archive 97–99 (PPRZ)
Archive 97–99 is a snapshot of someone absorbing that ethos in real time, two decades ago, and the recordings still hold up. Not because they’re groundbreaking, but because they’re honest documents of a producer learning their craft during one of electronic music’s most fertile periods.
Tewksbury :: rust/wave (Imaginary North)
rust/wave, his latest, takes a different approach. The Hamilton, Ontario-based artist has compiled a beautiful piece of ambient work, and rather than introducing itself as some ambient drone or sounding like that, it’s actually really melodic and beautiful. A peaceful listen.
DgoHn :: Tessares (Planet Mu)
The dubbed-out vocals, the melodic fills, the use of unusual time signatures, these aren’t just technical tricks, they’re emotional tools. The album feels exploratory without getting lost, complex without being exhausting. For fans of drumfunk and the kind of brain-melting beat science that Planet Mu championed in the late 90s and early 2000s, Tessares is essential.
SRS :: Plastic EP (Shakesphere / Furthur Electronix)
This overall limited run of the acid genre is another success on the label for those who are in love with the genre. Furthur Electronix—and a warm welcome Shakesphere, their sub-label—has been carving out a niche for itself over the past few years, releasing music that feels both nostalgic and necessary. It’s a love letter to a sound that defined an era, and for fans of classic acid and braindance, it’s essential.
Gridlock :: Trace (Reissue) (Viasonde)
Gridlock’s Trace returns, and this is a classic industrial IDM release. As a reissue, there’s nothing here that’s reinventing the wheel in regards to production, it was released at a time where this type of sound was innovative and thriving.
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