Downliners Sekt 'Silent Ascent'

Barcelona based duo, Fabrizio Rizzin and Pere Sole are well known in the IDM world. Having debuted their first release nearly a decade ago, the two have since been a strong figure in the scene. Known for their dark and moody vibes; this is something they know how to do. Silent Ascent has brought them back to the forefront of IDM music through being faultless in its approach. It is slow, dark and at times mesmerising. Although an electronic album, the instrumentation does not vary much from song to song, made up mainly of drums, sub bass, keys and vinyl cracks. This does Silent Ascent a lot of favours as it makes the album flow stunningly from song to song putting you into a trance that could last the whole album. If you are a fan of artists such as Burial, or more well known, James Blake, you can really get a sense of what sourced some of their inspiration, as Downliners Sekt were pioneers in the genre.

Jorge Velez /// Territories

Jorge Velez seems to have taken this latest piece, Territories, as an opportunity to change things up a bit with his sound. Having announced that he is retiring his former alias Professor Genius. This in itself is exciting because he has seemed to allowed himself to push the boat out more and not necessarily go where he has gone before. Although not a stranger to dark, strange and twisted sounding music; territories seems to go that bit further. Tracks like Curves stand out for their gritty, ominous and deep sound. held together by a rusty drum loop edging in some experimental sound design taking you on a journey into, literally, the unknown. The album as a whole doesn’t fit together particularly well, there is no reoccurring theme, however you feel from listening to it that this is his intent. Not exactly a light listen, however there is a lot to be said for the experimentation in terms of production, maybe slightly ahead of his time, this album might be hard to ‘get’ but it will sure gain him some dedicated fans who are looking for something they can truly call original.

Sd Laika /// That´s Harakiri

Runge, respectively known as Sd Laika is undoubtedly one of the most abnormally talented grime instrumentalists of todays’ generation.  His mix of keys, chords, beats and tribal sounds on the latest ‘That’s Harakiri’ sends your mind on a symphonic spiral, leading you into a world of mesmerising head banging, fist pumping, energy.  Indisputably a master of his craft, Sd Laika captivates you into his world of Grime and dance with rhythmic melodies such as ‘Meshes’ sending your mind adrift with his constant change of tempos and invitation to move.  Staying in the deep mist of threatening sounds that Grime has to offer, Sd Laika doesn’t stop there with ‘Meshes’.  He then throws another spanner in your piano with ‘You Were Wrong’ playing on your mental capacity as just when you think you’ve grasped the concept of the song he skillfully chops it up and throws another mix in there.  Runge continues to cause more mayhem on this venture with ‘Don’t Know’ and ‘Great God Pan’ which can be used as a great escapism into other realms and dimensions.  Needless to say Peter Runge aka Sd Laika is a composing genius.