Dial 2010
Various Artists

German sophisticates DIAL round up their star-studded ensemble cast for their annual musical yearbook snapshots. Artists like Isolee have been given honorary DIAL status as well, alongside Carsten Jost, Pantha Du Prince, and Efdemin -- with DIAL'S diverse sounds in full effect. Ranging from neo-classical to sumptuous, deep tribal house, and, of course, four-to-the-floor greatness!








Oneman
Rinse 11

Rinse FM have reached their 11th installment, and quality prevails with cutting edge presentations of all things mutant, funky, and dubstep. Oneman shows off his quick-fire mixing skills and ear for blending sweetened old skool garage faves into money-shot boom-brrrap hits. The Rinse FM DJ mix series is where its at, repping the fresh UK sound to its fullest.










Thomas Fehlmann
Gute Luft

Fehlmann's sixth studio album also doubles as a soundtrack to the historical 24HR Berlin documentary. Mr. Fehlmann has succeeded in finding that sweet spot between euphoria and tempered melancholy: Fans of Kompakt's Pop Ambient series should definitely make some time for this.






The Sight Below
It All Falls Apart

Many have already prompted Rafael Insarri's Sight Below as a successor to Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project, an ode to Robin Guthrie/Kevin Shields guitar school, and a warm harkening to the emotionally scorching drone architecture of Fennesz and Tim Hecker. This hardly tells the whole story though; this is a massive piece that winds through Lynchian ambient corridors, a nebulous mesh of blurry abstract guitars and buried, pulsing beats.









Ikonika
Contact Love Want Have

Ikonika have been nurtured as part of the Hyperdub fold, and now they release a full length after a series of attention demanding 12"s. A bold statement this is, of synthetically sweet R n B futurism, chromed-out hyper cruiser steppin' jams, to rugged-ragga and 8 bit skrewed skwee skews. Cool stuff.









Producer #2
Various Artists

UK label Fat City drops one just for the heads... and whomever else is interested in taking a serious trip into the willy wonky land of mutated electronica, dubstep, and all sorts of weirdness in between. Crackly cosmic transmissions with a moonboot bounce from Illum Sphere, Mr Diabase, Dabrye, Andy Votel (under various monikers!) and more. Recommended for the psyched-out children of the drum that need their regular dose of fresh... and for all y'all who know what's good for you.







Trentemoller
Sycamore Feeling

An interesting, delicate slow-burner pop-tronica single output by Trentemoller. Spaghetti western guitars swirl around opiated female vocals with a nod to old school trip-hop stylings. The remixes (Gui Boratto, Thomas Schumacher) ignite the track with impressive, deep and moody 4/4 floor burners. Sleek.








Bonobo
Black Sand

The downtempo and chill music franchise seems to redeem itself with every Bonobo output. A highly sophisticated, blissful yet beat-heady album with production that's demanding of its listener in a positive way. Bonobo seems to be on a mission to render electronica production as a high-art form with intricate compositions. Fans of Dilla, Four Tet, and Quantic will like.









Prins Thomas
Self-Titled

Finally! After 5 years of singles, countless remixes for the likes of DFA and Lindstrom, Prins Thomas finally drops his full length debut. A fully realized and personalized take on the Balearic cosmic disko craze that's captivated the global dancefloor. It's blissfully awash in Kraut rockadelia, and almost sounds like Neu! at times. Prins Thomas is a new force for the heads!








Marcel Dettmann
Dettmann

Marcel Dettmann is a dark and deadly figure operating in a black hole somewhere on the 5am dancefloor. Dettmann's debut is like one long cold sweat, a relentless push into the netherworlds of techno. This is pure trance music. Dettmann is the sole architect of the grey mindscapes and shapes constructed with sleek minimalism calling out the best moments of Rob Hood, Mika Vainio, and Sleeparchive. True hypnotic techno, in the spirit of Basic Channel, that ascends and slowly oxidizes into a black ocean of bliss. Highly recommended.






Caribou
Swim

Swim brings together multiple genres, alchemically, under the banner of pop music: "I got excited by the idea of making dance music thats liquid in the way it flows back and forth; the sounds slosh around in pitch, timbre, pan.... dance music that sounds like water rather than out of the metallic stuff" - Caribou









Time and Space Machine

Tirk is the IT label of electronica... along with the NANG label (check out all the rad Nang compilations in the label section!). Richard Norris (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve/Erol Alkan) is Time and Space Machine, and this is the proper debut after a series of 7"s and 12"s. He fully indulges his disco-kraut-out needs with 13 tracks. All the usual suspects are fingered, from Neu to Amon Düul to Sun Ra, re-hashed smart-like for the psych heads to wig out over. Pair with that Prins Thomas and a beard and you're ready to party.