Jafs

Before Surgeon? The transition must have been like 2 universes colliding I guess? As I wrote before, I wasn't familiar with the guy before the announcement. Since, I've learned he has released music for Cocoon and has played at Fabric and Burning Man. His 2 albums are lush and beautiful, both can be recommended. After having listened much to his music in recent days, it seems obvious why the guys at Balance picked him for #31.

Preview mix :

Recently, some of us were speaking about some landmarks Balance mixes in the context of the new James Holden album. The latest opus of the series is Balance 030, issued in 2018, and was mixed by Max Cooper. It followed James Zabiela's Balance 029 released a few months earlier. I thought the series was dead, but the other day I saw this announcement popping on their website : After a 3-year hiatus, Balance Music’s legendary main compilation series returns for its 31st volume with an absolute stunner courtesy of UK DJ and producer, Tim Green. Following in the footsteps of epic contributions from the likes of James Holden, Joris Voorn, and Agoria, the celebrated artist of labels such as All Day I Dream, TRYBESof, Cocoon, Siamese, and many other acclaimed imprints creates a truly beautiful story on this 2.5-hour mix. As well as some quite remarkable exclusive original productions, he also includes eight of his own EDITs in this expansive mix. The release is scheduled for may 5th. I didn't know the guy before, but the text sounds promising.

CD arrived in the mail today. Damn fine until now...

LP has still not popped anywhere since the announcement. Maybe it will be digital only finaly ? (which would be fine for me)

The average DR of their releases has been about 7 since 20 years. PTA is clipped has hell, but the SACD was a bit better.

Same here, and I would add the final track ''Speak to Me''.

Totally agree about SOTU & Delta Machine, the latter I consired to be one of their weakest album, even if it's OK and has its moments as usual. But I don't thing I ever thought anything was really uninteresting of their output. Spirit (which James Ford also produced, along with Matrixxman), while not being near as their best work, is probably the most interesting album since PTA. Really glad to read the popping reviews and advices telling they sound revived. Maybe the AE collab will happen one day? ?

https://dolly-records.bandcamp.com/album/dolly-deluxe-2-various-artists-2 All the the tracks featuring on this release were created specically for her Fabric 94 mix.

What a belter...

Surprised the topic about Vril lastest doesn't already exists on WATMM. Top release as usual !

Channelling his own explorations in search of the soul inside the machine, VRIL draws from the deep well of his live performances to present his third LP for Delsin, Animist. Inside lie 12 pieces which seem to probe at the unknowable distance between tangible consciousness and the astral plane, imbuing even the most seemingly synthetic of materials with a living essence. Given his illustrious back catalogue, it’s no surprise to hear VRIL conjure explicitly electronic music with such loaded emotional impact and seemingly organic animus, but in the process he also toys with the idea of how far the technology’s spiritual potential can reach. https://vrilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/animist

https://upsammy.bandcamp.com/album/germ-in-a-population-of-buildings On her sophomore album "Germ in a Population of Buildings”, upsammy moves through her surroundings with the curiosity of a place-bending landscape architect. The album is rooted in her interest for ambiguous environments in constant shift, and the feeling of discovering strange patterns in different ecosystems. Often, the Amsterdam-based artist finds herself zooming in and out beyond a place's most recognizable surface features to inhabit the microscopic and gigantic. Gathering field recordings and evocative environmental sounds, she shapes this source material into vibrating electro-acoustic rhythms and unstable, psychedelic textures. upsammy's debut album, 2020's critically-acclaimed "Zoom", was praised for its careful reimagining of IDM, evolving vignettes that nodded towards the dancefloor without being shackled to its rigid set of rules. On "Germ in a Population of Buildings" her process has evolved considerably; the skeletal trace of IDM is still present but it's been trapped in amber, allowing her unique sonic landscape to develop organically. 'Being is a Stone' is a proof of concept in many ways, layering upsammy's contorted voice in rickety patterns beneath a lattice of fragile rhythms and faintly melancholy synths. It's never immediately obvious where the sounds are coming from - a hiccuping beat might be glass cracking underfoot, and larger pulses could be wet concrete, rusted iron or bent plastic. As the sounds develop they morph into each other, demolishing what came before and building on top of the ornamental wreckage. On the dynamic 'Constructing', upsammy's sound design fluxes through hyperactive bass music structures, abstracting expectations at every turn. Often her sounds are whisper quiet, rattling and vibrating until heavier masonry drops and disrupts the structure. And when discernible rhythms subside into the background, like on the album's eerie title track, they become almost illusory, morphing between the real world and the electronic. upsammy's processed voice works like a bridge between these realms, snaking between stark, whimsical melodies on 'Patterning', arching from AutoTuned detachment into cooing, dreamy intimacy. By considering the harmonies between each location she's visited, upsammy has been able to build a unique topology that's an uncanny digital amalgam of her lived experience. It's a thoughtful alternative in an era more concerned with flatting the landscape than crumpling it and examining its peaks and troughs. Released may 5th.

I've given a first spin only a few months ago, and since then it's on heavy rotation. Even picked the CD on discogs marketplace. Fundamental / Boilerroom / Bloodlock is such a amazing sequence.

''Starting 2023 with a bang(er!) and a handful of synth oddities ...to be followed by a full-length album entitled PLEASE TOUCH (full announcement in Spring) ''

Also remembering he's the writer and co-producer of Sasha's ''Boileroom'' :

Joris Voorn's Balance 014 was nearly as good, even if not being the same kind of beast. I'll lend an attentive ear to the Chris Fortier effort, thanks for the tip !

There's not a month I don't listen to his Balance 005 mixes.

The Wire review by Miloš Hroch ends with this sentence:

The Idiots Are Winning features that amazing track : But the whole album was a disappointment for me at the time of release.

Getting late on this, but thanks to the Wire list for best dub releases of the year, this was spotted on.

She made a damn fine mix for Pjenné :

Before listening carefully to this latest output, I made a quick preview a few days ago, and this is my pick: