Geometriae – Subtransformer EP

We stay in Denmark, and stay on a very deep tip, with this three-track EP from Danish producer Geometriae.

"Dub-based techno and deep ambient soundscapes," is how the hype sheet describes Geometriae's style, and they're not wrong. Dubbermann is a bassy, spacey dub techno excursion, Strings Of Space is a sparser, more cinematic/atmospheric ride, while Subtransformer itself is slightly more 'dancefloor', but no less deep n' dubby for it.

Lights out, lay back and enjoy. Nuff said.

Out: This week

About: This comes on a label I don't think have featured on here before, CPH Undersound. Find 'em on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Distortion Inc – Echo Of Tape

We stay in pastures uber-deep now with this newie from Denmark's ever on-point DeepWit Uncovered.

In fact, Echo Of Tape marks one of the label's deepest excursions yet, and that's saying something! Across the EP's three tracks, then, expect warm pads, muted percussion, disembodied vocal snips, tinkling minor-key jazz piano licks – you know the story – all at a tempo that means this EP is best filed somewhere between slo-mo and ambient. And that makes it perfect for those moments when you just want to lean back, shut your eyes and drift off into inner space.

Out: This week

About: You can find the DeepWit crew on Soundcloud, on Facebook or at their own website.

Various – Deeper Shades 03

Can't believe it was way back in May when I wrote about the excellent first volume in this set… feels like last week… nor am I entirely certain why Vol 2 never made in onto the blog, maybe I was washing my hair or something… but anyway, here comes Vol 3 in Spring Tube's series.

And yep, it's another winner. For those that couldn't be bothered clicking on the link above, "lazy, stoner-friendly deep and progressive house" is how I described Vol 1. This time out, there's less of the proggy vibes, and instead a few more trax that veer towards ambient/downtempo territory… but otherwise the song remains much the same, with ten cuts from Shimmer, Anthony Mea, Blood Groove & Kikis, MacLaro, Pavel Densiov and Sergey Sivenenko (all but the latter contributing two apiece) that are tailor-made for those late, late driftaway sofa sessions, with BG&K's funk-fuelled, garage-leaning Aura, Mea's uber-deep, atmospheric and aptly-titled Liquidia and MacLaro's Balearic bliss-out Why Don't You standing out in particular.

Superb, is the word. And everybody knows that the word is the bird.

Out: This week

About: You can find Spring Tube on Facebook, on Soundcloud or at their own website.

Psi-Acoustic – Dreams From East

Okay, listen up… after tomorrow, TIWWD will be leaving you for a week or so. Just a week or so, though, so don't get scared. BUT, I've got about 37 million things to do before then, and it's been a crazy week for releases as well* so by no means everything I wanted to get reviewed this week is going to. You have been warned.

This one, though, I had to tell you about. Coming on French label Deep Movements, it's a quite superb five-track EP that sits somewhere between deep house, deep/dub techno, scratchy lo-fi Ninja-esque funk-hop, ambient/uneasy listening and, well, you decide. Dreams From East Pt 2 is fairly easily classed as dub techno while Morning At Frankfurt Airport is straight-up ambience, but as for the rest, I'd struggle to know what genre pigeonhole to put it in.

I just know that if you're looking for late-night smoker's grooves, with at times a slightly unsettling edge, you won't find much better right now.

Out: This week

About: I don't think Deep Movements have featured on TIWWD before so, hello French people! You can find out all about 'em on Soundcloud, Facebook or at their own website. Merveilleux.

* Always happens this time of year, with people trying to get stuff out before Xmas

Nikosf – Remembrance Remixes

It's been another hard day so to make up for it, in tonight's reviews we're on a seriously chilled-out tip. First up, this remix EP from Etoka Records.

You know that point where deep house gets SO deep it essentially turns into ambient/chill-out music? Well that's about where we're at with this, particularly if you're talking about the two Alveol rubs of More Than Sad or Lazzich's take on Gray Morning. The Verano mix of Summer Afternoons and Nikosf's own End Of Summer Colours Mix of Sensual Colours, meanwhile, do actually have a 4/4 beat behind them, but we're still at the very, very deepest end of the house spectrum.

Not one for rocking the clubs with then and, to be fair, these are tracks you'd want to find the right time and setting for. Right now, though, they're sounding pretty perfect.

Out: This week

About: Etoka are based in Liverpool and can be found at their own website or on Soundcloud.

ALBUMS Hakimonu - Cadences & Frameworks/Worlds Are Born Again

A two-for-one deal here, cos what we have here are TWO recent albums by Israeli producer Hakimonu – something of a mystery man who started out producing trance but has moved in recent years into progressive house, techno and minimal territories.

The first of the two, Cadences & Frameworks, bears the sub-title 'Techno Sketches', which is indeed a pretty accurate description of the sounds contained within. The emphasis is on abstract, often quite melancholic pieces, almost entirely instrumental (bar one or two brief spoken snippets), with Cadence 10: Move really the only excursion onto the minimal dancefloor. Otherwise, this is an album that calls for late nights, sofas, low lights and possibly a jazz fag or two.

The other album, Worlds Are Born Again, isn't HUGELY dissimilar, but it does boast a couple more floor-friendly tracks, and there's also a greater emphasis on melodic and musical elements as opposed to just rhythms and textures… as befits an album that's not subtitled 'sketches', I guess!

I'm no expert on abstract/arty/downtempo sounds like this, so I'm not gonna try and draw comparisons, but when some laidback yet involving listening is required, reaching for either of these albums wouldn't be a bad move by any means. If forced at gunpoint to pick a winner it'd be Cadences… I think, but it's a close run thing.

Out: Now… one of 'em came out late June, the other late July, but your idiot of a reviewer can't remember which way round it was. 

About: Worlds Are Born Again comes to you via Berlin-based label Sleep Is Commercial, while as far as I can make out Cadences… is self-released, so here's Hakimonu's Soundcloud and MySpace pages. Check the latter and you'll see that Cadences… did also come out some time back but don't worry, it's not me being blonde, it's just that it's never had a proper 'push' until now.

P-Note – Cosmic EP

Three tracks of deep and moody post-dubstep here from LU10 Records.

Ronin opens proceedings, alternating between sparse, twitchy, toppy rhythms and a jagged, wobbling sub-bassline. The other two tracks are credited to P-Note & Aftee: Drama goes down a slower, dub techno-informed route and is the pick of the EP for me, while finally Souljam takes us into more cinematic, bordering-on-ambient pastures, making you suspect P-Note might have one or two System 7 or Tangerine Dream records in his/her collection…

Three quite varied cuts, then, but those in search of cutting-edge sonic explorations won't be disappointed.

Out: Today!

About: LU10 don't give a lot about themselves away but you can find 'em on Facebook or at their own blog.

Nick Robson – Sheltered

Five tracks of industrial-sounding deep techno here from Germany's Lucidflow.

There are two mixes apiece of Diving Bell and Under Shelter, and one of Approaching Cloud. Expect cavernous production, static noise and ominous atmospherics, house-paced (as opposed to relentlessly banging East European-paced) beats, a spaced-out overall feel… oh, and on Klartraum's mix of Under Shelter, the tiniest of female vocal snips, which is all that's needed to bring a little light and make this the most househead-friendly track here and the standout for me, with the dubby and the brooding, moody Approaching Cloud a close second.

Out: This week

About: You can find Lucidflow at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

Pykup – Nature

And if you thought the Demarkus Lewis track was deeper than deep, then wait till you hear this!

If you dig that Greta Cottage Workshop kinda vibe, where the very, very deepest of house meets more experimental, downtempo vibes, then this one's for you. Coming from French producer Pykup, what you have here are two tracks that are about as esoteric as it gets. Nature lives up to its name by putting the sound of birdsong atop the quietest snare roll you ever heard and gently tinkling ivories, while How's Wally on the B rides a rhythm of fingerclicks, brushed snares and the gentlest of hand percussion as jazzy, ambient piano chords throb over and over in time with a single repeating bass note. It's all a little outside the TIWWD comfort zone, almost… but it works.

An understated gem made for come-down sessions and chill-out tapes.

Out: This week

About: This comes on a brand new Welsh/German label, Cambrian Line. Here's their website, and you can also find 'em on Soundcloud where you can get preview of their next, more overtly house-ified release from Darko Kustura.

Ostracon - Unauthorized Modifications

Right then, something a tad different today as we venture into the realms of downtempo/chill-out/ambient music. I don't claim to be any expert in such fields but I do quite like this album and I rather rashly promised I'd review it, so I'll try to do it justice!

I guess as good a place to start as any is the fact that all of its six tracks are called things like Particle Agent, Dwarf Plutocracy and Photon Coercion… though that might lead you to expect weirdy techno à la Planet Mu/Warp/Peacefrog etc, which this isn't. Instead, the influence of the likes of The Orb and System 7 is writ large in this album's grooves… but I'd say it owes as much in other places to the space rock of Hawkwind and Gong, the free jazz experiments of Caravan, the avant-garde soundscapes of Harold Budd, Philip Glass etc and the synthtronic soundtrack adventures of John Carpenter. All of whom, it may surprise you to learn, do grace my record collection to some extent or other*.

Or to put it another way… hear this at a festival, and you can pretty much guarantee there'll be a stall selling chai nearby, and probably some sort of 'sonic art installation'. In fact it sounds a bit like a sonic art installation itself at times… just one that for once isn't, y'know, rubbish.

Definitely a good bet for those of you who like to sit up late smoking funny cigarettes, then.

Out: Now

About: This is brought to you by Unearthed Music, a Minneapolis based label dedicated to 'organic electronic music'. Find 'em online
here (website) or on Facebook.

*especially Hawkwind but we needn't delve too deeply into my cupboard full of dodgy hippy skeletons, need we?

Paxon Fettel - Hunters Vigil EP

Something a little different from TIWWD now as we delve into the realms of slo-mo house. Slo-mo house bordering on downtempo/ambient, even.

As such I'm not gonna say too much cos it's not really my area of expertise, but of the three tracks, I'd suggest Dampen has the most obvious house feel to it. But it's actually the lilting, wistful Amplify I'm liking the most. All told, though, this is a really rather lovely EP you should check out immediately.

Out: 30 Sept

About: This is on Falk Recordings, a label who are based in Germany and who definitely tend towards quality over quantity, given that this is only their seventh release in about three years. If you like your electronic music on the thoughtful and experimental side, Falk's a label you should definitely be checking for.

tONKPROJECT/Ebencrib - 2 Years Of Behaviors

Like the Drop music comp below, this is an album that's had many plays on the stereo before I sat down to blog about it… this time though we're actually on time with a review. Hurrah.

The album's credited jointly to tONKPROJECT and Ebencrib, though both are in fact aliases for just the one man, Laurentiu Zarzu, while the title refers to the fact it's being released to celebrate two years of Laurentiu's label, Behaviors. So much for the bare facts of the case then… but what does it sound like?

Like 12 tracks of startlingly good deepness, in a nutshell. Don't expect any instant hi-octane dancefloor thrills here: some of the music would be perfectly at home on the deeper floors circa 4am or so, for sure, but even the more uptempo numbers are aimed at the head as much as the feet, and the album's overall vibe just begs you to sit back, spark up a rather large 'cigarette' and lose yourself in the music. Or, likely as not, in the spaces between the music.

Seamlessly interweaving deep house, deep techno and ambient vibes, dubwise in parts and a wee bit proggy and blissed-out around the edges, it's an album that's likely to get many plays on your stereo, too.

Out: This week

About: Laurentiu Zarzu AKA tONKPROJECT hails from Romania, and you can find him on Facebook or MySpace. You can also check out his Behaviors show on Proton Radio.