Bleep Update 11th May

New Release Round-Up
April was a bumper month for new releases on Bleep and here we bring you the best from the past couple of weeks. It's a strong week for electro with essential compilations of hard to find tracks from both Two Lone Swordsmen and Andrea Parker whilst Gosub's new album on Citinite could be a rediscovered classic from the early days of Detroit. Meanwhile on Lex Records Boom Bip surprises with an album harking back to the electronic disco of Moroder, Telex and Kraftwerk and Bjork returns with her first new album for three years, a typically weird and wonderful set of futuristic pop. All of these releases come in standard MP3 encoded at the maximum quality of 320kbps. Clicking on a release will take you to Bleep where you can listen to the whole thing in full.

A new Bjork album is always a special event and her latest effort, Volta, featuring collaborations with the likes of Konono N°1, Antony Hegarty, Lightning Bolt and long time producer Mark Bell (LFO) is no exception. A lot looser than her last few albums, Volta comes across as a microcosm of her entire career taking moments of inspiration from each of her previous 5 albums from the untamed exhuberance of Debut to Vespertine's hushed beauty. All in all Volta is another fine album from a relentlessly experimental artist.

Having made a name for himself producing some of the most fractured, experimental electronic hip-hop on offer, Sacchrilege is the italo disco EP the world probably hasn't been waiting for from Boom Bip. But once you're over the shock of the very Moroder-esque bass lines, and bouncy electro drums there's lots to enjoy here. Fans of his earlier work may be left scratching their heads but approached with an open mind this is a gorgeous record filled with sparkling synths, Kraftwerk-esque beats and most importantly the sound of an artist doing what he wants and having fun.

Compiled by Andrew Weatherall himself, Emissions Audio Output brings together the Swordsmen's finest early moments from before they signed to Warp. Still capable of some serious damage over a decent soundsystem, this is vintage mid nineties electro/techno that benefits from Weatherall's well known love of dub. Rarely have electronic artists captured the sound of their environment as well as Messers Weatherall and Tenniswood and every track on this compilations reeks of smoky studios, illegal parties and above all London itself in all it's dirty, chaotic glory.

In much the same vein as the Two Lone Swordsmen compilation, Here's One I Made Earlier rifles through the vaults of another pioneering producer, Andrea Parker, to assemble a killer selection of hard to find tracks. Bringing together releases from labels like Mo Wax and Apollo it's quality stuff from the off with a heavy emphasis on dark cinematic soundscapes and vintage electro beats that sound like the soundtrack to alien motherships menacing Detroit. With Summer just round the corner this is the perfect antidote to all those smiley happy records you're going to spend the next few months burning meat to.

Since Antipop Consortium's early demise much has been expected from it's respective members, whilst Beans got off to a head start with his solo releases on Warp, it looks like High Priest may have finally caught up to him with the excellent Born Identity album. Released on Sound Ink, which is all a lot of you will need to know, this is an experimental hip-hop album which never forgets that moving butts on the dancefloor is just as important as opening minds.

Brand new album from Simon 'Yellotone' Harding on the brand new download only label, Viva Last. Having made a name for himself on Ai Records with two albums that combined live instrumentation with electronics and some fine songwriting skills, Executive Timber sees a change in direction as Simon's Guitar work is thrust centre stage. The result is 11 tracks of off-kilter Pavement-esque lo-fi indie rock that would have sounded great on a tinny radio being introduced by John Peel in the middle of the night. A not obvious but still welcome development in one of our favourite artist's careers.

Rescued from the charity shop of history by the Rephlex crew, Bernard Fevre's late seventies cosmic disco was a surprise hit on it's re-release in 2004. The follow up album 28 After slotted perfectly in to the present nu-disco scene and cemented the Black Devil's reputation. In Dub takes the already out there analog workouts of 28 After rinses them through the echo chamber, strafes them with lazer synths and generally ratchets up the feeling that this is the soundtrack to people still dancing at about 10 in the morning. Also available is a separate EP of remixes from the likes of Quiet Village, Elitechnique and In Flagranti.

A new album on the peerless Citinite label is always a good thing. After releasing the excellent John Davis album Flashcan lat year, Citinite have returned to the present day with the latest album from Gosub, the operating alias of Shad T Scott, electro producer extraordinaire and head of the Isophlux label. Watchers From The Black Universe not only boasts one of the best titles of the year but is the kind of lovingly crafted electro that makes grown men misty eyed. Fans of acts such as Drexciya and Dopplereffekt would do well to check this out.

"Steingarten is a remarkably easy-going album. Like all great recordings, it opens up over time..but it hardly guards its secrets... Full of resonant, glistening, almost tangible sounds, Steingarten is a synaesthetic's dream... Stefan Betke (Pole) got it absolutely right: there's not a note out of place on this thing, not a single thread of delay that overstays its welcome. Steingarten is a nearly perfect album. .. the whole thing feel(s) like a kind of meditation on the very nature of limits and limitations. Given the history of his Pole project, that's likely something Betke has mulled over plenty." Philip Sherburne

Comprising of Bernd Jestram and Ronald Lippok (To Rococo Rot), Berlin's Tarwater have been releasing finely honed Krautrock influenced electronica for over a decade now. For all the gems in their back catalogue though their latest album Spider Smile could be the finest yet as they filter playful pop through their leftfield sensibilities with the lightest of touches to create something experimental yet accessible.

Formed in 1993 Blonde Redhead, like so many at the time, initially came under the wing of New York art rock noiseniks Sonic Youth. Several albums, line-up changes and years on though and their chiming wall of guitars has become ever hazier and ethereal and latest album 23 bares a greater comparison to a poppier version of the sublime 'Loveless' by My Bloody Valentine or label mates the Cocteau Twins. Kazu Makino's vocals float above the noise held aloft by whispered sighs, whilst the guitars are draped in sheets of echo and reverb and accompanied by the warmest synthesizers and strings. The perfect backing track for sensitive young men to fall in unrequited love to this year.

Going on previous releases you could be forgiven for expecting Score to consist of mangled samples of fat, half naked football fan's braying chants, chopped, twisted and rearranged into intricate electronica. Actually Score is a compilation of music Matthew Herbert has composed over the years for a variety of films and TV shows and is about as far away from the terraces as you can get. Thoughtful ambient tones and textures vie for space with jazzy big band workouts and torch song like wistful melodies leaving one with the impression that none of these films featured Jason Statham in any way, shape or form.