Bleep Update 19th October

 
Here we have another select roundup of the best releases to feature on the Bleep frontpage over recent weeks. All of these releases come in standard drm-free MP3, are iPod/Mac/PC compatible and have been encoded at the maximum quality of 320kbps. Clicking on a release will take you to Bleep where you can listen to it in its entirety.
 
Some browsers and email clients may render this mailout incorrectly. If you think this has happened then please CLICK HERE to view the correct version.

Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! (BPitch Control)
After putting shame in the game of many other electronica producers with their debut album 'Hello Mom', Modeselektor are back with the brilliant 'Happy Birthday'. Once again they easily straddle the divide between the more experimental scene and the full on electro party madness of the Ed Banger/Institubes crews with an album that throws everything from dancehall, grime, hip-hop and electro into the mix and features a stellar rollcall of guests that includes Thom Yorke (!), Maximo Park (!!), TTC, Otto Von Schirach and Puppetmastaz.

Venetian Snares - My Downfall (OST) (Planet Mu)
Back in the territory that he explored to such good effect on the Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett album, "My Downfall" once again sees Mr Funk experimenting with classical orchestration to gorgeous effect, only allowing his trademark scattershot beats to make the briefest of appearances. Beautiful 21st century chamber music from an increasingly multi-dimensional artist.

Dopplereffekt - Gesamtkunstwerk (Clone)
Now available digitally via Clone, the reissue album of all of Dopplereffekt's principal works, originally released on the Dataphysix label. The best known pseudonym of Gerald Donald (also one half of Drexciya), Dopplereffekt explore such family-friendly concepts as sex, sado-masochism, fascism and telecommunications via razor sharp Kraftwerkian electro.

Gescom - A1 D1 (Skam)
Brilliant new EP from the Gescom Collective that veers from frenzied edit-heavy robotic hip-hop to straight up (well almost) dancefloor-friendly acid funk. As ever the exact make up of the collective is shrouded in mystery (though you can be sure the likes of Autechre and Rob Hall are mixed in there somewhere) but when the quality is this good it's almost irrelevant who is actually behind the music.

The Black Dog - Temple Of Transparent Balls (Soma)
Latest in Soma's Black Dog reissue program, this welcome re-release of their hard to find 1993 album Temple Of Transparent Balls. A must for all Plaid and Black Dog fans and still as fresh sounding today as it was nearly 15 years ago.

Stereo Image - Red Nights (KIN)
New single from Johnny Dark, formerly one half of Junior Boys, under his new moniker Stereo Image. Fans of his previous band will not be disappointed as Red Nights is a brilliant slice of experimental pop pitched just perfectly somewhere between Joy Division and Craiiiig David.

Various Artists - The Cyberdon EP (Evolution)
The latest reissue from Evolution Records (Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard's seminal nineties label) and it's one that many will have been waiting for. The two Reload tracks are classic examples of the Detroit sound being rewired through a British sensibility, but it's the classic Global Communications track OB-Selon Mi-Nos that stands out, 15 minutes of mournful ambience that has become a benchmark for the genre.

The Future Sound Of London - From The Archives Vol. 4 (FSOLDigital)
Exclusive to Bleep and Future Sound Of London's own label, From The Archives Vol. 4 sees the sonic mavericks delve into their vaults to deliver a collection of breathtaking electronic soundscapes. Some of these tracks may have languished unheard, gathering digital dust in the band's studio for over a decade now but they are easily up to the standard set on their seminal nineties albums like Lifeforms and ISDN and it goes to show how ahead of their time they always were.

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (4AD)
The follow up to last year's surprise hit 'Gulag Orkestar' which propelled Beirut's Zach Condon into the limelight, 'The Flying Club Cup' sees Condon recreating the sounds and atmosphere of some mythical Paris, a sonic crawl through its bars, back streets and cafes. A hopelessly romantic, bewildering, at times pretentious but ultimately beautiful album, much like the city of its dreams then.

Fire Engines - Hungry Beat (Acute Records)
One of those bands that burned briefly (in this case barely 18 months) but left a huge mark, Glasgow's Fire Engine were part of the early eighties Scottish new/no-wave scene that included the likes of Orange Juice and Josef K and peddled an ebullient brand of upbeat post-punk that sounds a lot like what might have happened if their Factory Records contemporaries had discovered Ecstasy a few years earlier. Review taken from Stylus Magazine

Ike Yard - 1980-82 Collected (Acute Records)
Influenced by their punk upbringing, avant-garde schooling, and no wave surroundings in early 80s NYC, Ike Yard tapped equally into krautrock experimentation of Can, the Neue Deutsche Welle of DAF and the UK post-punk dub of PiL and Joy Division to create sounds and songs unique enough to catch the attention of Factory Records, who made them their first American signing. This Acute Records release of "1980-82-Collect" collects, for the first time, Ike Yard's two releases (including their Factory LP) plus several previously unreleased tracks.

Andrew Weatherall - Sci.Fi.Lo.Fi. Vol.1 (Soma)
Another trip inside the mind of Lord Sabre as he showcases the kind of tracks that inspired the recent Two Lone Swordsmen 'Wrong Meeting' albums. Surf punk, rockabilly and post-punk are the order of the day as Weatherall digs out classics from artists such as Gene Vincent, The Strangeloves and more well known acts like T-Rex and The Fall and mixes them all up into what sounds like the best lock-in you'll ever experience.

Trunk Records - Now We Are Ten (Trunk)
Essential compilation celebrating ten years of Trunk Records, the label that over the years has delighted, confused and offended with releases as disparate as the Clangers TV Soundtrack, The Fuzzy Felt Folk compilations and the wonderfully filthy Dirty Fan Male album. Finally available on MP3 this retrospective contains tracks from the likes of Basil Kirchin, Vernon Elliot and of course the label's own Jonny Trunk.

White Rainbow - Prism Of Eternal Now (Kranky)
Simply magisterial album of electro-acoustic noise and ambient textures on Kranky from White Rainbow and in much the same vein as the epic Stars Of The Lid album released earlier this year. From tracks that throb and hum with an industrial menace to moments of sublime beauty Prism Of Eternal Now is like listening in to the dreams of a vast slumbering power station.

Jeffrey Lewis - 12 Crass Songs (RoughTrade)
A strange one here, but one definitely worth investigating as New York based cartoonist and Lo-Fi folk artist Jeffrey Lewis turns in a set of songs originally recorded by British anarcho-syndicalists Crass back in the early eighties. You don't need to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of post-punk though to appreciate what's on offer as "12 Crass Songs" is a spirited, joyful collection and Lewis' obvious affection for the material shines through. Even better this edition exclusive to Bleep comes complete with 2 extra songs unavailable elsewhere and a cartoon illustrating each track embedded in the file.

Free Blood - EP1 (Adventures Close To Home)
Brilliant lo-fi dance-punk EP from !!!'s John Pugh and the first of three releases for the London based Adventures Close To Home label. Although taking a much less disciplined approach than !!!, Free Blood are no less effective as demonstrated on their brief UK tour last month. Comes complete with remixes from ACTH and Hot Chip, who deliver a noisy, industrial dub of Quick and Painful.

Kid Acne - Romance Ain't Dead (Lex)
The 'rap Jonny Briggs' finally delivers his first album for Lex, with production by Req One and Ross Orton (M.I.A, The Fat Truckers). The most complete and satisfying Kid Acne album to date, 'Romance Ain't Dead' effortlessly manages to skip between old skool 'break out the lino' hip-hop such as "Roc Roc Radio", the glorious hooligan rush of "2, 3, Break It" and the football terrace oi! stomp of "Oh No You Didn't" without ever losing its momentum. Full of incisive and at times hilarious swipes on the underbelly of British culture this will surely be a contender for album of the year and one of the best Hip-Hop albums by a British artist in recent history.

Flying Lotus - Reset EP (Warp)
Absolutely essential 6 track EP of Sci-Fi soul, distressed futuristic hip-hop and bass heavy thumpers that sits somewhere between the likes of Dabrye, Danny Breaks and Prefuse 73 and deserves to be played through a soundsystem the size of a tower block. Just the kind of thing you could imagine Blade Runner's Roy Batty kicking back to in some futuristic MTV Cribs episode.

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Luke Vibert - Moog Acid (Lo Recordings)
It seems like an age now since it was announced that acid auteur Luke Vibert was going to be collaborating with veteran sonic scientist Jean Jacques Perry. Finally though the results are in and it seems it was well worth the wait, Moog Acid sees the two maverick producers in fine form. Whilst we may never know exactly who was responsible for what, the cartoony elasticated breaks and squelchy sonics of Luke's Wagon Christ moniker are in full affect and the whole thing sounds like it was probably as much fun to record as it is to listen to.

Lindstrom - It's A Feedelity Affair (Smalltown Supersound)
One of the leading lights of the whole nu-disco movement, Norway's Hans-Peter Lindstrom has been busy making a name for himself, both on his own and with fellow Norwegian Prins Thomas, the past few years with remixes for the likes of Franz Ferdinand and LCD Soundsystem and his own modern update of the disco sound. This now classic compilation brings together 11 of his productions for his own Feedelity label and contains some of the best examples of this genre from recent times such as 'There's a Drink In My Bedroom and I Need a Hot Lady' and the essential 'I Feel Space'.

Various Artists - Milky Disco - (Lo Recordings)
Lo Recordings come up trumps again with this gorgeous collection of cosmic disco from the likes of Daniel Wang, Prins Thomas, Kerrier District and In Flagranti. As an introduction to the scene you'd be hard pressed to do much better and all the heavy hitters get a look in. The perfect soundtrack for dark, late night dancefloors every track shimmers and shines with a sprinkling of disco dust.

Dave Graham - End Of Disco EP (Concrete Plastic)
Excellent 4 track EP on Concrete Plastic from multi-instrumentalist and composer Dave Graham whose previous form includes stints as one half of both electro-pop Dadaists Cnut and ambient doom merchants Regolith. The 'End Of Disco EP' sees Graham flying solo and delivering some seriously off the wall mutant disco that would sound right at home at Glasgow's Optimo club.