Cray "Delta Wahn"

The Australian tape label Rocket Machine is a new acquaintance for me. I only discovered it through a tweet from Brad Rose about their release of Ossining's "Company Men". Having ordered their latest batch of 4 tapes, of which all are good. 2 of the tapes were real standout to me however. I already had the download version of the Ossining tape, so was prepared for that to be great, but what really blew me away was the "Delta Wahn" tape from Cray.

Now, I must admit I know next to nothing about the artist, but sometimes that's a good thing. Free from context you have a tendency to listen without prejudice and preconceptions. And I'm really moved by this tape. Musically it could be described as somewhere between early nineties Warp electronica meets Conrad Schnitlzer in a high fidelity future. The tracks are quite varied and just as you've thought you've got it figured, something turns up to confuse you and amaze you yet again.

The tape edition of 38 copies or so, quickly sold out, but it's still available to get as download. Don't miss out.

Cloudface

I have been reading a lot of good about Cloudface's tape "Wyre Drive", but for some reason it has taken until now for me to buy the download. Anyway it seemed to fit the weather today, so I bought it from Boomkat, shoved it into my iPod Classic and went for a walk along the seafront outside of Stockholm.

Cloudface has made a short album of what could be described as slowed down acid techno with a murky analog tape sound, if that makes any sense. There are tracks that leans towards ambient as well, and some that are not as slowed down, but the general feel is somewhat dazed. It kind of reminds me of what Dungeon Acid did on his Bliss tape earlier this year, but this is a more varied output with shorter tracks. "Wyre Drive" has that murky sound and overdriven drum machine sound in common with Dungeon Acid. There's almost an industrial feel to it. On occasion I'm also reminded of early 90's Warp. Yet, somehow Cloudface manages to add a certain something to the tracks that make them feel unique. The hard edge is sometimes balanced by minimal but catchy melodies that turn up here and there. A very promising debut (and a great mini-album in it's own right), and I look forward to hearing more from this project.

Read full review of Wyre Drive - Cloudface on Boomkat.com ©