ONE MILE STEP

Electronic Music Reviews & Suggestions

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[108] The Colour in Anything - James Blake (Universal - 2016)

After three years of waiting, with some singles in between, James Blake suddenly announced the released of his third full length album and its title “The Colour in Anything”. I was already happy to see that the album had seventeen tracks, it was worth the wait!

The sound, the atmosphere, the mood, the repeating verses and voice it is unmistakably James Blake. There is no revolution in those terms. Yet, it’s James Blake being James Blake with new ideas and improved quality and mastery of its own sound. To notice the collaborations in the production of the entire album and some tracks specifically. Like in I Need a Forest Fire feat. Bon Iver, one of the best tracks of the album!

The album is a sequence of incredible songs, and it goes up in my favourite releases of this first half of 2016 and maybe ever. It starts right away with Radio Silence, immediately an intense sound and poignant verses. No time to let down your attention, because the second track Points will get you at first listen. In both tracks the tempo is fast and slowed down at the same time, the voice is used like an instrument with very different samples looped, and the blue tranquillity is shaken only by the lightning explosions of sound that you felt in your guts they were coming. I believe the latter is true of James Blake’s music as a whole. The feeling is always of that serenity of a dark sky, before the storm.

http://jamesblakemusic.com/

To Listen To While: it smells like rain

M

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[107] Cheetah - Aphex Twin (Warp Records - 2016)

This is a Live review: I’m listening for the first time to “Cheetah EP” from Aphex Twin, while I’m writing. This is his new release. One of the many latest releases. Lots and lots of new sounds for us! Cheetah rises from the sound and atmospheres of “Syro”. A slow rhythmic mantra, called CHEETAHT2 [Ld spectrum], introduces us to… a slow and rhythmic mantra called CHEETAHT7b. This is Aphex. You never know where he can drive you. We’re running on an 80’s highway, like we’re in an old arcade video-game. A red car drives through the desert. A psychedelic sunset, colours. Nothing is coming at the horizon. Synth’s pads, percussions, flanger, kick, clap, snare. A bass synth bites the air for a second. Silence. CHEETA1b ms800: warm up the synthesisers. CHEETA2 ms800: ok, they’re warm. Let’s go. CIRKLON3 [ Колхозная mix ], and we’re back into “Syro”, right were Aphex left us two year ago. Same soundscapes, same synths, same melodies. Our 80’s journey continues with a relaxing groove. This is the real purpose of this EP.

CIRKLON1: reboot the system. Wake up. We’re back on planet earth. A snare rolls through the track. Bass synth rules the mood. A quiet dream. A connection with an alternative Internet, made of sounds and no informations. Just electronic music. A tight ryhthm dresses the tail of this track. A snare rolls. Bass rules. Closing the EP, 2X202-ST5 is flanging the groove of snare and bass line. My heads follows the beat. Straight and easy, a moan sounds. Just groove. The End.

Massi

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[106] Lewetron- Night is Electric-Blue (self-released - 2016) Lewetron is a young producer from Chile and “Night is Electric-Blue” is his first album. It’s really well build with his 8-bit sounds and for sure a big influence from producer like I am Robot and Proud. I think like most of us Lewetron grew up with a Game Boy in his hands and spent a lot of nights on the little screen consuming buttons. For how much we can hear to a certain shade of immaturity in his producing we can predict great improvement in his works. Isn’t that the goal of a producer? Every time the next album or next Ep will be better, doesn’t matter if you are at your first album or you have already a huge library of tracks and releases. Listening to this Ep I had the melancholic feeling of my childhood and the will of come back to spent time playing with some console during the whole afternoon after school. It’s a good blend between happy memories and sadness, because probably all of us lost contact a little bit with that part of our life.

Enjoy and support Riccardo

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[105 ] III - Moderat ( Mute/Monkeytown - 2016 ) I think we don’t have to write any presentation for this super band that just released their third album after a long and exciting wait. They shown a big maturity earned from the experience of the second album, where the sound and the skills of the two bands, Modeselektor and Apparat, blend perfectly creating a new style, recognizable to all the aficionados. This album, compared to the second one, is going more in the dark spectrum of the post-minimal electronic music. The darkness of this album is easy to feel, starting from the first track Eating Hooks, with  its tiny and paranoid sounds that fill the background layer of the track, and the addition of the minimal and precise drum set and the wobbling sub bass. This track is really easy to listen to and as much catchy thankful to the vocals. We will find the same feeling through the album following a sinusoid wave path. After the first track we have an idea of the differences between “III” and the first two Moderat’s albums. But they still want to make us dance a bit, so following the wave we reach the top with tracks like Running and Animal Trails where the presence of the rhythm gets more impressive. Especially Animal Trails recall tracks from the first album like 3 minutes of… but more mature and improved. It’s difficult to improve a product, but for sure Sascha Ring, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary have enough knowledge to surprise us every time and every album will give us something new without loosing the unique fingerprint that they create with this project.

Riccardo

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[104] Good Luck and Do Your Best - Gold Panda (City Slang - 2016)

We had to wait three long years, but finally the new album of our beloved Gold Panda it’s here and it’s amazing (no surprise there). First of all, get started and make this album part of your daily soundtrack! If you know Gold Panda’s music, this is an album that you will like at first listen and it will sound strangely familiar very soon, as if you’ve been listening to it for a long time.

The 11 tracks of the album differ in moods, tempo and effects, but it sound all very much Gold Panda. In each song the english producer’s talent and style is represented, that hectic beats and melodies transformed in a strangely calm and deep mellow feeling is the sound that Gold Panda has been crafting for so many years and made him known and loved all around the world. Tracks like Song for a Dead Friend, I Am Real Punk and the closing track Your Good Times Are Just Beginning enclose that feeling of nostalgic good time and hopeful sadness, a taste of realism, of life, with its cruel beauty. A feeling that it spreads out to the entire album, with some exception like Chiba Nights that recalls to a more dancy beat like in the previous album, or a more gloomy track like Unthank. The remaining tracks - Metal Bird, In My Car, Time Eater - are the backbone of the album and the most unmistakably Gold Panda sounds which actually have some resemblance to the first album “Luck Shiner” sound. 

What else can be said other than that you can trust Gold Panda, close your eyes and let yourself fall into the music, he’s going to catch you!

http://www.iamgoldpanda.com/

To Listen To While: thinking of the future

M

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[103] Like Spinning Hands - Molina Island (Sturm & Klang Records - 2016)

Molina Island is a brand new collaboration of two young producers, Grand Inc (aka Jakob Neugebauer) from Germany and Wehtam Yelthgiek (aka Mathew Keightley) from England, under the german Sturm & Klang Records umbrella with which both of the producer already collaborated.

The first two tracks are the front and back of the same coin: Whale Project is built on a catchy strong loop upon which the producers experiments a bit. In Suyá Sister the experimentation takes over, with the introduction of more analog sounds until a vocal sample loop comes up in the middle of the song to give a bit of structure. In these two tracks the producers managed already to built a distinct style, which gets established with the third track Girls Hands. This track is almost 8 minutes long, and it starts with a calm layered analog rhythms. It builds up slowly, and when melodies and vocal sample get launched the track totally captivates you. The grave bass and the effects on the vocal sample create a kind of arcane tone. Then there is Lu Sala. In this track the talent of the producers finds its best expression, elevating at perfection those details that I love: loops, vocal samples, analog sounds and a mixture of dark, upbeat and frantic atmosphere. I could listen this track for five times in a raw, and I do. It’s addictive. The EP ends with another experimental track, A Beat For A Friend, that explores more of a gloomy realm, with the focus on an analog base riff.

Molina Island the best discovery I’ve made lately, and I am sure we will hear from them again, because this collaboration sounds inevitable to me.

https://sturm-und-klang.bandcamp.com/album/skr009-like-spinning-hands

To Listen To While: it’s raining but the sun it’s shining

M

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[102] EP - Bmfbmf (self released - 2016) This is the first Ep from the producer from Glasgow. It’s a 4 tracks EP, a little piece of jewellery to bring with you everywhere you are going. The first track called …beside me has a nice flow and a slight remembrance of Shlohmo. Really deep dark ambience background refill, complex but not overwhelming. Everything is in the right spot. The EP continues following the dark mood and sample chopping. Bmfbmf reached the best balance of rhythm, vocals and melody in the third track of the Ep called NewLuv. For sure bmfbmf will have a great producing after listening to his first Ep. A lot of potential have to explode and he will give us really good material in a near future.

<a href="http://bmfbmfmusic.bandcamp.com/album/ep">EP by bmfbmf</a>

Enjoy and support this young producer

https://bmfbmfmusic.bandcamp.com/releases

Riccardo

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[101] Dandelion to neon - Earthquake Island (Anay - 2016)

After a long wait finally Earthquake Island released his new album with the Japanese  label Anay. The quality of this album is out of control and I fell for it immediately. The first five tracks of the album are a journey in space and time, to a dark future of foggy metropolis. The reference to a Blade Runner scenario are not random, since the Italian producer Emiliano Ruggiero (a.k.a. Earthquake Island) dedicated the second track Like tears in rain to the cult movie using sound sample from it. This profound sound, almost an industrial warmth, together with the amazing rhythmics and vocal sampling builds up to a deep engagement. The five track are different to each other, but they take place in the same state of mind, the same place and time: the future. And Earthquake Island is writing the soundtrack of that future already today.

The second half of the album, after a very pleasant interlude, starts with Neon Festival feat. Mocca, an electronica-pop with very catchy lyrics in Japanese, which would stuck in your head (if you know the language). Also Rain for us feat. Ka Li enchants us with a beautiful electro-pop, while Dream of origami and Il mare brings us back to the sound of the first half of the album. The album ends with To (と) feat. Joel Swensen which pushes up the beat to an underground eclectic dance. Then the outro Talk Dirty completes the album, an experimental dreamy ambient track made of a piano melody and hundreds of vocal samples. Great album by the Italian producer, who is working to release something new hopefully soon. Can’t wait for it, but until then: I’ve listen to things you people wouldn't believe!

https://anay.bandcamp.com/album/dandelion-to-neon

To Listen To While: you’re flying among skyscrapers

M

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[100] Luneworks - Mmoths (Because Music - 2016)

I’ve been waiting for Mmoths new album for so long, and it is finally here! In the last months he released few tracks of the album which were already incredible. Now we can see (or better listen to) the entire picture! It’s Mmoths first full lenght album, after the two great EPs “Mmoths” and “Diaries” in 2012 and 2013. This time the Irish producer have presented a much more heavy (in quality) and refined sound, which exceeded my already high expectations!

The fourteen track album is a spiral descent into a world where compressed air vibrations are visible and go through you like you’re made of heavy fog. The first track You gives a taste of the soundscape we are stepping into, which is made of laud industrial - almost noise - effects and arcane vocal samples which prepares the ground for the next track Deu. This track elevates even more the feeling of pleasant disorientation. There are so many layers of sounds emerging one after the other that feels like we are moving with the music. Para Polaris continues the narration, the movement, these lingering waves of rough and raw emotions. I’ll jump now to the icing on the cake of this album: Eva. This track stands out in the album because of the 4/4 tempo and the singing. The waves of sounds now are tamed for a more structured movement. But nothing is left out, nothing is missing, all the sound is there, the raw arcane effects sparks like solar flares made into sound. You can’t miss to watch the exquisite video made for this track!

Lucid is a short piano track which makes you breath before you jump into the second half of the album. Then you have Body Studies which repeatedly and slowly builds up momentum, and 1709 which instead begins in one breath with a work of beauty multilayer rhythm and the signature protracted vocal samples. The album ends with Naoko, Pt.1 and Naoko, Pt.2. The first one builds up calmly, and the slow beat that emerges at the end feels like a crowd’s slow motion applause. It could have easily ended like this, but part 2 starts slowly building up again, this time to end with a blast of sounds and then two consecutive abrupt cuts that leaves you with the eager to start the album all over again!

There is a dark light shining among the sound waves of “Luneworks”. This music is like your thoughts, chaotically forming one after the other, with so many connections and layers, but this time there is Mmoths as the orchestra conductor!

http://www.mmoths.com/mmoths/

To Listen To While: you’re watching the clouds moving fast

M

By the way, this is One Mile Step 100th review published and today we celebrate our 3rd year online! It started as a joke on an April fool’s day, but we are still here!

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[99] Carvings - Balvig (Sound of Copenhagen - 2016)

Balvig’s debut album "Carving” is the incredible result of an intense project. For an entire year, while leaving in Japan, the danish producer created a new track every week, and the album is a selection of those tracks! Thus, while listening to it, it is like going back in time, to these week-long moments captured in sounds. Each track is unique and at the same time part of a whole. If you compare tracks like Mpmeba and Fotvandring they are both very intense, but at the same time is a different quality of intensity, expressions of very different times and state of mind. The work done with sound sampling in this album is amazing. It fits perfectly in this branch of electronic music, which is nostalgic of the warmth of analogical and natural sounds. The Sunday Woodcarver is the track which represent mostly Balvig’s talent in merging pure electronic with ambient sound sampling to create the perfect electronic mellow vibe. Within this framework, there is also space for difference and a touch of experimentation. In tracks like Khao Manee and Dash Four the beats and the acidic glitches of the synth broaden the spectrum of sound of this album, which is worth listening to from beginning to end!

http://balvig.com/

To Listen To While: you’re moving fast while standing still

M

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[98] Panacea - Boerd (Comorbid Records - 2015)

Boerd is the alias of Swedish musician/producer Bård Ericson. “Panacea” is his second full length album. His style is very calm and cozy. The all assemble of instruments and noises is driving us through the album with a complex easiness.

Like Svan , the second track of the album, is a dreamy chill out track with a lot of reverb and a smooth drum base. For me, it’s almost natural to close my eyes while I am listening to this album and imagine a green leaf fell from a big tree in a river that moves quietly.The leaf’s journey continues through the album, finding different pattern and changes, as we can listen to this amazing changes in What If. The drums are more drum n bass in this track, but the melodies give us a certain shade of tranquillity, with the help of the dreamy background and the vocals.

I strongly recommend you to go to the closest park, lay down on the grass and listen to this album following the movement of the clouds in the sky.

Enjoy

Riccardo

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[97] Flash Drive - Wave Racer (Future Classic - 2015)

Do you find yourself surprise and amazed sometimes when you suddenly realise that, while is raining on you in November on the other side of the world - a big part! - summer is at the door? Well, Australian producer Wave Racer debut EP “Flash Drive” is here to remind you! This sparkling four tracks EP has all the warmth and the e-funk you’re wishing for when the first beam of sun comes out again after the long grey winter!

The four tracks that form the EP are very consistent, which shows Wave Racer’s talent. A lot of glitch and blips together with the intricate layers of vocals samples and melodies creates an amazing explosion of sound, a synchronised chaos supported by a bubbly mix of beats. Too bad the tracks are not too long - but is part of the deal with this style - and before you know it the EP is ended, and guess what... you’re ready for the summer!

https://soundcloud.com/wave-racer

To Listen To While: you smell the spring for the first time while running

M

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[96 ] For - Applescal ( Atomnation - 2015)

The Dutch producer Applescal released an incredible new LP called For. The way Applescal builds his tracks fascinates me. The stubbornly additive loop that he creates to build the song mixing his influences. He can swing easily between different genre, mixing tech-house and minimal. This use of arpeggios and drum programming brings to my ears some memories of James Holden, Ellen Allien and Boards Of Canada.

Like you do is the opening track of the album, this one in particular reminds me some old production from Ellen Allien. Probably these reminiscences come from the vocal chop he uses. The track pushes us directly inside Applescal’s style and makes us ready to continue. Overseas has a dark ambient imprint. The catchy drum loop keeps the foundations of the track strong. Everything is complete, from some dark synth and the perfect use of the vocals, creating a perfect combination of sounds and groove.

Enjoy this great album and support!

https://soundcloud.com/applescal

Riccardo

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[95] Intermission - Shigeto (Ghostly International - 2015)

There is no need for introduction to Shigeto, so I’m going straight to the point: Pulse, the first track of Shigeto new album “Intermission”, has become my obsession, I love everything about it and I can’t stop listening to it. The rhythmic synth melody together with the beat is pure ecstasy, and the chopped vocal sampling its just the perfect thing to close the perfect circle. 7 minutes of pure pleasure.

That said, the entire album it’s high quality electronic music, well..it’s Shigeto, no surprise! Do My Thing and Need Nobody stand out among the other tracks for their consistency, well crafted sounds and structure. City Dweller (feat. Ian Finkelstein) has an amazing dissonance, and feels like dreamy melodies from the future. Listening to Shigeto you feel like the future is already here, and you’re listening to its post-modern metropolis soundtrack!

https://soundcloud.com/shigeto

To Listen To While: you’re in the mood 

M

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[94] Like What EP - Tennyson (self-produced - 2015)

Right after the release of the amazing single Slipperz the young Canadian sister and brother released their latest EP “Like What”. They gives us yet another extraordinary sample of their talent and eccentricity.This is a free fall of electronic music composition, with hints of electronic jazzy momentum! It’s an irrational fantasy lead by Tess’ drum talent and Luke amazing vocals and synth-piano melodies! Fault Line and Too Long are the perfect summary of what I am talking about, with their eclectic rhythm and synths merging with the mellow vocals. 7:00 AM and L'oiseau qui danse are instead instrumental, kind of an ambient mood the first one and a progressive jazz the second one, two impressive tracks! Last mention to Beautiful World, the less experimental piece of the EP, which proves the polyhedric talent of the Canadian duo. The track is sweat and catchy, it will spread online like wildfire! 

In addition, throughout the EP it sounds they’re having a blast while playing, and the feeling travels with the sound waves and reaches you immediately. Enjoy, this is just icing on the cake!

https://soundcloud.com/tennysonmusic

To Listen To While: walking down a vacuum 

M

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[93] Harpe/Syko - Kenton Slash Demon (Future Classic - 2015)

This is the best single-EP I’ve come across since long time. It is my medicine when I just wake up in these Scandinavian winter’s mornings. Kenton Slash Demon is in fact a duo from Denmark, and Harper/Syko is their first release, and they landed the Australian label Future Classic.

Syko reminds me a bit of berliner Fantastic Mr. Fox, and in general the two track have a hint of underground deep house: insisting loop of rhythmic melodies and vocal samples, synth long notes, perfect recipe! Both tracks are quite long, over six minutes, and that is because this features need more space to convey the message. In fact the second track Harpe follows the same lines, a bit more cheerful and dancing. They are just two great tracks, enjoy and you’re welcome.

http://www.kentonslashdemon.com/

To Listen To While: you’re smiling way too early in the morning

M

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[92] Drowning For Love - M.A. Beat! (Black Milk Music - 2015)

M.A Beat! is an electric-acoustic trio made up of Samy Abboud, Louis Treffel and Adrien Legay, from Nancy (France). Drowning For Love is their first full length album. These three guys are doing a great job with their compositions. Drowning For Love is a complex plot between electric, jazz and ethnic music. It’s really a pleasure to listen to, but when you’re doing that while trying to write, like I’m doing now, there is something about it that gets you and puts you at ease: thousand of little different sounds and twists that leave you amazed by the talent of production that these guys have.

I will venture to say, just to make you understand their style before you will start to listen to the album, that their sound is a nice mixture between Tortoise, Four Tet and Boards of Canada.

Lise, the opening track, has a warm jazz drum set, really well and dynamically built, supported from a groovy baseline and to close this little poem a soft undergrowth of bells. Another track that particularly caught my attention is Yassa, with the soft organ leading the track and surrounded from the records of some birds chirping and what sounds like an oriental vocal sample. Like in the other tracks the strong base is made from the jazz and twisting drums and the bass line, quite and warm.

Considering that Drowning For Love is the first album that M.A Beat! released I can foresee a great future for this band, at least I hope so, for me and my ears.

http://mabeat.tv/

Riccardo

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