Matthew Dexter
Advanced Electronic Systems

With this EP James Bangura has definitely taken me to another place musically. It certainly is the deepest record on any of the Holding Hands labels and yet I was so drawn to the tracks. Something about the weight of the sub just called to me and then shot me off into an imaginary club space. I could feel myself swaying with my eyes closed in a dark space with enormous subs and it felt right.

SINM introduces their second release: 74 Space Station EP. Starting out with "74 Space Station" the crew delivers an ambient influenced breakbeat with chopped vocals, voyage-like arpeggiators that take you back and fourth in a low-gravity state. Talented Cesare Muraca takes over a electro influenced remixed with a heavy baseline and layers of powerful synthesizers for a suprising twist on the original. Finally "Hello Callisto" rounds up the EP with a fast paced, train-like momentum with engaging baselines, galactic pads and garage influenced drums that will keep your journey going from start to finish.

Spiralling through the space-time continuum, Alberta Balsam's debut EP amalgamates clipped breakbeat with lithe IDM and sawtooth electro. Inspired by the visionary author Ursula K. Le Guin, the vinyl is presented by Dekmantel Records together with a transcendental sci-fi narrative. Printed on a poster-inlay designed by British artist Alex Morgan, the story tells of a quest for survival on a planet ravaged by ecological collapse.In a bid to rescue all lifeforms from impending destruction, a lone holobot frantically consults her neurobiological interface. Humans can no longer subsist on Earth: waterways are contaminated, and the unbreathable atmosphere has taken on a toxic purple, almost holographic hue. Faced with environmental apocalypse, she turns skyward, to take root among the stars. With nods to the utopian futurism, attunement to nature and alien visions of pioneering electronic artists such as Drexciya and Delia Derbyshire, Alberta transmutes a synergy that's entirely her own. Higher Dreams journeys elsewhere on a passage that's equal parts intergalactic and introspective, questioning how, on the brink of the abyss, we can find hope.Blasting off the A-side with 'Atuan Tombs' – a reference to Le Guin's masterful Tales From Earthsea series – a cyborg voice narrates plundering through the skeletal remains of an urban landscape. Hollowed out kick-drums thunder in 'Cascade;' glitched-out beats that shatter into incandescent, intricate melodies. On the B-side, the titular track crescendos, it’s biblical vocals conveying the gravitas of an approaching dystopia. Yet Higher Dreams is far from doom-inducing – the EP closes off with ‘Suspended in the Manifold,' the vibrant Roland TR-808 rhythm fuelled by the colossal power of a solar flare.Renowned for her live hardware-based sets, Alberta flexes her immeasurable skill as a tech-savvy producer adept at constructing danceable, yet simultaneously lush and expansive interludes. Having trained as an epidemiologist, the theme of care reverberates through her music. Crucially, she regards dance as medicine – a primordial remedy to sustain our interconnected existence.

For AC004, we’re delighted to welcome Glasgow’s Modus to Alien Communications – for what’s planned to be the first of many collaborations. The Super-Kamio EP sees him delve into deeper territory, setting aside the pacy techno of recent releases for something a little more introspective.The title track, inspired by the Super-Kamiokande neutrino observatory, kicks things off with snappy drums and melodies which continue to evolve over the next 8 minutes. ‘Breeze’ lightens the tone with an arpeggiated baseline and playful melodies, whilst ‘Off The Grid’ heads into dance floor territory with syncronated stabs and warm pads bringing the track, and release, to a climax.

Left of leftfield dub and techno excursions.Remix by Rainstick of Blazer Sound System.

XY Dosing©(UD)is a maximalist genre of electronic music that refers to sound productions that make for a radical succession to the minimalist genre, regardless of style and aesthetic practice though mainly associated with the field of sound arts. More precisely, it designates that which embraces heterogeneity and allows for complex systems of juxtapositions and collisions, in which all outside influences are viewed as potential raw material. However, UD relies more on singular experimentation rather than the addition of musical characteristics attached to specific genres.Subsequently, UXY Dosing© gives birth to MDM(Maximal Dance Music)which, beyond a sole matter of genre, remains linked to the high consumption of dextrose associated with milk, which de facto shares the same acronym as MDM(Maximal Dextrose & Milk).Read : Dextrose, energiser or poison?UXY Dosing capsule pack notice: The packaging attached to the front cover includes three ready-to-consume UXY dosing capsules, which give you access to the last three songs of the album. If this packaging is missing, you unfortunately get an incomplete dose of the album.