The Hacker
Red Team

Baby with a Halo is the newest record by Montreal based artist Ura. The songs on here feel like little organisms. While familiar genre references may shadow the pieces, from the faint ash of reminiscence comes something tactile and singular to the person who sat with the sounds and felt how they might coexist. Everything is rhythmic, the textures arrive, disappear and respond to each other in ways that could make you forget there was someone behind the controls all along. The result is full of love and ambiguity ~ choose ur own journey.

First split on ROOM record, a bipolar EP between Berg Jaar & Breekbaar. Raw packaging, no bullshit description... Let the music do the speaking.

Verscheibung by Roman Flugel arrives for the rather fine Die Orakel label overseen by LARJ's Oliver Hafenbauer. The four tracks are split between stripped-back techno and druggy, off-piste ambient (the bubbly, post-party weirdness of closer "Track 4"). The most obviously floor-friendly cut opens the EP, with Flugel layering wonky, minor key melody lines over a dense but minimalist groove. Elsewhere, check the Villalobos-ish strangeness of "Track 3", and the druggy, pitched-down experimental throb of "Track 2".

We kick start the return of Wigflex records with a brand new release from first time flexer and Nottingham's biggest blades fan... Son of Philip.Inspired by the story of how Cans drummer Jaki Liebezeit was once told to "play monotonous" during the LSD-induced ramblings of a fan; and the experimentation into repetition which followed.We first heard Rubber Stamp during a wonky walk around Dam in the early hours of the morning, it made perfect sense then and still makes perfect sense now.King of hazy, crystallised electronics Actress steps things up a notch and takes the ep away from a Hoffman-esque bicycle ride and onto the dance floor.

Glenn Astro returns to Tartelet Records with Purple, a four-tracker of minimal slow burners and futuristic dance music, marking the label’s 50th 12-inch release.Since releasing his second album Homespun in late 2020, Glenn Astro has been quietly channeling his funky instincts towards new production approaches. Purple, a four-piece compilation of mutant future-boogie daubed in Rogers-Nelson hues, comes through with emotional heft. It also marks the 50th 12" release for Tartelet Records.“Following up on Homespun, I wanted to try out some more dancefloor- oriented tracks again,” says Glenn Astro. “Keeping it simple and practical, while not being too predictable. I incorporated a lot of modular synth bits and experiments, with ‘Flux’ being an almost exclusively modular-based jam.”Incorporating tricky sound design and fluid structures, Astro’s new lines of enquiry never come at the expense of the groove. From the opening thump of ‘Penduloop’ onwards it’s apparent that his rugged rhythmic kinks are present and correct to hook in the dancers, while the melodic drops later in the track edge in a little melancholic flavour to take the mind somewhere else entirely. On this opening track, the artist explores new territory with his version of early naughties minimal house – a welcomeslow burner.The EP title track ‘Purple’ slaps with purpose, not least in the Linn-esque drums and melodic bassline, but it’s a positively dreamy piece which skips on crooked beat formations and floats upwards via a multi-timbral tapestry of yearning synth shapes and robotic vocals. On ‘Out Of Office’ Glenn Astro provides a generous dose of electro nostalgia when he amps up the heavy-hearted feeling with aching string pads and electro-informed machine logic. The track becomes alive with its deep un-synced rhythms and dark bass notes, pushing further into the abyss. ‘Flux’, with its toolyfeel, takes the electronic mantra further and sheds light on the source of much of Astro’s new sound palette.Crucially, even in its techiest moments, an irrepressible humanity shines through across Purple. Glenn Astro’s soul is the binding agent which links his early, sample-heavy house to his more explorative new angles, and it comes through in abundance on this fully-formed release.