VARIOUS ARTISTS
[Tomlab]

David Shrigley has become somewhat of a household name, at least in middle class houses with Guardian subscriptions. Not only has he been commissioned for multiple film projects including animating the opening credits of British film ‘Hallem Foe’ starring Jamie Bell, four shorts for Frieze Films in conjunction with Channel Four not to mention his ‘Late Night Tales: Forced To Speak With Others’ on Azuli, a collection of exclusive spoken word joints with super lo-fi wonkier-than-thou musical scores. These are all additions to his exhibition work, pieces for The Guardian on Saturday and other bits and bobs. So yes, the man is something of a national treasure whose thoroughly absurdist takes on modern life, assumptions, stereotypes and quirks is so quintessentially British, there are rumours he’ll be knighted quite soon indeed. 
Anyhoo, the album sees a multitude of artists, some rockers such as Franz Ferdinand, and electronic cats such as Psaap and Hot Chip, re-conceive his work and, strangely enough, it’s as listenable as it is likeable. On CD1 Simon Bookish does a rousing ESG-meets-Joy Division drunk on whisky version of ‘Prince Of Wales’, whilst Deerhoof do their idiosyncratic quirk-ridden, discordant electronica on ‘You, Dog (aka Kidz Are So Small)’. Disc 2 gets a touch less dinner listening, and touch edgier with The Dirty Projectors doing their best TV On The Radio impression on ‘Come Forward’ whilst everyone’s favourite producer Max Tundra makes Aphex Twin and Justice seem like jumped up frauds on the sliced up, electronic disco cut ‘A Truce’. The list of artists is long, Trans Am, Hot Chip, Liars, David Byrne, they’re all here. Pick it up. Even if you don’t like it you’ll get a book of drawings free. 6/7

GOLDEN BUG
[Gomma]

Yes, yes and yes. Golden Bug is the Parisian wunderkind whose off kilter, staccato house is ripping up the lugholes of the fit, fine and frivolous all over the continent. This mainly has to do with his last release, ‘Barbie’s Back’, having some of the nastiest lyrics this side of 2LiveCrew with everyone’s fave bimbo acting as protagonist. This here keeps it fun, and, strangely enough, really menacing. ‘We Love Tokio’ has a fragmented Japanese vocal over an electronic broken funk groove – complete with obligatory machine gun breaks a la Counterfeet via Justice, though sounds quintessentially different. ‘Horses’ however is a nice bit of electronifunk with a weird 70’s vocal strewn atop (‘Original Mix’), or about killing “Horses” with a silent ‘es’. Yeah, weird no? Wonderfully worrying. Or to put it another way, it’s so very necessary. So very necessary indeed. 5.5/7

TRENTEMØLLER
[Audiomatique]

The Danes have never really been known for their music. It’s a shame really, as some of the newest artists to emerge from the small, but perfectly formed country with the incredibly high taxes and slightly right leaning government, have been incredible. Tomboy, for example, has been doing some great things as have Get Physical chaps Djuma Soundsystem. The one artist who’s managed to break the mould completely has to be one Anders Trentemøller. Often portrayed as a moody, the 80s rock loving recluse of sorts who’s rumoured only to have started producing techno ‘to have something to listen to’ has broken boundaries with his debut LP ‘The Last Resort’. The album, as opposed to being a collection of dancefloor bangers, actually played more like a warm down-tempo electronica LP. Perfect winter listening. This time, as opposed to releasing new studio work, we have a comp over 2 CDs that covers what Anders believes is his best work. CD 1. which consists of his own work has a real warm rolling feel to it with cinematic piano led ‘Klodsmajor’ as well as dancefloor smash ‘Physical Fraction’ in attendance. The second CD is based around his remixes and has a bit more of a ‘shake your ass and dance’ feel to it. So we have his vocal remix of Röyksopp’s ‘What Else Is There’, Robyn’s ‘Konichiwa Bitches’, Tomboy’s ‘Flamingo’ and Filur’s rather ethereal ‘You And I’. It’s almost like an aural autobiography, and just in time for Christmas! 6/7

The Emperor Machine
[DC Recordings]

Has there been a series of such impeccable style, taste, ingenuity and flair as the ‘Vertical Tones’ releases in the past decade? Maybe the Analord series comes close, but it’s no contest really. Andy Meecham’s series appeals to hipsters, music connoisseurs, nu-disco lovers and geeks alike. It’s as if he’s taken the premise of ‘Lost In Space’ and created a synth opera of cosmic proportions. Every track is an act, and there’s nothing but drama. Oh, what’s that? You aren’t au fait with the sounds of Chicken Lips and The Emperor Machine? Well here’s a hint: think ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ filmed as a silent flick by Fritz Lang in Technicolour. Sound crazy? This would be the soundtrack. No doubt about it. If this is you bag I suggest you run like a loon to your nearest vinyl saloon quick sharp and pick up the back catalogue. The only downside is this is the final part of the series, but just as people repeatedly watch Wagner’s ‘Ring Cycle’, these beauties bear repeated listening. It has classic written all over it.

VARIOUS ARTIST
[Soma]

Ha! One has to take ones hat off, both to Soma and to Andrew Weatherall. Just when you think you’ve got them pegged, they switch it up. So, you think Andrew’s all about the twisted techno and rough electro? He’ll hit you with bluegrass and rock n roll. The same goes for Soma. So what’s this then I hear you ask? Well, it’s a bit of both sides. Soma decided to give the reigns to the ever masterful AW, and he went on to mix a compilation (all vinyl, complete with the “scratch, scratch” that we love so much) of what inspired his last Two Lone Swordsmen LPs. So we get blues, rockabilly, pop and everything else in between – all shimmied and mixed with such dextrous aplomb, not to mention vibe, that one wonders whether all this technological tomfoolery is nothing but one incredibly large con. Eh, don’t get me wrong though, we love technology, but every now and then it’s good to get down, gritty and return to the roots. If that’s your thing, this is sooo your comp. Love it.

NIYI
[Holloway Hit Factory]

The N. the I. the yadda yadda. This multi coloured misfit is the new ravers equivalent to the Stunners’ Swastika Pete. Yeah, a lot of people want to hate, but you know what, both of them have blown up all over their respective stops like Molotov cocktails filled with day-glo, cheech and satirical comments. Plus it’s ’07, no time for hate. The music is a like being slapped across the face by a box set of Nathan Barley. ‘808 Klap’ is the kind of thing that would have more kids in London College Of Fashion shaking their skinny legs like hip hop artists wave borrowed dollar bills in their videos. ‘Yr Mummy’ is a rather hilarious hip hop/house track on yummy mums. Novel. It’s not often that one gets something like this, but you know, if this kid drops an album before the year is out, he’ll be in Observer Music Monthly by January. Trust. 4.5/7

!!!
[Warp]

!!! !!! !!!! See how excited I am?! I’m chk chking all over the shop. You get the punky funky chaps that pop n’ lock so much one realizes the entire outfit must have met at some kind of double jointed funk convention out in Oklahoma (that is where they hold those sort of things right?). This time, for tracks off the Myth Takes album, we get the duttiest, bounciest, funningest, bestest remixest remix this side of Still Going (who remix the rather special ‘Yadnus’ on the EP also). One thing though, when are these cats gonna drop their next record? I know it’s not been that long, but this is the ADHD generation is it not? Umm…what are we talking about again? Oh yeah, also check out the Scottie B remix of ‘Yadnus’. The same old thing with the ubiquitous ‘Think’ break underneath the vocal, but it works like a Robin Reliant that’s, umm… reliable. I don’t know about you, but I’m really beginning to rethink my neophilic lifestyle. Perhaps I made the wrong choice? Or maybe I’m just annoyed that you can hear B-more re-edits on the radio now. Who knows.

MODESELEKTOR
[Bpitch Control]

There’s no doubt in my mind that this is not only contender for best electronic album of the year, but is, without a doubt, the hands down winner. Modeselektor, aka Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary, have been doing their electronic bass heavy, cut up, innovative thing for quite a while now, with their debut album ‘Hello Mom’ blowing speakers back in ’05. Now, back with a lickle vengeance, we have ‘Happy Birthday’. And it’s a corker.
I don’t even know where to begin. Perhaps track two, with the somewhat ubiquitous hip hop stylings of TTC adding bars to the chopped up beats. The sound is something like Dabrye remixed by RATATAT, all crunked up mini breakdowns for the spliced chopped electronics. We also get their favourite reggae MC Paul St. Hillaire adding some of his beautifully warm, slightly reverbed, smoky vocals over the dubby beats of ‘Let Your Love Grow’; reminiscent of Postal Service if they were based in Berlin and Paris as opposed to Silverlake and L.A. ‘B.M.I.’ sounds a bit like something Skream would produce if he existed on a diet that consisted purely of 90s Warp records and early Output tracks. ‘Sucker Pin’ is a track that’s sounds quite a bit like Jimmy Edgar’s secret project Plus Device released on Soul Jazz. Incredible. Plus, it only gets better. ‘The Dark Side Of The Sun’ featuring the Puppetmastaz is quite literally the best thing they’ve ever done – speaker bustin’ badness – in otherwords, dancefloor dynamite. Modeselektor have a serious sense of humour also with their dubstep re-conception of Scooter’s ‘Hyper Hyper’, so removed from it’s origins, it took me like five listens to get the reference. I think you get the idea. This album is so full of fresh ideas, twisted humour and a deftness that leaves most other releases seem out of date and anodyne. Essential like lungs. 7/7

“It fills me with disgust.” Those were the words uttered by the ever genial 39 year old artist, illustrator, satirist, ironist and sharper than a new Global knife man of now, David Shrigley. The topic of discussion was the appropriation of his style - hand drawn illustrations coupled with slightly absurdist, and at time macabre prose that at once disarm, and subvert general concepts of stereotype, culture, art and “being” in the 21st Century – by art students and others who think they can simply ‘try their hand’. “It can’t be that hard can it?” Little do they know…
Although he’s been a figure in the international art scene for a while, first exhibiting at Transmission in Glasgow, he’s gone on to exhibit his works at the Anton Kern Gallery in New York, the Stephen Friedman Gallery and Serpentine in London as well as BQ in Cologne. The thing about D. Shrigley is that he’s probably known by most people outside of the art world for his work shown beyond the confines of the paradigmatic four white walls of gallery spaces. For example, his video for Blur’s ‘Good Song’, his weekly pieces in The Guardian’s Weekend Magazine, his books (most notably ‘Ants Have Sex In Your Beer’, ‘Human Achievement’ and ‘The Book Of Shrigley’) and as well as his recent film work such as the illustrated opening credits for Jamie Bell vehicle Hallam Foe as well as four shorts for Frieze Films this year, have all seen him become very present in the cultural consciousness. One may go as far as calling him a national treasure.

His sense of humour and unassuming style has touched the heart of the music world also. Prior to ‘Worried Noodles’, a CD made up of prose written by Shrigley and reconceived by 39 musicians to be released on Tomlab, he’s also added to the ever growing Azuli Late Night Tales canon after being commissioned to do ‘Late Night Tales – Forced To Speak With Others’ that consisted of exclusive spoken word prose over sparse, weird beats reminiscent of Chris Morris’ ‘Jam’ audio series. As for ‘Worried Noodles’, it’s an ambitious project that sees 39 different musicians, from David Byrne and Deerhoof to Psaap and Hot Chip, re-conceive his words into exclusive, and thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly diverse songs. 
The double CD is out now, but it’s all about the limited edition triple LP boxset that comes complete with 106 page hardback book of Shrigley’s work drawings that the songs were based on. Pick it up. Just don’t try to imitate it though. He really doesn’t like it. In his own words: “It’s like someone showing you a picture of someone that looks like your girlfriend, but is just that bit uglier.” Indeed.

FELIX DA HOUSECAT
[Different/Wall Of Sound]

The first single from Felix’s upcoming LP ‘Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco’ is cool. By this I mean it’s some of that slightly out of focus, 70s-looking, polyester disco cool (the fabric of tomorrow). Anyhoo, the original mix is just on the right side of fromage with the repeated female vocal that Felix always uses to great effect, disco cuts and hand claps. Of the remixes, well, it’s all about the Justice meets Daft Punk electro of Teenage Bad Girl. It’s a well worn formula they’ve adopted: 1. Take a track; 2. Chop the melody; 3. Use the vocals for the break; 4. Make lots of noise until the end… Winner – a blog house masterpiece that outdoes Kris Menace and Armand VH. Strange, but the new kids represent. Dope. 5.5/7

LANOIRAUDE
[Dialect]

Dialect is currently one of the offices favourite labels. It’s partially down to their Battle 12”s that have some of the most interesting artists doing the “I’ll remix yours if you remix mine” thing on wax. It also has to do with them signing pretty much nothing but hot tracks. This is no exception with Arnaud Malherbe, who also goes by LaNoiraude’s, LP. Experimental house and techno that swings though afro influences, to stripped back house, to crazed techno to discordant electro and back again. For example ‘Les Yeux Secs’ reminds one of old Tim Paris remixes, layered deep house grooves given a slight jazzy twist and electric spoken vocals. ‘Mbife’ featuring Fania goes down the afro-techno route with a chugging techno rhythm flanked by horns, ethnic percussion and high end sweeps. It seems that freeform is all the rage also with the Arabian sounding motif all over ‘Khen Hook’ that jams like 125 blackberries, sugar and water on the boil. ‘Bloom Doudouk’ is a slow moving burner that’s part new disco, all plodding, slightly phasered sounds placed against a Moog-alicious a-line and west coast surfer sound effects mixed with some John Carpenter-isms. Really, this is a very interesting album sans any real club bangers. What that means is firstly, that this gent loves his art and secondly, he refuses to pander. Creativity is key indeed. ‘Mechanical Traction’ sounds a bit like Jamie Jones stuck in a lift for three days with only his Mac Book (complete with extended battery power) for company. Brilliant. 5.5/7

CHLOÉ
[Kill The DJ]

Well, I am being slightly facetious labeling ‘The Waiting Room’ as pop, seeing that “morning drivetime radio play” or “easy listening” is probably as far from Chloé’s mind as quitting smoking is to a person with crippling debt. This is not a collection of 15 bangers, this is electronic music that sets its sights way beyond the club, past the car, through the house landing in the laps of music connoisseurs, aficionados and those that know electronica needn’t instinctually be snapped onto a 4/4 beat.
The first thing we get is the title track, an electronic flight of whimsy that floats and pops like effervescent eau minérale. Think múm meets Matmos, all layered chirping birds and Parisian sighs beneath a half looped lullaby melody. ‘I Want You’ is a slow burning moody Moog number, all panned atmospherics, deep pads and electronic flares. The kind of thing that one could imagine Kraftwerk producing if they hung out with Apparat and the Bpitch Cntl posse for a month. Chloe decides to swing out into guitar touched brooding noise on ‘It’s Sunday’, a track that’s full to the brim with animosity, frustration and irritation, all perfectly captured in 5’29. Indeed, this theme is pursued in the Tom Waits-esque ‘Around The Clock’ which locks the whole plucked acoustic guitar, oompah band, repeated vocal cymbal thing tighter than Dita Von Teese’s corset, or the luxuriously opulent ‘Amour’ which sounds as if it were pulled from some opium-drunk mind. For those who are looking for some more dancefloor orientated techno, ‘Over The Dose’ and ‘Suspended’ both fit the bill, driving hard and long and suiting late nights at Watergate, though that doesn’t seem to be exactly what this album is about. Across the board, Chloé delivers. Witness the brilliance. 6/7

SHOCKING PINKS
[DFA]

Death From Above indeed. These ridiculous gents haven’t failed to miss a trick when it comes to releases. Most recently the Prinzhorn Dance School did some rather great things with their lo-fi album, whereas this is all about the garage-esque dance riffs, John Cage atmospherics and real McCoy beats. Here they’ve taken the past couple of albums from the New Zealand gent Shocking Pinks, and released it on a single disc for a larger audience. Man, and isn’t that what labels are meant to be about?
In true garage tradition, most of these tracks barely even pass the magic 2 minute mark, though Nick Harte (the real name of The Shocking Pinks), does all that he needs to in these urgent and emergent tracks. Opening with the aptly titled fade-in ‘Wake Up’, we are thrown into ‘This Aching Deal’, a track that is both melancholic and beautiful in equal proportions. Indeed, this continues in the rather special track ‘Second Hand Girl’, that reminds one of the Canadian art school Playboys, whilst managing to be something completely different, unique and new. There are some points on the album that falter somewhat. ‘The Narrator’ switches the whole style up with ‘Venus In Furs’ leaning atmospherics spliced with incredibly droney lyrics. Not that it’s a bad thing, indeed, it may be one of the standout tracks on the album, just that it fails to resonate in the same manner as the other cuts on the disc. One can’t fail to mention, at least in passing, ‘Girl On The Northern Line’. In some circles a modern gem, it evokes cultural references and a turn of phrase that leaves most other singers of the ilk blinded by the brilliance. Buy it. I think you’ll like it. 5.5/7

VARIOUS ARTISTS
[Lo Recordings]

Lo Recordings is fast becoming one of my favourite labels of the moment. Quite nearly everything they release is a sparkling gem of pure unadulterated aural pleasure. The words “tantric” and “eargasm” spring to mind, though I doubt you’ll have too much luck finding a definition of the latter in the dictionary. Anyhoo, this collection is one of the finest nuggets of cosmic disco to be disseminated recently in discoland, all compiled by Milky Disco don, Milky Globe (aka Jon Tye). This guy knows his onions from his shallots, that’s for certain.

Opening with Balihu label boss, Daniel Wang’s ‘All Flowers Must Fade’, a track that sounds a bit like summer on Saturn, or the sound of a ‘70s spa resort somewhere in the Himalayas. You know, high class, cosmic, syncopated synths, cowbells and the obligatory handclapped drums. Just in case you didn’t know, this chap’s precursored Metro Area. Respect is due. Speaking of which, Morgan Geist’s homage to Black Devil Disco Club - Jersey Devil Disco Club – appears with the spook fest that is ‘Child 13’. A staple in any cosmic disco collection. The sometimes Bearfunk cohorts Idjut Boys, re-rub Andy ‘The Emperor Machine’ Meecham’s dubbified masterpiece ‘Front Man’ that seems to splice the Grace Jones’ ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’ with Steve Kotey’s mindset after a particularly bad handful of mushrooms. Though, never one to be called conservative, Jon Tye adds some new names to the mix by the names of Studio (the playlisted ‘Life’s A Beach’) and Sorcerer (the OWTL playlisted ‘Surfing At Midnight’). If the Gods are into music, I suspect they listen to this. The sound of the cosmos. 6/7

Francesco Tristano
[Infiné Music]

Sometimes I wish I was Italian. Nothing to do with the fiery disposition and the food (though both are rather enviable) but the names. It would be grand to be Anderesco Picannini or something. Anyway, whether or not a grand name influences one’s aptitude, Francesco has reworked a classic and inadvertently created one. His stripped down version of Derrick May’s gem is as soulful as it is beautiful, consisting of nearly nothing other than what may be called a pianopella. Then there are the remixes. Kiki does his moody best to assimilate the classic. Expect dancefloor pandemonium once the first key oozes out of the speakers, whereas Apparat switches it upwith a slightly left of centre rework for the heads. Things are looking good for Agoria’s new label. 6/7