Slim pickings this month folks, the pre Christmas seems to be biting early this year. No albums but some great eps, so let’s get straight into it.
Burial Waves
Holy Grounds
It’s always fun when you come across a Supergroup and you have absolutely no clue who the band members are. Burial Waves is made up of members of acts from Washington DC and I may just have to check out their respective bands because this ep is a highlight of the year.
They play an intense, alternative indie / rock, and in places remind me of Trail of the Dead on their slower material. This is a debut EP but you can see the band’s experience from the outset. Light Heads was the first song the band released at the start of the year, and I’m still rinsing it. Cinema Shame is one of my favourite songs of the year, and while these two tracks do overshadow the other 3 songs, they are strong enough to hold their own.
If you’re looking for some melodic, emotive alt rock this is the best collection of it I’ve heard all year.
Otik
Soulo Ep
London based Otik brings us this ep via Martyn’s 3024 label. It’s a bass heavy beast, with the opener, Lightyear Dub, bringing some dnb flavoured techno. Soulo, the title track is a more straightforward, downbeat techno number with some gorgeous, twinkling snyths. The last track, Garuna, changes the mood with a post dubstep throwback. It’s a bit of an outlier for this ep, but when this done well, it’s no bad thing and nicely closes out a great collection of bass music.
Logic1000
In the Sweetness of You
Logic1000, aka Samantha Poulter, is starting to make some headway in the dance world, having recently been featured in The Guardian’s one to watch column.
This follow up to her first ep (Also featured on TWoE earlier this year) is a house banger. The opener, It’s all Around, rattles some techno percussion over some warm house. What You Like, is a pretty vocal house track, low tempo but with a warmth that wraps you up in it’s bass.
The ep highlights are the last two tracks, Natural and 21. Both are more chilled and 21 in particular has a lovely relaxed acid vibe to it.
This is another great release from Logic1000, I can wait to see where she goes from here.
Hiroshi Watanabe
The Strength in Life
Hiroshi has been working away in the Japanese techno scene since the 90’s but hasn’t managed to break out to the worldwide acclaim he deserves. In fact, I only discovered him on an Anime soundtrack.
Once again, it’s a new Eureka Seven soundtrack that brings us this fantastic slice of melodic techno. He just makes it all sound effortless. The slow build to the warm main section of the track is perfect. I have a bad habit of comparing music to a hug and I’m going to do it again here. Turn this up and let it envelope you, it’s lovely.
I’ve just discovered that Get it by your Hands is finally on Spotify! It’s a new mix but still a fantastic bit of melodic techno.
The ways of exile 