LNS
Recons Two

boomkat: ...Smiling C have us beaming again with ambient house treasure from a lesser-hailed node of the early ’90s UK house and rave sceneDancing between the lines of jacking Chi-house, psychedelic bleep techno and ambient house, the ‘Mad Vibe’ EP is the sole output by DJ Mad & Dr. Stevie The Ambient Guru, who, if we’re not mistaken, hail from the raving outpost of Middlesbrough on England’s North East coast - a sorely overlooked bastion of the original northern UK rave circuit. This level of detachment from the UK rave scene perhaps explains the offbeat formulation of the ‘Mad Vibe’ EP, which clearly echoes the styles of Yorkshire bleep ’n bass an hour south, but with a rawer, radgy, playful edge.A-side sports ‘Northern Echo’ with its properly charming mix of palm wine or Hawaiian guitar and simmering, latinate machine rhythms in deliciously woozy style, while ‘Communication’ hops around on a sparky jack attack with tumbling toms, nagging bleeps and catty psych guitar licks in the last third. B-side only gets ruder with ’System Shock’ working on the cusp of New Beat and some other strain of quintessentially UK rave nuttiness, and ‘Levitating Pharaohs (Full Frontal Spacehead Ambient Mix)’ wraps up in the barminess in balmy ambient guitar, sweet synth chords and rustling NYC deep house rhythms.

Sia Ahmad returns with A Body of Full Of Tears, the Canberra sound artist’s first new work as Shoeb Ahmad since “quiver” (2018) and their departure from critically-acclaimed jazz ensemble Tangents.Where “quiver” embodied themes of dysphoria and identity with a soul-pop conceit, ABFOT dives headfirst into the tumult beneath waves of distorted sound, obscuring Ahmad’s foundational songwriting in the process. It’s the cathartic din of an artist rediscovering the expressive and electronic elements of their early practice, marked by a period of deep isolation where questions of artistic and familial identity prevailed.All profits from sales go towards ongoing contributions made to Aboriginal Legal NSW/ACT and Pay The Rent.

Avon Terror Corps: ...Since 2019, a dark cloud has loomed over our region, as many have feared the return of the most weaponised duo in Avon.A trail of scorched chambers in their wake, their witnesses still fail to rub the imprints from their retina, drown the wailing from their heads and scrape a metallic taste from their mouths.But finally, our iron tongued padre, Franco Franco, and his crypto-bard, Kinlaw, throw down their second slab, 'Mega Dopo Mega'.Charging straight over the top into 'Com'èèè??', 'CGI World' shells down on us with a white-hot salvo. Round after round, our ringmaster spits cybernated venom as his consort thrashes us with relentless, barbed sonics.Pausing just briefly on 'Tetsuo 2019' to heave up a lung full of filings - they press on into data driven mania and cyber-chotic battle cries.By 'Distretto Nono', their probe lifts off - before exiting in a cacophony of AI laughter, beamed straight from the shell.They're back, and this time it's personal...'