Joane Skyler
Serious Time

boomkat: ...Burbank appears to takes cues from FIS’ geologic structures and Autechrian warp in ‘Botanical Clipboard’, his first record for Kinlaw’s Bristol-based Ceramics labelCheck for heavily abstract electronics in the technoid roil and sputter of ‘Powdery Mildew’ and the swaggering, distended beast called ‘Stame’.

boomkat: ...Sterling first volley from Bristol’s Young Echo Records, featuring Sam Kidel (Killing Sound) and Amos Childs (Jabu) backing Rider Shafique’s incisive, intimate reflections on I-Dentity in modern Britain.Perhaps best received as a clear response to the divisive, race-baiting politics our times, in both parts Shafique presents an ice-cool yet impassioned dissection of the state of playlucidly channelling his thoughts in a rooted, low-key style that resonates with the delivery and impetus of classic dub poetry from Linton Kwesi Johnson and Mutubaruka.However, this being the first release from one of the UK’s most conscientious, variegated and distinctive outfits, don’t expect them to play to convention. This is most apparent in I-Dentity, where Shafique’s ennui and haunted ontological observations intersects Sam Kidel’s miasma of coruscating strings and insectoid inflection, creating a weightless, pensile and abstract space where Shafique ruminations on the stubborn hangovers of the colonial mindset and the semantics of its redundant taxonomies resonate in a wholly unique manner, similar to the way Kidel’s juxtaposed materials in his amazing Disruptive Muzak LP for The Death of Rave.For a smart contrast, in the flip side’s Freedom Cry, Shafique spells out a more positive, stately message, hailing the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement against Jabu’s unfathomable, melting backdrop of slow, celestial jazz swoon, with the lyricist holding tight to his message at the centre of it all. If we’re totally honest, on previous records Shafique’s delivery has seemed slightly over earnest or, conversely, even too droll to us. But here it makes complete, affective sense.Highly recommended!

Scrnxxxshdw: ...Screen Shadow is an amorphous presence slithering through electronic music’s dark, jagged and dreamy corridors. Emerging this January with a duo of debut EPs, Black (Vegan Tinder Lord) and White (Hexxex) , the shadowy project blends pummelling techno, industrial grit and experimental noise for a mood-spanning sound inspired by everything from Google Street View to visiting the dentist.The Black EP gleans from the heavier end of the club music spectrum, plunging into a hardcore well of nosebleed kicks and synapse-frying synths that bang with raw dancefloor energy. The White EP pauses for reflection, transforming Screen Shadow’s spiky reveries into tightly-woven technicolor dreamscapes.

XRA: ...Lurka and Bruce are present a new project under the label and alias XRA.Capturing the unstoppable energy of the hardcore continuum, within a razor sharp frame of IDM kinetics; lean, mean with a little bit of serene.