Hello! If this is your first Bandcloud, it goes something like this. A few Bandcamp releases, mainly ambient/drone/noise albums or club compilations. Then a larger selection of SoundCloud links, featuring mixes, tracks, EPs etc that are largely house and techno. There's always room for anything though. I just like to share great music, and there's a lot of it out there.

Further Reductions - Disparate Elements EP
Shawn and Katie O'Sullivan bring some seriously gnarled electro and brash, trippy techno to Dutch label Knekelhuis. The title track feels like it wouldn't be out of place next to Errorsmith's latest work, while the juddering acid line of 'Aural Equivalent' is a monstrous beauty. I'm genuinely afraid of some of these tracks.

Kassem Mosse - Chilazon Gaiden
It's a new Kassem Mosse album! You want more? It's faster and more raucous than previous albums (like the one on Workshop) but just as excellent. 'Nobody Has To Know' is a highlight, a study in tension; 'Wir sehen andere Tage' features gorgeous interplay between synths and percussion.

VA - DARK AMBIENT (Urban Arts Berlin)
Seriously dark ambient (duh) from this wonderful outlet. Twenty under-the-radar acts bring varying degrees of noise to the table. What I particularly love here is that each track page has info on the artist in question. I appreciate that attention to detail.

Benedict Drew - (LIVE AT CAFE OTO 25th September 2017)
I had kind of forgotten about Benedict Drew (having lots of conversations about my capacity to retain musical information lately) and then Mumdance played a section of his Crawling Through Tory Slime release for Mana the other night. Enjoy a live recording from last September, with requisite dank noise and sludge.

SoundCloud playlist

Yma - depends on my mood
Here we have a languid mix that moves from a kind of sultry folk to strange electronic noises, moving through a remix of 'Fade to Grey'. It all comes an end with a truly heartbreaking Kesha remix/interpretation.

birch - Sketchy Commodity EP
Birch is an artist based in Copenhagen and this set was released on Infinite Waves in June. It just went on SoundCloud this week, though, and that's how I heard it. It's a three-track release of soft ambient music, the first track building slowly with delayed arpeggios and droning patterns. The second, with the wonderful title 'Canny Valley', feels like a muted Laurie Spiegel track, its synth lines pushed back as if stopped like an organ. 'Canyon' takes all these elements and pushes further, never forcefully, hushed vocals adding mystery to the beautiful sounds already present. I'm going to go check out her album Doldreams now, which came out in September.

Forte - Untamed (ØEN REC)
More Danish sounds here. Forte is part of the Regelbau crew, and here he's got a release forthcoming on Copenhagen's ØEN REC. It's no great departure from his collective's standard tropes of blissful synths, breezy percussion and evocative field recordings, but it's a cut above the imitators and it's a solid piece of work. (On the subject of Regelbau, a correction. Last week I featured Palta and erroneously said it was an alias of CK. It is of course Central. Thanks to Morten for pointing that out!)
 
object blue - Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (live set at Crofters Rights 30/11/17)
This is a stunning live show from London producer object blue, a recording of a performance in Bristol late last month. Nearly an hour of intense, choppy techno, it pairs grinding noise with sparkling synth melodies, unpredictable percussion with incoherent, chopped-up vocals. I could be wrong but it feels like a single track stretched out to an hour's length, but it's never boring, subtle differences adding intensity and intrigue.

Cool and Frank - My Brookyn Dad Winter Coat / SDF4
This one isn't even the artist's most recent work, but the title is so good I couldn't not share it. It's a fun jumpy electro cut riven with emotive chords. 

Modulator (Freddy Fresh) - pushpin (Modulator) Electro
This guy has been putting out tracks for 25 years and his SoundCloud is a constant stream of tracks, new and old. This one grabbed my attention, not least on account of its silly art. As above, it's a fun bouncy number with an infectious groove. 

Lone Dancer: A 5 Mag Mix vol 52
Super mix from Jacktone and Deep Club's Lone Dancer. It opens with a wonderful track from Mhysa's fantasii, and kicks off with a sublime transition into Hidden Spheres. We've also got Violet, CMD, Batu, Powder and more. Bangers.

EOY Part I went out on Tuesday! If you've recently subscribed and didn't get it give me a shout and I'll send it your way. More to come next week. Also, my latest DDR show with India Jordan and Yamaneko is streaming away right here. So much fun.