Collected: Vol 8

Rod Modell & Taka Noda, Single Cell Orchestra, Chee Simizu, Band Ane, Voice Actor & Squu

Rod Modell & Taka Noda - Glow World

This album from last year, but only recently made available digitally. I picked Glow World up on vinyl originally and have been spinning it consistently since. A masterclass in detailed world-building, it has to be one of my prized vinyl purchases of late. Everyone knows Rod Modell, but I am sure some people may not have realized that Taka Noda, also released under a dub moniker, Mystica Tribe on Silent Season for a few years. The two make a perfect duo on this timeless record.

And just as you think we’d exhausted the Modell treasure trove in the past few months, he released another LP of sublime icey textures on ‘Northern Michigan Snowstorms’. The sub-zero chillout room from one of the Techno State’s most renowned immersive producers.

Single Cell Orchestra - Single Cell Orchestra

Our upcoming release from Monoparts couldn’t be further from the sound on this album, but in a twisted rabbit hole way, posting about Olga’s upcoming album on Instagram led me to this overlooked classic when asking for people's favorite trip-hop tracks. I love it when older 90s albums crop up on the corners of Bandcamp. For a new platform, I am always dubious of finding gems when hitting the search bar. Silent Cell Orchestra is the perfect capsulation of the freedom of sound and styles found across albums in an era when feelings beat genres.

ESP Institute XV – I Active, II Passive, III Unobtanium [L.A. WILDFIRE FUNDRAISER]

There have been a few amazing LA fire fundraiser comps released in the past month or so, and I am sure many of you managed to wrap your ears around the ‘For LA’ comps, which are a no-brainer of epic proportions within the ambient producer realm.

This one from ESP Institute, however, took me by surprise. I mean, where do you even start? 90 tracks from a label consistently pushing genre boundaries and coming up with some defining albums (those early Lord of The Isles, as just one example). I debated doing an entire collected post with 5 of my favorite tracks at one point.

After giving this a spin in its entirety as I hopped around the house and car, it’s the type of album you could listen to all day long and always find new moments. The sequencing is subtle but definitely considered. You find your ears pricking up to a beautiful new sound every two tracks or so. My choice track is by the vinyl digger aficionado, Chee Shimizu, presenting a truly uplifting Balearic sunset vibe on Zeze... save this one for the summer.

OK, two more choice cuts, then…

Band Ane - Anish Musix

Most of you know I love the playful IDM vibes of artists such as LJ Kruzer, Freescha and ISAN. It’s been a while since any of those have produced any new music of note, and it’s rare to stumble across something that evokes similar feelings nowadays. I don’t know why, though. Twenty years later, is it all just too serious now? Has the innocence in electronic music just disappeared? Is it not cool to create playful melodies anymore?

I can’t remember how this album by Danish artist Band Ane, ended up on my wishlist to purchase, it might have been playing on the Deep Space radio station. An innocent album of whimsical, melodic IDM that takes you back to the early 00’s.

Voice Actor, Squu - Lust (1)

Listening to Voice Actor’s debut on Stroom felt like a voyeuristic snapshot of personal photographs. Abstract, minimal, field recordings, vocal shards- you never knew the twist it was going to take from track to track. Now the enigmatic Stroom label return with Voice Actor alongside ‘Squu’, (who I know very little about -perhaps on purpose, as the only profile I can find is this Soundcloud).

Squu brings a dubby and trippy metallic sheen to Voice Actor’s fragmented musings, turning the abstract, into an almost danceable, yet much more listenable epilogue.

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Find these albums and many more over on my Bandcamp Collection.