October: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Crooked Man 'Crooked Man' (DFA)

Richard Barratt, aka DJ Parrot, is a true UK legend. From his start at Sheffield’s legendary Jive Turkey club in the 80s, he’s released epoch-defining bleep’n’bass records as half of Sweet Exorcist (helping to cement the success of WARP Records in the process), formed a third of All Seeing I, worked with Róisín Murphy, Jarvis Cocker and The 2 Bears, and put out plenty of cult 12”s under various aliases. He’s always remained very much in the shadows, though – but that might change now that DFA have given him a platform. This album collects Crooked Man singles going back to 2012, along with a bunch
of new tracks, and it’s simply a masterpiece.

It’s fundamentally rooted in early house music – there are haunting Robert Owens-ish vocals, warm basslines and that perfect combination of heartbreak and optimism in mood and lyrics throughout – but it’s in no way retro. Whether it’s a skippy garage shuffle (‘Fools And Fanatics’), a slow Carl Craig-ish space voyage (‘Try Me’) or a hands-in-the-air singalong (‘Happiness’), every track positively shines with studio inventiveness. As a producer, Barratt is the equal of anyone working today, but what’s most amazing is that even after 30-plus years, he still seems to be as connected with the magic of dancefloor moments as he ever was.

8/10

Matt Robertson 'In Echelon' (Tape Club Records)

For his day job, Matt Robertson shapes the musical output of some of the best-known artists in the electronica and downtempo fields. But away from being musical director for the likes of Björk and Cinematic Orchestra, Robertson collects, works and records with vintage synths and sequencers. He combines these with modern equipment on ‘In Echelon’ to make an album of symphonic electronica and leftfield techno that’s cinematic in scale. It’s the sort of stuff you can imagine soundtracking both tense Hollywood thrillers and sweaty, darkened rooms. There’s hints of Fuck Buttons’ oppressive tech on the title track, while the tender, bass-warped lament of ‘False Sense’ drifts into Nils Frahm territory.

8/10

Mike & Rich 'Expert Knob Twiddlers' (Planet Mu)

Expert Knob Twiddlers may seem like the sound of a couple of electronica’s game-changing artists just messing about. But there’s a difference between silliness and having fun – and the latter is exactly what Mike Paradinas and Richard ‘Aphex Twin’ James were doing when this was recorded back in June 1994. Some 22 years on, it’s been remastered, re-edited and reordered, with seven new tracks and alternate versions, too. Of the original cuts, the lo-fi acid funk of ‘Mr Frosty’ stands tallest. New arrivals, meanwhile, include ‘Brivets & Muonds’ – a drunken, distorted tech stomp – and a frantic alternate take of ‘Vodka’ that mixes Latin rhythms with vintage synth squiggles.

7/10

Trentemøller 'Fixion' (In My Room)

Trentemøller has come a very long way since his dubby minimal breakthrough LP ‘The Last Resort’ was released back in 2006. His fifth studio album is yet another dramatic and studiously emo affair that guides you through wintry indie landscapes, dusky synth hymns and Depeche Mode-like pop noir with a real sense of style. Once again, the Danish producer also calls on a roster of indie musicians and vocalists for back-up, and they help add an infinite amount of black and grey shade to his sounds. Far from being austere, though, the cavernous riffs of ‘November’ or undulating synth pulses of ‘Phoenicia’ are like a warm blanket of comforting sound, while more direct and urgent Joy Division-esque kickers like ‘Complicated’ lurk elsewhere.

8/10

Yello 'Toy' (UMC)

The peculiar Swiss electropop duo of Boris Blank and Dieter Maier have been operating since the late 70s, and have got around a bit since then: who else, for example, could have both featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and been remixed by Andrew Weatherall? On this showing, they’re just as weird and just as wonderful as ever. The first thing that’s noticeable is just how inventive Blank’s synth work still is: whether for floating sunrise ballads, darkly rippling ambient pieces or pumping glam-pop, his sounds bubble and blurt in super surprising ways. Meanwhile, despite being 71, Maier’s urbane persona is as funny, funky and disquieting as ever, and this album is a righteously fresh addition to their catalogue.

8/10

Durrty Goodz 'Hungry Belly' (Tru Thoughts)

It’s great to see so many of the finest MCs of grime’s old guard – Skepta, Kano, Flowdan – making rock-solid albums this year, and it’s great to see Durrty Goodz among them, too. He’s known as one of the scene’s best lyricists, and in recent years has diverted towards more conscious UK hip hop. Here, though, he’s back to his roots: over rugged grime beats with a seasoning of trap and dub, his only subject matter is merking MCs, making money, getting girls and generally being a bad bastard. And it’s glorious. It feels like he’s having huge fun with it, the wordplay is amazing as ever and if it isn’t quite the structured album that labelmate Flowdan’s was, the individual tracks are fire.

7/10

Machine Drum 'Human Energy' (Ninja Tune)

Travis Stewart always has a project on the go, whether solo as Machinedrum, with Braille’s Praveen Sharma as Sepalcure or alongside Jimmy Edgar as JETS. With Machinedrum, Stewart synthesises his love for the hyperactive rhythms of footwork, dancehall and the UK bass continuum. ‘Human Energy’, he says, is inspired by falling in love and discovering healing and meditation. Stewart has long had a knack for creating grin-inducing, uplifting tunes. Now it’s dawned on him that marrying sweet but complex melodies with earthquake bass could have max commercial impact, Major Lazer-style, with the right vocalists. If the aim of both ‘Dos Puertas’, a grinding, quasi-trap freakout with Rihanna collaborator Kevin Hussein, and ‘Angel Speak’, an insanely catchy synth-horn grind with Melo-X, is dancefloor annihilation then they succeed with room to spare. Subtle? Nope, not really. But it’s hugely fun and definitely full of ‘Human Energy’, ensuring that it’s an album well-named.

7/10

Murcof x Vanessa Wagner 'Statea' (InFiné)

You can hardly move for atmospheric neo-classical albums right now, and Mexican producer Fernando Corona, aka Murcof, deserves respect as a major forerunner of the movement. His releases have blurred experimental orchestral music with refined dub techno and glitchy ambient for over a decade now, and here, he and pianist Wagner turn their attentions to compositions by 20th century composition maestros such as John Cage, Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass... and Aphex Twin, too. It constantly shifts, from mournful underwater ambience to simple, floating beauty. It’s not Murcof’s most radical record, but it might be his most accessible.

7/10

Various 'Cocoon Compilation P' (Cocoon Recordings)

Cocoon’s newest compilation is the sonic equivalent of being abducted by techno-loving aliens from a strobe-filled Amnesia. Mirko Loko’s off-kilter ‘Artificiel’ starts slow before Wouter De Moor’s acid-tinged ‘Tesla Coil’ kicks in with punchy synths. Rhythm Factory’s ‘N.2guts’ continues the otherworldly journey, before percussive beats transform into robotic voices on Redshape’s futuristic ‘The Choice’. La Fleur’s ‘Chemicality’ is six minutes of spaced-out euphoria and Alex Bau’s ‘The Whip’ is pulsing, chugging techno. Ilario Alicante delivers a main-room monster in ‘Rising Lines’, though it’s left to Jacob Korn’s ‘You Fill Me’ and Atelier Francesco’s sombre ‘All This Is For A Jump’ to bring us back to earth.

8/10

AlunaGeorge 'I Remember' (Island Records)

AlunaGeorge’s second album offers a distinctly 2016 soundtrack to the summer. Bolder and with increased confidence, ‘I Remember’ sounds more succinct and complete than 2013 debut ‘Body Music’. The swaggy synths of ‘Full Swing’ sound like what Major Lazer might come up with for Rihanna and mysterious producer ZHU lends his hip hop beats to the sensual ‘My Blood’, while ‘Not Above’ and ‘Hold Your Head’ are clear festival anthems. Aluna leads the charge on album highlight ‘Mean What I Mean’, welcoming US rapper Dreezy and hip hop hotshot Leikeli47 to deliver fiery bars. ‘I’m In Control’ boasts Popcaan’s sunny dancehall flavours before ‘Heartbreak’ and ‘Jealous’ bounce with energy.

8/10

Various 'Hostel La Torre Ibiza: Volumen Uno' (Hostel La Torre Recordings)

The word ‘Balearic’ is becoming over-used, but Mark Barrott (who compiled this comp with Pete Gooding at Hostal La Torre) insists that “it’s not the type of ‘Balearic’ music you’re going to be hearing elsewhere in Ibiza”.
New names such Francis Bebey and Domenique Dumont sit alongside ice-cold chill from Spooky, Cantoma and Hatchback. Highlights include Harvey’s soulful remix of Planet Funk and the spine-tingling ‘Air A Danser’
by Penguin Café Orchestra, which is underpinned by Spanish guitar. It’s as good as the seminal Café Del Mar comps from the mid-90s – and that’s firm, not faint, praise.

9/10