February: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Answer Code Request 'Gens' (Ostgut Ton)

Ostgut Ton’s love affair with the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ style of 90s UK electronica shows no sign of abating. Following Shed’s 90s-tastic ‘The Final Experiment’ and sub-label A-Ton’s re-release of Luke Slater’s beautiful 90s tracks as 7th Plain, Patrick Gräser is now completely cutting loose from the four-to-the-floor. Not that he ever made straightforward techno, mind, but here everything rolls, sways and swerves around. Distant jungle breaks rattle, ample ambient tracks ebb and flow, alien signals blip and bloop – and it’s all gorgeously cosmic. There’s a good bit of dubstep heft here, too, but it’s definitely not just retro: this is Ostgut, after all, and so the production levels are fearsome, with the controls set for the heart of the sun. Joe Muggs

8/10