February: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Nils Frahm 'All Melody' (Erased Tapes)

Reclining along the east bank of Berlin’s Spree river lies the vast, modernist Funkhaus complex. For four decades, up until the fall of communism in what used to be East Germany, it housed the state-run radio broadcasting division for one of history’s most paranoid regimes. Twenty-five years later, one of the Funkhaus’ large rooms is the musical home of Nils Frahm. Over the space of six months, the neo-classical lynchpin converted it into a bespoke studio facility. It’s here, inside the Haus that Nils built, that Frahm has composed his masterpiece – because that’s exactly what ‘All Melody’ is.

It starts simply, with a short, haunting piece of choral voices and organ that boasts an ambitious title: ‘The Whole Universe Wants To Be Touched’. If it’s a statement of intent, then he delivers. As strings gently rise, ‘Sunson’ unfurls like a winter crocus, underpinned by stabbing bass keys and an early appearance for Frahm’s magical hand-built pipe organ (a star, later, of the fluttering, church-like ‘Kaleidoscope’). ‘My Friend The Forest’ is just artist and piano, but he leaves in the sound of his feet working the pedals, even his breathing. It’s the epitome of his aesthetic – it’s profoundly moving, and feels like you’re sitting in on your own special one-to-one performance.

The voices reappear on the eerie jazz hymnal ‘Human Range’, but again, they never utter words. Instead, they’re as powerful an instrument as Frahm’s sublime keyboards or the mellifluous cello of his collaborator, Anne Müller. Later – on the title track and ‘#2’– Frahm even makes tentative steps towards the dancefloor, and as on several other occasions, enters what feels like a meditative state. It’s a record with a very rare power, and one that may even recalibrate your relationship with music. Stephen Worthy

9/10

Nightmares On Wax 'Shape The Future' (Warp)

There’s a lot in this record that could seem silly. Talk of collective consciousness and higher vibrations over smooth beats could so easily be the worst kind of chill-out cliché – especially given the last album that George Evelyn made, 2014’s ‘N.O.W. Is The Time’, felt like his contented life in Ibiza had settled into a creative rut. But somehow, ‘Shape The Future’ is absolute magic. The contentment is very much here – this is an album to settle yourself into like a vast bean bag – but it’s expressed through absolute sonic delight, from the beginning until the end.

There’s roots reggae (‘Tomorrow’), broken beat mixed with gospel soul (‘Citizen Kane’, which has already spawned the album’s first gold-plated dancefloor classic thanks to a Ron Trent remix), and all the downbeat dreaminess of his trip-hop era classics ‘Smokers Delight’ and ‘Carboot Soul’. But even more noticeable is that there’s a renewed love of beat editing, texture manipulation and deep dubwise bass, and a sense of mission in the songs. Mighty vocalists (LSK, Andrew Ashong, Mozez and Sadie Walker, among others) deliver songs of fortitude which struggle bravely against adversity, giving the album the bittersweetness that balances the euphoria in all the best soul and dance music. So among all the lush strings, gentle atmosphere and head-nodding basslines, there’s a steely core, and a razor-sharp focus that makes it a complete record worth playing in full. It can seem gentle, silly even, but this is tough music for tough times. Joe Muggs

9/10

Everything Is Recorded 'Everything Is Recorded' (XL Recordings)

For his Everything Is Recorded project, XL boss Richard Russell has assembled a starry, varied and super-talented cast of musicians (Kamasi Washington, Peter Gabriel, Infinite, Mela Murder and Green Gartside from Scritti Politti, to name a few) to orbit around his nuanced production work. While collaboration-heavy affairs can often end up feeling a little impersonal and overblown, the results here are impressively intimate and cohesive. Much of the album feels like a continuation of Russell’s production work on Gil Scott-Heron and Bobby Womack’s final records, with the Sampha-featuring tracks ‘Close But Not Quite’ and ‘Show Love’ (also featuring Syd) demonstrating his ability to combine a classic soul sensibility with more modern and hip hop-indebted production techniques. With XL, Russell has always had a knack for getting the best out of his artists, and he’s continuing the trend here, with Syd, Sampha, Giggs and Ibeyi turning in some of their best performances yet. Sean Griffiths

8/10

Tracey Thorn 'Record' (Unmade Road)

What the world needs now – besides love, sweet love – is a new album from Tracey Thorn. Although aren’t they the same thing? ‘Record’ finds Thorn in forthright mood, opining on topics such as gender stereotypes, parenthood and hedonism in the form of what she describes as “nine feminist bangers”. Ewan Pearson’s productions fizz with electro-pop charm, and Thorn’s lyrics are delightful. On pro-choice/pro-pill anthem ‘Babies’, she sums up parental night-time frustration by crooning: “Lay your pretty head down ... get the fuck to bed now!”. ‘Sister’, meanwhile, is a passionate paean to womanhood, and a brilliant, nine-minute dubby jam that would make David Mancuso explode with joy; the queen of bedsit disco has never sounded better. Stephen Worthy

8/10

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

CLANN 'Seelie' (House of Youth Records)

Sebastian McKinnon’s CLANN project is as much about what you see as what you hear. The music on ‘Seelie’ possesses a filmic, audio-sensory quality: it conjures up images of icy landscapes inhabited by knights on horseback and axe-wielding clans, albeit with Charlotte Oleena’s vocals – sung in a non-specific tongue – softening the edges (he's also joined by Chloé Picard on violin). ‘Once Again’ is a pretty lament where folk, neo-classical and hip hop collide, but his reliance on the trip-hop playbook of ponderous, depth-charge beats lends ‘Seelie’ a slightly anachronistic mid-90s feel. ‘Dark Angel’ even brazenly invokes the spirit of Burial, with its glitchy rhythm and womb-like ambience. But as a pitch for a fantasy soundtrack series, it’s pretty decent stuff. Stephen Worthy

6/10

Amandra 'Dame De Bahia' (Obscura)

There’s a deep, resonant hum that underpins Amandra’s music, and acts as a comforting presence no matter the intensity of whatever the French techno producer surrounds it with. Amandra’s use of live loops is one of his defining characteristics: take the title track, which has a foundation of a delicate, single-note drone augmented by sporadic icy synth phrases, before it’s finally brought to life with choppy, helicopter-style rhythm. On ‘Gavaudan’, he slides elegantly into ambient techno, folding in dub echo as it swings along gently at 75bpm. But Amandra can mix it up, too, as proven by the fidgety ‘Polichinela’, with its enveloping drone and hissing percussion. Beautiful and immersive, it’s music that will seduce you through your headphones. Stephen Worthy

8/10

John Tejada 'Dead Start Program' (Kompakt)

Believe it or not, it’s almost 25 years since John Tejada released the first of what, with ‘Dead Start Program’, is now an 11-strong suite of albums. And there are few more experienced artists in techno than the LA-based producer: he’s as reliable as Swiss trains (which is ironic, because he was born in Austria). There’s an identifiable lineage in Tejada’s music that harks back to the rave era, particularly with its distinct hints of Orbital. You can hear it in the angular breakbeats that maraud through ‘Sleep Spindle’ and wander through the forlorn digital lament of ‘Loss’, but the similarity is most striking of all on ‘The Looping Generation’, which sounds like a lost refugee from ‘Orbital 2’. Stephen Worthy

7/10

Midlife 'Phase' (Research Records)

In recent years, Australia has become a major hub for contemporary psych. But while Tame Impala have blazed a trail with their stoner grooves, Midlife’s sonic vistas are even more expansive, pouring in trippy disco, hypnotic motorik rhythms and jazzy virtuosity. It’s the perfect accompaniment to non-strenuous activity, particularly under the blazing hot sun. On ‘Kwango Zop’, they flirt with Earth, Wind & Fire territory, mashing together squelching keys, a torrent of handclaps and choppy disco guitar licks. But it’s the nine-minute epic ‘The Magnificent Moon’ that’s the glittering standout, as sun-kissed, arpeggiated synths and a squall of reverb tumble through your higher consciousness. As trips down under go, it’s a freaky one. Stephen Worthy

7/10

Dabrye 'Three/Three' (Ghostly)

A rap veteran who’s been in the game for over two decades, Dabrye’s new album not only includes some of his most daring and ingenious productions, but collaborations with some of the scene’s biggest names. Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah raps over a glacial beat on ‘Emancipated’, Danny Brown offers his usual hyperactivity on the 8-bit glitches of ‘The Appetite’, and US rapper Jonwayne spits rolling lyrics on ‘Pretty’, which combines a grand piano with hip hop tropes. Allowing the music here to be obtuse in ideas but tight in refinement, Dabrye’s repetition is driven by an ambitious desire to merge two worlds – studio-based electronica and beats from the streets - and he executes his vision with style. Leah Connolly

8/10

Lane 8 'Little By Little' (This Never Happened)

Daniel Goldstein, aka Lane 8, has long had a knack for making ear-pricking tunes: his euphoric melodies tend to be the peaks of any given set, which is why he’s been an Anjunadeep pet since 2013. On his latest studio album, ‘Little By Little’, the Denver-based producer pulls you in with the opening seconds of the Pryda-esque intro, ‘Daya’, and then holds you there with a careful blend of instrumentals (the peppy, repetitive ‘Atlas’) and vocal cuts such as ‘Clarify’, one of two tracks which features Australia’s Fractures. His bruised delivery is a perfect fit for Goldstein’s more ruminative, expansive moments; Lane 8’s work might not be exploring new terrain, but it’s still as blisfully transportive as ever. Annabel Ross

8/10

Skull 'Black Static' (Pre-)

Trevor Jackson’s purging of his audio libraries since 2015 has been one of the most extraordinary stories in music. There was his F O R M A T compilation of previously unfinished tracks, two sprawling collections of unreleased beats by Playgroup, and now four releases under the names Skull, From, Dark They Were And Golden Eyed and Pinklunch – and mind-bogglingly, every single one of them has been just great. This final collection of songs, all from the period 1996-2000, features what’s possibly his darkest music: a 14-minute ambient drift, some punky Krautrock, a scary industrial grind and, finally, ‘Toxicity’, which sounds like lower-than-lo-fi proto-dubstep. It may be a gloomy space to visit, but the talent Jackson demonstrates is dazzling. Joe Muggs

8/10

Palmbomen II 'Memories Of Cindy' (Beats In Space)

In dance music, we all know that the most basic cliché can easily be trash or treasure depending who’s using it. And that rings particularly true for the clonking, bonking drum machines, retro synth presets and tape hiss of the lo-fi house sound. However, you can trust Beats In Space’s Tim Sweeney not to jump on a bandwagon for its own sake – and sure enough these 22 tracks from Kai Hugo, aka Palmbomen II, are simply wonderful. All the familiar tropes are here, but they’re always used for a purpose: throughout ‘Memories Of Cindy’, there are wistful dreams of electronic pop, acid house and various other sounds. Even more crucially, the songwriting and structures are for real – the whole album truly feels like an exercise in world-building. Joe Muggs

8/10

Essaie Pas 'New Path' (DFA)

Married Montreal duo Marie Davidson and Pierre Guerineau’s last album, ‘Demain Est Une Autre Nuit’, saw them signed to DFA. While that was a classy retro synth-pop affair, their fifth finds them going deeper: they offer a dubby and hypnotic techno groove on tracks such as ‘Las Aphides’ and ‘Future Parlé’, but also experiment with sterner electro flavours on ‘Complet Brouillé’ and the psy-trance sounds of ‘Substance M’. The album is loosely conceptualised round sci-fi master Philp K Dick’s novel A Scanner Darkly, and indeed, there are hints of his twitchy, futurist paranoia to be found here. Essaie pas is French for “don’t try”, but Davidson and Guerineau don’t heed that advice: they try a new direction, and succeed. Thomas H Green

7/10

I-Robots 'Reconstructions 2007-2017 10th Year Anniversary Chapter 1 & II' (Opilec)

I-Robots is no Isaac Asimov electronic tribute act, although the name may well have been inspired by the sci-fi pioneer. I-Robots is actually Italian producer called Gianluca Pandullo, who makes suitably cosmic house and techno and here collates 10 years of productions with exclusive remixes of Derrick May (‘Emanon’), Giorgio Moroder (a sprightly update of ‘Utopia’) and a cowbell-infused disco take on Yello’s ‘You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess’. Split into two parts (with 45 tracks in total), ‘Chapter’ I explores old-school sounds, while ‘Chapter II’ focuses on the 90s and closes with a sleek, super-deep house take on Virgo Four’s ‘Dirty Talk’. Ralph Moore

7/10

Various '4 To The Floor presents Faya Combo' (4 To The Floor)

‘4 To The Floor presents Faya Combo’ is part of the 4 To The Floor vinyl and download series, compiled by Classic Records’ Luke Solomon. The 25 tracks here include timeless sun-kissed house cuts such as DJ Gregory’s ‘Elle’ and, of course, the never-fresher ‘Tropical Soundclash’, which had a very clear influence on next-gen producers such as Melé. Remixes from the likes of Tiger Stripes, Kerri Chandler, Kenny Dope are included, too, as are all of those classic Gregory Afro-house originals: overall, it’s a package which reminds you that at one particular point, an orange sleeve and black font was a trusted mark of quality house. Ralph Moore

8/10

Charlotte Gainsbourg 'Rest' (Because Music)

Charlotte Gainsbourg is an artist whose folk-tronic leanings occasionally collide with club culture and create accidental club hits. Last month, for example, the stellar Soulwax remix of ‘Deadly Valentine’ was our top pick in Big Tunes. What’s exciting for readers of a certain standing is that Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo has produced the title track, the nicely bubbling and none-more-Gallic/French Touch ‘Rest’, which finds her whispering over a melody that’s pure ‘Discovery’. It’s worth the price of entrance for that track alone, but Ed Banger’s SebastiAn does a stellar job producing an LP that tackles themes such as childhood fears, marriage and addiction, inspired by her personal journals. Ralph Moore

8/10

Jonny L 'Sawtooth' (XL)

Amid a swirl of 20-year reissues and label jamborees, XL cuts through the noise with an absolute masterstroke. Restoring Jon Lisners’ underground 1997 d’n’b classic is not only a fitting acknowledgement of the LP’s role in the genesis of the tech-step sound, but the rebirth of a thrillingly relevant suite of sci-fi tech arias. If Roni Size’s ‘New Forms’ saw a tentative embrace from the mainstream, ‘Sawtooth’ took d’n’b back down the rabbit hole: it’s icy, minimalist, technical and atmospheric. The seminal twisted drone ‘Piper’ is just the beginning, as cool soul on ‘I Let U’, ambient bliss on ‘Tychonic Cycle’ and various other production experiments combine to create a dark-light d’n’b prototype that captures the essence of the genre’s appeal today. Ewen Cook

9/10