Albums
January: 18 albums you need to hear this month
That's the month sorted then
Makam 'Than Sadet' (Dekmantel)
With ‘Than Sadet’, Dutch producer Guy Blanken has written a love letter to the Thai island that captured his heart. Luckily for us, it’s one we’re all invited to share in, where exotic house grooves snake around complex, skittering melodies. Blanken headed off to the Far East for a week to immerse himself in his music; perhaps understandably, given the recording’s beachside location, there’s a quasi-Balearic vibe running through the LP. The enormous ‘When Light Gives You Hope’ is a shuddering epic built on a tripped-out groove, Eastern percussion and exotic bird tweets. ‘Resort Abandoned’ lays itself bare with growling keys, while the title track gently works in gamelan influences. Stephen Worthy
8/10
