July: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Nick Höppner 'Work' (Ostgut Ton)

The two years since his debut LP have clearly served Berlin mainstay Nick Höppner well. While that first album, ‘Folk’, was far from a bog-standard affair, it sometimes felt different for different’s sake. But follow-up ‘Work’ is much more the sound of a producer who has mastered all his machines and can speak fluidly through them. He shows a new breadth and depth of sound that takes in skittish, celestial house, gooey, mid-tempo minimal and loose broken beat, betraying the producer’s fondness for UK garage and bass music. There are even avant-pop moments of translucent synth joy next to darker no wave hymns, all of which help make ‘Work’ much more than your average electronic album. Kristan J Caryl

8/10

Various 'La Torre Ibiza Volumen Dos' (Hostal La Torre Recordings)

Once again compiled and mixed by long-standing Mambo Balearic head Pete Gooding and Mark Barrott (who opted for Prefab Sprout and Talk Talk in his classic albums piece this month), this beach-flecked Ibiza soundtrack is the work of crate-diggers who instinctively know their musical minerals. As well as new music from Lord Of The Isles, Tornado Wallace, and Pitto, licensing wizard Gooding has also managed to clear classic soundtrack music from Eric Serra and John Barry’s woozy signature tune ‘Midnight Cowboy’ (no doubt while on a break from Bond). The results are sweet, serene and, like La Torre in Ibiza itself, occasionally breathtaking. Ralph Moore

8/10

Michael Mayer 'DJ-Kicks' (DJ-Kicks)

Kompakt, the label co-founded by Michael Mayer, was arguably the most influential German imprint of its generation: techno (particularly minimal) was its stock-in-trade, but it also followed an eclectic agenda. That’s reflected in his DJ-Kicks turn, which mixes cosmic disco (Prins Thomas’ rework of The Lionheart Brothers’ ‘The Drift’), minimal (the dOP & Masomenos mix of Bvoice, Anrilov and Danilov’s ‘Papas Groove’) and neo-trance (Chris & Cosey’s remix of Death In Vegas’ ‘Consequences Of Love’). There’s even glam rock-inspired ‘schaffel’ beat (another micro-genre Kompakt championed) in the form of ‘Gary’ by Alter Ego (aka Roman Flügel). Stephen Worthy

7/10

Floating Points 'Reflections – Mojave Desert' (Pluto)

Anyone who’s seen Floating Points live in the last year or so will be primed for this. The pure house of early releases is long gone, and though the rippling modular synths and elegant jazz-fusion drumming of 2015’s ‘Elaenia’ are still present, the ebb and flow of this album is dominated by a slow-burn, highly considered instrumental psych-rock sound. It was recorded at the base of huge rock formations in the actual Mojave desert (apparently, this release is just the first of a series of“responses” to landmarks encountered on the producer’s travels) and it certainly sounds as big, occasionally bleak and often beautiful as the landscapes it’s inspired by . Not as immediately blissful as ‘Elaenia’, but a magical new direction nonetheless. Joe Muggs

8/10

Fhloston Paradigm 'AFTER...' (KingBrittArchives)

A second LP from King Britt’s Fhloston Paradigm project, ‘AFTER…’ follows the Hyperdub-released ‘The Phoenix’. This one is out on his own KingBrittArchives label, carrying on the legacy of an artist working his way through from neo soul and house/techno beginnings into an analogue and modular synth project with contributions from Natasha Kmeto, Ryat and Nosaj Thing, among others. “... LIFE” features gorgeous rhythmic chanting and the soft scat of Alexa Barchini, which is improvised against cosmic modulations. The rage of hardcore poet Moor Mother on ‘...ALL’, meanwhile, is felt less in her indistinguishable words and more in the way the sonic manipulations pull at her vocal, making it seem like a fragile object at the centre of a storm. S Kretowicz

7/10

Various 'Too Slow To Disco Vol 3' (How Do You Are?)

It’s an odd thing that DJ Supermarkt’s Too Slow To Disco series – collecting slick, mainly Californian soft rock with a soulful sheen from the late 70s and early 80s – should be eclipsed by its offshoot. But last year’s astounding ‘The Ladies Of TSTD’ really took it up another level of unabashed joy, and in comparison the volumes featuring mainly male vocals can seem earnest or even sleazy in comparison. That’s no real criticism: we all like a little sleaze after all, right? And the vibe here – blending Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder and more– is as sunshiney as ever. It’s one you need to be in the mood for, but when you are, it’s just the job. Joe Muggs

8/10

Luke Vibert 'Presents UK Garave Vol 1' (Hypercolour)

Retro rave is everywhere now: from Special Request to Nina Kraviz to Shed, the bass, bleeps and breaks of early 90s Britain are constantly being revisited and reworked. But if there’s one person guaranteed to bring a fresh twist to proceedings, it’s Cornish OG Luke Vibert. Here, he telescopes rave vibes together with pumping speed garage (think Double 99/187 Lockdown), but puts it all through his own particularly trippy kaleidoscope. All the samples and rhythms here you’ve heard a million times – but somehow, with this weirdness and his sheer panache as a producer, Vibert creates brand new rave dynamite, guaranteed to get dancefloors sweat-soaked and maniacal. Joe Muggs

7/10

Joey Negro 'Produced With Love' (Z Records)

Was there ever a time quite like the turn of the 1980s – an age when the embers of disco, house music’s nascent utterances, the birth of hip hop and synth pop were all thrillingly intertwined? Dave Lee remembers it, and his first Joey Negro album in two decades joins these dots with the kind of sparkling, euphoric productions that have become his trademark. Echoes of Chic and Diana Ross sashay around ‘Prove That You’re Feelin’ Me’, classic deep house tropes percolate through ‘Won’t Let Go’ and Lee even has the chutzpah to pull off a discofied reimagining of Kraftwerk’s proto-electro gem, ‘It’s More Fun To Compute’. Sunshine, in aural form. Stephen Worthy

7/10

Dauwd 'Theory Of Colours' (Technicolour)

From the very first forlorn keys that open up this beautiful little LP, you know you’re in for a treat. Dauwd’s progression as an artist has been steady and seemingly unaffected by the universal praise he’s picked up over the last few years: he’s stayed fresher under pressure and kept the good music rolling. This album, on Ninja Tune offshoot Technicolour, presents an idiosyncratic take on electronic music that’s imbued with deep emotional content, yet danceable. All the while his engineering capabilities shine through, giving the album a polished touch. It’s a collection of journeys within a journey, with tracks such as ‘Murmure’ allowing you to drift away from everyday life, while the likes of like ‘Glass Jelly’ offer more head nodding moments. Marcus Barnes

9/10

Rodriguez Jr 'Baobab' (Mobilee Records)

Olivier Mateu returns to Mobilee Records under his Rodriguez Jr alias, offering an eclectic, wide-ranging journey of evocative and emotive house. Written while travelling and influenced by his musical roots growing up in the south of France mastering the piano, ‘Baobab’ begins with ‘An Evidence Of Time’s intricate heartbeat, before Paris-based singer Liset Alea makes her first of several appearances. The Cuban-American’s soft vocal links different phases: on ‘Heal Me’ she touches on the complexities of being human, before showcasing vulnerability on the dream-like ‘Waste Tomorrow’. Enchanting highlight ‘Monticello’ ramps up the intensity, building into ‘Ellipsism’ and the anthemic closer ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’. Ben Jolley

7/10

The Mulholland Free Clinic 'The Mulholland Free Clinic' (Away Music)

Veering between atmospheric dark ambient, bubbling electro psychedelia and narco techno, these all-analogue pieces from experimental supergroup The Mulholland Free Clinic (Move D, Juju & Jordash and Jonah Sharp) are a wonderfully fluid entity. Edited down to album length from its original three-hour live session, its opener, ‘Vital Signs’, sprawls across 17 minutes in a droney wash of ambient tics and sinuous chords. On ‘Ebb & Flow’, flecks of druggy guitar and wonky acid arps head into DJ Harvey-style Balearic territory, but it’s ‘The Dawgs Are Alright’ that best sums the album up, morphing from abstract techno into a delicious, witching hour freakout. Stephen Worthy

8/10

Talamanca System 'Talamanca System' (International Feel)

It’s clear that between Gerd Janson, Phillip Lauer and International Feel boss Mark Barrott, there’s enough inspiration (and perspiration) to create a warm, unified vision of how they like their house to sound. There’s never been a better time, then, for the three of them to dive into this particular part of the Balearics. ‘Transatlantique’ is Italo-inspired piano house of the highest order,‘104’ channels early Tensnake classic ‘Congolal’ and ‘Ancona Ancona’ is the sort of instrumental house jam Shep Pettibone would approve of. Assured, emotional and with just the right amount of sun-drenched Ibiza chemistry (‘Distant Shore’ particularly), this is an LP that understands the history but never gets weighed down with reverence. Ralph Moore

8/10