June: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Gorillaz 'Humanz' (Parlophone)

When Gorillaz performed at Manchester’s Opera House back in 2006, the guests included Shaun Ryder, Ike Turner (RIP), De La Soul and Neneh Cherry: alongside the animation, it was their job to help bring four cartoon members of Gorillaz to life onstage.

A decade on, one fellow Mixmag observer still describes the show as the best concert he’s ever witnessed – it’s hard to be cynical in the face of such joy-inducing music and theatricality. Fast-forward to the present day and Damon’s all-star band are back again with De La Soul and a whole new class of reprobates new (Vince Staples, Popcaan, Danny Brown and Kelela) and classic (Peven Everett and Grace Jones). If you’re a fan, you won’t be disappointed. ‘Momentz’ with De La Soul is just as bonkers-brilliant as ‘Dare’ was before it, while ‘Submission’ with Kelela and Danny Brown channels Little Dragon at their chorus-busting best. And ‘Charger’, with a demonic-sounding Jones sparring with Albarn, might be the album’s most deranged midnight moment (as well as one of the best things Gorillaz have ever done).

The other big standout moment is ‘Let Me Out’ featuring Mavis Staples and Pusha T, a reminder that only an act like Gorillaz can pull such disparate musical worlds together. Zebra Katz and Jamie Principle pop up on wonky electronic soul jam ‘Sex Murder Party’ before the LP closes with ‘We Got The Power’; featuring Savages singer Jehnny Beth, it’s probably the closest that Gorillaz get to a traditional three-minute pop single. “We got the power to do that!” they cry, and for a few minutes, you too will believe that (Hu)man can be a a cartoon, a superhero or even a Noodle. If you’re new to the zoo, prepare for a 20-track musical trip you won’t forget in a hurry. Ralph Moore

8/10

Jlin 'Black Origami' (Planet Mu)

Jlin is originally from Gary, Indiana, but has been closely connected to Chicago’s footwork scene for some time. From the beginning, her sound has been super-refined, taking the 150-160bpm scamper aimed at battling dancers and taking it way beyond its laptop roots. On her second album, ‘Black Origami’, she takes another dramatic step forward. These tracks positively glitter with studio technique, and take in all kinds of other percussive sounds – Middle Eastern, Brazilian, African, military marching bands – in her patent three-to-the-bar rhythms. It’s a dizzying ride of clattering and twisting sound that never sits still for a second, and makes no sense if you don’t have serious bass response on your speakers. Sometimes the constant shifts can leave you reeling and wondering what Jlin is trying to get at, but it’s never long before they pick you up again and pull you back into it. This is the sound of a huge talent blossoming. Joe Muggs

8/10

Goldie 'The Journey Man' (Cooking Vinyl/Metalheadz)

Good old Goldie. Recent single ‘I Adore You’ induced euphoria with its spine-shivering vocal, anthem-sized melody and rolling d’n’b contours – but only an idiot would have expected more of the same. Apart from 2012’s stylish retrospective on Metalheadz, this is his first proper solo LP project since ‘Saturnz Return’, and it’s brilliantly, bloody-mindedly Goldie: a slew of deep d’n’b grooves offset by beatless lounge-blues arias and glamour-soaked jazz club noodlings. Perhaps this is what he meant when he described the record as “who I really am and where my heart wants to be”: a split-screen snapshot of breakbeat roots and tuxedo fantasy ably summed up by opener ‘Horizons’, with its ‘Timeless’-style naked vocals and breaks that segue into smokey piano rolls. Who cares it if all hangs together? Hungry junglists will turn up gems amid the muscular funk of ‘Prism’, the soulful pulses of ‘The Mirrored River’ feat Natalie Duncan and dubby scuddings of ‘I Think of You’; basshounds will find grit in the percussive wonk-out of ‘Triangle’ or the malevolent ‘Redemption’. More a director than a producer, Goldie’s pepretual genius is in maintaining the diamond-bladed underground savagery of his rebooted Metalheadz label while growing his ever-expanding World of Goldie adventure, coloured as it is by BBC projects, New Year’s Honours shortlistings and sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott’s. These tracks speak of both universes in the same breath. Only Goldie could make this LP. It is, and is for, him – pure and simple. Ewen Cook

8/10

Arca 'Arca' (XL Recordings)

Arca’s albums are marked by transformations. From the wordless epics of a genderless humanoid on 2014’s ‘Xen’ to the crushing glitch-and-stretch of 2015’s ‘Mutant’, there’s been a core element of fluidity in Alejandro Ghersi’s stylistic fusion of EDM, bass, chamber music and hip hop. Here, the Venezuelan-born artist emerges from this veil of dark abstraction to reveal a very human core. A bilingual album by a bilingual artist, it opens with the slurping sound of Ghersi’s own saliva, as he sings in the Spanish-titled ‘Piel’. Translating to ‘skin’ in English, its urgent, high-pitched signal follows the melancholy first-take of the artist’s vocal, who’s sung before but never with such vulnerability. It marks the start of a soaring new direction. Steph Kretowicz

8/10

Joe Goddard 'Electric Lines' (Greco-Roman/Domino)

The words ‘cynical’ and ‘jaded’ aren’t in Joe Goddard’s vocabulary. Whether he’s working with Hot Chip, The 2 Bears or any number of his productions and remixes, he retains a liberating enthusiasm for the power of music to move you. And that shines through on ‘Electric Lines’ with brilliant luminosity. It leaps from swooning, stratospheric pop (‘Ordinary Madness’) to Moby-ish stadium techno (‘Children’), onto music box 2-step (‘Truth Is Light’) and elegiac end-of-the-night electro (the title track, where he’s joined by Hot Chip buddy Alexis Taylor). With ‘Music Is The Answer’, he even reimagines Danny Tenaglia’s finest moment as subtle, dark synth pop. On ‘Electric Lines’, the fine moments are bountiful. Stephen Worthy

9/10

Perc 'Bitter Music' (Perc Trax)

The likes of Blawan might be more hyped, but if you really want to understand the recent rise of dark and industrial techno, dig into the work of Ali Wells, aka Perc. He and his Perc Trax label have been responsible for a torrent of joyously fearsome banging and clattering over the years, and that continues on ‘Bitter Music’. His production is evolving ambitiously: there are arthouse horror movie clangs of piano, terrifying ambience and mind-frying subliminal detail alongside the pummelling machine beats. Though the mood is unremittingly bleak and not a little scary, it’s never predictable, and never stops finding new ways to tickle and twist your braincells. It’s a heck of a ride to the darkside. Joe Muggs

8/10

Saint Etienne 'Home Counties' (Heavenly)

“Pretty much everyone we grew up with was drawn to London,” observes St Etienne singer Sarah Cracknell on their fascination with the best city in the world – albeit from their original homes in Reigate (Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley) and Old Windsor (Sarah). “It was a magnet.” Returning to the London imprint on which they released some of their most important music (‘Only Love Will Break Your Heart’, ‘Filthy’), they sound as assured as ever on ‘Home Counties’. On the dreamy ‘Whyteafe’, they discuss Crawley (!) and “the sweet municipal dream” while ‘Dive’, ‘Heather’ and ‘Unopened Fan Mail’ are up their with their best. Suburbia, it transpires, is a place that should mainly live in the memory. Ralph Moore

8/10

Wilkinson 'Hypnotic' (Ram/Virgin EMI)

Fast outstripping Sub Focus and even Chase & Status as Ram’s most successful underground-to-stadium d‘n’b venture yet, Wilkinson can sell out Camden’s Roundhouse, remix Ed Sheeran and knock out radio-chomping top-lines before breakfast. Presumably, then, card-carrying junglists wouldn’t spit on his second album, right? Not quite: amid the anthemic vocals and array of tempos – cut-up dubsteppy electro croonings on ‘Take Us Home’; half-time shimmer-pop on ‘Wash Away’ – he keeps a ludicrous amount of plates spinning, even going all ruffneck wonky on ‘Brand New’. Taking Fred V & Grafix and TC on tour tells a story: the boy may have gone stratospheric, but his roots in the rumbling bassline murk go deep. Ewen Cook

7/10

Nuage 'WILD' (Project: Mooncircle)

The winters in Dmitry Kuzmin’s home city of St Petersburg are to be endured rather than enjoyed. But like his musical counterparts across the Baltic in Scandinavia, it’s given Kuzmin (aka Nuage) the perfect excuse to just stay inside, nerd out and make music. There’s a warmth and cosiness to his productions – a mix of neo-classical ambience, sultry future 2-step and feather-light deep house – that are undoubtedly due to hunkering down, but others are the sonic offspring of memories of summers spent in Mexico. The neo-Balearic shuffle of ‘Catch Light’ and the twinkly, sample-heavy, Bashmore-style bass outing ‘Secret Jungle’ are blasts of warm sunshine, whatever the season. Stephen Worthy

7/10

Leftfield 'Leftism 22' (Sony Legacy UK)

Electronic dance music has grown and radically splintered in the 22 years since ‘Leftism’ was released, but Leftfield’s masterpiece remains one of its highest achievements. House music that looked beyond the limiting four walls of a club, it was brash, eclectic, thrilling. Remastered for vinyl by Matt Colton (James Blake, Aphex Twin, Hot Chip), it still hits heavy, whether it’s the pulsating 4/4 ragga stomp of ‘Release The Pressure’ or the more subtle, muted Balearica of ‘Melt’. An accompanying remix album celebrates diversity with offerings from Zomby, Skream and Adrian Sherwood, but it’s Hodge & Peverelist’s jerky mix of ‘Afro Left’ that runs away with top honours. It’s a fitting tribute to the LP’s legacy. Stephen Worthy

10/10

Point G 'The Point G Experience' (Point G)

The alter-ego of French house stalwart DJ Gregory (Darsa), Point G is where the Parisian has sent his more trackier house productions over two decades. That said, between 1998 and 2012 Darsa mothballed Point G, until Dan Ghenacia badgered him into reissuing 1998’s shimmering, languid ‘Underwater’ for his new label, Apollonia. Darsa hasn’t stopped since. This compilation and added mix pulls together early releases and an abundance of contemporary material. The former includes another early gem in the gritty, itchy bounce of ‘Chicken Coma’. Of the latter incarnations, ‘Nebula’ is typical of Point G’s simple approach to ingredients, with a grainy, percussive loop and ominous synths. It’s house music at its primal best. Stephen Worthy

8/10

PTU 'A Broken Clock Is Right Twice A Day' (трип)

While we fret about what mischief Vladimir Putin will get up to next, the techno underground scene in Russia is thriving. There seems to be a common thread of fresh, uncynical delight in what machines are capable of – and Alina Izolenta and Kamil Ea, aka PTU, have that in buckets. There are bubbling acid and rave breaks purpose built for label boss Nina Kraviz’s big club sets, but also busy sci-fi atmospherics, lurching dancehall rhythms, expert manipulation of space, crackling trip-outs, lion roars and endless variety across the seven tracks. Just occasionally you might want the fidgetiness to settle a little, but that’s a small price to pay for so much joyous inventiveness. Joe Muggs

8/10

Various 'Ed Rec 100' (Ed Banger Records)

100 releases? Well, that’s come around quickly. Anyone who’s familiar with millennial dance music will be more than acquainted with French powerhouse Ed Banger Records, and the label’s biggest names have all contributed an exclusive new track for this comp. Riton gives Paul McCartney ‘Temporary Secretary’ a whompy edit, Boys Noize turns Justice’s ‘Randy’ into a furious electro workout and label boss Busy P teams up with Mayer Hawthorne for the sunshine-glazed ‘Genie’. Sebastian makes his long-awaited return with the woozy ‘So Huge’, but our man-of-the-match award goes to Mr Oizo, who manages to out-weird and out-bang everything else on the CD. Jeremy Abbott

8/10

Jimpster 'Silent Stars' (Freerange)

When describing Jimpster’s music, there’s a tendency to slide into descriptions that sound like they’ve been copied from a bottle of bubble bath – ‘luxuriant’, ‘smooth’, ‘comforting’. That’s how lush (there’s another one) an experience it is, a reputation that Jamie Odell has built up across two decades of deep house exploration. ‘Silent Stars’ – his seventh album – is best consumed in the small hours, when the jazz-flecked grooves and soothing percussive pitter-patter are at maximum efficacy. Take ‘Sun Comes Up’, with its impressive interplay between Jinadu’s fragile soul vocal, shimmering pianos and off-kilter congas, or the title track’s combination of an endless groove and seductive Brazilian vibes. Immerse yourself. Stephen Worthy

81/0

Dopplereffekt 'Cellular Automata' (Leisure System)

Detroit musician Gerald Donald has worked under a number of different aliases and on different projects over the years –and as half of Drexciya, is something of a god to techno nerds. Solo and with To-Nhan Le Thi, he’s been making dark and science-themed sounds as Dopplereffekt for two decades. As ever, the sounds are bleak and geometric, like the soundtrack to some 80s documentary about the dangers of radiation, rendered intense and huge in scope. This time there are no drums, just chattering synths, which can make it drag over the course of the LP – but each track is unmistakeable Dopplereffekt magic, whether on your headphones or a vast system. Joe Muggs

7/10

Martin Buttrich 'Collaborator Vol 1' (Rhythm Assault)

Teaming up with his friends at the top table of techno, Martin Buttrich’s ‘Collaborator’ series is an experimental journey that expresses each guest’s individuality. Veering from subtle and minimal to quirky and otherworldly, there are also some undisputed dancefloor heaters. DJ Tennis joins him on 13-minute opener ‘Perpetual’, a voyage of slowly evolving bass and techno, whilst ‘Nach Acht’ (with Timo Maas) is darker and ethereal. Reuniting with Desolat co-founder Loco Dice, ‘Damn U Made It’ is the standout: a hypnotic track which grooves with distorted vocal samples and a consistent, addictive beat. The frenetic and quirky ‘Animal’, with Luciano & Kelli Ali, isn’t far behind, its shape-shifting rhythms transforming at will. Ben Jolley

8/10

Nite Jewel 'Real High' (Gloriette Records)

Nite Jewel’s fourth album is her most personal and lyric-driven yet. Recorded over four years in Los Angeles, Ramona Gonzalez explores the euphoric peaks of love and its insecurities, especially on the title track – a contemplative, futuristic ballad with minimal production and downbeat, stretched-out vocals. Though more upbeat, ‘When I Decide (It’s Alright)’ shows signs of vulnerability, while ‘Obsession’ and ‘R We Talking Long’ reflect the challenges of finding love in a hyper-modern social media society. But its melodic and groovy lead single ‘2 Good 2 Be True’ that’s the summery, synth-led highlight, as Ramona’s effortlessly infectious vocal soars over finger clicks and dreamy 80s production. Ben Jolley

8/10

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda 'The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda' (Luaka Bop)

Got a high tolerance for other people’s spirituality? You’re in luck: this is, at times, one of the year’s most beautiful releases. These tracks are all taken from the period between 1982 and 1995, when the highly influential underground musician Alice Coltrane (wife of John and great-aunt of Flying Lotus) ran a spiritual community. Here, you can hear Hindu chants and sitars, gospel and soul tonality, slowly rising ambient synthesiser tones and blissful chord changes. You may find it tough to get past the religiosity, but if you can, there’s real magic here. Joe Muggs

7/10