Albums
October: 18 albums you need to hear this month
Black Coffee, Aluna George, Tee Mango and more
Mike & Rich 'Expert Knob Twiddlers' (Planet Mu)
Expert Knob Twiddlers may seem like the sound of a couple of electronica’s game-changing artists just messing about. But there’s a difference between silliness and having fun – and the latter is exactly what Mike Paradinas and Richard ‘Aphex Twin’ James were doing when this was recorded back in June 1994. Some 22 years on, it’s been remastered, re-edited and reordered, with seven new tracks and alternate versions, too. Of the original cuts, the lo-fi acid funk of ‘Mr Frosty’ stands tallest. New arrivals, meanwhile, include ‘Brivets & Muonds’ – a drunken, distorted tech stomp – and a frantic alternate take of ‘Vodka’ that mixes Latin rhythms with vintage synth squiggles.
7/10
