Article
Roomful Of Teeth

Albums
Jessica Bailiff
Basic Soul Unit
Christoph Berg
Billow Observatory
Bitcrush
Michael Blake
bvdub
Celer
Cello+Laptop
Sylvain Chauveau
The Colossal Ithaca Trio
Displacer
Kyle Bobby Dunn
Filterwolf
Ghost and Tape
Gunshae
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Szymon Kaliski
Fritz Kalkbrenner
Listening Mirror
The Peggy Lee Band
Yuri Lugovskoy
Missy Mazzoli
Melodium
Nebulo
Nite Lite
Frédéric Nogray
Offthesky & MWST
Pill-oh
Positive Flow
Le Réveil Des Tropiques
Scott Sherk
Andy Stott
Talvihorros
Robert Scott Thompson
To Destroy A City

Compilations / Mixes
Catz 'n Dogz
Cold Blue 2
Friendly Fires
Imaginational Anthem 5

Reissue
Jethro Tull

EPs / Singles
Aqua Marine
Jah Warrior
Landing
Manual
Ruffhouse
Chris Weeks
Xoki & Hieronymus

Friendly Fires: Late Night Tales
Late Night Tales

How to stand out in the ever-crowded mix genre? Assemble a great track list, first of all, and then make sure a few eyebrow-raising oddities appear, too (Olivia Newton John's “Love Song,” anyone?). Friendly Fires mates Ed MacFarlane, Edd Gibson, and Jack Savidge do all of that and more in their effervescent contribution to the Late Night Tales project—the thirtieth in the series, no less. Like others before them, the trio was asked to select their “ultimate late night collection” of favourite tracks, and so rose to the challenge with a diverse set split between contemporary electronic artists (DJ Sprinkles, Laurel Halo, Grouper, Nils Frahm) and art-pop mainstays (Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Stereolab). Friendly Fires' 2011 sophomore album Pala revealed the band's affection for artists like Talking Heads, Timbaland, Scritti Politti, Carl Craig, and Boards of Canada, and a similarly eclectic sensibility infuses the new disc, too.

The mix ranges widely, not just in style but in time terms, too, with a fresh slab of hypnotic funk from Junior Boys (“Under The Sun”) followed by a retro slice of ‘80s vocal pop by Renee (“Change Your Style”). The initial part of the collection oozes a retro-soul vibe, with the productions often sounding like they emerged before the advent of electronic and digital production technologies. A loose and funky spirit infuses material like Joe Simon's “Love Vibration” and Dennis Parker's “Like An Eagle,” and disco strings, horns, electric pianos, and clavinets bolster the old-school feel.

Iron Galaxy's “Attention Seeker” brings the music up to the present day with an episodic foray that even includes an acid house moment or two, and dance music splendour is present, too, in the form of DJ Sprinkles' “House Music Is A Controllable Desire You Can Own.” Laetitia Sadier's voice gives Stereolab's “Black Arts” a comforting familiarity, while Laurel Halo and Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser conjure seductive vocal fantasias in “Embassy” and “Cherry Coloured Funk,” respectively. Beats fall away during Sonna's ambient interlude “One Most Memorable,” a move that anticipates the disc's gravitation towards moodscaping territory as exemplified by Grouper's stirring vocal incantation “Invisible” and Nils Frahm's elegant piano setting “After” (one final surprise follows a pregnant pause: a bedtime tale recited by actor Benedict Cumberbatch).

December 2012