Articles
2009 Top 10s and 20s
King Midas Sound
Starke

Albums
36
Aardvarck
Matias Aguayo
Anaphoria
Anduin
Arbol + Fibla
Aufgang
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Black to Comm
Bvdub
Cornstar
Dinky
Enola
Fieldhead
FOURM / Shinkei / Turra
Billy Gomberg
The Green Kingdom
Chihei Hatakeyama
Ian Hawgood
Marek Hemmann
Khate
King Midas Sound
Marcel Knopf
Robot Koch
Lambent
Shinobu Nemoto
Olekranon
Laurent Perrier
Piano Magic
Porzellan
Pylône
Ryonkt
Shadyzane
Slow
Small Color
Solomun
The Sound of Lucrecia
Stray Ghost
The Use of Ashes
Sylvie Walder

Compilations / Mixes
Sebo K
Will Saul
Tama Sumo
VOLTT Amsterdam Vol. 1

EPs
Blindhæð
Roberto Bosco
Franco Cangelli
Dieb
dub KULT
Abe Duque/Blake Baxter
Gemmy
Christopher Hobbs
Duncan Ó Ceallaigh
Christopher Roberts
The Sight Below
Two Fourteen
Van Der Papen
Andy Vaz
Vetrix
Eddie Zarook

DVD
Optofonica

Gemmy: Johnny 5
Planet Mu

Somehow it seems fitting that the four tracks on Bristol producer Gemmy's double 12-inch release Johnny 5 have been spread across four vinyl sides, as doing so gives each one the moment in the spotlight it deserves. An audacious blend of grime, dubstep, funk, dub, and electro, Gemmy's sound is very much emblematic of the fresh direction Planet Mu and Hyperdub are pursuing at this jucture. The A-side's “Johnny 5” weaves bleepy, cross-firing electro melodies over a rubbery, double-time head-nod composed of snippety hi-hats, off-beat snares, and a warbly bass attack. Alternating between slow to fast, Gemmy tempo switch-ups are as heady as the track as a whole. “Dolla Digital” follows with a viral slab of swirling vocoder treatments, percolating drum machine beats, burning bass throb, and an overall seriously tripped-out vibe. Powered by a brightly squealing synth theme and ten-ton bass wobble, side C's “Wata Down Sound” situates itself firmly within the dubstep tradition for six ultra-skanking minutes, while “Shanti Riddim” opts for dubstep-inflected Trenchtown dub of the most stepping kind, with all of it nicely crowned by a gleefully warbling melody and saxophone-like accents near track's end.

December 2009