Articles
2009 Artists' Picks
Lymbyc Systym

Albums
Cory Allen
aus
The Bird Ensemble
Canaille
Catlin & Machinefabriek
Greg Davis
Loren Dent
Dirac
Drafted By Minotaurs
Flica
Sarah Goldfarb & JHK
Gown
John Hollenbeck
Viviane Houle
I/DEX
Akira Kosemura
Andrew McKenna Lee
Le Lendemain
LRAD
Lymbyc Systym
Melorman
Muskox
The Mercury Program
Nikasaya
Northerner
nörz
Noveller / Aidan Baker
Redshape
Marina Rosenfeld
Stripmall Architecture
Sturqen
Wes Willenbring
The Tony Wilson Sextet
Julia Wolfe
Peter Wright
Zelienople

Compilations / Mixes
Blackoperator
Glimpse Four:Twenty 03
Kod.eX
Portland Stories

EPs
Molnbär Av John
Tommi Bass & B.B.S.C.
Julian Beau
Colours-Volume 5
Dalot
Echologist
Simon James French
Geiom & Shortstuff
General Elektriks
Geskia
Ernest Gonzales
Gradient
Jacksonville
Joker
Ann Laplantine
Loko
Machinefabriek
Stefano Pilia
Damian Valles

Joker: City Hopper / Output One Output Two
Tectonic

Bristolian Joker's clearly got his finger on the trigger right now, if these forward-thinking bombs are indicative of the twenty-year-old's skills. The downtempo skanking groove in “City Hopper” boasts a kick drum-and-snare combination so lethal it could prove decapitating but it's matched by Moog-styled synthesizer playing that's trippy, grimey, and incendiary all at once. Not a second's wasted in the track's stunning four minutes. Though hard to believe, the flip's “Output One Output Two” may be even better. For five minutes, Joker wields burning synth patterns—both high-pitched, Computer World-like flutterings and sub-bass growls—like light sabres overtop a biting rhythm track powered by snares that crack like buckshot. Flying Lotus and Kode 9 devotees will no doubt have already devoured the material but anyone else curious about the latest mutation developing overseas may want to get on board too.

January 2010