Articles
2013 Artist Picks
Jane Ira Bloom

Albums
Wataru Abe
Antonymes
Benoît Pioulard
Jane Ira Bloom
Blu Mar Ten
Matti Bye
Celer
Maile Colbert
Viv Corringham
Ensemble Economique
Karlheinz Essl
Farthest South
Faures
Flica
Fryadlus
Ghost Bike
Ikebana
Rafael Anton Irisarri
The Jaydes
Lantscap
Tristan Louth-Robins
Löwenritter
Chloë March
Lubomyr Melnyk
Mental Overdrive
Northumbria
Ed Osborn
perth
Xenia Pestova
Preghost
Redfish
Rion
Sicker Man
Thee Silver Mt. Zion M. O.
Ken Thomson
Otto A Totland
Vitiello + Berg

Compilations / Mixes
#100
Best of Poker Flat 2013
Evolution of the Giraffe
Danny Howells
Missing Fragments

EPs / Cassettes / Mini-Albums / Singles
Richard J. Birkin
DJ Bone
Cernlab
Akira Kosemura
Fabrice Lig
Lilies on Mars
Mako
Nian Dub
Nuage
Quiroga
Sheens
Snoqualmie Falls
Solenoid
Strong Souls
Tessela
ujif_notfound
Voyager

Mako: A Break From Ritual / What A Little Moonlight Can Do
Warm Communications

Mako's latest two-tracker on Warm Communications presents about a strong an argument on behalf of Stephen Redmore's skills as could be imagined. The Bristol, UK-based producer and Utopia Music head packs so much heat into the single's ten minutes it's amazing. Grounded in a pulverizing, snare-and-kick drum two-step pattern, “A Break From Ritual” bolts from the gate with a neck-snapping groove powered by clattering amen breaks and alternately oozing jungle fever and Photek worship. In this stunning display, the intensity lets up ever so briefly for a beatless breakdown before the hammering pulse lunges back into position to take the listener out.

No, “What A Little Moonlight Can Do” isn't a Mako cover of the standard beloved by bebop artists and Billie Holiday alike, though it does work a brief nightclub voice sample (“We got something planned here, a little number called ‘What A Little Moonlight Can Do',” says the singer—a pitch-shifted Holiday?—by way of introduction) into its otherwise lockstep rhythms. Slightly slower and less ferocious than “A Break From Ritual,” “What A Little Moonlight Can Do” opts for hypnotic lope and dizzying atmospheric swizzle—dusky, reverb-drenched moves that grant us more of an opportunity to contemplate the artistry involved. They're different tracks alright but equally impressive examples of Mako's talents.

January 2014