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

Tessela: Nancy's Pantry
R&S

Ed Russell (aka Tessela) makes some beautiful noise indeed on this late-2013 three-tracker for R&S, his first EP for the well-respected label. Originally from South Wales, the young firebrand alchemizes rave, jungle, and techno into percussive-heavy thunder on the fifteen-minute set. The earlier Tessela track “Hackney Parrot” brought him deserved attention and was the recipient of a stunning Special Request makeover (included on the latter's Soul Music), but Nancy's Pantry sees the bass enthusiast pushing dynamically forward with experimental zeal.

So what's in “Nancy's Pantry”? Five action-packed minutes of lethal stop-start breaks, that's what, plus a positively bruising kick drum, shotgun claps, pregnant pauses, and a seriously stoked swing, all of which Russell blends into a spectacular head-turner. Having caught one's breath, one moves on to “Horizon,” a slightly less crushing jam than the opener but no less ear-catching in its raw, blistering riffs on jackhammer jungle and euphoric rave theatrics. Tension mounts during “Gateway” when ticking hi-hat patterns hint at a bomb's imminent detonation, but Russell redirects the listener's attention into other areas thanks to a wailing soul singer and an army of warbling synths. It's in no way an exaggeration to state that Russell packs more detail and ideas into these dizzying tracks than other producers do entire albums.

January 2014