textura

Albums
Cory Allen
Belong
Bio / Larkian / Autistes
Black Swan
James Brewster
C.H. District
Crazy Penis
Robert Crouch
Demdike Stare
d'incise
Cezary Gapik
Ron Geesin
G. Night & G. Morning
Tim Hecker
Hole Punch Generation
Hopeless Local M. Band
E. De Jesus / Minus Pilots
Saito Koji
Kontakte
Little Fritter
MaCu
Sam Moss
Dustin O'Halloran
Olekranon
Örsten
Phillips / Hesse-Honegger
Pleq
Maceo Plex
Pietro Riparbelli
Salva
Shaula
Spartak
Daniel Steinberg
Colin Stetson
Subtle Lip Can
Tapage & Meander
Robert Scott Thompson
Ultralyd
Simon Whetham

Compilations / Mixes
DJ Bone
Pop Ambient 2011
Silence Was Warm Vol. 3
Superlongevity 5
v-p v-f is v-n
Werkschau

EPs
Benoit & Sergio
Mark Bradley
Eluvium
Encomiast
Ragle Gumm
Tevo Howard
Isnaj Dui
Clem Leek
Luv Jam
offthesky & Ten and Tracer
Sleeps In Oysters
Nobuto Suda
Totem Test
Morgan Zarate

Totem Test: Totem Test EP
Done Damage

Though some might be more familiar with the ambient soundscaping work James Elliott has issued under the Ateleia name, his new Totem Test project finds the Brooklyn-based producer with his ear to the ground and giving birth to bass-heavy, future-dubstep cuts sure to appeal to fans of forward-thinking acts like Burial, Actress, and Mount Kimbie. Elliott has also performed and recorded with Bear In Heaven and School of Seven Bells and performed with Mountains, David Daniell, among others, and such experiences no doubt inform in myriad ways the five tracks on Totem Test EP. The material's mutated and fuzzed-out amalgam of dubstep, house, and techno rhythms amounts to a distinctive brand of body music for sure, but there's an equal focus on the music's listening side too. The smeary dub-techno of “Are You Young?” and low-end, tripped-out swagger of “Cosmic Sore” (replete with electronic drum fills and buckshot claps) hold up equally well on the dancefloor as in one's headphones. Supplement that with the bulldozing dubstep thunder of “The Drain” and the Burial-like bass crunch of “Fade To Fade” you've got a twenty-five-minute set that's hard to beat. The EP's a great coming-out for Elliott's new project, and one presumes that the imminent follow-up remix EP featuring makeovers by Peter's House Music, Warm Ghost, and others will be just as satisfying.

February 2011