CIGNOL 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Cignol is known as a master of the "refined machine funk sound", and while the exact determinants of this title aren't 100% exactly sum-uppable in words, we can sure gather what we think is meant by the phrase, judging by this latest 7" release via Unknown To The Unknown. This is a far-reached, sanitary end of electro, whose every element is as salinated as a freshly spritzed and wiped-down control room: on 'Botnet' and 'Suspicion', 808s and acid diphthongs respectively snap and oo-er with the clarity of birdsong in an isolation chamber, while each track gradually builds in structural integrity and intensity as time marches onwards.

Review: You could well argue that the electro sound of today would be very different - or certainly lacking - without the faultless input of Cignol, aka Paul Hammock. Since around 2008, he has been serving up the gold and now comes another example of that on the Valencian label HC Records. Binary Choices finds him heading deep into a world of cosmic melody, celestial bodies and dreamy atmospheres. As always, the artist manages to combine intelligent pads, synths and percussions with sleek drum programming that powers the trip in style. Whether the acid tinged opener or melancholy of 'Broken Circle' is out favourite is hard to choose, and pointless. All four cuts are essential.

Review: Thanks to a swathe of superb EPs over the last few years for the likes of 2020 Vision, Lunar Disko, Further Electronix, Altered Sense and Unknown to the Unknown, long-serving electro producer Cignol is enjoying something of a career renaissance. As a result, some of his earliest releases have become in-demand and hard-to-find - hence this reissue of his long-overlooked, but utterly brilliant, 2010 debut album, Switching For a Living. Offering an attractive mixture of sci-fi seeped, far-sighted tracks informed by 1990s IDM, deep electro, downtempo, ambient and acid, it's a coherent but varied affair that has well and trily lasted the test and time - thanks, in part, to Cignol's intention to make it a genuine "listening album". Recommended.

Review: The Spanish Hypnotic Collective label attempts to capture its take on the Detroit Legacy with what looks like a new series of various artists' EP. There is plenty of Motor City soul in the gorgeous synths of Cignol's muted acid and deep house opener 'Distance' which is a soothing and reverential groove, but then its pure party from Barce, Alex Martin offers up 313 style tech and three further tunes on the flip explore blistering electro with high-speed funk and cosmic intent. Mission accomplished and we're already looking forward to the next one.

Review: If the Spanish know how to keep one thing alive, it's community; in the spirit of this truth, Xuntaza, the name of Fanzine's latest EP series, is a Galician word that means 'the action of gathering of a group of people to discuss an issue or have fun'. Not overthought beyond the simple xuntanzing of its brightest artists, Vol. 1 in the series functions as a fantastic meeting point between dub techno, tech house, and experimental electro.