DREXCIYA 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Released in 2002 as the Drexciya project was forced towards an untimely finish with the passing of James Stinson, Grava 4 remains a high-point in the legendary Detroit electro pioneers' catalogue. As ever, the magic of the record lies in the balance between experimental, provocative sound design and fully physical, instinctive machine funk. Stinson and Gerald Donald were able to say a great deal within the parameters of their project, and Grava 4 remains leagues ahead of what most people think electro can be. Just marvel at the likes of 'Gravity Waves', which feels like the truest representation of the genre without ever following a pre-existing formula.

Review: To mark the album's 20th birthday, Drexciya's most melodious and perfectly formed full-length has been remastered and reissued. 'Harnessed The Storm' has consistently been cited as one of 'the greatest IDM albums of all time' since its release, and we'd have to agree with that assessment - even if you could argue it's really an electro album. Deep, atmospheric and melodious, it's arguably the perfect distillation of the pair's distinctive sound, style and ethos. Certainly, it contains a swathe of absolute gems, including the robust and otherworldly club electro of 'The Plankton Organization', 'Dr Blowfin's Black Storm Stabilising Spheres', the heart-aching musical melancholy of 'Birth of a New Life' (recorded shortly before Drexciya member James Stinson surprisingly passed away) and the gorgeous 'Digital Tsunami'.

Review: Drexciya released a lot of seminal work during their tenure, but Neptune's Lair was when James Stinson and Gerald Donald built upon the conceptual depth of their project across an album format for the first time. Released in 1999 on Tresor, the album still sounds leagues ahead of the pack if you think in terms of electro, but to be honest that simple genre tag feels a little reductive at this point. Drexciya were consummate world-builders and they proved this beautifully across achingly beautiful tracks like 'Andreaen Sand Dunes' and 'Polymono Plexusgel', while they still brought serious amounts of funk to 'Habitat of Negative', 'Surface Terrestrial Colonization' and 'Oxyplasmic Gyration Beam'. A perfect album given a proper 'special edition' reissue treatment on CD.

Review: As part of Drexciya's latest reissue campaign with Tresor, their most defining album 'Neptune's Lair' here gets a rerelease with brand new cover art from Detroit contemporary artist Matthew Angelo Harrison, not to mention a fresh remaster. Perfectly representing the DIY flair of their original deep-sea electro sound - with rough analogue electronics submerged in lo-fi, as though they're being drowned a Drexciyan merman - we're more than happy to have 'Andreaen Sand Dunes', 'Universal Evement' and 'Surface Terrestrial Colonization' grace our ears again.

Review: Having previously mined Drexciya's back catalogue for four superb compilations (the Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller series), Clone has decided to reissue the Detroit electro legends' final studio album, 2002's Grava 4. It remains a superb set, moving between deep space explorations (the superbly atmospheric ambience of "Cascading Celestial Giants"), rolling, intergalactic electro ("Drexcyen Star Chamber"), intense dancefloor work outs ("Drexcyen R.E.S.T Principle"), glistening IDM ("Hightech Nomads"), and fusions of Sheffield bleep aesthetics and Cybotron style rhythms ("Gravity Waves"). In other words, you'll struggle to find a better electro album. If you don't own an original copy, you should grab this reissue sharpish.