ARTICLES
2006 Top 10s and 20s
2006 Artist Picks

ALBUMS
17 Pictures
Angina P
Ateleia
Benni Hemm Hemm
The Boats
Cappablack
Celer
Dead Letters Dead Words
Deceptikon
Deerhunter
Denzel + Huhn
Displayaz
Dollboy
Drone
Eluvium
Emanuele Errante
The Eternals
Fear Falls Burning
Marcus Fjellström
Fonoda
Funkstörung
Goldfrapp
Gyroscope
Robert Henke
James Holden
The Idealist
Anders Ilar
Landing
LCD Soundsystem
Library Tapes
L Pierre
Lullatone
Tor Lundvall
Mad EP
Mahogany
Melodium
Mem1
Daisuke Miyatani
Mole Harness
Momus
Monoceros
Mormo
Mothboy
Original Hamster
Pierson & Horton
Prince Valium
Radical Face
Retail Sectors / Yaporigami
Rylander & Elggren
Scott Solter Plays PIM
Sideshow
Silicone Soul
Skream
Splinters
Mark Templeton
Thread Pulls
T. Raumschmiere
Tycho
Ultre
Virculum
Xela

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
AudioArt 03
Cumulous
Dubstep Allstars Vol. 4
Eriksen / Toft / Utarm
Katapult VA Vol. 3
Let's Lazertag Sometime
Mr Geoffrey & JD Franzke
Skagen / Halvorsen / Toft
Tectonic Plates

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Gabriel Ananda
Robert Bardini
DAT Politics
Dead Letters / R. Sundin
Dogmixer
Benjamin Fehr
Fenin
HL
I Make This Sound
Zoë Irvine
Kyriakides and Moor
Lamont & 2tall
Ljud. & Piloten / Kama Aina
Jacob London
Sam Mcqueen
Miskate
Ryo Miyashita & Hiiragi_
[nara]
New Faces
Of / Greg Davis
Charlemagne Palestine
Phon.o vs Litwinenko
Portable
PostPrior
Samarah
Nicholas Sauser & Ditch
Someone Else
Hannes Teichmann
Tractile
Andy Vaz

IMAGES
F.S. Blumm

The Eternals: Heavy International
Aesthetics

The Eternals' (Wayne Montana on bass and keyboards, drummer Tim Mulvenna, and Damon Locks on vocals and keyboards) stylistically slippery third album is marked by two things in particular: tight bass-drum grooves and Lock's eccentric, often high-pitched vocalizing. In the absence of a lead guitar, a song like “Crime” puts the rhythm section at the forefront, and Locks' singing and the stark synth line leave ample space for the bass and drums to be heard. With synths simulating braying horns and Locks' ‘Yay-yay-yay' chant leading the charge, the wildly pumping “The Mix is So Bizarre” establishes the group's penchant for warped experimentalism early. The Chicago trio's crisp attack calls to mind Ui and its loose, polyglot dub-funk brew shares an urban-dub focus with The Agriculture artists like DJ Olive, Once11, and qpe. Before the vocals appear, the title song resembles a bolder and looser Tortoise while Locks' vocal in the spooky haunted-house dub “Remove Ya” even sounds a bit like Jim Morrison, strangely enough. In addition, there's futura funk-reggae (“Astra 3B”) and, best of all, “Patch of Blue,” a punchy fusion of new wave, funk, and dancehall. Broadening its range even more, the album gravitates towards instrumental experimentalism in its later stages, epitomized by the melodica-driven hip-hop psychedelia of “The Origin of the Heatray.” Heavy International's a tad long at one hour but a trippy and wild ride nonetheless.

January 2007