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

LCD Soundsystem: 45:33: Nike+ Original Run
i Tunes

Having produced 45:33: Nike + Original Run, an out iTunes-exclusive composition for Nike, LCD Soundsystem/DFA mainman James Murphy will be vilified by some for having sold out (his own interest in the project was sparked by his affection for records where artists created a single album-long ‘song' and the challenge involved in attempting to do the same). Hopefully, those most discomfited by the idea won't prevent themselves from hearing what's a very satisfying 45-minute work. The driving concept is that 45:33 is composed for runners; to his credit, Murphy rejects the obvious move of grounding the piece in lockstep techno. Instead, the composition wends a far more imaginative route that includes numerous shifts in style and tempo.

Though an appealingly live and loose, jam-like vibe reigns, the piece isn't an interminable and aimless riff on a single theme but is more akin to a flowing mix-tape of one artist's material. After opening with an accelerating fleet of ascending synths that could pass for a Radioactivity outtake, a house piano riff kicks in, initiating a funky disco episode bolstered by soulful Robert Owens-styled vocalizing and wordless background harmonies. Ten minutes in, the piece morphs into synth-heavy electrofunk brightened by gleaming glockenspiel melodies, then moves on to a ‘70s-styled, Ohio Players-meets-Headhunters passage propelled by double-time hi-hat patterns, clavinet, and, yes, cowbell that references, intentionally or not, Stevie Wonder's “Superstition” and Herbie Hancock's “Palm Grease.” After a breathlessly driving section ends at the 37-minute mark, chill-out sets in and the piece slows to a placid close of celestial, church-like ambiance. Put simply, don't let the release's ‘commercial' dimension blind you to the work's high quality.

January 2007