Articles
2007 Top 10s and 20s
2007 Artist Picks
Meissner Interview

Albums
7 Hertz
Aarktica
Alka
Axiotronic
Dale Berning
BJNilsen & Z'ev
John Callaghan
Cousin Lou
Dif:use
Disrupt
Domink Eulberg
Donna Regina
Eedl
Erstlaub
FF Burning & BC Motel
Fibla
Figurines
Fond Of Tigers
Freescha
Brian Grainger
Inhabitants
Klimek
Liquid Stranger
Low Res
Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia
Northern
Adam Pacione
Part Timer
Steve Peters
Phreakon
Pig & Dan
Pinch
Rechenzentrum
Sebastien Roux
Sciajno & English
The Seasons
Slow Dancing Society
Steinbrüchel
Talvekoidik
Translations
Ulver
Uusitalo
Tony Wilson 6Tet
Wilson/Lee/Bentley

Compilations/Mixes
15 Exitos Grandes
Steve Lawler
Pole
Sven Väth

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Ada
Alland Byallo
Formication
Tim Hecker
Hybernation
Karoshi Bros
Lilienweiss
Move D
Tor Lundvall
Shreber Harber Mole FW
Sun Electric
Amon Tobin
Gez Varley

Liquid Stranger: The Invisible Conquest
Interchill

Perhaps the thing that most separates The Invisible Conquest from many dubtronica albums is its robust character. While many of the genre's practitioners opt for an aromatic, laid-back—even somnambulant—vibe, Swedish-born Martin Staaf (aka one-half of the former Scandinavian techno-progressive project Necton) injects his deliriously trippy Liquid Stranger material with maximal energy. All of the familiar dub elements are in place—bass-heavy grooves, melodicas, gravelly voice punctuations, exotic flute melodies, skanky guitar lines, percussive accents, horns, spacey production treatments—but they're embedded in tracks that are wide-awake and fully alert. “Familiar And Unknown” charges like an army of rhinos while “Mutants (Sneaky And Adaptable Mix)” is so epic it could be described as trance-dub fusion. Beautiful bass lines both power and anchor hallucinatory tracks like “Drop Sacrifice” and “Cook N Curry,” and, neatly summing up the album's driving spirit, one track is even titled “Liquid Stranger On The Run.” The Invisible Conquest is definitely a solid dubtronica collection, notwithstanding the fact that it's admittedly overlong at seventy-four minutes.

January 2008