Articles
2007 Ten Favourite Labels
Backtracking Greg Davis
Shackleton Interview

Albums
John Luther Adams
Joseph Auer
Commix
Dartriix
Floratone
Furniture
Shuta Hasunuma
Richard Hawley
Hologram
Icarus
Kiln
Kobol
Labradford
Last Days
M83
Mai
Darren McClure
Near the Parenthesis
David Newlyn
Objekt4
OK Ikumi
Ontayso
Wendel Patrick
Phon°noir
Pocahaunted / Robedoor
Poostosh
Prefuse 73
Quosp
Rapoon
The Retail Sectors
Skull Disco
Socos
Supersilent
Tigrics
Trentemøller
Zuydervelt / Baars / Veld.

Compilations/Mixes
Airport Symphony
Devil in the Detail
Dinky
EXPANSION | contraction
Funckarma
Little Darla v. 25
One Five Zero
Playgroup / Alter Ego
Signal Path
Soul Jazz Singles
U-cover Mix 03 [IDM]
Ricardo Villalobos
We Are All Cotton-Hearted
Well Deep

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Basic Unit
Bodycode
Kit Clayton & Sutekh
Dartriix
Ditch
INKlings
Insanic4
Lackluster
Najem Sworb
Ontayso
Sutekh
The Tamborines
Telafonica
Zainetica

OK Ikumi: Spirits
Blue Bell

Karl Jørgensen's OK Ikumi style could be described as James Figurine-meets-Solvent and, if that combination sounds appealing, rest assured you won't be disappointed by the thirteen ultra-melodic songs on his debut full-length, Spirits, either. Jørgensen's vocals, which resemble Jimmy Tamborello's (aka Dntel and James Figurine), are placed low in the mix which makes them recall Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake even more. Jørgensen occasionally brings his sister Kari (The Boy Who Could Fly) along for the vocal ride, and the bright sparkle of her sweet voice forms a perfect complement to his restrained delivery (the two could even pass for Suzanne Vega and James Figurine when they team up for the irresistibly poppy duet “No Matter”). OK Ikumi's keyboard-heavy songs teem with captivating hooks, heartfelt lyrics, and, not unusual for the genre, an occasional vocoder. Jørgensen, like Solvent, doesn't smother the songs with overly-baroque arrangements but keeps things stripped-down and wholly synthetic (“Star Radio” even sounds like a Solvent title).

December 2007