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
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James Holden
The Idealist
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Landing
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Tor Lundvall
Mad EP
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Melodium
Mem1
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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

Portable: Speak Out
Süd Electronic

Alan Abrahams recently created Bodycode as an adjunct alias to Portable, the idea being that the former would represent Abrahams' club-oriented music and the latter his more experimental explorations—a perfectly reasonable idea but one hardly borne out by the new Portable 12-inch Speak Out and its beautifully swinging house cuts. In fact, the major Portable-related development isn't its experimental flavour but the prominent role of Abrahams' vocals. Often when a techno or house artist decides to add vocals to the mix, the results underwhelm when the singing proves to be merely serviceable, but that's not the case here, as Abrahams' vocals are surprisingly strong.

The 11-minute “Take Action” opens with a minimal pulse peppered by staccato croaking accents before the vocals appear, alternating between a lower register monotone and a delicate refrain (“I don't want to / I don't want to / I don't want to lose it”) that rapidly becomes a potent hook. Despite the robotic delivery, the humanity in his singing won't be denied and Abrahams' voice takes on a Bowie-like tone in the lower register. The B-side's “Bubble World” churns hypnotically, with its infectious swing and vocal chants (“Of the future version of myself / To the future version of myself”) more explicitly referencing Abrahams' African roots. Speak Out's apparently a precursor to a 2007 Portable album on Süd Electronic; let's hope the full-length makes good on the promise of this fabulous appetizer.

January 2007

This review also appears in Grooves.