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

Socos: Hyperythmique Analogue
Triple Bath

Hyperythmique Analogue, Socos' debut solo album, remains captivating throughout its forty-two-minute duration, despite the fact that the Athens, Greece artist Nikos Sokos performs it using nothing but guitar. Whether finger-picking furiously (heard especially memorably in “Hyperythmique Analogue Pt 2”) or hitting the instrument's body to generate percussive accents, Socos unquestionably shows himself to be a guitar virtuoso. But the album isn't about grandstanding: it's the compositional caliber of the album's five pieces that impresses most, and Socos deploys his formidable playing abilities in service to that compositional dimension. If they are improvisations (as accompanying notes suggest), he must have mapped out fairly clearly their respective trajectories beforehand.

Socos demonstrates an effortless mastery of mood, dynamics, and tempo throughout; with the utmost ease, he slows a piece down and subdues it to a near whisper, then abruptly revives it with an aggressive, accelerating attack. In the long central piece, the fourteen-minute “Vis-à-Vis,” he follows delicate classical strums with violently plucked chords before an amazing penultimate section finds intricate strums catapulting the piece forward until the contemplative earlier passage reappears to again establish calm. Abetted by subtle digital manipulations that help slice and stretch the guitar's notes, Socos alternates between microsound levels and violent flourishes in “Cataleptique,” while his graceful rendering of “Louise Michel” closes the album in a spirit of Renaissance-styled elegance. His artful modulation of volume and intensity is heard to great effect during “Hyperythmique Analogue Pt 1” when its spidery, shimmering strums advance and recede, occasionally punctuated by loud knocks. Triple Bath describes Hyperythmique Analogue as “experimental-improvisational, solo classical guitar” but the album's appeal easily extends beyond a circle of prototypical guitar fanatics.

December 2007