manual / azure vista / darla

For the first time in three years, 23 year old, Jonas Munk goes solo again! "Azure Vista" marks a return to his pop oriented work and finds Munk expanding on the melodic, shoegazy electronica of "Ascend."
listen: clear skies above the coastline cathedral

stereolab/ oscillons from the anti-sun / too pure



Everything you ever wanted from stereolab with this 3 CD disc complied of all their UK EPs from '93 to 2001, and dvd complilation featuring bonus live BBC TV appearances. Without a doubt, some of the band's finest tracks are here, the vast majority of which have never been released domestically.
listen: fluorescences
listen: you used to call me sadness

isolée / we are monster / playhouse

-predicted to be one of the best albums of this year.

autechre / untilted / warp



Autechre has arrived to pummel you over the head with new sounds and rhythms that you have never heard before.
listen: ipacial section
listen: lcc
listen: iera

mitchell akiyama / small explosions / sub rosa

One of Montreal's most notable electronic producers, Mitchell Akiyama's Small Explosions takes somewhat of a classical approach to his arrangements. In many ways his digital manipulations of the piano brought to mind the overall sentiment of Fennesz. Akiyama works in a montage style, layering disparate melodic passages on top of one another and weaving them around digital fragments, but several of these compositions have more semblance of structure than you'd expect. Melodies from acoustic instruments are accented and interrupted with interjections of running water, human voices, breathing, which essentially creates the soul of these pieces and certainly steers the compositions away from the oft clinical nature of laptop constructed music.
listen: but promise me
listen: ghost storms

stephan mathieu / the sad mac / headz

Mathieu collaborates with a long list of traditional instrumentalists (various strings, voice, piano, field recordings etc.), but only slightly abstracting the source and thereby creating a unique sense of space not often found in electronic records. It has the overall effect of some distant memory, sitting just at the edge of your consciousness. An extremely pleasant and warm album that lets each levitating note float just long enough for you to realize the next one is already there.
listen: tinfoil star
listen: imagination

thinner!
If you don't already know about this quality net label, now you do! Thinner is a German electronic music label that distributes all its mp3's for FREE. The artist's range from the best of Canada's electronic music scene to Vladislav Delay. This site has brought me many days of happiness. Check it!

DOPEFIEND, a new Torontontian online magazine; your guide to all things style and art oriented in the city.

toys of one's own - breaking down the boys' club in electronic music
by dimitri nasrallah


dance music's détente - peace breaks out between intellectual and instinctive
by martin turenne

deadbeat / new world observer / ~scape

Montreal's Scott Monteith, aka Deadbeat, aka half of Crackhaus, returns with his third album for the fine ~scape label. Monteith continues to plumb the digital depths set out by folks like Pole, Maurizio, and the early Basic Channel catalog. Still informed by dub reggae's oceanic feel, Deadbeat has more vocals here than on any of his previous work. The biggest presence is that of Montrealian chanteuse, Athesia. She brings a bossa-nova tinged vocal to the table, but rarely does Deadbeat allow them to pass by unprocessed. Instead, he breaks down her lines to a layer of finely chopped phonetics and encoded sighs, making for a fine marriage between the cool of his post-dub spaces and the warm touch that Athesia brings.
listen: port au-prince
listen: little town of bethlehem

solvent / elevators and oscillators / ghostly



Elevators and Oscillators is a collection of singles/12" tracks and remixes that explore Solvent's electropop side. If you've already heard "My Radio" off of 2002's Disco Nouveau compilation, you know what this one's all about: sweet melodies reminiscent of radio-era OMD or Erasure (but produced in an indie kid's bedroom studio), catchy breaks and beats, and love song lyrics sung in a broken hearted robot voice. While the tracks are mostly poppy and sweet, there are a few rockers like Alter Ego's remix of "Think Like Us" and Legowelt's remix of "My Radio".
listen: my radio / schneider tm
listen: devices and strategies

lonely-hearted montag learns to lighten up
by martin turenne