PR companies teasing me with new records, then issuing fatwa's against me for not writing about them. Eeeeek! It's like the good old days of Absorb all over again....

This post is bookended by pictures of two quite beautiful people who made my stay in Istanbul that much more pleasant. Respect.

Remote: Celestion EP (Meanwhile) - 12"

The title track is house manna from heaven; as floaty as expected, only the dub interrupts stop this from sashaying uncomfortably over into trance. The B-side tracks pay further homage to the shrine of Basic Channel. Taut, damp kicks bob over elastic Bezier-curve basslines. 'Permafrost' dispenses with the beats altogether with a slow, linear boat journey across the polar ice caps.

Murmur: Boundary EP (Meanwhile) - 12"

Minimal house tends to exercise the musical idea of perpetual linearity. Constant, templated rhythms that to all intents and purposes is the song. Traditional motifs such as basslines and lead melodies are merely there to accentuate / transform: to stamp its uniqueness. Murmur subscribes to this ethic with grace and style to spare.

Brian Aneurysm: Das Element Des Menschen (Spectral) - 12"

No opening of cerebral gates here; strictly dumb, fun and full of cum. Jacking grind from Austria via Texas; three slabs of hedonistic machine excess. James T. Cotton takes the original and jizzes low-level acid all over it. Clunky, rigid, sonic teutonic, chronic polyphonic techno....for heavy rotation.

Yard: Bloom (Narita) - 12"

Yard's contribution to Narita's 'Terminal 1' compilation stuck out like a sore thumb. 'Swaggle' was a grin-inducing hybrid of breaks, noises and bass. All delivered with an inventiveness not seen since the days of early-nineties British Techno. These remixes dont really add or subtract, they merely tweak.

The introductory 'Numba' eeks out the most rewarding path, breakbeats rattled in an echo chamber, tense urgent synths race to the end. Narita's star pupil Adam Johnson smoothes out the edges, but the original's street-level grit is absent. Despite the slight shift in focus, this is another worthy release from Narita.

Various Artists: Dudes EP (Shadetek) - 12"

NY Hip-hop meets UK Grime. A lazy-as-fuck way of describing this excellent 12", but there's value in it. Xing'n Fox's prowl on the block is punctuated with laptop-lobbed bleeps / tones and unexpected pop samples. Para One takes Shadetek's 'outernational' ethic one stage further with an inventive clash between France (TTC) vs. America (Tes).

Amusingly, the weakest track here is ATKI2's direct take on grime. Slightly limp warped basslines and skitterish approach to rhythm make this sneer when it should growl.

Gabriel Ananda: Tai Nasha no karosha Remixes (Karmarouge) - 12"

I cant find the album from which these remixes originated from for love nor money. Still Mr. Ananda must keep good company, especially if the likes of Frank Martiniq and Metope are remixing. The former opts for a slightly subdued, almost filmic approach. Pitch-bent strings / shuffled drums. The latter cranks it with lo-fi hand claps, buzzsaw B-lines and textured minimalism. Funnily enough, Gabriel has the most success remixing himself on 'Der Sinn des Lebens'. But this still isn't as good as the 'Sussholz' releases on Triebstoff.

The Vegetable Orchestra: Remix Trilogy - Volume Three (Karmarouge) - 12"

Where there's one, there's the other. I've lost count of the amount of records where Luciano and Villalobos share remix duties. I digress, they both seem to tread similar drug-fuelled paths. Hypnotic mantra's that owe more to techno than minimal house. Luciano just edges ahead with his bubbly, slow toke; rapid fire blips, a faded stain of a bassline and the sound of disintegrating tape.

Pendle Coven: £100 per metre (Modern Love) - 12"

Despite the fact that everyone will mention it with reference to this release, the nostalgia rave mashup 'R.E.S.P.E.C.T.' is the least interesting thing on offer: I'd rather listen to the original records. The less showy B-sides have more substance. Glacial ambience, plucked strings and a studied approach to tension runs through 'Unit 6', whilst 'Artificial Root' moves things into a 16:9 ratio.

Dr. Lindh: Sounds Interesting EP (SCSI-AV) - 12"

I swear i've heard this before somewhere. Absolutely safe, no-risk batch of dour, moody electro. Can't really say much more than that.

Moving Ninja: Shellcode (Tectonic) - 12"

Stunning second offering from the fledging Tectonic imprint. Just one of the numerous new labels to have sprung up recently, designed to cater for the current grime sub-genre of choice: Dubstep. All the tracks are polished, stylistically shifting from tech-heavy stomps to african digitalis. Every pulse and thud comes complete with a microburst of sub-bass. This is good, as good as that Skream 12", you must buy.

A complex mix of official directives and personal feelings from the London Underground employee that wrote it. Brilliant! Normal service (on FAIL rather than London Underground) will resume soon....

The suave mix of European-style boutiques and the turkish approach to city planning in the shopping haven that is Istanbul's Taksim district were having a pleasing effect on my sensory inputs when the text's started flooding in.

"Are you OK?"
"Hope you're OK?"
"Text me back to let me know you are safe."

Immediately, i'd assumed that something had happened in Istanbul. The last few trips out here had resulted in me getting caught up in earthquakes of great magnitude. But then I'd worked out that the people who had texted me didn't know i was abroad and furthermore they were from international friends and colleagues.

It lasted a second, but i can truthfully say that it felt like time had stood still upon the realisation that something had happened in London.

Channels of digital data unavailable to me (lack of internet cafes) and the mobile network seemed to have all but disappeared. I just suddenly felt totally alienated. The overriding feeling was that I wanted to leave this foreign land and come straight back home. To be with the people that I work, play and live around.

My comments and thoughts about what actually transpired are muddled, ridden with emotion and irrelevant at this point. Needless to say, sullen looks and pensive moods prevailed for the rest of the day. Prayers for the grieving, sympathy to those affected.

In the meantime, i can only post up a picture of where my headspace is currently at right now. The collision of speed and colour that is Kadikoy port in Istanbul. For audio accompaniment stick on 'Kinshaha Express' by Richard H. Kirk (off his recently reviewed 'Earlier/Later' album)

A good twelve hours after the event and how do I feel? Like I want to leave this foreign land and come straight back home.

For more words read the following (I'll keep updating as I get more articles)