quintetAvant: En Concert a la Salle des Fetes (editionsMego) - CD
The story is of five major players in the French improv / electronic / electro-acoustic scene coming together at the Musique Action Festival to make a serious racket through a mix of digital interrupts, analogue synths and tape. This CD documents their efforts.

Four untitled tracks. Two are long, the other two are short. No catchy melodies, followable beats or love and warmth here. But it is quite a nice summation of the Mego brand. I can hear echoes of Hecker's viciousness, Pita's classicist leanings and Tujiko Noriko sense of mischief.

Throw in sped up vocals, animal noises, distorted instrumentation, bursts of skull cracking feedback and its a maelstrom of epic proportions. Made even more astonishing by the improvisational nature of the performance.

Digital Analogue noise constructed from bezier curves.

Sandoz: In Dub Chapter 2 - Live in the Earth (Soul Jazz) - CD
Borders on digi-dub at times, but on the whole this is another solid slice of earthy dubtronics from Richard H.Kirk. Not quite as good as the first installment ('Beam' and 'Chocolate Machine' still sound terrific) but as London bakes in this heatwave, it'll do nicely.

Virus Syndicate: The Work Related Illness (Planet Mu) - CD
Initially spat out with ill-advised artwork to a disinterested audience, this debut from Manchester's Virus Syndicate gets a much-needed re-release with new artwork and new tracks. Musically tight, MRK1's efficient production and choice use of samples give the MC's a vibrant, filmic backdrop to perform on.

They achieve near perfect pop on moments like 'Throwing in the towel' and 'Ready To Learn'. The highlight of course is the confrontational street-swagger of 'Slow Down'. MRK1's film soundtrack obsession confirmed with the weaving of Danny Elfman's Batman theme on 'Taxman'.

I've not been able to sit through a grime long-player from start to finish....here is a welcome exception.

Alexander Robotnick: The disco-tech of.... (Yellow) - CD
When I ran absorb.org I had dedicated section devoted to electro / italo-disco. Dunno what's happened now though. But after being slightly fucked off with minimal (not ready to jettison it just yet), I've found sexual thrills aplenty in the original machine funk

For those needing a primer, this mix CD is a perfect place to start. Listen, writhe and then go off and explore the artists that you like. Me? 'Lectric Workers' 'Robot is Sysematic', Casco's 'Cybernetic Love', FPU's two contributions and Memory Boy's 'There is no electricity' all give me erections.

Auto-erotic amplification.