Not quite got back into the swing of things post Xmas. Seem to be churning out reviews and doing little else. But I'll interrupt this with some texts about things other than music. Ignore at your leisure.

PS. In a tide of releases where ownership is rarely recommended, the two Nettle albums below buck that trend. Music as artifact.

Nettle: Firecamp Stories Remixes (theAgriculture) - CD
The original album - 'Build a fort, set that on fire' - was pretty incendiary stuff (as you'd expect from DJ/ Rupture) and this remix exercise is a worthy companion. Leafcutter John's revision is a brilliant folk meltdown, Ove Naxx peppers the spiky arabic rhythms with 8-bit Nintendo riffs and Hrvatski wields african drum loops as if it were the Amen break.

Venetian Snares: Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding (Planet Mu) - CD
The only Venetian Snares album that I can't seem to get along with. Sounds way too austere and clinical for my liking. Like the title and artwork suggest, this is the product of sterile environments and digital clarity.

Jimmy Edgar: Color Strip (Warp) - CD
Not met anyone who's liked this yet. But then most of my friends are the wrong side of thirty. Still, seems to be popular with 'the kids'. And with catchy sing-alongs like 'My Beats' and 'I wanna be your STD' it's not difficult to see why. Near perfect electro-pop fodder. Peters out near the end, but on the whole I found this a lively update of the sort of stuff Model 500 used to dish out back in the day.

Nettle: Build a fort, set that on fire (theAgriculture) - CD
Randomly picking unreviewed CD's from the absorb pile of yesteryear, I amusingly pick this and its remix companion (see above) in the same week. If you haven't got time to read all of this review, then just let it be said that this is a fucking insane album.

There are so many geographical/musical reference points crammed into the fifteen tracks that it could sound scattershot and unfocussed on first listens. But repeat plays reveal the direct turntable manipulation and laptop mangling to an even greater detail. Reinforces my experience of disruption to eastern musics. I can remember traveling across southern asia, listening to the local radio at night. Music delivered over a layer of static and interference.