Following his critically acclaimed 2017 debut album Apeiron, enigmatic artist Noumen, aka Andriy Vezdenko, returns to CPU with his second album 'Obscurium'. Vezdenko demonstrates mastery in the studio again with his signature melodic, uneasy and challenging rhythms. Obscurium travels down a path seldom trod in experimental electronic music; thoroughly enjoyable and brimming with musicality. Quintessential abstract electronics.
If you like Autechre's LP5 or Jega's Geometry you will love this.

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We first spotted Noumen in 2012 and alongside Cygnus was one of the first to be asked to join CPU. Over 4 years later he finally delivers an EP and LP that is a true labour of love. Abstract electronics of the highest quality. It's IDM, but with that essential hip hop influence making it immeasurably more addictive and pleasing. With plenty of melody and swing layered over intricate rhythm programming, it leaves listeners stunned. White Silence is taken from the forthcoming album Apeiron. Remaining 3 tracks are exclusive to this EP.

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We first spotted Noumen in 2012 and alongside Cygnus was one of the first to be asked to join CPU. Over 4 years later he finally delivers an EP and LP that is a true labour of love. Abstract electronics of the highest quality. It's IDM, but with that essential hip hop influence making it immeasurably more addictive and pleasing. With plenty of melody and swing layered over intricate rhythm programming, it leaves listeners stunned. White Silence is taken from the forthcoming album Apeiron. Remaining 3 tracks are exclusive to this EP.

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In recent years, Blackploid has come to be one of Central Processing Unit's signature artists. The German producer has averaged more than a record a year for the Sheffield imprint since he first landed on CPU in 2021. This prolific run continues withCosmic Drama, Blackploid's second LP for the label. The album takes the baton from its predecessorEnter Universein style, delivering twelve tracks of top-quality machine-funk that draw down from electro's classic artists while also imbuing proceedings with a playfulness that very much gives things a signature Blackploid-ish flavour. Cosmic Dramasets its stall out from the off. The opening run of 'Alien', 'World Construction' and 'Virtual State' all deliver piston-snapping beats which anchor pleasing melanges of B-movie synth lines. Alongside this, Blackploid adds little flourishes which add buoyancy to each joint - a syncopated bassline reminiscent of I-f's late-90s classic 'Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass', crackling robo-voiced commands, skittering synth chords which wash across the mix and so on. It's the work of someone completely at ease with their craft, comfortable enough to take risks without upsetting the apple cart of their sound's core appeal. Blackploid's idiosyncratic approach to synth work is something which distinguishesCosmic Dramafrom the pack. Electro has long been a genre which prides itself on innovation on the keys, but few producers are willing to push their sonics as far as Blackploid does - take the seasick churn of pads and processors on 'Multiverse', for instance, or the way John Carpenter-esque single-note lines dovetail with gurgling synthetic pulses and eerie, spacious chords on 'The Lab', a highlight ofCosmic Drama's midsection. Cosmic Dramaskips along at club tempo throughout - every one of these joints will get bodies moving in dark rooms across the galaxy. However, even when tracks maintain their single-minded pursuit of machine-funk perfection, they never forget to deliver on the hooks. Blackploid has lead lines (and counter-melodies) to burn here, and each track knots them together in ever-more intriguing ways as they plough onwards. Drexciyan heads will be thrilled by the sci-fi delights of 'Species', for instance, while Blackploid brings melodies as cold as they are catchy on the aptly-named 'Polar Dunes'. By the timeCosmic Dramahits upon the vroom-vrooming bassline line of closer 'Contact', you're fully enthralled to the album's combination of broken-beat heft and synthetic melodiousness. Central Processing Unit mainstay Blackploid comes through with another delightful dozen of electro heaters for the Sheffield label.

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Maelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for the fourth time, and it's the one born Joan-Mael Péneau's lengthiest drop on the Sheffield label yet. The French artist has been a mainstay in the European electro game since the 2000s, and Malestrom brings that experience to bear on new LP The FM Tapes. He goes about this album with the assurance of a seasoned pro, combining his mastery of electro production techniques with a trademark guile to craft an expertly-paced eleven-track affair. The first section of The FM Tapes sets out the album's stall with style and aplomb - listeners are in store for a rich feast of off-kilter machine-funk which will feature no shortage of intriguing detours. On opener 'Ondes Courtes' the mix throbs with all manner of strange electronic gristle: a distorted bass hum rattles the monitors; wisps of distortion float across the mix; eerily pretty keys wax and wane before giving way to a radar pulse. 'Ondes Courtes' is an ominous slouch of a scene-setter, and it lines things up perfectly for following cut 'Alt50ser' to lock in. This track's churning, gurgling mid-tempo rattle brings to mind the wacky insistence of Modeselektor. Maelstrom repeats the slow-fast one-two again directly afterwards - 'La Vie Sociale Des', a strange nugget that sounds like an early Eski instrumental stripped for parts and blasted into the cosmos, is an ideal prelude to the twitchy space-funk of 'My Digitone'. Maelstrom's staying power in the electro world comes, in no small part, from his ability to apply his delightfully idiosyncratic choices to some of the genre's staple production tropes. On The FM Tapes, he marks himself out once more as a pleasingly unorthodox talent by taking tracks in unexpected directions to produce surprising - and often rather moving - results.

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Filipovich is one of a kind. The Belarus-born, Paris-based artist works in a multitude of media - found footage films, painting, silkscreening and performance to name a few. It's her musical output that has caught the attention of late, though, with Filipovich dropping a run of releases in recent years which began with 2021's Magnificat on Time Released Sound. Filipovich takes as much of a novel approach to her music-making as she does with her other artistic endeavours - Magnificat was centred around treated samples of Sergei Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil, and she's also combined classical composition with contemporary electronic techniques on her subsequent drops.For Idealized, Filipovich's debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, she maintains the gothic air which characterised her previous releases and applies it to a record of widescreen contemporary techno joints. These tracks represent something of a gear shift for CPU, a label which has long made its name by delivering top-quality electro and machine-funk jams, but such is the quality of Idealized that these superbly-executed techno productions are sure to win over label fans both old and new.Idealized is very much schooled in the German tradition of minimal/dub techno. Tracks like 'Physical', 'Wave' and 'Dance Minor' all anchor themselves on single, steady drum pulses and delay-drenched single-chord loops. Filipovich generally lets the central idea of these tracks play out across several minutes while introducing increasingly disorientating elements into the rest of the mix - wiccan atmospherics, clashing chords, spiralling delays and so forth. It's an approach at once respectful of Filipovich's predecessors - Basic Channel, Deepchord, Ellen Allien and so on - but also full of idiosyncrasies and individuality.Many of the club cuts here hardwire us into the moody, murky environs of the darkest Berlin Basements. 'Ultra Red' rides forward on a crisp drum machine snap, a menacing burble of bassline and an eerie single-note synth whistle in the upper end of the mix; 'Dance Minor' shows off a bit of KiNK in the brain-bending modular loop that waxes and wanes at its centre; the second-half run from 'Wave' to closer 'Small Cave' travels ever-further out into deep space - the kick drums remain insistent, yet the textural elements are delivered with an edge and flair that evidences Filipovich's ability to think outside the box.Filipovich's unusual methods, and the influence of sound art and electroacoustic composition on her music, are drawn out further when Idealized steps away from the dancefloor. 'Hydra' comes off like a more gothic version of Pole - its central pulse draws from dub techno but never quite settles into a danceable groove, and this beat is combined with the kind of unnerving keyboard work that would make John Carpenter proud. Although closer 'Small Cave' eventually locks into another dark-room techno roller, the opening section of the track delivers a weightless soundscape of bright, tinny chords and a scene-setting field recording.Idealized, the first drop on Central Processing Unit from Paris-based Belarusian Lina Filpovich, broadens the label's horizons with a selection of finely crafted minimal/dub techno joints.

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If you can judge an artist's quality by the company they keep, then FaltyDL is up there with the best of them. The label history of the producer known to his friends as Drew Lustman reads like a "who's who" of 21st century electronic music imprints - Ninja Tune, Unknown to the Unknown, Planet Mu, Studio Barnhus, the list goes on. WithIn the Wake of Wolves, we can now add Central Processing Unit to this illustrious roster. The Sheffield label joins the party at a notable juncture - while FaltyDL has kept up an impressive clip of releases throughout his career,In the Wake of Wolvesis both the NYC-based producer's first LP for two years and his first full-length release away from his own Blueberry Records for almost a decade. In the Wake of Wolvesproves to be both a great match for CPU and also further evidence of the label's burgeoning sonic palette. While CPU has built its reputation on top quality electro joints, recent releases have delivered adventurous electronica experiments (Proswell'sPeople Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds), hard-wired breakbeat techno (Baby T'sI Against I) and golden-age synth explorations (twenty-fifth anniversary reissues of Bochum Welt'sDesktop RoboticsandFeelings on a Screen, both of which first emerged via the legendary Rephlex Records).In the Wake of Wolvestakes things further still - this is a brilliantly genre-voracious record, one which marries the rhythmic cut-and-thrust that we have long known FaltyDL for with all manner of adventurous stylistic choices. Those familiar with the FaltyDL experience will recognise the trademark blend of synthetic grit and harmonious softness in album opener 'I Need You'. This could pass for Four Tet or even Hannah Diamond at points, the steady build of pulsing synths and looped vocals recalling a more mysterious version of the PC Music sound. 'I Need You' stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any of FaltyDL's other great atmospheric album openers - no small feat given the competition. 'Further', the following number, is yin to 'I Need You's yang. This is a pulsating track which gleefully skitters between machine-funk, tubing darkside bass and breakcore-adjacent drum programming, all of which is peppered with some genuinely beautiful work in the higher synths.

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In a convergence of two of the most celebrated names in contemporary electronic music, Karsten Pflum steps out on Central Processing Unit with the Liars EP. As anyone who has followed either Pflum's work for labels such as Worm Interface/Furthur Electronix or the Sheffield imprint's recent run of top-quality electro joints will have expected, this coming together proves to be a match made in heaven.

What we have here is a tour de force of modern machine music. With Liars, Pflum achieves that rare feat of making something that is at once boundary-pushing yet also thrillingly immediate, his attention to detail shining through with each well-placed snare hit or leftfield structural choice. Equally apt for home listening or dancefloor deployment, Liars is a delight for heads and hedonists alike.

Constantly evolving while also cleaving to a relentless groove throughout, opener 'WAN1' is a brilliant scene-setter for Liars. The track slinks between sections of seething post-Drexciyan acid and eerie vignettes which balance out haunted house synth licks with the sort of punishing bass blasts that recall early grime classics like Youngstar's 'Pulse X'. A sly shift of key halfway through the track only serves to redouble 'WAN1's restless brilliance.

After 'WAN1', 'LOLA' represents something of a gear-switch. The track's wiggly opening bassline is a red herring - make no mistake that we're fully into braindance territory on this one, the drums skittering across the mix as Pflum fills the track out with jungle-adjacent delays and softly insistent synth pads. As 'LOLA' goes on, blurts of synth and some stiffening in the drum work pushes the track into pure rhythm workout territory.

First B-side 'MOUSFOLK' somewhat splits the difference between Liars' A-sides. This track has 'WAN1's unyielding stomp and prominent acid bass line, but the helter-skelter drum breaks and wandering keyboard lines are very much pulling from 'LOLA's zanier energy. As with the other joints here, 'MOUSFOLK' is elevated by Pflum's composerly touch, the Dane frequently throwing in new sonic tidbits - a skippy snare tattoo, a single-note synth loop which sounds like a hovering spaceship - that reinvigorate the mix.

Pflum's musicality is at the fore once more on closer 'BALM'. For the first section of 'BALM', a rich and sombre keyboard fugue, you'd be hard pressed to say whether you're listening to a producer of club music or a contemporary classical maestro. The way Pflum builds this central motif up with deft broken-beat drum programming, a wheezing synth countermelody and distant vocal sighs is equally delightful, the whole track coming off like a kindred spirit of the electronica-infused experiments on Radiohead's 2000 masterwork Kid A.

A brilliantly unorthodox collection of electro-braindance hybrids, Liars is a barnstorming Central Processing Unit debut from the seasoned Karsten Pflum.

RIYL: AFX, Silicon Scally, DMX Krew, Matmos

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After building up a head of steam on labels such as Craigie Knowes and Rotterdam Electronix in the past couple of years, Larionov debuts on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with the Space Threat EP. Larionov's previous releases have shown off a musical sensibility which is both schooled in classic electro stylings and also able to reach for leftfield sonics in a way which sets the producer apart from the pack. It's a vibe that continues into this record, a quartet of busy electro joints which are characterised by a brooding, neurotic energy. The opening title-track is precisely the sort of thing which would soundtrack a voyage to the outer-edges of the solar system. 'Space Threat' is a nervy, restless bit of machine-funk, the track moving forward at a midtempo which manages to be at once steady and slightly fidgety. The beat skitters and swerves, a perpetual-motion machine of minor-key bass, strange modular flutters and thwacking snares. All of this is draped in icy washes of keyboard - think Drexciya if they blasted into outer space rather than delving deep down in the ocean. 'Asteroid Attack' works from the same blueprint for 'Space Threat' but ratchets up the intensity a little to take the track to another galaxy. It's still powered by a livewire neurosis, all piston-sharp drums and whirligig synth percussion. However, an increased tempo, strangely poignant keyboard lines and little snatches of vocoder-drenched vocals turn 'Asteroid Attack' in the direction of modern practitioners like Cardopusher and CPU homie Silicon Scally. Opening up the EP's B-side, 'Flying High' finds a midpoint between its predecessors, returning to the steadier pace and twitchy vibe of 'Space Threat' but maintaining 'Asteroid Attack's single-note counter-melodies and digified vocals - although here the ghostly treatment on the voice makes for a hugely eerie atmosphere. Around the four-minute mark, the track peels back the veil of synth pads and wobbling keys stabs to turn the attention wholly to the rhythm section, a choice which feels like taking a stiff drink in order to redouble your energy for the next part of the night. 'Vimana Ride' runs with 'Flying High's approach to see Space Threat out in style. There's something to the digital vocal sighs that make up the melody of this cut which gives things a really uncanny quality - it's the kind of sonic choice that Sadboys producers like Yung Gud and Yung Sherman would make, but applied wholly to the service of crafting body-popping, acid-tinged electro. Larionov arrives on Central Processing Unit with an EP of anxiously excellent electro experiments.

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Carl Finlow keeps on keepin' on. Not only is Finlow one of the most respected names in electro, a producer who boasts a sprawling catalogue that takes in a wide variety of aliases, but he's also spent recent years establishing himself as a mainstay for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label. Soft Robotics, the new EP from Finlow's Silicon Scally project, is the fifth Silicon Scally release in five years to boast one of CPU's instantly-recognisable black-and-white covers. The reason that Silicon Scally and CPU keep linking up is simple; they're a perfect fit for one another. Central Processing Unit has established itself as a haven for post-Drexciya producers since launching in 2012, and there are few artists better than Finlow at building on the Detroit group's sound. The union bears fruit once more on Soft Robotics, an EP of lithe machine-funk jams that will both do damage in the dance and also reward more concentrated home listening. Things begin at a steadier speed than one might expect. Rather than barrelling off with the kind of sinewy roller one associates with the CPU name, Soft Robotics' title-track takes things at mid-pace. The groove reveals itself without hurry, Silicon Scally adding or subtracting elements - twitchy modular loops, pensive pads, the occasional blurt of low-end - atop the chugging bass/drums groove. It's a track which wins you over with guile rather than force. As the name of subsequent cut 'Jitters' intimates, this one picks things up a little after 'Soft Robotics'. The tempo is higher here, the central beat more nervy. At their cores, though, 'Jitters' and 'Soft Robotics' are kindred spirits. Here, another slyly insistent bit of drum programming comes swirled up with all sorts of extraterrestrial tones, from little nuggets of melody supplied by the keys to electrifying synth stabs and percussive squelches. Things limber up further still on first B-side 'Spin Ratio'. The track's 808 kicks are punchier than those of the A-side jams, and there's a dizziness to the bass tone which gives 'Spin Ratio' an intriguingly off-kilter feel. Atop the booming beat we find ourselves hypnotised by cells of melody and harmony interlocking or moving apart - particularly the staccato module at the track's heart. Sure enough, 'Spin Ratio' is the Soft Robotics joint which cleaves closest to Drexciya, invoking other Detroit disciples like Jensen Interceptor in the process. After Soft Robotics picks up speed in the middle, closer 'Super Fluid Tones' brings us back to where we started. This track returns to the more measured delivery of the record's opener - there's a steady pulse to the drums, and once again Silicon Scally packs the mix with so many intriguing whizzes, bangs, blips and blurts that it's impossible not be won over by this tune's construction. 'Soft Robotics' and 'Super Fluid Tones' bookend Soft Robotics very nicely, and Silicon Scally's smart pacing gives the EP a lovely ebb and flow. The ever-excellent Carl Finlow drops a Silicon Scally release via Central Processing Unit for the fifth year running. Like its predecessors, Soft Robotics is an excellent and deftly-crafted collection of modern machine-funk.

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Annie Hall returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label with an EP entitledMemories That Never Happened. This record represents the producer's third time on CPU after 2016'sTenured Positionsand 2020'sFum, and it is also the latest release in a busy couple of years for Annie Hall which have also seen her drop EPs on 20:20 Vision, Orson Records and Random Island. The momentum Annie Hall has built up in recent times carries through to a dynamic collection of productions which bring enough heft in the beats to keep the dancefloor happy while also including all manner of details in the production. Memories That Never Happenedbegins with the title-track, a twitchy yet wistful cut which perfectly matches its name. There's bite to the broken-beat electro pulse, growling bass and robotic declamations of "it's Annie", but the makeup of the track is simultaneously rather rose-tinted, particularly when some chemtrails of a synth lead enter later on. The overall effect is as thoughtful as it is stimulating, akin to the halcyon productions of Daniel Avery. If 'Memories That Never Happened' is somewhat plaintive, following jam 'Problematic Tape Recorder' has the bit between its teeth from the get-go. The beat crashes and snaps, and when played off shimmering stabs of synth it all adds up to aWip3outrush that nods to both the old Rephlex Records sound as well as contemporary practitioners like Nightwave. Once again the synth lead is used lightly here, more an augmentation to the beat than the centrepiece - another demonstration of Annie Hall's ability to write with focus even when the overall intent is to move bodies in the club. The energy of 'Problematic Tape Recorder' is spun in an unusual direction on 'Subsequent Experiments', the first track ofMemories That Never Happened's B-side. This cut may be the quickest on the record, but this does not mean it shouts the loudest. Indeed, 'Subsequent Experiments' may be the most ornate production here, full of shadowy sonics and a deconstructed beat running at D&B speed. A kind of shadowrealm version of Planet Mu's early drill & bass explorations crossed with UVB-76's darkside post-Metalheadz excursions, this one is an eerie thrill. After the busy 'Subsequent Experiments', Annie Hall slows down to take the EP's home straight at mid-tempo. On 'Unparalleled Comfort', keyboard stabs slide over a rhythm that's at once driving enough for the dancefloor and nuanced enough to allow little half-melodies of synth to flit around above. It's a fitting closer for this EP, almost playing like an amalgamation of the elements which made the rest ofMemories That Never Happenedso appealing. Annie Hall returns to Central Processing Unit withMemories That Never Happened, an EP of masterful productions which will delight both clubbers and home-listeners.

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Blackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit's stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske's project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue. Now, for CPU's first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LPEnter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he's a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music.Enter Universedoes not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound's greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid's own. Blackploid's debut LPEnter Universemarries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.

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The Blackploid resurgence of recent years continues to gather steam. After laying dormant for some time, Martin Matiske's project roared back into life in 2021 with a pair of EPs for Central Processing Unit. It doesn't look like he'll be taking his foot off the gas any time soon - not only does the new Blackploid collectionPlanetary Sciencecomplete Matiske's hat-trick for the Sheffield label, but it also serves as a prelude to the full-length album which Blackploid will deliver on CPU in 2023. If that LP is as good as the tracks we get here, then it's safe to say that we're on to a winner. This EP contains a quartet of top-tier machine-funk productions, the kind of crisp post-Drexciya joints we've come to know and love Blackploid for. Each track onPlanetary Sciencemakes good on the record's title by delivering club tackle flecked with FX which sound distinctly like spaceships blasting off into the cosmos. There is also progression acrossPlanetary Science. While it still aims for the dancefloor,Planetary Scienceis a somewhat more textured listen than eitherStrange StarsorCosmic Traveler, Blackploid's previous CPU drops. Most notable is the increased use of synth pads, with Matiske draping chord progressions over all of these tracks in order to give his music a newfound depth.

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German electro producer Martin Matiske has recently breathed new life into his Blackploid alias. The project's revival continues to bear fruit with the Strange Stars EP, Matiske's third Blackploid release of 2021 and second for Central Processing Unit after issuing March's Cosmic Traveler EP through the Sheffield label. Blackploid's two CPU drops have more in common than just stargazing titles. Those who enjoyed Cosmic Traveler will find plenty to like again in these four tracks, with Matiske serving up another quartet of snappy machine-funk joints this time around. However, while there is certainly a throughline between Cosmic Traveler and Strange Stars, this EP also finds Blackploid pushing the envelope at points by taking risks with his synth tones which thrill and enliven the record. In keeping with the cosmic theme of Blackploid's recent output, Strange Stars kicks off with 'Star Patrol'. While this opening cut is full of the same needle-gun basslines and dinky synths that characterised Cosmic Traveler, the drum programming eschews the broken beats favoured by many in the scene for a straight house/techno snap. It makes for a very groovy jam, one with Drexciya, Computer World-era Kraftwerk and a pinch of Space Dimension Controller in its mix. Indeed, the only track on Strange Stars which skips along on a broken beat is second entry 'The Signal'. 'The Signal' also features some of Blackploid's most impressive electronics programming to date, announcing itself with a brilliantly unusual synth that sounds like an old video game unit which has just gained sentience. When this alien tone is combined with another precision-engineered bassline the track invokes the grizzly bangers of the L.I.E.S. label, though the keyboard stabs which enter periodically also hint to the funkier electro of, say, Egyptian Lover. 'The Unseen', the first B-side of Strange Stars, finds Blackploid bringing together many of the things which made the two previous tunes such standouts. A steady four-on-the-floor and a slightly haunted feel to the synth choices casts back to 'Star Patrol', but much like 'The Signal' this joint also features some rather weird tones which are a hair's breadth away from machine malfunction. It's a feeling which runs through to closing cut 'Light Corridor', a number where melodies and anti-melodies zip around an array of gurgling electronic cells.

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Splitradix is the moniker of Irish producer Stephen Hennelly. Prior to taking on the Splitradix title for 2014's Glassilaun Memento EP, Hennelly was known variously as DJ Gaillimh and skkatter - both names which should ring a bell for those heads who had an eye on the scene in the 2000s. Since Glassilaun Memento, Hennelly's brand of 'Gaeltachtstep' - 'Gaeltacht' meaning those areas of Ireland where the Irish language is still actively spoken - has graced both the Virtual Urban and 030303 labels. He continues to rep his area with 51º53'43"Nord 8º25'09"Waldorf, a four-track EP which marks the debut Splitradix drop on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit imprint. This is a textured, dynamic quartet of productions, one which uses the core sounds of electro, acid and IDM-techno as a base from which Splitradix can explore some fabulously idiosyncratic production tendencies. '3350 Beach Electronic' is an exhilarating first flurry. Splitradix tracks are cut with a bevvy of analogue hardware, and as such it's no surprise that the track is alive with the sound of busy machinery. Beginning with a squelching Fenix synth, we soon find multiple melody lines coalesce into a melodious melange. Synths chatter and sparkle, counter-melodies slip-side around the bass, and bright, welcoming pads are anchored by piston-precise 808s. It's a stargazing delight, one that comes off like a souped-up take on the Lone sound, and a cracking introduction to 51º53'43"Nord 8º25'09"Waldorf. Second cut 'Zassenhaus Lemma' kicks off in a Posthuman mode, with a delay-drenched 303 bassline meandering atop some chunky house drums. However, as acidic as the track sounds, Splitradix finds space in this crowded genre field with some brilliantly unusual harmony choices and zippy lead-lines that channel Discovery-era Daft Punk. Much like '3350 Beach Electronic', 'Zassenhaus Lemma' is a perpetual motion machine, gathering synths and drums as it rolls ever onward. The same can be said of following number 'PS31 Sideways Rain', but this joint also coaxes out some more cerebral elements of the Splitradix sound. Whereas '3350 Beach Electronic' found us racing through the cosmos, 'PS31 Sideways Rain' glides gracefully across the astral plane, the synths cascading over one another while the pads look up to the night sky. It sets the listener up perfectly for rose-tinted closer 'PS31 Moxie', a tune which channels both prime Space Dimension Controller and Automatic Tasty's recent CPU drop The Future Is Not What It Used To Be. Splitradix's Central Processing Unit debut 51º53'43"Nord 8º25'09"Waldorf is an evocative collection of off-kilter electro productions.

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With '100% Dope' we find Central Processing Unit bringing up their hundredth catalogue number, and you'd struggle to find a more fitting artist to ring in a century of releases for the label than Cygnus. The one born Phillip Washington has been with CPU since the very beginning, his 2012 LP 'Newmark Phase' representing the first record ever released on the imprint. That album's combination of textured techno and grizzly Drexciyan electro set the tone for CPU perfectly, and it's no surprise that Cygnus has returned to the Sheffield imprint several times down the years. While '100% Dope' is an expert demonstration of what Cygnus and CPU do, this EP also shows just how much both artist and label have grown over the past nine years. At its heart '100% Dope' is a set of prime machine-funk from a master of the form, but these are also some of the most daring and innovative tracks that Cygnus has ever produced. Take opening cut 'Bad RGB Controller'. In the undulating synth lines we have a ghost of grime as well as Drexciyan drive, and as such the track reminds one as much of Mr. Mitch or Last Japan as it does, say, Dopplereffekt. Furthermore, 'Bad RGB Controller' shifts gear around the halfway mark into a highwire electronica mode which has the wit and spark of prime Bogdan Raczynski. Entries like 'Float Back To The Surface' are similarly unpredictable. There's some lovely industrial techno bite to this one - the snare drum will echo in your head long after the party's died down - but Cygnus periodically pulls out the rug from underneath us with passages of impressionistic texture that almost border on sound art. 'Float Back To The Surface' is one of a trio of vocoder-led jams here. On 'Throwing Shade' we hear I-F and Egyptian Lover, with Cygnus' vocals clattering around like pronouncements from some funked-out robot overlord atop hissing-piston drums. Then there's the enticingly-titled 'CPU Records'. 'CPU Records' delivers all the crisp electro snap we've come to expect from a record emblazoned with that signature black-and-white artwork, yet this thing is also widescreen and cinematic in ways that demonstrate the maturation of the Cygnus sound. With a wicked vocoder vocal that celebrates the label's many achievements, 'CPU Records' is a victory lap tune if ever we've heard one. Central Processing Unit keep it 100 on for this new EP. '100% Dope' by Cygnus is CPU's 100th catalogue number, and the Texan producer delivers on the promise of the record's title with a collection of brilliantly unique electro joints.

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Since debuting on Central Processing Unit with 2018's Projections EP, Silicon Scally has averaged a release a year for the Sheffield label. New offering Revelations finds the one born Carl Finlow keeping up that hit rate. Both Finlow's name and his many aliases have become bywords for top-draw electro productions since he first emerged in the mid-90s, and Revelations is no different - this is dystopian machine-funk of the highest quality.

With its burbling electro groove, piston-precise drum programming and plethora of gurgling synths, Revelations' opening title-track comes beamed in direct from the Dopplereffekt realm. However, as well as being a mid-set weapon of serious heft, the manner in which Finlow daubs the track with some plaintive synth chords will also bring just a hint of pathos to the dance. That wistful edge quickly dissipates when following cut 'Walk Over' homes into view - ushered in by eerie, paranoid synth work, 'Walk Over' has an air of technoid ghoulishness to it which invokes John Carpenter sparring with Egyptian Lover.

Revelations' flip is taken up by a pair of remixes that go deep on the A-side jams. The first of these sees Finlow himself setting aside his Silicon Scally cap and reworking 'Walk Over' under his own name, upping the eerie feel of the original still further by enveloping the track in icy atmospherics as well as phasing grizzled synths and wailing sirens in and out of the mix. Following close behind is Fleck E.S.C, whose reworking of Revelations' title-track marks a first appearance on CPU since 2018 for this French electro expert. Fleck E.S.C delivers a low-slung synth-funk masterclass here - as the track's laser-gun bassline invokes Drexciya, the producer guides the listener through a variety of shadow-realms populated by metallic clangs, insectoid chattering and some strangely hypnotic textures.

Silicon Scally (Carl Finlow) continues his fine run on Central Processing Unit with the Revelations EP, a set of steely electro bangers which comes backed up by remixes from Fleck E.S.C and Finlow himself.

RIYL: Dopplereffekt, Drexciya, I-F, Jensen Interceptor, 96 Back

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While the German producer Martin Matiske averages a new release under his given name every few years, there was a long stretch of time in which sightings of his Blackploid alias were much more rare. After dropping an EP for Frustrated Funk in 2006, fans found further material hard to come by over the next decade or so. However, Matiske has reinvigorated Blackploid in recent times, with the project making a few compilation appearances and dropping a couple of EPs across 2020.

That run now culminates inCosmic Traveler, a four-track affair which marks Matiske's debut appearance on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit. Given the long wait, it's great just to see Blackploid back among the fray once again. But for the project's CPU curtain-raiser to be an EP of such high-quality techno jams? Now that really is spoiling us.

Cosmic Traveler's title nods towards the sort of stargazing aesthetics one finds in classic Detroit techno. However, while there are undoubtedly ties to the Motor City in this music, the record ultimately steers less towards spacious atmospherics and more towards the taut, lean machine-funk of seminal practitioners like Dopplereffekt.

Matiske sets his stall out from the off. Opener 'Electric Engine' begins with a run of stiff-necked 808 kicks before hissing hi-hats, a grizzly bassline and all manner of futuristic sounds enter to warp the tune into hyperspace. Following cut 'Night Drive' repeats the trick of 'Electric Engine' but adds a pleasingly dinky synth lead in order to nudge itself slightly towards bleep-techno territory.

The two cuts on Cosmic Traveler's B-side are pure late-night goodness, a pair of mid-set heaters primed for dark basements. 'Pleasure Activism' delivers on the promise of its title and then some, pushing the Kraftwerk template to extremes by bringing a load of gnarly synth lines into play over a wobbling acidic chug. Finally, EP closer 'The Race' is reminiscent of both the twisted machine-funk of Gerald Donald's Japanese Telecom project and the playful modern evolutions of artists like fellow CPU high-flyer Jensen Interceptor.

The resurgence of Martin Matiske's Blackploid project continues withCosmic Traveller, an EP of timeless electro-funk and techno.

FFO: Dopplereffekt, Japanese Telecom, Jensen Interceptor, Cardopusher

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Who is Bit Folder? (edit: the cat's out the bag, it's Mike Golding from B12) There have been whispers about the identity of Central Processing Unit's latest signing, and many theories have been presented as to who's behind the project. Some say it's a young upstart fresh on the scene, others insist that this is the work of an old head. Either way, initial investigations have proven inconclusive, and the Bit Folder project remains shrouded in mystery.

There may be a way to untangle the Bit Folder riddle through listening to the artist's new EP Silicon Frontier. There is classic early Warp in here, a dash of Rephlex too. More contemporary styles also come to mind - FireScope, the label helmed by B12's Steven Rutter, and Analogical Force are two of the imprints recalled, and Bit Folder also shares some space with fellow CPU artists Datassette, Noumen and the aforementioned B12.

What's for sure is that Silicon Frontier is a futuro-rave adventure that conjures up the brave new world hinted at by its title. Like the classic 90s techno/IDM that it channels, this record gleams with the sounds of the android future. Keyboards glisten and shimmer, their tones at once stargazing and hallucinogenic; hi-hats open and close like steam valves; synth lines move in and out of each other to create all these lovely little cells of melody. Some tracks even play with tempo itself, beats glitching or slowing down completely as if you've just dropped a dose of (electro-)soma, but Bit Folder always manages to snap them back into place just as they seem to be breaking apart. For an artist's debut release it is very deft production - but then again, could it be that we've heard from Bit Folder before?

Silicon Frontier kicks off with 'Youka', a 150-bpm IDM-techno number that squiggles and squirms like AFX in Analord mode. The title-track follows, its beautiful opening zooming out into a unique melange of wobbling bass and final-frontier keyboards. 'The Tritan Cord' pushes us further out into deep space - there's something very Drexciyan about this track, though rather than pure revivalism 'The Tritan Cord' in fact displays the kind of dense worldbuilding we see in the work of Gerald Donald and James Stinson, its dinky synth lines and whirring drums sliding and out of one another to create a cinematic dancefloor trip. Silicon Frontier closes out with 'Legs Akimbo', a speedy number that injects those same chirruping drums/synths with the playful energy of DMX Krew and Squarepusher.

Even while it channels the sounds of some of electro's most important sites - Detroit, London, CPU's native Sheffield - Bit Folder's debut EP Silicon Frontier still manages to sound fresh and new. Now, if only there was some way to discern the man behind the mask…

RIYL: B12, DMX Krew, Datassette, D'Arcangelo, James Shinra

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The term 'tourbillon' has two meanings - it is the French word for "whirlwind" and also a device used in watchmaking to improve the accuracy of a timepiece. Both definitions feel apt when listening to Tourbillon, the latest release on Central Processing Unit from Australian producer Tim Koch. Following on from Koch's CPU debut Spinifex back in 2018 - an album that initially emerged via minidisc - Tourbillon is a four-track EP which dazzles with its perpetual-motion post-IDM productions.

These tracks draw you into their webs by forming dense interlocking sonic patterns over the course of several minutes. While the rhythmic programming and lattice of alien percussion tones can appear discombobulating at first, Koch also bewitches the listener with the slyly melodic synth work that he laces throughout Tourbillon.

Opening track 'Estranger' is a fine example of this combination. The first section here is a blend of blown-out drum sounds which comes off like an industrial electro tune run through a meat grinder. However, the track soon blossoms with the introduction of some amazingly atmospheric synth pads, and the two contrasting elements come together for a strange and rather beautiful whole.

'Estranger' finds a mirror-image in Tourbillon's final cut 'Hankert', a track in which more of those gurgling percussive tones play off the rich chord progressions that chirrup away in the background. Between 'Estranger' and 'Hankert' we get two propulsive grooves in the form of 'Disfugue' and 'Dreitark'.

How, then, to contextualize such unique material? Calum Gunn's recent outing for CPU is a good point of comparison, and the electronics here bang and whirr in a manner which nods to the post-IDM innovations of artists like µ-Ziq. One can also see Tourbillon as descended from acts like Cabaret Voltaire, the industrial electronics innovators from CPU's home city of Sheffield. However, Tourbillon is ultimately an EP which exists in its own lane, an open-minded and open-hearted set which runs with the futurist spirit of CPU and Koch's previous home of Merck Records.

Australian producer Tim Koch returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with Tourbillon, an EP of otherworldly post-IDM productions.

RIYL: µ-Ziq, Calum Gunn, Proswell, Modeselektor

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Since emerging in the early 2000s with releases on the seminal Merck label, Proswell (Joseph Misra) has proven to be one of the most original voices in IDM. People Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds (PAGARTAIS), his debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, is another Proswell record which overflows with creative energy. Containing five widescreen electronic epics, PAGARTAIS showcases some of the most ambitious work in the discographies of both artist and label.

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Pt.1 of 2

Gigi Masin's sparkling sonic magic leads us to the light in “Implodendo in una accecante oscurità” (Imploding in a blinding darkness). The mirror reflects nothing but a faint, unfamiliar, mysteriously hostile face, but a glimmer survives, evoked by a painfully solemn romanticism that is salvific, glimmers of light bounce off broad synthetic volutes, a bewitching ambient, airy quiet, they spread, a few veins of darkness shine through, aesthetic beauty equates to clear spirituality, sax and female voices, the elegy that intertwines piano and vocal loops, that omnipresent melancholy, nostalgia, reassuring, which is openness to tomorrow. It is the moment of light, the powerful feeling that nothing is lost, that what awaits to be grasped is more than a remnant, perhaps an overcoming, light that “is not what it shows but what it reveals”, that light that becomes memory that does not need to illuminate to be perceived where it most needs to spread, where darkness has resided for too long

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Pt.1 of 2

Gigi Masin's sparkling sonic magic leads us to the light in “Implodendo in una accecante oscurità” (Imploding in a blinding darkness). The mirror reflects nothing but a faint, unfamiliar, mysteriously hostile face, but a glimmer survives, evoked by a painfully solemn romanticism that is salvific, glimmers of light bounce off broad synthetic volutes, a bewitching ambient, airy quiet, they spread, a few veins of darkness shine through, aesthetic beauty equates to clear spirituality, sax and female voices, the elegy that intertwines piano and vocal loops, that omnipresent melancholy, nostalgia, reassuring, which is openness to tomorrow. It is the moment of light, the powerful feeling that nothing is lost, that what awaits to be grasped is more than a remnant, perhaps an overcoming, light that “is not what it shows but what it reveals”, that light that becomes memory that does not need to illuminate to be perceived where it most needs to spread, where darkness has resided for too long

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C.L.A.W.S. comes to Dark Entries with a new ripping LP, Splat City II. C.L.A.W.S. is the solo project of musical luminary Brian Hock, who has been a key figure in the Bay Area underground for over two decades via his involvement in projects like Bronze and The Vanishing, as well as helming the record labels Squirrels on Film and Immortal Sin. With C.L.A.W.S., Hock takes on the dancefloor, picking up cues from the Hague’s Giallo-dipped electro, the skewed minimalism of Chicago acid, and the mind-rending forays of San Francisco post-punk icons like Chrome and Tuxedomoon. Following 2019’s inaugural Splat City EP, Splat City II continues to map the psychogeography of a metropolis both alien and immediately recognizable, one where life is cheap, but so are the thrills. Previously released on Squirrels on Film in digital-only format, this expanded vinyl edition of Splat City II features two new cuts. Things kick off with “Route 505” and “One Tear,” a duo of rompers that vibe like Tom Ellard and Chip E locked in a room with a vial of liquid. Next up, Bay Area deckmaster Tyrel lends his editing chops to “Vigilant Slimy Monsters,” sculpting a moody space disco beast. Squirrels on Film co-founder Solar teams up with Hock for “Black Magic Carpet Ride III,” a cavernous downtempo banger. The slow-mo pace continues with “Wild Slugs United,” which features the no wave-esque clarinet work of Paul Costuros. Closer “Don’t Flip the Crystal Ship” pays homage to Bayview venue Bay Area 51 with melancholic strings and a quartz-solid electrofunk bassline. Splat City II comes in a sleeve with artwork by Bert Bergen, which features a vampiric cat and sci-fi cityscapes.

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Khruangbin did not know if they were actually making an album. All they knew in the first frigid days of 2025, as they shivered in the Central Texas barn where they’ve recorded almost all of their music, was that the 10th anniversary of their debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You, was steadily approaching. Months earlier, they’d bandied about ways to mark the occasion, debating orchestral arrangements or compendiums of bonus materials and alternate takes. Thing was, back before Khruangbin helped establish a new modern idiom of semi-instrumental and gently psychedelic American music, there had been no bonus material, no unused songs. And how interesting would alternate takes or symphonic extravagance really be for a band whose aesthetic—essential vibes, infinite grooves, riffs that rippled across the horizon—seemed so direct and pure, anyway? What if, they had instead wondered, they went back to the barn where it all began and recut the record that had started it all, on the actual 10th anniversary of those sessions? They decided, at least, to try.

It did not take long for Laura Lee, Mark Speer, and DJ Johnson to know that the idea was indeed a good one, that in holding up a mirror shaped by the past 10 years to their formative set of songs they could feel and hear how they had changed as people and players. The result is The Universe Smiles Upon You ii, 10 entirely new renditions of the songs from Khruangbin’s oldest album, played and sequenced in a way that works for them now without being strictly allegiant to who they were then. Watchful eyes, for instance, will notice that “Bin Bin ii”, a bonus track back in 2015, has moved toward this album’s center. More importantly, attentive ears will hear how liberated Khruangbin sound from any expectations rendered by their own success, how this is once again the sound of three longtime friends deciding how this material might move in real time.

The barn is an essential piece of Khruangbin lore. In 2009, many years before Khruangbin’s early singles started to shape their course or even before they were really a band, they began to head to the barn, bought by Speer’s parents in the ’80s on a modest cattle farm midway between Houston and Austin. They’d been looking for a place to rehearse in Houston when Speer’s parents volunteered the spot and the small house next door—three bedrooms downstairs, dorm-style bunks above, a century-old stove in a small kitchen. The process was so consummately D.I.Y. that, when they convened there in January 2015 to make what would become The Universe Smiles Upon You, Speer and Lee rushed to remove a nest of bees by playing bass and smashing cymbals loudly before Johnson (famously not into bees, mind you) arrived. They made the record for $1,500.

This time around, Khruangbin decided to try a few functional updates. They finally ripped out the plywood dancefloor that had been installed for a wedding nearly two decades earlier but had since become something of a sanctuary for critters that would inevitably destroy any gear left behind. They rented a new floor, then bought silent new space heaters and boxes of hand warmers that they’d stuff into gloves during sessions. The first day was Central Texas paradise—T-shirts in January, the sun shining as they set up their instruments, ran cables, and even recorded the seven-minute version of “Two Fish and an Elephant” that appears here, the rhythm that Lee and Johnson built offering a welcoming group hug for Speer’s flickering lead. But then the cold set in, a cold so gripping that they stuffed bits of construction flotsam into every crack and crevice they could find inside the barn. They moved closer and closer as the four days progressed, as if trying to absorb one another’s radiant heat.

Perhaps, then, that’s why The Universe Smiles Upon You ii feels so warm, as if they were tending a fire simply by playing together. Early into “August Twelve ii,” Johnson watched an eastern meadowlark sing just outside the barn, its song picked up by the microphones. It wasn’t their favorite performance, but they knew it captured the magic of the time and place, the yellow beauty’s melody calling these six gorgeous minutes to order. They are likewise jubilant during this very extended take on “People Everywhere (Still Alive),” applying the lessons about pace, momentum, and dynamics they’ve learned during a decade on the road to start and sustain this dance party. It is an immaculate map of the moment.

Funnily enough, while on tour with this electric trio during the last several years, Speer became fascinated with early European instruments that could sound full without being loud—the viol de gamba, for instance, or the clavichord. He imported that enthusiasm into these sessions, not only often playing acoustic guitar alongside Lee’s hollow-body Höfner bass and Johnson’s brushed drums but also covering instruments in contact mics, so that they sounded close and real. You can hear that pursuit clearly on “White Gloves ii,” a song that has become such a Khruangbin staple they initially struggled with how to remake it here. When Johnson suggested it become “country disco,” though, the track suddenly unlocked. A rural-funk canter buttresses the bittersweet vocals and twilit guitars; the recording makes it feel as if you’re sitting in the center of the barn, head pressed between the bass amp and bass drum as Khruangbin drift away.

In many ways, The Universe Smiles Upon You ii represents the close of Khruangbin’s first chapter, the complete culmination of the music they made when they arrived at the barn in January 2015. During the last decade, they have reached an apotheosis of sorts, their love of Thai pop and heavy dub and American soul and Ethiopian haze perfectly crystallized in a string of splendid records and live shows that have hypnotized massive theaters and festival crowds alike. They’ve repeatedly sold out the United States’ most famous venues, from Red Rocks and Forest Hills to the Hollywood Bowl and Radio City, and they’ve crowned festivals from Glastonbury to Bonnaroo. Paul McCartney plucked them to reimagine one of his songs, while they’ve collaborated with Mali legend and band inspiration Vieux Farka Touré to honor his late father on 2022’s Ali. After more than a decade of relentless touring and recording, their expertly polyglot 2024 album, A LA SALA, helped earn a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Not bad for a band that recorded its debut in a barn of bees and mice for a grand or so.

So, then, what is next? The Universe Smiles Upon You ii provides a point of pause for Khruangbin, a chance to step back from a sound they now know so well and figure out where it may go from here. They talk about woodshedding, about spending a few hours every day with their instruments to see what new shapes they can make. Khruangbin’s splendid next run, then, begins where the first one did, too—in the barn, finding their way into the world through the songs of The Universe Smiles Upon You, second time even more absorbing than the first.

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Gaudi’s Jazz Gone Dub is a masterclass in genre fusion, seamlessly blending the improvisational essence of jazz with the heavy atmospheric grooves of dub. Known for his eclectic approach to music production, Gaudi pushes the boundaries yet again, creating a sonic landscape that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly innovative.

Four years in the making, from the opening track it’s clear that Jazz Gone Dub is more than just a mashup of styles—it's a thoughtful exploration of the intersections between two rich musical traditions.

Gaudi’s multi-instrumental talents are on full display, and the presence of reggae royalty is palpable, courtesy of rootsy melodies from David Hinds (Steel Pulse), Jah Wobble’s iconic bass grooves, Ernest Ranglin’s intricate guitar lines and Sly & Robbie’s rhythmic genius. Add Sardinia’s Train to Roots band, Manu Chao collaborator Roy Paci, veteran guitarist Marcus Upbeat, Mr Woodnote and Tim Hutton’s brass work, Gavin Tate-Lovery’s sultry sax and flute, Horseman’s percussive flair plus Colin Edwin and Vlastur’s serious basslines, and the
result is a rhythmic foundation that’s both solid and fluid, allowing the jazz elements to float freely above the dub undercurrents.

Despite this star-studded line-up, Gaudi remains the glue that holds this gem together: his production is meticulous yet organic, allowing each track to breathe and evolve naturally. The use of space, delays and reverb—a hallmark of dub music—is expertly handled, giving the album a dreamy, immersive quality. Tracks like Susceptible and Alabaster Moon showcase Gaudi’s ability to create mood and atmosphere without sacrificing melodic and rhythmic complexity.

In Jazz Gone Dub Gaudi has crafted an album that feels both timeless and forward-thinking, a celebration of musical synergy where the free-spirit of jazz meets the deep resonance of dub. Whether you’re a fan of either genre or simply appreciate masterful musicianship and innovative production, this album is a must-listen.

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Fatsouls is proud to present Trinidadian Deep’s Sonic Vibrations project. The EP is a powerful collection of four independent tracks. With dreamy pads, chants, layered percussion and tubby chords, captivating keys, and a jazz bass line, this package creates a rich, ethereal soundtrack. As you might expect from him, this production is infectious. Take a deep breath and listen!

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