★Ilian

Ilian Tape kicks on with another entry into its ITX Series, this time with a lovely hand-stamped long player from MPU101. It is a deep dive into escapist ambient worlds with plenty of grainy tape hiss and cosmic static, celestial melodies and provocative moments of introspection. Analogue machinery is really brought to the fore on fuzzy sounds like 'CreamyPORTAL-Xa' with patient and pastoral synth smears, while 'APEX CA 91352' has brighter and more mellifluous melodies rising up through the mix.…

*In process of stocking* The Zenker Brothers's Munich-based Illian Tape label is one of the architects of the contemporary underground. After making breakbeats cool again, the label continues to branch out in various directions. This time out it is MPU101 who links up his machines, turns them on and lets them cook up a series of grainy, lo-fi and downbeat soundscapes. Some have gently suggestive rhythms, others float through space and all of them come laden with a certain sense of melancholy. Im…