Stephan Mathieu, Radioland [Die Schachtel, 2008] I was sitting in the waiting room. Waiting. The only external factors affecting me were the parallel lines of the desks and chairs, the subdued colors of the withered walls, and the music of Radioland in my ears. I looked at the clock, and it stood still. Finally the hand moved. One second passed. Then the parallel lines began to move, the chairs rippled against the desks, and the colors of the walls bled onto the carpet. ...

Johann Johannsson, Fordlandia [4AD, 2008] A few years ago, when I was regularly creating mixes for a podcast, an idea came across to compile music for my funeral. One thing I am sure about - I will die. And when I pass on, music will be filling in the void that was once my presence. How touching. Why shouldn't I be the one to select the pieces that would make others weep? Yes, I'll admit, I can be self centered like that. For my opening track, I turned to Jóhann Jóh...

00Genesis, Dream Catcher [Rxlngr, 2008] 00Genesis (pronounced "double-O Genesis") has been making noise for a couple of years having his first release on the well received Beatnicks compilations (featuring Rustie, 1000names, etc.). While already having his wonderful self-released "00Episode - Re-Runs" beat tape, the "Dream Catcher" EP is a continuation with a focus on a distinct sound 00Genesis is beginning to hone. Over the few years, fellow beat...

Yimino, Bulbuss [Ominim, 2008] I stumbled upon Yimino a few years ago from a random message board posting. When I came upon their website with a bunch of self- released material, I expected the kind of rough beginner knob twiddler nonsense every other unsigned laptop producer was releasing for free at the time. But what I heard was refined, playful IDM/Downtempo that was surprisingly addictive. I remember grabbing all of the free tracks from their website and looping ...