Tim Exile - Listening Tree

01. Don't Think We're One
02. Family Galaxy
03. Fortress
04. There's Nothing Left Of Me But Her And This
05. Pay Tomorrow
06. Bad Dust
07. Carouselle
08. When Every Day's A Number
09. Listening Tree
10. I Saw The Weak Hand Fall

Tim Exile is set to release his second album, Listening Tree, through Planet Mu and Warp later in the year.

Exile began his musical career in 2000, releasing drum & bass on labels such as Beta and Moving Shadow, but as the years progressed, his sound started to become more complicated and abstract. This was mostly due to his obsession with the Reaktor software, which enabled him to spend much of his time creating new and interesting sounds from scratch. His debut full-length, 2006's Pro Agonist, saw him add elements of breakcore to his constantly mutating hyper-breakbeats, but that gradual change in style is nothing compared to the total departure that he's taken onListening Tree.

Long-term fans may be shocked to know that Listening Tree is peppered with Exile's own vocal tracks, as he tackles issues such as Britain's buy-now-pay-later culture, and even the dynamic nature of the universe on "Family Galaxy," the first single. "'Family Galaxy' is about the constant process of change that underpins everything," explains Exile. "It's a tale from a thingless world where nothing stays the same. As 'now' shines its shifting shades on 'then,' so our ideas of what we have done and will do continually morph."

The result is an eccentric electro-pop album that is just as likely to appeal to fans ofHot Chip as it is Otto Von Schirach...www.residentadvisor.net

The Qemists - Join The Q

01. Stompbox
02. Lost Weekend (Feat. Mike Patton) 
03. On The Run (Feat. Jenna G) 
04. Dem Na Like Me (Feat. Wiley)
05. S.W.A.G. (Intro) 
06. S.W.A.G. (Feat. Devlin Love)
07. Drop Audio (Feat. MC ID) 
08. When Ur Lonely 
09. Soundface (Feat. Beardyman)
10. Got One Life (Feat. MC Navigator)
11. The Perfect High 

JOIN The Q, the debut album by The Qemists, meshes the high energy of drum’n‘bass and rock with a wide-ranging set of sounds that betray the fact that the mysterious trio were a band before they took to the decks.

We’re talking dancehall, metal, electro, grime and hip hop with a smattering of respected guest vocalists.

But while they’re certainly at the top end of the drum ‘n’ bass revival (easily surpassing the likes of Pendulum and even some of The Prodigy’s more recent material), it does threaten to outstay its welcome on occasion.

Album opener Stompbox, for example, is an unrelenting distortion of drum ‘n’ bass sound that could just as easily leave you reaching to turn it off.

Even Lost Weekend flirts with being too one-note and is saved only by an emphatic rock vocal from Faith No More’s Mike Patton, which give it extra bite.

Hats off to The Qemists, then, for at least trying to mix things up at regular points and keeping things interesting and of wider appeal than the early tracks suggest.

Dem Na Like Me, for instance, finds Wiley adding some grime and Brit-pop to the mix for an invigorating workout that deservedly became a recent single, while Alabama 3’s Zoe Devlin Love adds some sultry soul to S.W.A.G, which unfolds over the course of two tracks and surely represents the album at its most sonically ambitious.

There’s a distinctly Nine Inch Nails feel to the industrial rock and drum ‘n’ bass mix that is the pumped up Drop Audio, featuring MC ID, and they even draw on house and pop for Got One Life, which namechecks south London and features another useful guest vocal from MC Navigator – not to mention a famous classical sample weaving its way in and out to appealing effect.

They end with a flourish, too… The Perfect High referencing the voiceover on Michael Jackson’s Thriller for opening effect, before dropping an utterly pulsating collision of orchestra, electronica and drum ‘n’ bass beats to, quite literally, finish things off in breathless, sweaty style.

It’s just a shame that Join The Q can’t quite maintain the high standards of its best tracks. If drum ‘n’ bass is your main music scene, you’ll be riveted. But for an album that threatened so much crossover appeal, it’s not nearly as accessible (or enjoyable) as it might have been.

dBridge - The Gemini Principle

01. Seven Year Glitch

02. Blush Response (Feat. Instra:mental)

03. A Lost Cause

04. Ponderosa (Feat. Calibre)

05. Creatures Of Habit

06. Mr. Malcontent

07. The Question

08. Desire Line (Interlude)

09. Pure Elegance

10. Cast A Cold Eye

11. The Yearning

12. Mourning Dawn

13. Mana's Lamen (Outro)

What's going on? Two utterly sick D'nB releases in one week! With the sort of credentials some producers would kill for including releases for everyone from Trouble on Vinyl to Soul:r, the man like D-Bridge counts none other than Burial amongst his biggest fans and it's clear to see why when you've listened to this album. Initiating itself as the best D'n'B album since Breakage's 'This too shall pass', 'The Gemini principle' comes laden with eight cuts and not a duffer in sight, certainly a hell of a lot more than we could say for a recent comeback album from a certain celebrity jungle producer. The mood is brilliantly uncompromised by any commercial factors here, instead just cutting straight to the chase with a selection of certified dancefloor heaters sounding like the best of a massive range of our favourite hardcore/jungle/D'n'B heads from Paradox and Dillinja, to Breakage or Foul Play, but never once slipping into feeble imitation or homage and instead forging a headstrong and highly effective sound. Fans of any of the aforementioned producers must check this out, it's proper corker. Essential Purchase...www.boomkat.com

Me & You - Music for Birthdays

Cd 1 "floating"
01. The Stranglers - Golden Brown (Me&You Texture Like Sun Remix)
02. Da Ranjhaz - The Reason I Wrote This (Me&You Re-Edit)
03. The Impressions vs J Dilla & Pharoahe Monch - We Must Be In Love (Me&You Re-Edit)
04. Showbiz & A.G. feat. Big L, D'Shawn, Lord Finesse (D.I.T.C.) - Represent (Me&You Sorta Sick Remix)
05. Phyllis Dillon - Don't Stay Away (Me&You Even Vulcans Cry Remix)
06. Gang Starr - DWYCK (Me&You Lemonade Was A Popular Drink Remix)
07. Me&You - Attack Of The Yellow Ducks
08. N.E.R.D. f/ Common, De La Soul, Mos Def, Q-Tip - She Wants to Move (Me&You Polka Dot Flow Remix)
09. Me&You - Fly Pelican Fly
10. Me&You - I Wish I Was An Elephant

Cd 2 "heavy"
01. Me&You - Me&You Is Da Bomb - Aiiightt!
02. Me&You - Fabregas
03. Rick James - How Can I Love You When Your Body Keeps Moving (Me&You Re-Edit)
04. Me&You - Papillon
05. M.I.A. - Jimmy (Me&You White Choo Hill Remix)
06. Fela Kuti - United States Of Africa (Me&You Remix)
07. TM Juke - Come Away (Me&You Remix)
08. Me&You - Banksy Fashion
09. Me&You - Arnie Versus Gandhi
10. Me&You - Anyone See The Light?
11. Bob Marley - Sun Is Shining (Me&You Taino Remix)
12. Me&You - Untitled (silence)
13. Michael Jackson - Human Nature (Me&You Remix)

Irmin Schmidt and Kumo - Axolotl Eyes

1 Kick On The Floods
2 Drifting Days, Crime Pays
3 Umbilicus Clear
4 Raketenstadt
5 Atoloxl Eyes
6 Meteor Infected
7 Etrurian Waltz