This album asks for time and patience. If you give it both, it may lead you on a journey of discovery, perhaps into underground, watery spheres.

It comes as no surprise that Voices From The Lake unites two excellent producers: Donato Dozzy and Neel, one of my favourite minimal artists. Both were established solo acts when they teamed up in 2011.

Listening closely, I hear organic soundscapes emerge. Some capture nature in sound, while others evoke the feeling of something lurking just beneath the surface of dark water, or the play of colours shimmering as ripples spread slowly across the surface. The music carries the depth and darkness of the water, where a subtle life is sensed but never fully reveals itself. Above all, it conjures the quiet mystery of the water and the secrets it keeps, while its gentle flow soothes the mind and brings a deep calm.

HHV Magazine aptly described them as „immaculate sculptors of sound who fuse evocative ambient and leftfield techno into multi-layered soundscapes,“ „using banks of analogue and digital equipment to improvise in the moment.“ It added: „Rather than traditional kick drums, hi-hats or snares, this is music crafted from layers of real-world sound.“ In 2023, More than ten years later, the album was finally released on vinyl.

In „Circe + S.T. VFTL Rework“, a clearer, brighter and more fluid sound emerges from a dark, mysterious drift of water. Over twelve minutes, a dynamic play of moving water unfolds, at first uncertain, then increasingly fluid and driving. A clear formation of water takes shape, and with it a play of thoughts in the mind.

Throughout the album new formations arise spontaneously from the interplay of different rhythmic components. To me, this mirrors what happens in nature, where things react to one another and slowly give rise to something new. From chance encounters, something unexpected is born and begins to grow. This album brings that dynamic of nature to life: sound textures and rhythms recreate what nature does only far more slowly. Slowly unfolding textures spread out, react to one another, and then react to each other’s reactions.

Put on „Mika + H.G.S.“ and see if you can hear what I seem to hear: Bouncing, undulating rhythms begin to grow one by one and, after a while, merge into a shared sound structure. At the climax of their meeting, at 8:10, there is a rupture. It discharges as if everything that existed ist reforming into something completely new. Together, the rhythms gather fresh energy and create something new. For me, these moments, which you can discover throughout the album, take my breath away. It takes patience, but like nature, it rewards those who slow down and watch.

JakoJako has been on my radar for quite some time. I first discovered her at Berghain having been totally blown away by her craft and then soon after i enjoyed her set on an early Sunday morning at Fusion Festival 2023.

I am fascinated by artists who are as concentrated and deeply immersed in their music as JakoJako is. We I saw perform, she barely interacted with the crowd, remaining fully dedicated to her music— continuously building, refining, and reshaping her set with meticulous attention to detail.

JakoJako’s profound musical knowledge is evident in every track she produces. She acquired much of her expertise while working at “SchneidersLaden,” the renowned Berlin synthesizer store, where she quickly became recognized for her technical understanding. There, she taught herself the intricacies of modular synthesizers, creating a setup that now consists of 25 modules. This expertise eventually caught the attention of Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records, who encouraged her to start producing her own music — marking the beginning of her career as an artist.

Looking at JakoJako’s discography, it becomes clear that she cannot be confined to a single genre. As a resident of the iconic Berghain, she has mastered the art of creating precise, pulsating techno while avoiding the predictability often associated with the genre. Her music naturally embraces repetition, yet within these structures one can constantly discover subtle shifts, intricate details, and unexpected layers that add sensitivity to her powerful rhythms and basslines.

Tracks such as “Impetus” and “Nexus” showcase this approach perfectly. “Impetus” is a peak-time techno banger, relentless in its driving force while creating a layer of tension that unfolds above a delicate and carefully crafted melody. “Nexus” maintains an intense level of suspense through soundscapes that interact in a nervous and dynamic exchange, enriched by abrasive, crackling textures.

However, JakoJako’s talent extends far beyond techno. She also explores ambient music, revealing another dimension of her artistic versatility. While her 2022 LP focused heavily on ambient compositions, she incorporates this side of her work into Verve with “Opak.” The track stands out with its feather-light, floating structure, offering a serene contrast to the intensity of the EP’s techno pieces.

Finally, “Auris” demonstrates her ability to merge the driving tension of techno with melodic elements and subtle dub influences. It serves as a perfect conclusion to Verve, presenting a well-rounded portrait of an artist who combines technical mastery, emotional depth, and a uniquely sensitive approach to electronic music.

The Swedish producer Martinou started releasing back in 2014 through his co-founded label sewer sender. Since then he has been realising numerous EPs. Rift marks the first LP of the Swedish producer Martinou which was released through the Label Nous’klaer in 2021.

At first glance Rift comes forth with an introverted touch: sounds are broken down to its core; low-key and almost hesitant. Once the tracks settle themselves into their main musical pattern, the music will expand itself, thus more and more character will slip through. What might have appeared to be cautious begins to flourish and change into confident material.

Listening to the overall 12 tracks I find myself on a meditative journey, however firstly going through nuances of distress and uncertainty. Once the tracks seem to overcome its distress, I hear both clarity and encouragement.

Listening into “Submerged” and “Thunder Road”: both tracks consist of a clattering rotating pattern. It attracts you, gloomy and obscure as they are. A jingling light melody breaks their dark atmosphere creating brightness and cheerfulness. Musically the quality of each sound pad is extremely rich and full of detail. They overlay and interweave with each other. Deep profound bass lines are combined with rustling floating sounds. A fair amount of tension is created by smoothly increasing or decreasing the volume of each component.

The most captivating and unique sound arrangement of the album is heard in the ambient track “Monolith”. For some it might first appear as monotonous, though listening to it more closely and trying to apply the details as described as above, “Monolith” will come across to be full of diverse structures and density. Once observed all the details, the track has some extremely meditative sensation.

Overall the potential for discovering Martinou’s skilled arrangements seems enormous and of great quality and aspiration. The whole record gives you the opportunity to slow down and discover a lot of detail over its course.

This deep house record has been on my review list since it was published July 2022. A Long Way performed by Jacques Bon and produced by Vincent Drux was released under the renowned label Smallville Records. Jacques Bon himself was running the Paris branch of the Smallville record store for 13 years (2006 – 2019) until it closed down; though the label itself still exists. From the start I was hooked by A Long Way.

When listening to this record you can certainly take A Long Way in the literal sense, though not in a tedious way. Even if the music has a dark and gloom character, the length of the ‚way‘ comes forth in a diverse and agitating sense.

A Long Way splits up into two different styles of tracks that alternate over the course of the album: One character I identify is that of toughness and suspicion, which musically gets transmitted by deep, monotonous bass-heavy patterns. This ‚monotony‘ gets broken up by the second character: enlightening sequences of a celestial ease – influences of ambient sounds and moderate melodies.

Both of these elements are easily discernable in the first track “Distant Voices”. Lucent sounds of bright colours lead into the beginning of the album. The brightness gets cut off by a musty bass drum, sounding as if the bass is still buried underground. With these two sound elements the track forms itself into an atmosphere both hesitant and animated.

The following two tracks “Celeste” and “Mirage” both continue with that dark and even more discomforting effect: thus I hear some of that gravelling tone like in “Celeste” – it is as if somebody is stirring in a big indefinable liquid substance. You are left both curious but hesitant. With “Mirage” the path will carry on even hazier. A monotonous dark bass line in combination with a shrill but muffled, vage melody leaves you feeling intimidated.

The next track “Space Ways” clears up the atmosphere slowly. A strong beat is underlaid with a shimmering spheric sound pattern. Botanical snippets and a soothing vocal ease up the ‚Long Way‘.

The shimmering tone gets carried on in “Radiance”, however it takes on a much more roughness over its course. The main percussion element that starts off slowly sounds more and more distorted and metallic. The same process carries on in “Your Wings” with similar metallic beats, however much sharper and forceful. Once again a lucent soft component will discharge the tension of the track.

Having almost arrived at the end of the record, with “Elevate” we are left with a trotting, deep yet spherical touch suggesting a cool down, though the album ends with its most dynamic track- “Sandstorm”. It insists with a deep but simple techno pattern underlaid yet again with the stirring motive of “Celeste”. Once you find yourself drawn into the driving power of the stompy beat, gentle percussions will decrease the speed cooling off the tempo. But the tempo will change back as it increases one more time, finally climaxing in a joint arrangement with the strong beat form the beginning. Soon they both fade out gently and illusively.

Gentle and illusive – In that sense I experienced the entire journey of A Long Way. For me it is the perfect combination of profound rhythms that come forth sort of mystifying and dark. It consists of great repetition as well as numerous details which make it as diverse.