BOXIA ****
Colour Sequence (We Are The Brave)
“Cardiff’s own Boxia!” exclaimed the subject header when this widescreen techno producer’s publicity department emailed Buzz. Which is odd, as I’ve turned up no other evidence of him actually living here. Music like this – the chunky bass and gospel samples of Black; the hi-hat heavy and deep house-influenced Orange – can basically come from anywhere, such ‘tis its beauty. NG
CURSOR MAJOR ***
Silent Disco Punch Up EP (Bellicose)
Is singing “I am the final solution” wise, in these Nazi-punching times? The kookiness is inbuilt here, as South Walian, ex-Crimea member Andy Norton’s bedroom pop project aims for skewed pop glory, only falling a little awkwardly between proper weirdness and melodic gold. It’s a high-sheen EP, briefly memorable. WS
HALF WAIF ***
Form/a EP (Cascine)
This project of Pinegrove member Nandi Rose Plunkett is the polar opposite of that band. It’s intensely personal electronica where she expresses her moods especially through sound over admittedly gorgeous but slightly distant vocals. Short songs on relationships, communication, isolation and uncertainty about belonging and home, with melodic Indian roots coming through on Severed Logic. RLR
MANU DELAGO ****
Freeze (Tru Thoughts)
A track from the celebrated Metromonk album, Freeze gently vents moody melodic patterns that skim freely across minimalist electronics to conjure a wistful, dreamy feeling. The transcendental sound of the hang with the gifted Manu at its helm provides the central focus, its beautiful soft percussive tones makinh for a very intriguing listen. CPI
THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS & DAN GHENACIA ***
Disco Jam EP (white label)
You’d be stretching a genre-based point to call either of these two tracks disco, really, but you can still get down to them with abandon. Two big room house specialists team up for some analogue-sounding early house-influenced tackle, with Disco Jam 2 nudging into minimal techno, two-hour-set-approaching-its-peak territory. NG
SPINNING COIN ****
Raining On Hope Street (Geographic)
Proving there’s still the odd pearl in the worst of all, er, genre oysters – nice white boy indie – Raining… takes the lineage of all the swell bands of Spinning Coin’s Glasgow hometown (Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub, you know) and adds new blood that’s dreamy, off-kilter, and weirdly romantic. B-side Tin rattles too. WS