Chicago-based female-fronted trio Flutter is riding the wave of popularity after the discreet success (both in their homeland and abroad) of their "Toys in Coin Machines". They cleverly call it «subversive candy-coated political electropop», which is pretty much as close as you can get to describe their sound. I can't get over how west-coasty it sounds, hype and hyper-active synthetic clash-pop with ethereal and naughty vocals, socio-political lyrics, queer/goth aesthetics and nightclub-friendly attitude. The tracks sport really well-produced synth-pop with hints of drum'n'bass breakbeats and a very admirable drive for sonic experimentation. Of course the key selling point here is the very sexy vocals (somewhere along the lines of Veronica Ciccone with a more ethereal approach, falsettos etc). You'll be instantly sold to her charm. The Chicago/Nebraska-run indie-label Alphabasic has made it their quest to introduce this trio to the world. The CD also contains a multimedia track with video clip and the user name and password that you will need to access the secret room of their website (which contains unreleased photos, lyrics and b-sides in mp3 format). Smart, sexy, happy, beautiful.

Phil Von Magnet has always been a bright, out-reaching, barrier-braking, convention defying musician, and now he is taking all of that to a whole new level with something that is truly unique! In fact, with the exception of German The Brave's 1994 "Fiesta Fatal!" hit, I can not think of any other artist that has managed to successfully and tastefully mix the warm and dramatic world of flamenco guitars and cajon percussions with the digital electronics that Von Magnet is maybe best known for. He did it, and this is but a taste of what his forthcoming album "De L'aimant" will be like. This CDS starts out with a Mimetic mix of the title track, which runs through you like a driven percussive minimal-electronic techno parade where Les Tambours Du Bronx stomp on one truck, Paco De Lucia strums on one next truck and the Young Gods go for their floating electronics on the following one. "How to Breathe" introduces an unexpected theatrical vocal performance in english. "Ma Peine" takes the cajon's beautiful percussive textures, samples them, distorts them and filters them with sweeps, pitching etc, and in doing so creates the perfect sonic and aural support for Sabine Van Den Oever's flamenco guitar and the other ethereal vocal layers. The fourth and last track is a remix by Holeg Spies of "MorirMe" in which the male vocals are back (this time in Spanish) and the electronic soundscapes become more sophisticated and widely embracing. I think it's pretty darn obvious that I really like Phil's latest work, but I must also admit that I was hoping for an even deeper integration and a bigger use of flamenco elements. But now he got me thinking to "De L'aimant" I can't wait to hear the final product.

Ladies and gentleman, this is top notch first rate downtempo electronica you're looking at (and make sure that "looking at" turns into "listening to" just about as soon as you can say "peekaboo boca hui!"). Abysoma is a new label from Madrid, Spain, established by renowned Dj, radio host and producer Luis Vaquero, aka Luis Junior or B-Flow, a spectacular artist from Spain, whose second album (after "Atalsina", under his real name) offers you an amazing and gorgeous exploration of crossroads between lounge, chill out, electronica, ambient, downtempo, minimal, IDM and trip-hop. The album is great and intense, beautiful and visionary and possibly one of the most non-American American-sounding downtempo recordings I have heard in a while. The 13 tracks sport different singers and different languages (Czech, French, English, Italian, Spanish) and the art work and photography are nice too (Swiss photographer; in line with the true essence of this international collaboration). Basically an all around winner that you should make yours immediately, because it is one of the best records that came my way recently... If you don't believe me visit their website for audio samples!

Unto Ashes' new maxi single CD features six previously unreleased pieces or new versions of previously available songs. There are two mixes of the title track, one of which comes from their 2003 "Empty Into White", a new version of "Serve Me", a cover version of the Henry Purcell (1659-1695) 'A Clockwork Orange' theme "Funeral March for Queen Mary", a cover version of the Walter Vonder Vogelweide (1170-1230) "Palastinalied" (with Mariko and Natalia Lincoln on vocals) and another never before released new track by Unto Ashes, entitled "Exeunt Reges". Those familiar with the band know the deal; those new to sound of Unto Ashes can think of it as grand, medieval, martial and neo-classical anthems inspired by middle-ages scenes of every day life and battles. High quality.

It's nice to see that somebody actually reads and pays attention to our submission guidelines. BATZZ have provided us with their latest CD-R EP (whose songs are also available as MP3's on their site). They are shopping for a record deal for what basically is a sound made of dark facets, long reverbs, electronic layers, melodic atmospheres and mixed feelings of sadness, melancholy, happiness and fear. Their ethereal mixture of darkwave and electro is a good support for lyrics about evil and good, heaven and hell, politics, life and spirituality. The instrumentation used includes software drum machines, guitars and synths. I particularly like the episodes where the deep low voices create somber soundscapes. When these goth vocal parts are joined by martial drumming or grand neo-classical orchestrations, they sort of sound like a band that could be on Cold Meat or the Dungeon Fossil. They have a polished sound and good ideas but they're not quite evolved as much as other bands are. I do think, though, that in a few years or a few records, whichever comes first, they might be able to score a deal with, say, Projekt records.