Unlikely elements somehow meld together on the aptly titled, “Dyslexia Tracks” a five-track EP which is noisy, squelchy, inelegant and erratic, yet also structured, rhythmic and somehow danceable; ideal for a younger Molly Ringwald and her breakfast club. Autumns is Derry, Northern Ireland’s Christian Donaghey who brings 60’s-era psych rock guitar twangs, indecipherable reverb-drenched vocals and tense synth undulations more at home on retro video game soundtracks. Opening track, “Self Consumed” has fist pumping dance beats ideal for an 80’s synth rock Billy Idol song on a triple espresso and mean synth lines best suited for a tense first-gen Nintendo game where you square-off against a particularly nasty level master. The following “Headache Tablet” still immerse in continuous undulations of the video game motif with subtle, yet still danceable beat changes as our lead character fights through a horde of baddies. The title, “You’re A Right Useless Cunt” was probably coined at an Irish pub just before a fight over the last pitcher of Guinness while an early New Order song plays on the PA and a 60’s-era Godzilla film on the telly. Nice, layered electro beats, random laser beam squelches and reverb leaden monster vocals phrase brief yet indecipherable comments. Both “City Secrets” and “Distorted Thinking” have electro progressions and vigorous retro style drum machine rhythms, but this time set to some twangy and echoey guitar music at home on an old Batman TV show if the hero was somehow drugged and disoriented. In addition to early Billy Idol and New Order, Dyslexia Tracks brings to mind minimal techno great, Patrick Pulsinger, electro’s, Adult and ‘Add N to X’, with a middle finger aimed at most techno/electro conventions which is probably the point. Dyslexia Tracks are fun to listen to and Donaghey is not afraid to get unconventional if not erratic and layer elements most would feel have no business being together in the first place. Somehow, it works.

A four track EP of mostly ambient remixes of music by Mikael Syrehn aka ‘Maps of Hyperspace’, though it would have been nice to hear the original track to measure the alternate interpretations against. We have a nice, ambient-IDM piece provided by Boston, MA. based, Tim Dwyer aka Off Land, followed by deep space ambient from Norway’s Arjen Schat, along with a dark-atmospheric techno by someone who goes by ‘Elwood’ and finally a dance remix of an unreleased MoH track by Adriano Mirabile, simply titled “Sky”. First off, Off Land brings us into a vast, futurist star chart room aboard the interstellar ship, Stasis as the lights dim and augmented holo-controls materialize awaiting navigation queries. Our chief navigator waves through virtual panels like a Tai-Chi master while brooding ambient tones and rhythmic mechanical clicks provide dramatic tension. Then, Schat’s beatless track of deep ambience bellies the vacuousness of space with it’s reverberating tonal echoes as our navigator wades deeper into the firmaments while holo-planets and stars wash by. Elwood’s remix offers a steady pulsebeat to half-growling, half rumbling bass lines; a destination is selected and coordinates are set aboard starship Stasis—the propulsion system flings our heroes into the depths of deep space. Elwood is understated deep techno with mere vapours of trance accents while vocal fragments provide dark, attitude-driven moods. Adriano Mirabile closes the EP off on a house-music tempo tip with fragments of techno organs, ‘mission control’ squawks and snappy beats; perhaps our ship was bound to a party planet. Mirabile offers up a fun ending to a mostly pensive release. Speaking of which, A ‘Sense of Unity’ is pretty fulsome for a mere EP, with its range of moods, tones and textures, leaving this listener way satisfied and pleased to hear so much packed into so little. Practically a whole sci-fi episode worthy of the Expanse on the Syfy channel from this modest release.

An uplifting follow-up to the more pensive but no less beautiful, Comune, Koji Maruyama brings the listener deeper into his compositions with piano solos, as well as with piano with ambient field-recording accompaniment and orchestral. The listener is treated to superb recordings of a masterful player who delivers musical narrative vignettes, each track feels complete though these may be bits of television and film soundtracks. isos (sic) is book-ended with shuffling sounds and the creak of a piano bench (perhaps a nod to luminary, Glenn Gould) as Maruyama pours over the keys with the fluidity of a waterfall, the precision of a Swiss made watch and story-telling prowess of Hans Christian Andersen. The meaning of the track and album titles remain cryptic, but “prelude/isos” unfurls like a summer rose wet with the morning dew as it cranes its stem towards the warmth of the sun to the tranquil flow of water. “Nap”, with its sparse and playful opening, emotes the innocence of a child as she lays her head upon the pillow, while the more vigorously played notes and sweeping orchestral accompaniment bellies the magnificent improbability of dreams; spacious and expansive as anything as anything Studio Ghibli could come up with. “Fluid/Door” opens impressively, overwhelming piano notes that glitters with the speed and aggression of gathering storm clouds that in turn disperse into clear-skied serenity. “Sketch#1” is just that, sort of like Van Gogh with a piece of charcoal who first plans a piece of painting with a sketch, hinting at the splendor to come. Echoing drops of water in a cavernous space , and piano notes that splash and resonate like stones tossed in a pond, “Land/welter” is ambient meets piano as an old man asks a question, joined by resonances and orchestral strings. “Pause#3” is a chance to get deeper into a Maruyama composition; it starts pensively and then dramatically before giving way to a dizzying and cascading yet graceful flow. “Postlude/isos” returns to the sweet sparse motif before the more assertive notes whirl and then stops almost mid flow and the creak of the piano bench. Yet another jewel in the trove of Archive.org, treat yourself to a listen.

An exquisitely crafted emotional rush of excursions in atmospheric-electronic post-rock fronted by Toronto, Canada based Piero Frenguelli and Marco Porsia aka Let There Be Light. Eschewing understated vocals from their previous albums for all-instrumentals on Lights at Last, LTBL evokes the shimmering pulse of Basic Channel and New Lands-era Flying Saucer Attack with it’s layered guitar washes and waves of keyboard notes. “Kindness” opens with far-away guitar and sustained keyboards that gradually engulf and consume with the power of a storm with it’s driving beats and melody. “Still Alive” recalls the mystique of the Basic Channel Radiance project with its psychedelic electro-mantras later joined by additional blissful textures and atmospheric-cinematic voice-overs that induce a sci-fi theatre of the mind. The following, “Melancholia” oddly feels anything but, with billowing guitar and overcast synth waves with dreamy guitar and bass notes—though fragments of feminine voice-overs do speak of “crying out” and moments that are depressing. “Love” is decidedly downtempo, buoyed by bulbous basslines and understated rhythm while keyboard notes form a gentle aurora borealis which culminates into a euphoria-filled build up. “Lights at Last” comes off as subdued ambient as is “Persevere”, though the latters’ piano notes and synth-quakes channel Vangelis. “Memory” is narrated by Richard Burton, musing on mortality and alcoholism, as drum machines march along to a guitar and electronics interplay while “Repeaters” feels more of an ambient-house vibes and “March of the Tired” belongs on a William Orbit album. “Aftertouch” closes Lights at Last closes the release with frenetic drum machines and synths. It is somewhat a pity that vocals are gone, but the duo have made up for the loss with over-the-top production. Lights at Last sounds fantastic and close headphone listens reveal lush sounds and meticulous attention to detail on the scale of a big budget studio. This release is gorgeous to listen to. Let There Be Light’s musical and technical talents are evident and you are doing yourself a disservice by not visiting their page and immersing and ultimately feeling good lost. Listen with good headphones, it’s well worth it!

A rather sombre follow-up to the dreamy-wistful Secrets of the Moon, No Love Is Sorrow tackles weightier emotional themes with its double-meaning laden title. With some exceptions, No Love... comes off as gloomy, but has more interesting electronic textures artfully merged with well-crafted guitar, oboe, keyboards, and percussion among other instruments. The opening, “Echoes and Sin” rolls in like a thick fog to then recede to keyboard and guitar melodies while oboe notes float gracefully above as the piece then builds into a dramatic finish. For some reason, the haunting oboe keeps evoking The Dream Academy debut album to this listener. “Eyes like Windows” has a lovely electronic textured opening that would do Tangerine Dream proud before it is overwhelmed by anxious guitar and string instrument note progressions which then collapse into wind-note melancholy. Title track, “No Love is Sorrow” is decidedly a more electronic work, punctuated with piano notes and cowbell clangs while overshadowed with gloomy overtones but somehow an oboe pierces through the overcast like sunbeams break through clouds, offering hope. “Soft Skin, Eternal Verses” is among the more intense pieces here with its fuzzier electro-textures and more dogmatic cowbell, more complex interplay of keyboard and organ almost Steve Reich-ian for their near geometric patterns that in turn give way to guitar and gun-shot like percussion. “Shimmering” seems to pick up where Brian Eno left off in Music for Films with piano and atmospherics, but carried along with restrained percussion. To wrap up, the optimistically titled, “A New Beginning” sounds like Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream until the piano notes sober the piece from the acid trip and an almost orchestral-like finish overwhelms with guitar, wind-instrument, percussion, string and atmospheric tempest delivered onto the calmer shores of organ and vibes. Perhaps Fallen is exorcising some emotional demons, but he does so in an mellifluous way. No Love is Sorrow is cloudy with sunny breaks and a well crafted expression of raw emotion wherein you can feel the artist put ‘his all’ into this lovely work.