Releases like this have the indisputable quality to help people like me to reconcile with soft electronic music that usually is filed under idm. This Italian musician has assembled a soft track-list that walks on the tight rope suspended between quasi-ambient and post-classic/soundtrack music, I'm sure you'll get it after a few tracks. Eighties Warp alike sounding synths, soft pianos, string sounding sections, bleeps, electronic devices field-recordings and other kind of instruments cross the aural scene and enrich every single track of a series of arrangements that soften the journey during the listening. Track after track I've been positively surprised seeing what emphasis he has put on melody and on the song structure in spite of getting lost in the useless search of some fake avant-gardist coolness. What I've just said doesn't imply Obsil is sounding like a zillion of other electronic acts, infact I think he managed to put a personal touch in the recipe, but after having experienced "Distances" I think you will agree his primary interest was not exactly working on the experimental side of song-writing. Obsil songs sometimes have been developed in a quite uniform way, sometimes present many unexpected variations, but in most of the cases it could remind a strange hybrid of Lusine with Plone and Plaid elements cut with some neo-classical Murcof alike solutions. In its apparent simplicity "Distances" offers the example of a good and well pondered release where the aesthetic profile is submitted to writing soft, easy-listening, emotionally charged electronic tracks non based on rhythms. Nice work.

Available on MCD (only 500 copies available) and as digital download with a different track listing (the titles are the same but the remixes artists differ) SUPERMAGIC is the first single which anticipate the new Parralox album "Metropolis" due for November 2010. The Australian duo on this new single mix the sensual vocals of Amii with upbeat electropop packing a song that is ready to hit the charts. Recalling a little another Australian girl named Kylie Minogue, the music of Parralox has the same power but it sounds a bit more dark compared to the latest two album of the Aphrodite girl of pop. On the digital edition you can find five different mixes of the main tune (the two O-Phase edition take the original vocal melody and paste it into different, cool as well, music structure while Silica Gel make it turn into an emb alternative pop hit). Along with "Supermagic" you can also find three new songs: "Time (Dark Version)", "Homecoming (Edit)" and "Failure (Reproduction) (Edit)". The first one is a mid tempo winner, a sort of Madonna plays dark pop. "Homecoming" is a pop song with 90's e.b.m. sounds and "Failure" sounds like like early 90's Depeche Mode with a pop female singer as guest.

Coming from Minnesota, Josh Johnson and Dan Kram are Estate, the newest Mullet Records' signing. NUCLEAR CITY is their debut release and contains five fresh tracks of dance wave that will make your feet moonwalking in no time. Mixing funky bass lines/guitars, clear catchy vocals and synth spacey chords/solos (as on the only instrumental, "Blow J"), the duo pop out six instant classics. Years ago labels would have advertised a release like this as a double A side single, because no song is a loser. The opening "Nuclear city" and "In the red" are two song that for sure will catch immediately the attention of the listener. The info sheet names Hall & Oates to explain what kind of song writing quality the duo reached and this is their debut! Dreamy atmospheres and upbeat rhythms are the trademark of the EP and the Gilgamesh remix of "Write to make" (the sixth track of the lot) shows well how this choice is a winner one.

Years ago there was a band called Lifestyle, they released an album then I never heard of them. Aug Stone in 2003 released a single titled "Cherry Vanilla" which I reviewed. A couple of weeks ago he contacted me to tell me about his E.P. he released with Ian Catt (of Saint Etienne) and to tell me that on the Corporate Records' website he put some of his old recordings on a "pay-what-you-want" basis. GIRL TALK contains five songs which spans from the synthpop of the nice opening "New val" (which recalled me a bit Freezepop freshness) and the following "Starring Amelia", to the electronic Jesus & Mary Chain 60's polished version of "Dreaming Of Catherine", passing from the ballad "Sarah's Records" (a sort of happy pop version of Jesus & Mary Chain with few synth sounds) and "Danielle's Hair" (a slow ballad with acoustic guitar and synth which recalls me a little Lou Reed's ballads but made in a synthpop key).

CHICKEN ACCELERATOR is the first release of a new German label called Astro Chicken. Dedicated to spaced out disco/electro sounds the label starts its journey presenting four cool tracks brought to us from four different bands: Hyboid, Starlight Hammer Sounds, Telebot and Sternrekorder. "Vogon poetry" by Hyboid has the task to start the dances and does it with an electro spacey upbeat tune. "Starlight Hammer Sounds" with "Turrican 2" sounds a little more robotic but always upbeat, with cool melodies and nice arpeggiator progressions. Telebot's "Disco dump" is a mid tempo with moog solos and alternates disco 70's atmospheres to dark atmospheres. Sternrekorder close the compilation with their "Geh lieber nie", which is the only song to have vocals and it's an upbeat song with 80's electro melodies and nice echoed German vocals. Sebastian Hübert of Astro Chicken Records did a great job gathering four bands that will be able to make you enjoy even more your galactic trips!