this is a tribute to one of the greatest horror authors of all time: H.P. Lovecraft, the man who created the creature Cthulhu. In fact, the title of this compilation, “The Outsider,” is also the title of one of Lovecraft’s stories. Though long dead, Lovecraft’s memory lives on in his countless works, and now also in this tribute by a handful of dark ambient, experimental, and noise acts! And, indeed, who better to paint an aural portrait of Lovecraft’s written works than the artists who represent the truly nightmarish genres of music.

Now generally, a clash of so many styles has a grossly horrible outcome. But once in a while, when someone good enough tries it… the outcome is to great for words to describe. Hecq is good enough. Hymen Records struck gold when they signed this guy. If you only buy one album this year. Buy this one. If it’s not the most incredible album you’ve every heard, I’ll give you $10.

What’s special about Remodelled is that it shows another side of his work. He still has his amazing ambient atmospheres and his normal organic glitchy feel. But this album has the addition of almost hip-hop inspired beats that will make your head nod no matter what your doing. This is one of the few albums I’ve heard that I would almost be comfortable calling “cliq-hop”. The great thing about this album is that you can really listen to it in two different ways. Depending on which way you listen to it you’ll hear something different. You can listen to it casually while working or driving, and end up nodding your head and enjoying the beats more than anything else. If your listening to it more seriously you’ll end up hearing a whole different side of the tracks. The emotive, surreal soundscapes will become more obvious and you’ll be in another world before you know it. This is an A+ album. Another essential.

One of the first things that I noticed about this album, was the artist line up. Snow Robots vol. 2 has a linup that consists of Lowfish, Solvent, ISAN, and Pluxus. Then I noticed D’arcangelo made an appearance on the album, and it was all over from there. I was sold.

This should be listed as an essential album in any music enthusiasts collection. It brings forward new ideas and sounds while still holding true to it’s explosively vivid roots. A true classic. Congratulations Suction Records, you win.

Talada has been experimenting with music since 1987, and has since had projects ranging from industrial, to electronic, to death rock. He also runs a Los Angeles based label, called Mechanismz. If there were ever a genre bending album to portray his vast and lengthy experience as a musician… Nailsleeper was it. This is a truley progressive album, bending the rules of what you might call a “IDM” album. Nailsleeper is an incredible combination of glitchy IDM sounds, industrial noise, and acid beats. If you listen hard enough, you can even catch some drone-like soundscapes, and seriously creepy sounds.

“Before you know
it you’re covered in a most diabolically delicious and infectious groove. The narrative nature of marching dynamics is extremely meditative and thus evokes emotional response of wanting to dance/move
with a flow that few musical projects can create.” Says Hymen Records.

Do anything in your power to get ahold of this album

The artist line-up is as follows:

• Lusine Icl
• Mad EP
• Solarx
• Snog
• Psy Spy
• Hecq
• Lowfish
• Gridlock

What more can you ask for really? The set was released in February of 2006 and is now out of print. A truly amazing collection of everything from IDM, to ambient, to experimental to minimal, along with every combination of the 4.

I Went Out Shopping To Get Some Noise is a 10 in my book. Daniel Myer has released 2 albums under the alias Architect, but is probably better known for his work with Haujobb, the electro industrial-noise band who has been around since the early 90’s. Unlike Haujobb, this album bounces in between IDM and techno quite a bit, as apposed to Haujobbs frequent bouncing between IDM and industrial. This record keeps you on your toes at all times. “Unlike” is full of pianos and whispers, where “Anger Management” is full of hand drums, glitches and darkness… meanwhile “Icl Feelings” has a very glitchy feeling, and ambient undertone but is clearly techno inspired. It reminds me ALOT of Dryft, who you probably know better as the dark, ambient, glitchy producer Bitcrush.

Released on Hymen Records, this is pretty much what you would expect to get, but in my opinion is perhaps more than you would expect from Daniel Myer. Not to say that as a bad thing, but I feel like this album is more organized and perhaps better executed than some of his other releases.

Anish Music is a true gem. Not only is its creator, Ane Oestergaard, one of the few females to delve into this style of production, but it’s also just an overall amazing album. Band Ane is one of those few producers who is so dialed in with her own style, that you really cant tell who her influences are. She lists both Aphex Twin and Squarepusher as influences, but I have a feeling people will be listing her as an influence if she keeps putting stuff out there.

Alot of reviews mention the use of “childrens music”. To be perfectly honest I have no idea what their talking about. I’ve listened to the album probably 8 or 9 times now and aside from certain noises that are perhaps remind full of noises made from childrens toys, I’ve found no usage of childrens music what so ever. She certainly has a playful of up-beat vibe to her music, but at times you’ll be surprised to find some really dark soundscapes and down right harsh noises.

The great thing about this album is that you don’t have to listen to it more than once. You know you love it as soon as the first track starts. Her melodies are thought out and solid, and her vocals are strong and relaxing. Every track is a different experience, and delivers soundscapes and moods just as well as the last. Band Ane has a very unique way of cutting up her bleeps and glitches which makes them almost feel alive while they bounce around from layer to layer. She also has a large background as a pianist and you can really tell just how talented she is in tracks like “Wood Delivery” and “Undoubtedly”. It’s hard to find a real copy of this in the states. But it’s available for download from places like Juno.

This is an A+ album from all sides and shouldn’t be overlooked for any reason.

“I’m not sure what I expected a winner of the Danish Arts Council award for young composer of the year to sound like, but it wasn’t this.” - Boomkat

Over time this album has become one of my favorite up-tempo IDM albums ever. And not just because from a distance, Karsten Pflum looks oddly like a young Andy Dick. The varying styles of melodies and atmospheres in this album is really quite impressive. To me, it sounds quite a bit like Squarepusher, but remains very much original. The overlying tone throughout the whole album is always positive and up lifting, which I think is rare in IDM albums. Generally speaking, when you think of IDM you really don’t tend to think about sunshine and green grass. Occasionally he’ll throw in a rain storm here and there, but all in all, it’s the San Francisco of albums. Always sunny, always 70, and always something new to see.

Anyone who’s already heard Ceephax Acid Crew knows exactly what to expect from this album. If you’ve never heard Ceephax before, than you have no idea what your in for. It’s a simple as that.

Ceephax has a unique way of continuing the style of experimental and acid that Richard James (aka; Aphex Twin) made popular (or as popular as it could be) in the mid 90’s. One of the most refreshing things about Ceephax is how he progresses the noises and composition of the music, but your still able to hear it’s roots and influences. It’s quite rare that you can listen to a newly released acid album and be reminded of hanging out in coffee shops with your friends listening to old DMX Crew, Aphex Twin, U-Ziq, and Cylob.

I highly recommend a listening session of this album to anyone well versed in this style, or a new-comer alike. It’s a killer album and it was more than I hoped for.