#experimental-electronic

#experimental-electronic

HTRK have been making their gloomy, sensual brand of music, at the intersection of electronic pop and noise rock, for 22 years. To mark the milestone comes String of Hearts, a collection of covers and remixes featuring an all-star cast of friends and collaborators, from next-gen underground favourites like Coby Sey to fellow old-school experimentalists Liars. This brilliant, genre-agnostic record allows you to trace the breadth of the Melbourne band's shapeshifting sound, echoes of which can now be found all over underground and commercial music,

Who better to release obscure UK drum juggler Ship Sket's first album than legendary UK electronic music outpost Planet Mu? Since its founding by Mike Paradinas (aka μ-Ziq) in 1995, the label has established itself as a pillar for some of the UK's most deranged dance music: It codified Aphex Twin and μ-Ziq's Chuckle Brothers fuckery, typeset Luke Vibert's acid-sodden liner notes, and unleashed Venetian Snares' miasmic orchestral breakbeat.

The sounds are microscopic and synthetic, either glowing like LEDs or gleaming like cold steel, but they leave sizzling craters on impact. Melody and rhythm merge into a rapid-fire spray that makes a mockery of musical modes and scales even while he works within them, thanks to Max/MSP devices that the English artist designs himself. It can feel solitary, almost maddening-the work of an artist obsessively trying to one-up himself.