Now based in Berlin, Stereolab’s Tim Gane has assembled a new band around his latest solo output. Heavy on the German experimental past (Neu!, chiefly), and free with early techno, the bloop ’n’ burble of modular synths and Joe Dilworth’s live drumming pack a surprising number of facets on this debut album (though the limited double-LP Blood Drums was released in 2013). The default groove might be early 70s motorik – Tardis Cymbals is a typically beatific workout – but tracks Blowing My Nose Under Close Observation and Hi-Hats Bring the Hiss are proper dance music, while the Sonic Boom-enhanced Planetary Folklore is both spacey and creepy. The only downer is the solitary sung vocal on Liquid Gate, courtesy of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, which sabotages the unity of purpose ever so slightly.
