Mark Fell and Mat Steel, together known as Steel City techno duo Snd, yesterday released their first full-length album for seven years, Atavism.
Snd formed in 1998, releasing a series of 12" records on their own Snd label. They went on to release three albums – Makesnd, Stdio and Tender Love – on Mille Plateaux, before turning their focus to live performances and collaborations, working and performing with the likes of Autechre and Ryuichi Sakamoto. They eventually found a new home on Raster-Noton in 2008, when the group released the particularly acclaimed 4, 5, 6 triple pack of 12"s, toured Japan with the label and contributed a "cover" of ‘Billie Jean’ to the same Recovery box-set that featured Alva-Noto’s take on ‘Planet Rock’ and Ryoji Ikeda’s version of ‘Back In Black’. Atavism is the group’s fourth album, and promises to be no less compelling than what’s come before.
Also out on Raster-Noton is a new album by Jon Egeskov, under the name Pixel. It’s called The Drive, and is billed as the soundtrack to an imaginary road movie. Expect meticulously manipulated and amplified chugs, purrs and crackles – rising and soaring at just the right moments to be as evocative as you let it. As ever with Raster-Noton, both these releases look gorgeous: