V/A :: Clear Memory 015 (Clear Memory)

Across these six tracks, Clear Memory once again demonstrates how far its sound has travelled. The music may sit within the broad canon of electro, but the label continues to reshape and rewire the colder edges of the machine.

From armchair introspection to sweaty bangers

No rest for the wicked, and rest doesn’t appear to be in the Clear Memory crew vocabulary. The fresh-faced Leipzig men are back at their electro high jinks, this time with their ninth compilation to showcase their collective sound and their growing influence in the electronic landscape.

Those familiar with the label will recognise some of the family. The ever-diverse Varum opens with the thought-provoking “TRYP.” Bordering the expanse between electro and IDM, glacial sweeps and guttural computations are softened by gentle melodies and fragile beat patterns. Hayter is also plumbing the depths of his machines with “Fortune Four.” Stark drums are haunted by vocals, crystalline chords scaling to epic heights. VR-System, the duo of Robyrt Hecht and Varum, takes a different path with the vocoder longue funk of “Nunn’s Moonlight.”

A new addition to the fold, Retrosonic Crew introduce the flip in superb fashion. “80-90” is cold and raw with just enough human touch added to give this weapon just the right menace to slice up the floor. The outlier of the six is Milium’s “Understeer.” Intense and ambitious, the track melts borders of breaks and EBM to serve up a dark brooding beast of powerful proportions. The close comes from Dog Balls. A driving spoken word track, crisp synthlines are bullied by punishing percussion and vicious vocals in the sideswiped “Verwaarloosbaar.”

Across these six tracks, Clear Memory once again demonstrates how far its sound has travelled. The music may sit within the broad canon of electro, but the label continues to reshape and rewire the colder edges of the machine. From armchair introspection to sweaty bangers, the artists, collective and label are once again punching well above their youthful weight.

Clear Memory 015 is available on Clear Memory. [Bandcamp]