Autumn brings an unprecedented selection of great new electronic music. From debut albums by house maestros to quirky releases by prolific veterans, October holds something for everyone. Here’s our list of some of the most essential albums of the month.
Rudimental – We The Generation (Major Toms/Big Beat)
After the massive global success of their acclaimed 2013 debut, Home, the London-based foursome take their breakbeat-driven sound to the next level. The quartet doubles down on their R&B proclivities with a coterie of guest vocalists including Ed Sheeran, Bobby Womack, Lianne La Havas and Ella Eyre in tow. Of the 18 selections “Love Ain’t Just A Word” featuring Anne-Marie and Dizzee Rascal epitomizes their maturity and ability to jet between pop and a liquid d’n’b banger for the clubs. They’ve risen to an enviable position many would like to be in.
Essential Track: “Never Let You Go” feat. Foy Vance
Release Date: October 2
Mark de Clive-Lowe – Church Remixed (Ropeadope)
L.A. pianist/producer/DJ Mark de Clive Lowe’s blend of jazz and electronics was impressive enough to begin with when he released Church last year. But the remixed version of that record takes de Clive-Lowe’s electro-acoustic vision to a whole different level. Toward that end, producers from all over the planet — including Opolopo, Myele Manzana and more — pop up to lend a hand.
Essential Track: “Brukstep” (Atjazz Astro Remix)
Release Date: October 2
Gary Martin – Escape from South Warren (Motech)
The groundbreaking work that Detroit’s Gary Martin did on his Teknotika label, which was founded back in 1993, had a lot to do with inspiring Motech Records. Now, all these years later, Motech brings things full circle by releasing Martin’s new album. The record is an endlessly funky fusion of tech-house, electro, acid house, and more. And if those big, fat synth tones Martin employs throughout aren’t analog, they’re the most convincing simulation you’re likely to come across anytime soon.
Essential Track: “This Is It”
Release Date: October 5
Coma – This Side of Paradise (Kompakt)
For the second album from Coma, the duo continues to combine warm, welcoming synth tones, supple grooves, and an infectious pop sensibility. Blending synth-pop with straight-up dance music, they arrive at a place that’s entirely their own but still feels comfortingly familiar. Dillon makes a guest appearance, adding vocals to “The Wind,” but this record is Coma’s singular vision from start to finish.
Essential track: “Lora”
Release date: October 9
St. Germain – St. Germain (Parlophone France)
Ludovic Navarre has been known for many years now as a deep-house heavyweight and a major mover of the French Touch sound. But for his latest album, he’s turned his artistic attentions in a very different direction, both musically and geographically. On this self-titled release, St. Germain collaborates with Malian musicians, mixing his usual axes with traditional instruments from Mali, like the balafon, kora and n’goni. Needless to say, the results put a whole new spin on the concept of world music.
Essential track: “Real Blues”
Release date: October 9
Dapayk Solo – #NoFilter (Mo’s Ferry)
Niklas Worgt, a.k.a. Dapayk Solo, uses his fourth album to prove that there is power in simplicity. On his last outing, a duo release as Dapayk & Padberg, he utilized more melodic subtleties, but this time around, he says he wanted things to sound “more straightforward, more reduced, more analog and dirtier than anything I have done before.” With this very visceral blend of minimal techno, house and drum ‘n’ bass influences, he has achieved that goal in no uncertain terms.
Essential track: “Noob Legs”
Release date: October 12
Daniel Steinberg – Left-Handed (Arms & Legs)
As the song goes one thing leads to another. A drunken holiday mishap last Christmas resulted in rising producer Daniel Steinberg having to deal with a fractured right hand. To get through the discomfort the southpaw holed up in his studio, going beyond the pain by laboring over sounds and grooves. The result is an album sporting exceptional composition that glides across a slew of dance floor genres. Lemons to lemonade stories don’t come any better than this.
Essential Track: “Bones”
Release Date: October 12
Ghost-Note – Fortified (RSVP)
Ghost-Note is the duo of Robert “Sput” Searight, best known for his work with Snarky Puppy, and Nate Werth. Both are drummers, and this flagship release for the Searight-helmed partnership with Ropeadope Records finds them taking percussion to a whole new level, claiming influences from James Brown to J Dilla, with plenty of world music flavors along the way. It’s not all percussion, though — synths, vocals, and other elements play important roles in Ghost-Note’s percolating sound.
Essential track: “Go Go Gadget”
Release date: October 16
Luke Vibert – Bizarster (Planet Mu)
Prolific Warp/Ninja Tune/Rephlex/Hypercolour journeyman returns to Planet Mu for the seventh album penned under his name. What’s always been so charming about the pioneering Vibert is in the way in which he seemingly takes his esteemed reputation with a grain of salt. Never afraid to let his freak flag fly, he peppers each track with swinging rhythms, crafty samples and moments of pure hilarity. Bizarster is strictly for those of us who stand a bit left of center.
Essential Track: “Hey Go”
Release Date: October 16
Blond:ish – Welcome to the Present (Kompakt)
Though this twosome has displayed their deftness with beat-based tracks on their earlier releases, their first full-length album is another beast entirely. Rather than relying on club cuts, the album takes you on a trip full of ethereal atmospheres, mysterious sonic vistas, and exotic instrumental textures. Is it the outer edge of the cosmos they’re exploring or the inner landscape of the mind? Maybe both.
Essential track: “Endless Games”
Release date: October 23
Ursula 1000 – Voyeur (Insect Queen Music)
After recording five albums for Thievery Corporation’s own label, Brooklynite Alex Gimeno, better known as Ursula 1000, has moved over to his own Insect Queen for his latest LP. His tracks are always packed with so many appealingly disparate elements that even on record you get the feel of a live set. And this album is no exception; with a guest list that includes Mocean Worker, Lady Bunny, QDUP and others, and a flow that incorporates salsa, house, Hi-NRG, electro, disco, Balearic beats and more, it’s a journey as much as it is a record.
Essential Track: “Faded Denim Wash”
Release Date: October 30
Mano Le Tough – Trails (Permanent Vacation)
What a difference a few years makes. Where he was focused squarely on the dance floor on his 2013 debut Changing Days, trotting his musical wares to some of the finest clubs in the world led Irish DJ/producer Niall Mannion to take his follow-up, Trails, into a less clubby direction. Some tracks are widely cinematic (“Running In A Constant Circle”) while others are dark and dirty (“Half Closed Eyes”). His musical coming of age is best reflected in the somber comedown bliss of “Energy Flow,” a track featuring Mannion’s talents performed through a new instrument: his voice.
Essential Track: “The Space Between”
Release Date: October 30
Len Leise – Lingua Franca (International Feel)
International Feel honcho Mark Barott’s discovery of the mysterious Australian electronic auteur Len Leise is the stuff of legend (or at least mythology). But the new Leise EP the label’s getting set to release is very real. And those already enamored of the Leise music IF has made available up to now can rest assured that there are more lush, twinkling chill-out soundscapes in their immediate future.
Essential Track: “Forlorn Fields”
Release Date: October 30
Dax J – Shades of Black (Monnom Black)
Born in London but based in Berlin, Dax J has already made a name for himself with a series of EPs and plenty of high-profile gigs. But now he’s finally getting around to releasing his first full album, on his own label. The tracks on his debut LP tap into what seem like his primary influences in old-school techno, jungle and drum ‘n’ bass, all filtered through a modern, minimalist sensibility to achieve a tough, tactile sound that’s warm and propulsive at the same time.
Essential Track: “Beyond the Planets”
Release Date: October 30
Small Black – Best Blues (Jagjaguwar)
The third album from the buzzy Brooklyn synth outfit serves as the band’s most mature album to date. Inspired by their personal experiences dealing with loss, Best Blues is a snapshot of a band coming of age and trying to make sense of it all. Musically speaking, their crisp beats and euphoric keyboard swells have never sounded so good. Though there’s a somber bent to the release, and once again we’re reminded that sad songs say so much.
Essential Track: “No One Wants It To Happen To You”
Release Date: October 16
Claptone – Charmer (Different Recordings)
With his global profile on the rise for the better part of the past few years, the timing couldn’t be better for the mask-wearing German DJ/producer to step out with an artist album. While Charmer is overflowing with collaborations with Nathan Nicholson, Peter, Bjorn & John, Bavanandan, Jimi Tenor, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Young Galaxy and Jay-Jay Johanson, Claptone somehow manages to forge a singular sound throughout. A charming album, indeed.
Essential Track: “No Eyes” feat. Jaw
Release Date: October 16
Yppah – Tiny Pause (Counter)
Joe Corrales Jr. stands at the intersection of electronic music, hip-hop and rock. Over the trajectory of his career he’s vaulted around the periphery of all of the aforementioned genres, never putting all of his eggs in one creative basket. His evolution as a producer is evident, with cascades of sounds careening delicately about. Helping him take Yppah (pronounced yip-ah) to the next level is his move away from software-based production and live instrumentation to modular synthesizers and samplers. In an age of hyperbole Corrales makes more than a few musical points without ever having to raise his voice.
Essential Track: “Separate Ways Forever”
Release Date: October 16
Prins Thomas – Paradise Goulash (Eskimo)
Known by his musical moniker Prins Thomas, famed Norwegian DJ/producer Thomas Moen Hermansen presents a sprawling and highly eclectic three-disc homage to New York nightspot Paradise Garage. Over the span of 57 sublime tracks we’re served up succulent portions by likes of Robert Hood, Actress, Marcellus Pittman, Young Marco, I:Cube and Hieroglyphic Being, as well as obscure cuts that have never seen the light of day. Larry Levan would no doubt approve of this feast for your mind, body and soul.
Essential Track: Ricardo Villalobos – “Defixia”
Release Date: October 16
Mathew Jonson – Fabric 84 (Fabric)
The 84th edition of Fabric’s long-running mix series is a rousing set from Canadian techno troubadour Mathew Jonson. Recorded live at the club’s 15th birthday celebration held last year, Jonson’s skilled production touch is heard on each track. Whether in the form of a spate of blindly good exclusives or his bespoke remixes, Jonson tears it up like nobody’s business. It’s the next best thing to being at the club on that historic night.
Essential Track: Kevin Saunderson feat. Inner City’s “Good Life” (Mathew Jonson’s Acid Mix)
Release Date: October 16
Phil Weeks – Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (Robsoul Recordings)
Prolific French phenom gets buck wild on an album boasting sleazy sample tracks and sleek house excursions. Weeks is joined by underground house legends Mike “God Make Me Phunky” Dunn for the rousing “We Need House” and Peven Everett on the appropriately titled “Funky Music.” Weeks clearly doesn’t give a shit about fashion, fads or trends, and the result is an album that pulls no punches.
Essential Track: “My Music”
Release Date: October 23
Additional writing by Jim Allen