For those with a good history of electronic music, I’m sure need no introduction to the classic album Electro-Soma, which has recently been reissued on the legendary Warp Records.
B12 were one of the main artists originally signed to the Sheffield based imprint, which is responsible for introducing artists such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, LFO and Nightmares On Wax, and has arguably been the most influential electronic music label of our generation.
First released as part of Warp’s ‘Artificial Intelligence’ that gave birth to a concept showcasing music suitable for a club, but was better suited to one on one home listening. It followed the self titled launch compilation, Polygon Window aka Aphex Twin classic Surfing On Sine Waves, and Black Dog’s Bytes, proving that Techno plus other electronic genres had more depth than many people in the early 90’s gave the genre credit for.
Electro-Soma II is a freshly packaged sister compilation that links to the original album including cuts from the B12 Records vault, rare gems, vinyl debuts, and that features aliases such as Musicology, Redcell and Cmetric, of course all wrapped up as remastered.
Someone new to Techno could be forgiven for thinking this album sounds a lot like some of the new deep and melodic styles currently being released on outstanding labels like Lobster Theremin, but although there is some truth to that, the statement actually needs to be reversed… as it’s those new tracks that sound like the inspirational B12.
The raw analogue sound design may in some places be a little dated, but considering some of the recordings date back to 1991, they have firmly stood the test of time, holding up successfully against many modern productions.
Order the 12″ vinyl at Juno Records / Discogs
Buy the Digital release from Beatport
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