#29 Feat. Hype in Electronica

Stunning hour-long soundtrack from Regis and Anni Hogan; a suite of gentle, highly evocative nocturnes that weave and wind through wonderful melodic episodes and glistening atmospherics, landing somewhere between shoegaze bliss and melancholy romance. Anni Hogan and Regis have collaborated many times before - most notably on the Reversing Into Tomorrow tape for our Documenting Sound series, and on Regis Hidden in This is the Light That You Miss album last year. This score for Hospital For Beasts (shot by director Andreas Kiriakou, and acclaimed cinematographer Antonis Kounellas) is on another level entirely from anything weve heard from the duo before though. Featuring sounds collected by Karl OConnor then arranged into original compositions by Hogan, the music here plays out like a fever-dream; every time you think you catch a glimpse of something tangible, it all turns to vapour, blurred into the sublime. Of course, Hogan brings over 40 years of experience playing piano and synths for legendary new wave, goth and industrial bands including Marc Almond, Deux Filles, Nick Cave, Jacques Brel, and Barry Adamson, to name just some, so when factored into the romantic gloom of Regis blossoming post-techno phase, the elements swirl into something multi-dimensional and new. While weve enjoyed everything weve heard from the pair so far, they hit on something thats more fully realised here, producing almost an hour of music thats in places almost unbearably moving; a flourish of evocative vignettes, a thorny bouquet of keys, heatsick strings, flute and spectral electronics spun out by an encroaching industrial thrum thats always lurking. Moving between daylight, dusk, and nocturnal moods, the soundtrack is largely shorn of percussion and tendered by Annies classically expressive keys. Imprinted with the tonalities of traditional strings and head-less choral arrangements that hint at ancient Greek musics, the whole thing is set around reverberating room/field recordings, with Annis voice echoing through like pretty much nothing weve heard before. Weve literally no idea what the film is about, but trust when we tell you weve been in tears just listening.

Regis, Ann Margaret Hogan

#65 Feat. Staff Picks in Electro (Classic / Detroit / Modern)

'EPM Selected Vol. 9' features ten tracks from the EPMmusic archive and two unreleased mixes of classics from Mark Broom and Ben Sims. This collection goes right to our techno roots featuring artists such as Regis, Robert Hood, Oliver Way, Arno Vancolen, Carl Taylor, Lee J. Malcolm, Stare5 (aka Bryan Zentz), Bryan Chapman, Techmarine Bottom Feeders and Theiz plus the exclusive remixes of Ben Simss Xotnuc from Stevie Cox and the Chimes remix of Mark Brooms One Sound. We start Vol. 9 with Ben Simss Xotnuc which featured in our EPM 20 celebrations in 2021 but this time gets a brand new remix from Stevie Cox who brings the tempo down into a shimmering breakbeat before the mighty Karl OConnor (aka Regis) who brings a touch of rolling techno-funk with No Love From Above from his Beyond the Reach of Time EP. Bryan Chapman then gets a fortified techno remix from fellow UK producer, Inigo Kennedy who fires up Io into a solid dancefloor missile before the minimal master Robert Hood drops Shadows, showcasing his unique blend of techno minimalism to the full. Continuing in Hoods minimal vein we have Stare5 (aka Bryan Zentz) whose The Adverse Within was first unveiled on 2018s Void Swimmer EP and then we reveal another exclusive as the Chimes mix of Mark Brooms One Sound adds another layer of sonic depth to the techno crowd pleaser. Taking it back to 2012 Carl Taylors Onyx is quality tech-house through and through, with that added ingredient of funk, delivered from his True Faith album before the Techmarine Bottom Feeders (aka Paris the Black Fu and Emeric Di Paolo (Luxus Varta)) take us into an acid soaked vortex with The Vision (Radio Edit) and EPMs own Oliver Way rips into some Chi-town tech-boogie with Shuffle Rush that featured on 2022s V-Series: Chicago Connex EP alongside stompers from Robert Armani and Lester Fitzpatrick. The multi-talented Lee J. Malcolm then tackles Yellos classic Oh Yeah and Theiz takes us to the sounds of classic Black Dog / Plaid techno with his superb 1000 Year Cycle of the Dragonfly taken from his All That Remains album. Finally, signing off we have Bryan Chapmans hauntingly beautiful remix of Arno Vancolens Venus Loop Revisite.

Ben Sims, Regis, Bryan Chapman, Robert Hood, Stare5, Mark Broom, Carl Taylor, Techmarine Bottom Feeders, Oliver Way, Lee J Malcolm, Theiz, Arno Vancolen