Mighty Twice

A pair of  albums from Exeter's Mighty Force that are uniformly excellent and well worthy of exploration- they work as home listening and I imagine would do so in a much louder more immersive environment. They certainly work in the car eating up the miles while commuting between home and work. First is the latest Mighty Force 33 compilation, the initial offering from the label celebrating its 33rd year of business. It started by releasing the first Aphex Twin record- Analogue Bubblebath (and let's be honest, having put that out you could just stop at that point and rest on your laurels for the rest of time)- and has been resurrected in recent years with a deluge of acid techno/ electronica/ ambient. MF33 Volume 1 will be joined later in 2024 by Volumes 2 and 3, each one made up of eleven tracks, totalling thirty three by the end of the year. Volume 1 lines up a couple of the artists I've posted reviews by here over the last couple of years- Paddy Thorne and Fluffy Inside- along with many I haven't including Myoptik (whose track Nuclear Trafficlightz is a ten minute trip into an acid techno otherworld), I- hyperacusis (and their track Minimal Pulse, a bleep and echo delight) and Pushkin (whose Horce Acid Mix is strong stuff). All eleven are first rate, experimental and forward thinking tracks, the 303s and 808s front and centre. Get MF33 Volume 1 here. This is Once In A Life by Barce, a lovely, fluid piece of electronic music pitched somewhere in the centre of a Venn diagram with three interlocking circles, acid, techno and ambient. 

At the end of January Mighty Force released an album by SubDan called Inhale, Exhale, Repeat, ten tracks by Dan Schock that are tailor made for late night headphones listening, the attention to detail, subtleties and nuances really standing out when listened to closely and immersively (my spellcheck doesn't like immersively as a word but I'm sticking with it). Wake Up! kicks things off, a three note synth pattern and chords joined by rattling drums and a whispered voice, the sounds of the ambient techno revolution of the early 90s updated and reinvigorated for 2024. By the time we get three tracks in, Thin Air, is totally enveloping, a kick drum and synth pattern bringing some drama and tension, the pulsebeat keeping it moving ever forwards. 

Inhale, Exhale, Repeat is a joy that keeps giving, confident and experimental, melodic and innovative. By the time the final track arrives, Bring Back The Music, a familiar vocal sample buried deep within it, the temptation is to let it pay out and then go right back to the start. Buy the album from Mighty Force.