Sunroof: Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 2 LP

Mute founder Daniel Miller and legendary engineer Gareth Jones (Einstürzende Neubauten, Erasure, Yann Tiersen) vibe out in enviably well-stocked studios on a 2nd batch of improvisations. The illustrious duo have used the Sunroof moniker for remixes dating back some 25 years to their rework of Can, and finally firmed up the project with original material on 2021’s ‘Electronic Music Improvisations Vol.1’. This next volume witnesses Sunroof following their nose for curious tones and pulses across eight parts of mercurial electronics that simply revel in the thrill of creation and the strangeness of electronic music for anyone who shares their fascination with wires and knobs. There’s no narrative or concept behind the release - just the sound of two boffins who know their kit inside out and fancy making some freaky nosies. The results come to resemble a host of possible reference points ranging from the early electronics of Stockhausen or Dick Raaijmakers to more kosmik vectors of Conrad Schnitzler and the shapehifting quality of Kay Logan’s Otherworld works. They are diaristic pieces, sketched to tape canvas in-the-moment, and sprawling between the sloshing pulses of ‘January #2’, to club-adjacent freeform techno-kosmiche on ‘October’, taking in diced-up vox and spangled darkside noise on ‘July #2’, balletic kosmiche in ‘November’, and a collage of dial-strafing radio samples and alien electronics in ‘July #1’.