ten albums to look forward to in early 2013

here's some upcoming albums that i am really, really excited to hear in the early part of 2013 - and i think you should be excited too! so, let's do it in alphabetical order...

ANTHONY CHILD - THE SPACE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THINGS (NNA tapes) a new album from the artist known most prominently as surgeon? one that's apparently made up of two long tracks that "seem to exist and not exist simultaneously"? yes please! you can try out an excerpt on soundcloud, and go to the NNA tapes page for a more thorough introduction to the album and presale info. (that's the artwork at right, from trudy creen, who also did the cover art for surgeon's fantastic 2011 full-length breaking the frame.) release date: march 5th, 2013

ATOM TM - HD (raster-noton) in my mind, anything released on the german institution raster-noton is probably worth a listen. uwe schmidt, aka atom TM (he's also known under dozens of other names too), will be making another LP appearance on r-n, and apparently this one will be "spiritual, musical and scientific" ... release date: march 18th, 2013

AUTECHRE - EXAI (warp) a new full-length from the longtime UK experimental duo, their first in three years. weighing in at around two hours in length, it seems like it'll be a demanding listen. i wasn't really impressed by their last album oversteps but this pair is always one to watch. release date: march 4th, 2013

BVDUB - A CAREFUL ECSTASY (darla records) aha! yet another bvdub album from brock van wey (who crafted my favorite album from last year, when love lived, under the alias 'earth house hold') has just been released. it's a sequel to last year's excellent serenity LP, and "perhaps the clearest melding of his ambient, chillout, and deep house roots to date," says the label/distro website, where you can purchase it and/or get giddy over some samples. also worth checking out is this expansive interview with bvdub over at secret thirteen. release date: january, 2013 (now!)

DADUB - YOU ARE ETERNITY (stroboscopic artefacts) the pair, who cooked up an anatomy mix back in 2011, are preparing for the release of their debut album. like the previous SA LP's from lucy and xhin, a remixes record (released last week) should have you waiting anxiously to hear the whole shebang. then there's this teaser video, which looks and sounds pretty spooky. release date: february 18th, 2013

DIAMOND VERSION - [TITLE TBA] (mute records) a relatively new collaboration between alva noto and byetone... i recently wrote an RA review for one of their records, and after an ongoing EP series, they'll reportedly drop a 2xLP album in may (more details here). the stuff i've heard so far from this project has been fantastic. looking forward to hearing more! release date: may, 2013

FUNCTION - INCUBATION (ostgut ton) the debut full-length effort from the almighty function (aka dave sumner), this is probably the year's most anticipated techno album. at least, i can't wait to hear it. according to a short interview over at RA, sumner's goal was to "create something cinematic and heavy on imagery and emotion." sounds like my type of stuff. you can try out one of the tracks, "voiceprint (reprise)" here on soundcloud. release date: march 4th, 2013

MIKA VAINIO - KILO (blast first petite) / more TBA in this very nice interview with the quietus, mika vainio - whose solo output is, by now, surely deserving of a mention in front of his remarkable work as a member of the allegedly defunct outfit pan(a)sonic - reveals some very tasty tidbits about his upcoming release schedule. it looks like the vainio LP kilo will sit on the more rhythmic side of his style, and it looks like we can expect a new album from his Ø alias on sähkö, too. the man says: "i think this year there will be quite a few releases." i say: fuck yeah! release date (for kilo): march or april, 2013?

TM404 - TM404 (kontra-musik records) on another hardware-heavy tip is the upcoming LP from andreas tilliander under the alias TM404. as the name might imply, this one is focused only on a few pieces of analog gear, with the 303 used very often throughout. click through to the label website for more information, and for some youtube links showing tilliander/TM404 in action. release date: january 30th, 2013

VOIGT & VOIGT - DIE ZAUBERHAFTE WELT DER ANDEREN (kompakt) last but certainly not least, of course. the brothers wolfgang and reinhard voigt will team up, after years of collaborating, for their first album together. the title translates to "the magical world of others" which only adds to the intrigue (for me at least). it'll come out on cologne's venerable label/store/distributor kompakt, which wolfgang voigt co-founded, and which turns twenty this year... happy birthday! release date: february 18th, 2012


... and that's all i got for now. to conclude: there's already a ton of interesting music to look forward to this year. now, what am i missing?