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Skincage's release Axon is a sonic television set of multiple personalities; where picture in picture in picture displays an endless mire of disparate, confused lo-fi loops and panning samples; somehow . . . inexplicably . . . orchestrating a cohesive and mesmeric sound.

Within the fabric of Axon are many amoebic, wandering layers to decipher: choral excerpts and synthetic tones pushed through stereo delay; slowed ambient synth textures; muted rhythmic scraps clinking and clattering an alien circus theme.

And then the contortions really begin, perhaps as a detuned acoustic string riff asserting itself even though terribly misplaced; a child's voice declaring an indecipherable request; a looping musicbox disintegrating into a ringing resonance; or a looped tribal rhythm accompanying wild animals feeding in a graveyard. Throughout, it's easy to find yourself laughing quietly and . . . uncomfortably . . . as the music twists and turns along it's inane path.

Axon's sonic colors are luminous, the methods intriguing and perverse. The unique and ever-changing choice of combinations, the unexpected variations and sounds, and the excellent sense of timing remains key in this work. Even on repeated listenings, the final effect remains nothing less than exceptional.

Merging varied electronic ambient noise and industrial-static beat systems, Implicit Structures is the music of a purposeful, sentient machine, self-reconstructing within the ruins of a scorched and threatened existence. Injured, shambling, multi-faceted . . . it presses and wanders, leaving electric remnants of less-than human memories in it's futuristic wash.

Truly beautiful, intricate textures of filtered noise create colorful layers of varying density; discordant and burbling synth static, samples, waves float freely across the frequency spectrum. Dense chromatic clouds of fuzz and gritt move and dissipate, allowing individual hues to luminate and then burn to nothingness.

The integration and placement of underlying technoid rhythms and their emergence to the forefront of the music is outstanding. The rhythms are schizophrenic beat personalities; noisey, pulsing, driving, they morph and converge in unexpected sonic patterns.

Piped through the broken remains of a scattered radio network at maximum volume, the sound is grainy and bombastic, widely varied and wholly encompassing. Implicit Structures is a distinctly original and extraordinary release that defies the more common renditions of so many of it's peers.

Liar's Rosebush thrusts forward a thoroughly entertaining and action-packed technospectacle in the release None Higher. Primarily electronic and beat driven, Liar's Rosebush succeeds where so many other generic efforts fail. Pushing the electronic sounds and rhythms to unexpected extremes, None Higher overdrives them, working and reworking the rhythms and abusing the samples; extracting 212% out of the common to make a result that is 212% wonderful.

Atop a spacey backdrop and slamming, technoid synth beats a vocalist suddenly bursts through a hidden door and speed-raps the rhymes of an entire tune in triple time (Need Is). A cheesy synth riff is bombarded with heavy, staggering drums and damaged, transient hip-hop voice samples (The Peace Tower). A shifting, clean synth riff bounces expertly in an intricate stereo delay as multiple drum sets assemble and constantly re-invent themselves in their grooves, their function; a distant television set blurbs an important, undecipherable message in the background (Walking in the Wind).

Even the short interlude of Natasha and the whining hound adds value to the diverse work (Through The Downcast Lashes) - you'll just have to hear it to know what this means.

Sometimes the stammering rhythms are so repetitive and simple, but always there is a sense of timing and atmosphere that is engaging and sincere. Other times the beats improvise unpredictably and present themselves through a disarray of distortion and space; again it remains engrossing. Another unique and excellent release from Immanence Records.

Detritus deftly assembles a passionate groovebox of innovative electronica in the expressive music that is Endogenous. Diverse synthetic and sampled percussion/bass patterns migrate frequently across genre borderlines; from industrial to techno to hip-hop and everywhere inbetween. The potent, palpitating rhythms tie together electronic ambience with emotive melodic themes and chord progressions evolving on orchestral and synthetic pads.

A chaotic, staticky beat pattern wanders into a deep, focused slow drum loop within an electric backdrop of synthetic atmosphere (Restoration). A very warm, human piano theme echoes amidst pattering, neurotic, lo-fi drum patterns and synth washes (Maxim). Another piano's thick reverberation evokes a backdrop of spacey infinity (Enumeration).

At times the pieces on Endogenous simultaneously confuse and captivate. A distant, buzzy drum & bass line collides with an industrial offensive, deconstructing into a disfigured electronic orchestra of dissonant horns, string chords and arpeggiations (Atone). A noisey, industrial tune coexists with a malformed string ensemble, accelerated hip-hop loops and a remote radio telecommunication (Immanent).

Overall a polished and enjoyable disc that is both involving and contagious.