October - Black Body Radiation
Debut album from Julian Raymond Smith AKA October
1. Ritual
2. Black Narcissist
3. Body Chant
4. Blood Feud
5. Transient Bodies
6. Synchronized Blues
7. Slow Release
8. Syrup
SKUDGE-WLP02
SKUDGE RECORDS 2015
Techno / Electro
Juno review:
An album from Bristol-based techno producer October could have manifested in a multitude of different ways depending on when it landed in his career. That it has arrived more than ten years after he first stepped out on wax marks this release as a momentous event for artist and listeners alike. As Matt Anniss found out when he interviewed Julian Smith back in November, there had been times in the past when different iterations of the debut October album could have landed, only to be held back at the last minute. Building on a relationship with Skudge that reaches back to 2011, Black Body Radiation serves as an acute depiction of where Smith is at as an artist now while moving one step to the side of his established club guise.
Certainly there are tropes at work across the album that reflect current trends, not least the looming influence of EBM, industrial and coldwave that found favour with the rougher end of the outboard techno brigade, but in Smith’s hands these signifiers take on a different energy. The drums leap and bound with an urgent energy that shirks fashionable distortion in favour of learned, thrill-inducing processing, and the melodic content comes in lurid shapes that contort and vie for attention without cluttering the mix. It’s the deftness with which these elements are handled that makes Black Body Radiation such a stand-out record, all pressed metal and glistening muscle with the physicality of dance music but the engrossing narrative of a great rock album.
Juno review 2:
Over a recording career that has spanned twelve years and around 35 releases, Bristol producer October finally releases a full length album, on Swedish techno imprint Skudge. On Black Body Radiation he shows a new dimension to his sound, forgoing the bass influenced techno he's usually associated with for more of a retro and EBM influenced sound. "Black Narcissist" features a gritty funk bass preset going toe to toe with the pounding groove of a rusty analogue rhythm and soaring guitar feedback. "Body Chant" or "Transient Bodies" are the kind of tough nu-new wave workouts similar to that of Broken English Club or Tzusing. The late night industrial groove of "Slow Release" in particular, is our favourite. Elsewhere, there's some seriously reductionist dub techno, like on "Blood Feud" and some lush beatless atmospherics such as on the closer "Syrup".
RH review:
Bristol based Julian Smith aka October returns to Skudge records with the full length ”Black Body Radiation”. Sounding like the soundtrack for a long lost dystopic Anime movie. Action packed, intense, fast-moving. Body music from the future.
DJ Deep:
"Excellent release!!! Body chant is the one for me here, but love the whole project!"
Midland:
"Really great stuff!"
