Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records (2001)

A landmark record in the genre of Glitch; Jelinek's "digging in the crates" ethos has led to this gem of an album- a minimal, abstract beautiful piece of music that plays well late at night after returning from a hectic night at the clubs. 

There's a soothing neutrality to the ambience here that wraps you in its soft caress and delivers you safe and warm 51 minutes and change later.
Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records (2001; ~scape Records)

Autechre - Tri Repetae (1995)

The duo of Sean Booth and Rob Brown have been making music together for almost 25 years, hooking up over a mutual love for graffiti, hip-hop and electro music, trading mix tapes and eventually collaborating under the guise Lego Feet. Their first release under the Autechre (pronounced aw-tekk-urr) moniker would be 1991's Cavity Job, and the rest, as they say, is history.

This 1995 release, Tri Repetae, is a decent barometer of Autechre's ouevre; it's right in the mid-point of their earlier, more accessible work (the LPs Incunabula, Amber and the Anti EP) and their move towards a freer, more experimental approach (the albums LP5 and Confield, as well as the arc of their trajectory until present day).

Their advancement of glitchy, techy and ambient soundscapes has contributed to the growth of IDM as well as influenced many imitators- I'm almost kicking myself for not discovering this wonderful music earlier.

Autechre - Tri Repetae (1995; Warp Records)

Todosantos - Aeropuerto (2005)

When I was starting out trying to be a music writer, a friend sent me a website that was hiring and urged me to apply. I didn't get the gig, but I became a fan of their fair and diplomatic reviews (probably because they weren't trying to become some massive money-making media conglomerate like that one named after a piece of farm equipment). One review was of this band from Caracas, Venezuela; Todosantos and their album Aeropuerto. I listened to their posted tracks and quickly ordered the physical copy, I had to jump some minor hurdles with the shipping costs and my lousy Spanish while corresponding with their record label, but it arrived a week later.

I'm thinking this album was made in response to (or on the heels of) all the other successful electro-pop albums of the early part of the decade- The Postal Service's Give Up, The Notwist's Neon Golden, múm's Finally We Are No One and Manitoba's Up In Flames, with a decidedly post-punk/glitch edge to it.

Anyway, enjoy one of the coolest electro albums to come from abroad this past decade...

Todosantos - Aeropuerto (2005; La Superagencia)