{"title":"Central Processing Unit","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCentral Processing Unit, commonly referred to as CPU Records, is a Sheffield based electronic music label run by CPSmith. With a passion for showcasing cutting-edge electronic music, CPU has become synonymous with innovative sounds and boundary-pushing artists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince its inception, CPU has been dedicated to releasing high-quality vinyl and digital releases that span various genres within the electronic music spectrum. From techno and electro to IDM and experimental, the label's diverse roster of *artists* ensures there is something for every discerning listener.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCPU's commitment to supporting emerging talent has made it a hub for up-and-coming producers who are pushing the boundaries of electronic music. The label's meticulous curation and attention to detail have earned it a reputation as one of the most respected labels in the industry.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"three-dimensions","title":"Three Dimensions","description":"\u003cp\u003ePlant43 aka Emile Facey, one of CPU's originators delivers his fourth album 'Three Dimensions'. Eight tracks of crystalline electro with his signature epic pads and Blade Runner-esque melodies. Facey is one of the most respected electro artists of today and this album galvanises this reputation. DJs will find several weapons amongst this package of beautiful electronic music that rewards both headphone listeners as much as a big room.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2.","offer_id":50388970471755,"sku":"1060505","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/976749f0-346c-4c23-a751-d2bdf27f41fc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726352313"},{"product_id":"strange-stars","title":"Strange Stars","description":"\u003cp\u003eGerman electro producer Martin Matiske has recently breathed new life into his Blackploid alias. The project's revival continues to bear fruit with the Strange Stars EP, Matiske's third Blackploid release of 2021 and second for Central Processing Unit after issuing March's Cosmic Traveler EP through the Sheffield label.\nBlackploid's two CPU drops have more in common than just stargazing titles. Those who enjoyed Cosmic Traveler will find plenty to like again in these four tracks, with Matiske serving up another quartet of snappy machine-funk joints this time around. However, while there is certainly a throughline between Cosmic Traveler and Strange Stars, this EP also finds Blackploid pushing the envelope at points by taking risks with his synth tones which thrill and enliven the record.\nIn keeping with the cosmic theme of Blackploid's recent output, Strange Stars kicks off with 'Star Patrol'. While this opening cut is full of the same needle-gun basslines and dinky synths that characterised Cosmic Traveler, the drum programming eschews the broken beats favoured by many in the scene for a straight house\/techno snap. It makes for a very groovy jam, one with Drexciya, Computer World-era Kraftwerk and a pinch of Space Dimension Controller in its mix.\nIndeed, the only track on Strange Stars which skips along on a broken beat is second entry 'The Signal'. 'The Signal' also features some of Blackploid's most impressive electronics programming to date, announcing itself with a brilliantly unusual synth that sounds like an old video game unit which has just gained sentience. When this alien tone is combined with another precision-engineered bassline the track invokes the grizzly bangers of the L.I.E.S. label, though the keyboard stabs which enter periodically also hint to the funkier electro of, say, Egyptian Lover.\n'The Unseen', the first B-side of Strange Stars, finds Blackploid bringing together many of the things which made the two previous tunes such standouts. A steady four-on-the-floor and a slightly haunted feel to the synth choices casts back to 'Star Patrol', but much like 'The Signal' this joint also features some rather weird tones which are a hair's breadth away from machine malfunction. It's a feeling which runs through to closing cut 'Light Corridor', a number where melodies and anti-melodies zip around an array of gurgling electronic cells.\nMartin Matiske's fine run of Blackploid EPs continues with the intergalactic electro stylings of Strange Stars.\nRIYL: Drexciya, Cardopusher, Legowelt, Beau Wanzer, Jensen Interceptor\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50394717585739,"sku":"2056109","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_ceb03f22_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726446688"},{"product_id":"100-dope","title":"100% Dope","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith '100% Dope' we find Central Processing Unit bringing up their hundredth catalogue number, and you'd struggle to find a more fitting artist to ring in a century of releases for the label than Cygnus. The one born Phillip Washington has been with CPU since the very beginning, his 2012 LP 'Newmark Phase' representing the first record ever released on the imprint. That album's combination of textured techno and grizzly Drexciyan electro set the tone for CPU perfectly, and it's no surprise that Cygnus has returned to the Sheffield imprint several times down the years.\nWhile '100% Dope' is an expert demonstration of what Cygnus and CPU do, this EP also shows just how much both artist and label have grown over the past nine years. At its heart '100% Dope' is a set of prime machine-funk from a master of the form, but these are also some of the most daring and innovative tracks that Cygnus has ever produced.\nTake opening cut 'Bad RGB Controller'. In the undulating synth lines we have a ghost of grime as well as Drexciyan drive, and as such the track reminds one as much of Mr. Mitch or Last Japan as it does, say, Dopplereffekt. Furthermore, 'Bad RGB Controller' shifts gear around the halfway mark into a highwire electronica mode which has the wit and spark of prime Bogdan Raczynski. Entries like 'Float Back To The Surface' are similarly unpredictable. There's some lovely industrial techno bite to this one - the snare drum will echo in your head long after the party's died down - but Cygnus periodically pulls out the rug from underneath us with passages of impressionistic texture that almost border on sound art.\n'Float Back To The Surface' is one of a trio of vocoder-led jams here. On 'Throwing Shade' we hear I-F and Egyptian Lover, with Cygnus' vocals clattering around like pronouncements from some funked-out robot overlord atop hissing-piston drums. Then there's the enticingly-titled 'CPU Records'. 'CPU Records' delivers all the crisp electro snap we've come to expect from a record emblazoned with that signature black-and-white artwork, yet this thing is also widescreen and cinematic in ways that demonstrate the maturation of the Cygnus sound. With a wicked vocoder vocal that celebrates the label's many achievements, 'CPU Records' is a victory lap tune if ever we've heard one.\nCentral Processing Unit keep it 100 on for this new EP. '100% Dope' by Cygnus is CPU's 100th catalogue number, and the Texan producer delivers on the promise of the record's title with a collection of brilliantly unique electro joints.\nRIYL: Bogdan Raczynski, Mr. Mitch, I-F, B12\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50394925072715,"sku":"2056372","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_6a963455_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726450563"},{"product_id":"space-threat","title":"Space Threat","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter building up a head of steam on labels such as Craigie Knowes and Rotterdam Electronix in the past couple of years, Larionov debuts on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with the Space Threat EP. Larionov's previous releases have shown off a musical sensibility which is both schooled in classic electro stylings and also able to reach for leftfield sonics in a way which sets the producer apart from the pack. It's a vibe that continues into this record, a quartet of busy electro joints which are characterised by a brooding, neurotic energy.\nThe opening title-track is precisely the sort of thing which would soundtrack a voyage to the outer-edges of the solar system. 'Space Threat' is a nervy, restless bit of machine-funk, the track moving forward at a midtempo which manages to be at once steady and slightly fidgety. The beat skitters and swerves, a perpetual-motion machine of minor-key bass, strange modular flutters and thwacking snares. All of this is draped in icy washes of keyboard - think Drexciya if they blasted into outer space rather than delving deep down in the ocean.\n'Asteroid Attack' works from the same blueprint for 'Space Threat' but ratchets up the intensity a little to take the track to another galaxy. It's still powered by a livewire neurosis, all piston-sharp drums and whirligig synth percussion. However, an increased tempo, strangely poignant keyboard lines and little snatches of vocoder-drenched vocals turn 'Asteroid Attack' in the direction of modern practitioners like Cardopusher and CPU homie Silicon Scally.\nOpening up the EP's B-side, 'Flying High' finds a midpoint between its predecessors, returning to the steadier pace and twitchy vibe of 'Space Threat' but maintaining 'Asteroid Attack's single-note counter-melodies and digified vocals - although here the ghostly treatment on the voice makes for a hugely eerie atmosphere. Around the four-minute mark, the track peels back the veil of synth pads and wobbling keys stabs to turn the attention wholly to the rhythm section, a choice which feels like taking a stiff drink in order to redouble your energy for the next part of the night.\n'Vimana Ride' runs with 'Flying High's approach to see Space Threat out in style. There's something to the digital vocal sighs that make up the melody of this cut which gives things a really uncanny quality - it's the kind of sonic choice that Sadboys producers like Yung Gud and Yung Sherman would make, but applied wholly to the service of crafting body-popping, acid-tinged electro.\nLarionov arrives on Central Processing Unit with an EP of anxiously excellent electro experiments.\nRIYL: Cardopusher, Silicon Scally, Annie Hall, Cygnus\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\" - 2173681","offer_id":50399031263563,"sku":"2173681","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_1e08e5b9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726500818"},{"product_id":"liars-3","title":"Liars","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a convergence of two of the most celebrated names in contemporary electronic music, Karsten Pflum steps out on Central Processing Unit with the Liars EP. As anyone who has followed either Pflum's work for labels such as Worm Interface\/Furthur Electronix or the Sheffield imprint's recent run of top-quality electro joints will have expected, this coming together proves to be a match made in heaven.\nWhat we have here is a tour de force of modern machine music. With Liars, Pflum achieves that rare feat of making something that is at once boundary-pushing yet also thrillingly immediate, his attention to detail shining through with each well-placed snare hit or leftfield structural choice. Equally apt for home listening or dancefloor deployment, Liars is a delight for heads and hedonists alike.\nConstantly evolving while also cleaving to a relentless groove throughout, opener 'WAN1' is a brilliant scene-setter for Liars. The track slinks between sections of seething post-Drexciyan acid and eerie vignettes which balance out haunted house synth licks with the sort of punishing bass blasts that recall early grime classics like Youngstar's 'Pulse X'. A sly shift of key halfway through the track only serves to redouble 'WAN1's restless brilliance.\nAfter 'WAN1', 'LOLA' represents something of a gear-switch. The track's wiggly opening bassline is a red herring - make no mistake that we're fully into braindance territory on this one, the drums skittering across the mix as Pflum fills the track out with jungle-adjacent delays and softly insistent synth pads. As 'LOLA' goes on, blurts of synth and some stiffening in the drum work pushes the track into pure rhythm workout territory.\nFirst B-side 'MOUSFOLK' somewhat splits the difference between Liars' A-sides. This track has 'WAN1's unyielding stomp and prominent acid bass line, but the helter-skelter drum breaks and wandering keyboard lines are very much pulling from 'LOLA's zanier energy. As with the other joints here, 'MOUSFOLK' is elevated by Pflum's composerly touch, the Dane frequently throwing in new sonic tidbits - a skippy snare tattoo, a single-note synth loop which sounds like a hovering spaceship - that reinvigorate the mix.\nPflum's musicality is at the fore once more on closer 'BALM'. For the first section of 'BALM', a rich and sombre keyboard fugue, you'd be hard pressed to say whether you're listening to a producer of club music or a contemporary classical maestro. The way Pflum builds this central motif up with deft broken-beat drum programming, a wheezing synth countermelody and distant vocal sighs is equally delightful, the whole track coming off like a kindred spirit of the electronica-infused experiments on Radiohead's 2000 masterwork Kid A.\nA brilliantly unorthodox collection of electro-braindance hybrids, Liars is a barnstorming Central Processing Unit debut from the seasoned Karsten Pflum.\nRIYL: AFX, Silicon Scally, DMX Krew, Matmos\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black 12\" - 2189136","offer_id":50402616377675,"sku":"2189136","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_a3b02e48_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726552634"},{"product_id":"the-fm-tapes","title":"The FM Tapes","description":"\u003cp\u003eMaelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for the fourth time, and it's the one born Joan-Mael Péneau's lengthiest drop on the Sheffield label yet. The French artist has been a mainstay in the European electro game since the 2000s, and Malestrom brings that experience to bear on new LP The FM Tapes. He goes about this album with the assurance of a seasoned pro, combining his mastery of electro production techniques with a trademark guile to craft an expertly-paced eleven-track affair.\nThe first section of The FM Tapes sets out the album's stall with style and aplomb - listeners are in store for a rich feast of off-kilter machine-funk which will feature no shortage of intriguing detours. On opener 'Ondes Courtes' the mix throbs with all manner of strange electronic gristle: a distorted bass hum rattles the monitors; wisps of distortion float across the mix; eerily pretty keys wax and wane before giving way to a radar pulse.\n'Ondes Courtes' is an ominous slouch of a scene-setter, and it lines things up perfectly for following cut 'Alt50ser' to lock in. This track's churning, gurgling mid-tempo rattle brings to mind the wacky insistence of Modeselektor. Maelstrom repeats the slow-fast one-two again directly afterwards - 'La Vie Sociale Des', a strange nugget that sounds like an early Eski instrumental stripped for parts and blasted into the cosmos, is an ideal prelude to the twitchy space-funk of 'My Digitone'.\nMaelstrom's staying power in the electro world comes, in no small part, from his ability to apply his delightfully idiosyncratic choices to some of the genre's staple production tropes. On The FM Tapes, he marks himself out once more as a pleasingly unorthodox talent by taking tracks in unexpected directions to produce surprising - and often rather moving - results.\nThere are multiple cuts here which channel the more cerebral end of Richard D. James' AFX\/Analord output: 'My Digitone' may be a quicksilver techno-electro number, but there's still something cinematic about the synth treatment here which softens the edges; 'Suede's minor-key oscillations bring other CPU veterans like Cygnus and Bochum Welt into view; 'Res 06', one of two Fasme collaborations on the record, is full of pathos even as the beat programming bangs and whirrs throughout.\nWhile there's a deep emotional undercurrent to The FM Tapes, though, Maelstrom's commitment to bringing the thrills surfaces time and again. If 'Res 06' had Maelstrom and Fasme getting wistful, the album's other Fasme link-up 'Trempo' is one of the hardest club joints here, a piece of old-school Detroit energy replete with some great cascading drum production. Indeed, 'Trempo' comes in the middle of a run towards the album's end where Maelstrom takes the handbrake off - there's a wild-eyed sense of fun to 'The Operator' and 'Upside Down DX7' which has one thinking of the zany cut-and-thrust of KiNK's best work.\nMaelstrom's latest drop for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label is an album of leftfield electro numbers that bring both pounding beats and poignant production.\nRIYL: KiNK, Modeselektor, Cygnus, Bochum Welt, AFX\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50421955264843,"sku":"2223058","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_1deb4b8e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726761674"},{"product_id":"in-the-wake-of-wolves","title":"In The Wake Of Wolves","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you can judge an artist's quality by the company they keep, then FaltyDL is up there with the best of them. The label history of the producer known to his friends as Drew Lustman reads like a \"who's who\" of 21st century electronic music imprints - Ninja Tune, Unknown to the Unknown, Planet Mu, Studio Barnhus, the list goes on.\nWithIn the Wake of Wolves, we can now add Central Processing Unit to this illustrious roster. The Sheffield label joins the party at a notable juncture - while FaltyDL has kept up an impressive clip of releases throughout his career,In the Wake of Wolvesis both the NYC-based producer's first LP for two years and his first full-length release away from his own Blueberry Records for almost a decade.\nIn the Wake of Wolvesproves to be both a great match for CPU and also further evidence of the label's burgeoning sonic palette. While CPU has built its reputation on top quality electro joints, recent releases have delivered adventurous electronica experiments (Proswell'sPeople Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds), hard-wired breakbeat techno (Baby T'sI Against I) and golden-age synth explorations (twenty-fifth anniversary reissues of Bochum Welt'sDesktop RoboticsandFeelings on a Screen, both of which first emerged via the legendary Rephlex Records).In the Wake of Wolvestakes things further still - this is a brilliantly genre-voracious record, one which marries the rhythmic cut-and-thrust that we have long known FaltyDL for with all manner of adventurous stylistic choices.\nThose familiar with the FaltyDL experience will recognise the trademark blend of synthetic grit and harmonious softness in album opener 'I Need You'. This could pass for Four Tet or even Hannah Diamond at points, the steady build of pulsing synths and looped vocals recalling a more mysterious version of the PC Music sound. 'I Need You' stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any of FaltyDL's other great atmospheric album openers - no small feat given the competition. 'Further', the following number, is yin to 'I Need You's yang. This is a pulsating track which gleefully skitters between machine-funk, tubing darkside bass and breakcore-adjacent drum programming, all of which is peppered with some genuinely beautiful work in the higher synths.\n'Further' sets the scene for several of the more club-facing cuts here. 'Minds Protection' similarly features all manner of strange percussive sounds to surprise the ear, and it also boasts a thrilling mid-section in which the bottom falls out the track to incorporate a short snippet of blown-out junglism. With its tunnelling low-end and clattering drums, 'Full Spectrum' kicks off a delightful run of grime-influenced joints which take cues from Mr. Mitch, Logos and many of those other producers who took the Eski sound to exciting new places in the 2010s. 'Forget Me Not', the album's longest track which is placed three spots from the end, feels like the record's climactic point - a pitter-patter post-house joint that has a hint of Caribou in its DNA, it'll take the clubs by storm.\nBut as much as FaltyDL may consistently bring the heat in terms of the beat programming, the thing which has long marked Lustman out as a special talent is the musicality of his compositions. No matter how much drums clatter or bass bangs, FaltyDL always hooks the ear back in with a sonorous synth or pleasing nugget of melody. Nowhere is this more apparent than onIn the Wake of Wolves' more weightless numbers, each startling in their prettiness. 'Half Spectrum' is a new-era beat track packed full of ear candy; the keening keys of 'GasGas' are potent with feeling; and on the album's closer, the evocatively-titled 'Mila Stans In A Meadow For The First Time Eating Strawberries', we get a gorgeous synth vignette that joins the dots between the modern mastery of Yung Sherman and the most emotionally affecting moments of Aphex's Twin's catalogue.\nAt once wistful and hopeful, archival and futuristic, FaltyDL's brilliantly unpredictableIn the Wake of Wolvesis a feather in the cap for both this seasoned producer and the Central Processing Unit label.\nRIYL: AFX, Bochum Welt, Mark Fell, Mrs Jynx, Boards of Canada\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50425886998859,"sku":"2200278","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_685ff263_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726795220"},{"product_id":"crux-alley","title":"Crux Alley","description":"\u003cp\u003eMontreal duo Biochip return to Central Processing Unit with their new LP Crux Alley. The pair of Melissa Speirs and Julian Kochanowski turned plenty of heads when they first rocked up on the Sheffield label back in 2019 with debut drop Synthase. Synthase found Biochip twisting up Braindance, IDM and electro to their own ends, and Crux Alley is an album which hits similar sonic sweet-spots.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBiochip record their music straight from the mixing desk, an approach that gives their tracks a spontaneous energy and one which sometimes leads Speirs and Kochanowski into novel sonic terrain. Crux Alley's 'Antagonist Part 6', for instance, is a spiritual successor to Synthase's 'Acid Billy' in how the overload of electronics almost pushes it into industrial-techno territory. Furthermore, while most of the LP draws on the Detroit electro continuum of Drexciya, DJ Stingray et al, 'Neutral Current' obliquely recalls the jazz-tinged house of Theo Parrish - although the wobbling synth chords and reverb-laced drums make 'Neutral Current' sound more like an extra-terrestrial reimagining of the Motor City legend's music.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBiochip continue to mark themselves out as one of contemporary electro's most exciting new acts with the Crux Alley LP.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50426624246091,"sku":"1108126","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c0693a69-575e-425b-ab46-13ae01ec4f71_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726814738"},{"product_id":"planetary-science","title":"Planetary Science","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Blackploid resurgence of recent years continues to gather steam. After laying dormant for some time, Martin Matiske's project roared back into life in 2021 with a pair of EPs for Central Processing Unit. It doesn't look like he'll be taking his foot off the gas any time soon - not only does the new Blackploid collectionPlanetary Sciencecomplete Matiske's hat-trick for the Sheffield label, but it also serves as a prelude to the full-length album which Blackploid will deliver on CPU in 2023.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf that LP is as good as the tracks we get here, then it's safe to say that we're on to a winner. This EP contains a quartet of top-tier machine-funk productions, the kind of crisp post-Drexciya joints we've come to know and love Blackploid for. Each track onPlanetary Sciencemakes good on the record's title by delivering club tackle flecked with FX which sound distinctly like spaceships blasting off into the cosmos.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is also progression acrossPlanetary Science. While it still aims for the dancefloor,Planetary Scienceis a somewhat more textured listen than eitherStrange StarsorCosmic Traveler, Blackploid's previous CPU drops. Most notable is the increased use of synth pads, with Matiske draping chord progressions over all of these tracks in order to give his music a newfound depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackploid's subtle evolution is clear from the opening track. 'Dimension Unknown' may begin with a precision-engineered groove reminiscent of an early Legowelt joint, but things soon soften with the introduction of some rich keyboard chords. A few well-chosen bleeps and bloops flit in and out of the mix, but whereas some would use these to scuff up the track further here they are warm and playful.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe more confrontational stance of following cut 'Magnetron' makes it a yin to 'Dimension Unknown's yang. Blackploid works with similar tools here - machine-gun beat programming, chords playing off boinging bass - but there is a tension and buzz to the track which isn't apparent on its predecessor. The synths have a slight Eighties deep space thriller vibe about them, and the FX cut through the mix with more bite.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Magnetron's energy carries through to 'Wire', the first track on thePlanetary ScienceB-side. Here a big, brutish bassline takes centre stage from the off, a chunk squarewave equal-parts Dopplereffekt and early Eskibeat. Around this swirls a queasy brew of synthesised tones, with the component parts all arranged in order to channel 'Magnetron's sense of unease.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlanetary Sciencecloses out with 'Neurotransmitter'. On this cut, Blackploid returns somewhat to where we started off, finding a midpoint between 'Dimension Unknown's more spacious feel and the livewire flavour of 'Magnetron' and 'Wire'. Tension remains, particularly when Matiske serves up one of the EP's snakiest basslines, but there's also a deftness to the synth pads here which makes 'Neurotransmitter' a little softer around the edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackploid limbers up for a forthcoming full-length on Central Processing Unit withPlanetary Science, an EP of stargazing electro joints that quietly expand the project's sonic world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50428958867787,"sku":"1167222","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/64fd11ce-a8b5-4b43-bc4f-38cbb99bd4e9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726836660"},{"product_id":"recursor","title":"Recursor","description":"\u003cp\u003eEddie Symons' fine recent run for Central Processing Unit continues. The NULLPTR mastermind makes it four releases on the Sheffield label in five years with Recursor, a six-track EP which balances precision-engineered machine-funk grooves with an overarching aura of gracefulness.\nRecursor finds its lane from the opening title-track. On the quicksilver 'Recursor' we get Drexciyan punch, a needlegun bassline and staccato arps offset by eerie washes of synths. There's a tension between the two elements of the track, and this yin-yang combination means that' Recursor' will work equally well for both the rave's darkest corners and also the euphoria of a sunrise set.\nAfter the title-track begins the record at breakneck speed, 'Pulsar' puts proceedings into cruise control. There's still enough punch in the drum programming to ensure that 'Pulsar' will deliver in the dance, but this mid-paced tune is dominated by its warping bassline and keening keys, all of which comes together for a pretty and strangely wistful number. 'Pulsar's energy persists into following cut 'Phase Function, though there's a twitchiness to the bassline here which gives this track a nervier, more neurotic feel. As well as the golden age of Detroit electro, you're also looking at Silicon Scally and Annie Hall as ballpark references, though there's a winning idiosyncrasy to the production here which is all NULLPTR's own.\nThe groove which kicks off the second half of Recursor is one of the most focussed on the whole EP - 'Seil' has a bassline which moves with the intent of a heat-seeking missile. When combined with the distant snap of 808s and twinkling arps, the whole thing very much maintains the shadowy feeling of 'Phase Function', and it's an energy that Recursor rides into 'Stone Tape'. 'Stone Tape' boasts another stellar bassline, but rather than the low-end barrelling forward intensely as it does on 'Seil' the bass here skips all around the mix, pleasingly erratic and playful.\n'Portal' is an apt title for Recuror's sixth and final track. Indeed, the whole vibe of 'Portal' makes it a perfect closer for this EP of detailed electro jams. This tune really does feel like a portal being opened, the bass and drums busying themselves on the floor while chemtrails of synth in the upper-end of the mix intimate something enticing beyond the threshold.\nSparky yet sleek, Recursor is the latest fine machine-funk collection from NULLPTR.\nRIYL: Annie Hall, Silicon Scally, Legowelt\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50434861531467,"sku":"2054980","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_80006728_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726895995"},{"product_id":"idealized","title":"Idealized","description":"\u003cp\u003eFilipovich is one of a kind. The Belarus-born, Paris-based artist works in a multitude of media - found footage films, painting, silkscreening and performance to name a few. It's her musical output that has caught the attention of late, though, with Filipovich dropping a run of releases in recent years which began with 2021's Magnificat on Time Released Sound. Filipovich takes as much of a novel approach to her music-making as she does with her other artistic endeavours - Magnificat was centred around treated samples of Sergei Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil, and she's also combined classical composition with contemporary electronic techniques on her subsequent drops.\nFor Idealized, Filipovich's debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, she maintains the gothic air which characterised her previous releases and applies it to a record of widescreen contemporary techno joints. These tracks represent something of a gear shift for CPU, a label which has long made its name by delivering top-quality electro and machine-funk jams, but such is the quality of Idealized that these superbly-executed techno productions are sure to win over label fans both old and new.\nIdealized is very much schooled in the German tradition of minimal\/dub techno. Tracks like 'Physical', 'Wave' and 'Dance Minor' all anchor themselves on single, steady drum pulses and delay-drenched single-chord loops. Filipovich generally lets the central idea of these tracks play out across several minutes while introducing increasingly disorientating elements into the rest of the mix - wiccan atmospherics, clashing chords, spiralling delays and so forth. It's an approach at once respectful of Filipovich's predecessors - Basic Channel, Deepchord, Ellen Allien and so on - but also full of idiosyncrasies and individuality.\nMany of the club cuts here hardwire us into the moody, murky environs of the darkest Berlin Basements. 'Ultra Red' rides forward on a crisp drum machine snap, a menacing burble of bassline and an eerie single-note synth whistle in the upper end of the mix; 'Dance Minor' shows off a bit of KiNK in the brain-bending modular loop that waxes and wanes at its centre; the second-half run from 'Wave' to closer 'Small Cave' travels ever-further out into deep space - the kick drums remain insistent, yet the textural elements are delivered with an edge and flair that evidences Filipovich's ability to think outside the box.\nFilipovich's unusual methods, and the influence of sound art and electroacoustic composition on her music, are drawn out further when Idealized steps away from the dancefloor. 'Hydra' comes off like a more gothic version of Pole - its central pulse draws from dub techno but never quite settles into a danceable groove, and this beat is combined with the kind of unnerving keyboard work that would make John Carpenter proud. Although closer 'Small Cave' eventually locks into another dark-room techno roller, the opening section of the track delivers a weightless soundscape of bright, tinny chords and a scene-setting field recording.\nIdealized, the first drop on Central Processing Unit from Paris-based Belarusian Lina Filpovich, broadens the label's horizons with a selection of finely crafted minimal\/dub techno joints.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50434998042955,"sku":"2210857","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_689b76b9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726898208"},{"product_id":"issue-surreal","title":"Issue  Surreal","description":"\u003cp\u003e96 Back's third outing on CPU \u003ci\u003eIssue In Surreal\u003c\/i\u003e E.P. is paired with a heavyweight remix E.P. featuring remixes from Jensen Interceptor, Happa and Jabes, Sync 24 and Volruptus.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50435338961227,"sku":"1080104","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d9929c4a-f0c1-47e1-ac55-fd18af899117_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726902564"},{"product_id":"co-intel-pro","title":"Co Intel PRO","description":"\u003cp\u003eFans of Pye Corner Audio, Gescom or indeed anything on Skam will certainly dig this. Sean Dorris from Belfast delivers his debut album 'Co Intel Pro' on CPU. Refined sampling alongside hip hop influenced breaks sees S\u0026gt;\u0026gt;D operating in a similar dimension to VHS Head. Reminiscent of 1980s sci-fi soundtracks interwoven with IDM-tinged electro, haunting atmospheres prevail throughout with hints of a genre that has yet to emerge. Presented over 2x12\" vinyl at 45rpm for superior sound quality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50435714711883,"sku":"1028369","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"soft-robotics","title":"Soft Robotics","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarl Finlow keeps on keepin' on. Not only is Finlow one of the most respected names in electro, a producer who boasts a sprawling catalogue that takes in a wide variety of aliases, but he's also spent recent years establishing himself as a mainstay for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label. Soft Robotics, the new EP from Finlow's Silicon Scally project, is the fifth Silicon Scally release in five years to boast one of CPU's instantly-recognisable black-and-white covers.\nThe reason that Silicon Scally and CPU keep linking up is simple; they're a perfect fit for one another. Central Processing Unit has established itself as a haven for post-Drexciya producers since launching in 2012, and there are few artists better than Finlow at building on the Detroit group's sound. The union bears fruit once more on Soft Robotics, an EP of lithe machine-funk jams that will both do damage in the dance and also reward more concentrated home listening.\nThings begin at a steadier speed than one might expect. Rather than barrelling off with the kind of sinewy roller one associates with the CPU name, Soft Robotics' title-track takes things at mid-pace. The groove reveals itself without hurry, Silicon Scally adding or subtracting elements - twitchy modular loops, pensive pads, the occasional blurt of low-end - atop the chugging bass\/drums groove. It's a track which wins you over with guile rather than force.\nAs the name of subsequent cut 'Jitters' intimates, this one picks things up a little after 'Soft Robotics'. The tempo is higher here, the central beat more nervy. At their cores, though, 'Jitters' and 'Soft Robotics' are kindred spirits. Here, another slyly insistent bit of drum programming comes swirled up with all sorts of extraterrestrial tones, from little nuggets of melody supplied by the keys to electrifying synth stabs and percussive squelches.\nThings limber up further still on first B-side 'Spin Ratio'. The track's 808 kicks are punchier than those of the A-side jams, and there's a dizziness to the bass tone which gives 'Spin Ratio' an intriguingly off-kilter feel. Atop the booming beat we find ourselves hypnotised by cells of melody and harmony interlocking or moving apart - particularly the staccato module at the track's heart. Sure enough, 'Spin Ratio' is the Soft Robotics joint which cleaves closest to Drexciya, invoking other Detroit disciples like Jensen Interceptor in the process.\nAfter Soft Robotics picks up speed in the middle, closer 'Super Fluid Tones' brings us back to where we started. This track returns to the more measured delivery of the record's opener - there's a steady pulse to the drums, and once again Silicon Scally packs the mix with so many intriguing whizzes, bangs, blips and blurts that it's impossible not be won over by this tune's construction. 'Soft Robotics' and 'Super Fluid Tones' bookend Soft Robotics very nicely, and Silicon Scally's smart pacing gives the EP a lovely ebb and flow.\nThe ever-excellent Carl Finlow drops a Silicon Scally release via Central Processing Unit for the fifth year running. Like its predecessors, Soft Robotics is an excellent and deftly-crafted collection of modern machine-funk.\nRIYL: Drexciya, Jensen Interceptor, Fleck E.S.C., The Advent\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50443210785099,"sku":"2046575","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_846ac65a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727010631"},{"product_id":"synthesizing-your-future","title":"Synthesizing Your Future","description":"\u003cp\u003eSplitradix FFT is a fast Irish transform (FFT) rhythm for computing the discrete musical acid (aux note relative), and was first described in an initially little-appreciated paper by R. Yavne (1978) and subsequently rediscovered simultaneously by Central Processing Unit label owners in 2021. (The name \"Splitradix\" was coined by one of these re-inventors, S. Hennelly.) In particular, Splitradix is a variant of the Electro-Vocoder FFT rhythm that uses a blend of analogue 2 and 4: it recursively expresses an emotion of length N in terms of one smaller aux of musical N\/2 and two smaller DFT of Fenix PCM\/70.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50452340343115,"sku":"2003614","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki_15_c92b7225_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727147897"},{"product_id":"enter-universe","title":"Enter Universe","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit's stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske's project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue.\nNow, for CPU's first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LPEnter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he's a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music.Enter Universedoes not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound's greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid's own.\nThe tone is set from the first frosty chords of opening cut 'Pulsation'. The track traverses the starscape on pitter-patter drums and chirruping synths, a lively and slightly dystopian roller with an adventurous undercurrent reminiscent of classic Rephlex drops. It's a style which Blackploid often draws for throughout the rest ofEnter Universe, albeit with elements added or subtracted at each stage.\nIndeed, this album features some of the most unusual production you will hear on any record this year. While the grooves pulse away in a manner reminiscent of Drexciya or Legowelt, Blackploid layers the mixes with a whole cornucopia of synth tones. 'The Mission' boasts a bleep-bloop breakdown that sounds like malfunctioning rotary telephones; 'Silent Room' is a ghoulish jam which harks back to Warp's legendaryArtificial Intelligencecompilations; 'Automatik' and 'Wormhole' are defined by some brilliantly strange low-ends - you'll be thinking of Mr. Oizo's 'Flat Beat' with the wiggly former, while the gurgling, writhing anti-lead that dictates 'Wormhole' is oddly thrilling and more than befits the track's title.\nThis inventive approach is also apparent in some of the structural choices onEnter Universe. While the tracks here all keep a steady, dancefloor friendly pulse, several of them surprise you by switching up the approach after a minute or two. 'Pulsation', 'Automatik' and 'The Mission' all feature moments where a new element - extra hi-hats, a synth line entering from leftfield - inject fresh impetus into the tune to keep the listener on their toes.\nBlackploid may push the sonic envelope onEnter Universe, but this does not mean there is no room for melody. In particular, the cuts here which most strongly channel 'Computer World'-era Kraftwerk do so by fronting some slyly tuneful work, particularly in the low end of the mix. 'Unidentified' serves up delightfully springy chords, 'Cell Mutation' leads from the bassline, and 'Space Curve' features little cells of melody and counter-melody working together to closeEnter Universeout on a high.\nBlackploid's debut LPEnter Universemarries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.\nRIYL:Legowelt, Cygnus, Proswell, Jensen Interceptor\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50453750350155,"sku":"2010416","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_da55e321_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727176375"},{"product_id":"cosmic-traveler","title":"Cosmic Traveler","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhile the German producer Martin Matiske averages a new release under his given name every few years, there was a long stretch of time in which sightings of his Blackploid alias were much more rare. After dropping an EP for Frustrated Funk in 2006, fans found further material hard to come by over the next decade or so. However, Matiske has reinvigorated Blackploid in recent times, with the project making a few compilation appearances and dropping a couple of EPs across 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat run now culminates in \u003ci\u003eCosmic Traveler\u003c\/i\u003e, a four-track affair which marks Matiske's debut appearance on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit. Given the long wait, it's great just to see Blackploid back among the fray once again. But for the project's CPU curtain-raiser to be an EP of such high-quality techno jams? Now that really is spoiling us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCosmic Traveler's title nods towards the sort of stargazing aesthetics one finds in classic Detroit techno. However, while there are undoubtedly ties to the Motor City in this music, the record ultimately steers less towards spacious atmospherics and more towards the taut, lean machine-funk of seminal practitioners like Dopplereffekt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMatiske sets his stall out from the off. Opener 'Electric Engine' begins with a run of stiff-necked 808 kicks before hissing hi-hats, a grizzly bassline and all manner of futuristic sounds enter to warp the tune into hyperspace. Following cut 'Night Drive' repeats the trick of 'Electric Engine' but adds a pleasingly dinky synth lead in order to nudge itself slightly towards bleep-techno territory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe two cuts on Cosmic Traveler's B-side are pure late-night goodness, a pair of mid-set heaters primed for dark basements. 'Pleasure Activism' delivers on the promise of its title and then some, pushing the Kraftwerk template to extremes by bringing a load of gnarly synth lines into play over a wobbling acidic chug. Finally, EP closer 'The Race' is reminiscent of both the twisted machine-funk of Gerald Donald's Japanese Telecom project and the playful modern evolutions of artists like fellow CPU high-flyer Jensen Interceptor.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50465214464331,"sku":"1117380","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e5097824-19b4-4a0c-8824-eed9b7ccab8a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727283098"},{"product_id":"tourbillon","title":"Tourbillon","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe term 'tourbillon' has two meanings - it is the French word for \"whirlwind\" and also a device used in watchmaking to improve the accuracy of a timepiece. Both definitions feel apt when listening to Tourbillon, the latest release on Central Processing Unit from Australian producer Tim Koch. Following on from Koch's CPU debut Spinifex back in 2018 - an album that initially emerged via minidisc - Tourbillon is a four-track EP which dazzles with its perpetual-motion post-IDM productions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese tracks draw you into their webs by forming dense interlocking sonic patterns over the course of several minutes. While the rhythmic programming and lattice of alien percussion tones can appear discombobulating at first, Koch also bewitches the listener with the slyly melodic synth work that he laces throughout Tourbillon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpening track \u003ci\u003eEstranger\u003c\/i\u003e is a fine example of this combination. The first section here is a blend of blown-out drum sounds which comes off like an industrial electro tune run through a meat grinder. However, the track soon blossoms with the introduction of some amazingly atmospheric synth pads, and the two contrasting elements come together for a strange and rather beautiful whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eEstranger\u003c\/i\u003e finds a mirror-image in Tourbillon's final cut \u003ci\u003eHankert\u003c\/i\u003e, a track in which more of those gurgling percussive tones play off the rich chord progressions that chirrup away in the background. Between \u003ci\u003eEstranger\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHankert\u003c\/i\u003e we get two propulsive grooves in the form of \u003ci\u003eDisfugue\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDreitark\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow, then, to contextualize such unique material? Calum Gunn's recent outing for CPU is a good point of comparison, and the electronics here bang and whirr in a manner which nods to the post-IDM innovations of artists like μ-Ziq. One can also see Tourbillon as descended from acts like Cabaret Voltaire, the industrial electronics innovators from CPU's home city of Sheffield. However, Tourbillon is ultimately an EP which exists in its own lane, an open-minded and open-hearted set which runs with the futurist spirit of CPU and Koch's previous home of Merck Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAustralian producer Tim Koch returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with Tourbillon, an EP of otherworldly post-IDM productions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50465220952395,"sku":"1115119","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b5ab9e94-21ec-4335-9aea-3a90f02b42d2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727283246"},{"product_id":"people-are-giving-and-receiving-thanks-at-incredible-speeds","title":"People are Giving and Receiving Thanks at Incredible Speeds","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince emerging in the early 2000s with releases on the seminal Merck label, Proswell (Joseph Misra) has proven to be one of the most original voices in IDM. People Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds (PAGARTAIS), his debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, is another Proswell record which overflows with creative energy. Containing five widescreen electronic epics, PAGARTAIS showcases some of the most ambitious work in the discographies of both artist and label.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe core sonic palette of PAGARTAIS is one schooled in the IDM and electronica sounds of imprints like Rephlex Records, B12 and Skam. These tracks are helmed by thick washes of keys, an array of playful synth tones and drums so deft it's sometimes hard to tell whether they have been programmed or played live. However, across almost forty minutes of music here Proswell explodes preconceptions about genre and form, his music gleefully jumping from one new sound to the next while assimilating electro, prog, computer game music, post-jazz and pretty much everything in between.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50465345274187,"sku":"1112677","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/98358631-827e-4ff3-96b7-cfc6dd562e9c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727286858"},{"product_id":"zero-zero-one","title":"Zero Zero One","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom another analogue basement, amidst paranoid conspiracy theories and wild youtube truths, the heat of a Tr-808 and Juno-60, and dreams of forgotten utopias, comes the first Secret State ep, an attempt to rise above the all pervasive, vacuous, decaying culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50483566772555,"sku":"1031437","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/692b36d5-e413-4a7c-9bbd-c7c91abbc68b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727569458"},{"product_id":"force-in-the-sum","title":"Force In The Sum","description":"\u003cp\u003eSeasoned heads may already be aware of DynArec. The project of one Chris Kalera, DynArec has been a force in the electro underground for more than two decades at this point, releasing numerous records and helming the Vaporwave label to boot. He has marked himself out as a purveyor of top-quality machine-funk during his career, a producer who runs with the spirit of Detroit to craft club traxx of wicked intensity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a period of relative quiet in the late 2010s, Kalera has roared back into action recently, with a run of releases emerging in 2021 and 2022 across labels including Cultivated Electronics, Superluminal and Umwelt's New Flesh. Now the Vaporwave Records founder takes his Central Processing Unit bow with the Force In The Sum EP, and his hard-hitting electro style is immediately at home on the Sheffield imprint.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForce In The Sum commences with 'A Dispatching Role', a track where eerie vocal snippets and delay-drenched anti-melodies cluster around a volatile low-end wobble and crisp 808 snap. It's equal-parts ominous and invigorating, kind of like the Thom Yorke of 'Kid A' times if he'd been granted an audience with Gerald Donald. 'A Dispatching Role' is prime slalom music, and the mood carries through to following cut 'Stabilized'. After a stentorian opening of unerring kick drums and fizzing keys, 'Stabilized' soon blooms into a retro-futurist robo-electro joint which comes off like a more textured iteration of Unit Moebius.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThings open up a little more on first B-side 'Canonical Form' - at least, they do before the track's pretty opening flushes are interrupted by a vicious blurting bassline reminiscent of, say, Jensen Interceptor. There are no broken beats here, the track's unyielding four-on-the-floor thud pushing the joint a little more towards techno mode than the A-side jams. This straight beat remains on Force In The Sum closer 'Classification Of Elements', with sputtering hi-hats playing off the groovy pings of the synths to devilishly danceable effect. Slip-sliding saw sounds and spine-tingling, almost 'X-Files'-esque lead lines enter to up the ante, but the mood shifts after DynArec starts to lace lush chordal stabs and delay-drenched modular runs through the track. All the while, a voice repeats the mantra \"what matters is the sound\" - and who could deny the truth in this statement?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDynArec's prolific recent run continues with the four track Central Processing Unit debut Force In The Sum. Tense, expansive and worldbuilding, this is wickedly danceable electro done right. Truly, what matters is the sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRIYL: Jensen Interceptor, Cardopusher, Cygnus, Silicon Scally\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50484122648907,"sku":"1162716","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e21f39e5-280f-4f38-8ed1-a2328bbbad9f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727581976"},{"product_id":"energie-electrique","title":"Energie Electrique","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt was perhaps only a matter of time before Si Begg rocked up on Central Processing Unit. Begg's casual mastery of his sound is shown off by the fact that he doesn't over-egg the pudding of the Energie Electrique EP. Rather than doing sonic cartwheels to get people's attention, Energie Electrique is characterised by the way Begg adds or subtracts elements to sturdy grooves. It's an approach which makes for a collection of tunes that manage to bring the boogie from the off while they also hide all sorts of aural Easter eggs amidst the mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn opening cut 'Energy', a droning start full of crisp drum programming soon develops into a head spinning electro groove reminiscent of Kraftwerk's Computer World. An acid-laced bassline waxes and wanes, modulating in intensity across several minutes as Begg sprinkles in percussion, synth blurts and vocoder vocals. It's a slyly insistent rump-shaker, and the - ahem - energy that the track provides carries through into following number 'Buckfunk Beatz'. This joint begins with a gnarly, chattering synth sound before the sizzle and snap of a broken-beat kick-hat loop locks into place. While still very Kraftwerkian, 'Buckfunk Beatz' also has the playful grizzle of contemporary practitioners like Cardopusher and Begg's fellow CPU operator Silicon Scally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThings switch up at the start of Energie Electrique's second side. Rather than rolling out a high-octane groove, Begg delivers a low-slung mid-tempo roller called 'MS10 Machine Funk'. The programming on the kick drum here could almost pass for a dirty south hip-hop production if Begg didn't lace it with such a strangely compelling use of the oscillator - sometimes squealing, sometimes squawking, sometimes wobbling, always thrilling. The mix flecked with chordal stabs, 'MS10 Machine Funk' is a masterclass in combining danceable beats with the quest for thrilling sounds that is so often the mark of a truly musical mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo round things out, Begg brings us back to the beginning. 'Electro P1 B' is a delightfully dystopian bit of Drexciyanism. Piston-hiss drum programming, nervy atonal synth nodules, some cavernous reverb deployment - this is a body-mover if ever you heard one, and one executed with all the style, aplomb and panache you'd expect of Begg.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50490364428619,"sku":"2026734","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki-1_4327cc26_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727659899"},{"product_id":"the-future-is-not-what-it-used-to-be","title":"The Future Is Not What It Used to Be","description":"\u003cp\u003eAutomatic Tasty (Jonny Dillon) has been away from Central Processing Unit for five years now, releasing on labels such as AC Records and Furthur Electronix in the intervening time. However, new EP The Future Is Not What It Used To Be shows that the chemistry between label and artist is still in good nick by offering up four tracks of contemplative electro-boogie.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50512614195531,"sku":"1106914","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/97d6c751-e86e-4200-97fc-7c1bb28c9b01_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727902895"},{"product_id":"the-neon-pack","title":"The Neon Pack","description":"\u003cp\u003e96 Back (aka Sheffield-born, now Manchester-based, DJ\/Producer Evan Majumdar-Swift) delivers a stunning original soundtrack for 'The Neon Pack', a 360 immersive experience by Human Studio. From the dancefloor romp of 'Hopertrope' to the psychedigital 'Taxi Requiem' and a spiritual encounter on streets in the sky via 'Concrete Out-Glo', 96 Back provides a mirrorworld audio journey for nocturnal thrill seekers. Time to dream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50521398739275,"sku":"2055963","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_9e4687fe_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727991341"},{"product_id":"fum","title":"Fum","description":"\u003cp\u003eLongtime fans of Sheffield's Central Processing Unit may well remember Annie Hall. When CPU dropped her 2016 EP Tenured Positions it felt like a perfect union of label and artist - the atmospheric take on classic electro that Annie Hall had presented in her previous releases for labels such as Semantica and Detroit Underground was very much in sync with the CPU sound. Sure enough, Tenured Positions was an instant hit with CPU heads old and new, and the record remains highly sought-after to this day.\n\nNow, four years on from Tenured Positions, the Barcelona-based Annie Hall returns to CPSmith's imprint with new EP Fum. Fum picks up where Tenured Positions left off. Snapping broken-beat electro grooves anchor Fum's midsection of 'D'un Altre Planeta' and its title-track. 'D'un Altre Planeta' is the most lively cut on the EP - there is real bite to the drums here which recalls everything from B12 to Star Eyes to early-90s hardcore - while 'Fum's beats are more low-slung and come bolstered by an electro-funk-flavoured bassline. These two tracks are bookended by 'Verd Mar' and 'Promeses De Fusta', joints which straighten out their rhythms into more linear IDM-techno beats.\n\nAs she exhibited on Tenured Positions, one of the main strengths of Annie Hall's style is the manner in which she layers up harmony, tone and texture. Reverb- and delay-drenched synths cascade across Annie Hall's tracks and serve to render her music in vivid colour. The combination of evocative atmospherics and grounded, stable beatwork is a technique which Annie Hall has inherited from experimental techno luminaries of the past - Autechre, Mark Bell, The Orb - and also something that she shares with other CPU artists like Tryphème and Nadia Struiwigh.\n\nAnnie Hall takes this approach once again on Fum. A fair bit of the record's soundworld tends towards science-fiction - from the whooshing pads of 'Verd Mar' through the zipping synths of 'D'un Altre Planeta' and on to the B-movie keys of 'Promeses De Fusta' there is certainly an alien quality to much of this EP. However, Annie Hall is also sure to ground her astral musings by introducing softer synth sounds like the twinkling chimes in the background of 'Fum' and the gently lilting lead-line of 'Verd Mar'.\n\nFor fans of Central Processing Unit, Annie Hall's Fum is the best of both worlds. Here we have a record which brings together the roughneck electro snap of CPU's club weapons with the melodic and textural deftness of its IDM-oriented releases.\n\nRIYL: LFO, Tryphème, André Bratten, Biosphere, Autechre, Nadia Struiwigh\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50521519259979,"sku":"2056028","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_9a643d31_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727992028"},{"product_id":"memories-that-never-happened","title":"Memories That Never Happened","description":"\u003cp\u003eAnnie Hall returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label with an EP entitledMemories That Never Happened. This record represents the producer's third time on CPU after 2016'sTenured Positionsand 2020'sFum, and it is also the latest release in a busy couple of years for Annie Hall which have also seen her drop EPs on 20:20 Vision, Orson Records and Random Island. The momentum Annie Hall has built up in recent times carries through to a dynamic collection of productions which bring enough heft in the beats to keep the dancefloor happy while also including all manner of details in the production.\nMemories That Never Happenedbegins with the title-track, a twitchy yet wistful cut which perfectly matches its name. There's bite to the broken-beat electro pulse, growling bass and robotic declamations of \"it's Annie\", but the makeup of the track is simultaneously rather rose-tinted, particularly when some chemtrails of a synth lead enter later on. The overall effect is as thoughtful as it is stimulating, akin to the halcyon productions of Daniel Avery.\nIf 'Memories That Never Happened' is somewhat plaintive, following jam 'Problematic Tape Recorder' has the bit between its teeth from the get-go. The beat crashes and snaps, and when played off shimmering stabs of synth it all adds up to aWip3outrush that nods to both the old Rephlex Records sound as well as contemporary practitioners like Nightwave. Once again the synth lead is used lightly here, more an augmentation to the beat than the centrepiece - another demonstration of Annie Hall's ability to write with focus even when the overall intent is to move bodies in the club.\nThe energy of 'Problematic Tape Recorder' is spun in an unusual direction on 'Subsequent Experiments', the first track ofMemories That Never Happened's B-side. This cut may be the quickest on the record, but this does not mean it shouts the loudest. Indeed, 'Subsequent Experiments' may be the most ornate production here, full of shadowy sonics and a deconstructed beat running at D\u0026amp;B speed. A kind of shadowrealm version of Planet Mu's early drill \u0026amp; bass explorations crossed with UVB-76's darkside post-Metalheadz excursions, this one is an eerie thrill.\nAfter the busy 'Subsequent Experiments', Annie Hall slows down to take the EP's home straight at mid-tempo. On 'Unparalleled Comfort', keyboard stabs slide over a rhythm that's at once driving enough for the dancefloor and nuanced enough to allow little half-melodies of synth to flit around above. It's a fitting closer for this EP, almost playing like an amalgamation of the elements which made the rest ofMemories That Never Happenedso appealing.\nAnnie Hall returns to Central Processing Unit withMemories That Never Happened, an EP of masterful productions which will delight both clubbers and home-listeners.\nRIYL:µ-Ziq, Pessimist, Nightwave, Mark, Drexciya\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black 12\"","offer_id":51245857571147,"sku":"2016265","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_662b67a4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1739228708"},{"product_id":"nanoclusters","title":"Nanoclusters","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhile this may be the first release on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit from Global Goon, the one known to friends and family as Johnny Hawk brings a whole heap of experience to the Nanoclusters mini-LP.\nHawk started dropping Global Goon records on the legendary Rephlex Records back in the 1990s. The project's subsequent releases have taken in imprints as esteemed as WéMè and Balkan. Factor in a whole host of other aliases which have delivered missives via the likes of Planet Mu, and you know even before you press play on this witty, wily record that you're dealing with a master at work here.\nThe confidence with which Global Goon approaches Nanoclusters shines through in Hawk taking much of the mini-album at midtempo. Cuts like 'Khroxic Mould', 'Metallik' and 'Syntheseers' sound like Bochum Welt heading down a dark alleyway. The former in particular is a seasick lope, the tuned synths lurching around like sailors on deck in a storm as bass ebbs and flows underneath the mix. \nThe influence of Kraftwerk comes through prominently at times here, particularly in the way 'Calcula' and 'Digit Six' play pensive, slightly sombre synth chords off some simple but effective forward motion in the drum programming. That is not to say that Nanoclusters is not full of invention, though. None of the productions are overly flash, but this approach allows the little details to shine through more clearly, from cleverly panned hi-hats to hissing synth counter-melodies which flit in and out of the mix. Enthralling and packed full of ear candy, they're further evidence that Nanoclusters is the work of an expert craftsman.\nWhile the pulse of Nanoclusters remains relatively steady throughout, it's still a rather lively record. Plenty of these tracks will get the dancefloor moving if deployed correctly - though whether they're heard at home or in the dance, it's the attention to detail which makes them stand out.\n'Snapterisk' is as perfect an example of machine-funk as you're likely to find - the drum programming is razor-sharp but rubbery with bongos, the bass a lithe burble, and those wobbly stabs of keys that put a bit of wiggle in the beat? Delightful stuff. Elsewhere the ever-looping arpeggio of 'Metro Esc' has hints of Frankie Knuckles' house classic 'Your Love', though an array of interesting sonic nuggets - snippets of vocal, radar-like bloops, a gently insistent low-end pulse - soften the track's clubbier elements with a pillowy sheen. And Hawk throws us a curveball right at the end of Nanoclusters, tapping back into that old Rephlex sound for the fizzy, braindancing 'Metal Glass'.\nGlobal Goon doesn't need to show off on Nanoclusters - from brilliantly slick machine-funk to Kraftwerkian reveries, the CPU debutant lets the music do the talking here. It makes for a confident and vivacious mini-LP, one which wears its expertise lightly.\nRIYL: Cardopusher, Bochum Welt, Cygnus, D'Arcangelo\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"Black 12\"","offer_id":51245945028939,"sku":"2166145","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_6e1ab938_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1739229821"},{"product_id":"cosmic-drama","title":"Cosmic Drama","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, Blackploid has come to be one of Central Processing Unit's signature artists. The German producer has averaged more than a record a year for the Sheffield imprint since he first landed on CPU in 2021. This prolific run continues withCosmic Drama, Blackploid's second LP for the label. The album takes the baton from its predecessorEnter Universein style, delivering twelve tracks of top-quality machine-funk that draw down from electro's classic artists while also imbuing proceedings with a playfulness that very much gives things a signature Blackploid-ish flavour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCosmic Drama\u003c\/em\u003e sets its stall out from the off. The opening run of 'Alien', 'World Construction' and 'Virtual State' all deliver piston-snapping beats which anchor pleasing melanges of B-movie synth lines. Alongside this, Blackploid adds little flourishes which add buoyancy to each joint - a syncopated bassline reminiscent of I-f's late-90s classic 'Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass', crackling robo-voiced commands, skittering synth chords which wash across the mix and so on. It's the work of someone completely at ease with their craft, comfortable enough to take risks without upsetting the apple cart of their sound's core appeal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlackploid's idiosyncratic approach to synth work is something which distinguishes \u003cem\u003eCosmic Drama\u003c\/em\u003e from the pack. Electro has long been a genre which prides itself on innovation on the keys, but few producers are willing to push their sonics as far as Blackploid does - take the seasick churn of pads and processors on 'Multiverse', for instance, or the way John Carpenter-esque single-note lines dovetail with gurgling synthetic pulses and eerie, spacious chords on 'The Lab', a highlight ofCosmic Drama's midsection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCosmic Drama\u003c\/em\u003e skips along at club tempo throughout - every one of these joints will get bodies moving in dark rooms across the galaxy. However, even when tracks maintain their single-minded pursuit of machine-funk perfection, they never forget to deliver on the hooks. Blackploid has lead lines (and counter-melodies) to burn here, and each track knots them together in ever-more intriguing ways as they plough onwards. Drexciyan heads will be thrilled by the sci-fi delights of 'Species', for instance, while Blackploid brings melodies as cold as they are catchy on the aptly-named 'Polar Dunes'. By the timeCosmic Dramahits upon the vroom-vrooming bassline line of closer 'Contact', you're fully enthralled to the album's combination of broken-beat heft and synthetic melodiousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCentral Processing Unit mainstay Blackploid comes through with another delightful dozen of electro heaters for the Sheffield label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRIYL:Drexciya, I-f, Cygnus, AFX\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":52655664759115,"sku":"R0204-8774","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki_a6861610-bc91-4648-a0b3-bf75a6cc6cda.jpg?v=1751698551"},{"product_id":"altum","title":"Altum","description":"\u003cp\u003eNoumen returns to Central Processing Unit after a six-year absence with \u003cem\u003eAltum\u003c\/em\u003e. This bumper record, the Ukrainian artist's fourth release for the Sheffield label and first since 2019 double-LP \u003cem\u003eObscurium\u003c\/em\u003e, serves to remind us all why Noumen's music has been lauded by the likes of Mixmag and Resident Advisor in the past. \u003cem\u003eAltum\u003c\/em\u003e is a consummate piece of contemporary electronic production, a technoid exploration of outer-edges electronica that nods to genre greats like Autechre while still maintaining its own unconventional charm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross well over an hour of music here we find Noumen repeatedly playing punchy mid-tempo beat work off of some more cerebral tuned synths.Altumkicks off with the epic 'Oion' - beginning in that Autechre\/AFX mid-tempo zone, full of deep-sea bangs and whirrs, the track slowly builds to a final stretch of delay-drenched keys which set us free amidst the outer cosmos, almost Sun Ra-style. It's a perfect liminal-space roller and an apt scene-setter for\u003cem\u003e Altum\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNoumen's third album for Central Processing Unit is a pleasingly hefty double-LP which builds on the zany invention of acts like Modeselektor and Autechre to delightful effect.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Central Processing Unit","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":53532306309451,"sku":"R6835-9259","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki-9_64dc1365-993b-4e51-b80b-984419986ee3.jpg?v=1759583230"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_f2a34fae_thumbnail_4096_8d800c85-cafd-45d9-bf2b-6ff964d522da.jpg?v=1726352293","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/central-processing-unit.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}