Electronic Kraut machine fu

It makes sense that Mike Jefford is both photographer and musician. His path runs from grunge, metal, drum & bass and IDM in Medway and Brighton, through Berlin as Positive Centre, to rural Portugal, where Laguna Seca opened into something brighter and more expressive.

A long friendship with Chris Clark helped spark that shift, carrying Jefford from a decade of techno shadow into the vivid world heard on O Tempo, his debut on Throttle Records. In Portuguese, “o tempo” means either “the time” or “the weather”, and both ideas shape this wide-ranging set.

Inspired by Motown studio chains, Akai samplers, vinyl mastering and modern software, O Tempo draws on CAN, Kraftwerk and Jimi Hendrix without slipping into nostalgia. Like Positive Centre, it is rich in detail, but here the focus turns to colour, memory, texture and movement.