♫♪  Darkstar - “Timeaway”

Darkstar have a full-length album to their name — North, released in 2010 — but it’s a pair of 2008 and 2009 singles that are more responsible for having entrenched the group in arcane electronic culture. Together totaling 11.5 minutes of music, the tracks were included on Hyperdub’s very good 5 compilation, making up, in fact, two of the compilations biggest highlights. Slight in total size, yes, and deceptively simple in execution, “Aidy’s Girl is a Computer” and “Need You” unveiled soothing timbres and masterful beats, and now when Darkstar shares a single, historically there’s good reason to listen.

“Timeaway” is itself a first look at Darkstar’s next full album, and it offers as much access to euphony as that earlier stuff. In mood and movement, it’s a departure, but in the expert production and sheer intrigue, Darkstar’s profile shows through. The album is called News From Nowhere, and it’s set for a February 2013 release on Warp. But until the album drops, we have here three minutes more to add to Darkstar’s growing mass of soundscapes and electro-excellence. “Timeaway” will be released as a 12-inch vinyl single on November 12.

• Darkstar: http://darkstar.ws/news-from-nowhere
• Warp: http://warp.net

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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