Miracle: The Visitor remixes (House Anxiety)

I rarely buy remixes but Steve 'give me your money, Philip' Moore is an exception to almost every other rule i hold dear so i might as well buy this double 12" of mixes of the lead track from the album. 7 mixes - 2 of which are the album mix and radio edit, expand and contract the track into interesting extremes. Best mix by far is The Field's mix, which is a rumbling piece of ambient dub that brings to mind Gas and Moore's inevitable inclusion in Kompakts' next 'Pop Ambient' compilation. Christian Fennesz covers the latter half of his mix with a smattering of distortion that threaten to envelope the track and isn't half as creative as he is capable of. Elsewhere Adeptus turn up the pop thrills whilst still maintaining a weird bent, Ikonika speed up the BPM into something that would almost fit the Den Haan House masterplan, and Daniel O Sullivan's own Ulver mix begins relatively sedately before morphing into a lovely wordly soundscape. Great stuff yet again, ltd to 500 - so get in quick.

Miracle: Fluid Window (House Anxiety)

More Steve Moore im afraid..... If anyone has really captured the essence of my 2011 listening experiences it is him. I hadn't bought a synthpop album in years until he turned my head and now i listen to more synth stuff than any other. This is a lovely pop album and really sails close to prime-period Depeche Mode on occasions. And do you what? That's not a bad thing at all!!! Stop believing the fools that tell you the 80s were shit - they really weren't, all this great sounding stuff came out and now Steve and his friend Daniel O Sullivan (vocals, also a member of avant metallists Aethenor) have created an album that references all that good stuff and takes it shooting off into a fine new galaxy. This man will bankrupt me. Of this i have no doubt.

Theologian & Steve Moore: Into the uttermost fields of ether (Annihilvs)

Attracted by the Steve Moore connection (Mr Theologian has taken Mr Moore's music as source material here) and the cheap price tag - a $5 cdr direct from Mr T, i invested and it's pretty much how i expected - low level dark ambient drones setting an atmosphere of desolation and darkness, with nary a hint of the original analog source. Except on the fourth track ('Song of the spheres') - although it's soon overtaken by the creeping musical stench of death, decay, darkness and damp cellars where bodies are buried.

Which is nice.

Gianni Rossi: Star Vehicle OST (Permanent Vacation)

I'm not 100% sure that the film 'Star Vehicle' actually exists, but im sure as hell that Gianni Rossi doesn't. Rossi is the non-de-plume of Steve Moore, who i've already written about a couple of times this year, and he has set up this pseudonym (and excellently written false biography) to release soundtracks like this and another film (Gutterballs). In some ways this is standard Moore fare - cycling synth waves and Moroder-esq moodswings, but here he adds guitars and there's an amazing bass rumble all over the main theme that creates a devastating effect. The music is a perfect tribute to the similar work done in the time this was supposed to have been recorded (there's a 'copyright MCMLXXXII' note on the back) and it works well as both a period piece and also a standalone album of 2011. I'm really falling back in love with this style of music and it's probably only a matter of time before i'm searching out rare John Carpenter soundtracks.....

Steve Moore - The Henge (Static Caravan)

After the last dose of Steve Moore  - and after revisiting some more Zombi - by way of having to seek out and buy their whole back catalogue for a friend, i decided that i really wanted Mr Moore's debut solo album. Trouble started when i tried to buy it at a decent price and found that it normally goes for £40-£50 for the vinyl. Might have had a problem getting a purchase of that expense past Helen so i put a few 'wants' out there and managed to secure a copy for £16 with the warning that the cover was "a bit fucked". Took the punt and was jolly happy to find that said "fucked" cover would actually grade at VG+ in the anal world of record collecting (my god......how high must the standards of the seller have been???? I'd hate to sell him anything.....) and that the music contained in the vinyl is as ace as i'd hoped. Closer to mid 70s Tangerine Dream than the Jan Hammer-esq synth sounds of the 2nd album, this one trundles on nicely with hypnotic grooves rising and falling at a repetitive level that would irritate even Philip Glass. Good stuff Mr Moore - surely a career in soundtracks await.

Steve Moore - Primitive Neural Pathways (Static Caravan)

Lovely washes of synth that often strays precariously close to Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack work on Scarface, or Vangelis's Bladerunner. The other day i found myself enjoying 'I'll find my way home' by Jon & Vangelis in the car.......i blame this album. I can accept the Vangelis aspect.......but it's the Jon that really bothers me.