In Strict Tempo, vol. 102: News & Music Round-Up
Welcome to this week’s In Strict Tempo, there’s not much happening on the news front right now - Aphex Twin has become the most listened-to artist on YouTube, overtaking Taylor Swift… kind of. Swift is still the most listened to artist on YouTube, and probably all other DSP’s, but AFX is currently riding a wave of virality which has bumped his audience up recently which has bumped his listener stats up.
Pitchfork has decided to hide its infamous numerical scores behind a paywall. For a fiver a month you’ll be able to not only see what their writers think an album scores on a 10 point scale, but also assign your own score and comments to the release.
Anna’s Archive - the activist group who scraped a load of metadata and audio files from Spotify before Xmas are now being sued by Spotify. Remember when the RIAA used to sue people for downloads by assuming each download had the value of a $20 CD? Wonder if Spotify will assign a similar monetary value to each MP3 and if it will be a fraction of a penny…
Anyway, on to the new music - here’s what’s been filling my ears this week.
New Music
Ugne & Maria - Zotasphere [Hands in The Dark]
A new collection of downtempo electronica from Lithuania via Belgium duo Ugne & Maria here - just pure bliss, this, floating around between ambient & dub all in the name of aural exploration.
David Shea - Meditations [Room40]
Is 2026 shaping up to be the year of ambient? David Shea beams down to Room40 with this 8 track album that serves as the perfect anditode for all the shit going on in the world right now.
Surface Access - Transfer [Other People]
Or is 2026 gonna be the year of Dub Techno? I sure hope so. Nicolas Jaar turns his hand to the genre once again under his Surface Access alias. Chain Reaction, Basic Channel, Scion… all the usual Dub Techno reference points are here, and this sits nicely amongst the best of them.
Picture - Eeeeeeeeee [Short Span]
VA - Short Tracks [Short Span]
One new one, one that dropped on CD just before Xmas from Matthew Kent’s Short Span. Basically everything Matt touches sounds like gold, and you probably know that already so drop what you’re doing and ‘av a listen. Bandcamp only.
The Dengie Hundred & Gemma Blackshaw - Songs For Isserley [Somewhere Press]
Somewhere press follow up that amazing Ugne Uma 7” that sold out in a flash with this digital-only long-form piece that recalls being stalked across the misty highlands by a spectre, the theme of which was taken from the book that inspired Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin.
Thought Leadership - IV of Cups [Be With]
Have you ever wished there were more bands like the Durutti Column? Then your prayers have been answered. Thought Leadership originally released this as a limited tape and now Be With have pressed it to a just-as-limited LP, which drops in March. Don’t miss this one.
Picture of Health - Average Glow [Trillion Media]
Debut single from Cambridge band Picture of Health here, nice n’ scuzzy just how we like it. Turn it up to 11. They’re playing the Blue Moon tonight, see you there.
Anthony Child - of the Beginning [Old Technology]
One from late last year from Anthony Child, back in his synth noodling guise. This stuff’s pretty good, but if I’m honest I prefer him when he’s in balls-to-the-wall techno mode. Last year’s Surgeon album was one of the best in many years.
Love your take on the Spotify lawsuit and the RIAA comparison. What if the legal precedent around data valu, even a fraction of a penny, eventually makes it harder for smaller creators to get proprly compensated for their digital work?
Love the curation here and the Anna's Archive story is fascinatingn context for how streaming platforms value their data versus the actual music. The irony of Spotify potentially assigning cents per track in a lawsuit while paying artists fractions of that in royalties is pretty wild. I've been digging into Room40 releases lately too and the David Shea album sounds like exactly what I need. Dunno if 2026 will be the ambient year but im hoping so.