The remaining six tracks from Peter Van Hoeson’s debut album, Entropic City are available to stream on the album’s microsite or via Peter’s soundcloud. Don’t forget, you can currently download the Variable_Parts_EP for free.

5. “Terminal” (5.55) Peter comes proper with this track. A nice low, driving bass line guiding the kicks. A much deeper addition then the “Terminal – Markov Layout” we were introduced to on the Variable_Parts_EP. At 2.32 Peter automates a higher pitch on the kick only to drop it to a sub-pounding level; an interesting break that leads to an impressive remainder. This one keeps the woofers warm and the crowd beggin for more. Nice.

6. “Testing A Simulacrum” (4.39) reverts back to the albums easy, going feel. It seems quite out of place nestled between these heavy hitters and is much better suited on the B side of an Orb release.

7. “Strip It, Boost It” (5.58) sees a much lighter tone then the Dub version on the Variable_Parts_EP. Though more dynamic, the quirky sounds and chirps fail to break through.

8. “Quartz#1″ (5.56) is the danger. A funky groove incorporating live bass guitar slaps that’s so mean you can’t help but bob your head. Nuff said.

9. “Colony/Return Of The Object” (6.11) moves into the dub techno arena with an icing of metallic glitch. White noise melts through the crevasse of broken beats to create a sticky, gooey mess so tasty Oscar Mulero’s mouth is watering.

10. “Defense Against The Self” (5.28) starts out pretty basic and parallels for the remainder of the track. It’s spaciness adds great depth and usefulness but the peaks fails to climb out of the clouds.

As suspected, Van Hoesen picked up the pace and lowered the bass for the majority of these last 6 tracks. Peter has assembled an extremely solid techno album: showcasing a variety of styles with confidence, adding to an already respectable roster of tracks. A clear purchase for any teched.

Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

Gorillaz are taking over guardian.co.uk/music and letting you stream their highly anticipated, third album, Plastic Beach, before its release on March 8th (3/9 US). Surely to be one of the biggest albums of 2010. You can stream the new album, Plastic Beach (featuring collaborations with Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mark E Smith, De La Soul, Kano and Snoop Dogg) in its entirety.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach: Exclusive album preview

Pre-Order: Gorillaz, Plastic Beach (CD/DVD) – With 45-minute “making of” documentary (DVD)

Pre-Order: Gorillaz, Plastic Beach (CD or MP3)

The first four tracks from Peter Van Hoeson’s debut album, Entropic City are available to stream on the album’s microsite or via Peter’s soundcloud. Don’t forget, you can currently download the Variable_Parts_EP for free.

1. “Intro Entropy” (7.54) – A slow pounding groove that follows a 1.15 soundscape resembling the realization of the repetitious blaring of a horn deep in the distance… as you’re coming off nitrous hit. The track slowly adds muted kicks for snares while echoed pads swirl from channel to channel and a delayed stab adds epic depth. The first impression reminds me of cleaned up version of “Prologue” leading into “Soulseek,” the eerily slow intro from Chris Liebing and Andre Walters’s 2003 album, Evolution.

2. “Republic” (6.03)  – Growling, rolling bass accented by stabs and a classic Beltram tech snare. 1.53 introduces a heavy, dark pad that leads the track drearily throughout the remainder. A decent start but this track needs more; failing to grasp my undivided enthusiasm.

3. “Closing The Distance / Toy Universe” (7.15)  – Van Hoeson picks up the pace here a bit as demonstrated in a majority of his previous single tracks and EPs. A single lead note accompanies the track throughout, changing key shortly during the break. Synthy techno peers out about 2.13, resembling a heavily pitched down history piece by the likes of Marco Corola or Gaetano Parisio. The track really starts to groove after the break: a nice early morning after party track to help wind down. Although while listening, through quality headphones on my laptop, I keep reaching for the invisible pitch fader to speed it up a bit; in preparation for a cliff-hanging mix with a proper Italian techno track.

4. “Dystopian Romance” (6.23) – A spacy track that gently fades back and forth whilst still pushing you forward with a driving kick. A healthy dose of quick stabs and samples keeps it interesting until 2.20 when the highs hit and make this a definite dance floor groove. This is by far the most dynamic track so far and leads my to believe the next set of streams will balance out the slow beginning of this record well.

Pantha du Prince, Black Noise

Stream the new Pantha du Prince album Black Noise in its entirety below. Black Noise, set to release 2/9/10 (US) includes collaborations with Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear of Animal Collective and Tyler Pope of !!! and LCD Soundsystem.

Pre Order Pantha du Prince, Black Noise MP3

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Stream the new collaboration from The Knife, Tomorrow in a Year in it’s entirety. Pre order a CD and get an instant MP3 download.

Stream: Tomorrow, In a Year

The Heligoland Remix EP is now streaming exclusively on Facebook, featuring remixes by Gui Boratto, Tim Goldsworthy, Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi, She Is Danger and Breakage. To listen to the tracks, go to Massive Attack on Facebook and become a fan.