London Modular Alliance make their CE debut with the 'Stray EP' for Cultivated Electronics Ltd (CE's vinyl-only sister label) in February. London Modular Alliance is a collective that lies somewhere between a shop and a cult. From their base in the former industrial warehouses of Hackney Wick, London Modular have been designing their own cases, working out practical ways of chaining multiple synths for live performance, selling units from their shop front, and taking themselves on the road to run workshops and gigs. From the lazer-lit confines of sweaty clubs to the hushed environs of Tate Britain and the V&A, they fill spaces with the whoosh and sweep of man co-operating with machine, bringing the dynamics of dance music to the ideals of modular synthesis, and forcing anyone with ears to acknowledge the potency of the format once more. With them, the sound of the future has returned. The EP includes three intricately crafted modular Electro tracks from LMA, featuring soaring melodies and dappled beats that manage to extract depth and soul out of machines, alongside a punchy remix by Sync 24 that delivers a tough metallic groove to close the release.[info sheet from distr.]