Every musician needs to take action to keep themselves fresh from time to time, but James Ford and Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco are known to go to extremes. As members of the criminally underrated “prog-psychedelic band” Simian, as one of the UK’s finest electronic duos, and individually as esteemed producers for other acts – they have accumulated mountains of incredible vintage synthesisers and other general sound-making boxes. The bootleg Justice remix of “We Are Your Friends” blew the doors off of clubs worldwide, but the duo has worked with members of The Gossip and Hot Chip, remixed hundreds of artists like Air, Go! Team, Peaches, Muse, Kevin Saunderson, and Nine Inch Nails. Their new album, “Welcome to Sideways” sees them constraining themselves in order to free themselves up. The result takes you right into the heart of their creative processes, veering from completely abstract ambient explorations through buoyant repetitions that float into the territory of the most cosmic German and Italian synth explorers of the 1970s and 80s, then take flight into otherworldly techno grooves.