Bandcloud 222

The World Cup is coming to an end, the sun has hidden behind the clouds, soon enough kids will be back at school. I sigh an endless sigh. 

woopheadclrms - h;/die
Here's a slightly weird but bouncy track from Japanese producer woopheadclrms. The rhythms and melodies are slightly mismatched to my ears, but in this case it adds some charm. Lots of lightly juddering percussion and soft pads that evoke blissful 90s ambient techno. Absolutely no idea what the name means. 

HNYPOT 276: Lychee's Effulgent Dysphoria
I alluded to some sadness last week. My aunt died after a short illness. I'm still processing this, it all happened pretty quickly. I spend a lot of time listening to dark ambient music but I felt that this week I had no time for it, as it would only send me further into despair. I put on this mix from Lychee, who runs the Spontaneous Affinity mix and interview series, and it really clicked. It's a powerful mix, one that covers techno both melodic and dank, yet always with an energy that carries it forward. Tough, hypnotic and energising, it was perfect for that moment.

Yello - Oh Yeah (Mántas & Venclà Edit)
This is a cheap shot. It's a chunky edit of Yello's 'Oh Yeah' that draws it out, messes with the vocals, plays with the drums, adds some more, making it sound slightly new. It is what it is. It's fun though! It comes from Lithuanian duo Mántas & Venclà, and it's part of a series of edits from label Night Noise.

Special Request - Through The Looking Glass
Mainly sharing this for the Anastasia Kristensen remix of 'Tiresias'. The original was a sparse and clicky banger, hefty and reserved in a way only Paul Woolford can pull off. Tiresias was the blind Greek prophet who famously changed sex. Kristensen transforms this track into an even heavier, lumpier beast, digital groans and sweeps colliding with a lurking bass line. It all goes skyward with mechanical pulses and expansive synths, a vision as apocalyptic as that of post-Oedipus Thebes. There's also a brace of remixes of 'Curtain Twitcher' from fellow Russian Nina Kraviz, as well as a new original, 'Looking Glass'.

Fanciulla Gentile - Kongo Jungle (Creatrix Tribute to Donkey Kong)
I don't even know if this sounds anything like the Donkey Kong music, but it's cool. It's fuzzy and synthy, not quite as raw as the NES music, but it's a nice buzz.

JENNGREEN - Opening Set for Research ft. Khotin - 6/29/18
This is a wonderful opening set. It's understated yet exciting, and switches moods and tempos a lot. There's really vibrant house, both jazzy and synthy, as well as some slightly minimal flavours and even spacey tracks. I was completely thrown and overjoyed by the appearance of Aurora Halal's 'Sunlight', one of the only tracks I actually recognised. That said, it's hardly representative of the set overall! 

bamban - balikbayan
This artist is playing Tuffest in Seattle this week, and the TUF Twitter account tweeted a link to their work. I checked out this album/EP from a few months back and was instantly won over. The best way of describing their style is noise-pop. Gorgeously layered and harmonised vocals of crushing beats and digital glitches. Similar artists would be Mhysa and Klein, to name but two. Describing their work, Reflective Tapes said: "BAMBAN channels the emotional contours of a hybridized future-past wherein ancestral spirit and neo-colonial flesh co-mingle." The release's title refers to a box sent or brought back home my emigrant Filipinos that's filled with a variety of items for family or friends. 

Dr Sbaitso - Hackney Chicken (No Parrot Mix)
Nothing has made me smile as much this week as this track. Remember Tessela's 'Hackney Parrot'? Here it is, recreated to the letter only all the vocal samples have been replaced by chicken sounds. It's perfect, it's still a magnificent banger, yet it's the silliest thing you'll hear this side of Halloween. I was listening to it on a sunny day walking back to the office at lunch and was laughing away to myself with sheer delight. Priceless. 

L/F/D/M - Tea Ceremony
L/F/D/M - Lurid Attractions
It's often the way that artists plug away with their art, seemingly quiet or unhurried to the rest of the world, only for releases to stack up unexpectedly due to pressing plants or other such delays. I don't know if that's the case here, but L/F/D/M just dropped a superbly crunchy tape for Beat Concern, only for another to appear in the coming weeks on In Disarray. Both showcase his particular brand of hardware sounds, with one leaning more towards the experimental side.Tea Ceremony starts off with a hip-hop slant, or tempo at least, its head-nod rhythms matching its squawking sounds. Other tracks are industrially noisy, clattering and clanking without regard. It closes in confusingly abstract fashion, beats askew without any purpose.Lurid Attractions feels clubbier, murky yet straightforward. There's a touch of 80s horror, wild noises lending nightmarish charm. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the tapes show two distinct sides of the artist, as it's more a case of varying shades. Put together, they show a broader snapshot of his work, neither as dainty nor as vile as the titles suggest.

SAWT | صوت - LIVE SET @ C12 - 8/06/2018 (TECHNO)
If Lychee's mix was darkness and light, this is just darkness. So dark, in fact, there's no waveform on the upload. Not in my browser, anyway. It's a live set from Brussels-based Palestinian artist Sawt, recorded last month. It's thick with darkness, stretched-out samples and tensely coiled beats making their way through the night. As the set builds the sounds and rhythms slowly evolve, all visions of space travel and warp speed. At its end it folds in on itself.