Bandcloud 247

I always try to stay away from stuff that's too obvious or heavily PRed but some big stuff crept in this week. What can I say. When it bangs it bangs!

Eomac - Transmutation, Redemption, Forgiveness (Errorsmith Remix)
Eomac's Reconnect was a stunning album of wild, blistering percussion, its off-kilter rhythms defying expectations and genre limitations. He's tasked a series of artists with reworking the seven of the album's 11 tracks (as well as VIPing one himself). Master mind-bender Errorsmith adds his focused intensity and trademark silliness to this track, so you don't know whether to laugh or scream.

yakui x tchan - She Tracks / Sappho Erotica
Apparently this collab is four years old! It's from Bandcloud comp contributor Yakui and tchan, aka djgirl. It's part moody electronica with wobbly pulsed beats and trance chromatics at thundering electro tempo, part unhinged filter house banger without the filters. Two tracks that aren't what you think but give you what you need.

Dream~cycles(Songs for crushing artists mix) NTS 07.05.19
This is wonderful. It's a show Irish producer Dreamcycles did for NTS, "dedicated to all those devoting their lives to making things.." It's got a gorgeous opening, with the vocal from MK's massive anthem '17' over some hazy synthy sounds (remix? rework? blend?) and plenty of other amazing moments, like Ariana Grande's speech when she accepted the Woman of the Year award at the Billboard Women in Music event last year: "As far as my personal life goes, I really have no idea what the fuck I’m doing." True for many of us. It also features the plaintive 'TEARDROPS' from SCRAAATCH, as well as an inspiring conversation with a nine-year-old about science: "You have no proof that there's anything out there. The only proof is yourself and where you are in the universe..." 

VA - Neptunalia (Ikuisuus)
Completely different, this is a compilation featuring some lovely gloopy synth/ambient/ sound art type stuff. Some artists featured are Finnish, some are not. You can hear the A-side here. The label is WEIRD, go check it out.

Ten Years Lost - Hunting For Glory
The title track from Scottish producer Ten Years Lost's forthcoming Apartment Records release is squidgy and emotive but banging at the same time. 

Dote - Home
I can't remember who shared this? Jack Brolly maybe? It's a striking work, lots of piano and processed sound, ambient and riven with longing. 'Almagro Gebe' is my favourite.

Robert Johnson Archive 0003: Midland
Bangers galore from Uncle Harry. Not that I recognise many of them, bar a superlative trancey number from Photonz and Balearic ether from Chaos in the CBD. 

Her Majesty's Coroner for Wirral - Europa Pools
This was inspired by a nasty dream. The artist woke up and wrote down the concept, production ideas etc, so it was planned out before it started. It's inspired by strange feelings and a sense of foreboding that comes from swimming in this place, a swimming pool in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, and the memories of childhood when returning with one's own children. It starts off airy and light, albeit quite maudlin, before getting noisy and squawky, distorted squabbles over undanceable steady beats. It then alternates between elegiac and muted, before finally coming to a close with a chilling interpretation of Kylie Minogue's 'Better The Devil You Know'. The reverb on this rework sounds like a tape being chewed up and played over the horrible tannoy of an indoor swimming pool. Nightmarish indeed.

Bryant Canelo, '6000 ways' EP (2019). Courtesy the artist. EP · 2019
This is a nice and weird release ranging from foggy, murky synth stuff to radiophonic bleeps and bloops. It's fuzzy and discordant and melodic at the same time. It was premiered on AQNB, who pointed out the amazing track titles like 'people be trying to follow other people's footsteps and don't even have the same shoe size...'

Tusk Festival 2018 - Marlo Eggplant
A rare YouTube inclusion here. It's a live performance from last year's Tusk Festival. Twenty-four minutes of noise and whispers, strange effects, crashes, loops and manipulations. As I look into this I learn there are also performances available from Craig Leon (see more on him below), Sarah Davachi and CHAINES among others. See here.  

caroline mckenzie - (the first snow from soon)
This artist made this music as an attempted escape from insomnia. Three long, languid pieces aimed at soothing anxiety and aiding sleep. 

Craig Leon - Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 2: The Canon
I never heard of Craig Leon until I came across 'Donkeys Bearing Cups' on a cosmic disco compilation of all places. That track featured on Nommos, which was part of the Anthology Of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1 released by RVNG in 2014 (fun fact: I wrote the blurb for this reissue on Bleep). Vol 2, once more on RVNG, is brand new. It follows those earlier releases, but imagines its alien visitors have expanded from Mali to Egypt and Greece. It's glorious and inspirational, sanctified and profane. There are parties and wars and there is intrigue and closure. One of my albums of the year.

I had a very active week on Twitter. Social media has become a necessary evil for self-promotion and community building. It's useful but it can cause a lot of damage to the head and heart. I can't see myself on it for much longer. It's easy to fire off quick thoughts but it's overwhelming and damaging over time. This is all incredibly trite but in all seriousness, I'd love to hear from you. What are you reading? Did you like (or dislike) anything I've shared lately? Let me know. Let's talk. Finally, go raibh maith agat Cian Ó Cíobháin and gracias to Philip Sherburne for playing tracks from Missives this week on their shows on RTÉ's Raidió na Gaeltachta and RTVE's Radio 3 respectively. It means a lot!