RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
It’s been a rough week! I won’t go into details but a COVID scare, a sick child, general pandemic woes and so on have meant I’ve been a bit all over the place. Lots of this week’s entries are deeply personal, reflections on lives lived, time lost. I hope you get something out of them.
Former Bandcloud mixer DJ Wawa recently established Hit Factory Records with fellow New Yorker Clay Wilson. This is the second split release from the pair. Wawa’s number is somehow understated and hypnotic, strange melodies dancing around over crisp percussion. Wilson meanwhile delivers a smooth jam, with Rhodes keys bouncing gently over house beats. Apparently a third entry is on the way soon.
I actually meant to share this last week. The excitement of Bandcamp Friday took it from my mind. Completely independently, someone sent me this screenshot, which at present is the top comment on this release. The album is “an audio diary of adventures had at various bathhouses, dark rooms, and gay clubs … It was a way of wrapping my head around my own experiences in those very specific surroundings but also an attempt to connect to the current of queer history flowing through those spaces. Cruising dystopia, libidinal contact, anonymity & risk - rites of passage with a potent lineage.” It’s thumping throughout, dark, swirling club vibes evoking violent strobe lights and smoke machines. At times it can be muted and atmospheric, others flagrant and bolshy. Acid squelching techno at breakneck speed or slower, deeper vibes. Mascelli can do it all.
PlayPlay - Freak in the Crates Vol. 1
Some absolute belters in here, not least the opening track, which is a breaks-heavy take on the old Batman theme. In a week of absolute nonsense, it brought a huge smile to my face.
Musician and software engineer mithunder delivers this delightful album of laidback yet upbeat grooves. It’s chilled, it’s energetic, it’s dusty, it’s digital. Is it hip-hop, is it soul? It’s good, that’s what.
yaya bey - september 13th (DJ Nativesun Remix)
An airy, breezy house jaunt that takes a few beautiful elements of the original track and stretches it, pulls and pushes things together and makes it new.
“Years of empty waiting can feel like time is standing still or like time has been stolen away from you.”
Transgender artist Dear Laika documents her transition process, in particular the six-monthly blood tests required for by HRT. The overall process is lengthy, as reflected by the time-stretched choral sounds that form the basis of this track. It’s beautiful and mournful, riven top to bottom with personal emotion.
More clubby goodness here. Mangled ha, I mean come on! Ha vibes loom large throughout, but it’s inventive and exciting, even if some tropes are familiar.
DarkSonicTales - DarkSonicTales
Did this catch my eye because of its incredible artwork? Yes. But it’s also released by Hallow Ground, a label that’s consistently excellent, with previous releases from the likes of Miki Yui, Siavash Amini, Marja Ahti, FUJI||||||||||TA to name but a few, and another just announced from Lawrence English. Anyway. This album was made in a 300-year-old farmhouse in the Swiss countryside. Solitude and isolation. Pre-COVID, too. It’s fittingly dark and chaotic, ambient and unsettling, crunching noise giving way to birdsong and bells, spoken word drifting in between dark overtones. Magic.
God, this nearly made me weep. Musty, crackly tones, sustained woodwind, mournful chords. Makes you shudder with unquenchable sorrow.
Marie Rose Sarri - Controvento
The Enmossed x Psychic Liberation series has already provided us with a large number of bangers (read: longform drone and sound art pieces). This one comes from Marie Rose Sarri, aka Marie E Le Rose. It’s a 40-minute piece that’s the first of a three-part suite. It’s a magnificent journey across textures and moods, spaces and scapes.
Cypro - I Have Eaten From The Timbrel I Have Drunk From The Cymbal
I have no idea what this title means but the words look good in that font. All the tracks here were made on an SH-101, a Roland synth from the 80s. They’re wobbly and squidgy, bouncy and rattly.
Beats Unlimited - Beats Unlimited
In an unexpected turn of events, Bandcloud faves Doc Sleep and Glenn Astro teamed up and created something that was released on the Diskotopia. It’s a deep and sumptuous trip, supposedly through early-00s microhouse. I missed that particular train so I can’t say if it succeeds in that particular aim, but devoid of context, it sounds great to me.
VA - Undercurrents (Oxtail Recordings)
Oxtail Recordings marks 50 releases with a compilation of all-Australian artists. There’s plenty of scorchingly beautiful ambient, there’s some “industrial murk” and lots in between. Here’s to 50 more.
Finally! Martyn’s now put out two releases featuring artists who’ve been part of the 3024 mentoring programme. This is the opener on the second volume, and it’s a wavy banger. Elements of garage, deep house, classic techno, you name it really.