RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
I had two interactions last week that made me think about what this mail is. I was trying to explain what it is that I like, that I enjoy, that I share in these mails. Sometimes it’s not even music. Non-music. Sound design. Sound art. Then there are straight-up bangers. I was asked if I’d share a Bieber track, for example, if I liked it enough. I said no, but I would probably tweet about it, as I did about this incredibly atmospheric song from The Weeknd and Ariana Grande during the summer. That’s not what you read these mails for anyway, is it? I’m never not overly frantic about what people might expect here, what should or shouldn’t feature, whether it’s too weird, not weird enough, too obvious, too obscure. All that said, let’s start this week with some 90s trance.
ASIP & todos - Portals Episode 10: Trance Loops (Hypnotised)
A few years ago (or maybe it was last year?!) a friend of mine took a load of trance breakdowns and replayed them in a slightly abstract fashion, loops without clear start or end points spinning over and over. It was startling and hypnotic. This mix from ASIP & todos is much more clearly defined, taking loops and stitching them together rather beautifully. I could list all the artists included, because it’d be hard to pick out a favourite, but trust me, if you have any reference point for late-90s trance, it’s surely in here. There’s also some lengthy background info here.
Unlike some of the more dense and impenetrable music on offer this week, this is rather clean and direct, fresh and melodic “techno” (it’s not exactly Detroit) that creates an expansive world. It’s one of those tracks that builds upon itself, never quite arriving at any set point but rather creating a journey to nowhere.
Abu Ama, the German artist whose music is a fascinating conglomeration of heavy dub, middle eastern influences and (quite simply) random sounds turns in a stellar album for Accidental Meetings. I haven’t been able to find much about him online but I did pick up one interview he did for French magazine Star Wax. In it he speaks of his upbringing in Germany and his familial interest in performance. Even in the late 80s he was recording using kitchen utensils, and he talks of how he records his parrots (two macaws and two cockatoos) to provide source material for his sound, among other things. That wonderfully open approach to creation is evident on this album, which is loud and raucous, heavy and oppressive yet ultimately bright and exciting.
asha tamirisa - a long breath documentation
This is a short snippet of a longer recording of wind harps. These things can look pretty cool. I’m sure they’re not all like this, but wow.
Anyway, ‘a long breath’ is a site-specific installation in Portland, Oregon, and it invites listeners to engage with their environment, enjoying the music of the harp and also of the world around them.
It’s not entirely clear from the description but I believe this is a mix from Dopplereffekt (Gerald Donald and Michaela To-Nhan Bertel), ahead of an interview with them by the site that provided it. The tracklist simply reads “Dataphysix - Curved Vacuum Space”, Dataphysix being another Gerald Donald enterprise. The first 25 minutes or so seems to be the sound of a lecture set to strange clicks and whirs, leading from there into the nightmarish electro one might expect from this project. It’s not a straightforward mix, moving between tempos and moods more freely than you might be comfortable with, but it’s an insight into their operations and a document that adds to the larger Dopplereffekt body of work.
Vico Road is a famous place in south County Dublin, famously home to a certain mononymous Irish singer and frontman. Neil O’Connor, recording as Ordnance Survey, has made an album built from field recordings, TV archives, vocal samples from decades ago and more. The first track on offer is ‘Vico Road June 1984’, and whether that makes any reference to its source material or just mirrors the strange nostalgia of the track’s inner workings, only O’Connor can say. I look forward to hearing more of the album.
Guy Contact - Drinking From The Mirage
This album on Butter Sessions has a timeless feel. It’s definitely indebted to 90s trance and prog house, that driving sound, always moving forward, syncopated sounds created for large rooms or open terraces. There are some tracks that take things right down tempo-wise, feeling like epic prog numbers at a crawl. It’s decidedly modern though, clean and crisp, showing its reverence for the past in a way that could only come with decades of hindsight. Some of it even drops down to a twisted trip-hop level, adding depth to the proceedings while still operating in a particular sonic milieu.
Severed Heads - Dead Eyes Opened
I’m not sure why this popped on to my radar recently, I think there’s a re-re-re-press. It sat on my wishlist for a while, but this week I pressed play on the title track and all of a sudden was taken back 15 years to Cut Copy’s FABRICLIVE CD, which also featured Joakim, New Young Pony Club, Daft Punk, MSTRKRFT, Justice, Roxy Music and more. This track was sandwiched between DFA’s remix of Goldfrapp and a Super Discount (aka Étienne de Crécy) remix of WhoMadeWho. It’s got a beat that’s reminiscent of another big hit from the same time (hint, it’s got a colour and a day in the title), even without sounding of its time, but it’s from the opposite side of the world. In that sense it’s amazingly appropriate that Cut Copy should feature their compatriots on such a mix. It’s dancey, bleepy, colourful and evocative. The other tracks included in this release are more outré, with strange samples going alongside relatively similar percussive styles. Timeless and fascinating, banging and beautiful.
Diana Romanova - Excercice d’écoute non-humaine
As mentioned above, I had some difficulty trying to explain some of the stuff I’ve been listening to lately to some people. This release would definitely fall under the “head-scratcher” category for many. Its title says a lot - it translates as “non-human listening exercise”.
Pub - Do You Ever Regret Pantomime?
Did I ever feature Pub last year? If not I’m deeply sorry. I can’t count the number of times I listened to ‘Summer’, all 16 minutes of it, most often in the car on balmy evenings. This album, that was actually rereleased before the single (if you can call two tracks that amount to 27 minutes a single) but it’s every bit as good. I could write an essay on the 15-minute ‘Paper Aeroplane’, its melancholy slow and unfurling, but it’s merely one part of a larger work (albeit a lengthy one). I think you should just jump into its fuzzy loveliness, enjoy its off-kilter waves and bask in its wistful tones.
When I first learned of the album it was two months into the pandemic, when everyone I knew was spending time going for solitary walks in their 5km bubbles. I told Richard from Numbers, who had shared it with me, that it was strangely prescient. “kinda mad how that worked out,” he responded. “its some hill in east kilbride.” The whole album seems to be carried by that feeling of lonely ennui, of waiting for something, anything to change.
From something old old to something new old. A nice track with slightly restrained jauntiness and charming clicks and bleeps. Shared a few weeks ago but seemingly (presumably) recorded three years ago. No additional information on track or artist I’m afraid.
Grykë Pyje - The Fantastic World of Grykë Pyje
This is allegedly out in late December, but you can listen to 18 of 28 tracks already. It’s a lofty title but it’s appropriate. ‘A Glitch In The Jungle’ seems to feature recordings of animals and birds, but I’m not convinced it’s not the artists themselves yelping and shrieking for their own amusement. I could be wrong. It’s a fun idea, however! Some tracks feel like 4/4 dance numbers, some could be inspired by ritual magic. It’s more fantastical than fantastic, but that’s only in a good way.
A very late entry here, but a worthy one nonetheless. This album makes me think of local weather. The opening track swirls like sheets of rain, as does the fourth. The second calls to mind those crisp mornings where a tangible mist sits just out of reach.
“The Last Wave talks about the beginning and the ending of Earth,” Ibukun writes. “So many things are now happening here in Nigeria.”
That may sound lofty or even pretentious, but the truly grand scale of the music within matches these words. Epic bombast, glacial drones, swirling patterns, it’s all magnificent.