RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
It’s Bandcamp Friday again. I got a ticket to see Grouper next year. Awfully brave of me to buy a ticket for something happening next April, but sure look. I’m on radio on Sunday night, and I’m hoping to play the entirety of Burial’s Untrue in one way or another. Tune in to find out how that goes.
City & i.o - Chaos is God Neighbour
This is stunning. At times it’s pretty gnarly and raucous, then at times it’s quite delicate and introspective. I’ve only had a chance to listen to it once in full, but it’s quite impressive and I’ll definitely be sticking with it for some time.
Gilded - Forging Iron Amongst The Trees
Seven minutes of ambient, which could be seen as lengthy or pithy, depending on your own personal standpoint.
Russell Ellington Langston Butler - Collective Response to Giving Up
What a title, eh. Three tracks here, each thunderous and explosive in different ways. The opener is proper techno yet comes with beautifully maudlin modular wanderings.
Quite frankly, I don’t know where to begin with this. The label is called “Few Crackles”, which I think is great. The music is quite unsettling, with ‘d’, the second track, featuring what I think is a sax line that reminds me of Duke Ellington’s ‘Caravan’, with electronic squidges that sound like ribbits underneath.
AI-27: LF58 - Live at Brancaleone
LF58, made up of Neel and Filippo Scorcucchi, return to Astral Industries following last year’s Alterazione. It’s a recording from 2019 in Rome, and it seems to move between live performance and DJ set, incorporating original material alongside music from Simone Giudice, Jonas Kopp, Nuel, Birds of Prey, Rapoon, Steve Roach and Adham Shaikh.
A Space for Sound - Sometimes underwater (feels like home)
I first came across A Space for Sound last year, with her Sound Bath Mixtape Vol.1 featuring in late July. This release for Commend’s THERE series continues in that vein, with lengthy pieces composed using tank drums, singing bowls, a synth, a multi-track tape machine and an effects pedal.
Martyna Basta - Making Eye Contact With Solitude
Another striking work, the latest on the excellent Warm Winters Ltd label. Non-verbal vocals that are almost pained, sounds that could be scratched floors or swirling bodies of water, ambient fluctuations, starkly surprising harpsichord manifestations… It’s a fascinating release.
Call Super joins Wooly and Philip of Lapsus Radio for a chat and some tunes, going through some lovely non-dancey music, some folk, some wild free sax, some experimental vocal music and yes, some dancey stuff. It’s an interesting insight to the man, the legend. He even speaks briefly about the strange titles he gives his tracks. Basically, in-jokes with his own mind.
Sweater On Polo - Minding The Madness EP
This appears to be vinyl only, although previous releases have also been digi. I duno. Anyway you can buy it at Bandcamp, but you can hear it on SoundCloud (ie, above). It’s wonderful stuff, with nods to classic 808 house music through a quirky modern lens. I’m particularly enamoured with “Chicken Head”. The set comes with the caption “Jak your mind”, and that’s really what it’s all about.
Recorded on Valentine’s Day, released today. This is a weird and splodgy track, almost reminiscent of Hi Scores-era BoC (yes I will mention them at any opportunity). “Calming and rhythmic beats,” she calls them. That they are, I suppose. Mildly unsettling too, I might add.
This was released on Halloween but it’s timeless. There’s always room for dark and unnerving sounds. Shadowy, clanking guitar (maybe?), hushed vocals, general dank.
Eddington Again combines Autechre-esque squiggles with rnb chords and beautiful vocals. Almost like that Hell Interface remix of ‘Midas Touch’ if it were an original.
Clear Licorice - American Crew
This is a delightfully weird album from New Zealand-based Clear Licorice. It’s almost like 60s psych rock but in a modern electronic context.
African Ghost Valley - DEGAS PHAL
Scuzzy fuzz and strange beats, unsettling noise and shrieks from beyond. Even what seem like some modular melodies. Apparently the two guys who make up African Ghost Valley don’t talk much while they make music so they invite you to infer your own meaning. Worth noting, “ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS RELEASE WILL BE GIVEN TO MIGRANTS ORGANISE, CLINIQ AND REFUGEE ACTION”.
VA - Under Searing Skies (There is still an orchestra)
This is a really beautiful ambient compilation. I had a rare free afternoon recently and sat down to read the latest Sally Rooney book, playing this as I read. Twinkling sounds, elegiac tones, searing vistas, these are all words that come to mind for this one. It’s quite a lovely release/
In Summer 2021, Greece and Turkey were devastated by wildfires, with dramatic consequences on local populations and biodiversity. All proceeds raised with this compilation will be donated to the "Wildfire emergency" campaign of WWF in order to help local wildlife rehabilitation centers and organizations demonstrating effective ways to combat future fires. See lp.panda.org/med-wildfires.
Duno who Fergus Sweetland is but this proper bangs.
Another straight-up banger, out in a few weeks. Nate Dogg as you’ve never heard him before. This is rattling and wild and UGH so good.
Weirdly crunchy and atmospheric club music, in spots, with general dank vibes surrounding the material. Quite sad, almost, particularly ‘Petrified Butterfly’.
I honestly thought I’d already included this release. Another RVNG entity, this is the first outing in five years from Harlem’s vhvl. It’s a beat tape, rather than an album I guess, and it’s lovely. Some melodies are lovely, then you’ve got a track called ‘rpg’ that sounds suitably choppy and digital. ‘hem’ is woozy and wistful, ‘rip ii’ is mournful yet soars high. Hopefully there won’t be such a long gap before we hear more from vhvl.