So Ireland didn't make it to the Eurovision final. Fear not! Your weekend will not suffer on my account, so dig in to this slightly expanded edition. Slightly.
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Bambooman - Dulcet EP
My man Sonic Router keeps on putting out great releases. Here's the latest, from Bambooman. It's glitchy pneumatic hip-hop that's interwoven with field recordings and the sound of crunchy footsteps in autumn forests. I love the bluesy spoken sample in 'Knox'. The title track combines those crisp percussive notes with vocal samples and outdoor effects, a few yearning strings thrown in for good measure. Another winner.
A Model Kit - Invention of Love
I came across this Ukraine-based label a little while back, always hoping to include them in Bandcloud. Something was missing though, it just wasn't quite there. This release changes that. A full-length from Russian producer A Model Kit, it's a beautifully paced neo-classical piece of work that's gentle without being soft or dull, and emotive without being cheesy. Just lovely really.
Black Polygons - Silence
Always be wary of an album called Silence. That said, this is really good! And it's not on its John Cage buzz. Major-key distorted wuzzy sounds, it's quite something. I can't find much about the artist, save that they're French, their Twitter has sub-100 followers and they've put out a couple of albums and (free EPs) on Bandcamp over the last few years. 'Incarnat' is my pick here, like many of the tracks here it's got the chord structure of a wistful pop song - something like 'In My Life' - but it sounds like the moment the astronaut escapes the evil space computer in a post-(year)2001 version of 2001.
Sontag Shogun - The Musk Ox
This trio based across the globe (in South Korea, the US and the UK) makes what they term "lullanoise" - I think it's one of those Rorschach terms, but for me it's droning music that can put one to sleep (in a good way). Their debut album follows a series of EPs and other non-full-length releases, and this is a really gorgeous track that's been featured on their Bandcamp. You can't actually buy the album there, which is odd (check Bleep for example), but you can get a feel for their MO all right. Geddit? Musk Ox, MO...
Good Willsmith - The Honeymoon Workbook
Thanks to Bandcloud faithful Sam Wild for bringing this to my attention - like Hidden Vibes, I'd intended featuring some Umor Rex here but hadn't got around to it yet. Sam described it as: "Stunning, drifting music with a sense of vast space and abstraction, but also managing to sound coherent whilst they're doing it. Highly recommended if you like interesting, leftfield music." Couldn't have put it better myself, mang. Also, if you download the album you get this one free too. Good value all round.
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Katie Gately - FAR
Katie Gately made my favourite non rap/non Boards of Canada release last year, the incredible mini-album on Public Information. She makes brilliant music that's almost entirely created from different manipulations of her own voice. This track was released as part of a split 7" on FET Press, alongside a track by that label's boss Prayer. If you know Katie's style then you know what's up. If not? Think digitsed vocal harmonies atop a sinister chorus of humming drone. I love it. (Full disclosure, it would have been in the Band half but that was overloaded.)
Shabazz Palaces - They Come In Gold
NEW SHABAZZ. Black Up, man what an album. Great live show too. This is similarly weird, yet more electronic, but still imbued with soul and digital effects. Cannae wait for more.
Shriekin' Mix For The Astral Plane
Another week another grime mix, I hear you cry. But wait! This is a great piece of work from an Irish DJ and producer, formerly named Shriekin' Specialist. The real kicker here is a three-track segment that opens with Milktray's 'Making It Personal' Edit of Flukes's Wifey Riddim, moves gorgeously, harmoniously into Samename's Functions On The Low/Wifey edit before smashing in Milktray's rework of the same track. Shriekin' calls it the "Shriekin' Heartstring Blend". Apt.
E.m.m.a X Keysound Rinse Takeover (pre Fabric May 16th)
"Victorian grime" producer E.M.M.A. went in the mix for Keysound on Rinse ahead of their Fabriclive takeover next week http://www.fabriclondon.com/club/listing/899 And played a quarter of an hour of her own slightly weird grimey glitchy stuff. It moves from a steady and straightforward to a more awkwardly swung grime tempo. All good.
Julianna Barwick - Meet You At Midnight
If you loved Nepenthe like I did then you'll love this. The founder of Dogfish Head, a Delaware craft brewery, asked Julianna to come to their brewery and record an album alongside a beer they worked on together. The EP is called Rosabi, and it will be released digitally next month. It'll also be available in limited numbers on 10" packaged inside a case of the Rosabi IPA, brewed with rice from Barwick's home state of Louisiana and flavoured with wasabi. So I guess I won't be able to get a record, unless it ends up on eBay or Discogs. But that won't be the same. Full info here. But yeah the track is lovely. Nice.
Guy Evans - (1994) Sept 16-18 Tape SIDE A Trk 5 (Clip)
All Caps recently put out a three-track recovery effort of the work of DJ Guy, a retired Bristol DJ who was big in the 90s. That makes it sound rubbish. Those three tracks are shimmering techno, hazy beats and scuzzy melodies - outsider house two decades before the event. He's got a huge number of unreleased tracks on his Bandcamp page, and there's a full interview/introduction/retrospective on Juno Plus. This is a reupload of a track, almost Aphex like, yet possessed of its own style and personality.
Ghost Beavers - Pines
A preview (I think) of the next release on Flaming Pines, this sees a stolid drone under the sound of a taped guitar that's been stretched beyond recognition. Sort of like The Campfire Headphase on lean.
Akkord - Continuum
Easy one this . Akkord, or Δkkord as they're (probably not) known to their mums, have been crafting robotic techno under this name for two solid years, with even more of an emphasis on their work since hooking up with fabric's in-house label Houndstooth. Inspired equally by rave and sparse, percussive techno, this track sees them up the rave quotient, with muted hoovers competing with 'Apache' and 'Amen' breaks and classic vocal drops. It's still got that Δkkord sound though - it's just bigger and crisper than ever before. The EP is out next month on grey vinyl. Fancy. And it's mastered by Matt Colton. Oh, on that note, have a listen to Matt's RA Exchange podcast (direct link) if you get the chance. Fascinating stuff.
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Next week we'll have our first guest entry - I'll be leaving you in the capable hands of the good lady Wonja. I for one can't wait to see what she has in store for us.
All the best,
Aidan