Sup y'all. Time for some music. I come prepared this week, so this one's on time, for a change.
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LCC - d/evolution
This is on Editions Mego, the same label that put out Klara Lewis's Ett that I featured some time back. It's largely doom-and-gloom drone, with some tuff beats thrown in for good measure. I've just been soaking it up. Secret Thirteen has a good write-up.
Wanda Group - Roped In On Every Side of The Globe
Wanda Group's was the first music that really got me interested in this whole broadly rendered dronescape thing, so he's got a lot to answer for. This release is intriguing, as it's less found sound (though that's still a feature) and more sample collage. I love the olde-timey music that comes and goes at points here, it's a refreshing break from pounding pounding techno music. In his own words: "THE WHOLE THING WAS ORIGINALLY AROUND 40 MINUTES LONG AND WAS GOING BE ON TAPE BUT ALL THE TINY FREQUENCIES AND WEIRD TONES I ADDED DIDN'T COME THROUGH ON THE TAPE DUBBING. SO I SCRAPPED IT AND JUST DID A SMALLER EDIT OF THE THING. MAINLY CONCENTRATING ON THE TONE SIDE OF IT."
oMMM - Parallel Lines Converge
Words cannot express how much I love this. I was writing blurbs the other night and this was one of the entries I had to cover. I just got lost in it, played it all about three times before I even realised. It's the first release on the Alien Jams label, which grew out of the NTS show of the same name. Sci-fi explorations, battered tape loops, Wanda Group-esque soundcscapes. JUST BUY IT.
Different Fountains - Muybridge EP
Two weird tracks, the opener would be the perfect opener for a set of GU-style prog house, it's ocean-floor, Chicago-pizza deep, replete with tribal vocals and drawn-out intro. Then Karen Gwyer comes along and goes full techno, a similarly lengthy intro leading down a different path. She opts for a 3/4 tempo and deep and meaningful vocal ooohs. The other original track probably isn't inspired by Beckett but it's still good.
Opal Tapes - Cambiare
Another cheap-as-chips comp from Stephen Bishop's Opal Tapes. I quite like the tracks from BAT (juddering techno), Yves de Mey (globby experimentation, like a soundcheck gone wrong) and Alis (dusty clarinet samples and Aztec grooves).
ICYMI: Digitalis presents Midlife Crisis
I tweeted this last week but sometimes people don't see it (you know there's a Bandcloud Twitter account, right?) so here it is again. Brad Rose turned 35 and put together 35 tracks for your delectation. What a guy. Shouldn't even highlight anything as I haven't yet made it all the way through but I quite liked Expert Network's 'Embouchure'.
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Anthony Naples - More Problem
'Ellipsis' 2014? Hardly, but it's got a sick piano line throughout in a similar vein. It makes its case early on and sticks with it, going for a few breakdowns and drops like something standard and formulaic. That said, there's something slightly off-kilter about this that saves it from being just another piano house track. I can't quite put my finger on what that is, but it's a banger.
Babe Rainbow - Twin Peaks
I thought Cameron Reed had laid this moniker to rest, but he's back with an album for Kinky Beggar. This track is the first taster, and it's excellent. The percussion patterns remind me of Out Hud, the synths are rife with melancholy and there's a touch of distortion too. The whole album is superb, I'm delighted he's putting it out. For good measure, he recently put his old EPs back on Soundcloud, check out Endless Path, which my first introduction to his sound. 'It's All Happening' and 'Set Loose' are my favourites.
Bedroom Eyes - Music For Muriel's Wedding
Just some nice ambient stuff for your hangover. Full album here.
M. Geddes Gengras - Passage
More gorgeous ambient drone this, it was the only thing that made sense to me after a particularly heavy night last week. Simply stunning. Like the oMMM thing I dipped in and out of it repeatedly, without ever paying full attention but always appreciating its wonder.
Throwing Snow feat. KNOX - Draugr
This dude's album is out (or almost out?) on Houndstooth, and this is probably my favourite track on it. Operatic in scope, its vistas are sombre and foreboding.
Violet - Two Edged Sword
Lil work in progress from Violet. Snarling beats and robotic flutes, with delicate bells somewhere in between. Its all rounded out by some wild-ass yelping.
Dillonwork - Resonance show 5 May + guest Call Super
Somehow this slipped through the cracks! Call Super appeared on the brilliant Beatrice Dillon's show for Resonance FM a few weeks back, provided a thoroughly elucidating chat and played some cool tracks, including the brilliantly bizarre 'Kader Dolls' from theFarben presents James DIN A4 album. There's also some unreleased Call Super (!!), including the utterly gorgeous 'Okko Ink' and 'Sulu Sekou'. There seem to be a few glitches in the audio, tiny jumps in sound and time, where Mr Seaton's words are lost to eternity. Just as fascinating and difficult as his music, eh? No? Okay. In this interview we learn that 'Acephale II', which is just out now, is in fact the second part of something that will surface later in the year. Always confounding us. Dang it.
Ai Aso - Date
And we close with another Editions Mego release. This is from Japanese singer/producer Ai Aso's second album, Lone. It's driven by slightly abrasive 3/4 synth melodies, and features her delicate vocals to lulling effect. I'm tired, so I'm not sure if it's actually a live performance or the applause is a conceit, but either way it's thoroughly deserved.
That's it then! Have a great bank holiday weekend (if you're in Ireland). Otherwise just have a great weekend.
All the best,
Aidan