Bandcloud 218

Like Mattress Mick, I'm back with a bang. Trying to avoid "pop nihilist manbient and portlandia 'field recording modular ambient noise' over & over". Thanks Matt.

VA - Never a Land Without People
May as well start here. Montreal's Jaclyn Kendall gathered a group of artists to put together a compilation to raise money for Adalah, a Palestinian-run non-profit organisation dedicated to defending the human and legal rights of Arab minorities in Israel. This is immediately in response to the killing of Palestinian protesters by IDF forces but more generally responding to the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. It features music from Bandcloud favourites Via App, object blue and Experimental Housewife as well as a host of others, and covers ground from blistering techno and other-worldly electronica to political commentary, both abstract and explicit.

‡Starving Poet§ - ج ن نƧE--nd Bacc uЯ—Round2אורجَنَّة
I don't even know where to begin with this one. This artist responded to a tweet I was tagged in and I checked out their SoundCloud — seems this release is actually a few years old but the material is timeless. Beautiful crunchy techno noise, swooping synth material corroded and distorted by any means and some utterly incomprehensible titles. 

The Doll - Hiss
Last year this label brought us the weird and wonderfulTonal Rotors by Patrick Cosmos. This is also weird and wonderful, but in different ways. I take it the track titles ('Bubblewrap', 'Static', 'Radiator') have something to do with their creation, but it's hard to tell. I tweeted that 'Static' gave me Twin Peaks: The Return vibes, and the artist responded "Aaah the sweet sounds of a '96 Toyota Starlet..." Noise, but with a sense of humour.

Analog Tara - Strawberry Moon Mix
Sweet sweet jams from Analog Tara for the Extended Family series. Tara is a wearer of many hats — she's an artist and composer, a historian and author, as well as being the founder of Pink Noises, a project that promotes the work of women in all aspects of music, from performance and composition to sound design and tech. She's got a release coming on 1432 R and this mix, which features all the tracks from that release, is both powerful and soothing, darting effortlessly from pulsing grooves to ethereal spaces.

Marta De Pascalis / Howlround - Her Core / Hard Core
This split release comes from The Wormhole, the free-form arm of cassette label The Tapeworm. It's a recording of two live performances, one each from the two artists named above. The first side is full of powerfully distorted melodies, soaring above with great yearning, while still bathing in the sludge beneath the ground. The second side starts off almost amelodic, a swirling pool of sound, but then feedback and circuitry invite calming serenity. 

VA - Lillerne #100 Compilation
Here we have a set announcing a compilation for the 100th release on Lillerne Tapes. At the time of writing it features some jungle from Beta Librae, some ambient from Clearing and fun, breaksy house from Angel1. No idea who either of those are — I've asked but no word yet. If I find out I'll let you know! Excited to see what else is in store from the label for this landmark release.

ZeeZout Podcast 070 | Peach
You know I've never featured Peach before? Can't fathom why. This mix for ZeeZout is a summation of her skills and tastes, running through an hour of bouncy, exciting club music. Electro, house, techno, it rumbles and grows from subtle beginnings to a brilliantly euphoric finale. Don't think I know anything in here but this mix bangs. One for the weekend.

Hainbach - Songs For Coco
Mmmmf, this is some amazing sad manbient (sorry Matt). Released on Opal Tapes, it's a beautifully morose tape of jams from Hainbach. We've got haunting melodies, understated whines, maudlin drones — it's perfectly for muggy weather, tiresome commutes and evenings that go on just too long. 

Boreal Network - Killiniq
This is the first new music from Boreal Network in a while, and is apparently the title track from a new EP. It's just as lush and evocative as her previous work, but with a heftier kick to it, taking it out of the realm of hazy electronica into a veritable club stomp.