Bandcloud 231

Bandcloud is five years old this week! FIVE! YEARS! I cannot believe it. The ladies in the picture above represent me before and after those five years. Watch out for something special to mark the occasion later in the coming months.

Astral & Shit - À«Ǡ
This act puts out music every other day or something, and I could probably share any of their other releases. This is the one I clicked though, so I'm sticking with it. Long, languid stretches of ambient sound, each one differing from the last only in the chosen chords and notes. 

Esper Werm - Unconsc Pleth
Weird squidgy noise. Apparently it's reminiscent of French composer Pierre Schaeffer's work (so says the label), but I've no idea of that's true or not. This slaps.

Das Muster - Dreiundzwanzig
Gnarly electro. The track title means 23. There's a rough effect that sounds like the voice at the start of Röyksopp's 'So Easy'. It's slightly soft but still terrifying.

The 23rd Podcast #10 - Mod303 [Live PA]
Is this minimal? Is it the real tech house? I don't know what to call it. It's ace though. Trippy and hypnotic, it lurches forward with barely a melody in sight, strange clanks of noise tripping like dust and broken-down machinery. It's somewhere between techno and noise, but in a way that's intriguing and surprising without ever being abrasive.

Sure Thing Mix 63: Grant Aaron
Here's an ambient mix from Mysteries of the Deep dude Grant Aaron. Basically gets straight in because it features the phenomenal 'Untitled' by Daywalker + CF from their LIES release of 2014. The rest of it is good too. It's from November but hey. Other entries in this series come from Lily Ackerman, Sheepshead and Aos, among others. 

Takashi Himeoka - November Steps
Also from November is this beauty, which starts off like a glistening beauty but then the beats kick in. It's a minimal-isch beat, soothing yet propulsive, with a lovely bass line.

Moonbow ~ Deep Mind Music Vol. 4
Another one for contemplative moments, this is a mix from Moonbow, for Sybil's Deep Mind Music series — what started as Sybil's own pet project and is now becoming a larger thing. The mix is an "anxiety relieving mix for S.A.D", moving from emotional sounds into strange dreamworlds, closing with healing clarity (paraphrased from their words, but it's pretty spot on) it opens with Nadia Khan and features artists we like such as Lucaufer, Heavenly Music Corporation and Vida Vojic. Check out the gorgeous artwork above, too.

Moods 13: Anne Lacy
The latest in a series called "Non-Techno for Techno fans", this mix is from New York's Anne Lacy, who was part of the Service parties in Chicago. All 90s and 00s party bangers. Within 10 minutes you've got 'Rosa Parks', 'Doo Wop (That Thing)' and 'Vivrant Thing'. 'Still Not A Player', 'My Boo', 'Shorty Swing My Way', 'Oh'! I could literally just list the tracks here but you should just go listen yourself. As Busta says at the end of 'What's It Gonna Be', CLOSE THE DOOR.

Karl Meier - Brevity Tapes Mix 2017
I bought this tape on a whim in late 2017 and oh boy. This side is magic. I thought it was going to be the first in a series, but then the Bandcamp page disappeared! So I decided not to talk about it or investigate, maybe something had happened and the architect didn't want to go into it. That's why I'm an editor and not a reporter. ANYWAY. Karl and Patrick Russell, who mixed the other side, recently shared their mixes on their SoundCloud pages, and we are the luckier for it. This particular mix is incredible: dark, slow, heavy, raucous. I'm no expert but it's got that half-time stomp that switches up into frantic dnb/jungle absolutely nailed. It reminds me of getting buses during the rail strike of '17. Good times.

Anji Cheung / Burial Hex - split
I heard Anji Cheung's side first on her own Bandcamp. It's a nice slab of turgid noise. I'm not good at detailing the minute shifts that happen across such pieces, but it's wicked. The second side starts off with strange monastic chants that are chopped and looped, moving into clanking weird noises like you'd hear from Father Murphy. Then comes some maudlin sax. There's an overall mood of ritual ceremony to the release, a ritual forgotten but maintained by the loyal few. Spoopy.

Ann Orphan- The Practice of Surrender
Serious Suspiria vibes here. Crazy dank vibes. Screaming and yelping. Horrorful sounds. This  album sounds like it could be some archival find from a Stockholm basement. In fact, it is wholly new. See the artists, Sofia Al Rammal Sturdza and Anja Enerud, above. That image is taken from the cover of their album, which is forthcoming on Moloton.

m.kwas - wake up
Finally this week, here's a heady banger from m.kwas. Described as "a track abt sleep delirium when you're semi-risen but not quite in the conscious world yet zzzz", it's driven by the title words roared unendingly. This is paired with pounding kicks and modulated mid-range patterns. It comes with added Squidward art so props for that too.