Bandcloud 242

What an ominous image we have on top this week!!! 

madwoman - Kory 003
Props to Female Pressure for tweeting this. This is an interesting set of tracks that move from drone and "liquid ambient" into dark techno. There are some weird blasts of sound in the last track that seem out of place to me, but that's the only downside.

Nicholas Langley & Dark Half - Rebel Convoy
Well now. Whether this is the soundtrack to some long-lost cult classic or that of an imagined film, I can't say, but either way it's excellent. Picture this: "Lone Star and Coder fire up the engine of The Rebel, and, together with Jerry and his biker gang, break out of Twilight and head across the Mojave desert towards the Californian Coast. Vargas, Scorpio and their men are, however, in hot pursuit." The music is decidedly 80s, all vintage-sounding synths and B-movie tropes — it's nothing new in that sense, but the patterns and structures, even in tiny details like rhythmic choices, are thoroughly fresh.

MNMT Recordings: Saphileaum (Live) – KHIDI
Saphileaum, who runs Tbilisi-based ambient label Theosophy, performed this glacial set live in his city's KHIDI club before ambient joker Abul Mogard recently. Blissful stuff. 

VA - displacement: belonging (dog park)
This is a fascinating compilation from dog park, a label that deals in "weird music for weirdos and stray dogs". Its contributors come from all over, from Seattle to Toronto and Quebec City, from Dour in Belgium to Perth in Australia by way of Indonesia. Tracks are laced with ambient scapes (HARAAM, Covolux), noisy transmissions (Antoine De Muynck, tujuh kuda), terrifying piano exercises (David Nadeau), sounds of nature (samarobryn); the list goes on. 

MERVE - Noctilucent 007 on Hope St Radio - 18/03/19
Melbourne DJ Merve has a regular experimental show on Hope St Radio, this one is particularly exciting. Just weirdo tunes, dank and trippy, elements of 90s ambient house and trip-hop almost, beats-laden non-club music, moments of classical, it's a lot.

Anz - Invitation 2 Dance
Some 18ish months on from her debut release, which was also the first put into the world by Chow Down as a label, Anz drops this sublime four-tracker on Finn and Local Action's 2 B REAL. 'No Harm' is riven with squidgy boogie sounds, somewhere between Space Dimension Controller's weird space operas and 90s videogames. 'Helps Your Two Hips Move' is a relentless drum track, while 'At Least We Have This' is a silky speed garage-esque number with G-funk trills over vocal stylings. The title track, finally, is a chilling electro number with a robotic vocal incessantly announcing that "I have been programmed to dance, dance, dance"... Fun, weird, banging. 

Yu Su - Preparation For Departure
I featured a track from this release called 'I'll Say When I Can' way back in October 2017. I was waiting for the full release, which was due on Arcane, but somewhere down the road I simply forgot about it. Yu Su provided this week's RA Podcast (it's exceptional) and announced a release on Music From Memory. I was thus reminded that I never picked up this release, either on wax or digitally. It came out last May. Ages ago. How did I miss that?! I'm happy to say it's on Bandcamp anyway, and I'm enjoying it now. 

VA - Kaleidoscope: Compilation of experimental music from the Ukraine
Flaming Pines turns its attention on Ukraine, showcasing some talents from this particular region. Only three tracks available to stream right now but they're excellent. Alla Zagaykevych's 'Voice/Way' is a ghostly track of densely layered vocals, sounds like a low morning sun shining blindingly through your window. Andrey Kiritchenko's 'Flux', as its title suggests, ebbs and flows, distorted fuzz and flickering over serene swathes of sound. Submatukana's 'Thunderstorm', finally, pitches incessant droning guitar and lumpy beats over saturated field recordings. Can't wait for the rest.

Phran - Fleursky (DJ Phidias Remix Feat. Ivy Barkakati)
An utterly infectious groove. Floral synths and skittery percussion add levity, removing some of the density of the original. There's a particularly charming synth line that makes me smile and ensures I come back to this one again and again.

glacial23 - Clandestine Sessions I
Here's a tip. Follow people on Bandcamp and get a digest of their purchases into your inbox. Much like Bandcloud, without the blurbs. Kat O'Rly from Chicago copped this one and it is full of JAAAAMS. It's a collection of tracks from 2009-2019, ambient bits, beats, "shortwave interceptions"... Really lovely. Comes on MiniDisc if you want. Nice reference to a particular Cleveland institution on 'Outside In Training, 1:45am' too.

Xao - Eternal Care Unit
Stonking club music laced with big ideas. Shrill and noisy at times, soupily ambient at others. The first track opens with paranormal vocals only to build into a scattershot drum track, while other tracks pulse with drummatic ideas and slick production. 'Hydroxyapatite' is haunting and unknowable, its melodies coming from instruments that don't sound digital or analogue. Returning to what I mentioned with Rebel Convoy above, the closing track is entitled 'This Film Does Not Exist', a simply lovely track.

bergsonist - Chaos Ep (börft165)
Yet more heat from Bergsonist. This one comes on Frak's Börft label. It's as hard as you might expect from the Berg (if I can call her that) but it comes with an added dose of trippiness. 'Jupiter Funds' is particularly fantastic, with swirling echoes and proggy bass rumblings across its near six minutes. The title track is surprisingly minimal too. Get it.

Carly Barton - Interludes
Another Bandcamp mail find! Thanks be to Glorb. This is a super weird release, all florpy sounds and wobbly synths with no grounding, floating above the earth. Some strange pulses and bits, weird library-ish music, just loads of cool ideas.

Buy some music. Go to a gig. Delete your Spotify account. Say hi to a friend.