RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
Bandcloud 243
This has been a busy week in my real life, with a sickly infant and lots of things to do in and out of the workplace. Let's get to it so.
Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman Gafacci Remix
A wonky and rattling Afrobeats remix of a classic. Free DL too.
Bengal Sound - Corners / Your Name
Is this dubstep? I don't know. The second track retains the feel and tempo but the drums and synth sounds are like the Neptunes doing dubstep.
Class Craic Records ™️ - THE GUINNESS SESSIONS [VOL. 1]
A large collection of hip-hop styles from Irish producers. If you're not aware, "craic" is pronounced like crack and generally means... let's say buzz. So class craic would be a good time, good fun, good music, good stuff all round. Which is what this is.
VA - The Felt Presence LP (Vanity Press Records)
This one slipped out quietly? It's a compilation from Yahceph, Teleself, Ronan and Yogic, Brooklyn-based artists who are "residents and organizers of the legendary groovy groovy raves, flexing their production muscles". They appear solo and in various permutations. Thumping kicks, breaks as standard. A gorgeous melody creeps into Internal Transfer's 'Cloaksphere' about four minutes in. Yahceph's 'Pulse Run' is also a highlight.
RUFFMIX 063 | STRICT FACE
An absolute belter of a mix from yung Stricty, largely new music with a total curveball arriving in the shape of Jan Driver's timeless 'Rat Alert'.
the most remote place on earth - triangle
The artist name alone grabbed me. Serene, blissful ambient for quiet contemplation, moments of peace and self-reflection. Or total non-thought. Whatever you want.
Emesh- Meguirei
This one is tagged as ambient (and trance, for what it's worth), a similar tempo to the 90s stuff you'd find on "ambient" or "chillout" compilations. It's a journey in a track, gurgling synths and industrial-esque percussion [by that I mean it sounds literally like a factory, not the genre]. Loads going on. Nod your head stuff.
Fischerle & Persuasion - Winter Studies
This is a new venture, a new label and a new collaboration. idioms is helmed by Persuasion, also known as Devon Hansen, and this first release is Hansen working with Polish sound artist Fischerle aka Mateusz Wysocki. Four tracks of what can loosely be termed 'dub techno', or at least their take on it. Fizzling and crackling, rumbling, ominous, hopeful, disjointed. 'Inlet' is my pick, but they're all excellent.
Rinse France : DECEMBER invite NINA
Nina is my favourite DJ. Have I said that before? This is an hour of utterly dank and murky stuff she played in a set for December on Rinse France. I don't know any of it. It's so weird. I love it.
Akabou - being
Woooweee, thoroughly intriguing music, really beautiful chords and melodies over hypnotic bass and delicate percussion. It's an ambient label but this is redefining the terms of the genre, almost returning to the variety and excitement of the 90s (see above!), when it was more than just washed out synths, with gentle techno and dusty trip-hop all in the same playing field. More like this please.
TOIN:COSS - Untitled Mixtape
More total weirdness, this is a mixtape from Alex Brooks in Toronto, who has the best artist name I've seen since Kilamanzego (Fri, Jul 28, 2017). I got halfway through it this morning and was so taken by it. Like Nina's mix I recognise nothing but it's all interesting, from murky techno to ambient, to soft piano... Lots of WEIRD vocal samples, especially a story about slugs and moles and Christmas. This one jolted me, as did a passage about white devils and reincarnation (for different reasons, naturally).
VA - Repeater Data Dump
Where to begin. A large compilation (or dump) from the extended Repeater crew. It's a big load of stuff that crosses genres, from clubby and dreamy to abstract and heavy and weird. Weird is the word of the day. It features artists you may know such as Jennifer Moore, Declan Synott, Frank Sweeney, Cáit Fahey, etc, and even Supervalu Ranelagh gets a mention (SuperValu is an Irish supermarket, for those who don't know...). There's a USB stick you can purchase that contains music, video, writing etc, on top of the music on Bandcamp, which was recorded when Repeater were on residency in the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, Co Cork, and during the recent Cork Sound Fair.