Today marks exactly six years since Bandcloud started. SIX YEARS WHAT THE HELL. Two jobs, two cars and two children later, I'm still here, firing off music for whoever wants to read about it. Thank you! I'd like to say that I wouldn't do it if you weren't reading, but I don't know that I can be so honest.
Percival Pembroke - Chaotic Goods
"A collection of previously unreleased trax and eccojams" from the supposedly retired Percival Pembroke. The first half is just gorgeous, like the best and brightest work of John Beltran. Some of the "eccojams" are Enya-esque (ie lovely) while some of them are vaporwave-y (ie a bit tiresome). As with all such collections, it's a mixed bag, but it's great to hear more from our Percy.
M☹THER†R☹SA - meow mix #002
The caption for this mix reads "nye bby". Whether that means it's a live set recorded on New Year's Eve or not is anyone's guess but it certainly bangs. House, vogue, techno, grime, it's a riot. The artwork is sick too.
NORA ZION (Bahasa Malay) - Instrumentals
These are four grime-y tracks from Perth-based producer NORA ZION. Lots of dark horns, guns being cocked, rattling drums, M1 vibes, squidgy synth melodies and techno-adjacent ideas. Super fun.
Iva - Жилиште
"Please use headphones, not speakers." And definitely not laptop speakers, amirite?! This is actually a year old but it popped into my timleline - I'm into it and the sound is timeless. Deep and expansive ambient, dark sounds, weird noises. Incredibly expressive. Plus the caption is so topical. There's a weird music box recording of The Twelve Days of Christmas that is at once incredibly charming and deeply chilling. It's actually by Marcel Duchamp (yes, the urinal guy), which came as a surprise.
Trafo - Aron
Check this, this album "was inspired by legacy of Hermann Aron, German researcher of electrical engineering and inventor of first accurate wattmeters". How about that. It's high-tempo, melody-free techno filled with rich sound design for dark floors and late nights. You can buy it on tape, there's a limited run of 10.
MNMT Label Showcase: Nous'klaer Audio
This is a mix put together by Nous'klaer founder Sjoerd Oberman full of unreleased music. It should all be out at some point this year. You may find sounds in there from artists such as upsammy, Oceanic and Konduku. Or not. It's full of good stuff anyway. There's an accompanying interview, where I learned that "Nous’klaer hè" means "now it's ready" or "let's go". Cool.
J. Albert - my rave ended yours just began
This is billed as an ambient album, but it's not quite that. It's not floor stuff. It's got moments of throbbing darkness, almost like the slow-mo vibes in your head that play when the music stops and the lights come on. Part of it is thick and swirly with intensity. The 12-minute '000sj' is sublime. It ends with piano that becomes drowned in noise.
Mazi - simple beautiful soul
This is a really cool mixtape raising money for a Chicago-based group called Rebuild Foundation that community and culture in under-invested neighbourhoods. It's a 90-minute tape split in three. The first is really weird and interesting techno, splotchy acid stuff. The second has a similar acid/electro feel, before going into a very classic house mode. There's a vocal sample in the middle where someone says that: "The work that we do really is about lifting our spirits. Every day." I found that really beautiful. Part three is more modern, with some bright and shiny house that maybe isn't my cup of tea, but on the whole this is a wonderful release that deserves your support.
Russian Selfish 004: My cruelty (Raw Russian)
This album is inspired by collectives like NAAFI and claims to combine "the style of an early Actress (Darren J. Cunningham) works, modern dance, electronic music and machine experiments". Bold claims. It's good though. The opening track is stilted, echoey, nightmarish, fascinating. The whole sound is particularly springy, the main melodies coming on the same kinds of instrument. 'weirsong' is inspiring. There are some issues with the consistency of levels from track to track, but that's a minor quibble.
𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟭 - 𝑺𝑨𝑫𝑰𝑬 🌸
This is a really nice, short release from a Thai producer named 1991 (not the artist who released on Astro:Dynamics and Opal Tapes). The four tracks are each less than four minutes in length but they're all very nice and very good. Enjoy.
Alio Die & Yannick Dauby - Descendre Cinq Lacs Au Travers D'Une Voilé
I've had a head cold this week and listening to this on Wednesday morning really captured how I was feeling. Searing notes like the headache I was experiencing and the sun shining across my desk, weird jagged sounds like the knot in my chest. Also the Windows notification ding sound was in the same key, I love moments of synchronicity.
VA - The Stochastic Method (Fractal Meat Cuts)
Another fundraiser, this time for Ubuntu in Glasgow, "dedicated to meeting the short term, 72 hours – 1 week/ emergency accommodation needs of women with no recourse to public funds". The opening track, by Painted in Shadows, is this really blissful swathe of sound, really gorgeous sunshine-after-the-rain-on-a-warm-morning stuff. Paul Michael Henry's 'Landslide' is darker and sludgier, giving way to what sounds like birdsong against digital organ playing, almost like the sound of a cathedral in the morning as the doors are opened. Leslie Deere, who curated the gig that led to the release, delivers 'Collage 3', a track that moves from wobbling noise to glistening bells. Jenn Kirby, who hasn't featured here since BC#91 (gosh!), contributes 'Strings and Things', which honestly sounds like some weirdo plainchant fed through digital machinery. I don't know, it's great. Finally, Graham Dunning, whose label Fractal Meat Cuts is putting out the release, offers 'Clearing', which sounds like a trance number with no beats. You never know what you'll get with Graham, which is the mark of a true artist, I suppose.