Bandcloud 320

Something something mp3s. Something that's not an mp3 is Yankee Purple Foxtrot, a "chopped not slopped" version of Wilco's 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It was put produced by Barry Jenkins and the Chopstars and it is a dream. Slowed down and bugged out, lyrics like "picking apples for the kings and queens of things I've never seen" seem utterly unhinged in this version. Seemingly, it's only available to stream at Audiomack.

Jelani - Nommo Poise
This is a super jam from LA-based Jelani. Named after the ancestral spirits of the Dogon people of Mali, the track samples recordings of tribe rituals from that region.

Campfire Stories 101 (A Forest) by Ryan Blackman
Silent Season have been sharing Campfire Stories for close to a decade now. It's a kind of longform, expansive mix series that seeks to tell stories through music. In the title I guess. It's coming to a close with #101, and this final mix is a fitting end.

Self-Portrait: Ivy Barkakati
Lovely lovely sounds from Bandcloud friend Ivy B. Her back catalogue includes dreamy house and crushing industrial, as well as gorgeously melodic synth sounds. This is a collection of unreleased tracks, put together for Stamp The Wax. It's alternately light and dark, showing the manifold styles that she can play with.

Xia Long - Codex
This album is from Beijing-based Xia Lang. It's built around a lot of piano, but that piano seems treated or sampled and transported from another time. Haunting stuff. It sounds like a soundtrack to a nightmare or a strange and unsettling horror film and yet it's not. 'That, There' is particularly unnerving. Apparently the 21-year-old actually makes TV scores for a living. I bet they're terrifying.

t — e — u — Sensory Leakage EP
Speaking of unsettling noise! I first came across t — e — u on a release from Folklore Tapes. Those sounds were gorgeous and melancholy, but this release is foggy and strange and lacking any kind of centre or direction. Imagine standing in deep fog in water up to your ankles with no discernible light source or any kind of reference point. That's what this sounds like. I love it!

Sanjeet - Gentle Mix
VOSP - Pale Shelter
These are an unlikely pairing. Pale Shelter is a release on anathema archive that whispers and croaks through various field recordings. At times its tape sounds gurgling and spew. Strange drones and bells reverberate, while angry snarls of hiss and fuzz abound. Sanjeet, a Toronto-based artist, put together a mix for the listener to enjoy while "laying in your bed remembering your breath", among other suggestions. I played the two together, just by chance really, and the odd noises of one mixed perfectly with the blissful sounds of the other.

Ayesha - Natural Phenomena
New York label Kindergarten Records may give off goofy vibes with its name but this release is expertly accomplished. Brilliant percussion abounds, with warm, enveloping bass filling your ears. Crisp breaks samples meet more organic sounding sources. 'Infinite Space' and 'Liminality' hint at other worlds, the latter borrowing most obviously from the artist's Indian heritage, with its drums and vocal samples, while 'The Club Is A Sea' gets gloopy and wavy, rolling and tumbling as if on unsteady waves.

V​/​A - Rewire & Acquire (Presented by Anastasia Kristensen)
Anastasia Kristensen has assembled a large group of techno artists for this compilation, which is raising money for Equality Now, "a global charity that works actively towards achieving legal equality for women, with a vision of ending normalisation of harmful practices and sexual violence towards women". There's lots of razor-sharp techno sounds, stuff that leans into dnb territory and plenty of modulated synth beauty too. Telefon Tel Aviv's rolling beauty '5AM Jefferson Parish Levee Fog' is a real highlight, as well as super tracks from B From E, Sophia Saze, Cressida, Tim Reaper and Kristensen herself.

Ciarra Black - Stasis
Stasis. Sounds about right. Everything's stuck in arrested motion. I think I mentioned this before when I covered Ingrid Plum's Caesura. Machine Wash, a collaboration with Hiro Kone and Drew McDowall, is particularly inspiring, a slow stomp of techno sounds and strange noises. 'Elektrolytes', meanwhile, is almost like dubbed-out high-tempo trance.

VA - Global / Halloween [Abridged Soundtracks] (Deathbomb Arc)
Here we have an EXTREMELY eclectic compilation from Deathbomb Arc, following two livestream concerts arranged by the label. Murky noise, strange choirs, blipping electronics, loads. I'm particularly into tracks from The Soft Pink Truth, William Hutson and TALsounds. Lots to appreciate and enjoy here.

Goodparley - Sedative Songs
As with other entries here, the clue is in the title. This is music to sedate, to be enjoyed in the dark with an empty mind. Let these soft, wibbling sounds wash over you, let your mind be free of uncertainty and enjoy the soothing, bubbling electronics. A pipe dream? Perhaps. It's wonderful whatever way you want to enjoy, to my ears, anyway.

Reading corner

Often I mention articles worth reading but there are a few this week that I think need to be shared widely...

First of all, Twitter's Dr Mathys looks into the details of Resident Advisor's £750,000 grant from Arts Council England. On Resident Advisor’s Culture Recovery Fund

Next, Crystal Mioner, who last year shared a selection a selection of her favourite Detroit releases in Bandcloud's End of Year coverage, profiles Whodat, who featured on that very list. Whodat Got Soul: The Brilliant Resilience of Terri McQueen

Glasgow journalist Zab Mustefa interviews Rebekah, DJ Empress and Dave Clarke about sexual harassment in the dance music industry, particularly in the wake of Erick Morillo's death. We need to end sexism, misogyny and violence in dance music

Panorama journalist Ellie Flynn reports on various accusations of sexual assault and harassment by Derrick May. Coming from someone outside of the dance music industrial complex, this is vital work. Multiple women report sexual assault and harassment by Derrick May

Finally, this is a conversation detailing the "coercion, bribery and harassment" experienced by an industry professional over two decades of working in music. "A glass ceiling with razor wire": The harsh reality for women working in dance music