Kind of stumped on what to say here this week. Brain fog means I don't remember much of the past few days bar the amazing sandwich I had for lunch yesterday. It's Friday already?
M Geddes Gengras - Time Makes Nothing Happen
I was utterly blown away by last year's I Am The Last Of That Green And Warm-Hued World by M Geddes Gengras. At the time I said it was full of "deep, scorching droney stuff" and "unknowable liquid murk". Ambient but make it weird. This one, a return to Hausu Mountain, is similarly wild, albeit with a different impulse. It feels like it travels the same path, taking in similar scenery, but the drive and heft is entirely different. It's percussive and powerful, with wobs and thumps alongside bleeps and whirs. It's almost like an audio rendition of a trip through the bizarre space on the cover art, which is digitally unknowable as always with this label. 'Time Is a Marble in a Bucket' is a perfect example of the strangeness on display.
Darian - Ambient EP
This title is a lie! Well, kind of. The first two tracks are proper dancefloor beats tracks. 'Some / More / Music' combines thunderous bass drums and an ominous atmosphere with jazzy samples and crunchy hi-hats, a collision of worlds that shouldn't work but does. Then 'Separate Entities' goes fully ambient, with blissful tones and wordless chorus coming together beautifully.
Bjarni Gunnarsson - Cendres
This week is full of abstract sound and noise. Maybe it's because we've been getting external insulation done around our house, so we've had nearly two weeks of the sound of men working and drilling and whatnot, so it all blends together well. The score and the soundtrack of my life coming together, if you will. This one feels like sonic drilling, electroacoustic strangeness that won't be for everyone but yields wonderful results given proper attention. The tape packaging literally comes with soil from Plain Des Maures, a natural reserve in the south-east of France.
Indy Nyles - 35hr Road Trip:MEX-DTW
I saw Russell E.L. Butler and Zvrra talk about Indy Nyles so I checked out his Bandcamp. His latest release is this one, a collection of tracks written between living in Mexico and moving to Detroit. Like any journey, it builds and grows, keeps steady and breaks. There's a selection of sounds rolling from balmy Rhodes-like chords over beatless yet housey tones, skittery electronica, clubby stuff, dnb jumpers and more.
Kelly Jayne Jones - 'a fire that had to burn forever'
Gahhh this is fucken haunted. Strange, STRANGE noises and robotic voices, weird tones and far-off birds, whispery sounds that could be synths or voices or neither or both. It's beautiful and terrifying and marvellous. Then that flute comes in! I want to cry, if I could cry. It comes from The Reed Flute Is Fire, which is part of Cafe OTO's Takuroku series. A huge collection of music recorded during lockdown, it features artists like Lucy Railton, aircode, Foodman, Li Yilei, and many more. I think there are 100+ releases?
Nahi Mitti - Nights befall Sex
Two exploratory bangers from UK "Cultural practitioner-producer-dJ" Nahi Mitti. I see BFTT copped this one so that's a good sign. How do you feel about your face showing up under a Bandcamp release? I think it's nice. 'Love wind letting book blow like some mystic' is wide-eyed and uncertain, while 'Soho rd l nd New st 15' has a more surefooted stomp, slower and softer but still wistful and wondering.
Sugai Ken - Tone River
Thanks to Adam from warm winters ltd. (etc!) for the tip on this one. Sugai Ken put out an album on RVNG a few years ago but he's got a load of releases to his name. This latest is a curious entry, commissioned by the Dutch embassy in Tokyo. Apparently Dutch engineers worked on water systems in Tokyo in the 19th Century, and this release examines the relationship between the two nations through this collaboration. Ken went to various points at the Tone river, which runs for 322km and is the second longest in Japan, and took recordings of various natures, using regular, binaural and underwater microphones. The sounds throughout move from field recordings to unnerving robotic voices and lilting, gorgeous ambient. A fascinating experiment with wonderful results.
Claudine Mayari - in another moment
A lovely mix here from London-based Claudine Mayari. It's full of soul and rnb from different eras, but what really jumped out to me was the Sly & Robbie remix of 'Fu-Gee La', as did the more recent 'Come Over' by DNNY KAY. Then there's the superb edit of 'The Boy Is Mine' by Adipop. Grab that one here.
Jus-Ed - Tribute To Mike H. EP
Detroit mainstay Mike Huckaby passed away earlier this year. This, as the title suggests, is a tribute from Jus-Ed. 'I Miss Huck' is particularly beautiful. Ed wrote this in the SoundCloud description: "FYI I know you can rip the tracks from here...that's why I only put 128.mp3 hahahahah sucka's"... And on the record itself it says "Mike's Body is gone! R.I.P. His WAV is Eternal!" A beautiful sentiment.
MELVL - Lachrymal Heartflesh
Today is International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), an annual observance honouring transgender people who have lost their lives in transphobic acts of violence. MELVL, who featured in Bandcloud last year, describes the tracks here as "painful, raw, lo-fi recordings as an outlet for my anguish" following a difficult period in his life. "I was living as a newly-out enby transboy, and my marriage had just ended over me living my truth. My living situation was somewhat uncertain, my future looked bleak, and I was emotionally ruined and in so much anguish." Not originally meant to be released, MELVL decided to share this expression of pain in a transphobic world. The three tracks are alternately choral, horrific, resigned, hopeful. Proceeds from the tape sales will go to The Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia, of which MELVL is a board member.
AFAMoo - Fusion Session in Tokyo (Bandcamp Exclusive)
A hugely enjoyable house jam from Japanese producer AFAMoo. Synthetic basslines, raging keyboard and sax solos, like prime 90s Basement Jaxx copying their New York contemporaries. Not that it's a bad thing! It's alllll good here.
Apartao - Casa de Huéspedes [nvg012]
Going through new releases on Bandcamp I came across this one from Navegante Records, a label based in Santiago, Chile. It's a wild combination of sumptuous chords and dancing breakbeat. Deep house but pretty fast. I like it.
Coastal Cast ~ KMRU
Coastal Haze generally puts out airy, breezy house music, the kind of stuff you imagine playing on sunny days in warm climes. They also have a mix series — who doesn't? — and the latest comes from Kenyan artist KMRU, who's been having a banner year. That was a surprise for me, as his approach is generally more towards the ambient and sound art side of things. The mix follows that approach, with strange sounds and spoken word samples coming up against searing drones and field recordings. It's welcome, of course, just an unexpected pairing.