Bandcloud 325

It's the last Bandcloud of the year! This year I sent nearly 50 mails including one guest edition (thank you Jack Murphy), four guest mixes, broadcast 13 radio shows and recorded eight podcasts. Phew. I haven't done the numbers on how many artists I featured but I imagine it must be 500+. Today I can share with you some more reflections on 2020 in interviews with Brad Rose, Crystal Mioner, Maral, Dr Mathys and SHE Spells Doom. And lots of music.

Great Ghost - 1000 Years of Good Luck
This is just really lovely. It's an ambient release from an artist who previously appeared here with some deeply rich house sounds. Great Ghost released this one on Japanese label Umé a few weeks back, and while I'm wary of being all "IN THESE TRYING TIMES", especially because the release is so good it would work in any year, it's very nice to listen to in these times that are trying.

Taylor Deupree - Objects I've Been Given
I've been holding back on this one for months. At the start of the year, Taylor Deupree set out to create a track each month with, as the title suggests, an object given to him by a family member or friend. Long-cherished items, they would be used to create some experimental and unusual music. He's updated the page each month, and promises to write a reflection on the project at the end of the year (#12 is not yet uploaded but it will come). Objects have included bell with red ribbon, tine sculpture (January), 19th c. 4-string wooden zither, Roland RE-201 Space Echo (February), coconut & teak ladle, wooden speaker (May) and so on. It's a testament to the ability of the artist that it never feels gimmicky, instead simply demonstrating his capacity for creation with any means.

VA - I stumble and then I fall (A Colourful Storm)
A Colourful Storm is a label I should really have been paying more attention to, and I must give a shout to Nevan, Ole and Tony, who have been singing its praises over the past while. This one is a strange and murky collection of tracks: "Glimpses of visions, fragments of fantasy, figments of imagination. Reveries of those preferring to remain in the shadows - and clues left from others hidden in plain view..." Yeah. I particularly like Charlatan Prism's 'Vipassanā', reportedly recorded on Orpheus Island.

Pingers - DJ Ping Gran TuneRismo
This is a mix of music from the various iterations of the game Gran Turismo. I've never played the game but the music sounds ace, from sultry jazzy stuff to ambient wash and more. Thanks to Rachael for the tip.

SI010 Φ - Jessica Ekomane
An old but resurrected mix from sound artist Jessica Ekomane, featuring haunting chamber music as well as contemporary classical, experimental modern music and Eartha Kitt.

Outgoing Person - Outgoing Tracks
Outgoing Person decided to end the year by dumping all of his recent tracks on Dec 31. OP featured some months back with a great Dua Lipa bootleg, and some of the stuff here (esp 'lonelygirl15') shows off what you might call his pop chops. Other stuff is very weird and splodgy and 'computery'. Lots of talent and ideas on offer.

Ekca Liena - Veiled State
A really haunting and beautiful suite — it doesn't feel right to call this an album — of striking ambient music. I'm actually sick of the word ambient? But what else do you call it. Instrumental music without beats made with synths and stuff. The label refers to the artist as making "noise, drone and conceptual composition". This isn't noise or drone, I don't think, its ebbs and flows less gradual and more kinetic, without necessarily being forceful. Just talking in circles now. Ambient is too reductive yet even using many other words I don't say enough. Veiled State (great pun) is overwhelming, its eddies and swirls carrying you through flurries of emotion. Across its six tracks, stretching as long as 16 minutes, it creates a fascinating and powerful mood that defies description (he says, 130 words later).

A Bloxham Christmas - Vol 1
Quirky novelty Christmas albums are no craic (unless they're 50p from Trunk Records), so rest assured this is neither quirky nor a novelty. Bloxham Tapes make fine, weird music, and this collection of newly recorded Christmas songs features many examples. One of my favourites is Greening Lambourne's 'Happy Golden Days of Yore', a Vangelis-esque take on 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. There's also the unhinged '(Even Lonely Robots & Drunken Aliens Get the Blues at) Christmas' from Cut A Lonely Figure, which seems like a mechanical rendition of Darlene Love's 'Christmas'. It's both magical and unsettling.

Delphine Dora (featuring Pacôme Thiellement) - Confinés depuis la nuit des temps
Delphine Dora and the writer and poet Pacôme Thiellement discovered each other's work this year and decided to work together. I think that's the gist of it. Dora's work is laden with field recordings, strange vocals, strings and other musical plunderings, and I think the writer is speaking on top about, well, who knows. French speakers, I guess. It's a weird release but it's worth a go.

Nadia Khan - Port Ana
This one has been on my to-listen pile for ages but I finally made time for it this week. As before with her releases on Scissor & Thread, it's deeply sumptuous, ambient at times, deeply housey at times, always a delight. There are two remixes by Lawrence from Dial, but honestly I feel the originals are untouchable.

Relaxer - Hedonic Fatigue
Unlike the other releases on Climate of Fear, this one from Relaxer is a selection of original works, rather than a recording of a DJ set. His sounds are like a nightmare of churn, electronic whirlwinds and terrifying synth melodies, snarling bass lines and all that. So this is great. Always happy to have more of this guy's work in my life.

minor INVENTION - Lineage EP
Jon Dixon presents a new alias, minor INVENTION, whereby he attempts to revisit techniques he's learned over the years in order to step out of a creative box. As I write there's one track available, entitled While in Lockdown, and it's such a gorgeously squelchy house track that I played it three times in a row. I'm very excited to hear the rest of this project.

Animix Nineteen: Parris
Woof. This is just delightful. Parris runs through some airily gorgeous music, with tracks from the likes of collaborator Call Super, Oli XL, Chekov, Joy O and Parris himself. I said airily gorgeous, if the word weren't already laden down (ho ho) with a different connotation I'd call it weightless. Sprightly, energetic and pulsating yet without the heft of kick or bass drums. This is a doof-free zone, and all the more charismatic for it.

USRNM - 23
You may recall 23 by Eumig, which I shared back in August. It was an album made up of 23 tracks, made in 23 minutes. It was released on August 23 (a Sunday). This is USRNM's effort using the same criteria. I don't know how he did it, but did it he did. It's out on December 23, a big middle finger to list season and any notion of marketability.

Bandcloud Christmas Special 2017
Finally, here's a mix I made for DDR a few years back. It features drone takes on Christmas classics, detuned Frank Sinatra, Bright Eyes and Sufjan singing Christmas songs and even some Run The Jewels. Maybe don't play it over Christmas dinner.