RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
This week is slightly outsourced. I’ve been listening mainly to new and unreleased music so not much that I’d be able to feature here. I jokingly tweeted yesterday “any good music out” and got a bunch of responses, some of which I’ll feature here (with credit!). Quick mention for Debit’s album The Long Count, which isn’t on Bandcamp but you can get it here. Also, 4Columns reports on the new book Dilla Time. I’ve yet to read it but I can’t wait.
Svetlana Maraš - Radio Concert No.2
A glorious selection of sonic manipulations from Serbian sound artist Svetlana Maraš. Synth, tape and computer, recorded last year.
Australian artist J provided one of my favourite albums last year, and here he’s done a lovely mix for the radio.syg.ma. It’s quiet and murky and strange, just how I like it.
Thanks to Chuck Pee for the tip on this one. I don’t think I’ve featured Tanya Tagaq since 2014, not that she’s been quiet since. This latest one was produced by Saul Williams and mixed by Gonjasufi (not that this esteemed artist needs a cosign by any means). At one point she sings “Touch my children and my teeth welcome your windpipe!” I feel that.
More marvelous droning wonder from Mark S. Williamson aka Spaceship. This one is inspired by the ravines near the River Calder in Yorkshire. There’s always something elemental about woods and forests and valleys. This music reflects that. Deep, unsettling, emphatic.
VA - Kit Club: Label Sampler Vol. 1
A nice retrospective of sounds from the wonderful Kit Records, still going strong after nearly a decade. More than 30 tracks, with artists like Roméo Poirier, Cara Stacey, Richard Greenan (Kit bossmang himself), Mary Lattimore, The Nag’s Head,Shape Worship, B£AMS, Bug bus piano, Otherworld and Yaffle all many more.
Jonathan Deasy aka Quiet Clapping has been on an incredible run this past year or two, and every release of his is worth a look. Lots of his stuff is quietly intense drone, but this one is more vibrant and expansive. It’s got melody! Bells and tones, chimes and chords, all yearning towards something.
VA - Shortwave Transmissions (Cities and Memory)
Cities and Memory invites artists to make music from a variety of sources, most often field recordings. In this case they teamed up with The Shortwave Radio Archive and present more than 100 recordings from the history of shortwave radio to artists who were free to do whatever they wanted with them. The results are intriguing and exciting. Some tracks are strange collages, some are melancholy drones with plaintive news reports over the top. What’s fascinating to me is the cyclical nature of history, with recordings of American pundits or politicians speaking about Russian military transgressions, in this case in Afghanistan. Then in another track you hear some Gaga, Super Mario and The O’Jays in quick succession. It’s a wild ride.
Chelidon Frame, Discontinuation of Treatment - Wings In The Dark
“An ambient drone live set, with a lot of vocal samples, broken beats and found sounds, recorded live in studio (with Discontinuation of Treatment) and put on tape.” That’s how Chelidon Frame introduced this one when he responded to my tweet. There’s only an edit available at the moment but it’s wild and I love it.
More from EAT DIS (shout out DJ Girl). This is some incredibly harsh and noisy techno, abrasive and unrelenting. Not entirely my bag, I’ll be honest, but opening track ‘EXPERT BOYMODER’ is quite fascinating, as is ‘CHILD OF THE FLOOD’. I don’t know anything about the artist, bar some mythical accompanying text.
Sail We Must: A Sea Story of Andrew Weatherall & An Irish Fisherman
Finally this week, enjoy a short film about Andrew Weatherall. It’s so short there’s no point in me describing it, all I’ll say is it features some archival footage of the man alongside some interviews with his musical partner Sean Johnson and Irish DJ Cian Ó Cíobháin. It’s a lovely way to spend 12 minutes.