Thursday, June 30, 2022
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
New Forest Mysticisms - Edmondson (Lissoms)
Title: New Forest Mysticisms
Artist: Edmondson
Label: Lissoms
Cat Number: LLL006
Genre: Deep House/Breaks
1: Think Back
2: New Forest Mysticism
3: All Dressed Up And Going Nowhere
4: Y2K Glow Mix
You can feel the inner glow of summer while listening to this beguiling piece of work; the sun shining through the tree canopy permeating every groove. ‘All Dressed Up And Going Nowhere’ with its breathy vocals and lazy groove with traces of early Herbert topped off with a hazy ambience. The syncopated breaks of the title track draped in sweeping sonic washes. ‘Think Back’ sounding like a tweaked American cop show soundtrack brought into sharp relief, and ‘Y2K Glow Mix’ which again utilises breaks, but this time layers them with atmospheric jazz scores in order to engender a feeling of intense optimism and wellbeing. An uplifting brilliant piece of work this.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Wing Theory ll - Tom Jarmey (Wing Theory)
Title: Wing Theory ll
Artist: Tom Jarmey
Label: Wing Theory
Cat Number: WING002
Genre: Vibetastic
1: Heated Silence
2: Fog Runs Deep
3: Towering Mountain feat. Holly Wilkes (Extended Mix)
4: Flock Of Sparrows
5: Trill
6: Towering Mountain feat. Holly Wilkes (Radio Mix)
Tom Jarney’s ‘Wing Theory ll’, “explores brand new territory in an eclectic mix of both dance-centric and home-listening tracks”, according to its press release. I would venture the opinion that it’s much more grounded in the latter than the former. Moreover, it’s only really ‘Heated Silence’ that properly hits the spot dance-wise, utilising breaks on a trance foundation across a nine minute length that is both subtle and artful enough to keep you wanting more. Both ‘Fog Runs Deep’ and ‘Flock Of Sparrows’ are atmospheric slow dives into the abyss, with recognisable rave tropes buried deep in the mix. The ornithological themes continues with the beatless ‘Trill’, (does it still “make budgies bounce with health”?), an ambient track which feels like a misty morning in the mountains. Starddling both spheres of influence is ‘Towering Mountain feat. Holly Wilkes’, an engaging and deep track which highlights its vocals on top of a vaguely tribal, break beat which suppresses itself from going off too much in any particular direction.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
The Shock Of The New EP - Power From The Skies (No Static/Automatic)
Title: The Shock Of The New EP
Artist: Power From The Skies
Label: No Static/Automatic
Cat Number: NSA003.1
Genre: Techno/Industrial Ambience/Hardcore
1: Doesn’t Follow Logic
2: Karaoke Calculator
3: Pylon Ground
4: Malton Is A Sexy Town
5: Doesn’t Follow Logic (Return Code Zero Remix)
This release is a departure from the electro I’m used to hearing on this label. There is a variance of tempos across the four original tracks with ‘Doesn’t Follow Logic’ consisting of a pervasive glookiness, breakbeats of various textures largely hardcore based, and what sounds like a cartoon horse. Tracks 2, 3 & 4 each play their respective parts in a fluctuant dislocation of the senses. Deploying cohesive rhythmic patterns which run up against beatless brick walls is a recurrent motif, as is an inventive use of acrid electronics and depth. The Return Code Zero Remix of ‘Doesn’t Follow Logic’ is the most fully formed piece of rhythmic disorder here, the other pieces feeling like they’ve been building up to it, but it still has a similar approach, and rounds off this very interesting release nicely.
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Parole & Papaver EP - Vertical Cat (Achingly)
Title: Parole & Papaver EP
Artist: Vertical Cat
Label: Achingly
Cat Number: achy004
Genre: Deep House
A1: Parole
A2: Luna
B1: Papaver
B2: Moss (Electro Origins Mix)
Understatement is the name of the game here, in a very good way. ‘Parole’ and ‘Luna’ are two solid deep house tracks; the former feeling like a piece of looped techno distilled to its very essence, bereft of body and all in the mind. ‘Luna’ takes things up a notch; adding grist for the mill in the form of a more solid beat foundation, it courses along a similar cosmic lateral line. ‘Papaver’ does, as described in the press release, take its cues from dub techno, but deploys a much lighter touch without a throbbing bass to ground it. That leaves ‘Moss (Electro Origins Mix)’ which is a wickedly off-beat piece of fragile machine funk. The type which as well as being a challenge to break dance to, has other uses, such as the soundtrack to quiet contemplation while drinking in all that life has to offer. Right up my street this, which means I like it a lot.
Monday, June 20, 2022
They Come In Twos - Alonzo (Cultivated Electronics)
Title: They Come In Twos
Artist: Alonzo
Label: Cultivated Electronics
Cat Number: CE042
Genre: Electro
A1: Animal Control
A2: Cause & Effect
B1: They Come In Twos
B2: Magnetic
C1: Corner Of 11th
C2: Drunken Badger
D1: Unprofessional
D2: Zone D
Having first come across Alonzo via his ‘I’m A . . . ‘ release on WT, and then ‘003’ on Zement, I harboured more anticipation than is strictly normal for someone of my advanced years when discovering this release in my inbox. I’m not disappointed either, with my predilection for grungy, world out of balance beats being more than satisfied three tracks in. Vocoders feature heavily as well, and who cares if the lyrics can’t be made out. It’s all about the menace and threat, yeah? Mind you, nothing works independently. Those sinister spoken word emissions would be nothing without the multiple textures of electro that lift them to new, disorientating heights. There’s a healthy feeling of unease and disturbance aligned to an insatiable machine funk momentum that keeps this collection ticking over like a finely tuned instrument of chaos. Alonzo does like a flange, and this is used throughout the album, but nowhere more devastatingly than when it is combined with a screaming siren on ‘Drunken Badger’. The title track is notable for its coalescence of practically all of dissonant electro’s already mentioned hallmarks, and the collection is bookended by a couple of tunes that also employ oral dissonance sparingly, and multiple cluster bomb effects liberally across their respective synth infused landscapes. On the one hand there’s nothing strikingly new here, but the collection comes together beautifully as a sequential piece of work with momentum sustained. I just wish the tracks were each a little longer to maximise mixing potential.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Saturday, June 18, 2022
Friday, June 17, 2022
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Down To The Ground - DJ Linus (Nordic Trax)
Title: Down To The Ground
Artist: DJ Linus
Label: Nordic Trax
Cat Number: NT117
Genre: Deep House
1: It’s All Good
2: It’s All Good (Dub Version)
3: Down To The Ground
4: Bavarian Stomper
I’ve still got my copy of ‘Who Stole The Soul’ by the artist still known as the one who makes me think of Peanuts. And this is his first release for what looks like ten years. It’s not bad either. ‘It’s All Good’ is an uplifting, funky vocal track that builds and more stamina than Mo Farah. The dub dispenses with the main vocal and brings the disco dissonance into sharper focus. ‘Down To The Ground’ is an understated, off key shuffler that remains largely in the sonic shadows, it’s a subtle exercise in restraint and has similar constituents to ‘It’s All Good’. The best has been saved until last though, with ‘Bavarian Stomper’ turning out to be a very capable piece of italo disco that’s crying out for a camp as fuck vocal. A good return to the fray from DJ Linus then.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Monday, June 13, 2022
Entheogen EP - Jabru (Of Unsound Mind)
Title: Entheogen EP
Artist: Jabru
Label: Of Unsound Mind
Cat Number: OFUNSOUNDMIND096
Genre: Break Beats, etc
1: Entheogen
2: Jem
3: Shelter
Well, this comes out swinging its bollocks from up on high. ‘Entheogen’ fairly bounces along on high octane batacuda beats. ‘Jem’ shows a lighter touch, using breaks and a dubbed-out vocal fug underpinned by a piano to enable much shape throwing. ‘Shelter’ is probably the most subtle of the three, with its organic, almost aquatic percussion supported by a pervasive low end that comes in and out of focus. The title track apparently references Capricorn’s ‘20HZ’, something which is noticeable in the percussion department, and the general tranced out ambience it deploys. And the whole EP is a vibe which is way greater than the sum of its very special parts.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Friday, June 10, 2022
Thursday, June 09, 2022
BRC Vol 2 - Black Rave Culture
Title: BRC 2
Artist: Black Rave Culture
Label: Self-Released
Cat Number:
Genre: Black Rave
01. NEVER LEFT
02. CEREBRAL ATROPHY
03. ACTIVATE
04. MOROCCAN MIST
05. SOMETHING ELSE
06. PAY ME
07. DEEP BREATHING
08. SUB POPPIN
09. DOPPLER
10. ISSA BOP
11. LONG DISTANCE DILEMMA (PRACTICE)
12. IN MY BIZNESS feat. Dreamcastmoe
13. PACE PLAN (BONUS TRACK)
Black Rave Culture are “DC natives, Amal, James Bangura, and Nativesun” and with this release seem to be documenting and creating their own interpretation of floor-focussed electronic music. And it’s nothing if not engaging and polyvalent. Non-genre specific but united under the rave umbrella, this is indeed a piece of work. Along its layered length there are certain elements that I’m struck by more than others: the drum and bass of ‘Deep Breathing’ and ‘Never Left’; the subtlety of ‘Long Distance Dilemma (Practice)’, and ‘Moroccan Mist’; the deep, dynamic techno of ‘Activate’; and the dialled down oasis of calm that is ‘In My Bizness feat. Dreamcastmoe’, a track that feels more at home being pumped out of a yacht’s sound system, moored off the Amalfi coast, than in a sweaty Washington rave den. Other tracks like ‘Cerebral Atrophy’ and ‘Sub Poppin’ sound like they’re in a state of exponential entropy, where being locked into their groove is a voyage into the unknown with no apparent end until the chaos prevails. A notable piece of work that displays great range, ‘BRC Vol. 2’ has class, depth, range and invention, and is an imaginative take on subliminal sonic dynamics.
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
Detroit Visions - Luke Hess (Rekids Special Projects)
Title: Detroit Visions
Artist: Luke Hess
Label: Rekids Special Projects
Cat Number: RSPX41
Genre: Techno
01: Two Prophets
02: The Way
03: Soul Purpose
04: Polymoon
I have a few records by Mr Hess in my collection, which does need some pruning. However, I won’t be getting rid of any of his bits. And it’s good to see that with this release he’s doing what I expect of him, making quality techno of a driving, dubby sensibility. All of the tracks here represent this approach pretty well, with perhaps ‘Polymoon’ feeling a little less fluid than the others. And ‘Two Prophets’ and ‘Soul Purpose’ being the most exemplary takes, the latter having a denser, deeper approach than the former’s more stripped-down, metallic groove. It’s a sound that no matter how often I hear it, and irrespective of the artist, always gets me going. ‘The Way’ fuses momentum, propulsion and space into a tunnel vision of dub, offering something less linear, but no less effective.
Tuesday, June 07, 2022
Eventide In Orbit - Manami (Viscera Transmissions)
Title: Eventide In Orbit
Artist: Manami
Label: Viscera Transmissions
Cat Number: VT001
Genre: Trance
1: Eventide In Orbit
2: Interaxial
3: Overture One
4: Overture One (Adam Pits’ Stomp Mix)
Trance is back! It’s been around for ever of course, and never truly went away. However, now it has returned as a fully-fledged noun and not just an insignificant adjective. Mind you, I never had a problem with the descriptive detail, it was the genre that often left me cold. There have been some excellent tracks over the years that fall into the category, but listening to a set composed of nothing else can leave one cold. So how does Manami do with ‘Eventide In Orbit’? Not bad. The title track evolves slowly to become a mature, elongated, electronic, hypnotic hymn, with shades of Goa. ‘Overture One’ shares similar characteristics, it’s less fluid melody slowed down to a frictional, tropical drag by Adam Pits. And as far as ‘Interaxial’ is concerned, it’s all out organised chaos. Pretty good effort all round on this one.
Monday, June 06, 2022
Sunday, June 05, 2022
Saturday, June 04, 2022
Friday, June 03, 2022
The Transcendental Deck Skills Of Alex Downey
I’ve never seen Alex play, but I listen to a lot of his sets and, while it would be good to have first hand experience of the skill and dexterity involved, I’m more than happy with what I’ve heard within the online medium. I regularly repost his mixes on here, as well as share them on social media and I’ve heard him referred to as the best there is from these here shores. This is a believable claim, and I’m sure that he would be more widely known and appreciated if he had the profile of a recording artist. He is “only” a DJ though; but what a DJ. I can only imagine how it must feel in the right environment when confronted by the machine funk smorgasbord at his fingertips. The sonic spectrum is explored, which means that one gives oneself up to a combination of breaks, electro, techno, idm and everything in between. On occasion there are life-changing moments when the music hits with such intensity that I’m constantly reminded of the bewildered looks on faces of Roma’s players as Liverpool gave them the runaround during the first leg of the 2018 Champions’ League semi final. The hypnotic sets I’ve had the pleasure to hear are built largely on a fusion of break beats and electro, the two becoming progressively denser and draped in atomic transcendentalism in constantly evolving peaks and troughs. This, however, doesn’t necessarily eschew a more traditional looped approach. His approach to DJing is as much about being caught in the sonic conflagration as anything else; and is a reminder that given the correct terms and conditions, we all have the potential to be in two places at once.
