Saturday, July 31, 2021
Friday, July 30, 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Parkland EP - Mailer (Sine Language)
Title: Parkland EP
Artist: Mailer
Label: Sine Language Records
Cat Number: SINE014
Genre: Techno
1: Bus 11
2: Rokkaku Group
3: Miocene
4: Renmont
5: Vaultt
A new label to me and one that is pleasingly lo-fi, in look at least. And I’m not afraid to say that this is the aesthetic that drew me in. However, music cannot exist on looks alone, no matter how important the packaging might be, this isn’t Factory innit. In any case, this release stands on its own two feet quite comfortably, the output therein being a constantly oscillating collection of left field, melodic electronica, some of which is for dancing, and some not. Break beats occupying different areas of the spectrum are present and correct (‘Rokkaku Group’, ‘Bus 11’, ‘Renmont’). ‘Miocene’ never quite comes to the boil, but it’s interesting to listen to its undulations. While ‘Vaultt’ is somewhere between the break beat nether world and tense ambience. It’s a very interesting release with depth, range and drama and it gives me a sense of uncertainty, which is nice.
Monday, July 26, 2021
Terra 589 - Atrice (Ozelot)
Title: Terra 589
Artist: Atrice
Label: Ozelot
Cat Number: Ozelot 007
Genre: Breaks
1: Invertebrate
2: Amphibia
3: Chordata
4: Tetrapoda
5: Speedlink
With a track list that, for the most part reads like and evolutionary flow chart, Atrice gives us a release that shows off a range of breaks and a variety of beats. Whether by accident or design, what we have here could be marking faunal percussive development, or maybe no such thing. Whatever the case, the sounds assembled herein, no matter how conceptual, are consolidated by a symphonic foundation of sorts which offers cohesion when this may seem unlikely. There is also a solidity about the beats. All of the tracks except ‘Speedlink’, which brings things to a close in a skippy, ephemeral way, are characterised by a robust flexibility that wears off a little in ‘Tetrapoda’ having evolved with exponential grace up to that point.
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Flex Time - 96 Back (Local Action)
Title: Flex Time
Artist: 96 Back
Label: Local Action
Cat Number: LOC069
Genre: Future Abstract Beats
1: Coup de Grace feat. Cadence Weapon
2: Tired Angel
3: Note To Self
4: Plucks
5: Y I’m Here feat. Iceboy Violet
A game of two halves this. The vocal tracks are beat led and feature a rap from Cadence Weapon, and Iceboy Violet. Both of them slightly left field, with the latter a little more woozy and wayward than the former. ‘Plucks’ keeps the beats in the foreground and is an interesting amalgamation of hip hop tropes and the outer limits of frictional rave. Both ‘Tired Angel’ and ‘Note To Self’ feel like portals into another era. Using symphonic hauntology they depart from the present and dwindle into a parallel world which somehow doesn’t feel out of place set against the tougher, more self-perpetuating sound ecosystem occupied by the other compositions. There is plenty to occupy the imagination here, chief amongst which is trying to articulate it.
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Cult Of Tau - Kill The Void (Dance Trax)
Title: Cult Of Tau
Artist: Kill The Void
Label: Dance Trax
Cat Number: DANCETRAXBB2
Genre: Trance/Techno
1:Cult Of Tao
2: Cult Of Tao (Assembler Code Remix)
3: Cosmopendium
4: Chariot Of Love
Kill The Void has gone on all out attack with this release, pausing for thought a little
with ‘Chariot Of Love’, which is a more or less beat less, but melancholic composition that is a welcome respite from the full on techno trance of ‘Cult Of Tau’ and ‘Cosmopendium’. Both of these tracks are raw exercises in big room dynamics, utilising classic psi-trance shifts and abnormally pungent breakdowns. Assembler Code renders the title track unrecognisable and injects the funk by way of electro, for which we must all be thankful.
