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.
