Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Monday, January 30, 2023
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Track Of The Day: Television - Prove It (Elektra)
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Friday, January 27, 2023
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Inigo Votier - Setsi EP (Optimo Music)
Title: Setsi EP
Artist: Inigo Votier
Label: Optimo Music
Cat Number: OMDD47
Genre: Chug
1: Setsi
2: Weirdo
3: Oh Yeah!
4: Mental Yetal
Inigo Votier keeps it simple on the title track. Various drum beats, low end which comes in and out of focus and a cowbell. There are other smaller building blocks involved, but these are the foundation of the track’s momentum and, as such, deliver. ‘Weirdo’ is similarly stripped back, but not as fast and with an industrial edge to it. ‘Oh Yeah!’ has similar sharp edges to ‘Weirdo’, but is more intense and with an eponymous vocal sample not a million miles away from one much better known. Finally ‘Mental Yetal’ is a wobbly voyage into the dark realms of the disco, featuring a fluctuating bass that alongside a more stable battery, manages to create a feeling of dislocation very convincingly. “Everyone’s a winner baby, that’s the truth.”
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Unloved - I Did It (Heavenly Recordings)
Title: I Did It
Artist: Unloved
Label: Heavenly Recordings
Cat Number:
Genre: Disco If You Feel Like It
1: I Did It
2: I Did It (Manfredas Remix)
3: I Did It (Instrumental)
In it’s original form, ‘I Did It’ is a wall of sound – inspired piece of left field, throwback 60’s – inspired pop. It’s only just over 3 minutes long and is crying out for an elongated remix. Manfredas duly obliges with a piece of work that almost quadruples listening time and, not surprisingly, starts off just a little bit like something more in tune with Villalobos. Low key percussion which is paired with snippets of the original’s vocals. Problem is that’s it. It works very well as a dub, and also as a layer. However, as a stand alone track it lacks backbone and, if a used condom could make a noise, it would sound like this. It never really gets out of second gear, which is a pity.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Monday, January 23, 2023
CYRK - Attack Of The Blow Up Dolls (Cultivated Electronics)
Title: Attack Of The Blow Up Dolls
Artist: CYRK
Label: Cultivated Electronics
Cat Number: CE043
Genre: Electro
A1: Attack Of The Blow Up Dolls
A2: Tsikey
B1: Ahemait
B2: Needler
Are blow up dolls still a thing? I’m thinking back to when they were, the 1970s, 80s maybe. Not that I would know anything about such things you understand. In any case, the fact that CYRK has chosen to name their latest release in the manner they have has brought back all manner of previously discarded memories. As usual though, titles have ambiguous relations to what they name. So the title track is a piece of pounding electro which could indeed evoke an attack, but of blow up dolls? ‘Tsikey is slightly toned down by comparison and is a subtler, more insidious beast. The bests are still razor sharp and don’t slack though. ‘Ahemait’ uses a descending, low end melody to probe the innermost depths of the shape-throwing mechanism, and ‘Needler’ utilises an understated snarl to emphasise bass and synth which coalesces in some sort of intergalactic robofunk. It’s all good.
