Below is a bunch of stuff I’ve been feeling lately…
DJ Rashad R.I.P.
I saw DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn at SXSW this year and it was mind-blowing. Rashad was mixing up Footwork, pop samples, Jungle beats, choppy Juke and it all worked. I think he was on the verge of pushing the Footwork genre into a brand new place and potentially get a much larger amount of exposure for himself and his genre. I’m really saddened that we won’t be able to see him grow and evolve as an artist in the coming years.
Aphex Twin/Caustic Window Kickstarter Release (1994/2014)
There was a mythic Aphex Twin album created years ago under the alias “Caustic Window” that never came out. Four to ten copies apparently exist, all test presses. Someone posted the album for sale on discogs recently for $10K+ and a fellow named Joyrex from WATMM.com negotiated a deal to buy the album, rip it, sell the files on Kickstarter, split the money amongst charities, label and contributors and then sell the record on ebay.
I pitched in, it’s almost at $60K right now and I’m happy to finally hear it.
Would still like a vinyl copy though.
Jacques Greene – Phantom Vibrate on LuckyMe (2014)
Lush and sweaty, good/rough beats, soooooooo pretty when it’s all working. I think his sounds are perfectly delicate when they need to be and he pays a lot of attention to how the whole songs fit together. This EP ranges from R&B all the way to shiny, sad house.
Fatima Al Quadiri – Asiatisch on Hyperdub Records (2014)
This is REAL good, like some crazy drippy Asian influenced grime without a lot of swing. It has some rad sounds that really shouldn’t work together but fit in all the right ways. Lots of cheesy keyboard sounds that when arranged come across as vividly orchestral. I saw her at SXSW 2013 and she threw down as hard as anyone, but this release is minimal and deep. Good vocoder work as well.
Tresor Documentary (2009)
I watched this the other night, a bit full of hype and “crazy” camera tricks but a really cool look at the origins of the legendary Tresor club in Berlin. The interrelation of the club’s foundation and the fall of the Berlin wall was very interesting as well.
http://youtu.be/0f3qKZ5z6Q0
The Body – I Shall Die Here on RVNG Intl. (2014)
This is real harsh and definitely metal influenced, but while I doing dishes the other night, it felt really similar to Tortoise if they would have gotten rougher and not ended up making contemporary jazz. All of the tracks on this album were given to Haxan Cloak to finish and he remixed them and it’s oddly one of the grooviest harsh things I’ve heard in a while.
Thug Entrancer – Death After Life I-VIII on Software (2014)
Software put this out, I’ve been listening to it a lot, some of it sounds like minimal, loopy Footwork, while other bits like sound like Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Some good synth work throughout, really subtle changes even when the songs are blunt. Overall this works as an entire album and I can’t wait to hear what Thug Entrancer makes in the future.
Moodyman – “When She Follows” from Black Mahogany II on Peacefrog (2004)
This song just drips with awkward broken lust, been listening to it a lot lately as summer creeps in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDZeog1sZ4&feature=kp
Lassigue Bendthaus – Matter on Parade Amoureuse/Dark Entries (1991/2014)
Just got this reissue, my girlfriend thinks it sounds like Depeche Mode. It’s Atom Heart/Uwe Schmidt making synth-pop through glitch. The crazy part is that this is from 1991 and Tri-Repetae is from 1995 and the approach and sounds are very similar on both, despite the difference in genre.
Leon Vynehall – Music for the Uninvited on 3024 (2014)
There is a hiss throughout this album and I guess it’s supposed to be tape hiss, and while it feels like potentially a trick, doesn’t matter as I’m hypnotized and listen over and over and the noise just gets blurrier. The kind of music Daft Punk is making in an alternate universe.
Venetian Snares – My Love is a Bulldozer on Planet Mu (2014)
This is coming out and Aaron Funk is singing on it and it has orchestral stuff and jazzy sounds and it’s going to be confrontational and dark and none of this really matters because I’m going to buy it. Also the cover of the album has a Funk/horse hybrid and the candles on the wall are double horse heads and those details only make we want this more.
Poemss – Poemss on Planet Mu (2014)
This is also Venetian Snares, but this time joined by Joanne Pollock and was one of the first things to come out from Aaron Funk in a while. They sing on it and I think that can throw some people off, but it has immaculate sound design and the arrangements are unsettling and I’ve listened to it tons while getting ready to go places.
– Submitted by Steven Pilker, Music Design