May 21, 2021 at 8:35 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
v/a: LT-GLOBE-XX2
Neo-jungle crew Globex Corp returns to Lobster Theremin with
another set of tracks to splash us into summer. Dwarde & Tim Reaper start it off with “Hydraulics”, which is refreshing like a trip down a tall waterslide, but with a kick like eating a spicy meal at a picnic while you’re taking a break from outdoor activities. DJ Sports’ remix of a Dwarde/Reaper track brings the smashy breaks and kinda grimy bass. Richard Harrow’s “Aftermath” is a nine-minute trek which takes its time to build up sludgy breaks, very slowly applying shimmering atmospheres and traces of vocals. There’s very subtle changes to the breaks and other sounds, but they make an impact. And then Merph & Mantissa’s “Whip” just slaps plain and simple. The breaks roll along, only slightly cracked to the point of absurdity, but then it just becomes a full-on deluge, until it just stops dead at the end.
May 20, 2021 at 9:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Barker: BARKER002
Barker’s
first release since the landmark full-length
Utility is an even more fleshed-out vision of neo-trance euphoria that still holds back from heading into a full-on rush. “E7-E5” is shining and ever-rising, then “Bent” is a darker and more difficult piece that unexpectedly slips some breakbeats in between its flowing synth cadences and fragmented laser beams. “Polytely” is riddled with icicle-thin, jittery arpeggios which delicately hint at a storm of feelings which are hard to process and logically express, yet they’re rendered with a very distinct sort of clarity. Nothing less than masterful.
May 19, 2021 at 8:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Racquel Jones: IgnoRANT
Jamaican emcee Racquel Jones comes hard with her first album, an epic set of brash, unfiltered, and ambitious songs about tough subjects. Clearly not trying to copy the latest trends or make something safe and palatable for mainstream radio, Jones writes volatile, unpredictable songs which often have several tempo changes. On opener “Invocation”, she acknowledges all of her contradictions, serving as a brief warning that this won’t be a straightforward, clear-cut journey. “Anger” has some of the album’s most stunning production and aggressive lyrics. Other tracks unflinchingly address religion (“Sacrilege”), sexuality (“Daddy Issues”), beauty standards (“Ugly”), and fetishization of Black culture (“Jungle”). “Manic” starts out with introspective spoken word and ethereal balladry before suddenly switching to vicious trap for a brief moment. On “Arrogant”, she boasts “I am the scientist, you the experiment”. “Heartless” alternates between not giving a fuck what anyone thinks and yearning for love and acceptance (“I’m human for real, oh how I wish you could see this”). “Hurt” is similarly emotional and introspective, but the disco-tinged “Queen” is bursting with self-confidence, with Jones claiming to be Eartha Kitt, Lauryn Hill, and Cleopatra at once.
May 17, 2021 at 9:35 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Sentinel 793: Brukwerk
The
first release from this Bristolian producer is a set of smoothly flowing tracks with liquid synths and broken beats. The opening track has precise, angular rhythms which are super easy to follow, and the bassier “Wormholes” follows suit. This doesn’t feel quite as jazz or funk-oriented to really classify it as part of the broken beat scene, there’s something a bit loopier about it, but it could fit. A Drumskull remix pushes the sound a little closer to ambient footwork, and Haze City’s mix of “Wormholes” retains the broken beat energy but also tips its hat to jungle a bit.
May 16, 2021 at 8:54 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
v/a: Blunted Breaks Vol. 2
to Western Lore’s
first Blunted Breaks comp is just as much of a state of jungle address as the first one. Label owner Dead Man’s Chest starts things off properly, bringing the right mix of atmosphere and dark, crunchy breaks. Eusebeia’s track has a little more of a rave flavor, and Bluematter’s “Zeus (Threshold Remix)” is altogether rougher and has some absolutely slaying breaks. Double O’s “God Is a Woman” is much more relaxed, with Sheba Q’s soothing voice rippling across the top like a pond. Tim Reaper’s only appearance is his remix of Response & Pliskin’s “Plastic Face”, although it sounds more like their nearly progressive techno take on jungle than his style. The Sam Binary track absolutely crashes out of the sky, going from pure ethereal floating to just devastating sledgehammer destruction. “Trapped in Paradise” by Law similarly cruises along blissfully and then upsets when the breaks crash in. Ok, I guess a lot of people in this scene do atmospheric synths + heavy breaks, it’s kind of a staple of this genre, but it’s entirely why I love it so much.
May 15, 2021 at 8:49 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Slikback: ARATTA
Of the two
Slikback EPs which popped up unexpectedly recently,
this was the one got excited about the most. The first track is just pure molten fire, waiting to peel your face right off. “OPS” starts out atmospheric and just a bit jittery, and then it also jumps into blaze mode. “ARC” is a more footwork-adjacent panic attack, also dousing you in a righteous wash of flames. “RUE” has a delicate, dramatic vocal loop which gets diced with precision over an ominous trap beat. Short EP, but if you want a compact example of why he’s one of the most exciting producers right now and you don’t feel like devoting time to either of his 30-track opuses, this is worth a taste.
May 14, 2021 at 8:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Giant Claw: Mirror Guide
The follow-up to Giant Claw’s incredible
Soft Channel is just as surreal yet less random, and more harmonic, more human, warmer. Far away from the juke rhythms and R&B samples of past work,
Mirror Guide focuses on cello parts which wriggle, stutter, and clash melodically. On “Disworld”, the cellos dance around NTsKi’s vocals and gradually pile up and divebomb, and they crackle and splatter beside Tamar Kamin’s choral chants during “Until Mirror”. “Mirror Guide” is a two-part journey which seems to be gradually drilling away at a level of consciousness to get to a more enlightened state. It nearly breaks through after the first big push, and from there reality seems refracted and unknowable. Yet NTsKi’s vocals, while fragmented, seem confident and assuring, suggesting a duality (“You. And. Me… And. Me.”) as the music grows calming and cocoonlike. “Thousand Whys” is the album’s most forceful piece, with catapulting vocals, sorrowful strings, and electronic manipulations that straight up
thwack at some points. This album may or may not be more approachable to listeners who thought
Soft Channel was too dry. It’s just as challenging, and just as rewarding if you make the effort to get into it.
May 13, 2021 at 7:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Glüme: The Internet
One of IDIB’s latest signees is an aspiring actress and musician who found Chromatics on Spotify and knew she had to have Johnny Jewel producer her music. She submitted a demo and heard back within minutes. She was diagnosed with a rare heart disease and basically is confined to living out her life online, especially once the pandemic hit. So her music is her escape, her fantasy, and her window to the world. Her album has the signature IDIB cinematic ’80s nocturnal vibes, but there’s an extra poignant touch to it. 3 features the chorus “baby it’s not so bad, it’s just a nervous breakdown” over a chugging synthwave beat, alluding to her physical and mental state. Other songs are pure fantasy (“Crushed Velvet”) and Americana (the Lana Del Rey-ish opener “Arthur Miller”). “Body” mixes delicate, sensual synths and vocals with the crunch of industrial techno. The hazy ballad “Blossom” expresses desires to get married, start a family, and have it all. “Don’t @ Me” and “The Internet” celebrate the act of building up a persona and starting shit online to stave off the void. As the album drifts to an end, she says “these chemicals in my mind, I wish I could convince them to play nice”.
May 12, 2021 at 10:51 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Colin Cannon: McGolrick
Brooklyn composer Colin Cannon’s new album, named after a park in Brooklyn, is a pretty confounding suite that leaps between genres, and is threaded together by numerous phone messages, making it feel extremely personal although it’s not quite clear what all of the voices and musical references mean to him. Opening piece “Get Up” starts out orchestral avant-prog, then gets submerged in a deeply psychedelic haze four minutes in; it really takes your head to a different space when his vocals hit. “Can’t Get the Time” is even proggier, and is filled with choral harmonies as well as flashes of distant shouts. “Radio” picks up some scrambled transmissions, riding a current from a repeating bit about Jesus, then rapidly switching to bits of gospel, Dixieland, prog-rock, and vaportrap, then gradually swelling up with strings before the full band bursts through. “Electric” segues right into “Sunshine”, in which a vintage recording of “You Are My Sunshine” becomes surrounded by a colorful arrangement of the song which gradually gets crazier, and at one point it sounds like a skewed bit of “Over the Rainbow” sneaks in, while “You Are My Sunshine” sinks to the bottom. The three-part “The Scraps” starts out gentle and acoustic, but by the end, it swells into a symphony of police sirens, honking car alarms, and shouting kids. The kids are given their own brief track, and then their voices are incorporated once again into the knotty, lengthy “McGolrick”, which veers from tender to manic, but lands with a big finish.
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The Answer Is In The Beat 