The Answer Is In The Beat

Winged Wheel: No Island LP (12XU, 2022)

April 29, 2022 at 5:42 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Winged Wheel is a remote collaboration between four musicians whose various projects are always a must-listen: Whitney Johnson (Matchess), Cory Plump (Spray Paint), Matthew Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo), and Fred Thomas (no intro necessary). Fred sent drum loops over to Cory, who added guitar and bass parts, Matthew added further guitars, and Whitney sang in her familiar submerged style, although her voice is a little clearer in the mix here. While clearly a studio creation, there’s such a distinctive chemistry to this album that it’s obvious that all four musicians’ spirits are in one place, even if their bodies aren’t. The drums hold it all in place, and the guitars and effects are just vast canopies of sound, with the vocals driving it all home. “Blue Pigeon” is just some next level dream pop. All of the artists involved bring their own personalities to this group, from Spray Paint’s blown-axis distortion to City Center’s basement punk dreaminess and Hydropark’s motorik pop to Matchess’s out-of-body mysticism, but here they coalesce into something else entirely. Wonderful.

Ambassador Hazy: The Traveler LP (Hazy House/Cardinal Fuzz, 2022)

April 27, 2022 at 8:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The second album in as many years from this lo-fi project delivers more ramshackle psych-pop that goes on impulses rather than fine-tuning ideas and perfecting the performances and recordings. It delivers the hazy feel the artist name promises, but it’s not overly indulgent or meandering, and it’s energetic and sometimes quite memorable. “Simple Thing” is a drum machine-based winner with some tasty fuzz guitar and nice trippy fx. “Gone to My Head” is more of a ’90s indie pop gem, with a wail-along chorus. “Don’t Smash It To Pieces” gets by with its knocking drums and insistent refrain. Even when the songs aren’t so catchy, they’re still delivered with feeling, and the album is brimming with homespun creativity.

Ryan Huber: Duopoly + Subterrane (self-released, 2022)

April 23, 2022 at 7:40 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The elusive Ryan Huber has recently resurfaced on Bandcamp with some new releases, as well as a couple from the vaults. I haven’t listened to the latest one yet, but the two earlier ones from this year showcase two vastly different sides of his work. Duopoly is sort of a minimal techno release, but one that doesn’t follow the linear path of most minimal techno. “Bucket Collector” is eight minutes of ticking beats, but at different volumes and intensities, making it feel like it’s ducking down different paths and coming back into view. “Details Matter” is more rapid and racing, but the beat is tunneling away from you. “Commercial Soul” is like grappling at the side of a cliff while dust and pebbles are trickling down on you, but you’re still able to keep balance and climb without falling. “Skytaker” has the energy of an acid trance track in the making, but instead of taking off, it burrows inside itself. The title track also has a nervous pulse that feels like it could blast off, but it seems to fade into the shadows, and the pulse that threatens to incite damage is what takes over.

While Duopoly has some propulsion, even if it ends up ends up being an illusion and never actually progresses, Subterrane is a drone release that is absolutely steadfast about remaining in one place, or trying not to exist at all. That said, it does gradually shift into different spaces, and there are moments when it swells up into something resembling light rather than ever-present darkness. When he titles a track “Dearth”, though, he’s not pulling any punches. “The Pulse” comes close to the distant reverberations of a slowly tolling bell, and the last three tracks are dramatic enough to feel like they have cinematic undertones, forming some doom-filled mini-suite.

Meadow Argus: Peristera tape (self-released, 2022)

April 22, 2022 at 7:13 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The latest Meadow Argus tape is the longest one yet, letting each side stretch out for over 20 minutes. “Archytas”, the first half, sounds like a giant grotesque sculpture made of music box innards, churning away and creating dislocated rhythms tripping over themselves in multiple directions. Whining tape hiss and the last shred of operatic vocals from a mostly dubbed-over cassette lurk way down in the bottom of the mix, and there’s many moments where something tilts way off its axis, but there’s still several other gears spinning. “Peristera” has a similar makeup, except the music box melody at the front seems much more cheerful, yet it’s contrasted by dissonant droning. The effect is much like a sweet dream and a strange, insistent nightmare (not an especially violent one, but definitely a haunting one that lingers for a while) both jostling for space in your head at the same time. And the brief moments when the music box tips off-balance edge closer to the more disturbed state, but it still remains afloat until the tape’s abrupt end.

Conflict at Serenity Pools: Type A/Type B (self-released, 2022)

April 20, 2022 at 10:59 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

California’s Conflict at Serenity Pools debut with two albums that roll post-punk, chillwave, shoegaze, and the psychedelic end of ’90s ambient techno into one hazy, washed-out sound. “Eat Salad” is a highlight of their ravey side, bringing to mind acts like Opus III and Ultramarine. Others like “Titanic Daddy” have funky basslines and handclap-heavy beats. “Seabird” sets swarming shoegaze guitars and multiple voices over racing new wave drums, constantly running towards the sun while high and trying not to topple over. “Bloomin'” is a steady dance instrumental that revs up and is constantly on the verge of blastoff. “Voices” is a Balearic house jam that bubbles ever upward, yet stays suspended in a perfect moment. “Through the Waves” is a flashback to the 2009 summer of chillwave, but trippier, and a reminder of how silly hipsters are for moving on from that style so quickly. The cosmic disco of “Not Dreams” slows down and gives way to the progressive electronic reflection “Inside”. “Silence Mantles” is more of an Underworld-like progressive house track that has some tantalizing vibraphone-like percussion. “Faraway” would seem like the perfect note for this to fade away on, but there’s another bubbly disco jam, “Underwater”, tucked away at the end.

yehno: Always EP (Collection Disques Durs, 2022)

April 18, 2022 at 6:46 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

yehno’s current music represents a transition from an EDM party starter to a more introspective producer of highly detailed, emotional club music. “Reminds Me (Of Yesterday)” is an intricate, dub-soaked rhythmic shower that could soundtrack a tightly choreographed rain dance. “Always” is more of a progressive house roller with rapidly flashing voices bringing message of love — not first-time exclamations, but reminders of longtime care. “FWIW” is more of a grey area drum’n’bass cut, one that makes you feel like you’re biking through the rain really fast and everything’s a blur and you can barely process your own thoughts. Lastly, “Everyone Thinks They Care More” is a crackling dub expedition somewhat like what Pole started out doing, but more vast and aquarium-like.

Polygraaf Discoteq: Inertia (Rainier Beat Records, 2022)

April 17, 2022 at 2:39 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Seattle’s Polygraaf Discoteq create technicolor, vocoder-laced synth pop in the vein of seminal late ’70s/early ’80s acts like Gary Numan, John Foxx, Fad Gadget, Telex, and others. The music has a very scientific sound, but instead of dystopian lyrics about robots, most of their songs are about very human feelings, specifically heartache, loneliness, lost love, and the scrambled signals of digital communication. Aside from songs about real life heartbreak, there’s also “Go On”, a more hopeful, uptempo tune about new love, and the more techno-leaning “Broken Puzzles” anticipates possible new connections. One of the fastest songs, “Save Me the Last Dance”, is appropriate as the last one, with its motive of gunning it until the very end (“this is the last dance of my life”).