January 11, 2017 at 9:19 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Camp Candle: ERE
This Philadelphia duo sent WCBN a three-song CDR a few months ago, and I was hooked by the second song. Somewhat distant but still pretty direct chillwavey pop which instantly reminded me of Detroit’s
Little Animal. Same sort of dreamy, trippy feeling, but maybe without as many slow jams, and with a bit of lush guitar. I feel like the two duos would be playing lots of shows together if Detroit and Philly weren’t so far apart. This
free mixtape was posted on their Bandcamp back in June, and it’s not too late to get familiar. “The Birthday Circle” is still my favorite, but the more hip-hop-leaning “Surface” is growing on me as well.
December 24, 2016 at 4:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Getto Soul: Phenom X
The artist otherwise known as Jock Club throws down something in between jungle and pumped-up garage house. There’s some choppy breaks and heavy bass, and it all sounds pretty big and tough, but the tracks are most definitely built for DJs. They aren’t too long, usually, but other than some sludgy intros here and there, they mostly get to the beats, and feel like building blocks rather than complete statements. They’re solid blocks, though, delivering the ruffness and getting out of the way to do damage in a different way. Free download on
Bandcamp.
December 18, 2016 at 6:00 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Rose: Exile tape
This is the second Rose tape on CTatsu, and it starts out sounding like the type of dreamy ambient music you’d expect from the label. Vague, distant, fuzzy, misty, and magnificent. But then after a few minutes, a lush techno beat shows up. You’re whisked away to some sort of far off, barely visible cloud dancefloor. Not every track has beats, but when they are present, they’re steady yet disorienting, woozy yet guiding. This one stands out. Hear it on
Bandcamp.
December 18, 2016 at 5:38 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Street Value: Studies SS16 tape
This one starts out sounding like it’s going to be some sort of shimmering lo-fi house thing. Eventually the beat picks up and gets heavier, and then it turns into a blistering rhythmic noise tape. It just keeps getting denser and more all-consuming, and then you’re trapped in a vortex. Yet there’s still pounding beats, at least sometimes. You’re caught in some sort of conflict, but maybe it’s just enlightenment. Free download at
Bandcamp.
December 18, 2016 at 5:06 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Bocal 5: Musique Électronique LP
Bocal 5 are basically the band that became X-Ray Pop, so that tells you much of what you need to know about their sound. Early ’80s French minimal wave, kind of embryonic but still really charming and fun. Not really noisy or punk, sometimes there’s kind of a downtown art-funk tinge to the guitars. Drum machines are minimal and blippy but upbeat, vocals are playful and animated. There’s almost 20 songs, and most of them are two minutes or less, so their ideas never get a chance to wear themselves out. Yet another completely excellent release from Dark Entries.
December 18, 2016 at 4:21 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Khaki Blazer: Coco Nara Deezer LP
Pad Modugno of Moth Cock goes all out for another strange jumble of lopsided rhythms, cartoon noises, and barely assembled samples. The track title “Drum and Bastard” says a lot — this is like Luke Vibert but even more jokey and twisted. And then that’s only part of it. There’s trunk-rattling beats with squishy, pitch-shifted samples piled on, there’s honks, there’s bubbles, there’s animal noises. There’s bicycle bells and cut-off thoughts. As one of the samples tries to say, “don’t think about it too much”. I was going to end this review by saying something like “Get BLAZED” but that would be way too douchey. Instead I will just remark that the album’s
Bandcamp page lists footwork and juke as tags, but this is like footwork if your limbs are twisted (not necessarily broken).
December 18, 2016 at 3:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Void Opening: May Your Children Turn Their Faces From You tape
Many of the releases on Pastel Voids deal with some sort of rave nostalgia, but this one takes a blowtorch to all of that for 25 minutes of rhythmic noise. The first side buries banging-on-cinderblocks rhythms under storms of feedback and distortion. It’s almost danceable compared to the second side, which still has rhythms, but they’re far more erratic and hard to discern. After a while, your face has melted off anyway, so your only reaction is to just stand back in awe (what’s left of you, that is). Free download at
Bandcamp.
December 11, 2016 at 6:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Seekersinternational: RaggaPreservationSociety tape
Seekerinternational released an album of sloshed-out dub on Digitalis a while back, and that’s just one of his many transmissions over the years. This tape is his love letter to ragga-jungle, and of course it’s nowhere close to faithful, because that’s been done before. This is manic and full of breaks and deejay samples, and also plenty of rave flashbacks. Most of the tracks are two or three minutes long, and all of the sounds seem to tumble into each other excitedly without pause. He doesn’t go for laffs the way Shitmat does, but this is still some of the most warped, hyper-caffeinated jungle revisionism I’ve heard to date. Total unqualified success. Listen at
Bandcamp.
December 11, 2016 at 5:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Jonny Oso: City Fresh tape
I didn’t get around to reviewing the first Jonny Oso EP earlier this year, but it was an instantly winning piece of rave nostalgia. This tape is longer and a bit more developed, and it’s also loads of fun. The tracks generally feature light breakbeats and warm chords, and they progress but don’t get too out of bounds for 6 or 7 minutes apiece. “Oh Ya!” is more frenetic and Baltimore-esque, and “Looking For the Greatest” is a bit more loony, but others are calmer. Even the drum’n’bass track “A Life Force” is atmospheric enough to be a Good Looking Records 12″ from 1996. “Unknown People’s All Right” balances wild rave fervor and choppy breakbeats with calming pads, arriving close to Meat Beat territory. Grab it at
Pastel Voids’ Bandcamp.
December 11, 2016 at 5:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Hiss & Hum: Delice De Nostalgie tape
Very thick, heavy mix of repetitive throbbing beats and synths along with words taken from meditation records, AM radio, and other sources. Deep and paranoid but also relaxing. Gets close to the realm of harsh, but it’s more like bristling against a new level of consciousness. Side A is more rhythmic, almost approaching Krautrock at one point, and side B is more of an uneasy drift. The way it falls apart at the end is spectacular. Listen at
Bandcamp.
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The Answer Is In The Beat 