The Answer Is In The Beat

devonwho: Offworld (Leaving Records, 2020)

September 6, 2020 at 2:09 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

devonwho’s first release in years was created during a period in which he relocated back to Oregon from California. While it starts out sounding like the wonky, laid-back hip-hop we might expect from him, it quickly spins off into other directions, in an exciting way. “soar” is halfway between footwork and synth-funk, then “blas” is a radioactive pinwheel of jittery percussion and soothing synths. “queue” is another track that creates a blissful vibe, then ups the complexity on the beats, making it seem extra excited. “tricorder” doubles down on that astral bounce, while “cars” has a slow, heavy thunk for a beat but still manages to float high in the clouds. Then “wave” is another one that fuses prickly IDM and juke, but keeps things on the uplifting, non-aggressive side. Very illuminating, inventive stuff here, looking forward to hearing where he takes his sound next.

v/a: enter​:​protopost 12″ EP (art-aud, 2020)

September 4, 2020 at 7:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Throwing the arbitrary idea of genres out the window, Italian label art-aud presents a half-dozen tracks that share little in common other than creativity and a need to be heard. The opener by Kreggo + Train To Eitanin is a slow, dubsteppy crawl filled with rapid flickers and quizzical, pitch-shifted voices. Maxwell Simons’ “Test160” is footwork nearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown, creaking and covered in flop sweat. Mi Croevkhas’ “A25” is all out of proportion, with the blaring synths and tinny breakbeat nearly drowning out the thudding kick drum underneath, but this just serves to keep the track interesting and original. Loraine James’ “Anyways” seems to approach Jersey club but riddles it with glitches and soft, fizzy melodies, upsetting the club while letting it pause to reflect. The Horn’s “Phoneme” is slower and kind of awkward, finding its stride with some added percussion sounds halfway through, but then ending at 3 minutes. Cyclonix’s “Majic Soup” swerves in with a more commanding beat and trippy fx, gliding through and keeping the energy flowing. None of these tracks are obvious club anthems, but they all offer different perspectives on how to approach dance rhythms, and they’re all worth hearing.

[.que]: And Inside (sound in silence, 2020)

September 3, 2020 at 6:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Nao Kakimoto’s newest album is a mixture of glitchy sound design, sparkling post-rock, and ambient techno, all sounding crisp, warm, and emotionally gripping. “Haze” is open-hearted glitch techno with an abundance of vibraphone-like melodies and strings. “Sepia” is the sound of a one-man digital post-rock band gazing out at the sun slowly descending over a gulf. “Divagate” is a set of wistful snapshots attempting to preserve an era that’s quickly fading and will be almost forgotten before anyone realizes it. “Film” is simply a lovely, heartfelt guitar reflection. “Inside” gets more beat-heavy, and it’s like if Tycho wasn’t so background-y. Drifting away from rhythm is the intimate, crouched drones and piano twinklings of “Thaw”, and the piano sail-away “To”. Brilliantly moody material here.

Eternell: Imagined Distances (sound in silence, 2020)

September 2, 2020 at 6:15 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Sweden’s Ludvig Cimbrelius has released over a dozen albums as Eternell, with many more projects appearing on his label of the same name, and others such as A Strangely Isolated Place and Silent Season. While some of his other work, particularly as Purl, is closer to dub techno, Imagined Distances is vast, spacious ambient music which matches any number of breathtaking nature scenes, such as the nearly submerged sunset on the album cover. Two of the tracks run over 20 minutes; “Singularity” is a constant flow of shimmering, crystalline waves, while “Imagined Distances” is a bit lower-tide. Other tracks incorporate lilting, incandescent guitar licks, and even subtle, textural vocals. All of this, needless to say, is extraordinarily relaxing, yet carefully crafted, supremely relaxed but not lazy.

Bay B Kane: Bay B Kane Presents – Jungle Livity Releases (Ruff Guidance, 2020)

September 1, 2020 at 6:41 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

This Bandcamp exclusive gathers Bay B Kane productions and remixes originally issued through Jungle Livity Records between 2011 and 2015. The first two tracks carry an Eastern motif, from the martial arts-themed “Lethal Technique” to the more meditative, midtempo “China” (an XBass co-production), which incorporates gorgeous samples of traditional instrumentation. “Get Madd VIP” samples that monologue from Network, and even though you’ve heard it countless times before, hey, guess what, listen to it again because it’s still relevant. Two songs match tough, rolling breaks with breezy, expressive vocals from Ruth Sharples, “Kool Breezin” and “Seven Kingdoms”, and other tracks like “Forsaken” offer similar vibes. “Concrete Clouds” traps a familiar sax lick (the one used in “Rump Shaker”) in a darkside thunderstorm. “Chills” is a similar tidal wave of swirling effects and slamming breaks. Tunes like the somewhat film noir-esque “iTurn” and more early Bukem-esque “Eternity” are set at ’92-like tempos, delivering heavy breakbeat pressure without the chaotic speed of jungle. Plenty of quality material to choose from here.

D. Strange: EP 12″ (Vanity Press Records, 2019)

August 31, 2020 at 8:14 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Late last year, Indianapolis’ D. Strange followed several Bandcamp releases with a four-song EP on Vanity Press. Hard to place in any one category, this is simply kinetic, exploratory club music at its finest. “Loaded” is a bleepy, breaky puzzle with lots of heavy bass plunges and ricocheting vocal samples, and a sort of anticipatory, floating-in-space breakdown. “Dat N. Gone” is like particles of spacey electro and ghettotech mingling together to form a new energy source. “Shift” is more electro to cruise down the aquabahn to, and “IRO” is a downtempo, not-quite-trap curiosity with indistinct vocals (a lower mumbly loop and a slow, ping-ponging echo) and a few swerving-downward riffs.

JOBS: endless birthdays (Ramp Local, 2020)

August 30, 2020 at 1:13 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The third album from JOBS is an obtuse, oblique set of audio puzzles which occasionally resemble proper songs. The vocals themselves question conventional lyricism, with some tracks entirely spoken word (like opener “A Toast”) and others existing in between speech and some sort of chanting (“Brian”, which contains linguistic criticisms such as “plain speech is so-so”). “Opulent Fields” is the most accessible, hummable song, even if the lyrics end up being about gun violence. Other tracks are far more deconstructed, such as “Planned Humans”, with its skittering beats, glitchy vocals, and fluttering solos. “3 Being 2” has punchy Motorik beats and airy droning, with a feverish, rapidfire guitar solo taking charge three minutes in, and not letting go until the energy is exhausted. The contrast between technological precision and lack of restraint provides the album’s most gripping moments.

Machine Girl: RePorpoised Phantasies (self-released, 2020)

August 29, 2020 at 11:09 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Machine Girl’s third release of year (and that doesn’t even include the Prolaps tape on HausMo) is a 20-minute dolphin party closer to the artist’s bouncy, ravey side than their angry digital hardcore side. “Cyan Hardcore” is candy-colored sea-rave music outfitted with scratches and footwork-tinged breakbeats, while “Waited So Long” is a more plastic-sounding variation on deep disco-house. A remix of Merky Ace’s “Greaze” brings glowsticks into a grime clash, and then “The Storm” is is an absolutely wicked breakbeat hardcore track with tripped-up time signatures, keeping it on-the-edge and exciting. “Infinite Potentiality” is another slice of pure NRG which also seems too excited to stick to strictly 4/4.

Tiger Village: Amblyopiac (Suite 309, 2020)

August 28, 2020 at 6:17 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Tiger Village’s self-released tenth album is all about the eye troubles he’s suffered from as a kid. I’m not going to go into all the details listed in the press release, but the track titles point at some of them. Like his other recordings, this one contains fractured, sporadic beats and effects that sort of forge their own logic. The synth pads on opener “Strabismus” are relatively calm and smooth but they’re accompanied by a series of dripping drum machines and buzzing effects which only vaguely coalesce into a rhythm at times. Yet it sounds more than just a random splatter of sounds. “Smiling Sounds Of Warm” is a fast, hobbling thumper which periodically derails and rematerializes, still keeping up its pogo pace. “Prism (Acoustic)” and “Circus Work” have some particularly juicy squeezed beats and elastic textures, while “Amblyopiac (Right)” has a stronger bassline and more wistful melody — even if these are both sliced into shards. It all wraps up with the playpen breakcore of “N-O No”, filled with squeaks, splatters, tiny fireworks, and lots of bonks. Hugely fun music for those who like challenging but highly imaginative beat constructions.

Lapalux: Esrevoinma (Brainfeeder, 2020)

August 26, 2020 at 7:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Lapalux’s shift from syrupy nu-R&B to sci-fi sound design has resulted in his absolute best, most transporting work. Ruinism is a must-listen, and Amnioverse is even more ambitious and nearly as fascinating. Esrevoinma is its brief, digital-only companion piece, and its 6 tracks include 3 unreleased tracks and 3 alternate versions of album cuts. “51 Endless Pulses” is on the jarring, hard-hitting tip, while “Earth (Live Version)” is more of a trancey journey which accelerates into harder beats later on. The EP obviously isn’t as deep or immersive as his full-lengths but it’s a good showcase for his inventive style of advanced audio world-building.