October 3, 2020 at 3:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
мхи и лишайники: Нассать на мир
Absolutely crushing
minimal wave misanthopia seemingly transmitted from a Soviet bunker in 1987, but actually banged out a couple years ago around New Year’s Eve. This being on NNF, it’s not quite as cold and forbidding as most coldwave of this sort; it’s actually quite playful, even with the demented samples (the screaming, “your move creep”, and “you’re under arrest”, all ominously pitched down, during the second track) and fuck-all attitude (the title translates to “Piss on the World”). The third track ends up being fit for a hazy, gas mask-required rave, and the fourth is more of a melted synthwave fever dream. Then there’s the muddy, disorienting, prismatic, stun-laser final track, which thuds on and on for ten minutes before the tape runs out abruptly. I’m down with this sort of smudged, melting neon dystopia.
October 3, 2020 at 3:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Grapefruit: Light Fronds
Grapefruit’s first
tape in a few years is a mesmerizing set of instrumentals which intricately weaves complex guitar arrangements and radiant synthwork. It really makes audio light burst from the speakers and permeate the entire room. The viola and harpsichord-sounding textures add a warm touch. Final “Transmigration” is a multi-movement trip which blasts into a few different dimensions, with a pause between each one, giving you time to soak each one in before transporting to the next. It’s also pretty concise, so it just constantly delivers energy without going stale or losing its course.
October 3, 2020 at 2:24 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Coral Club: Nowhere Island
from Moscow, with swarms of crickets and cacaws flavoring delay-heavy electronics with a preference for digital bongos and milky textures. “Peace Place” has one of the most gentle Amen break usages I’ve ever heard, almost making it sound like it’s been beat out of a big frame drum or something. “Tribe” is a nice little calabash dance with some blown-out-of-proportion bass, and “Island Haze” is heavier as well as chirpier. Bonus track “Glowing Dusk” is filled with frogs, what else needs to be said? The ideal soundtrack to transforming your autumn COVID bunker into a weird indoor tiki hut; be creative with your interior decorating.
October 1, 2020 at 7:27 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
V. Kristoff: Sydra
One of the owners of Jungle Gym Records makes his NNF debut with
this mesmerizing tape of murky brightness, if that makes any sort of sense. It’s shrouded in tape hiss and crackle, but the melodies are often curious, mysterious, playful, soothing. Also, some of it was made on an iPhone, I’m guessing the songs without so much tape hiss, but who knows. “Inland Hymn” has a sort of aquatic dub-techno feel but without the beats, with rawer bass, and faster, blinky arpeggios. “Efficacy” has melodies that play hide and seek to try and reveal themselves. “Semblance” is more of a gorgeous space waltz drifting out into the ether. “Majolica” is alert splendor which washes up into haze, but “View of Death” is jittery and very close to cracking apart. “Earthen Nova” has some simple notes mangled with delay effects and it also has a neat “on the brink” type feel, even if it’s essentially more calm and relaxed.
September 28, 2020 at 7:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Pursuit Grooves: Sustainable Movements For A New Age
Pursuit Grooves recently brought back an obscure beat tape she briefly released for Earth Day in 2009.
Sustainable Movements For A New Age is 20 short instrumental tracks with environmentally conscious titles, urging the listener to make an attempt to reduce their carbon footprint. There’s some boom-bap style beats that avoid the usual crackly-vinyl funk breaks associated with the style (check out opener “Ecosystematics”), and there’s also the sort of wobbly, handmade, inventive rhythmic patterns that are instantly recognizable as her work. “Nuclear Rainbows” is one of the more punch-drunk beats here, and “Crap Snacks” sounds like broken reggaeton. “Solar Panels” is a mixture of hard, off-center beats and delicate pads and melodies, and several other tracks add soothing atmospheres to beats that otherwise seem a bit more tense. “Fresher Than Yours” has a chunky, thumpy beat pattern which maintains a smooth flow with its minimally layered bass and synth lines; “Tricycle Network” is a more bass-heavy variation. While clearly fitting within the “beat tape” category, with its shorter track times and exploratory feel, this release is still as conceptual as PG’s other releases, and it demonstrates her singular approach to beatmaking and sound construction just as much.
September 26, 2020 at 12:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Sully: Swandive EP
One of the most anticipated neo-jungle releases of the year, Sully’s new EP is a master class in tightly controlled break smashing. “Werk” walks along a tight rope, a short fuse which threatens to detonate at any moment. “Poison” has more hip-hop/rave swagger and is a bit more of a roller. “Swandive” is way more explosive and skittery, like a roller coaster designed to feel extra turbulent but always keeps right on track, and shot through with emotion. “Memories” is a lot more wistful, and the most melodic track here, with some epic gliding solos which almost sound like cyber-smooth jazz, but more inspired.
September 21, 2020 at 9:11 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Basic Rhythm: I Don’t Know What I Would Do EP
Anthoney J Hart’s newest Sneaker Social Club EP contains 4 tracks that are something like sticky dancefloor grime. The synths are fizzy and feel like they’re dissolving in acid but and the beats are dislocated but all of it manages to keep afloat. These aren’t bangers the way the last Basic Rhythm LP for Planet Mu was, but there’s undeniably some sort of strange unplaceable energy to them. The first side is definitely the more active and brain-teasing side; both tracks have straight up weird, squishy beats but the twisted vocal samples and synth pads point to more uplifting club vibes. The tracks on the other side are slower and more spaced out; “Annihilate” makes use of a familiar Grace Jones sample and “Plodding Along” does just that.
September 20, 2020 at 5:15 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Dexplicit: Digital Monk EP
Grime/bassline heavyweight Dexplicit’s newest EP is centered around inspirations from ’80s video games, TV shows, and movies. It doesn’t attempt to imitate the soundtrack of any specific example of those, as far as I can tell, and it doesn’t really sound like chiptune or synthwave. But there’s definitely something wide-screen and panoramic about it. The synth melodies are big and dramatic, the vocals seem closer to arias than the more R&B-influenced singing commonly heard in garage, and it all feels like it’s leading to something grand. It’s just a 4-song EP, though, not a complete soundtrack, so it feels like a way to drop some big emotions into the club for a few minutes.
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The Answer Is In The Beat 