A Closer Listen
Does any genre ever truly die? Everything old is new again this fall, as the slate reads like a classic DJ Mag list: trip-hop, breakbeat, electro, psychedelic trance, drum ‘n’ bass. The 80s and 90s continue to cast long shadows.
At the other end of the spectrum, musicians continue to push beyond boundaries and definitions. New sub-genres are constantly being invented, multitudes yet unnamed. We’re glad to be here on the ground level, listening as they appear.
Our cover image is taken from the single release of Lusine’s “Transonic,” from the album Long Light, covered below.
The brainchild of Aho Ssan, Rhizomes is a series of collaborations with an incredible array of cutting edge artists, which include KMRU, Resina, 9T Antiope, Nyokabi Kariũki, Rắn Cạp Đuôi and many, many more. Those who purchase the 160-page book will also encounter the visual element through illustrations that accompany the music; this edition also contains bonus tracks, extended versions, and exclusive originals by some of the artists involved. Simply put, this project cannot fail (Other People, October 6).
Not only is Le jour et la nuit du réel Colleen‘s first instrumental album in sixteen years, it’s her first double album. A master study in classic synth, the album uses a minimal setup to maximal effect (Thrill Jockey, September 22). Xingu Hill‘s Grigri Pavilion has an unsettling, Swamp Thing-like cover, but the sounds are relatively benign. While clearly inspired by 90s British and Belgian electronic music, the album manages to establish its own path (Subexotic, September 15). Metro Riders‘ Lost in Reality is a tribute to 80s horror synth. Yet like much music of that era, it’s more evocative than scary, perhaps more sci-fi in tone (Possible Motive, September 29). Contemporary DJ’s of the Past is a fun title that epitomizes the season’s electronic trends. Lavelle‘s album even has roller skates on the cover (Somewherecold, October 6). Speaking even directly from the past, Dieter Mobius‘ Aspirin finally sees release after languishing for nearly two decades. It’s great to hear new music from the Kluster/Harmonia innovator, long after we’d given up all hope (Curious Music, October 6). Gentleforce attempts to resurrect the feelings of childhood on Life Anthems, a mindful set of synth, beats and loops (Oxtail Recordings, September 15). Jeremiah Chiu seems as happy as a kid in a candy store as he plays with the vintage synth of L.A.’s Vintage Synthesizer Museum. The results are captured on In Electric Time (International Anthem, September 29). Not only does VC 118A use vintage analogue synthesizer, the artist samples his parents! We hope they like Winds of Change, whose very existence underlines its title (Delsin, September 22).
Not everything released on Friday the 13th seems fitting, but Venera‘s self-titled debut fits the bill. The music is dark and unsettling with a sci-fi tinge and visuals to match; premiere video “Swarm” even dropped without details or description, a taunt to the usual manner of promotion. Multiple guests make this debut a memorable effort (Ipecac Recordings). Similarly shadowy in tone is Stromboli‘s Drang, a “post-human” made by humans while they are still here. Industrial timbres and hypnotic percussion proliferate (Random Numbers, September 25).
Has hauntology ever been this catchy? Hidden Horse‘s Incorporeal is dark enough to gloom to and bright enough to dance to, a powerful combination (Holuzam, September 14). Speaker Music‘s intense Techxodus is wildly futuristic, a follow-up to the book Assembling a Black Counter Culture. Author and artist DeForrest Brown Jr. describes it as “Black music that sounds technological,” embedding jazz, gospel and even African warriors (Planet Mu, September 8). While sampling “Coptic, Syriac, Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Catholic choirs,” ABADIR creates a fictional, intercultural mass in which chants mingle with beats and all are one. Ison is released September 8 on SVBKVLT.
Infinity Plus One is a hopeful album about fleeing the earth, which reflects current fears while maintaining a positive attitude. Even the name of the artist, Buildings and Food, implies that the future is secure. The well-rounded beats serve as a solace in dark times (September 22). Flood Province is more pessimistic on Spacecraft, underlining the dangers to our biosphere through samples, textures and beats. The tracks address marine destruction, media consumption and finally the image of our planet as “a spacecraft and life raft” (REALMOREREAL, September 1).
A Model Kit‘s Sirens makes great use of samples from radio and speech to convey a message of solidarity with those under siege. The word of a Russian in exile, Sirens is also a benefit for Ukrainian refugees (September 1). Breakbeat collides with funky sax on Siema Ziemia‘s partially improvised Second, an album that tips its hat to jazz while remaining firmly in the electronic vein (Byrd Out, September 8). Pushing even further into jazz is Kamaal Williams, who combines the organic appeal of piano, sax and violin with electronic beats. Williams throws a curve ball into the mix by including rap on the inaugural single from Stings but leaving it off the physical edition (Black Focus Records, September 27). Shuta Hasunuma blends ambient, jazz, techno and a bit of IDM on unpeople, which will be accompanied by an exhibition of the same name (October 6).
We think there should be more instrumental hip-hop, as evidenced by Borka‘s Places. One can rap over it, or let if flow (September 15). A little hip-hop, a little synth, some vocals and some violin; Ayjay Nils‘ diverse Okay, wait wait wait has a bit of everything, so no single track is representative. The overall tone is as fun as the fish on “Tea Fla” (Làtension/Schweiger Music, September 29). Gross Motor‘s self-titled debut is described as containing “mostly non-danceable rhythms,” but we find ourselves moving to “Zoetrope” and “Project Restart.” Other tracks are less linear (September 1). But perhaps the artist meant “non-club tracks.” A prime example: Nicholas Thayer‘s music is scored for ballet. His third Infinite EP concludes a trilogy released over the past few months, in which insects, angels and robots vie for space in a crowded room already stuffed with glockenspiel and beats (Oscillations, September 8).
Jlin‘s mini-LP Perspective includes one track written for Third Coast Percussion, but the real surprise arrives at the end. After serving five club-ready tracks, the composer shifts gears on “Duality,” presenting a bright-toned exercise in chimes (Planet Mu, September 29). Brass and woodwinds expand the tonal palette of Diagonal Musik II, the latest effort from Prins Emanuel. If only we could remember what the last album was called (Music for Dreams, November 3). In the same manner, Markus Floats‘ Fourth Album follows Third Album, the new set graced with mbira, sax and violin, closing with words from poet Fred Moten (Constellation, October 20). If one were to remove the electronics from Akusmi‘s Lines, one might find a jazz album; but the synth brings the sax, clarinet and piano to an even higher level (Tonal Union, October 6). COH has a brand new Silhouette Eins synthesizer, and he’s not afraid to use it; Radiant Faults is a work of curiosity, like getting to know a new friend. The multicolored records are already flying off the shelves (Dais, October 20).
Puissante Vulnérabilité (Powerful Vulnerability) is the debut album for Odalie, heavy on strings and laden with meaning. Occasional vocals underline the theme championed by the title (Mesh, September 29, art for single “We Are Nature” pictured left). A slew of guest vocalists are featured on Lusine‘s Long Light, often as texture. The beats are crisp and the phrases potential earworms (Ghostly International, September 15). Detuned piano, mangled vocals and trippy beats coalesce on stay, temporary home, the debut album from Arthur Clees. The tracks dance just beyond the reach of radio, but “Afterdance” may make it through (Macro, October 13).
Adding an orchestra is almost always a good thing, and it definitely works for ESKMO, now recording under his own name as Brendan Angelides. Oxygen melds his electronic sensibilities with the dramatic strings of the London Symphony Orchestra. The album is released September 29 on his Ancestor imprint, and will be followed by his score for Assassin’s Creed: Mirage. Chants, field recordings and Georgian folk songs lend a global vibe to SUPRA, a travel-inspired set from Dijf Sanders. Water of Chailuri is the first single (Unday, November 24).
“You wanna get nuts?” asks Michael Keaton. “Let’s get nuts!” This challenge could become the catchphrase for Hausu Mountain, who spring into action with two animated albums on September 22. Mukqs leads the charge with Stonewasher, a blast of pure Roland energy. MrDougDoug chases with SOS Forks AI REM II, louder and more psychedelic, the yin to Mukqs’ yang. Long time Hausu Mountain fans know the pair as the leaders of the pack, Max and Doug, sometimes known as Doug and Max. A HausMo Honcho Patch is also available! After these, Hausu Mountain’s next releases will be Quicksails‘ Surface, an exploratory set with choir and percussive vibes and Tiger Village‘s pun-happy, experimental The Celebration, both on October 27.
Everything Is So Beautiful, I need To Lie Down is more active than its title indicates, sporting dance beats and a soupçon of rock. Stereo Minus One describes it as “music for a freaky chill-out room” (Machine Records, September 22). The similarly-titled, yet differently toned I Don’t Wanna Hurt, I Just Wanna Lay Here is one of the early singles from Bon-Psy‘s Chaos EP, which naturally follows his Order EP. But while the artist may want to stay prone, listeners may want to get up and dance (Folded Music, September 1). Simone de Kunovich‘s Flow My Tears EP is straight up club music, with a retro vibe. The title track is also the first single (Public Possession, September 15). Max Cooper aims straight for the dance floor with Motif, which features vocalist Kathrin de Boer on half of the tracks. We’re looking forward to some amazing visuals, as the multi-media artist has always impressed on that front as well (Mesh, October 6). We are very pleased to learn that DJ Shadow has decided to head in the opposite direction, as 13 of the 14 tracks on Action Adventure are instrumental. Welcome back! The first single, heard below, is a retro-80s dance piece, creating a buzz of curiosity about the rest (October 27).
On the heels on the wondrous “Inheritance,” Lord of the Isles & Ellen Renton unveil the full-length My Noise Is Nothing, a sumptuous blend of Scottish poetry and warm beats. Who says poetry and clubs don’t mix? (AD 93, September 29). The piano and beats of Keifer‘s It’s Ok, B U make it sound summery, and we loved hearing “August Again” in August, but the album is out September 22. It’s okay, summer will come around again (Stones Throw). In similar fashion, Bibio returns with Sunbursting, another release to extend the summer; the EP, a mixture of instrumental and vocal cuts, drops on the eve of the autumn equinox (Warp, September 22). Prolonging the vibe, Shine Grooves‘ Watching the Breeze even looks like summer; a decade of house and techno cuts are collected here for maximal Ibiza impact (100% Silk, September 1). Utilizing Maloya music and beats, Labelle brings an international sound to the masses. Noir Amina is upbeat and ebullient, perfect for late summer beach nights (InFiné, October 13).
Although out of order, we love the languid, leftfield flavor of “End Melody,” the first song on Lukid‘s first album in eleven years. The rest of Tilt promises to explore other areas, including IDM (Glum, October 6). Lee Gamble produces “illusory anthems” on Models, stretching vocals into wordless taffy. The album is ethereal and enveloping, reminiscent at times of Bvdub (Hyperdub, October 20). Public Service Broadcasting‘s mid-career was a bit wobbly, but The New Noise should restore their respectability. It’s hard to go wrong with the entire BBC Symphony Orchestra super-sizing the arrangements, with Jules Buckley playing a prominent role (September 8). With timbres ranging from warm and bubbly to dark and stormy, The Delay in the Universal Loop is in a constant state of flux. Video album Ninne Nanne is released September 15.
“Acid never dies,” according to former vaporwave producer Auragraph. Turning his attention to the dance floor, he proposes a New Standard while using classic samples, including the infamous Lynn Collins yelp (Dais, November 17). Verraco lands with a punchy gopher-decorated EP called Escándaloo (Scandalous). Cue “Caddyshack” reference (Voam, September 15). Trap beats meet tales of legend on Simo Cell‘s intricate yet pounding Cuspide Des Sirènes, out September 14 on TEMET, including four “sped-up versions.” If you think you know Celtic music, think again. Ana Quiroga‘s Azabache is as far from Enya as one can imagine, with hard beats and a creative use of voice (Houndstooth, September 8). Similarly aggressive is failsafe, from the Iranian duo Temp-Illusion. The cover art may be tongue-in-cheek, but the duo references comedy as a relief from outside pressures (PTP, September 1).
Volume 2 of Alva Noto‘s HYbr:ID series arrives on October 13, flecked with ambience, dub and light IDM. The music is the score to Richard Siegel’s Ectopia (NOTON). An IDM lacquer coats the Coordinates EP, which has a sci-fi vibe and makes the most of its running time. Phase4our‘s set is out September 8 on Machine Records. Kabuki Dream‘s Sense of Natural Confusion continues in this vein, drawing on the influence of classic electronic acts to score a not-so distant future (Veidt, October 12). IDM is only one of the genres represented on SPINE.IM‘s Grey Line, which explores the grey areas between genres, a metaphor for those in society. We doubt that any other album features a track in which an A.I. “incorporates hip-hop screamo vocals” (~OUS, September 8). Esplendor Geométrico and AtomTM join forces as ASA, and their hybrid sound makes Radial more than the sum of their parts (raster, September 1). Fragments of sound tumble to glitch on Tomatsugo Nakamura‘s Antenna, which splits the difference between ambient and dance (Audiobulb, October 7).
Sitar is key on Koinonia, an album of Indian grooves from “Belgian beatmakers” Up High Collective. The cultural infusion is a welcome example of different perspectives sharing a singular vision (San-kofa Rhythms, October 13). David August‘s ambitious VĪS offers an attempt to trace the history of humankind through sound. The album proceeds in chronological order, from humble percussive origins through tribal rituals and beyond (99CHANTS, October 6). Dub, funk, jazz and Asian groove coalesce on the aptly-titled Maelström, preceded by the playful single “Sheep Party.” azmari‘s album is out October 20 on Sdban Records. Polyrhythms, Middle Eastern timbres and an international collaboration between a pair of Iranian-Canadian brothers and an Irish artist make Chasing Stateless a match for its title. This hard-hitting set comes from St. Abdullah & Eomac drops October 20 on Planet Mu (pictured above). There’s some fun stuff going on in the teaser video for Deena Abdelwahed‘s Jbal Rrsas جبل الرصاص., seen below; an international flavor with a unifying sound (InFiné, September 8).
The delightfully weird WaqWaq Kingdom returns with Hot Pot Totto, fervently dancing on a collapsing planet. The collective cares deeply about ecological armageddon, but milks the remaining days with verve and aplomb, almost daring people to dance (Phantom Limb, September 22). Async Figure calls It’s Pulling My Strings “club hymns for a dying earth.” We’re sensing a topical trend here, the down side being that the trend won’t continue long if everyone is dead. The electro-tinged set is not all bleak; the upbeat closer is “Optimist Settings” (Sea Cucumber, September 15).
Two percussionists and a pianist form Pathos Trio, who cross from modern composition to electronic with Polarity. The trio performs six commissioned works by a septet of artists, accompanied by matching videos (Imaginary Animals, September 15). Percussionist RRUCCULLA offers intense workouts on Zeru Freq., without ever losing her sense of fun. The album is described as “the sound of shapes, figures and strokes,” and one can feel a sense of geometry in the art (Lapsus, September 7). We’re calling the Coma World album Coma Wong “the coma is coming,” as half of the duo is also in The Comet Is Coming. The music is psychedelic, dreamlike and jazzy (Byrd Out, October 13). A new Niholoxica album is in the works, offering Bugandan drumming in a techno frame. Source of Denial is released September 29 on Crammed Discs. Duduk is a selling point for Kick Up the Dust, the upcoming EP from Stavroz. The set won’t drop until December 1, but until then we can enjoy the trumpet-happy title track (Stavros Sounds). Sax and Bulgarian Tambura make TAPAN‘s Inner Voice / High Road a unique effort; the two-track EP is out September 1.
Tabla meets techno on Tomorrow Comes the Harvest‘s Evolution, a project that teams Jeff Mills with friends, including the sadly deceased Tony Allen (Axis, September 8). Boston 168 injects some classic psychedelic trance into their techno on the booming Giganta EP, with a room-filling sound that reflects its title (BPitch Berlin, September 1). More psy-trance can be found on The Cosmic Egg, a club-ready EP that in classic style will only be available on vinyl, with no digital option. E-Talking just wants clubbers to dance (Love on the Rocks, September 14). Techno/trance DJ Oman Breaker fled Kyiv for Berlin after the invasion, and channels his emotions into the taut Compromat. Phase Fatale makes a guest appearance on single “Augmentation” (BITE, September 29, pictured left). Chilean psych band Föllakzoid returns with V, a ready-made club set on Sacred Bones. Each track is so long it requires its own side of vinyl, the opening piece alone approaching 18 minutes in length. Thankfully there’s a briefer, remixed teaser video to get us in the mood (September 22). Friday Dunard‘s Rhenus Aeternus may look like a magazine, but it’s not a magazine; it’s on Magazine. This pure trance production will have listeners searching for their lost glowsticks (September 1). Closet Yi‘s Wire Broke EP is another trance production, obvious from the psychedelic cover art (Hotflush Recordings, September 8).
When an electronic artist breaks both of his legs, will he still want to make dance music? In Lewis Fautzi‘s case, the answer is yes. Manner of Death may have a dour title, but the overall effect is life-affirming, a treatise of survival (Faut, September 15). We love when artists have a sense of humor about themselves, so the one-minute teaser video for Oneohtrix Point Never’s Again (seen below) makes us want to buy the album, even without hearing it (Warp, September 29). For hard-hitting electro, turn to Reduction, a dance floor stormer from Fobos Hailey (Tripalium, September 29). dgoHn & Badun offers muscular drum ‘n’ bass on the Talk to the Planets EP, honoring the title with a sci-fi twist (Love Love, September 29). The beats of Superabundance‘s Extrasolar are fast-fast-fast, like a rocket ship leaving the atmosphere. Techno and synthpop are companions on the voyage (Future Times, October 6). A healthy serving of guest artists, including Laraaji, make Seb Wildwood‘s separation anxiety a lot warmer than its title implies. This techno album mixes vocal and instrumental tracks while yielding a hint of jazz (All My Thoughts, September 13).
Oliver Deutschmann celebrates fifteen years in the business with Best of Oliver Deutschmann 2007-2022. The teaser video is a reminder of the hard-hitting techno tracks the producer has released over the years (September 8). Amniote Editions and Mala Junta present The Collective Capsule Vol. 2, a pounding, hi-energy set that captures the sweat and excitement of the Berlin experience (September 15). fabric presents Helena Hauff ventures beyond the techno arena to incorporate breakbeat, electro and industrial rhythms; the non-strop 77-minute set is a concise representation of the DJ’s power (fabric, September 22). Yokel makes classic techno-industrial rhythms with vintage synthesizers; Grackle is out September 1 on Dummy Hand. Repackaged, remastered, remixed and still raving, the original score to classic video racing game wipE’out” is presented in a brand new edition. CoLD SToRAGE‘s triple vinyl wipE’out – The Zero Gravity Soundtrack can also be bought with a jumper and/or t-shirt (November 17).
Richard Allen
Tue Sep 05 00:01:24 GMT 2023