A Closer Listen
Sheffield’s Ulvo has been building an impressive discography over the past five years, and Monstera Country Cyborg should be the album that puts the artist over the top. The music straddles two wafer-thin categories at once: the warm, elaborate electronic music popularized by artists such as Jilk and Somni, and supermarket songs (as opposed to supermarket music), best epitomized by ShopLand World: Music for a Discovery Park of Miniature Supermarkets and Music for queueing at the supermarket. In short, there’s little music like this on the market, not enough to fill a shopping cart or even a hand crate.
Let’s start with those supermarket songs, because pretty much everyone goes to supermarkets, and no shopper enjoys the music. How different the grocery experience would be if songs like “Listerine” were seeping from the speakers! Children are playing in the aisles while banks of beats compete for attention. Fresh breath and fresh beats is a great combination. The static crackle connects the sound to that of crate diggers, and wouldn’t it be a DJ’s dream to be able to shop for vinyl in the aural care aisle? “Cayenne” also begins with crackle, the sound of taste buds popping. Vocal snippets float about the mix like inaudible words, the after-effect of ingesting too hot a spice. This time the beats are down to earth, a grounding of the palate, while an orchestral surge lifts the second half of the song. “Cheddar” is even easier on the ears, although one should never put cheddar in one’s ears; nor are these beats and bells cheesy. Best of all is the album’s outlier, “I hope they never fix the flashing light at the supermarket exit because it makes me feel alive at nighttime.” At 1:24, the track is almost shorter than the title. The piece flickers like morse code. One can imagine not only the light, but the artist’s inanimate crush.
At the supermarket one also hears local news, such as “There’s, like, this party at Oscar’s.” The sound of the party is embedded in the gossip. The key part of the song, however, is the embedded narration: “so beautiful … I was just wondering”, spoken over passing traffic. Should one choose to pass up the party, there’s another option, with a “TV on mute to light the saloon.” Again one hears conversational narration: “It was really a lot of fun.” The album is fun. The town – perhaps real, perhaps imagined – is also fun.
In case one is wondering, the Monstera deliciosa, or split-leaf philodendron, is also known as the Swiss cheese plant, and may or may not be sold in supermarkets. Title track “Country Cyborg” suitably contains the album’s most metallic percussion, nearly industrial in nature; and yes, Monstera plants are mentioned, though the phrase sounds more like “monster plants.”
For those encountering Ulvo for the first time, we recommend purchasing the entire discography for £18.20, around the price of a single album. There’s plenty more to enjoy, and we suspect the artist will only continue to grow in talent and popularity. (Richard Allen)
Thu Aug 10 00:01:31 GMT 2023