Best post you've put up in a while, KVP. Thanks a lot.
N/P.
Jatoma - JatomaBest Kompakt release I've heard in awhile. I can't decide if I'm more enamoured with House or Techno these days...
Writing about electronic music is difficult because it requires you to be both hyperspecific — down to the drum machine or synth, the record label or nightclub — and that you move away from that specificity in order to allow your subject an identity that’s not overdetermined by technology or genealogy. Plus, unlike more culturally embedded forms such as blues or jazz, electronic music often is short on cues — the stories that help us understand what we’re listening to, that tell us where the meaning lies, that feel less like narratives and more like matrices or hypertexts. Choose your own adventure and so forth. There’s a dizzying profusion of paths from the zero-degree of consumer electronics, a 440 Hz sine wave, to a new group like Kompakt’s Jatoma. This comes as a relief. The music on the trio’s self-titled debut LP for the Cologne label is hard enough to pin down without the whole sordid business of identity and a PR one-sheet getting in the way.
Jatoma the record does not sound the same way twice. There is a lot of detail, to be sure, but the album’s changeability is the result of canny construction, not being overstuffed, almost suggesting that some kind of Oulipian restrictions are in place. Jatoma (specifically Tomas Barfod, Mads Kolding and Jacob Littauer) plays cat and mouse with certain techno conventions, walking a fine line between recognizable forms and sounds that don’t quite scan as musical. The production logic fights against quantization, the production-software button that snaps all MIDI notes to a particular metrical grid. Much of the drama here comes from phrases that barely fit into the songs, parts that threaten to topple the whole Jenga tower over.
Despite the ways Jatoma calls attention to its own construction, the album is not too sophisticated to have the same level of emotional accessibility as, say, Four Tet or The Field. The pleasant central motif of the first track, “Little Houseboat,” states this clearly at the outset, before an onslaught of sounds divides the focus. Jatoma’s productions are filled with options. There seems to be a stable core to every track around which sonic detritus orbits; what you choose to pay attention to among these gambolling sounds can effectively change the experience of the song — but then again, the core of the song often morphs significantly before the runtime is out. Which means that this album can be both idyllic and sinister. It makes and re-makes itself in realtime.
This is very true of a certain kind of electronic music. I bought Autechre’s Tri Repetae++ seven years ago simply because it had the best reviews. It wasn’t until two weeks ago, prompted by rainy weather, I finally heard what was essential and compelling about it. The best Autechre tracks are half dirty, harsh industrial sounds and half recognizably musical techno: a sketch of a melody or some warm pads, for example. As a listener you’re called upon to make sense of the “non-musical” sounds in terms of the musical ones while filling in the built-in blanks in the melody or ambience. The appeal has more to do with internal, unresolved tension than with forward momentum.
Fourteen years later, it makes sense that Jatoma’s take on this concept would involve more than two simultaneous ideas. This might give the reader the idea that Jatoma is scattered, but it’s not. It’s frequently an overwhelming experience because there is so much to take interest in here, but it’s still a carefully engineered one — packed with some of the more satisfying jams of the year. It is itself a combination of specificity and anonymity, a state of flux with very few right angles.
http://www.M/F.com/?9c1vxh99c1jvmna
xxxy - You Always Start It / Ordinary ThingsYou know the Joy Orbison template by now, and Ten Thousand Yen delivers yet more of it from garage dude xxxy. If you liked that Julio Bashmore EP I posted, check this, you'll like it. The A is colossal.
Ten Thousand Yen push the proverbial boat out with a fittingly resplendent screen-printed sleeve for xxxy's mighty 'You Always Start It'. Riding a wave of adulation from Fact Magazine and his label boss, Doc Daneeka, xxxy has arrived at his most substantial, emotionally arresting single to date. The title track is a proper Bobby dazzler, swinging with a sussed deep garage groove but taken in any direction you need to go through judicious use of a cascading arpeggio that envelopes the whole track and turns it into a twirling double helix of mutant Techno and anthemic Garage. 'Ordinary Things' is a little simpler, relaxing into a plump, subs driven roller with MDMA-triggering euphoric builds like a more sensitive cousin to the all-together-now rave of Hot City. Fans of Joy Orbison, Roof Light, or Julio Bashmore - this one is massive!!!
http://www.M/F.com/?jyadn9ce5bdfa0t
Luke Abbott - Trans Forest Alignment (Gavin Russom Remix)The newest Border Community dude takes the best track off his album and gives it to Gavin Russom (of LCD Soundsystem / Black Meteoric Star fame) for an analog House refix. Includes a non-album cut and another remix from Rocketnumbernine, who I've never heard of.
Brilliant single taken from Luke Abbott's 'Holkham Drones' debut LP, including the exclusive 'Caucus Race' a remarkable remix by Rocketnumbernine and Gavin Russom's exotic techno version. Abbott's instinctively timed, hardware-driven experiments are about the best thing on Border Community right now, full of carefully constructed, humid analogue soundscapes with supremely tangible textures and spacious 3D shapes, best heard in the morphosis from euphoric techno to visceral electronic drone zones in 'A Trans Forest Alignment'. Yet more impressive for us is the stunning remix from Ben and Tom Page aka Rocketnumbernine, who first debuted their sound on Four Tet's Text label in 2010. Jacking up the tempo and adding acres of wonderful harmonic dissonance their remix is simply unmissable for fans of stirring dancefloor electronics, regardless of style or subset. Gavin Russom serves one of his typically nuanced exotic techno versions on the flip, next to the bleeding raw electrojack of Abbott's exclusive contribution 'A Caucus Race'. Recommended!
http://www.M/F.com/?wroy84ic1v1cm78
Martyn & Mike Slott - Collabs Series No. 1To be perfectly honest the first track isn't quite up to the snuff Martyn's more recent singles, being as it is a pretty meat-and-potatoes House cut, but the B offers up a nice bit of bright, dreamy disco.
Martyn and Mike Slott collude on the first 12" of a collaborative series from All City. We'd guess there's a few of you breaking out in sweats already looking at the lineup, and the music should justify your giddiness. 'All Nights' is a seriously good-looking swagger-House riddim, all buff dub chords, rumping subs and a deadly percussive palette of slinking bells, slicing snares and densely padded kicks. If the Martyn influence is clear in that one, then 'Pointing Fingers' belies a fair input from Mike Slott, set to a grooving mid-tempo swing with cosmic harp and synth interplay on a Flying Lotus tip. Heavy.
http://www.M/F.com/?lj8w1ydqqg68lk8
Kassem Mosse - EP5This guy used to run with Instra:Mental to some degree, representing the technoid side of that group's sensibility. The deepest Techno productions.
The ever-reliable Kassem Mosse impresses with three tracks for Italy's Kinda Soul Recordings - home to releases from Jus-Ed, Scott Ferguson and Rick Wade. It's hard to pick a highlight from these sublime efforts. A-side '2D' would be the obvious choice with its plaintively captivating lead synth and engrossing arrangements imbued with the same addictive qualities as his Workshop 08 12" or 'Aqueous Haze' 12", but then you encounter the snapping Deep House/Electro groove of 'Thalassocalyce' embroidered with the most gorgeous Detroit motifs, and the killer slo-mo echoic throb of 'Demo Drums Ripping Demos'. Fuck it. They're all killer and worth the immediate attention of any self-respecting techno fiend.
http://www.M/F.com/?sgttpfpoyq73avw
No. 9 - Usual Revolution and NineI go back and forth on this one - it was sort of an impulse grab and while the production and arrangements are generally solid, the music's relentlessly... upbeat mood and the inclusion of an ill-advised take on Canon in D keep me at arm's length before a sugary piano passage draws me back in for a spell. It's halfway between a legit record and the shopping music in the Sims. If you like Oriol or Bonobo you will probably dig this.
http://www.M/F.com/?8ej25p6dd5jlyyq
Sonic Youth - Simon Werner a DisparuIt's Sonic Youth. You like Sonic Youth, right? All instrumental, dissonant at times, post-rocky at times. But it's certainly Sonic Youth. Tasteful!
'Simon Werner a Disparu' is Sonic Youth's OST to Fabrice Gobert's film of the same name. We've not checked the movie yet so couldn't comment on the relationship between sound and image, but taken as the standalone album it's intended to be, the group have created a vividly cinematic sonic experience. "In Spring 2010 Sonic Youth gathered at their Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, New Jersey to watch the rushes of a new film, 'Simon Werner a Disparu', by French director Fabrice Gobert. The band spent the following few weeks recording music which was then shaped as needed to fit the various scenes of the film. For this release, rather than present the abbreviated clips of music as used in the film, the band went back in the autumn to the original tapes and re-organized the various pieces for this original soundtrack release, sometimes montaging multiple tracks together, other times extending cues into new sonic realms."
http://www.M/F.com/?n66js939ms9sz83
//Tense// - Turn It OffThe synthwave / industrial revival continues in earnest. I got it mainly on the strength of the original track and the White Car remix, because anybody who loves the Wax Trax! scene as much as they do deserves my support.
Somebody should make that cover guy into a comic book hero. "Meatface Leatherdaddy".
http://www.M/F.com/?45iqkh50gqd2b8f
Wagon Christ - Manalyze This!More puns and chopped up samples in this track from Luke Vibert, making his triumphant return to Ninja Tune under his original IDM-centric alias, Wagon Christ. Sounds about right considering where he left off but there's no small amount of residue left from Vibert's last few pseudonym-less excursions.
Ahead of his 'Toomorrow' LP, Luke Vibert drops new Wagon Christ material on 'Manalyze This!', a sample strewn groovy breakbeat number with his usual cheeky sense of arrangement and sugary synth licks.
http://www.M/F.com/?v00z4fzu2g7t3v9
Windmills By the Ocean - III was expecting a drone / ambient album, but this is fairly straightforward post-metal / post-rock type stuff, hard-to-hear vox and all. It's pretty winning stuff, all told. Hits all the right notes.
http://www.M/F.com/?fnxbsbaw0kbksk2
Buck 65 - 20 Odd YearsYes, Buck is back. He never left but he's back! I'll say this - old-school boom bap has not served Mr. Terfry for awhile and it doesn't here, but after the shaky "Superstars Don't Love" Buck seems to settle into a comfortable groove. I've seen it referred to as a return to a
Talkin' Honky Blues feel for Buck, which is unfortunately not really true - there's definitely a lot more
Secret Houses Against the World in this album's lineage, what with the mostly sombre tone. But I really liked that album, so fuck you. Don't take my word for it, listen to a guy from some bumfuck town out in the middle of nowhere! I bet the people he works with are all assholes.
Buck 65 is no stranger to oddities. His latest release, entitled 20 Odd Years, is a collaboration with numerous other artists to celebrate the roughly twenty years that Buck 65 has been making his odd style of hip-hop music. Because the album is so collaborative, 20 Odd Years is full of variety. All the songs feature Buck 65’s unique alternative hip-hop style, but the utilization of other artists’ vocal styles, ranging from a deep baritone to a soaring soprano, with Buck 65’s flow of rhymes creates an intriguing sonic blend. This unique auditory landscape that’s filled with deep layers of synths, samples, electronic drum tracks, and a multitude of physical instruments is in no shortage of hooks; harmonic minor melodies over the tonic and dominant-seven chords are a common occurrence that help to achieve tension-building hooks that keep the listener interested. As a whole, 20 Odd Years ventures though an abundance of moods, moments, and musical styles to create a fine way to spend three-quarters of an hour.
http://www.M/F.com/?pkej795o1ys417y