Utility Fog

Sunday, 19th of September, 2010

Big show going all over the place tonight! LISTEN AGAIN via the link at the bottom why don'tcha!

Hilarious big distorto dubstep (I guess) tune to start with from Shit&Shine, flipside of the track I played last week on the show. Clearly wasn't enough just to play it on Future Face on Thursday night...

Then on to the first Ninja Tune track of the evening. It's the Ninjas' 20th birthday starting right about now, but I haven't got the birthday comps yet - hopefully for next week's show, in which case we'll have a little bit of Ninja history as well.
Meanwhile, Eskmo. He first came to my attention as a dubstep producer, and we hear that amazing track after, but first off something from his debut album, released on Ninja Tune. It's more electronic, more smooth, something along the lines of a few of the incredible west-coast wonky tracks he put out late last year. Very, very lovely, from a very versatile producer.

Chilly Gonzales, previously just Gonzales (although the "Chilly" has always been there) is a strange fit for Utility Fog, but I've always been a fan. His new album is as cheesy as he gets, and lots of fun. The track I played happens to go all full-on wobbly-bassline at the end. The album is produced by Boyz Noize so... yeah.
And his hilarious take on 50 Cent’s "Many Men", totally catchy. You need to get the Pianist Envy mixtape, link is below.

Remarkably easy mix out of that into the insane Chicago juke/footwork of DJ Nate. Breakneck basslines, chopped vocals, all craziness.
It seemed right to follow this with the hybrid sounds of Scuba, and this track is one of my faves from his latest album. The techno sounds of his new home of Berlin have snuck into the dubstep, and this has some elements of almost d'n'b as well. We also heard a similarly-paced new remix by him of Sistol, one of Vladislav Delay’s techno projects. Should still be available for download - see link below.

And this brings us to a slightly different part of the evening, via Northerner, whose remix of The Green Kingdom has a certain 2step vibe to it. All the Home Assembly Music releases come with a limited edition bonus remix disc, and there are some lovely ones on this one.
Before we get to the more droney and quiet stuff, we have a Bonobo track courtesy of this whole Ninja Tune XX thing. Very lovely folktronic sort of stuff with a nice hip-hop beat.
And then we're back with The Green Kingdom. It's great to hear a Fieldhead remix that's along the lines of his beat stuff; very very tasty if you're a fan of his album on the same label. And also a lovely track from the album proper by The Green Kingdom.

Next remix album off the rank is from Autistici, whose sound art needs to be heard more on this show methinks. But this latest release is a remix album, and we heard the musique concrète of Justin Varis followed by gorgeous cello and electronics from Ian Hawgood and Danny Norbury. Then from one of Autistici's "early works" releases from earlier this year, a fantastic piece with double bass, loping drums and other sounds.

Another album plus remixes comes this week from composer P Jørgensen, on the wonderful Under The Spire label. The album itself is a soundtrack, and uses as its materials piano, strings and some drone works. It's very beautiful, and it's quite interesting that they've chosen to pair it with a bunch of remixes, but it turns out to be an excellent decision given the calibre of the remixers.
I've heard great things about Rameses III, and this sensitive remix takes the original's piano and adds guitar, banjo (I think) and drones.
Peter Broderick contributes one of his typically touching works, adding his voice to the beautiful string cadences of the original. He's pretty much unbeatable, that man.

Serafina Steer seems now to be just Serafina, and her new EP Is just her singing with her harp. She creates a modern form of English folk that sets her apart from any other female harp-playing singer-songwriters.

On Lawrence English’s Room40 label, he teams up with Japanese band Minamo to create some minimal folk/rock/drone stuff. And I also played both sides of his stunning 7” on the Touch label, big slabs of beautiful drone. I meant to separate the two with Automating’s track but had it cued up wrong, so that came after.

Melbourne's Automating makes music from processed drones and other sounds - in this case some disquieting sampled voices. Makes for great listening.

cindytalk is a pretty different thing from what it was when Gordon Sharp was fronting them in the early '80s as a post-punk/industrial group. There couldn't be a more appropriate label for this sound than Editions Mego, with its crackles, drones and glitches. The albums from last year and this year share the same aesthetic. It's a shame the last track on the 2009 album was glitching on our studio CD player, as it's a really beautiful work, so you'll just have to go and buy it :)

Equally beautiful and more noise-fuelled is the new release from Pete Swanson of the now-defunct Yellow Swans. The more than 16-minute track I played is quite a journey, and strongly recalls that duo's sound.

After the epic Swanson piece there was only time for one more track, from the debut album by Imbogodom. Alexander Tucker’s psych-folk has featured a few times on UFog; I don't know his collaborator Daniel Beban, but together they make a sound which is not miles away from Tucker's music but goes in some pretty different directions. There's more of a "sound" focus, and it's pretty inspiring stuff that deserves a few more listens.

Shit&Shine - Fuck You Folk Singers [Badmaster]
Eskmo - We Have Imaginary Friends (Washed Mix) [Ninja Tune]
Eskmo - Agnus Dei [Ancestor Media]
Chilly Gonzales - Crying [Gentle Threat/Republic of Music]
Chilly Gonzales vs 50 Cent - Many Men [from Gonzo's incredibly "Pianist Envy" mixtape] {download this track here}
DJ Nate - Back Up Kid [Planet µ]
Scuba - Tracers [Hotflush]
Sistol - On The Bright Side (Scuba’s The Brighter Side remix) [Halo Cyan Records] {download for free here}
The Green Kingdom - The Largest Creature That Has Ever Existed (Northerner Remix) [Home Assembly Music]
Bonobo - Ghost Ship [Ninja Tune]
The Green Kingdom - Thoughts and Bells (3:07am dub) (Fieldhead Remix) [Home Assembly Music]
The Green Kingdom - Bells and Thoughts [Home Assembly Music]
Autistici - First (remix by Justin Varis) [Audiobulb]
Autistici - Remix by Ian Hawgood and Danny Norbury [Audiobulb]
Autistici - colonic people [Audiobulb]
P Jørgensen - For Hanne and Ruth (remix by Rameses III) [Under The Spire]
P Jørgensen - Palimpsest (For Strings) [Under The Spire]
P Jørgensen - Palimpsest (For Strings) (remix by Peter Broderick) [Under The Spire]
P Jørgensen - Kim [Under The Spire]
Serafina - Night Before Mutiny [Stolen Recordings]
Minamo + Lawrence English - The Path [Room40]
Lawrence English - Without Sanctuary [Touch]
Lawrence English - One Thousand Miles of White [Touch]
Automating - Double Monster [download via Bandcamp]
cindytalk - guts of london [Editions Mego]
cindytalk - debris of a smile [Editions Mego]
cindytalk - the anarchist window [Editions Mego]
Pete Swanson - The Fermata [Root Strata]
Imbogodom - Unseen Ticket [Thrill Jockey]

Listen again — ~ 169MB

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