Utility Fog

It’s come round again, that time of the week… That hallowed hour.
Hi.
LISTEN AGAIN as per usual via the link at the bottom or the podcast!

Starting with Here We Go Magic, from his/their new January EP, and one of his catchiest songs since 2005’s Fangela. “Mirror Me” is also a great song, with a nice crunchy drum machine beat.

Another hugely talented artist with a singular vision is polyfox and the union of the most ghosts, hailing from somewhere north of Sydney. Scrumptious lo-fi delights, hugely recommended.

And wow, Nick Zammuto from The Books has renewed his solo project, and he’s so excited he called his first released track “YAY”. It’s lots of fun, in his usual (by now) style of pulsating vocal treatments and percussion…

A couple of years back, sound artists Stephen Vitiello + Machinefabriek collaborated on a project called Box Music, in which they sent each other boxes of non-musical objects, to turn into a collaborative musical work. They have a new release of two live recordings, their first meeting in person — plus a rather lovely remix by Ezekiel Honig.

Also new are some EPs from those heroes of the IDM world, Funckarma. Their Automotive project sees them incorporating acoustic instrumentation (or the sounds thereof) into their production, and I think this new EP succeeds better than they have in the past. In particular “Klezmer” ain’t yo’ Yiddische mama’s Eastern European Jewish music, but it uses clarinet & violin (probably) playing discernable klezmer scales, but very much in the Funckarma musical idiom.
Scone is a collaboration between the Funcken brothers and another Dutch IDM artist, Kettel. Their previous album came out 5 years ago, so it’s nice to have a new 4-track EP. Both these releases are available from Funckarma’s new Bandcamp-powered online shop. With Kettel they can become a little more melodic along with their amazing programming and sound manipulation.
I also played a lovely melodic piece of IDM from Mr Kettel and an incredible classic from Funckarma which gradually piles on the cross-rhythms in a tour-de-force of drum programming.

Back to Australia now for a highly impressive compilation on Byron Bay-based label Enig’matik Records. Check it out at the link. From Melbourne we have Mind Tree, and then one half of same as MindBuffer — two different approaches to drill’n’bass meets glitch-hop, incredibly intricate, exciting stuff.

Then one track from Katoomba-based Elliot, wonky hip-hop on Sydney’s Frequency Lab, and back to Enig’matik with Mr Bill’s dubsteppy glitch-hop and something again a bit more drill’n’bassy from Sensient.

Another big, big 2CD comp from an important label in the English post-dubstep scene, Hessle Audio, home of early releases from James Blake and Untold. We heard a dubstep tune from stalwart D1, and then something like early ’90s pre-jungle hardcore from Ramadanman, lots of fun!

Fabulous return this week from 13&god, the collaboration between German indietronic legends The Notwist and Anticon mainstays Themselves. We’ve got vocals from both Doseone and Maruks Acher, guitars and real drums combined with Jel’s amazing MPC sampling genius. The album’s way better than the last Notwist or, I daresay, Themselves efforts.
I also played Hrvatski’s legendary remix of Soft Atlas/Men of Station from 6 years ago.

And this brings us to the incredible sounds of Geese. I’ve been waiting for this for some time, since hearing their remixes of Jon Hopkins and Hot Chip, and have known their work as half of the Elysian Quartet for even longer. They’re very adept at extended techniques and melodic beauty with violin & viola, and also willing to try whatever it takes in the studio for remixy goodness.
So it’s very nice to see they have their music up on the ubiquitous Bandcamp now, replete with remixes of their work, including Adem of Fridge fame.

And then, back to Jenny Hval, and her previous incarnation as Rockettothesky. It’s a shame I’ve had such full shows that it’s taken me a while to get back to this – I think her new album Viscera is one of the albums of the year, and I intend to play her much more. Rockettothesky already saw her moving into some quite experimental territory along with the classic gutsy folky songwriting. The new album enlists her Norwegian compatriots Deathprod and some other experimental musicians to take it to the next level – deeply thought-out musical landscapes, big gothic rock-outs in the midst of sound-art and brilliant vocal performances. You need to check it out.

Finally, the most post-rockin’ piece on the solo album from David Evans, drummer in Melbourne postrock band This Is Your Captain Speaking. It’s a really great track, which I suspect I’ll be revisiting in the next few weeks!

Here We Go Magic – Hands in the Sky [Secretly Canadian]
Here We Go Magic – Mirror Me [Secretly Canadian]
polyfox and the union of the most ghosts – hang by a thread [Monstera Deliciosa] {now available from his Bandcamp!}
polyfox and the union of the most ghosts – 50 years of pens [Unique Beautiful Flowers] {now available from his Bandcamp!}
polyfox and the union of the most ghosts – the sink [Unique Beautiful Flowers] {now available from his Bandcamp!}
Zammuto – YAY [briefly released to his Soundcloud] {almost immediately deleted, with the intention that other people share it, so go googling!}
Stephen Vitiello + Machinefabriek – Box Music In Montreal [Nuun]
Stephen Vitiello + Machinefabriek – Box Music Repacked by Ezekiel Honig [Nuun]
Automotive – Klezmer [Funckarma Bandcamp]
Scone – Latuh [Funckarma Bandcamp]
Scone – Maze [Moamoo]
Kettel – Pinch of Peer [Sending Orbs]
Funckarma – Lignite [dub] {re-released on Sending Orbs, now also out of print, but available digitall at Funckarma shop}
Mind Tree – The Caravan [Enig’matik Records]
MindBuffer – Ghost in the Shell [Enig’matik Records]
Elliot – The dreams of men part 2 [The Frequency Lab]
Mr Bill – The Bouba-Kiki Effect [Enig’matik Records]
Sensient – Focalise [Enig’matik Records]
D1 – Sub Zero [Hessle Audio]
Ramadanman – Don’t Change For Me [Hessle Audio]
13&god – Its Own Sun [Alien Transistor/Anticon]
13&god – L’Atlas Flexible, Von Gradleute (remix by Hrvatski) [Anticon]
13&god – Sure as Debt [Alien Transistor/Anticon]
Geese – Fog-Sea [self-released, see Geese Bandcamp]
Jon Hopkins – The Low Places (Geese Remix) [Domino]
Geese – Tundra Bean (Adem remix) [self-released, see Geese Bandcamp]
jenny hval – blood flight [Rune Grammofon]
Rockettothesky – Grizzly Man [Trust Me Records]
jenny hval – milk of marrow [Rune Grammofon]
David Evans – 1am to 2am [Sensory Projects]

Listen again — ~ 240MB {show ran for 3″13′}