Utility Fog

Sunday, 8th of September, 2013

HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY FBI!
I've done two shows of ten-year retrospective sounds, so it's time to get back to the new shit!

LISTEN AGAIN as usual... Link on this post or stream on demand.

We start with the latest from Four Tet, which might seem to further cement his new position in 4/4 techno - and indeed it is 4/4, but it's decidedly quirky. As befitting its title, a tribute to the London pirate radio station that was central to hardcore/jungle in the early '90s and is still broadcasting today, he liberally drops mashed-up amen breaks over the 4/4 beat, along with a hilarious and briefly terrifying vocal snippet. On the flipside, the "bliss mix" takes everything out except the high-pitched warble and a tiny bit of vocal sample, and lives up to its name.

I know nothing of R.S.A.G. except they have an excellent acronym for a name (Rarely Seen Above Ground from their URL) and have been remixed by the always excellent Mr Dunk Murphy aka Sunken Foal. A nice bit of moody electronic pop with bouncy beats.

Speaking of bouncy and electronic, Lorn is back on Ninja Tune with an EP that carries on from the rather dark outlook of his 2nd album (and debut on Ninja Tune). In amongst the very melodic synths and post-dubstep/wonky beats he has been scattering very organic sounds, to his benefit, and there are some quite tribal 6/8 beats appearing here too - he's always been a force unto himself, despite fitting in the scene around Flying Lotus (who released his first album) et al...

Rory St John is a techno producer from Dublin, now based in Berlin. On this new EP he seems to take his sound in a more breakbeat/hardcore direction, harkening back to classic hardore in a way, and this impression can only be heightened by the presence of an excellent remix from DHR legend Christoph de Babalon.

Next up, a series of tracks from Swedish composer & electronic musician Marcus Fjellström, on the occasion of his new album Epilogue -M-, which explores the very sci-fi sounds of his murky synthesisers. He's an accomplished composer for orchestra as well, but mostly tonight I focused on his electronic works, from some earlier albums as well. Somehow the 20th century feel of his sounds and compositional style sit very easily with contemporary trends.

Oh, and speaking of soundtracks, our own Ben Frost (if he's willing to be called Australian any more, so long has he been resident in Iceland) has released 3 of his scores on his Bandcamp, which are replete with his famous growling sub-bass and electronic touches with classical and rock instrumentation. For those of us who've been waiting impatiently after the last two stellar albums, these are very welcome.

I'm very happy to finally be able to play more than just the initial singles from Golden Blonde's debut album on Tenzenmen. Their previous incarnation as punkish math-rock band Kasha promised a lot, but what they've delivered here is far beyond expectations. The math-rock angularity is still there, but there's heaps of electronic processing and editing, disjointed vocals, surprising Grizzly Bear-like melodies, full-on crazy drumming and much more. Actually listening back to their 2009 EP five songs for sunstroke, a considerable amount of this was already present, but they've put everything into this album, mixed it up and let it mature. Top album.

Keeping with pop out of left-field, Crackler is another project I'm finally able to play you. The work of Ollie Bown with Adem Ilhan of Fridge, it comes across as a more experimental Tunng. Or maybe a less skittery Icarus with vocals. In any case, you can download it all from Ollie Bown's Soundcloud and you should.

Finally, one beautiful track from Kate Carr's new album on her own Flaming Pines label. Entitled Songs from a cold place, it incorporates evocative field recordings from her time in northern Iceland earlier this year with lonesome guitar recordings - although it's a lot more varied than you might think. This melding of field recordings and musical recordings is at the core of what Carr is doing with Flaming Pines, and this is a very fine example.

Four Tet - Kool FM (Bliss mix) (under talking) [TEXT]
Four Tet - Kool FM [TEXT]
R.S.A.G. - You Want More (Sunken Foal mix) [A Rare Production]
Lorn - Inverted [Ninja Tune]
Lorn - None An Island [Brainfeeder]
Lorn - Ghosst(s) [Ninja Tune]
Lorn - Bury Your Brother [Ninja Tune]
Rory St John - Astroakoustic Three [Acroplane]
Rory St John - Astroakoustic Three (Christoph de Babalon remix) [Acroplane]
Marcus Fjellström - Dance Music 3 [Aagoo Rev.Lab]
Marcus Fjellström - War Music, 1st Perspective [Lampse]
Marcus Fjellström - Antichrist Architecture Management [Miasmah]
Marcus Fjellström - LM-110 [Kafkagarden]
Marcus Fjellström - Explicator [Aagoo Rev.Lab]
Ben Frost - Undulating Beast [Ben Frost Bandcamp]
Ben Frost - In Flesh And Blood feat. Helgi Hrafn Jónson [Ben Frost Bandcamp]
Ben Frost - Soma And Psyche [Ben Frost Bandcamp]
Golden Blonde - Lint [Tenzenmen]
Kasha - Let a Storm [self-released through hellosQuare]
Golden Blonde - Oak [Tenzenmen]
Golden Blonde - You Lead Me [Tenzenmen]
Crackler - Wooden Headphones [Ollie Bown Soundcloud]
Kate Carr - beginnings [Flaming Pines]

Listen again — ~107MB

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