I’m back! I’ve seen waterfalls and forests and fur seals and it was great. Bought a few CDs along the way…
Lots of new music to catch up on, so it’ll be jam-packed shows for a few weeks to come! Thanks heaps to Ryley Edwards and Elly Zurowski for their fantastic selections two weeks ago, and Krishtie Mofazzal for her always excellent work last week.
LISTEN AGAIN because you got to catch up! Stream on demand from FBi, podcast here…
Syntax Error – Under The Ice [Stab in the Dark Records]
Starting with a bit of epic psych rock shoegaze from Sydney quartet Syntax Error, a track that starts brooding and builds into something quite firey. Their album Message has just come out, and they’re launching it this Friday at Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville.
Moor Mother x Zonal – On The Range [Adult Swim Singles 2018-2019]
A couple of years ago the Unsound Festival in Poland hosted a performance by Justin K Broadrick and Kevin Martin, resuming their longtime collaboration, probably best known under the name Techno Animal. Zonal had previously been used on an extremely limited 2000 release, but it’s now their official outlet – incredibly creative, dub-heavy hip-hop and techno material. In Poland, the two were joined Philadelphia rapper Moor Mother, whose rasping, acerbic vocals are a perfect match – so it’s awesome that the first available track (albeit only streaming for now) is a collaboration with her.
Holly Herndon – Bridge (feat. Martine Syms) [4AD/RVNG Intl]
Holly Herndon – Movement [RVNG Intl]
Holly Herndon – Home [4AD/RVNG Intl]
Holly Herndon – Last Gasp [4AD/RVNG Intl]
In the 4 years since her amazing last album, Holly Herndon has earned a PhD, and has also birthed an AI entity called Spawn along with her partner Mat Dryhurst, which features heavily (if elliptically) on her new album PROTO. Spawn responds to vocal input by creating new harmonies and synthesised vocals. Although Herndon’s previous work (heard here in between two new tracks) was deeply interested in vocal processing and the interface between voice and electronics, here the programming is encouraged to interact “creatively” with Herndon’s stunning electronic, folk and classical-derived compositions. Once you know it’s there, you can’t help hearing it. It’s quite wonderful.
Sote – Brass Tacks [Diagonal Records/Bandcamp]
Sote – Trans Force [Diagonal Records/Bandcamp]
Sote – Electric Deaf [Warp]
Ata Ebtekar first introduced his Sote sound to the world via an ecstatic, overdriven pair of breakbeat/breakcore tracks on the Warp label in 2002. While he was studying abroad at the time, he has been based back in Tehran for many years now, and has by now put out a number of releases drawing on and interrogating the rich musical history of Iran. 2017’s Sacred Horror in Design took the sounds of traditional Persian instruments and embedded them in electronics, heavily processing the sounds and re-composing and re-contextualising the compositions. That is taken further on the new album Parallel Persia, released by Diagonal Records. Alongside instruments like the santour and tar are vocal harmonies, and of course lots of electronic processing and synthesised sounds as well. At times the music is choreographed into some kind of 4/4 beats, but more often it’s free, as if played by live musicians. It’s quite extraordinarily beautiful.
LOFT – That Hyde Trakk [Tri-Angle/Bandcamp]
Speaking of crazy breakbeats, Manchester-based LOFT has a new EP on Tri-Angle called and departt from mono games, a vaporwavey concoction of field recordings, some muffled vocal bits, and rave atmospherics, which gives way to drill’n’bassy madness on the last track.
Evitceles – Devoid [Opal Tapes]
Evitceles – Exhausted Lust [Opal Tapes]
Evitceles – Spit Hearts [Opal Tapes]
Sofia-based producer Evitceles has releases to his name on on-point labels like Seagrave and Yerevan Tapes, and now has dropped his second release on the brilliant Opal Tapes. Like a whole cadre of new producers these days, he chews up, mulches and spits out the sounds of club music, with sub-bass, drum machines, breaks and pads that retain their funk in an off-kilter, industrial fashion.
City & i.o – Anxiety Object [Purple Tape Pedigree]
City & i.o – Markerlight [Purple Tape Pedigree]
Two tracks from a forthcoming release on the excellent Purple Tape Pedigree. I believe we’ve got an exclusive on this for now, which is really exciting. Will Ballantyne’s City has released on Halcyon Veil and Ascetic House before, and his industrial, post-rave electronics are paired here with the dextrous drumming of Maxwell Patterson’s i.o. Both are also guitarists, with some surprising heavy riffage appearing at points, but also some gorgeous calm as in our second selection tonight, which has clattering, tumbling percussive noise (forwards & reversed) sputtering around a beautiful modal piece reverberating from the strings of i.o’s acoustic guitar. An album to look out for in the coming months!
Laurence Pike – Rites [The Leaf Label]
Laurence Pike – Holy Spring [The Leaf Label]
Sydney drummer Laurence Pike launches his new album Holy Spring this Saturday (yes, election night) at Golden Age Cinema & Bar in Surry Hills. It’s a bit of a continuation of the percussion and samples found on his last album, and again it’s released on The Leaf Label. There’s some beautifully contemplative stuff, and frequently he keeps it very minimalist, as in the first track tonight, which feels like it references the tiny jazz loops of Jan Jelinek that spurred the initial work of Triosk back in the day.
Jack Burton – Cumulus Revisited [Analogue Attic/Bandcamp]
Some gorgeous ambient sounds from new Melbourne artist Jack Burton on Analogue Attic. Despite the label name, I hear some glitchy textures in there one some tracks – perhaps modular synthesis? There are acoustic instruments, and lots of lovely bubbly synths, and occasional subtle beats. It’s a very special album, coming out later this month.
Listen again — ~204MB
Comments are closed.