So here we are. It’s really 2016 now – we’ve got 2016 music for you!

LISTEN AGAIN to all the new tunes, some real doozies covering lots of ground tonight! Podcast here, stream on demand there.

New David Bowie! What can one say? It’s a bit experimental, it’s mainly quite pop, it’s great. Yup.

Katie Dey is a young producer from Melbourne who caused a bit of a fuss when this excellent EP (asdfasdf) came out mid last year, but I managed to totally miss it. A mixture of punkish indie tunes, heavily processed vocals and glitchy electronic mess, it’s right up my alley. Brilliant.

I’ve known Erik Schoster’s work as He Can Jog for some time – his first release was in 2008 and I associated him more with the drone/sound-art crowd at the time. There’s definitely an academic bent to some of his work, but also very playful, and the more abstract sound was always tempered with real instruments and some idm-like beats. This new EP follows a 10-minute track from last year and explores glitchy song-like structures. It’s a really beautiful set of vignettes, a nice beginning to 2016.

I played hatis noit on ths show last year when she contributed an incredible cut-up track to the Virgin Babylon 5th birthday comp (also heard tonight). Her debut album came out in 2014 from Japanese experimental label Purre Goohn, and an EP slipped out late last year, including a remix from the one and only Matmos, which may serve to bring her a little more fame.

Mark Van Hoen aka Locust, once a member of Seefeel, Scala and many others, is an important figure in both idm and shoegaze. He’s lately been releasing a lot of solo music, and it’s mostly good but this new album is particularly good. The cut-up female vocals go way back to his work in Seefeel, and the incredibly brilliant Locust material like the track I played tonight. The grainy, processed textures go back pretty much that far as well. Van Hoen is famously a prodigy like various other artists from that era (e.g. Richard D James), and recordings of his from the early 1980s have popped up here and there too, but from the early ’90s on he’s been very influential.

Michel Banabila also has been making music for a long time – and the source material for this latest release is his first LP, released in 1983! It sounds like his interest in world music goes all the way back to there, and although he is somewhat embarrassed by that early material, he passed it on to musician friends to remix, with some awesome results. Frequent collaborator Machinefabriek hands in some rare beats, while dark ambient/industrial artist Andrew Lagowski takes us deep into the undergrowth… And we heard some earlier from Banabila too, which surfaced on the Tapu Sampler 2016 – gorgeous tape-manipulated vocals and guitar.

Jason Sweeney has settled on Panoptique Electrical for his solo music for some time now, but is also half of Pretty Boy Crossover, and has released jangly indie music, indietronica, ambient, idm and more over 2+ decades. The Panoptique albums have been wonderful of late, and this surprise release for the start of 2016 is no exception. Warm piano, disturbing electronics and spare beats.

Acre resides in the more experimental ends of the post-dubstep/post-grime/techno continuum, and seems appropriate for the somewhat more leftfield bent of Pinch’s Tectonic of late. The vocal snippets appearing here among the abrasive beats & textures are a handy nod to the Mark Van Hoen, hatis noit etc from earlier tonight, although it sounds as much like grime to me as anything else. Surprisingly abstract though, with few melodies or clear basslines to anchor anything.

As 2016 began, Kevin Martin aka The Bug started uploading some unrelease dubplates featuring the late Stephen Samuel Gordon aka The Spaceape, and then a number of others – not to SoundCloud or Bandcamp but to YouTube. Which makes them easy to access but harder to rip in any kind of quality I guess! But I can play them direct from the interwubs. Although everything he’s uploaded is total quality, by far the biggest impression came from the unreleased remix of “Guns of Brixton” by The Clash, unreleased due to some dispute with the estates of the members of The Clash. But there’s also a fantastic dubplate of Flowdan MCing over the “Murder We” riddim – and a bunch of other alternate versions of Bug tracks with Miss Red, Daddy Freddy, Ricky Ranking et al.

Finland’s monster of drum’n’bass and breakbeat Fanu,is now just known as Janne Hatula, but will still be releasing just as much music, he assures us. He’s also rejuvenated his Lightless Recordings label and inaugurates the new year with a compilation of A New Tribe of jungle/drum’n’bass/slow-fast/juke/bass music. We heard from a duo of German producers, and a Finnish producer who’s been around doing some great drumfunk stuff for a few years.

David Bowie – Girl Loves Me [Sony]
katie dey – don’t be scared [katie dey bandcamp/Orchid Tapes Bandcamp]
katie dey – all on you [katie dey bandcamp/Orchid Tapes Bandcamp]
He Can Jog – west (feat. s.al) [He Can Jog Bandcamp]
He Can Jog – sukha (feat. derek piotr & s.al) [He Can Jog Bandcamp]
hatis noit – Veins [Purre Goohn]
hatis noit – krabo [Purre Goohn]
hatis noit – chuchr ideins ouy [Virgin Babylon]
hatis noit – Illogical Lullaby –Matmos edit- [Purre Goohn]
Mark Van Hoen – Bring It Back [Saint Marie Records]
Locust – Saturated Love [Apollo]
Michel Banabila – A2. Marilli rmxd 11 (Machinefabriek remix) [Tapu Bandcamp]
Michel Banabila – A5. Marilli rmxd 18 (Andrew Lagowski remix) [Tapu Bandcamp]
Michel Banabila – E.T. [Tapu Bandcamp]
Panoptique Electrical – First betrayal [Panoptique Bandcamp]
Panoptique Electrical – In a forest forlorn [Panoptique Bandcamp]
Panoptique Electrical – Near life [Panoptique Bandcamp]
Acre – Holding Hands [Tectonic]
Acre – Dek U [Tectonic]
The Clash – Guns of Brixton (The Bug feat. The Spaceape Remix) [unreleased, via YouTube]
The Bug ft. Flowdan – Bad Like That Dubplate (Murder We Riddim) [unreleased, via “>YouTube]
ReDraft x HP.Ritch – Champion Killa [Lightless Recordings]
Fistfunk – Do It Right [Lightless Recordings]

Listen again — ~188MB

He’s back! First show of 2016, and I’m cataloguing another set of favourite musical productions from 2015 – this time focusing on noise, metal, and electronica – whether it’s techno, bass music or the continuing junglist revival, as well as some more experimental electronic sounds.

LISTEN AGAIN because Best! Stream on demand at FBi Radio, podcast right here!

Prurient – Greenpoint [Profound Lore]
Insect Ark – The Collector [Autumnnsongs/Insect Ark Bandcamp]
SUMAC – Thorn in the Lion’s Paw [Profound Lore/Daymare]
Boris – Lithium [Robotic Empire]
Liturgy – Father Vorizen [Thrill Jockey/Daymare]
Greg Fox – Lamb [Rail Cables]
Greg Fox – Adversary [Rail Cables]
Kevin Hufnagel – Súton [Kevin Hufnagel Bandcamp]
Oneohtrix Point Never – Bullet Hell Abstraction I (excerpt) [Warp]
Oneohtrix Point Never – I Bite Through It [Warp]
Clarinet Factory – 5 Steps (Hidden Orchestra remix) [Denovali]
Kuedo – Eyeless Angel Intervention (feat. Mind:Body:Fitness) [Knives]
Lakker – Milch feat. Eileen Carpio) [R&S Records]
Akkord – Megalith [Houndstooth]
Machinedrum – Le Ol Skool [Planet µ]
Sully – Crystal Cuts [Astrophonica]
Sam Binga – Wasted Days (feat. Warrior Queen) [Critical Music]
Fixate – Alive [Exit Records]
Luke Vibert – Doozit [Planet µ]
M.E.S.H. – Methy Imbiß [PAN]
Fis – Pedal [Loopy]
Sunken Foal – Clipper (Autechre cover) [Sunken Foal Bandcamp]

Listen again — ~197MB

Here we are… Part One of Utility Fog’s Best of 2015.
I have not written a fancy blurb on every track. This is all awesome music, I have raved about it during the year. I will write up a big somewhat-exhaustive list sometime soon as well, and hopefully I’ll have one-line summaries of everything there too!
Just enjoy the sounds!

LISTEN AGAIN to some of the highlights from a great year of music! Podcast links right here, streaming on demand from FBi website.

Holly Herndon – An Exit (feat. Amnesia Scanner) [RVNG International/4AD]
Björk – mouth mantra [One Little Indian]
Jenny Hval – Sabbath [Sacred Bones Records]
Julia Holter – Silhouette [Domino]
Circuit des Yeux – Do The Dishes [Thrill Jockey]
Helen Money & Jarboe – For My Father [Aurora Borealis]
Heather Woods Broderick – Wyoming [Western Vinyl]
Ô Paon – Transcanadienne [TAUS/Ô Paon Bandcamp]
Mára – Flask of Hermes [SIGE Records]
Ambrosia(@) – Secretariat II [Bomb Shop]
Low – Gentle [Sub Pop]
Jerusalem In My Heart – Al Affaq, Lau Mat, Lau Lau Lau Lau Lau Lau (The Hypocrite, If He Dies, If If If If If If) [Constellation]
Vert – And I Know [Shitkatapult]
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell [Asthmatic Kitty]
Daughter’s Fever – Daughter’s Fever [hellosQuare Recordings]
Reuben Ingall – Eyelids [Feral Media]
Subsea, Pale Earth and Kini – Comet Moth [Pale Earth Bandcamp]
Danyl Jesu & Pale Earth – Abdelazer [Danyl Jesu &/or Pale Earth Bandcamps]
Dou Wei (窦唯) – 弥疑第二 [self-released(?) album 天真君公 (Tiān zhēn jūn gōng)]
Vampillia + the body – cold bark bite [Vampillia Bandcamp]
Pyramids – In Perfect Stillness, I’ve Only Found Sorrow [Profound Lore]
L A N D – End Zone [Important Records]
Paul de Jong – Debt Free [Temporary Residence]

Listen again — ~194MB

Still playing NEW music on Utility Fog in December! Next week will be a best of 2015 – part one, although I am away for the last Sunday of December, so the follow-up will bleed into Janaury and there is still plenty of new 2015 music to cover too!

LISTEN AGAIN and marvel at how some of the best music of the year came out in the last month or two of the year!
Podcast is here, or stream on demand via FBi.

Last week we heard a few tracks from Faith Coloccia‘s band Mamiffer and her collaborations with Alex Barnett. Tonight we’re lucky enough to have a little continuation of the Coloccia special, as her new solo cassette as Mára has come out from the label she runs with partner Aaron Turner (also in Mamiffer among myriad other bands), SIGE Records. It’s absolutely stunning work, with crunchy sound works, shoegazey pieces and piano and vocal numbers, all saturated in cassette haze. Can’t recommend highly enough.

Also with a big stamp of approval is the debut album from Seattle-based Australian composer & sound artist Madeleine Cocolas. Something of a hymn to her new surrounds, it’s titled Cascadia and features piano, electronics, drones, field recordings and some vocals. The album is distilled from a year-long project recording a track each week, from which we’re gifted an album of great depth & beauty.

Rutger Zuydervelt of Machinefabriek sometimes releases music under his own name, and I’m not always clear what the point of differentiation is – but here we have a soundtrack to a film called The Cold and the Quiet. The tracks are quite short cues, ranging from his familiar drones & sound-art to sweet electric piano pieces.

Andrew Johnson’s a new line (related) project brings us the first Hood-related music for the night. Johnson played drums with the legendary northern-English indie/noise/indietronica band for a few years, but also made a name as one half of minimal electronic duo The Remote Viewer (aka The Famous Boyfriend), among other things. His solo project finds him making emotive minimal techno & house with primitive equipment, and his latest EP (titled Our Lady of Perpetual Fucking Succour) is out on vinyl now, complete with remixes from like-minded producers such as Maxim Wolzyn.

On the same label, next year will see the release of a long (loooong)-awaited new album from Hood’s Chris Adams aka Bracken. Home Assembly Music have just released a sampler for 2015, which features one track from this 2016 release. As Bracken, Downpour and in Hood, Adams has released some of my favourite music ever, so it’s fair to say this album can’t come soon enough. The new track has his vocals (slightly vocodered), a head-nodding, skittery beat and layers of plaintive synths.

Well, speaking of Hood, they somehow have a new single out, even though they are still broken up. Back in 1994, the then-new Spanish label Acuarela were going to release a 7″ from Hood, but for reasons that remain undisclosed it never came out. Fast-forward 21 years, and somehow it’s now being released. It’s vintage Hood of the era, with field recordings, lots of noise, and jangling indie songs. There’s also hints of the electronics which played a big part in their later sound. Whatever the reasons, it’s something special to have “new” music from them (although many of the tracks ended up on other releases). Even these two quite early tracks demonstrate why they’re the greatest band to ever have lived :)

I’m grateful to my colleague Jordan Sexty, who presents Damage after Utility Fog on Sunday nights, for introducing me to Adelaide’s Sparkspitter. Their debut album from last year was a great collection of math rock / krautrock material, but the recently-released follow-up EP Doxa juxtaposes this rhythmic music with pieces of strung-out ambience, drones and lush string arrangements.

Simon Scott is the once-and-once-again drummer in the beloved shoegaze band Slowdive, but has also made scads of wonderful drone & sound-art as a solo artist (as well as curating the label KESH), and on the occasion of a grand new album on Ash International, it’s time to have a bit of a feature on his sounds. His second album on Miasmah, Bunny, impressed me so much in 2011 that I counted it as one of the best of the year, achieving a supremely effective amalgam of static drones, experimental aspects of sound-art, and echoes and references to rock, Americana and soundtrack music. Although he plays drums in Slowdive, his solo work has seen him using the guitar (including 12-string acoustic), especially on the recently-released Insomni – and he also appeared this year on the latest of Tompkins Square‘s fingerstyle/folk guitar compilations, Imaginational Anthem vol 7.

Mára – Warmth, Shelter, Oblivion [SIGE Records]
Mára – Flask of Hermes [SIGE Records]
Mára – Healing for the Wounded [SIGE Records]
Madeleine Cocolas – The Sea Beneath Me [Futuresequence]
Madeleine Cocolas – Static [Futuresequence]
Rutger Zuydervelt – Alone [Machinefabriek Bandcamp]
a new line (related) – They’re Burning Northerners Fifteen At A Time And Firing Them Into The Sky To Light Up London [Home Assembly Music]
a new line (related) – They’re Burning Northerners Fifteen At A Time And Firing Them Into The Sky To Light Up London (Maxim Wolzyn Remix) [Home Assembly Music]
Bracken – Branch Hid Sky [Home Assembly Music]
Hood – British Radars [Acuarela]
Hood – Fears Grow [Acuarela]
Sparkspitter – Vandalis [Sparkspitter Bandcamp]
Sparkspitter – Caesure Non Supra / Capacity / Edict [Sparkspitter Bandcamp]
Simon Scott – An angel from the sea kissed me [Ash International]
Simon Scott – The Old Jug And Drum [Miasmah]
Simon Scott – Betty [Miasmah]
Simon Scott – Left Behind The World [Sonic Pieces]
Simon Scott – Below Sea Level [12k]
Simon Scott – Für Betty [Kompakt]
Simon Scott – Trees Return to Soil [Tompkins Square]
Simon Scott – Nember [Ash International]

Listen again — ~187MB