Golau Glou – Myrrh & Myth

My favourite mysterious silver pop duo Golau Glou have made a Christmas EP for you all, you can grab it for free below, plus they’ve made a video for each track. At some point there will be a remix EP featuring the likes of Ghost Box’s The Advisory Circle and the wonderful Worriedaboutsatan. They’ve also been working hard on an album I for one can’t wait.

Yew from Golau Glau on Vimeo.

Watch: http://www.vimeo.com/album/1488740

Download: http://golauglau.bandcamp.com/

Latest tracks by Golau Glau

http://golauglau.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/golauglau

Pariah – Safehouses EP [R&S]

Pariah drops a double pack on the recently refreshed and vibrant R&S records, six tracks of pure Pariah. He shows us some breadth and flexes his production muscles in all directions, from tribal dance floor workouts to deep house textures and tweaked out hip-hop variants all with a slight garage strain rolling through it.

Percussive roller ‘The Slump’ drops hard, from tribal accented beats into an almighty bass pulse that would make Untold and Ramadanman proud. Eski-like beats stomp under the building layers of percussion and bass weight until a release comes in the form of melodic soulful vocal samples and twilight pads. Like a garage cousin of Rishi Romero’s 'African Forest' in a head on collision with Pulse-X and a healthy does of melancholic melody. It’s a big one. With its deep and housy vibes ‘Prism’ is a welcome addition to the front end of this EP, where the dance floor takes front stage. It’s a subtle number mind, keeping it close with a tight and bumpy percussive roll. Synth’s refract and spin off in different directions over building wide screen pads before a pulsing bass line gets things moving.

The late night vibes of ‘Railroad’ get things nice and blissful, Pariah flexes his off-kilter atmospheric hip-hop muscles. He merges that vibe with a slinky garage bump with ease, its like you’re stuck on a bus mid summer, heavy with sweat. Sweeping melodies with an emotional pull get pushed into shape by deep bass flourishes and junglist breaks before it all melts into field recordings and the next track ‘Crossed Out’ which takes off where ‘Prisim’ left but with a rattling garage bump more prominent… you could fit it next to recent efforts from George Fitzgerald or Hyetal with ease.

The final two see Pariah in atmospheric mode, first up is ‘C - Beams’ where he brings out his inner Dilla, which he plays out under field recordings, bittersweet soundtrack pianos and computer game lilted funk. Things go deeper still with atmospheric drones on the closing track ‘Safehouses’, its almost reminiscent of GAS in some ways, its layers of sound wrapping itself around your ears before it engulfs you in a bed of looping tones. A solid EP that has range and scope, taking in different moods and atmospheres, the dance floor tracks will be in people’s bags for a while yet and the rest will mesmerise on those late nights.

http://www.myspace.com/pariahbeats
http://www.rsrecords.com/

Sonic Router Mix

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Sepalcure – Love Pressure [Hotflush]

Duo coming right out of NYC joining the dots between deep house nostalgia, the faint echo of garage and today’s dubstep variants. Chunky, wood carved rhythms balance toughness with a slinky rolling sound. Chopped and screwed house diva’s bring some spectral soul through the hazy sub and twisted synths. Sitting somewhere between recent material from Joy Orbison, FaltyDL, Scuba and Fantasitc Mr Fox, Sepalcure fit in nicely but with an edge all their own. It’s the depth of it all coupled with a visceral sense of emotion and atmospheric space that runs through the tracks that shows they’ve got their own niche.

The airy tones of ‘Love Pressure’ open up the EP and spread out into sweeping chords layering themselves under tweaked diva samples that ooze a melancholic, cathartic presences though the whole track. It’s the bumping kicks and lilting percussive accents that play over the deep bass that keep things moving though. ‘Down’ moves in a similar fashion, with the vocals pitching up and down, this time over more colourful, smeared synth tones that bridge dissonance and melody all at once. Yet again it’s the rolling percussive licks that bring movement to the space and dissonance of the bass and synths. Seplacure use the treated diva samples brilliantly too, in the wrong hands its another cliché used in so much dance music and especially in a post-Burial dubstep landscape but its pulled of in style here.

The flip rolls out in a similar fashion; ‘Every Day Of My Life’ is a slow grooving, blissful roller. With jazzy accents, subtle wobble bass and those chopped and screwed vocal hooks. Laid back, late night vibes. ‘The Warning’ fizzes into action with more of those bitter sweat, soul drenched melodies before driving right into some half stepping house grooves that balance a smooth, slow kick with some seriously infectious tribal percussive bubbles. Sepalcure do their thing on this 12”, its all so subtle but has a kick to it with some large bass grooves and irresistible drum patterns that just keep things rolling nicely. I’d like to hear what else they have up their sleeves.

Sepalcure - Every Day of my Life from sougwen on Vimeo.

Sepalcure - Love Pressure EP [HF025] by Hotflush

http://www.myspace.com/sepalcure
http://www.sepalcure.com/
http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/

Zander Hardy – Hard EP [Deep Teknologi]

This is some seriously dark and techy UK funky, it’s the sound of a dark basement with a big soundsystem, no lights and plenty of slinky dancing. West-Londoner Zander Hardy drops the second release on Deep Teknologi in the shape of the three-track EP Hard. This Zander Hardy 12” follows in the wake of T. Williams and Cooly G who have been making similarly dark and stripped back UK funky material of late, keeping things simple, rolling and dubby all while keeping one eye firmly on the dance floor.

The bumping industrial clatter of ‘Attack’ manages to stay rolling and slinky while keeping its menacing darkness and wide-screen bass pulses all via a sinister sci-fi Blade Runner-esq atmosphere. The harder, ‘Signalling (To The Chosen One’s)’ buzzes with a frazzled digital dissidence above driving UK funky drum patterns, like a warning signal that the party will self destruct if you don’t keep moving. We get more soulful on ‘Get Away’ with its eerie atmosphere and smoky chords over big pulsing drum kicks and bass tones that just keep rolling and make you shake like only UK funky can.

This darker end of UK funky is keeping me interested right now: Deep Teknologi and Zander Hardy hit the right buttons. Alongside other UK funky mutations from the likes of Altered Natives, DVA and Night Slugs to name but a few they hold their own and keep things diverse in your record box.



Deep Teknologi - Mary Anne Hobbs Mix - BBC Radio 1 by deepteknologi

http://www.myspace.com/zanderhardy
http://myspace.com/deepteknologi
http://soundcloud.com/deepteknologi
http://ustream.tv/deepteknologi
http://twitter.com/deepteknologi
http://facebook.com/deepteknologi

LV ft. Josh Idehen – ‘38 EP’ [Keysound]

LV have a sound all their own, the three man production team make a subtle digital dub music that has its roots firmly in the dub tradition all while pushing forward into territories unknown. Having released slow burning gems on Hyperdub, Hemlock and 2nd Drops to name but a few they hook up with Dusk & Blackdown’s Keysound recordings for a concept record inspired by the #38 bus route out of Clapton. Vocalist Josh Idehen takes on the persona of five separate passengers, spitting street poetry from their points of view. Sitting somewhere between the urban dread and decay of Kode9 and Spaceape’s beat-less ‘Sine Of The Dub’ or a less post apocalyptic version of ‘London Zoo’ by The Bug, LV carve a more human, free flowing niche that echoes Gil Scott-Heron as much as it does London’s bass continuum.

With its infectious dub bounce and flow ‘Lost’ is a highlight right from the off. The opening lines “It’s obvious you don’t get on with this metropolis” roll of Josh’s tongue with ease, taking cues from grime but with an altogether looser flow. You’re soon hooked and ready to explore the city’s characters on the #38. The track plays off the tension between people trying to get on with the city and how it sometimes seems to be working against you. The dark brooding nature of ‘Early Mob’ with its nocturnal beats, sounds like something taken from Thomas Bangalter’s soundtrack to French revenge flick Irréversible, only more dub-wise. With lyrics about rolling with your crew and feeling like you own the place, a nonchalant swagger and pent up aggression. It’s a raw, menacing ride. The beat on ‘Your Coat’ comes off like a hybrid of digital dub and deep house, with flowing melodies and rolling four to the floor kicks. Josh lets loose here, unleashing an unhinged flow. Its infectious, those beats shimmy against the bass tones to create a bumpin’ number. The flip is more laid back, ‘Walk It’ rolls with a subtle head nodding dub vibe and free flowing rhyming over the lounge lizard Rhodes chords and conga rhythms. ‘Face Of God’, with its live sounding dub bass plucks and R&B finger clicks punctuating the bittersweet soul of the airy pads and heartbeat percussion ends the EP with a blissful vibe, musically at least. The vocals deal with religious beliefs and free associations to do with life, death and judgement.

Keysound often explore the culture of London via its bass led excursions, Dusk & Blackdown’s own Margins Music took us on a ride through the fringes of the city and this EP feels like it follows on from that. LV and Josh Idehen bring the #38 bus route to life echoing the city’s atmosphere and people. Painting a sonic picture with words and sound even if you’re not familiar with the places it’s like a street bass novella. LV’s productions are creepers, getting under your skin with their subtle vibes, but this EP might be their most realised, instant and engaging yet all while keeping that depth and musical vision.

LV ft. Josh Idehen ‘38’ EP Promomix


http://www.myspace.com/keysoundrecordings
http://www.myspace.com/lvbass

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Tall Ships – EP [Big Scary Monster]

Cheeky debut four track EP from brand new Big Scary Monster acquisition Tall Ships. The three man band hail from Falmouth via Brighton and make a playful indie sound. Lodged somewhere between the emotional electronics of I Was A Cub Scout, the tender technical guitar work of This Town Needs Guns and a sprinkling of post-rock but with a woozy joyous energy to them that’s all their own.

The EP opens with a curve ball, ‘Books’ which opens innocent enough with gentle melancholic yet bright synths before dropping into some seriously unexpected trance riffing before twisting into a more conventional indie pop verse before delving back into the trance. This all somehow works perfectly and comes off as being pretty uplifting. ‘Words Are Pegs Upon Which We Hang’ crackles into life and a sample you’d maybe expect DJ Shadow use ushers in some clean, tappy guitar melodies and a brass section. It all just comes together nicely and rolls out like a small scale indie version of M83, kind of...

The Africa-aping guitar rhythms of ‘Beanieadodger’ come out sounding like shiny indie pop nuggets, like a freaky re-interpretation of Vampire Weekend’s ‘A Punk’ but it deviates pretty quickly into a rush of energetic surges of post-rock instrumental, not dissimilar to something I’d imagine Errors could pull off, if not a little less electronic. The closer ‘Vessels’ is the closest Tall Ships come to a sea shanty, with group singing and off-centre sea-sick melodies but with an epic sense of post-rock sea-scpaes, folk-like melodies and uplifting melancholy.

At a time when I’m finding less and less indie to adore Tall Ships have come out of nowhere and peaked my interest. Their sound is playful without being annoying or kooky, there is a underlying hopeful yet subdued atmosphere to it all and they seem at home in their own off-kilter world, truly refreshing.

http://www.myspace.com/tallshipsfromfalmouth
http://thepeopleofthisplace.blogspot.com/
http://www.bsmrocks.com/

RxRy – Snwmltr / RxRy

Mysterious electronica producers are ten a penny so without further a do here comes RxRy, maybe pronounced ‘RexRay’ if I’m reading the myspace page clues correctly came to my attention the other day and the bright and mellow vibes suited the Sunday well. RxRy has a restrained, reflective electronica meets techno thing going on, you can imagine it either on Kompakt or as the soundtrack to the start of a hazy day. There isn’t anything glitchy about it, yet it’s not quite straight forward either. Loops and atmosphere, woozy soundscapes that remind me of the coming spring. Currently unsigned RxRy has released a debut eight-track s/t album and an EP entitled ‘Snwmltr’ as free downloads via the myspace (links bellow too).

Lightly bit crushed crackles, floating pads and strings along with heart pulse drums and subtle yet funky basslines are the mainstay of the RxRy sound and the two releases reflect this. Usually I like my electronica a little rawer or addled with glitches but there is something here that keeps bringing me back. The highlights include: ‘Sw Crstl Mlts’ an uplifting arpegiated almost trance like number from Snwmltr, it just cycles through its melody until some heartbeat drum kicks filter in half way through. The digital beach-scapes of ‘Hlljh Snds’ filter bird song and breeze through zeros and ones until you’re hypnotised by a droning bass tone. ‘Bld Drft’ takes bass guitar loops and keeps them fast and urgent but with that omnipresent dreamy atmosphere still in tact.

The s/t album is where things come into there own though, maybe it’s the added vowels in the titles that did it… The ultra smooth and woozy opener ‘Baulkn Slhts’ gently bubbles under with subtle loops and pads over a kick pulse. There is a melancholy yet hopeful emotional ambiance around RxRy’s music here maybe it’s the sound pallet or the gentle melodies. The electro drum hits on ‘Eaurowi’ play off the melodic pads and shifting subtly digitally distorted guitar loops, there is something a bit post-rock about it. The choppy pads on ‘Prajhil Ryhtm’ feel like a gentle morning light has just crept through your curtains, RxRy even gets a bit funky with the synth bass line here. Maybe the most upbeat track yet ‘Convrtbl Bvbes’ has a house kick and warm, bright looping pads but with a subtly hypnotic layer of guitar floating over it all. RxRy even gets a little evil on ‘Edvrd Rvrfy Guitr’ where he sounds like an outtake to a disturbing cyber chase dream sequence from a long lost SNES game. ‘Cartuulo Ashtry’, the final track eases you out into the calm…

If you’re a fan of gentle bedroom electronica of the likes of Gold Panda or The Field then you’re sure to find something in RxRy, you can get lost in these productions. The tracks seem simple as they progress, there are no wild twists or out there sounds. You just get some blissful slices of bedroom electronica to ease your day.

Edvrd Rvrfy Guitr - RxRy - RxRy 2010 from Rx Ry on Vimeo.

RxRy - "RxRy" 8 song LP

Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mdtccs2myd9

RxRy - "SNWMLTR" 4 song EP

Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mpj4mngtyjl

http://www.myspace.com/rxry

10-20 – Mountain [High Point Lowlife]

Third in the Landforms series EPs that have already seen 10-20 explore ‘Island’ and ‘Lake’ comes ‘Mountain’ a heady set of tracks. The Devon based producer takes his dense ghostly glitch addled electronica right up the conceptual mountain towards some skewed panoramic views. 10-20 is the sound of millions of nano-bots carrying out minuscule tasks as one flowing organism, turning the tiny elements of sound and shifting them into a cohesive whole like they’re carving a mountain out of found elements in a precise mechanical manner with an otherworldly organic flow.

The four tracks come thick with layers of sound: ‘Wercc’ opens the EP the way it means to go on, you don’t get much let up or change in pace here, just a steady stream of hypnotic glitches that seem to create a free roaming world of their own. ‘Wercc’ has an open air vibe, like your first breath on a cool county walk but it soon gets a little twisted as it’s fed through crunchy glitches and swirls. The ping-pong tweaks and bleeps of ‘Globe’ hit next, they echo an eerie calm under the tweaked out percussion, its reminiscent of an Aphex b-side that’s been washed-out and funk’d up…

‘Majik’ picks up the pace a little, with a spectral breakbeat clatter and airy soulful pads cut into something almost reminiscent of FaltyDL’s urban cityscapes, we’re still firmly in 10-20’s twisted vicinity mind but this track bumps. Finally ‘Littoral’ brings everything to a hypnotic close via echo drenched orchestral drones, space-laser synths and subtle rhythms to a windswept summit.

‘Mountain’ is another strong Landforms addition that takes Highpoint Lowlife and 10-20 nicely into 2010.

Buy: 10-20 – Mountain [Highpoint Lowlife]

http://www.myspace.com/1020musik

http://highpointlowlife.com/

Her Name Is Calla – Long Grass EP [Denovali Records]

Epic and emotional folk drenched post-rock from the Leeds band Her Name Is Calla. I bumped into this band via the wonderful Worriedaboutsatan who led me to them with a gentle nudge and before I knew it the subtle sounds of Her Name Is Calla really got under my skin, they also happen to be on tour with each other pretty soon. The ‘Long Grass EP’ is out now on Denovali Records and is the pre-cursor to the forthcoming album ‘The Quiet Lamb’. This EP concentrates on their quieter side; they unleash three dynamic tracks that seem to build from a whisper into grand emotional soundscapes.

The title track, ‘Long Grass’ opens proceedings with an icy plucked melody and a lonely hushed vocal and it all starts to build layer upon subtle layer with sparse elements playing off each other. It’s the subdued/prolonged crashes that accent the gentle shifting elements that tug on your heartstrings, especially when the orchestral parts feed in it’s the soundtrack to a long walk in the wilderness, alone... ‘A Sleeper’ is a happier number: it’s got a community vibe where they all come together to sing gang vocals and clap, in a manner that reminds me of a skeletal Broken Social Scene line-up if they where ghosts and from the UK. It’s a really full, orchestral track that builds with ease before disappearing: A delicately uplifting track. The final song, ‘The White And The Skin’ takes acoustic melodies and subtle melodic droning brass to create an otherworldly backing to the vocals. The vocals go from hushed, loner to something with a restrained bombast before the backing vocals usher in a calm, which is soon broken by the passionate ending.

Her Name Is Calla echo that time of the year when the winter isn’t quite over yet and glimpses of spring keep appearing just to be taken out by a random frost, at least they do on the ‘Long Grass EP’ and I mean that in a good way too. They somehow balance cold subdued elements with warm comforting ones to grate effect. It’s a brooding, at times dark and even ghostly. It’s a set of songs that has a delicate and beautiful feeling to it, plus the acoustic instruments really gives them a warm comforting sound that lifts the mood of the songs from being too melancholy and makes them rather touching instead.



Order: http://denovali.com/hernameiscalla/

Info: http://www.hernameiscalla.co.uk/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hernameiscalla

Don’t forget the Tour with Worriedaboutsatan…
UK TOUR DATES - MARCH 2010
27 - Glasgow | The Flying Duck
28 - Newcastle | The Cluny*
29 - Leeds| Holy Trinity Church
30 - Leicester | Firebug
31 - London | The Lexington
*Her Name is Calla only

The James Clever Quintet – Ten Stages Of A Make Up [Ondryland]

The Eastbourne based quintet make a frantic, catchy and slightly unhinged hardcore-punk hybrid that oozes energy as well as ideas, but most importantly they’ve got the tunes too: ‘Ten Stages Of A Make Up’ is their debut release despite playing live together for several years and it’s a quality six track ride through the JCQ sound. This EP just rock’s they nail down a hardcore sound that fits somewhere between frantic, energetic hooky rock and spazz-out, space-case jam sessions.

The six tracker kicks off with a track that just rolls off the toung, ‘I Do, You Do, We do Voodoo’ with riffs and high-hats blazing into a fizzy broth of sound: They’ll get your head nodding, when the vocals start matching the riffs word for chord and the drums propel you into the pit, wind-milling that guy’s pint into oblivion… If I was an idiot I’d say that this lot are like an unhinged, less blazed, more on edge Queens Of The Stone Age that grew up in the UK on a steady diet of Hardcore rather than learning how to roll a fat one. Track two, ‘Throne To The Lines’ thrashes the living shit out of you with barbed guitar strings and spaced out post-punk like overtones that ring out like beacons through the frantic riffs. This lot keep it tight and hooky, harnessing their ideas into a rock soup that really straggles the edge between experimental hardcore and full on rock prowess, I’m already salivating at the idea of catching them live... As I’m more a master of sound rather than lyrics, I’m missing the all-important words and they come think and fast with plenty of hooks to shout along too, I’m just shit at picking them up, if I reviewed an acapela album I’d be on about the breaths and pauses, man... ‘Pink & Blues’ gets more spaced out, utilising a funky rock groove that gets the rim shots firing and bass doing a workout, and even an organ.

‘The Shame’ gets unleashed like a madman that only gets rained in by vocal hooks (I dunno, like a sheep dog whistle? But with vocal hooks?). They really don’t let up it just keeps coming heavy. The spaced out fuzz rock of ‘TNT’ keeps the adrenalin going before going clown shoes like a Balkan, and doing a circus punk skank into the final track, ‘Coming Of Age’. Which gives you a rest-bite with space age synth-scapes that sound like they’re from a long lost scene of A Clockwork Orange, if the soundtrack happened to be played by a mad hardcore band from Eastbourne. Frantic drum hits and riffs as heavy as trucks (including driver and Ginster’s pasties…) build to a crescendo and let loose before the creepy as hell horror show; I’ve just walked into the hillbilly local shop and run out of petrol, late at night with a killer on the loose… distorted steel guitar record plays out and I see a blade shine off the old gas lamp…

‘Wasn’t that lovely?’

The James Clever Quintet make an interesting racket that will take you on its journey through brutal riffing and relentless hooks with ease. Their sound is kind of addictive; the energy keeps you coming back for more.

Catch them on tour with Blakfish, dates on the Myspace.

Buy: http://thejcq.bigcartel.com/

Info: http://www.myspace.com/thejcq

Label: http://www.ondryland.com

Throats – Throats EP [Holy Roar]

Throats first appeared on my radar after doing an insane split EP with Maths way back… and later with the_Network both releases tore me a new one by starting with the ears and shredding everything else from there. So with 2009 bringing a full solo release from Maths with the wonderful Descent it’s brilliant to see Throats step out on their own and drop their debut solo record on Holy Roar. And you know what? It’s brutal.

‘Wake’ sets upon you like a maniac pouncing from the shadows to kick off the EP, with a tense prowling hardcore riff and brutal bursts of drums. ‘My Hands Are Cold’ takes the energy levels up even further with double time drumming and thrashy dense riffs alongside the primal screaming. ‘Fuck Life’ is so aggressive and cathartic that it’s like a carnal release from the beast within, plus it really twists it’s self into some serious riffs at the mid point that make you want to windmill your TV off the stand, if you happen to be listening to the EP in your front room... ‘Failgiver’ has a hardcore stomp like a rampaging dinosaur, there is just no let up here at all, and it’s all raw and hyper-fuelled brutal emotion. ‘Something Low From This Way Comes’ with its chugging low slung riffs comes on like a wall of sound that’s getting shredded by drum bursts as lethal as nunchucks, plus there is a killer solo. ‘Oak/Wait’ finishes off the EP in a high-speed throat shredding fashion and before you know it you’ve been led down a brutal path and you’re out the other side bruised, battered but laughing and full of adrenaline from the experience.

Throats kill it here; harness their pure cathartic energy into some truly beastly tracks. Holy Roar come with the goods again and show that you can have emotive music that isn’t wet, Throats have a heavy as hell quick fire hardcore sound that just screams release and the listening experience is a treat, instead of feeling knackered from the outburst of power/emotion, its kind of energising.

Throats practice from Throats Dude on Vimeo.

http://www.myspace.com/throatsofgold

http://holyroarrecords.com/

10-20 – Lake [Highpoint Lowlife]

The second EP to be released from the Landforms series after the fantastic Island and the debut self-titled album from earlier in the year. The Landforms series will conclude in 2010 with Isthmus and Mountains but to round off a brilliant year for Highpoint Lowlife 10-20 drops some more haunted electronica.

The reverb drenched ‘Overloam’d’ comes on like a eerie underwater hip-hop traffic jam, distant breaks, alien bubbles, and horns make up a lilting groove. ‘Endzone’ and in fact the EP on a whole is more laid back and fluid as the name suggests compared to some of his work. The subtle twirling, looped melodies reach out and hypnotise like shimmering water. ‘Boat’ gives me pictures of the gentle chug of an engine against the simple calm of an open lake.

The finale comes in the form of ‘GolgothA’, which echoes the s/t albums aesthetic more than the rest of the EP does, with the sounds of an industrial past distantly working while the sound gets filtered through an 8-bit rendition of natural landscapes: A fitting end to this addition to the Landforms series.

Buy: 10-20 – Lake

Buy: 10-20 – Island

http://www.myspace.com/1020musik

Shackleton – Three EPs [Perlon]

Back from the dead after the smoke has settled on Skull Disco and the bones picked on Mordant Music, Shackleton is back with brand new material on the renowned techno imprint Perlon, which is the home to people like Ricardo Villalobos who Shackleton managed to catch the ear of way back with his sublime ‘Blood On Your Hands’. This collection of EPs is not an album just a collection of tracks without a theme, not unlike fellow Bristol producer Peverelist who drops his first full length CD next month. But Shackleton is now based in Berlin I hear and that may well have rubbed off on his music. 3 EPs has a more techno bump to it and sounds different to previous outings.

The first thing that strikes me about this collection is that the bass tones are so HUGE they manage to find that exact spot in the middle of your body to vibrate, this hits the spot completely. There’s also a slightly brighter feel, less dread or vibrations from beyond the grave. Its still uncompromising but in a different way a more danceable way maybe... ‘It’s Time For Love’ sounds the most like Skull Disco outings on the first of the Three EPs, with spacious beats, car horn like flourishes but also a big does of funk-like bass, which gives it a nice bump. ‘Let Go’ has some quality rolling percussive moments but it’s the opening track ‘(No More) Negative Thought’ is the pick of the bunch so far, it’s an epic slice of bass melting atmosphere. With swirling wind and organ tones, ghosts inside a computer style vocal samples and rolling tribal drum patterns. The monumental bass tones rather than the drums carry everything along, which leaves room for the drum patterns to create subtle grooves. It’s an urgent powerful piece.

EP Two (sides C-D) kicks off with ‘Mountains Of Ashes’ which harps back to the themes of Skull Disco in name at least, the rolling tablas and mountain dread atmosphere kind of fits in with that too, its just the bass that really pushes out of that bracket as does the way it progresses through minimal tweaks and a deep rolling house outro that follow a bright orchestral pad. You also get pummelled with a MASSIVE pretty bumping bass line. Shackleton has always had an epic amount of bass but he’s often used it deeper in the subs here its more prominent somehow and bigger than ever. ‘There’s A Slow Train Coming’ reminds me of some of his Mordant Music excursions. I love the way he programs his percussion here, the hi-hats and jangly bits create a slowly unravelling tension above all the dark atmosphere and space age swoops, which I presume are the trains from the title. ‘Moon Over Joseph’s Burial’ finishes the second EP with clipped jangly grooves and strange percussive elements that skip along building gently over time and an almost talky box-like ‘oh’ sample before it all drops into full on bass pressure, it’s the building monotone organ riffs that really make for a disturbing listen along with the tracks pay-off though.

The final 12” opens with ‘Asha In The Tabernacle’ and the mantra of "Sense it, know it, let it be-be-be…" has a creepy air to it that just gets stranger when the chant “He’s got the whole world in his hands” drops. The electronic pads bringing a robotic soul to the track with another organ pulse and some subtle minimal percussion, there is a sublime, blessed-out melancholy at work here especially when the mournful bass kicks in, then you know it’s a ‘zoner’ and your hypnotised. ‘Trembling Leaf’ flutters into action with spooky cut up vocals and precise percussive grooves that skip and tumble along. But it’s the final track ‘Something Has Got To Give’ its Muslim Gauze-like twisted and slightly noisy Arabic style samples that really hit the spot. There is an undeniable darkness at work here the tension builds as the drums roll on and the pads turn into mournful motifs and the distant rumble of sub bass emerges. Shackleton does melancholic sadness so well.

Shackleton flexes his muscles with his first really new material for a while and comes out on top again. It also looks like he’s still out on his own carving a sound that’s truly his. It’s hard to drop the Three EPs into any category or genre; there are techno flourishes and dubstep excursions but neither stick and nor do many others. Its music for the darkest of dance floors but dance floors non-the less, you get the feeling that all this darkness isn’t entirely serious or the work of a maniac, there’s a humour to it whether it be in the names or the samples. The bass has such a hypnotising effect along with his unique percussive programming that you get drawn into his unsettling world. Three EPs is a singular immersive vision that only Shackleton could have made, turn it up loud and feel it.

http://www.perlon.net/

10-20 – Isthmus EP [Highpoint Lowlife]

An Isthmus is a narrow neck of land that connects two larger landmasses this is just one thing I learnt from the most recent EP in the Landforms series by 10-20 and the other is that this is yet another brilliant piece of work from the Highpoint Lowlife stable. The first EP in the series ‘Island’ was a quality piece of music that continued where the self-titled debut album left off earlier this year, now ‘Isthmus’ comes along with no sign of there being a let up in quality.

At just three tracks long it’s the shortest of the EP’s, the opening track ‘Halogen’ with its punchy breaks and atmospheric reverb kicks things off in style. The synths come off sounding like tangled electrical wires made into sweeping smeared shapes. Everything’s so ghostly you can hear the spectral influence of everything from uk garage to hip-hop in the beats especially. ‘Athens’ has some of the wonkiest bleepy synths of the series yet, the lob sided grooves clatter and roll into mad locked grooves. There is a slightly industrial feeling to some of 10-20’s music and this one is no exception there is a real crunch to the percussion used here. The final track ‘Zizec’ is easily the spookiest, eerie piano can be heard low in the mix as found sounds crunch and clatter around the breaks.

10-20’s musical voyage is an interesting one, it’s like he’s bringing sounds from anywhere and everywhere and morphing them into his own vision of glitchy electronica and hip-hop infused broken garage. And you know what he pulls it off consistently you can get lost in these productions they’re mesmerising.

Out sometime on Highpoint Lowlife, I thought I’d get in early with this one. Two more EPs in the series to come as well keep them peeled.

Download: Future Sounds Of Highpoint Lowlife Mixtape

Download: 10-20 – Landforms Mix

Other 10-20 articles on The // Sonic // Minefield

http://highpointlowlife.com/?p=814

http://www.myspace.com/1020musik

Scuba – Aesaunic EP [Hotflush]

Aesaunic is a five track two 12” EP from Hotflush main man Paul Rose aka Scuba, where he explores his rolling dubbed out Berlin techno infused dubstep sound over many tempos from techno through dubstep all the way to a half-step D’n’B experiment and it may well be the best slice of Scuba this year.

Opening track ‘Aesaunic’ rolls with an assured, punchy garage-techno skip with some seriously deep dub chords and a subtle progression, before you know it your vibing out and too far-gone, lost in sound. The breakdown is sublime with gentle swirling pads and a four to the floor kick ready to snap you back into action.

‘Flesh Is Weak’ may sound like the name to a Shackleton track, a man who also knows his way around the UK/German hybrid sounds, but this isn’t as scary as Shack. It’s a smooth house tempo number with dubby atmosphere and a seriously jarring glass smashing sample that signifies the drop into a subtle bubbly post-acid-house synth line.

‘Reverse’ comes on a little like Skream’s quality ‘Backwards’ on Deep Medi with a groove that feels like it’s both propelling forwards and backwards all at once. Scuba’s reversed vision is of the smooth and sinister, technofied kind though. The keys that make up the main motif are full of soul and urgency.

‘Golden’ reminds me a little of Hessel Audio’s Joe this track shares the tight percussive grooves that he has on ‘Grimelight’ they both use a deep house pallet but with a grime sensibility, Scuba gives it all a really deep shine that really manages to hypnotise and gives it a whole different vibe mind.

The real curve ball is ‘Sybiosis’ a minimal half step d’n’b track that’s been getting plays from dBridge and Instra:mental who are currently paving the way in that field with the fantastic Nonplus+ label and their own productions. Scuba takes his deep techno pallet of sounds and locks them to a loose swung groove that feels so different to the rest of the EP. What really makes this track is the female vocal sample over the mournful organ-like tones while wood block fills bring a little energy.

Dub-techno-dubstep productions can be so slick that you sometimes want an injection of rudeness plus some of it’s now not quite as fresh as it was this time last year due to saturation and ideas running out a bit but Scuba manages to stay head and shoulders above, along with some other purveyors of the sound like Appleblim, 2562, Ramadanman and Peverelist to name but a few and keep things fresh, interesting in that department and ready for the floor. The Aesaunic EP just oozes quality and shows Scuba experimenting so successfully over a number of tempos, settle in a feel this one.




http://www.hotflushrecordings.com/

http://www.myspace.com/paulhotflush

Erik XVI – Stern-Gerlachs Försök [Highpoint Lowlife]

Electro has come along way and now gets associated with so many diverse artists especially since the blog house invasion that followed electro clash in the second half of the 00’s, but there was always that original cold funk infused stuff around if you dug deep. I for one was really into Dave Clarke’s World Service mixes with both the techno and electro discs getting rinsed. Erik XVI fits into the retro super slow-mo machine funk end of things and its pretty refreshing.

We open to a storm brewing on ‘Unionens Sista Dangar’ before a big punchy kick drops and an almighty bass pulse. Then the electro stylings really kicks in and has an air of early Dima which was the darker more retro sounding alter-ego of electro mainstay Vitalic. Its all pounding beats, old school synth pulses and vocoder vocals.

‘Kalabaliken I Bender’ is the housey or most techno of the bunch and the slow yet propellant nature of this track really adds tension. Plus with its uplifting crystal Kraftwerk-esq arpeggiated synth riffs its kind of catchy and euphoric. Erik XVI isn’t afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve you can even read his blog on the address bellow to see his influences and methods behind the EP.

The final section of the EP is almost a two parter with ‘Gravitationskraftens stilla vrede’ and ‘Gravitationskraftens stilla stråkar’ using the same building blocks; that of the sound of a rocket firing up and launching into outer space, which you can hear for yourself on the youtube video bellow. The first track takes the sound and some electro pulses and turns it into a menacing, brooding techno number with acid lines a pleanty while the final track dubs it all out and brings the woosh and drone of the rocket to the foreground for a more ambient affair.

The Stern-Gerlachs Försök EP is a quality listen with plenty of retro electro fun to be had, plus with remixes floating about from Hot City and Grievous to mention but a few there is plenty to get your teeth into.

Buy: The Stern-Gerlachs Försök EP is out now on Highpoint Lowlife

http://www.erikxvi.eu/

FaltyDL – Bravery [Planet Mu]

The debut album and assorted 12”s from NYC’s Drew Lustman AKA FaltyDL have been some of the highlights of the year, but he’s not done yet there is another trick up his sleeve in the shape of the mini album Bravery. It’s made up of material produced since his album so you only get the freshest beats here, the guy is prolific not many artists manage two albums in a year, mini or not… Plus not only does he manage to keep the quality high but the vibe is totally different, you still get the stuttering lob sided garage meets hip-hop electronica but this time its darker and more organic. The dance floor energy is still there in fact the tempos are even more varied than before.

There is a deep dusk-like feel at work on the opening track ‘Made Me Feel So Right’ with a sweet passionate R&B hook sampled and twisted over dense bass drenched grooves, if Burial was brought up with Flying Lotus in New York you might get something like this, but then you don’t really need that when you have FaltyDL he easily stands out on his own. You get that NY feeling from a lot of FaltyDL’s music, I’ve not been or anything but everyone has some kind of image in their heads of NY and ‘Mother Beam’ defiantly gives me that vibe with its jazzy chords, hip-hop tempo and the fact a chopped up and screwed vocal says ‘Drew Lustman, Live In New York’ a few times.

The title track takes this vibe into the club in a spaced out disco meets hip-hop sort of way it really gets its bounce on. The filtered R&B vocals, which are all over this album, sound so familiar but they’ve been tweaked out of context so brilliantly that they take on a new life of their own. ‘Play Child’ has a similar feel again, an echo-chamber space disco sort of thing. All the time on Bravery you get the feeling things are progressing, the flow works so well.

Things up in tempo even more with ‘Tronman’ which has an almost dubstep speed going on, with rolling broken garage beats and beds of reverb drenched tones that build a lot of tension. Vocals fly at you from all direction and sound like a love letter to the music that influences him somehow. ‘Must Sustain’ gets a little more soulful with a slower groove, this stuff is so hypnotising and dense there is a real dub feel at work, samples and percussive hits get dragged out into mesmerising soundscapes.

Then when you think you’ve been dragged into the underbelly of NY ‘Pressure’ jumps out and makes you want to dance, with its deeply moving sub bass tones, super broken skitting garage breaks, p-funk synth bass and shimmering guitar funk licks that all switch up into some serious full body work out rhythms. Then to end things the acid tinged ‘Discant’, which comes on like a funk variation on old Trax records like Phuture or Mr Fingers via present day NY and Detroit techno and ends Bravery in a stylish flourish.

Love Is A Liability has been up there as one of the albums of the year for me and I really didn’t expect FaltyDL himself to come out and top that before the year was even out, he could of at the very least given someone else a go. But with Bravery that’s what he’s done. This is the sound of someone enjoying and exploring sound, while creating a record that will jump off in DJ sets and sound brilliant at home.

Clips:
http://www.planet-mu.com/discography/ZIQ244



Sonic Router Interview & Mix:
http://sonicrouter.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-faltydl-planet-muramp.html

Tracklist:
1. Luke Vibert - Swet (Planet-Mu)
2. Floating Points KG Beat (Planet-Mu)
3. FaltyDL - Human Meadow [Boxcutter remix] (Planet-Mu)
4. FaltyDL - Pressure (dub)
5. Horsepower Productions - Pimp Flavors (Tempa)
6. FaltyDL - Bravery (dub)
7. FaltyDL - Lifer (dub)
8. FaltyDL - Safe (dub)
9. Boxcutter - Foxy (Planet-Mu)
9.5 Krome and Time teaser...
10. Clark - Farewell Mining Town (Warp)
11. Wagon Christ - Spot Light (Rising High Records)
12. Nautilis - Nautilus (Planet-Mu)
13. El-P - Toj (Definitive Jux)
14. Jonny Greenwood - HW/Hope of New Fields (Nonesuch)

Links:


www.myspace.com/faltydl

http://www.planet-mu.com/

Teengirl Fantasy

It may sound like some kind of dodgy 80’s softcore porn/teen drama, delete where applicable… but instead of that you get a big dose of achingly hip DFA-esq house music and its some of the best retro sounding slightly indie dance music I’ve heard for a while. These peeps will be remixing all your favourite hipster bands in no time or they should be to get their name about a bit along with the likes of Pictureplane and BDRMPPL who were probably the last noisy, lo-fi almost retro sounding dance groups I found that engaged me so much. Check out the two free EPs pukekos put up bellow they’re wicked.

Portofino ~ Teengirl Fantasy ~ blackmoth.org from Teengirl Fantasy on Vimeo.

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/teengirlfantasy

Official (Creepy) Website:
http://teengirlfantasy.angelfire.com/

There are lots of bits to read and download on No Pain In Pop here:
http://nopaininpop.com/tag/teengirl-fantasy/

You can also download two EPs for free from the pukekos blog here:
http://www.pukekos.org/2009/07/teengirl-fantasy.html

Chickenhawk – A. Or Not? [Brew Records]

The follow up EP to the blistering debut self-titled album is here and it’s going to beat the living shit out of you or chase you round like a demented zombie at the very least, just see the video for proof of that. On ‘A. Or Not?’ we get three rip roaring slices of all out hardcore punk rocking attitude with plenty of hooks and heavy riffs, you know just the way we like it.

Opening track ‘I Hate This, Do You like It’ opens with schizo hyper discordant math guitar melodies before getting deep down low and dirty with the heavy chords, the drums pound and the vocals growl. They really remind me of Torche at times on this EP there is that heavy catchy Meanderthal thing going on. There’s so much energy here you just can’t help but nod your head, this shits infectious. ‘Son of Cern’ is anther brutally catchy number with scuzzy almost grunge like riffs and a breakdown that really brings the beast out in me. The twisting jarring riffs and pummelling drums really work well with the passionate vocal delivery. The low slung dirty grooves of ‘NASA Vs. ESA’ bring a grinding fuzzed out grizzly almost spaced out sound in the verses before ripping into some wicked double tracked vocal hooks in the chorus.

‘A. Or Not?’ just adds to the brilliance of the debut album, Chickenhawk rock like fuckers there is no doubt about it. This is a shot in the arm with pure primal energy if it doesn’t bring out the animal instinct in you even a little bit then I don’t know what to say.



http://www.myspace.com/chickenhawk

Lost From Atlas – EP

Young as yet unsigned York three-piece Lost From Atlas are quite easily my favourite local band. They play a tight post-rock instrumental indie rock hybrid in the vain of American Football, Owls or Cap’n Jazz you know those Kinsella bands with the technical melodic tappy guitar style that sounds so distinctive, you know the stuff it often twists and turns from section to section changing time signatures or at least the perception of time signatures by flipping the groove and switching up or breaking down, I guess you could call it math-rock. It’s quite hard to pin down and that’s what I like about, there is a free flowing energy to it all that gets quite addictive. Now I’m not sure these bands I’ve mentioned above are the main influence I’ve not asked… but it they may well be in debt, well not in debt but you know inspired by some of the new school adopters of this sound, you know the likes of This Town Needs Guns and Meet Me In St. Louis from the Big Scary Monster rosters or the more post-rock crowd like Tera Melos, 65daysofstatic or even more well known types like Foals or Battles. Which is music that has been a source of enjoyment for me for some time now so when I accidentally stumble upon Lost From Atlas doing their thing so well in my local venues then it’s defiantly something I want to support.

The demo EP was recorded in a home studio in a live and sexy way just drums, bass and guitar. Just five tracks long it’s a taster of things to come and captures the bands performance well. Just like in the live sets there is no let up, tracks melt into each other in one continues energetic, twisting piece of work. They are all very competent musicians and the music can be pretty technical at times but they don’t veer into guitar wank outs, you can tell this music comes out of wanting to make an interesting physical experience rather than cranking out the wank for the sake of it. The stripped back grooves, melodic shimmering guitars and tight bass are all they need to create some quality songs.

The CD or download opener ‘Interlude 1’ is a cracker plus after hearing it live it has to be one of my favourites just for the guitar technique I like to call ‘The Ball Scratcher’ where the volume nob is opened and closed while plucking to create a kind of gated lfo type effect... if I’ve got my synth speak correct, I can’t think of another way of saying it apart from that’s ‘The Ball Scratcher’ as it really does look like he’s playing and well you get the idea... The demo also features a live version of ‘Smalltown Gypsy Massacre’ which has some really nice harmonics that ring out in a melodic fashion before they throw some rock shapes with some stop start bursts of riffs and a tapped out disco section. Maybe the highlight of the demo for me though is ‘Tom Robinson Must Die!’ a remix of this also appears on the CD with housey piano’s and a peak time indie remix feel, it’s a pretty good effort really but the original is the one for me. A catchy melodic opening with a nice bouncy, breezy feel kicks it off before some scratchy riffs pick up the pace a little. The spaced out mid section is a treat too with fast tappy parts and tight locked grooves, things really build when the riffs get rocking again though and before you know it a full on chorus of gang vocals take the track higher and its over.

Lost From Atlas are currently unsigned, playing many gigs and recording their debut album in a home studio. But for now you can download their debut EP either from their myspace or bellow.

Download: Lost From Atlas – EP

http://www.myspace.com/lostfromatlas