Published on
May 6, 2022
Category
Features
Transcontinental collaborations, analog rave, and a jewel in the crown of highlife.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Will Pritchard and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Alice Whittington, Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill, and James Hammond.
TSHA
fabric presents TSHA
(fabric Records)
fabric’s illustrious mix series returns this week, now with TSHA at the helm. Aiming to explore the sounds of club culture across the aeons, TSHA’s mix draws on a gloriously high energy concoction of ’90s dance, house, techno, UKG, bass music and beyond. As Stefan Seay says: “feel the vibe, feel the bass…” — LR
Pauline Oliveros & Reynols
Half a Dove in New York, Half a Dove in Buenos Aires
(Smalltown Supersound)
Following on from a series of NetCast works that allowed composer and accordionist Pauline Oliveros to play online with musicians in different geographical locations in the US, this performance from 1999 struck up a New York-Buenos Aires connection, with Oliveros improvising alongside Argentinian trio Reynols. Putting the nascent abilities of a late ’90s internet connection to good use, and collectively tending to long-form sounds in real time, the results will please anyone with an appetite for drones and adventurous sounds. An apt meeting of kindred spirits in sound exploration and rule-breaking. – JH
Sharon Van Etten
We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
(Jagjaguwar)
Sharron Van Etten proves her unmatched vocal versatility and impressive songwriting chops on her sixth album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong. Flitting effortlessly between fragililty and strength, Van Etten embodies the emotional flux of recovery after personal trauma. At times, her sparse, heartwrenching rasp is almost unbearable in its rawness as she laments the breakdown of her marriage and disconnection from the world. But she finds light in the darkness too. Her rich alto soars with the tenacity that the album’s anthemic compositions demand, pointing to her capacity to heal and grow from trauma. – AVD
Alhaji Kwabena Frimpong
Abrabo
(Hot Casa Records)
For collectors and fans of Ghanaian highlife, K. Frimpong is a household name. Aside from his work with the popular band Vis-A-Vis, he made many other records including this rare self-released album from 1984 – which is being reissued here for the first time. While only standing at four tracks, each is impeccably arranged and catchy as hell. At times influences of funk and electric organ seep into the performances, but it remains highlife at its core, and a jewel in the crown of the genre at that. – AW
Jamal Moss
Thanks 4 The Tracks U Lost
(Modern Love)
To say that this is the first release in five years for Jamal Moss ignores his head-spinning work ethic and prolific output under other monikers outside of his own name. Amidst the Chicago-based producer’s long-maintained creative streak it’s easy to lose your bearings, but Thanks 4 The Tracks U Lost is the kind of work from Moss that draws you straight back into the core of his pulsing electronic forms. This is a knockout collection of textural grooves that dial back the more abrasive edges. – JH
COOP
Wearing It Wrong
(Heras)
Recorded four years ago over three days at hardware playground Devon Analogue, the second release from Sports Banger’s Heras offshoot is a rough and rowdy four-tracker that tugs at the fringes of rave. The label’s description – “Mat Playford rides synth, Special Request bangs drums, Jonny Banger loads samples, Tommy D plasters walls. Pigeons come in and out of the COOP.” – offers a suitable balance of blunt and barmy to match the output. – WP
Ibeyi
Spell 31
(XL Recordings)
The world has been under the spell of French Afro-Cuban twin sisters Ibeyi since their self-titled 2015 debut on XL Recordings. Spell 31 is their third album, and the most daring to date. Woven with collaborations from the likes of Jorja Smith, Pa Salieu, and BERWYN across 10 tracks, the duo explore feelings of apathy in a world growing more divided, employing their signature ethereal harmonies and passionate percussion with electronic neo-soul expressions. An extremely raw body of work. – EH
Cyclonix
Metal Bass
(Little Red Hand)
Cyclonix springboards the start of Little Red Hand Records, a label that aims to explore and represent the sounds of contemporary electronic fusion by reading between the lines of broken beat, techno, and breakbeat culture. Metal Bass nods to the funky rhythms of the early 2000s with a bass-led approach and a touch of lyrical house anthem vibes. The three tracks on offer here are energetic, driven by percussion and with lots of bouncy squelch for good measure. – EH
Staples Jr. Singers
When Do We Get Paid
(Luaka Bop)
This small-town gospel group released only one album under this name, quite possibly because both their name and album title were continuously confused with the actual Staples Singers, with whom they had no connection other than idolising them. Touring the Bible Belt in their family van was often gruelling work; while they spread the message of the Lord, the question still remained as it does for many working musicians: “When do we get paid?” That said, all members went on to build successful careers. Replete with yearning gospel and soul with a tinge of southern blues, this reissue of some of the group’s staples is a key piece of gospel history. – AW
Arovane
Tides
(Keplar)
With this reissue of Arovane’s bona fide IDM masterpiece Tides, Berlin’s Keplar Records adds another essential title to its immaculate KeplarRev series of ’90s and ’00s electronica. A significant departure from the glitching rhythmic experiments of Arovane’s earlier works, Tides is both luscious and atmospheric. Ethereal arrangements of harpsichord and arpeggiated windchimes coalesce with shoe-gaze guitar; field recordings of waves overlay hypnotic boom-bap drums. A profoundly conceptual album, Arovane has produced an aural simulacrum of the ocean, capturing the cyclical flow of the tide, rising against some distant shore like a breath. – AVD
Sign up to our weekly newsletter
Never miss a thing
){kind=link}