Published on
July 1, 2022
Category
Features
Persian piano, new age bliss, and unfiltered dancefloor WPNry.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Will Pritchard and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill, and James Hammond.
Dominique Lawalrée
First Meeting
(Catch Wave Ltd / Ergot Records)
The word esoteric gets thrown around a lot these day, so we’ll spare you on this occasion. What we have here is something gorgeously unique: compositions that are almost childlike in their curiosity and gentle wandering. Piano, chimes, Wurlitzer, and the occasional vocal murmur all in quiet, respectful, humbly complex conversation with one another. Dominique Lawalrée’s songs are not soothing so much as life-affirming in their unassuming embrace. – WP
Ploy
Unit 18
(Deaf Test)
Ploy pays homage to one of London’s best clubs — Venue MOT — with his latest EP, Unit 18. Drawing broadly on soundsystem and rave culture, this three-track EP has been moulded for the wee hours at Unit 18. As Ploy puts it: “Imagine the scene: whilst a deranged, malfunctioning robot MC yaps and undulates, vampires chase their victim through a packed rave, before feasting on flesh.” Expect to hear ‘Stinky’ stirring dancefloors throughout the summer. – LR
Morteza Mahjubi
Selected Improvisations from Golha, Pt. I
(Death Is Not The End)
Broadcast on Iranian National Radio as part of the station’s Golha cultural showcase, these time capsule pieces take in the scope of ’56-’65 and present the work of pianist Morteza Mahjubi. As a formidable improviser and an instrumental innovator, Mahjubi tuned his piano in a way that allowed him to play within the microtonal scales of traditional Persian music and fluidly recall the instrumental style of Persian instruments such as the tar, setar and santur. Spellbinding and idiosyncratic, this is a unique collection that’s charged with Mahjubi’s lifelong dedication to musical form and expression. – JH
Various Artists
Touching Bass presents: Soon Come
(Touching Bass)
With the release of their latest compilation, Soon Come, Touching Bass prove themselves to be one of the UK’s most exciting independent labels. Headed by Alex Rita and Errol – two stalwarts of South London’s thriving music scene – Soon Come celebrates the creative vibrancy of their community, featuring homegrown talent such as Wu-Lu, Nala Sinephro, and Demae, as well as welcoming international collaborators like Hiatus Kiayote’s Clever Austin. Blending broken-beat, neo-soul and jazz, Soon Come shifts between dancefloor-friendly bangers and hazy seductive grooves across 22 blissful tracks. An early runner for compilation of the summer. – AVD
Pessimist
WPN-1 / WPN-2
(UVB76 Music)
Kristian Jabs, aka Pessimist, the versatile Bristol-based DJ and producer, returns to UVB-76 with two furiously fast bass cuts, ‘WPN-1’ and ‘WPN-2’. After frenetic tribal drums on the A-side, things get hardcore on the flip as he drops the tempo from 170 to 130 with a breakbeat inspired drum pattern. Both tracks are incredibly tightly produced. A promising and truly triumphant return to the label for this highly esteemed producer. – EH
Various Artists
Valley Of The Sun: Field Guide To Inner Harmony
(Numero Group)
Another cracking compilation from Numero Group, this one showcasing the boundary-pushing output of Valley Of The Sun – a Californian New Age label dedicated to the realisation of a “vision of inner harmony music.” While critics have long derided new age music as disingenuous and contrived, this compilation reframes it as a genuinely transgressive and experimental genre. Valley Of The Sun approaches the path to inner harmony with a sense of adventure, veering into unexpected terrains; think pulsating Haruomi Hosono synth lines alongside field recordings of the wind. This compilation is a feast for the ears: full of hypnagogic, otherworldly grooves, and celestial choruses which peak and crescendo with spine-tingling potency. – AVD
Yaeji
1+2
(Self-released)
Brooklyn-based Korean-American superstar Yaeji re-presses two of her most celebrated bodies of work from the very beginning of her career. Titled collectively as EP 1 + EP 2, the resulting album features the iconic club anthem ‘Raingurl’ – a playful track that’s brought smiles to faces all over the world in the half-decade or so since it first surfaced. This body of works reflects Yaeji’s diverse abilities when it comes to telling stories, spanning explorations of dancefloor anonymity before sprouting into online musical experiments. – EH
Oksana Linde
Aquatic and Other Worlds
(Buh Records)
Compiling key works from the period between 1983 and 1989, Aquatic and Other Worlds comes as the first release proper for Venezuelan synth pioneer Oksana Linde. Whilst having produced work for television and theatre, the large archive of output that Linde compiled in her Caracas based studio remained unpublished – which is something that Buh Records are putting right with this welcome vinyl edition. Exploring Linde’s world-building and narrative-driven approach to composition, these tracks layer and interlock electronic forms, moving away from purely textural experiments and keeping a firm sense of musicality at the forefront. – JH
Yutaka Hirose
Trace: Sound Design Works 1986-1989
(WRWTFWW Records)
WRWTFWW really are the kings of Japanese ambient reissues. Turning their keen eye to the oeuvre of Yutaka Hirose, Trace: Sound Design Works 1986-1989 collects eleven previously unreleased tracks over two discs. Across 11 tracks Hirose weaves together a gossamer ambient tapestry complete with delicate chimes, aquatic sound design, and cloud-like electronics. – LR
Low End Activist
Hostile Utopia
(Sneaker Social Club)
Bristol’s Low End Activist, aka Patrick Conway, puts grime through a broken blender on this guttural 15-tracker. Mez, Killa P and more all turn up to bring pirate radio-era heat to the microphone, but the real intrigue can be found in tracks like ‘Cold’ and ‘Bodysnatchers’ where Conway stretches his template and inspiration into new fields. This is the best kind of studious musical homage. That it’s so much fun is a bonus too. – WP
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