Published on
July 24, 2020
Category
Features
Astral jazz, fluttery r’n’b, mesmeric reggae and more.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Gabriela Helfet, alongside Jesse Bernard, James Hammond, Emily Hill and Lucie Stepankova.
Singles
Saskia
Euwig Op Reis
(Stroom)
Extraterrestrial synths and guitars go dream pop in Stroom’s reissue of Rotterdam artist Saskia’s Eeuwig Op Reis. A-side ‘My Lips Get Hot’ pulses along like an EKG machine gone weak in the knees. Meanwhile on the flip, ‘You Left Your Soul Behind’ woozy string twangs usher you into a sunshine haze. – GH
Pachyman
‘At The Control’
(Mock Records)
Los Angeles isn’t many people’s first destination when they think of reggae, but the city’s long had a relationship with the sound. Leaning towards the practices of reggae DJs and producers of the ’70s, Pachyman has taken that inspiration and created a euphoric, mesmeric riddim in ‘At The Control’. While it has no vocals or featured artist – Pachyman wrote, produced and played all instruments on the track – it’s one of those dubs that sounds infinitely better without a voice. – JB
Hanne Lippard
Work
(Collapsing Market)
Finding fertile grounds within the detritus of language and digital existence, Work is an aural oddity that toys with the familiarity of the written word and human speech. Fueled by free-association, peculiar cadences, wordplay and an uncanny knack for reanimating words taken from screens, Hanne Lippard’s world is one that take the likes of bot-generated spam mail and advertising spiel as prime material for her distinctive spoken word. The further you venture into this EP, the more it works its spell, and by the time you reach ‘Modern Spanking Bolero’, the links between spanking, banking and bolero may well seem less incongruous than at first. – JH
TBZ
Bonus
(Not On Label)
Little is known about mysterious Cologne based producer TBZ, their broken techno-dub inspired rhythms have circulated on labels such as R=A and Brew for the last couple of years. Associated loosely with the outfit Planet Rescue, TBZ’s Bonus EP is self released on limited 7″, where they’ve created 5 unnamed trippy-minimal synth leaning tracks of B-side weirdness with a distinct edge of lo-fi thrown into the mix for good measure. – EH
O-Wells
Ebec
(Die Orakel)
Lennard Poschmann aka O-Wells keeps forging his craftsmanship of injecting deep introspection and wealth of refreshing detail into the raw energy of dance music with another offering on Frankfurt’s Die Orakel. Ebec is a collection of precisely crafted acid, breakbeat, and IDM-tinged deep techno cuts – from the elevating vapour acid of ‘Ectid’ into the hypnotic electro of ‘Culling Virus’ ending with the groovy ambient of ‘Shnuck’. – LS
LPs
Sun Ra
Celestial Love
(Sundazed / Modern Harmonic)
As an understated triumph from the smoother side of Ra and the Arkestra’s output, 1984’s Celestial Love rolls with a certain optimism and embrace of jazz’ past and future. Bringing in a couple of Duke Ellington standards and even Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Smile’ amongst original compositions, for a Sun Ra LP Celestial Love can be considered a touch more grounded. Yet, there’s no mistaking the group playing here, and with everyone on fine form, in terms of musicality alone this reissue is far from a completists-only affair, as well as something the Ra faithful have long sought after. – JH
KMRU
Peel
(Editions Mego)
Mixing meditative drone and ambient through field recordings, Kenyan sound artist KMRU steps to Editions Mego with album, Peel. Inspired by his last trip by his last trip in March before lockdown as well as his return journey home, its 6-tracks teleport you to a serene land. Ideal for gazing up at a cerulean sky dotted by cumulous, or pretending to. – GH
Dopplereffekt
Linear Accelerator
(WeMe Records)
Doppkereffekt’s iconic and highly sought after album Linear Accelerator – a collection of music that marked a change direction by the iconic electro duo, makes its vinyl debut following a CD release in 2006. Its six tracks explore moodier experimental realms – for example, ‘Photo Injector’ catapults you into the midst of a fragmented vision, inspired by high energy particle physics research. – EH
Kamaal Williams
Wu Hen
(Black Focus)
Kamaal Williams has always had a knack for creating bodies of work that respond to the times. Black Focus, one of 2016’s standout records with Yussef Dayes really captured that meeting point between grime and jazz. On Wu Hen which takes a more electronic approach and it’s hard to say that this is just a jazz album because it isn’t. On tracks like ‘Big Rick’, there is quite clearly a jazz foundation but its DNA is soul. It’s perhaps one of the reasons why Williams records resonate beyond jazz audiences. – JB
Jessy Lanza
All The Time
(Hyperdub)
Looping fluttery r’n’b’ through two-step and house, Jessy Lanza returns to Hyperdub for All The Time. Created with synths including a Mother 32, Dfam and Moog Sirin, Lanza teamed up with creative partner Jeremy Greenspan to record it. “We got all of the machines talking to one another and would run patterns through,” explains Lanza “A lot of the little burps and quacks and squiggles heard on the songs are from those experiments.” – GH
East Man
Prole Art Threat
(Planet Mu)
Anthoney Hart aka Basic Rhythm returns to his underground music roots as East Man. Prole Art Threat is a sequel to his 2018 Planet Mu debut Red, White & Zero – a collaborative effort between Hart alongside London-based and international MCs. As with the first instalment, the LP is rooted in grime while also incorporating influences from dancehall, d’n’b and techno. Though Hart’s work as East Man has foundations in theoretical research and lived experience within the multicultural hub that is London, his work also speaks globally. Liner notes written by professor of sociology and author of ‘The Art of Listening’ and ‘Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture’ Les Back give meaningful context to this album’s importance further still. _ LS
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