Published on
August 26, 2022
Category
Features
Our favourite new vinyl releases this week.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Will Pritchard and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill, and James Hammond.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Let’s Turn It Into Sound
(Ghostly)
Let’s Turn It Into Sound finds Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith expanding her modular approach and connecting varying ideas of aural experience and sonic interpretation alongside the patching ways of her modular synthesisers. The networked results abound with restless compositional twists and turns, harmonised vocal narratives, hyperreal day-glo sensibilities, and a maximalist approach to sound that lands at the frontiers of pop music and experimentation. – JH
Pessimist
Blue 09
(AD 93)
Pessimist joins the coveted ranks of AD 93’s blue series with two forward-thinking club anthems – and there’s no dallying around. Pessimist’s roots are in drum ‘n’ bass, a space he revisits for the aptly-titled ‘Danger’: a no-frills hardcore banger with some post-apocalyptic techno energy leaking through its furiously fast percussion. Serious, straight-up club business. – EH
Lee “Scratch” Perry
King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces from the Upsetter Ark-ive)
(Trojan)
On the first anniversary of his passing, Trojan Records celebrates the monumental legacy of Lee “Scratch” Perry with an expansive box set. This quadruple LP collection – combining solo recordings, collaborations and unreleased material – covers his boundary-breaking career from the 1960s to the late 2000s. From his pioneering use of sampling on ‘People Funny Boy’ to his trippy tape delay experiments at the Black Ark in the 1970s, Musical Masterpieces From the Ark-ive diligently charts the workings of a revolutionary creative force who changed the face of music forever. – AVD
Diamanda Galás
Broken Gargoyles
(Intravenal Sound Operations)
A true agent of the avant-garde, Diamanda Galás has always put her body and spirit on the line in the pursuit of artistic innovation. On her latest album, Broken Gargoyles, she once again demonstrates her fearless ability to contort and extract vocals. Drawing inspiration from plague victims of the 13th century, and World War I medical wards, she bends her voice to probe “the weaving, warping transformation on the nervous systems of post-traumatic soldiers and dying diseased.” Not your typical sound of the summer. – LR
MF DOOM
Short Vacations in Thailand
(Unknown label)
A tasty little bootleg that backs verses from the legend DOOM with samples gathered from Thai music halls and recording studios. There’s a swing and a rough edge here that captures the late MC’s beguiling character in a way that few purpose-built productions do. Grab a copy (if you can). – WP
Dienne
Addio
(Other People)
Belgian composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Dienne’s debut album, Addio, arrives this week on Nicolás Jaar’s Other People imprint. Written following the death of her grandmother, on Addio Dienne captures “the sound of everyday mourning, a taste instead of an event.” In weaving together fragile soundscapes, sombre oboe, and seraphic vocals, the Belgian instrumentalist crafts a stirring musical farewell letter. — LR
Raduan
Taki-Naki-Naki
(Tempo Dischi)
Tempo Dischi’s mission to reissue some of the most sought-after and understated delights of 1980s Italo-disco continues with release number six and the funky rhythms and kosmiche leanings of Raduan’s 1988 EP, Taki-Naki-Naki. The product of a 40-hour-straight studio session at Cicero Bros studio in Cassino, Italy, Taki-Naki-Naki’s earworm synth lines and idiosyncratic approach have certainly gathered steam over the years. Accompanied here by original B-sides ‘Nightflight’ and ‘Hiroshima’, this edition is a must for the Italo-disco heads out there. – JH
Kitchen And The Plastic Spoons
Screams To God
(Dark Entries)
Short-lived Swedish DIY band Kitchen And The Plastic Spoons are back in print with this Screams To God compilation of two 7″ EPs and three demos from 1980 which were never released on vinyl. The music formed part of a new generation of bands starting up, making music and rapidly splitting before concretely releasing any new music. With a sound more relatable to the wave coming out of America at the time, the essence is chaotic with an ensemble of speedy synthesisers and experimental vocal samples which barely form words. The album has been freshly remastered, and although the band’s spark burned for such a short time it shows their exciting liberated energy has stood the test of time. – EH
Julia Jacklin
Pre Pleasure
(Transgressive)
Pre Pleasure, the third album from Australian indie-folk songstress Julia Jacklin, is a record which stares unflinchingly at the uncomfortable, exploring themes of sexuality, sanctity and shame with empathy and nuance. As on 2019’s Crushing, Jacklin wields her vulnerability like a knife, cutting through to the coldest of hearts with her powerful lyricism and angelic voice, delicately accentuated by luscious, cinematic arrangements. – AVD
Riad Awwad, Hanan Awwad and Mahmoud Darwish
The Intifada 1987
(Majazz Project)
A week after the breakout of the Palestinian uprising from which this record takes its name, Riad Awad gathered his sisters Alia and Nariman into their living room and started recording. He copied the results – an echoic mix of synth-pop and folk twang – onto 3000 cassettes, which would be distributed across the Old City of Jerusalem and the West Bank. Most were confiscated by Israeli forces. Awad was detained and treated as as propagandist. But he remained undeterred, continuing to channel his protests through music. He died in 2005, victim of a car crash, but this reissued collection, compiled by Mo’min Swaitat of the Majazz Project, seals his inspiring legacy in wax. – WP
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