Published on
July 8, 2022
Category
Features
Inventive electronica, stone cold proto-jungle, and Japanese minimalism.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Will Pritchard and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill, and James Hammond.
Wu-Lu
Loggerhead
(Warp)
On his electric debut, Loggerhead, South London multi-instrumentalist and producer Wu-Lu combines an eclectic array of influences – from punk and experimental hip-hop, to industrial music – to capture the noise and nihilism of modern existence. Straddling issues including gentrification and mental health, Wu-Lu’s concise lyricism evokes the malaise of modernity whilst retaining an idiosyncratic edge. His delivery shifts from detached, monotonous mumbles to howls and screams; propulsive drums pattern beat against tidal waves of distortion. An album fitting for these chaotic times. – AVD
µ-Ziq
Lunatic Harness
(Planet Mu)
Swimming somewhere between jungle, breakcore, and IDM, Mike Paradinas’ 1997 output remains among his most vital and intriguing, so it’s fitting to see Lunatic Harness receiving a boxy 25th anniversary redo. The set also packs Paradinas’ My Little Beautiful EP and the Brace Yourself EP, along with a bunch of previously unreleased cuts and remixes. – WP
Neil Young
Toast
(Reprise)
If Neil Young warns you he shelved an album because it was “so sad that I couldn’t put it out,” you know you’re in for a rough time. Recorded with Crazy Horse, Toast captures the often abject nature of ending relationships. As Young puts it: “There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the break up, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it’s over.” — LR
Caterina Barbieri
Spirit Exit
(Light-Years)
Known for the finesse of her modular synthesizer compositions, Caterina Barbieri’s latest LP, Spirit Exit, lands as another assured blast of inventive electronica that sets melody and texture on willful collision courses. Recorded at her home studio and inspired by female philosophers, poets, and mystics, these densely layered works build on the pooling electronics of past triumphs, but with structural refinements that further distill Barbieri’s melodic vision. A fine way to mark a first release on her own imprint. – JH
Lennie De Ice
We Are I.E. Remixes
(Hooj)
Fine timing for this remastered reissue, which sees the stone cold proto-jungle classic land with a bunch of killer remixes just in time for long summer nights of dancing in the fields. The jogging, groovy Horsepower rework is the standout of the three flipped versions here, but there’s not much in it. – WP
Accura
Five X Five
(Invisible City Editions)
Invisible City Editions are known for revitalising presumed-lost bodies of work from all corners of the past (the incredible Amajovi Jovi by Sandy B, lovingly resurrected back in 2017, is a good starting point if you’re not familiar). The label’s latest pick for a new lease of life is an overlooked street-soul-meets-hip-house find by Accura, Five X Five. The album presents 12 delicately designed tracks for pure summer ecstasy, melding funky basslines with hip-hop incantations on tracks like ‘Getting Down’. This is sure to get you toe-tapping. – EH
Pauline Oliveros
The Wanderer
(Important Records)
Pauline Oliveros’ The Wanderer album makes it back to vinyl for the first time since its 1984 release, courtesy of Important Records. Originally recorded for the Springfield Accordion Orchestra, Oliveros performed the record twenty accordions, two bass accordions, and five percussionist. “Sustain a tone or sound until any desire to change it disappears. When there is no longer any desire to change the tone or sound, then change it.”
Midori Takada
Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter
(WRWTFWW)
WRWTFW records continue their immaculate run of Midori Takada reissues with Cutting Branches for Temporary Shelter – a fascinating work which fuses minimalist experimentation with the mbira musical tradition of Zimbabwe. Takada showcases her mastery of the marimba throughout: her playing is precise; no note is put to waste, and her use of repetition creates a trance-like effect, lulling the listener into a sense of calm. – AVD
Biluka Y Los Canibales
Leaf-Playing In Quito, 1960-1965
(Honest Jon’s Records)
Continuing their exploration of the golden age of Ecuadorean music and the Caife label, Honest Jon’s return to 1960s Quito for a compilation that focuses on the leaf-playing skills of Dilson De Sousa. Recording as Biluka, and backed by the strings, keys, and brass of Los Canibales, De Sousa used a single leaf from a Ficus tree to lead these unique and beautiful compositions with pitch-perfect trills and vibrato. A remarkable talent and a legend of the Quito scene, this compilation serves as fitting testament to Biluka’s expressive abilities, and makes for another vital instalment to Honest Jon’s Caife odyssey. – JH
E-Saggila
Blaze
(Northern Electronics)
Northern Electronics present six works from the fantastic mind of Iraq-born, Toronto-based sound artist E-Saggila. Aptly named Blaze, the EP delves into a raw cocktail of dancefloor energy across a range of tempos – channelling the electricity of Saggila’s sets. Industrial at its core, the EP takes a measured approach to whiplash and recoil: luring the listener in with squelching drum effects, then keeping them hooked with playful synth work. – EH
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