Published on
November 1, 2024
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and contributors Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill and James Hammond.
Haley Heynderickx
Seed Of A Seed
(Mama Bird Recording Co)
After a six-year gap, Haley Heynderickx releases her long-awaited second album Seed of a Seed. The cosy folk intimacy of its predecessor I Need to Start a Garden remains but this time Heynderickx casts her lyrical net further – targeting consumerism and technology-induced anxiety. Brushed with a psychedelic wash and conveyed through Heynderickx’s unpredictable yet lulling vocals, Seed Of A Seed is a beautifully rendered reminder to touch grass sometimes.– KD
Bernard Parmegiani & Francois Bayle
Divine Comédie
(Recollection GRM)
A collaborative effort from two big hitters of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Divinie Comédie finds Bernard Parmegiani & François Bayle framing Dante’s Divine Comedy amidst a ferment of electronic sound with narration from Michel Hermon. The disorienting synths and acousmatic sounds of Parmegiani’s Hell are responded to by Bayle’s more sparing take on Purgatory, before the duo pair up for the ascension of Paradise. Recorded between 1971-72 and never before released as a complete set, Recollection GRM have done us a good turn here with this 4LP collection. – JH
Various Artists
Naya Beat Volume 2: South Asian Dance And Electronic Music 1988-1994
(Naya Beat)
Naya Beat set themselves big shoes to fill with the follow-up to their much acclaimed compilation of 80’s and 90’s South Asian dance music, Naya Beat Volume 1—we at Vinyl Factory even named it 2021’s reissue of the year—but with the release of Volume 2, I am glad to confirm that Naya Beat have once again hit the sonic jackpot. A dance-floor-ready concoction of bouncing bhangra house, simmering chutney remixes and alluring downtempo tracks from legends like Asha Puthli and Bappi Lahiri, as well as more obscure figures, Naya Beat 2 is an electrifying celebration of dance music from the South Asian subcontinent and the diaspora beyond. – AVD
GAISTER
GAISTER
(AD 93)
November has arrived with the dynamic new collaborative project, GAISTER, the triangular union between soprano Olivia Salvadori, Akihide Monna and AD 93 regular Coby Sey. The spatial elegance of the project gives the feeling as if it exists as a living breathing piece of art, combining spoken word pieces with layers of harmonisation and tinkering percussion. The result of these textures has created a hypnotic dream world which we have the pleasure of being invited into and culminates in an almost spiritual ending in ‘Sento’. – EH
Dinosaur
Kiss Me Again
(Week-End Records)
Inspired by Vicki Sue Robinson’s Turn the Beat Around, Arthur Russell gathered a stellar line up of musicians for the relentless disco groove of 1978’s Kiss Me Again. Russell’s prodigious musical imagination makes good use of the track’s thirteen minutes with Myriam Valle’s alluring vocals shifting gears as guitars, bass, cello, piano, percussion and brass set about their vibrant interplay. With the Sire original shifting 300,000+ copies this one’s certainly not from the Russell vaults, but as a disco cut that should always be on the shelves this first-time reissue courtesy of Week-End records comes as a welcome development. – JH
Haruomi Hosono / Various Artists
Hosono House Revisited
(Stones Throw)
Stone’s Throw Records are celebrating fifty years since the release of Haroumi Hosono’s iconic debut, Hosono House with a collaborative reworking of the folk-rock classic. ‘Hosono House Revisited’ recruits artists from across the Stone’s Throw roster to create this beautiful homage to the YMO master, with contributions from John Carroll Kirby, Akiki Yano, Mac DeMarco and Sam Gendel and more. These reimaginings bring new dimensions to the down-to-earth Americana of Hosono’s original compositions whilst still retaining the spirit of the original— a testament to his truly timeless songwriting. – AVD
Mount Eerie
Night Palace
(P.W. Elverum & Sun)
Where much of his recent output has centred around acoustic guitar, Mount Eerie’s latest record Night Palace is a wide-reaching collage of scuzzy guitars, DIY stylings and rough and ready ruminations. Phil Elverum’s Mount Eerie project remains confessional and emotional. However, moving away from the stark openness of 2017’s A Crow Looked At Me and closer to his work with The Microphones, Elverum is more oblique this time – observing both the internal and the external. Night Palace is an ambitious record with 26 tracks ranging in length from 56 seconds to 12 minutes and while occasionally ideas feel unfinished, it’s an enthralling existential journey to embark upon. – KD
Sevil & Ayla
Bebek/Irgat
(Zel Zele Records)
London based label ‘Zel Zele’ reissues a 1974 cult classic written and produced by Anatloian rock pioneer Barış Manço with his iconic band Sevil and Ayla. Repressed and presented on a special 7inch, the a-side ‘Bebek’ has been a gem amongst serious crate diggers for years and is highly sought after in the vinyl community, with its groove giving a solid nod to Led Zeppelins ‘Whole Lotta Love’. The underrated ‘Irgat’ on the b-side has a dance floor feeling with a perfect baseline to keep your feet moving. – EH
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