Published on
November 10, 2023
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and Becky Rogers, and contributors Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill and James Hammond.
Lucy Railton
Corner Dancer
(Modern Lover)
Lucy Railton’s cello work is no stranger to this feature, given her numerous contributions to key experimental ensembles and projects. Here we have a second solo LP that pushes her radical approach to composition another step forward. Working with cello, viella and a hand-help harp, the string sounds on Corner Dancer take on Railton’s open-eared tunings and meet with Buchla synth, voice, horse-hair whips, guitar and other elements within a subtle electro-acoustic collage. Meticulous in attention to pacing and timbre–an essential listen for fans of adventurous sounds.–JH
Pinkpantheress
Heaven Knows
(Warner)
Known for her viral Y2K dance-pop hits like “Boy’s A Liar Pt 2” and “Pain”, PinkPantheress presents her debut album, Heaven Knows, with 13 fleshed-out tracks that assert the singer, writer and producer as more than just a social media star. Her previous releases have focused on liquid drum and bass-meets-UK garage, but Heaven Knows sees PinkPantheress experiment with genres outside the sound we’ve got to know. Rock interludes stand strong against breakout synths (“Capable of Love”), harp flutters orchestrate a tale of Shakespearean downfall (“Ophelia”) and crisp ’00s R&B dances around McFly and Gross Boy interpolations (“True Romance”). Heaven Knows is an impressive debut set to push PinkPantheress to the musical stardom she deserves.–BR
Nídia
95 MINDJERES
(Príncipe)
Nídia is a producer whose work continues to put smiles on faces throughout the world. Their third full-length album 95 MINDJERES radiates with joy brimming with dynamic Afro-Portuguese percussion and floating melodies with roots in Guinea-Bissau’s anti-colonial history. 95 MINDJERES was inspired by a group of 95 women who banded together during the ’60s and ’70s to fight for the liberation of Guinea-Bissau from Portuguese colonial domination. Textures flow and change with formulated pitches varying to create alternative musical energies between jubilation and more heavyhearted moments.–EH
Wiki & Tony Seltzer
14K Figaro
(Wikset Enterprise)
New York rapper Wiki reconnects with his long-time collaborative partner Tony Seltzer on 14K Figaro. It’s been a while since Wiki was entirely in the foreground, following collaborative projects with underground hip-hop’s biggest names (The Alchemist, MIKE, Navy Blue) and 14K Figaro makes a solid case for his profile being much bigger than it is. With a raspy, striking tone and a foundation that takes boom-bap and turn-of-the-century chart hip-hop and makes it weird as hell, 14K Figaro continually hints at accessibility before coming at you with a batshit left-turn. All the while, Wiki’s unrelenting vocals steadily move forward, barely taking a breath.–KD
Krikor
Classic House Riddims Vol. 2
(Homemade Soundsystem)
BFDM’s dub offshoot Homemade Soundsystem returns with a wicked 7″ by longtime collaborator Krikor, whose extensive back catalogue and work with labels such as LIES and Big Love Records proceeds him. This record exists as the second instalment of Classic House Riddims, following on nicely from his Cefran Riddims EP back in 2019. Two twisted dancehall mutations from one of the key players in the Parisian music scene with heavy nods to the 90s ragga. Two tracks designed to be played loud on a system with lots of bass.–EH
The Clockworks
Exit Strategy
(Life and Times Recordings)
Trying to fit in a big city like London isn’t easy, and The Clockworks’ debut album Exit Strategy explores just that. The Irish rockers made the move from Galway after feeling like there wasn’t much to aim for after selling out Róisín Dubh, the city’s most notable venue. Now years on, the indie post-punks turn their misadventures of finding their feet into heightened cinematics and relatable intrigue into the mundanes of everyday life with Exit Strategy. Familiar singles like “Feels So Real” make sense of London’s intense hostility with expert punk prose, with fresher tracks tying together the protagonist’s emotions seamlessly with the help of producer Bernard Butler. For anyone who’s made the move, Exit Strategy instantly clicks as it paces through the moments of panic, utter loneliness, and maybe most importantly, days of complete enamour.–BR
Aisha Devi
Death Is Home
(Houndstooth)
Following a five-year gap, Aisha Devi releases her latest album, Death Is Home. Existing as a meeting point between industrial intensity and New Age sound design, Death Is Home is spiritual music for clubbers. Filled with ritualistic structures, ’80s synths and a synthetic understanding of self-realization, the album cements Aisha Devi’s spot as a singular artist with an open-minded approach.–KD
Patrick Shiroishi
I was too young to hear silence
(American Dreams)
The latest album from LA composer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi revels in the possibilities of silence for exploratory free-jazz improvisation. Recorded with solo alto saxophone and glockenspiel, in a vacant car park beneath a hot pot restaurant in Monterey Park, Shiroishi utilises the sparsity of his recording environment to capture the spaciousness of quietude. I was too young to hear silence interplays between stillness and noise, gradually building in intensity until climaxing on “is it possible to send promises backwards?”. Spiralling arpeggios of saxophone bloom out of the silence, with reverberant ripples left lingering in the air.–AVD
Duke
Early Instrumentals
(Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Setting up Pamoja Records at 18 years old, as both an artist and label owner, Duke has been at the forefront of Tanzanian singeli’s expanding influence and importance within Tanzanian youth culture. With the high BPMs of singeli as only one part of Duke’s approach, these early instrumentals get to the roots of his hybrid electronica and take in hip-hop as readily as they do traditional Tanzanian music for a synth-heavy set that’s made for the floor.–JH
Luther Thomas Human Arts Ensemble
Funky Donkey Vol.1
(Wewantsounds)
For the 50th anniversary of its recording, Wewantsounds presents the first reissue of Luther Thomas and the Human Arts Ensemble’s Funky Donkey since its release in the 1970s. Recorded live in 1973 at The Berea Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, Funky Donkey is a daring maelstrom of free jazz freakouts, spiritual jazz ascensions and formidably funky grooves. Featuring the original private press artwork, remastered audio and insightful liner notes by Howard Mandel, this is another essential package for all jazz collectors from Wewantsounds.–AVD
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