Published on
October 27, 2023
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and Becky Rogers, alongside contributors Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill and James Hammond.
hinako omori
stillness, softness...
(Houndstooth)
London-based composer and producer hinako omori follows up her excellent 2022 debut a journey…. This second release on Houndstooth is another layered ode to the synthesizer. Moving between ’80s-tinged futuristic synth-pop and more abstract composition, stillness, softness… presents as an interweaved series of electronic threads. omori abstains from clearly defined songs with her hushed, dark sonic palette seamlessly expanding and retracting across connected instalments. The new addition of omori’s vocals lends an intimate quality to what is a gripping, deeply considered thematic exercise.–KD
Various Artists
If There’s Hell Below
(Numero Group)
Finding shared visions in fuzzed guitars, cocked wah wah pedals and an affinity for locking into a groove and riding it out, If There’s Hell Below brings together a host of underheard groups from the ‘70s Afro-American underground. Primed by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Hazel, and the trailblazing rock and funk sounds of the era, this one goes hard and readily calls out for further investigation into the discographies of all involved.–JH
Various Artists
Senza Decoro: Liebe + Anarchia / Switzerland 1980-1990
(Strut)
On his latest compilation for Strut Records, Swiss-Turkish DJ and producer Mehmet Aslan delves into the unique experimental musical landscape of 1980s Switzerland. Liebe + Anarchia in Switzerland charts the genesis of Swiss post-punk and DIY electronic music from the ‘unk explosion of the 1970s. Expect pummeling basslines, jittering synth melodies and deadpan vocals—all bizarre and fascinating in equal measure. Featuring a set of dancefloor-friendly edits from Mehmet himself, this compilation is a wild ride across sounds and styles: from hypnotic dubby experiments (“Kabyl Marabú”) to high-energy jazz-inflected post-punk (“Arbieter”) across four different languages, with clear Arabic and Turkish musical influences—a true testament to the sheer diversity of this singular musical moment.–AVD
Sofia Kourtesis
Madres
(Ninja Tune)
Peruvian-born, Berlin-based producer Sofa Kourtesis hits up Ninja Tune for her joyous debut. Madres draws from Kourtesis’ mother’s battle with cancer and subsequent recovery by invoking pleasures so often sidelined in troubled times. Through warm house production, built for liberated gatherings surrounded by loved ones, Kourtesis asserts her dual identities–Latin sonic palettes and Berlin structures feed off one another to a unifying effect. Identity and connection are at the heart of Madres, be it in her ode to the neurosurgeon who operated on her mother (“Vajkoczy”), or in the anti-homophobia political groove of “Estación Esperanza”. Kourtesis has brought out the ecstasy to be found in adversity and Madres is its celebratory soundtrack.–KD
CoA-A
The End Of Nduja
(Nduja)
When thinking of Nduja the first thing that springs to mind is the delicious spicy treat hailing from Italy. On a similar pretext the tasty dub-techno experiments from the mysterious CoA-A fit a similar brief. The End of Nduja sits somewhere on the ambient spectrum, with a smattering of dubbed-out techno influences scattered enchantingly throughout. The label is shrouded in secrecy, which of course only adds to its intrigue. Since its inception back in 2020, it has been producing some of the most interesting, thought-out ambient techno of recent times and this latest offering does not disappoint.–EH
Egyptian Blue
A Living Commodity
(Yala! Records)
Brighton’s Egyptian Blue tie together indie-rock fun with post-punk clatter with their debut album, A Living Commodity. The pandemic halted the band’s trajectory but they took that time to revisit their sound and came out of it with a more mature outlook on songwriting. As a result, A Living Commodity is a stretched-out jam of angular guitar spikes and nosediving percussion, trapping the group in the very anxieties they describe. A confident debut that is as mighty in groove as it is in sheer force.–BR
Various Artists
Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Vol 3: Hedonistic Highlights From The Lowlands 1990-1999
(Rush Hour)
Music For The Radical Xenomanic Volume 3 has been something the world has patiently waited to devour. Exploring the pivotal Dutch club scene in the 1990s, it opens the doors and shines a light on the movers and shakers of the hedonism of house music during the era. Everything sounds particularly sexy with futuristic energies bubbling under sensational basslines. A globally influential soundtrack of artists who created a powerful international network that truly changed the game.–EH
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
The Silver Cord
(KGLW)
In another turn of genre, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard switch their guitar for synths on their 25th studio album, The Silver Cord. Reminiscent of the summer psych seen in Butterfly 3000, The Silver Cord explores mythology and “astral travelling” through kaleidoscopic breakdowns and even jungle crossover in “Swan Song”. It’s still Gizz-style, with the record having two versions–one, a standard 30 minutes, while the extended cut clocks in at a feature-length 90 minutes on a double LP release. Every release from the Aussie psych-rockers begs the question, can it really be that different from what they’ve done before? And with The Silver Cord, they prove the doubters wrong. This move to analogue and electronic nirvana proves they’ll always defy the odds–BR
Alvin Lucier
Works for the Ever Present Orchestra Vol. II
(Sonic Cathedral)
Volume II of Alvin Lucier’s Works for the Ever Present Orchestra looks to sweeping patterns, sustained tones and close proximities of instrument tuning to bring out the acoustic phenomena of beating patterns. Performed by a crack ensemble put together by Lucier before his passing in 2020, both works here bring out beat patterns in the convergence of sweeping string sounds and the sustained tones of the rest of the orchestra. As standard with Lucier’s work, a cursory listen on laptop speakers isn’t going to help here. These pieces reveal themselves in time and with deeper listening.–JH
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