THE BEST MUSIC: NEW & OLD
Today is a throwback to a 2014 classic by US-born, Welsh-raised electronic music producer Dauwd.
Lydia is beautifully weird composition. For me, it conjures up some kind of mythical battle – maybe the opening credit sequence of Golden Axe 2. It pounds and shimmers in a hugely original, deeply moving kind of way. Check it out.
Bonus track: basically, there’s a lot more where that came from. This EP scores 3 bangers out of 3 for me. Oh, and the guy is a genius live as well.
Sub Focus & Wilkinson. Wilkinson & Sub Focus. Two of the bigger names going in UK drum & bass over past decade.
Just Hold On represents a bit of a departure from their template with some original melodies, and some live strings for extra depth (it was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios in Bath). But really this isn’t one to think about too hard. Just turn it loud and rock out.
If you are fan, they released an album together, Portals, in 2020. For me, none of the tracks are quite as interesting as Just Hold On. But if it is 50 minutes of energy you are after, then check it out.
It is so hard to do spoken word over music without it sounding forced. For me, producers who dabble in the genre tend to turn out tunes that disappoint (recent examples include Wayward and Tom Demac). So it is always a bit of surprise when I come across one that I love.
Maybe it is because I am a sucker for an accent, but I can’t get enough of this all-Scottish partnership: producer Lord of the Isles, and poet Ellen Renton.
The highlight is Inheritance, but the EP delivers a beautiful ambient soundscape throughout.
A short story. I was at a 90s themed birthday party the other day. A private room in a South London pub. Big outfits, big tunes, retro snacks, you know the score. David Beckham was having a boogie with Lara Croft and Baby Spice*. Everyone was getting a nice buzz on. I was having a very nice time, enjoying myself.
Then, Olive. Wow.
It’s hard to put the reaction I had into words, but the nostalgia and beauty got to me. It’s a stunner, plain and simple.
*For the record, I came as Raoul from the film adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Ross From Friends is back with his second album. As you would expect it is slickly produced, and in his trademark dusty lo-fi style; a style that gives the impression that you are over-hearing the music, as opposed to listening to it. Or that is is from a a different era somehow.
Anyway, as an album it bubbles away nicely without ever really taking off. Each track has an interesting idea at its core, but never enough to grab you by the collar and give you a good shake. The closest are Love Divide and Life In A Mind that both threaten to go big, with some strong 90s club influences – but even they turn out to be a bit of a tease.
I don’t want to sound too neggy, because overall it is a decent listen (almost reminiscent of Aphex Twin at points), but I am finding it hard to get too excited about it. What do you think?
1991, not a bad year for music it turns out. Here we are 30 years on and there are quite a few tracks that stand up pretty well.
This playlist gives you 5 hours of the biggest hits from the year. As you’d expect it is pretty damn eclectic. By my count it roughly goes: Folk – Rock – Shoegaze – Alternative – Hip Hop – Rap – RnB – Dance – Techno – Club – Trance – Pop – and then winds up with some ballads. Enjoy
Some credit goes to this BBC article on the best 19 albums from 1991 as well.
Note for the nerds: tracks qualify they were released as a single or on an album that year.
Let me know if I’ve missed any big’uns.
In a change from my usual programming, here is a podcast episode about music (and the power of the mixtape).
To paraphrase the narrator:
I don’t want to sound too grand, but there is a power of mixtapes when you put them together a certain way– the power of music, even. Or at least the power that we believe it has. That it can confess devotion on our behalf, even in the form of an exploded puzzle. Even the most casual mixtape– or playlist these days– that you make for a friend, you’re saying, this is what I like. Or a lot of times, this is what I’m feeling right now. In a way, you’re saying, this is who I am.
Songs gathered together like that are a kind of parlance, a language. The words are someone else’s, but they’re also our own. So that’s what’s coming up on today’s episode, kind of a mixtape of its own, because we have a crush on you, and because the particular songs in this show tell you a surprising amount about the people listening to them. We can’t wait to play them for you.
KVRVBO is the project of Karabo Moloi, a South African producer from a township in Johannesburg. He released his debut album Euphoria in July. In it he brings in no fewer than 8 collaborators, most of whom are also South African.
If you are being critical, you might say that for a deep house album, it is slightly lacking in outright bangers. However, what it lacks there, it more than makes up for with real depth and variety. Each of the featuring artists bring their own flavour, putting together a really nice 80 minute listen.
My top tracks to listen out for: Billow Made Me Do It, In the Jungle (featuring Bongani Mehlomakhulu) and Celestial Dreams.
This one caught me off guard. Wairunga is a sumptuous 1 hour live album that has come out of nowhere. Better yet, it is accompanied by a film of the recording, which takes you right there to their secret little concert.
The album is named after the location that the tracks were recorded. It is a little town on the New Zealand’s East coast that appears to have one road, but is a regular retreat for the band. For this recording they set up shop on a grass tennis court, and got to work. As they play, the weather starts to come in around them – they plough on and it feels like the elements of Wairunga leave their mark on the recording. It feels right that they credit it in the name.
This is utter alchemy from everyone’s favourite Kiwi seven-piece.
After a little Summer break I’m coming back at you with a few new stellar releases over the next few days.
First up it is the wonderfully-named DJ Seinfeld with his debut full length album, Mirrors.
Mirrors is a set of tuneful electronic jams, and it comes with a sweet story attached. When DJ Seinfeld shot into the limelight out of nowhere in 2017 with his now-trademark dusty lo-fi house sounds, you might have noticed that the track names and general vibe were a tad depressing. At the time our man Armand Jakobsson was going through a break-up. Fast forward 4 years and he has found love. Out with the I Hope I Sleep Tonight and the I saw Her Kiss Him in Front of Me and I Was Like Wtf? and in with the She Loves Me, the Walking with Ur Smile and The Right Place. Ain’t that nice. Live your best life Armand.
DJ Seinfeld’s other project is also worth getting to know, under alias Rimbaudian.
Finally, he is playing live at EartH in Hackney in October – see you there.
HARRY'S MUSICAL EMPORIUM 