Category: Electronic

Transition 2 – Joy Orbison & Ben Vince

A couple of weeks ago I made my first trip to FOLD. It is another club in the city that has been called “London’s answer to Berghain” again and again – basically because it has a 24 hour license and a very stripped down, back to the basics ethos. Aesthetically I would describe it as extremely unassuming, which is kind of cool – in a concrete multi-story car park kind of way. The music is front and centre, so make sure you pick a night with a lineup you like. Since I went, it has been shut down; the council revoked its license due to allegations that “fraudulent funds” were involved in the purchase of “approximately £200,000 worth of high-value DJ equipment”. And then they reinstated the license, pending the trial of two people involved. What fun!

Anyway, I chose to go when Leon Vynehall had an all night set on. As usual, he was pretty great. This was my highlight from the set: it is house meets The Great American Railroad. Atmospheric beyond belief.

Bonus track: Leon himself released a new one last week as well. Here it is:

The Bells of Mist – Skatebård

Now this is an interesting fella. Skatebård (real name Bård Aasen Lødemel) is from a small coastal town in Norway called Ørsta. This probably makes him your second favourite Norwegian DJ. He was originally a heavy metal drummer before getting into techno and rave, hip-hop, and latterly Italo disco. Not that these shifts away from heavy metal seem to have impacted his aesthetic.

He has released 3 full-length solo albums, the last of which was CDIII (geddit?). My pick is from that album, and it is called Bells of Mist.

Progressive house music made for the misty mountains. Lovely touch.

If you enjoyed this track, check out Wayward. Also delightfully composed introspective beauties.

Why Do Cowboys Never Die in the East? – Laurence Guy

Laurence Guy’s last release was called Making Music is Bad for Your Self Esteem. Which is kind of sad. It’s also kind of odd. Because I feel like most people that listened to it probably said something along the lines of “Hey, Laurence! Great release!” or something along those lines.

Anyway, he’s back again with a mini EP, playfully titled Why Do Cowboys Never Die In the East? And I think this time maybe he has a point.

Anyway, he delivers 3 beautifully extended ambient tracks – if you have anything inside you that you want to release, this is the EP for you. Characteristically picturesque work that’ll take you on a journey.

More Laurence here.

Crush – Floating Points

Floating Points (nee Sam Shepherd) is not your usual music producer. What I mean by this is that he has a PHD in neuroscience. Anyway he has a new album, it’s called Crush, it’s out on Ninja Tune, and he created it over the course of 5 weeks having been inspired by his time supporting the XX on tour. Pretty sick all round really.

Two tracks to pick out. Les Aplx was the first single out. It is a really tasty classic Floating Points bubbling kind of number – think Nuits Sonores. It rolls straight into my top pick, Bias. Now this one is a little bit special. It starts off all chilling and foreboding and then sparks into life with a proper thump. A bit nerdy, but check out that pause-drop on 2:40. OOSH!

By the way, thank you for coming to read my blog. If you fancy a really well written review of the album you are in the wrong place. Head here -> https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/24333

Escape From Planet Monday – DJ Fresh

Today is a right old throwback to 2006 when DJ Fresh was a fresh-faced drum & bass producer. Some of the album has aged very very badly so I’m just picking out the top tracks.

First up, It’s All That Jazz. 3 minutes of beats, bass, rhythm, breaks, guitar strum etc. etc. playful jungle vibes.

X Project. Great name. Great tune (granted, in a very 2006 DJ-Clipz D&B scene way).

And last up, Funk Academy. I have no idea what he was thinking but it kind of works.

Robopubez (Rust In Peace) – Manakinz

I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. I hadn’t come across these guys before – a Glaswegian duo called Manakinz (James ‘Harri’ Harrigan and Max Raskin) – but what they’ve created is an absolute monster. It’s a grotty kind of house track with a spine-tingling, industrial kind of vibe. I’ll say it again, it’s a monster.

Shout out to Ben Gomori for getting this out on his label Monologue Records. Check out the rest of the EP for some freshness from Paxton Fettell and Kristy Harper.

Bodily Functions – Herbert

When Matthew Herbert wants to do something weird, he becomes Herbert. And boy does he do it well.

Bodily Functions is his album from 2001. It’s all somewhere between jazz, electronica and house. It’s slinky. Highlights are It’s Only (made famous by DJ Koze) and my favourite, down at track 14, is The Audience.

And by the way, this guy does zero sampling and uses zero drum machines or synths. AND all of these tracks include samples of the human body. Crazy.

Bonus track: I Hadn’t Known (I Only Heard) and it’s only from 1998! It has just been re-issued and it sounds as fresh as you like.

What’s a Girl To Do – Fatima Yamaha

Originally released in 2004, (2004!) What’s a Girl To Do is a supreme slow-burning, night-ending track. It has Scarlett Johansson musing on her existence, a sample from Lost in Translation, and it’s really pretty great.

It makes all the sense in the world, and also no sense at all, that this track popped up out obscurity into the mainstream in 2015. Give it a spin, and pay attention to how it makes you feel. Lovely.