Coming at you this fine Wednesday morning with German producer Panthera Krause’s It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You. It has been described as “…lush, funky and highly infectious…” and who am I to disagree?
My pick is Birthday Club. It has an inventive double time synth line that might be annoying if it wasn’t so goddamned groovy. Imagine the kind of track that Project Pablo and Matthew Herbert would get silly to and you won’t be far off.
Another fave is the title track from the album which closes out the release. The piano chords have a touch of the Harvey Sutherland’s about them, which is never a bad thing. Enjoy.
As the final track will tell you, LUMP is the product of Mike Lindsay and Laura Marling. Laura Marling hardly needs an introduction, as one of the leading folk artists over the last 15 years. Mike Lindsay is best known for his role in the folktronica band Tunng, but has an impressive list of producer credits spanning pop, rock and R&B. Their co-creation is LUMP, which they characterise as both a mythical creature and a creative mindset that the pair invoke to create music together.
So, Animal; the talent of Laura as a writer and vocalist is evident throughout the album. Her vocals have a unique, instantly recognisable quality that work just as well in this more electronic setting as her usual acoustic folk. Similarly, Mike’s production quality is high. The music for each track (with the possible exception of Phantom Limb) is interesting to the ear, but without being jarring. Pairing those qualities is a tough thing to do. Contributing to this, some of the album is written in a 7/4 time signature – it gives it a sense of urgency, but never feels forced. The third single from the album, also titled Animal, is where this combination comes together best. The final single, We Cannot Resist, is another pleasing pop track (although slightly marred by the use of a gimmicky vocoder).
There is a lot to really like about the the album, which leaves me questioning why I like it but don’t love it. I think the answer lies in my favourite track on the album, Oberon. It is 2 minutes of beautiful, heartbreaking songwriting. The tenderness of the music and the lyrics feel perfectly in sync. This level of synchronicity feels within reach throughout the whole album, but the energies of singer and producer never align as well as they do there. This is illustrated by the final track Phantom Limbwhich immediately follows and seems to have been written in an intentionally discordant way. Maybe I just don’t get it, but it doesn’t land for me. That said, overall Animal is a really intriguing listen with a good number of really high quality tracks.
As a sidenote, I had the pleasure of listening to the Premiere of Animal at a Pitchblack Playback event – a blindfolded immersive album-listening experience – I highly recommend checking out their events if you are London or Auckland-based and see an event that piques your interest.
Walk Away was released in 2019, but feels a lot more 1999. Degrees of Freedom are a Bristol-based duo, comprised of Kyo on the vocals and production by Break. They bring a deliciously old-skool flavour to their releases which span dub and reggae, and are definitely worth checking out. Walk Away is a bit of an outlier stylistically, but a real nice track.
Bonus track: I came across Degrees of Freedom on Leon Vynehall’s DJ-Kicks compilation. The man is a master crate-digger – August is an Angel was the fruit of that particular labour
DJ Seinfeld has announced his second full length album Mirrors will be released on Ninja Tune in September. The first single, U Already Know is out now and hints at a bit of a shift in style.
Whistful female vocals are still in, but his signature dusty style is out, in favour of punchier electro elements. If this is any indication of what the rest of the album will sound like, I’m very much there for it!
My thoughts on his debut album Time Spent Away From Uhere.
Over in the UK the sun is out and I’ve been listening to nothing but these 3 EP compilations by Greek label Bonfido Disques. They describe their sound as “nostalgic Exotic Disco and Afro Cosmic House reworks for the dancefloor”, which hits the nail on the head. Enjoy.
Shout out to Ben Gomori’s Turned On podcast for the tip.
Today I’ve got an almost unreasonably deep EP from Canadian newcomer Chat Desmond.
If you only listen to one track, make it Gotta Light. In one sense, it is a mournful duet told in three parts; the male vocal takes us to four minutes in, before Gladys’ Knight’s familiar laments takes its place (the sample of DJ Koze’s Pick Up fame). Finally the two vocals greet each other in a touching finale. It is a really creative take on two samples that have probably been never been anywhere near each other before. But for all that beauty, it has another side – Gotta Light is basically a bit of a banger. The vocals are underpinned by this addictive acid-tinged bass line. Progression after progression leaves you on the tip and wanting more. Tune.
A couple more tracks to mention. The opening number Hiding From Love is another nice deep number. And as an added bonus you get a crash course in Year 1 of Philosophy undergrad.
Another to check out is Pinch Me, which is now the cause of me mentioning Beyoncé for the first time on this blog. Chat Desmond gives her Sweet Dreams the Cyril Hahn / Destiny’s Child treatment; a delightfully twisted, dark reimagining of the track.
All in all, looking forward to a Vol. 2.
As ever, a big shout out to Ben Gomori and his Turned Onpodcast for the tip.
It is… interesting. Moody, ominous soundscapes that set out to disorientate are the order of the day. Rare, Forever is more reminiscent of Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders’ sprawling Promises than it is of say, his debut album Music for the Uninvited, or the follow-up Rojus. But where Promises is reminiscent of a daydream, in Rare, Forever we meet the nightmare. A rare bright spot is An Exhale, which really does feel like a relief after the intensity of Worm (& Closer & Closer). None of this is to say that the release isn’t engrossing, but if you are coming to Leon to feel uplifted after a tough Winter then look elsewhere.
You can read more of my thoughts on Snakeskin ∞ Has-Beenhere, or his previous album Nothing Is Stillhere.
Bonus track: An Exhale reminds me of this number by Kenton Slash Demon. Enjoy
You know when a song comes onto your shuffle and you realise how much you need it?
Tin King is the work of electro-pop three-piece Ultraista (one of whom is Nigel Godrich, long-time Radiohead producer).
It has a feverish energy. No chorus/verse structure. Instead they go for continuous drumming, walls of sound and stream of consciousness lyrics depicting a disorientating high speed city life. It’s as bold as it is pretty.
HARRY'S MUSICAL EMPORIUM 