THE BEST MUSIC: NEW & OLD
I have to admit I’m a little late to the party on Ben Sun. The UK producer (not to be confused with England prop Ben Moon) has been around for about 10 years, but just popped onto my radar with this beaut of an album.
The highlights are the Salty Tears (sultry piano chords and a floor-filling bassline) and the closing acid-meet-jazz track, Maman’s Lover. Elsewhere, it’s originally sampled and occasionally verging on the Balearic. Very good. Very good indeed.
No Valentine’s Day special here.
Cody Currie is one-to-watch / up-and-coming / a future bigshot. All you need to know is the boy makes real nice bouncey disco-infused house grooves – think Harvey Sutherland on holiday. Expect to see a lot more of him this year, starting next month at the Jamm (playing alongside Sophie Lloyd).
Here’s his latest EP Alpha Bravo out now on House of Disco Records.
You know who makes nice music? Edmondson. Late last year he released a new EP on his own label Lissoms. Adapt2 is the highlight: its characteristically crisp, and has an undeniably deep flow to it.
Maybe even better is the We Have Love EP. Both tracks are just dripping in cool – so on point – and there’s even a cheeky Dauwd remix added in there for the bargain.
And doing a bit of back-catalogue digging, I came across one my favourite releases of a few years ago and it still sounds fresh. Props.
Youandewan (Ewan Smith to his mum & dad) creates beautiful, intimate, introspective, wandering gems of tracks. They make me think of watching the world and its lights go by through a rain-soaked window on the top deck of a bus. Anjou was his first hit, and even though it was released almost a decade ago, it sounds as fresh as if it was yesterday. And if anything 1988 is an even purer treasure of a track.
If you are liking what you hear then check out his debut full-length album from 2016. You can hear how his style has changed over the 8 year gap between the records, a time that also coincided with a move to Berlin. Two stand-out tracks here: 10405 (Alice) and the closing track, 4D Anxiety.
Look, I’ll just go ahead and say it. I LOVE Elder Island. They just don’t know how to make average music. I’m seeing them live tonight and I couldn’t be more excited. They are touring ahead of the release of their new album, Omnitone. Here are singles number 2, 3 and 4. Don’t say I’m not good to you.
If you’ve had the good fortune to see a Krywald & Farrer set you’ll know what they are all about. As Percolate front-men Jack Farrer and Edward Krywald-Sanders have had it pretty good over the last few years, and it’s not hard to see why when they release re-rubs of this quality. Souped up afro-goodness. Upbeat, funky, disco-laced good times.
And here is the original by Burkina Faso’s own Amadou Balaké.
Yo! Some feel good electro from the vaults. Get up and ‘ave it.
Today is a big day. Bonobo has released his first track since Migration in 2017. Ibrik picks up where Migration left us. It is characteristically wandering and delicate, with Middle-Eastern inspired percussion and brass weaving in and out. Picture perfect.
In case you need a reminder of why Bonobo is one of the best producers of our lifetime (whoah, he went there) here is North Borders – released in 2013. It is just one album from incredibly rich and deep discography. Explore and enjoy. And if you ever get the chance to catch him live, don’t miss it.
If you like your electronica to take you on a journey – and you like it equal parts trance-inducing and crunchy, then you should get to know Max Cooper.
The Northern Irish DJ is renowned for his blending his music with mind-bending visuals (helped by a PhD in computational biology) to create an incredible live experience. You can see a more stripped-back version for yourself when he delivers a super-long set on 16th March in London’s new-ish 24 hour club Fold (our city’s answer to Berghain blah blah). I have two tickets going at face value: if anyone is interested HMU.
Last week I posted The Magician Remix of I Follow Rivers. For me, there’s one other track that hits that upbeat electronica vibe so perfectly, and it’s this. Again it is the vocals of a Swedish producer being lifted by feel-good keys. Ah, 2011.
Sing it with me: “Oh my heart is like an eagle, I love to fall from the sky / It’s so beautiful, I see right through the water’s edge / And I love your hands, I let them lead me into the cage / So tender, but your body was warm, so frail / But your eyes like mine / The colour of ice”
HARRY'S MUSICAL EMPORIUM 