THE BEST MUSIC: NEW & OLD
Every Sunday I am going to bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.
Music for some broody alone-time. Tamaryn specialise in the kind of shoegaze / indie-rock that evokes vast, bleak, windswept landscapes. Real Autumnal vibes [see album cover]. My pick off the album is Love Fade. Anyway, settle in and enjoy.
Who doesn’t love Moodymann? Kenny Dixon Jr. has been making weird, funky house from Detroit since 1992. 1992! Anyway, here he delivers 8 minutes of blissed-out piano chords and one of those euphoric vocal samples that makes you glad to be alive.
If house dripping in piano is your thing, check out this playlist I made with some of my faves. Perfect for your Saturday between the hours of 7-11pm
Payfone operate in a decent space somewhere between funk and electro. Enjoy a cheeky groove to this track from 2015 by the East London duo. It’ll bring you into the sweet embrace of the weekend the best way possible.
New music from Bristolian three-piece Elder Island! Their music is tough to describe, so I’ll leave it to them: “raw electronic pop with a soulful house, indie persuasion”. Can’t say fairer than that.
If you are new to the band, check out Elder Island, their first EP release from 2014 for a taster.
These guys sound great in your headphones, and even better live. They embark on a UK tour in early November (including a sold out gig at Village Underground). If you can’t get your hands on tickets for that, they’ll be back in London in February at new Hackney venue EartH (tickets on DICE).
Okay, so I’m pretty sure this guy is a visionary. If you aren’t familiar, Frits Wentink makes his very own peculiar brand of dusty, wonky electronic music. His latest release on WOLF Music Recordings is a little more dancefloor-ready than his previous stuff but hasn’t lost any of its bizarre charm.
Lucky for us, he’s playing an EP launch party at The Waiting Room in Stokey in two weeks time. It’s a small venue and tickets are going for a fiver(!!) so I’d recommend haste https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1155551
If you haven’t heard his only full-length release, Rarely Pure, Never Simple from 2015, get to know.
mmm… chuck some ominous, siren-like vocals over a cheeky LCD-style synthy bassline and you have yourself a sexy, brooding, sweltering number that’ll fire you through a Tuesday. Or any day for that matter. Enjoy.
Like what you hear? You can catch the French duo live at the Village Underground in late October. It’s a steal at just over a tenner. Their track Prettiest Virgin from the same album is another beaut.
http://www.villageunderground.co.uk/events/agar-agar/
P.S. This is how the duo describe their artistic influences: “Clara comes from a family of apes so her influence is pretty varied, like trees, bananas, dried fruit, and Armand quite likes paintings but not their frames.” Genius.
I don’t know much about Aldous RH, other than that this track sounds a lot like a mixture of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Mac DeMarco – which can only be a good thing. If that brand of quirky indie-pop is your bag, get ready to groove.
And speaking of Mac, he and Aldous RH have a tour starting next week, with a few dates in the UK. Mac is the master of the live show. If you can go, make sure you don’t miss it. Here’s a track from a demo album, out last week.
Every Sunday I am going to bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.
Everyone has heard of Simian Mobile Disco. But no-one has heard Simian Mobile Disco sound like this. They have collaborated with all-female vocalist group Deep Throat Choir to put together this eerie, magical album. Sometimes soothing, sometimes unnerving, it is adventurous, super original and a really rewarding listen.
In particular, watch out for Caught in a Wave and Defender – the two highlights.
Summer might be on the way out, but keep hold of the state of mind with this afro beauty from South African funk and soul musician Hugh Masekela from 1984. Still sounds fresh.
And if you liked that, here is an Afro/Dub/Funk inspired playlist I’ve put together for when you need some sunshine in your life. It’s heavy on the brass.
Tonight I’m headed to a pretty exciting event. For about 6 hours German Electronic music label Innervisions will be taking over one of the most famous homes of classical music in the UK for a live show. Details are pretty scarce, but with production support from LWE and a line-up including some of the label’s biggest names (and founders Dixon & Ame) it’s all set to be a pretty special gig. Last time I checked there were a few tickets available too.
A handful of my favourite tracks from people on the line-up:
Huge uplifting Afro-house from Henrik Schwarz (I could have picked any number of his jams though tbh)
An Emotional, goosebumpy house remix from Matthew Herbert
Finally, Howling & Ame combining for some more heart-string tugging house back from 2012
HARRY'S MUSICAL EMPORIUM 