THE BEST MUSIC: NEW & OLD
I like it, but there are a lot of music producers out there combining RnB vocal loops, atmospheric drones, some breaks and old school house piano chords. It’s good, but I think we get it…
And then this came along.
A little touch of SBTRKT alchemy and the whole shtick comes alive again. I challenge you not to throw your hands up 2 minutes in. For me it easily surpasses anything on his 2023 album The Rat Road.
For more SBTKRT, here is his seminal 2011 album.
Since I came across this album today I’ve had it on repeat. It was released in 2021 on Seb Wildblood’s All My Thoughts imprint, and the music shares a lot stylistically with his releases. You’d also be forgiven for at times mistaking it for Four Tet or Jacques Greene. Which is all really to say that it is pretty lush.
The world of Please Keep Shimmering is heavily textured, flitting between organic ambient soundscapes and tracks that are more recognisable as house. In the words of RA, it “flutters and glistens”. He also introduces subtle IDM influences in a really cute way that never overpowers the deep groove. The album is a rich, contemplative, work of art. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Please keep shimmering.
Iconic French electro duo Justice have released their first album since 2021. Tame Impala (twice), Thundercat and Connan Mockasin all pop up on vocals. All in all it’s a nice release but I can’t shake the analysis from this tweet…
French electro doesn’t need polish.
Bonus tracks: my two Justice faves: one classic, one newer.
Post #365, would you believe it?! And we have a whole new visual identity to celebrate the milestone. You could now read a new post every day for a year* – what a year it would be.
Journey is Bondax’s second full length album, and it’s a real treat just in time for the summer. Feel good electronic music to soundtrack escapades in the sun. The album sits somewhere in between Flight Facilities’ blissed out electronica, and Disclosure’s high energy dance music – and for me, that’s a very nice place to be.
They have a great set of vocalists on the release, including one of my all-time favourites in Andreya Triana, also Tara McDonald and SHELLS; you can read my post on Fade (feat. SHELLS) here.
* Yes I know we are in a leap year
Trust me when I say I have something very different for you today: Drawn Onward is a palindromic audio documentary about the migrant experience. It plays the exact same forwards as it does backwards. The producers were inspired by the yearning of migrants to return to the lands they and their people have left behind. If they got it wrong this could have felt gimmicky, but the result is magical, unnerving and powerful. The reversed speech almost sounds like a foreign tongue which is then translated. All in all it is an amazing piece of sound design.
https://radiolab.org/podcast/short-cuts-drawn-onward
Credit to two of my favourite non-music podcasts, RadioLab, and BBC’s Short Cuts, presented by Josie Long.
Image credits: Jared Bartman
We are delighted to announce the successful acquisition of Harry’s Musical Emporium by new investors!
A New Chapter for Music Tech Innovation
This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Harry’s Musical Emporium, allowing us to accelerate our growth and solidify our position as a leader in the music technology industry. The combined expertise and resources of the new investors will fuel our mission to meet our growth goals.
Building on a Strong Foundation
We are incredibly grateful to our previous investors for their unwavering support in helping us reach this point. Their belief in our vision has been instrumental in our success.
A Shared Vision for the Future
We are excited to embark on this new chapter with our new investors. Their commitment to innovation and their passion for the music industry perfectly aligns with our own values. Together, we will continue to develop cutting-edge music tech solutions that empower and inspire creators around the world.
Looking Ahead
With this acquisition, we are well-positioned to meet our growth goals. We are confident that the best is yet to come for Harry’s Musical Emporium, and we look forward to sharing our continued journey with you.
This is a really special album. My Noise is Nothing is the second collaboration between poet and spoken word performer Ellen Renton, and producer Lord of the Isles. You can read my thoughts on their first release Whities 029 from 2020 here.
For this release they have re-located their unique alchemy. Lord of the Isles creates a set of beguiling, luscious soundscapes – over these Ellen Renton delivers her thought-provoking, evocative, yearnful verse. The music and her voice intertwine with a harmonic give-and-take that is hard to describe. The result is the kind of album you can play again and again.
If you are lucky, you may be able to grab a ticket to see them perform live. They touch down in London at Kings Place on 21st March.
There aren’t many more consistent house producers over the past few years than Fort Romeau. Now he has released a sumptuous 8 track number called Romantic Gestures Vol. 1 on his own Romantic Gestures imprint. RA describe it as vibey and romantic, which gets at half of it. What makes it special for me, is that these tracks are as at home in your headphones as they would in a big room club. Punchy house music made intimate. Lovely stuff.
Make sure you stick around for the second half of the release, when it really gets going. Here are my thoughts from the last time I raved about him, and specifically the last track on the album Be With U.
Now this is a party track. It has all the elements; you couldn’t ask for a funkier bassline; jammy organ synths; some soulful vocals; and a nice bit of crowd noise to give it a subtle pick-up. If it doesn’t get you stepping then I’m sorry, but not much will.
Bonus track: I can’t give How it Feels much more of a compliment than to say it reminds me of Maceo Plex’s Love Somebody Else. One of my all-time favourites. You can listen to that here. You can and you should.
What’s the best Christmas song you ask? Well there’s only one correct answer, and that’s Fairytale of New York*. In a genre ridden with turkeys, this one is a king. That’s right, you heard me, a king amongst turkeys.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3VTNVsTTu05dmTsVFrmGpK?si=31ea101cf5e44846
RIP Shane MacGowan. Here is a link to an obit. It’s worth a read because he was, by all accounts, an utter mentalist.
*Feel free to put your incorrect answers in the comments box.
HARRY'S MUSICAL EMPORIUM 