T H I S M U S I C W I N S

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble UMO...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:53:56 +0000

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble

UMO dropped the second cut (first below) from their forthcoming album “II” this week - a steady, stripped-back soul track with a warm, wistful vocal - entitled “So Good At Being In Trouble”. Album release is set for February 5th before a welcome Fallon performance later that month. Full information at the Jagjaguwar blog.

“Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)”

London-born, Brighton-based DJ Lorca, aka 22-year old Xxx...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:29:00 +0000

London-born, Brighton-based DJ Lorca, aka 22-year old Xxx Xxxxxxx, remains a relatively new emergent from Brighton’s resilient house music scene. But off the back of his debut white label release ‘Moments’ on Live Ones last July, Lorca is now known not just as prolific but also as critically acclaimed, dropping an unrelenting string of 12” singles on high-profile record labels Left_Blank, Third Ear and now Dummy.

It was the latter label, Dummy Magazine subsidiary Dummy Records, which served up Lorca’s most successful single to date this March; a breathtaking and rhythmically-charged 12” release by name of “Can’t See Higher/Missed Me”, infused on side A with a deep, angular bass, hypnotic samples and a searing, drone-like fuzz, affording on side B something of a more low-end tribal undertone to Lorca’s signature focus and endearing drive.

Throughout Lorca’s rapidly expanding discography, it is clear that the headphone-panning idiosyncrasies in the rhythm-section are key to the success of his sound. But whilst a subtle influence from dubstep (most apparent on ‘Moments’) has tended to fade over time, tentative shades accrue on occasion in the whirring, errant instrumentation of tracks like ‘Hold Back’, ‘Giant Star’ and others. Sample-wise, Lorca is consistently soulful and selective, tending towards the subtle re-layering of female vocals in line with his nostalgia-driven choice of samples and patient, slow-burning compositional ethos.

Acclaim has come (deservedly) from all sides. Not only have his tracks made the cut for BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes curated by the likes of Modeselektor and Scuba, but Bonobo included ‘Can’t See Higher’ in his 2012 Bestival DJ set. Since the start of his collaboration with booking agency Elastica Artists, Lorca has made appearances across the Europe and the UK, including festival sets at Croatia’s Dimensions and Echo Festivals, as well as acquiring the position of DJ in residence at weighty Brighton club night AKA AKA ROAR.

Following Lorca’s most recent release, a blissfully smooth Faith Evans vs Nuyorican Soul remix on Corsica Studios’ club night-turned-label Church, and ahead of two new remixes due out before the end of the year, I caught up with Sam to discuss his gradual shift away from dubstep, ideas for a new live show, and first-hand take on the place of vinyl in a scene where DJs are increasingly shifting towards CD and digital formats…

tP: Lorca isn’t your first project, how did this one come about?

L: I was originally making dubstep, but then I started making other stuff as my taste began to develop. I ended up getting into more chilled out stuff. I just got bored of dubstep after a while.

tP: Why ‘Lorca’ the name?

L: I was living on a houseboat called ‘Lorca’. The houseboat was named after the poet, ‘Lorca’, who I’ve checked out and I like – but my DJ name is not quite so romantic. He is no great influence on me.

tP: Who would you consider your contemporaries?

L: They change all the time. When I first started doing Lorca in 2009, Joy Orbison and Scuba were huge, and ‘HYPH MNGO’ had just come out. That was a real turning point for me.

tP: What kind of effect has working with bigger labels had on the way you like to work? Does it affect your ability as an artist to refine and rework your tracks over time?

L: When I’ve done a track – they are done. I’ll never go near it again. But it varies – with Dummy, Leo came to my house in Brighton and just said ‘play me everything you have’ – and I played him my demos, some really rough demos – and he kind of let me choose what I wanted to release – that’s the way I like to work.

tP: But can too much perfectionism in your writing hurt?

L: Yeah – its very confusing when you’re working on tracks. I’ve had tracks I’ve been working on for months, and if you listen to the fine grain of them, you end up messing the track up entirely. I’ve done that enough times. I’ve done 15 versions of some tracks before switching back 10 versions and settling with that. I think sometimes I pay too much attention to the fine grain and not enough to the feel of the track. Its ultimately more about the feel – you can get lost entirely if you go too far into the grain of it.

tP: And does reaching this wider audience have an impact too?

L: It does. Can’t See Higher on Dummy Records brought me up a level and really put pressure on me to make something just as good every time! But you can’t think about that. For now I’m going to try and make what I want to make.

tP: So what else have you got coming up we should know about? You’ve just put out a record with Church…

L: That remix with Church was my choice, I thought the two tracks blended together well. I also have two more remixes for different labels coming out. One is coming out in October, and then another definitely before the end of the year.

tP: Have you ever thought about doing gigs outside of clubs, maybe in a more relaxed setting?

L: Yeah, definitely. The more I DJ the more I think about doing something slightly different. I’ve been thinking about a live show. So many people go to clubs for the madness rather than the music. Its just the setting DJs have to play in if they want to advance themselves. Thing is I’m in this DJing scene now where my music is played by DJs, so I’m not playing in the library just yet…

tP: Do you think there is much place for vinyl now that so many DJs have been liberated by the CD?

L: I use both vinyl and CD. CD because you can burn so many tracks, and I find myself a few days before a gig wanting to work something new into my set. Beatport has so many tracks you won’t find in your record store down the road. That is the easiest way to get new music – its instant. I still pick up records when I can, I prefer the sound of them and they are definitely more fun to mix with.

reprinted with permission from USSU Pulse Magazine.

This Music Wins #50 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:23:46 +0000

This Music Wins #50 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

This Music Wins #49 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:14:08 +0100

This Music Wins #49 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

This Music Wins #48 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:04:00 +0100

This Music Wins #48 on Resonance 104.4 FM by Peter Lanceley on Mixcloud

Regal Safari - Veil ‘Veil’ - the second of two...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:25:16 +0100

Regal Safari - Veil

‘Veil’ - the second of two stunning new tracks from Brighton electronic music duo Regal Safari. Streaming below, Veil is looming and vast in its aesthetic, and not so much sonically wide and far-reaching as it is simply suggestive of a dark, cavernous space below - presumably one of many textures encouraged in a careful choice and dense appropriation of multi-layered electronic instrumentation. A great mix too, might I add.

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Pressed And - Komuso Flutter Kick IV Komuso Flutter Kick IV is...

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:11:00 +0100

Pressed And - Komuso Flutter Kick IV

Komuso Flutter Kick IV is the compelling third track, and leading single, from Pressed And’s July-released Hyperthistle EP, a collection of five compositions infused with angular poly-rhythms, jilted electronics and fervent vocal manipulations courtesy of Pressed And’s vocal-half Mat Jones.

The pair (which also comprises Andrew Hamlet, whose label released Mat’s last project It Is Rain In My Face) are signed up to Mush Records, where they’ve already released August 2011’s debut full-length Imbue Up. Since then they’ve set about recording a Daytrotter session, and scooping features on KEXP, Portals and XLR8R amongst others. Listen below.

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Four Tet - Pink “Lion” is taken from Four...

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:25:00 +0100

Four Tet - Pink

“Lion” is taken from Four Tet’s recent album Pink, a collection of several heady dance singles released on his own Text Records over the course of the past few months. In contrast to the inter-woven and cohesive feel of much of There Is Love In You, Pink is focused and beat-driven and comprised of lengthy, cold and rhythmic compositions - signalling perhaps an embrace of contemporary dance music - where Kieran Hebden’s stunning, if a little disjointed, effort looks to have already made visionary impact.

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Shinamo Moki - Ultra I was first introduced to near-Brighton...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 02:47:35 +0100

Shinamo Moki - Ultra

I was first introduced to near-Brighton project Shinamo Moki by a friend, Erik (who lives in NY, but seems to know more about the music scene here than I do), when the pair released their most recent EP “For You” on his (excellent) label a few months ago. Since that spacey, idiosyncratic release, which premiered on these pages, Shinamo has blossomed further along ambient lines exposed in two singular trickle-down offerings: the gentle and drone-embellished “Relic (demo)” and its decorated (and headphone-panning) younger brother “Ultra” - sold on its drawn-out, rhythmic bursts of sprawling, misty reverb, which conjure mental images in mine of the top note of old pianos played in dusty rooms - and that sound, somehow captured and endlessly prolonged.

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Black Marble - A Great Design ‘A Great Design’ is...

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:21:00 +0100

Black Marble - A Great Design

‘A Great Design’ is the first and currently exclusive cut from the forthcoming second LP of fine Brooklyn post-punk band Black Marble, entitled A Different Arrangement and due September 9th on Hardly Art.

Playing their cards so close to their chest as to only release three tracks on their bandcamp to sample, secretive and elusive undertones also seep into the music; the analogue stylings of the cover don’t reveal much, neither do the angular electronic motifs to which we are abruptly introduced at the song’s opening.

The outset is a little eerie and subdued, but the slow rhythmic thud of a sonically low-end synthesizer and the onset of a cloud of cold-wave signature opiate fuzz is above all else, heart-warming. I have nothing but anticipation for the LP to arrive.

Melody’s Echo Chamber - Endless Shore As you might be able...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 13:09:00 +0100

Melody’s Echo Chamber - Endless Shore

As you might be able to tell, Kevin Parker (of Tame Impala) produced this latest airy psychedelic gem from Parisian artist Melody’s Echo Chamber. Its entitled “Endless Shore”, and not only does it emanate one of the most addictive drum rhythms of the year, but also featured on one side of the recent Fat Possum-released split 7” single shared with rising Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It follows the previously-unveiled single “Crystallized” which in turn also anticipates the self-titled Melody’s Echo Chamber LP due out September 25th. Worth looking out for.

Ricky Eat Acid - Ambien Music Choose the right moment to spend...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 12:24:09 +0100

Ricky Eat Acid - Ambien Music

Choose the right moment to spend with Ricky Eat Acid’s latest release Ambien Music, and it will reward you. This six song EP, with tracks numbered, not named, is constructed entirely from songs recorded last year and then manipulated digitally, resulting in a slowly unfolding and icy ambience. Ambien Music is free to download from Ricky Eat Acid’s bandcamp page (click the mediafire link).

ambien music by Ricky Eat Acid

Woods - Size Meets The Sound Find below “Size Meets The...

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:31:00 +0100

Woods - Size Meets The Sound

Find below “Size Meets The Sound”, the second single from Woods’ forthcoming Bend Beyond LP (here is the first), which they will release on their own label - Woodsist Records - in September 2012.

Size Meets The Sound is the louder and the looser of the two, carrying forward Woods’ signature immediacy and slacking drum sound and combining them with a double-splicing lead line and equally confident and abrupt falsetto. The results are as blissful as they are shambolic.

Zambri - From An Angle NYC-residing experimental pop pair,...

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:13:00 +0100

Zambri - From An Angle

NYC-residing experimental pop pair, Zambri, released their first EP Glossolalia last November to critical acclaim. Now they’re back with Kanine Records release number two - LP House of Basaa. The definitively low-budget video for ‘From An Angle’ (from HoB) depicts something seemingly innocent - a car wash - but from the inside. The results are uncomfortable to watch. Full screen if you dare.

Stream Zambri - House Of Basaa in full at Noisey.com

Grizzly Bear - Shields These two tracks from the...

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:42:00 +0100

Grizzly Bear - Shields

These two tracks from the forthcoming Shields showcase, for the first time, Grizzly Bear as a rock band. Sleeping Ute announces itself to us with a rhythmic jaunt, sidled into a groove on entry of a thunderous bass, crunching guitars and a daunting and storm-ridden sound pallet. Yet Again is altogether more sinister, and ultimately more chaotic - even if introduced by a synchronised rhythm and chord progression giving the illusion of simplicity. Album shaping up to mark a fearless Grizzly Bear return.

Sleeping Ute

Yet Again

Wild Nothing’s second LP Nocturne is due out August 27th...

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:22:00 +0100

Wild Nothing’s second LP Nocturne is due out August 27th on Bella Union Records. Find the stunning eighth track Paradise in the video above, and leading single Shadow in the stream below.

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North Bay - Thorough Masterminds North Bay’s recent song...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:44:04 +0100

North Bay - Thorough Masterminds

North Bay’s recent song ‘Thorough Masterminds’, kindly deposited in my inbox last night, is one of the more recent songs to surface from the grandiose ambient music project of Oxford’s Tom Jenkinson. On listening to the music I cannot help but visualise a kind of multi-layered mesh of grey sounds rising up and surrounding. The ghoulish, rural, production is vast and infinite and dream-like. The recording and each gentle chord progression in the bass underpins an excavation of musical detail, but the general feel is as is important, capturing in the half-audible vocal layering a Church-like choral folk sound.

I cannot tell how many softly spoken voices there are - or how many instruments are looped and drenched in a natural reverb, but there is enough happening in these five ethereal minutes that the arrangement is multi-faceted and impossible not to re-interpret in new ways each time listen. For all the faithful shoegaze overcrowding in the mix, retained is that idiosyncratic, British softness in production, hints of the central British countryside, and a shadow of spiritual Church-folk music.

Find more of North Bay on facebook or soundcloud, where he’s delivering song after song in the same vein as Thorough Masterminds (below).

Jamie Isaac - Hollow Words (Live Mix) Hollow Words is Jamie...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:07:56 +0100

Jamie Isaac - Hollow Words (Live Mix)

Hollow Words is Jamie Isaac at his finest - live, and mixed as such. This song - available below as a free download for a limited time only - slides forth with an audible nod to contemporary electronica at the outset, before its being resonantly engulfed in a deep and cavernous reverb tends instead towards fluctuating and delicate ambient music. As ever, the vocals are predominantly devised to reinforce, occupying the space behind the sprawl and slipping out altogether before long in a painstakingly short ode to calm. The universe slows down for Jamie Isaac’s mournful, slow motion rhythms. Find him on facebook and soundcloud and be sure to grab one of these downloads before the opportunity fades.

Album Premiere: Shinamo Moki - For You I’m very proud...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:09:18 +0100

Album Premiere: Shinamo Moki - For You

I’m very proud indeed to be able to première this excellent new EP from Uckfield bedroom duo Shinamo Moki, the latest in a long line of South East UK acts to collaborate with New York digital label Housewarming Records for a free and digital only release. I live in the South East, which qualifies me a little in proclaiming HR’s skill at unearthing local electronic talent is unparalleled (see Birkwin Jersey and J Biscuits), especially considering just how remotely he operates.

This EP is underpinned and defined by its percussion, which is loud and tight but wilfully reserved and constantly unfolding. “Zeal” is digital to the core, opening the gates for a monochrome, Gold Panda-esque rattle of vague splintering motifs which palpitate and flourish under guise of a solid, crackling snare sound. The introduction of a kind of grand electronic string sound sets a precedent for the eclectic, and it is not long at all before “Umi” (above) represents the unleashing of the Eastern influence which colours, to varying degrees, the EP in its later stages.

“Jaded” is retro and trance-inducing, utilising an fluid fade-in and background gurgles (of vocals??) to create a watery ambience which the final track manages to hold together, by means of a wonderfully organic acoustic sound on a slow-burning and pleasant chord progression. Its not long before its engulfed in a wash of tearing ambient noise - a moment for headphones, if anything is.

Keep up with Shinamo Moki and HR first by downloading the EP for FREE just below, and if it takes your liking then you can connect with Shinamo Moki on their facebook and soundcloud pages. Fascinated to hear more from them, so I know I’ll be keeping tabs.

HOUSEWARMING RECORDS WEBSITE

Ikue Mori - Master Of Deception Ikue Mori, a formative influence...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:58:41 +0100

Ikue Mori - Master Of Deception

Ikue Mori, a formative influence in the No Wave act DNA in the 70s and influential character in contemporary avant-garde, is streaming this wonderful piece of audible art via Sound And Music’s Soundcloud page, the same London-based, Arts Council-funded organisation who are currently co-promoting her short UK tour. As this post goes out, two dates remain, the first at London’s Ashwin Street Resonance-affiliated venue Cafe Oto (details), and tomorrow at Belfast’s Black Box (details).

Ikue Mori Website.