The Audictive Bunch
05.2015
PALE BLUE : the past we leave behind : 2MR/Captured Tracks
Seven: The best nights out are always the ones that simply won’t come to an end, the ones that follow its own weird logic, the ones that generate just enough drama and insanity and enthusiasm to turn the sunrise into an even bigger sensation than it usually is. “The Past We Leave Behind“ is one of those rare albums that basically deliver a fully-accomplished musical time lapse to score one of those unforgettable nights. Pale Blue is the eagerly anticipated new project from Mike Simonetti after his split from Italians Do It Better, the label he co-founded with Johnny Jewel. The whole thing isn’t a solo show though, as he’s collaborating with Silver Hands vocalist Elizabeth Wight for the majority of tracks. Obviously more than just a nod to “Pale Blue Dot“, the term that’s forever pinned down to Carl Sagan as he refers to an image of planet Earth taken by Voyager I in 1990, Simonetti’s latest stroke of genius delivers an incredibly well-balanced and always evolving sonic mix of atmospheric hazy dream pop and four-to-the-floor experiments, which sees an unexpected liaison with Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter being just one of many outstanding tracks. On repeat. And then some more. At least until the forthcoming weekend unfolds some new stories.
LORD SKYWAVE : view from the other side : Ekkhho
Skism: Der frühere Simian-Sänger und Black Ghosts-Hälfte schlängelt, leiert, säuselt, duselt, hallt, piept, plinkert, lullert, schrammelt hin und wieder (nur so’n bisschen), schrubbt (leise), hypnotisiert, träumt und entschwindet, nimmt Reissaus. Psychedelisch, aber ohne Pürierstab im Magen, poppig, doch fern der Mainstream-Station entführt die Platte in einen selbstgemalten Indietronica-Frühsommer, dessen Abgleich in realita am besten in einem Garten pointiert getupfter Aquarellflora stattfinden sollte. Eine an Gitarrensaiten und fragilen Drumbeats komplett in der Luft aufgehängte Hollywoodschaukel ist im Lieferumfang, irgendwo im Hintergrund schaukelt eine elbenhafte Knotenzopfblonde an blumenumrankten Lianen zwischen gefilterten Sonnenflecken und entrücktem Halbschatten. Kann ich leider nicht anders erklären, hab’s probiert. Die anderen Versuche wollt ihr nicht lesen. Zumindest noch weniger als das hier.
HUDSON MOHAWKE : lantern : Warp
Rnk: After successfully crossing over from ear-crushing Trap beats with TNGHT to more palatable pop tunes lately (he’s been in cahoots with universal bogeyman Kanye for a while), HudMo certainly goes eclectic on “Lantern”: somewhat annoying tracks that are based on the formula of huge bass drops + ultra-high-pitched décor + loads of pomp aside (e.g. “Shadows”, “Brand New World”), it’s especially the vocal cuts like “Deepspace” feat. Miguel that hit your gut first and soon get your hips moving: here, it’s the combination of a not-so-glossy production that propels the track forward, Miguel’s super-poppy, long drawn-out vocals, and a majestic vibe (something HudMo really does create repeatedly on “Lantern”) that makes it one of the best alt-R&B tracks you’ll hear all year. Also joined by the ever-despairing Antony and pop-queens in-the-making such as Jhene Aiko and Irfane (what a sickening guilty pleasure, that soaring, tweeter-killing “Very First Breath”), “Lantern” bridges the gap between insane beats (e.g. “System”) and radio-friendly elements so frighteningly well that one has to fear that it’s probably one of the few albums on this planet that both you and Kim Kardashian’s booty might fall in love with.
FINK : horizontalism : R’COUP’D
Seven: Wow, is this guy ever not recording? While the majority of musicians/producers tend to lose themselves in the art of procrastination as soon as they move to Berlin, Fin Greenall seemingly feels more than comfortable at the exact other end of this spectrum, as he either produces other artists, lends his vocals to selected projects, spreads musical bliss under the mirror ball as Quantum Entanglement (the four-to-the-floor pet project he founded with longtime buddy Lee Jones) or delivers a highly praised mix for Lodown’s very own Monday Mixtape series. Particular mix was titled “Horizontalism“ and we obviously love to assume that working on it played a catalytic role in the development of his latest album by the same name, which basically frees the key-tracks from last year’s “Hard Believer“ from its elementary structures in order to transform them into something dark, abstract and dubby. Greenall already experimented with dub through his Sideshow project in the past, but it actually never felt as freewheeling and forward-thinking as it does on this record. As a bonus there’s two new tracks that will be heavily embraced by those, who always favored his more intimate singer-songwriter beginnings over the most recent band-driven material.
TODD RUNDGREN, HANS-PETER LINDSTROM & EMIL NIKOLAISEN : runddans : Smalltown Supersound
Skism: Was man auf jeden Fall mitbringen sollte: Einen wirklich sehr weit aufgefächerten Musikgeschmack und -wissen, ein verhältnismässig hohes Toleranzlevel, einen Hang zur Schweinegitarre, zu Art- und Progrock, zu Bombast, Space, Cosmic, Disco, Shoegaze, Pop, Synth, Psychedelia, Spiritualität, ja, auch etwas Klassik, richtig, Pathos, Käse und der Fähigkeit, all dies gleichzeitig zuzulassen, Freude an Fusion und Soundbatik also, keine Angst vor schwierigen Stimmeinlagen, die definitiv schon in den 70ern schwierig gewesen wären, ganz sicher. Helfen tut auch eine kleine Freude an der Vorstellung, wie sich Puristen oben genannter Stile kopfschüttelnd abwenden und der Wunsch nach Lautstärke bei offenem Fenster zum Hof der ungeliebten Nachbarn hin. Ganz wichtig ist jedoch: eine ruhige Minute (streng genommen eine Dreiviertelstunde), die unbedingt gestört werden darf, will. Eine dreiviertel Stunde, die alles, nur nicht einfach sein darf. Selbst wenn all dies auf dich zutrifft, muss das nix heissen, Verstörung, Überforderung, ein zu viel des Guten lauern hier an jeder Ecke. Mir war klar, dass dieses Album mal kommen würde. Mir war auch klar, aus welcher Richtung es kommen wird. Nur dachte ich, es passiert in einer anderen Welt.
JACCO GARDNER : hypnophobia : Full Time Hobby
Seven: The Dutch wunderkind returns two years after his heavily impressive debut “Cabinet Of Curiosities“ with more of the same - which in this particular case actually is a blessing. To be fair, “Hypnophobia“ obviously is a lot more than just the logical follow-up to his debut, which basically got him all over the world, either playing solo or as a member of The Skywalkers or playing keyboards for Allah-Las, as it feels a lot more precise and therefore elaborate than anything he’s released before. The foundation of his songs still is this weird clash of vintage instruments and new production technologies, which then unfolds in lush psychedelic pop songs obsessed with details that just love to cite themselves through the musical history of the last five decades or so: from Brian Wilson to Tame Impala, from Van Dyke Parks to Parsley Sound and from Syd Barrett to Broadcast. The term hypnophobia describes the irrational fear of sleep... time for Mr. Gardner to finally go to bed as he's already accomplished maximizing his craft as a songwriter on the wannabe difficult second album already.
BLANCK MASS : dumb flesh : Scared Bones
Seven: “We are at the mercy of our genetic heritage everyday. No matter how intelligent we are compared to other life forms, we’re still made up of the same building blocks and things can go very wrong“. It’s a safe bet to state that Benjamin John Power - one half of the always impressive Fuck Buttons and mastermind behind Blanck Mass - isn’t necessarily the biggest advocate of how the human race has evolved, and that clearly reflects on his debut for Sacred Bones. “Dumb Flesh“ feels a lot more urgent, angry and complex than the material he’s released before, which was a lot more chilled and proggy in comparison. What certainly connects his older output with the latest tracks is the permanent flirt with grandeur and epic sounds, which will take you through a larger than life journey through a universe you weren’t aware that you’re an integral part of. If you don’t mind your synth-driven instrumentals being undercut by noise, distorted fuzz, staccato drums and heavily manipulated vocal samples you’ll find Blanck Mass’ latest explorations of sound a compelling musical companion for months to come.
BRAILLE : mute swan : Friends Of Friends
Rnk: Brooklyn-based producer Braille aka Praveen Sharma, formerly one half of the duo Sepalcure, just recently released an EP called “Everyone’s Crazy”, and it turns out that the introspective, broodingly atmospheric tracks he offered on that EP were pretty much a preamble to his new album “Mute Swan”. Drawing on (chopped-up) R&B (“The Cat’s Gone Nuts” feat. Seafloor) and ambient improvisation, he moves way beyond his former house/club-oriented releases and delivers a loose, understated and minimalist mix of musical contours that often appear hazily and vanish before you can possibly nail them: “Insider Out” pulls the dance-floor rug out from under its feet with claps galore, and his own dark vocals, joined by the female voices of Jessie Boykins III and Angelica Bess repeatedly, usually leading to some free-floating improv plateau that combines both field recordings and the trusted claps of an 808. In short: swapping easily digestible dancefloor predictability for a gauzy, twisted collage of ambience, it’s the kind of non-embossed writing even a blind person can understand and dive into.
YOUNG FATHERS : white man are black men too : Big Dada
Rnk: Leaving the realm of modern-day hip-hop once and for all, there’s a moment towards the end of “Still Running”, the opening track of Young Father’s sophomore full-length, that serves really well to illustrate how much these Edinburgh-based fellows embrace states of (seeming) formlessness and shambolic chaos: chords and percussion and chants overlap, explode, and yet the hi-paced clatter underneath holds it all together like some universally understood lingo from the Motherland. And it doesn’t stop there: once again delivering something both outside-the-box and heavily song-based, album stand-outs like “27”, the OutKast-minded “Rain Or Shine”, and “Nest” underline how well (and wild) these guys can actually sing, how they interpret the (Avant-)Gospel, and how that totally unique blend of crunchy Honky Tonk Bap, raised fists and collective out-of-body experience can still, after two amazing “Tapes”/EPs and a debut that sounded so not “Dead” at all, be taken further and further and further. Typically ending with a track entitled “Get Started”, we can’t wait for G, Alloysious, and Kayus to take this one to the road – because we’ll join them yelling and clapping like that whole church does when JB raises the roof in that Blues Brothers flick.
BRAIDS : deep in the iris : Arbutus Records
Seven: There hardly was any other song that was as hotly discussed lately as “Miniskirts“, the feminist anthem Montreal-based trio Braids released in February as a first taste for their third album “Deep In The Iris“ - and while Raphaelle Standell-Preston (who’s also one half of stunning electronic (dance) outfit Blue Hawaii) executed the song just a bit too theatrically for my personal taste, there’s no denial by now that she sure is one of the most dazzling vocalists and most accomplished lyricists in today’s current indie circuit. In actuality, her star is rising that fast - you almost forget that Braids is a band consisting of three outstanding musicians that constantly try to expand their sonic universe to great success. While they flirt with post-rock structures on their debut, and explored avant-electronica on “Flourish/Perish“, they’re now twisting their heads around pop and (break)beats. What could’ve easily been doomed to fail got turned into an intense yet accessible experiment that just finds the perfect balance of knowing when it’s time to embrace the mainstream... and when it’s time to stab it from behind.