Bandcloud 279
Big news this week. I launched a Patreon for Bandcloud on Tuesday. Ostensibly it's to cover costs for things like the SoundCloud and Bandcamp subscriptions, as well as domain and hosting costs for bandcloud.org (which I really will update soon, honest). What I didn't expect from people sharing it was that it would lead to an influx of new subscribers here. So welcome to you all! This week we have lots of music that aims to raise funds to aid relief efforts in Australia, compilations that shine lights on different styles in different regions and seasonal music that seeks to soothe. Enjoy.
Escape Artist - Bushfire Relief EP
I saw Savile share a bunch of releases on his Instagram that were raising money for the Australian bush fire relief effort. Here's one of them. It's a collection of B-sides and rarities from Escape Artist, who last year released on the excellent Salt Mines and Kalahari Oyster Cult labels. 'Antares' is particularly beautiful but on the whole it's ace.
Lou Karsh - Against The Flames
Another Australian fundraiser, this one is for the Fire Relief Fund for the First Nations Communities. The music is both crisp and airy, recalling some of the work of Ciel.
E Davd - Environmental Justice EP 1/3
"This is the first of three EPs that I am releasing to raise funds and awareness in the ongoing struggle for environmental justice in Australia." And what a release. It's filled with lush, gentle sounds, balmy dance tracks and ambient floaty numbers. I can't wait to hear more.
Kizen Records - Winter Solstice 2019 Mix by Ario
Slightly out of date as it's no longer 2019 but as said before, time is meaningless. It's a reflective mix from Ario of Astral Industries, the excellent ambient label that's put out music from Wolfgang Voigt, The Chi Factory and Heavenly Music Corporation. It's blissful, dark, strange, soothing, confusing and brilliant.
Érica Mar - bless
Slightly nightmarish chunky techno stuff. It's a bit ravey. A bit psychedelic. Haunting.
dj clope - Lurk Llif3 (cassie x oklou & casey MQ blend)
I recently tweeted mournfully about an Ashanti vocal used in a track, but this is a blend and not a sample so it's okay, actually. Cassie's 'Me & U' will never die. This is a nice mixture of Cassie's soft vocals and muted trance-like synth sounds. Perfetto.
VA - Alternate African Reality – Electronic, electroacoustic and experimental music from Africa and the diaspora (Syrphe)
This one isn't out for a few weeks but it's worth a look now, with seven of its 32 tracks already streaming. The first Syrphe release of the year is a hefty look at experimental music from Africa and the diaspora. There's French-Ghanaian vocalist Pö; Nyege Nyege Festival resident Catu Diosis from Uganda (whose track BANGS); Moroccan sound artist Sukitoa o Namau; the list goes on. Purchase includes a PDF with an essay, artists' biographies and contacts and more references. Definitely one to spend time with.
HIPBONE MIX 03 / MORWELL
Morwell is a kind and generous soul. He also makes wild and frantic music. You can hear a bunch of his tracks alongside those by friends such as Hence Therefore and SertOne in this short mix (33 mins!). He's also just dropped a remix EP, featuring that incredible Ariana Grande flip he made last year.
Ingrid Plum - DULME WATER
Ingrid Plume has started a series of "sound sculpture scenes series for seasonal adjustment disorder", with each entry focusing on a natural element as the theme, "since connecting with nature can relieve SAD". Dulme is a Danish word, meaning to soothe the mind, or to take medicine. This is the second piece (I hadn't noticed it until now) and it is inspired by water. The track is a gorgeous layering of vocals over the lapping sounds of a river, and naturally it is quite soothing. If you buy the release you receive a physical object, and in this instance it is slime. Slime!
Pulse Emitter - Swirlings
Hausu Mountain are starting the year with a bang here. The album is called Swirlings and honestly I could leave my "review" there. It's full of gorgeous swirly floaty synths. The label refers to "time-distorting compositional strategies from the ambient and drone traditions" and I can't say much more than that. It's really really excellent, detailed and layered while also so calm and serene as to render itself invisible, if you so wish it to be. Insert some old adage about ~ambient~ music.
Inner Eye 2 & Teo Mattress - Cool Walk
Here we have some nice and wonky, chunky beats. Gurgling up and down. Wobbling. Like big lumps of sound in a rainstick that's being elevated and turned ever so slowly. It reminds me of something but I can't quite put my finger on it. It'll come to me next week no doubt. Maybe it's Minor Science's 'Hapless'? Hard to believe that one's six years old...
MC16: Weird Science with Kiernan Laveaux
Whenever I hear the name Magic(k) City I think of Killer Mike's 'Big Beast', the opening track from 2012's R.A.P. Music. This mix series is nothing to do with that particular Atlanta venue, however. It's a place in Brooklyn, New York, a tiny venue that holds like 50 people I'm told. Weird Science is a monthly afternoon event where DJs and artists are invited to come along and play weirdo stuff, not their regular club fare. Some of the recordings are then made available online. This one is from Midwest superstar Kiernan Laveaux. It's definitely not peak-time club music, but it's really hypnotic and engaging pulsating electronic music. You can sure dance to this. It's weird and squidgy, some of it taking you higher zones, some of it just making you screw up your face and go "yeaaah".
Martina Bertoni - All the Ghosts Are Gone
This album of cello and electronics lulls you into a false sense of security, its opening track making you think it might be a sparse and delicate, abstract affair. By the second, weird percussive pulses start to penetrate the wistful ambient soundscapes. The combination of these elements along with the yearning cello and the occasional birdsong create a feeling of aching sorrow and uncertainty. It's beautiful and spans moods and styles. One for quiet contemplation, regret, wonder and reflection.
If you signed up for the Patreon then you'll know there will also be a BONUS DIGEST because there is so much music in the world I couldn't possibly fit it all in here. Guest mix going out next week too!!!