29.4.10

Repeat


Don't know about you, but I've long held the belief that if you immediately play a song again once you've listened to it all the way through (like that infuriating halfwit Zane Lowe) then you're probably going to hell. Either that or something terrible will befall someone else who just so happens to be listening to that song at the same time. Or a kitten will die. Something bad anyway. I'm not talking about rewinds or putting an album on repeat, both of which are reasonable to some extent, but without a damn good reason putting a song on repeat is morally reprehensible.

Imagine my horror then, when this morning I stumbled across two recent productions that almost forced me to do exactly that. Luckily I happened upon them at the same time otherwise I'd already have killed a kitten/fellow listener twice over in one morning. The first of these magnificent hypocrisy traps is the Floating Points remix of Sing from Fourtet's recent album There is love in You. By now you should have listened to the original and the rest of Four Tet's lovely album so I'll spare you further hype, however this remix, weighing in at a hefty 14 minutes, is just astonishing. The build up alone could hold it's own weight as an abstract reinterpretation of the original, but as the tune subtly unfolds there is so much going on that it would be nigh on impossible to take it all in on the first listen. If Floating Points hadn't already won over the hearts and minds of the wider part of the underground music community, this track alone should cement his reputation.

The other culprit could almost escape the purported repetition dilemma seeing as it consists of two separate pieces that make up one breathtaking release, however the central theme continues from one to the other so I imagine that damnation would ensue regardless of this loophole in the theory. Demdike Stare's latest offering The Forest of Evil is utterly phenomenal, I can honestly say that I have never encountered a more unsettling yet compelling piece of music, especially in light of the subversive way they have gone about achieving this effect. The eponymous forest is split into two aspects Dusk and Dawn, painting such a brooding and suspenseful picture that you find yourself drawn inexorably into this shadowy netherworld, simultaneous teetering at your nerves end yet utterly enraptured by the hauntological sounds. It goes without saying that unless you possess a perfectly balanced and suitably robust speaker system, this one is very much intended for the headphones massive.

Just in case you were after something a little less epic or all consuming to occupy your ears, here's a quick roundup of just about everything else that's tickling my fancy right about now...

Various/Jahtari: Jahtari Dubbers Vol 2: Wicked choons!! You know the bill, dead sunshiney atari-island sounds. The tunes by Disrupt and Black Chow are fucking awesome. Also visit Jahtari's website for no end of quality, free Digidub releases, including Net 7"s and Tapes complete with authentic viynl/tapes hiss and crackle. Bo!

Jneiro Jarel: Android Love Mayhem: It's fucking amazing. New cosmic moves for Dr Who Dat's alter ego. No more needs be said. Gettit

Pariah: Detroit Falls: Outer Hebrides!! It's bloody awesome mate, like Bullion and Dilla trying to claw their way out of a printing press running in reverse. On the flip there's a supremely crafted slice of 4/4 dancefloor business that easily holds it's own alongside the leaders in the scene.

Gold Panda: Quitters Raga: Sublimely insane, I'm running out of superlatives here. This however is dead, dead, dead good. (Also worthwhile is You EP)

Pursuit Grooves: Foxtrot Mannerisms: Elegantly crafted nu-soul, rnb, hiphop flavours all packaged up real nice with some tasty beats, a breath of fresh air for Dubstep's mainstay label Tectonic.

Dam Mantle: Grey EP: Well interesting, sounds like Paul White fighting Rustie in an orchestra pit.

TAKE: Only Moutain
: Predictably very tasty and certainly a grower, would be a strong contender for the best thing coming out of the LA/SF scene right now(as would the Free the Robots album and the new Tokimonsta EP) if the impending Flying Lotus album wasn't casting such a monolithic shadow over the West Coast. Impressive nevertheless.

2 comments:

  1. im loving the jahtarian dubbers, i may even part with cash....shocker!
    i am excited about the free the robots album , hasnt grown on me as much yet but ive only listened to one song,
    i have a bad tendency of zane looping songs, i have probably killed more than 5 cats - not very vegetarian of me, from now on, no longer! grendel cakes - the saver of kittens and smasher of lowesian repetitive ocd tune massacring! the witch is dead! long live granathy!

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  2. p.s. thanks for the heads up re fly lo's new album being launched, i knew it was happening but didnt know when.
    cheers grendelberries!

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