I don’t often go down an experimental path these days. Life’s hard enough to want melody and light. But Hypatia’s slow experimental techno on Hymn to Hypnos is definitely worth a post.
Hypatia offers no biog. Possibly American. But the name comes from, “Hypatia (born c. 350–370; died 415 AD) was a Hellenistic Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker of the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria where she taught philosophy and astronomy.”
As for Hymn to Hypnos this offers a track to the god of mattresses. Or more specifically the Ancient Greek personification of sleep. If there’s a thing called post-techno then this is probably it. That and post-ambient. It offers some ambient moments to lull you to sleep but then sharp techno sounds snatch that prospect away. It’s a track that conjures up an ancient ritualistic air with the keening of wordless vocals. This is set against temple chimes and the banging of metal as the rite progresses. It’s terribly serious and strange. And will end in death.
Dance music has always had a yearning for the future. It allows the music to explore dark and strange corners in sound. Here’s a bit of strange Afrofuturist exploration by South Africa’s Skai Lounge.
Skai Lounge is Lu Makoboka, who is also a writer for Stereofox and Savage Thrills. That means he probably ought to be writing this rather than me. But let’s give it a go. The track is Dark Exotica which is tbh a bit of an uninspiring title for a track that plays havoc with dance music’s desire to categorise (or at least mine).
The track is a swirl of ambient synths but it’s not ambient. It has gentle beats which are too strong for downtempo. It has crashing afro beats and chants. And yet it isn’t really Afrohouse. What you get is a wild and wonderful lounge cocktail that blends some of the best space synths with drums that go from soft to drumming. Chants to songalong with and wave your hands in the air moments of uplifting peaks. A shake your rump at the braai kinda tune.
A triple bill of chill for this Ambient Sunday from Camille Frey, Koresma & Matt May, and Anton Roth x Crillzz.
Camille Frey is based in Montreal, Canada. She is a classically trained pianist who experiments with abstract electronic sounds. Heartbeats is taken from her forthcoming The Grand Tour EP. She says, “The Grand Tour’s journey evolves through dystopian and luminous landscapes.” And you get that on this track.
There’s nothing neo classical about Heartbeats. It’s an all electronic melange of hiss and judder. The electronics have that IDM insect jitter and off-kilter beats. Dark and strange at the start but allowing a little light and melody in later. Ambient that is calming and anxiety-inducing all at the same time.
If the last track was all about the machine, Koresma & Matt May want to focus on the natural and organic on El Sol. A beautifully chilled track. Koresma (Ryan Lindberg), who has appeared here a few times, is an electronic producer based in Asheville, North Carolina. Matt May is also from the USA.
El Sol is a track that comes in at just under three minutes but manages a languid and unhurried feel. There are mid-range beats but the focus of the track is the interplay between the acoustic guitar which has a Bossa or Latin feel and the electronic pulses of wave like noise. They say the track, “takes its inspiration from California coast sunsets. The feeling of the warmth and colors washing over.” And that’s exactly what you get. Everything is warm and hazy here in your imagined musical chill paradise.
Switching across the Atlantic to Europe we get some Swedish lo-fi chill from Crillzz and Anton Roth. Crillzz rather confusingly claims to be a “metalhead at heart” but you’d never know it here. Anton Roth only offers, “I make blips and bloops on my computer.” No blips here either.
Whereas something loud, metallic and machine-made might be expected from their self-descriptions, Tenebris is nothing of the sort. Opening with some neo classical piano it develops into a pulsing lo-fi electronic chill track. It has a quirky inventiveness that belies the track title’s meaning of dark or darkness. This is gently shaded. A track of dappled sunlight with slowly moving leaves casting a delicate dance of movement and shadows. They say it, “tackles themes of uncertainty and mystery.” And that’s fair. It’s a track that offers lots of room for introspection, discovery and repeated listens.
I’m a big fan of cloud watching. Often with music playing. Some tracks, especially ambient ones, suit clouds on a sunny day where you can watch them slowly morph as they drift by or the colours change against a summer sunset. Others suit clouds that roll and scud by on a gusty day where the music is accompanied by the whine and roar of the wind.
Entropia suits the latter as things come and go in a process of constant change. It’s an electronic soundscape from Italy born but London-based TWAN (Antonio Marra). Entropia equates to entropy in English and for me has a sense of change and decay. TWAN puts it a bit more precisely explaining that it’s, “the variable of an outcome, uncertainty, randomness, and human consciousness in quantum physics.”
The track has a dynamic dark and shifting opening of dark clouds of beats shot through by shards of light. The clouds clear into a scene of bright synths and tin pan drums. It’s all cheerfulness. But in a track of evolution this is soon gone. Everything becomes mixed in a constantly shifting set of strings, tones and beats. These can clatter away as the track draws on electronic sounds from deep house, house and garage. It’s a wonderful way to keep watching the skies.
Out today a big slab of progressive techno to take you gloriously into the weekend from Mentat.
Mentat is Oliver Quinlan. He’s London-based but East is from elsewhere. He’s released on labels like Traum Schallplatten and gets support from John Digweed. That gives you some idea of the type of precise techno and progressive edge you get on the track. Of the track’s title he explains that, “I wrote it while staying at the edge of a cliff at the easternmost point in England that is currently falling in to the sea. I tried to capture some of the strange atmosphere of things that were really beautiful but impermanent.” I assume the location is Ness Point in Lowestoft.
East opens with an elastic bass that has a definite bit of leftfield Berlin cool about it. This builds with deeper throbbing subs to give a real sense of anticipation. Synths come but slowly. They blip around leaving the bass to do most of the work before tumbling forward in a progressive rush. There’s something heroically epic about the combination that makes explorers and adventurers of us all. Look out to sea, take that first step on your own adventure. Let this tune soundtrack it all.
“Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.” is from Thomas Jefferson. And it seemed appropriate as a note of caution when today’s artist is Leeds-based Delayed Pleasure.
The track is the ominously titled Disillusioned. What you get is some delicious slow acid techno that provides lots of pleasure. The track was, “Produced and fully written on Roland Boutique hardware synths.” And there’s a real production quality that shines through the track. It opens quietly and a touch ominously. It eschews a big break in favour of slowly escalating tones. It rides a beautifully bobbly acid path that burbles along beautifully. About half way through things take a hazier and darker turn. Never quite going fully dark the acid returns to light the way. Fabulous.
Give your hump day a bit of an acid dub infusion with War Variations by okayokayokay.
I know nothing about okayokayokay and it’s not exactly a Googlable name. Probably from Berlin, Germany. Who knows? Anyhow, let’s focus on War Variations from the Bits and Pieces six track release. This is a delightfully leftfield old school acid house style tune given a bit of a dub spin. There’s an acid bass line that burbles its way along. Hi hats hiss about cheerily. Synths have a drone in the background. It’s all kept light and fleet of foot. There’s a lightly choppy dub sense to it all. And war feels the furthest thing from your mind.
Going to keep it short this morning. Here’s something by viA fAntAsticA which is one of those strange and almost uncategorizable tracks. A cut and paste downtempo track with the perky quirk of Lemon Jelly or Coldcut.
According to their blurb, “viA fAntAsticA is J.T. and Gaia de Voxx on a DIY synth pop journey. J.T. is Justin Toland, erstwhile purveyor of loops and found sound on Recordiau Peski and self-released cassettes under the name Location Baked. Gaia de Voxx is his droid vocalist.” They’re from Cardiff in Wales if that helps at all.
Onstage, Right Now.. is a track that simply makes you smile. It opens with marching drums that pelt along before being joined by organs in a sixties kind of vein. And then the title sample comes along to give it all a psychedelic disorientating spin. But it’s all enormously uplifting and positive. A lovely bit of cut and past with an irreverent rave aesthetic. The track is taken from their 2 any 1 album which, “began as an imaginary soundtrack to a 21st century kitchen sink drama set in the faded seaside resort of Porthcawl.”
Here’s a blast from the past in the shape of a previously unreleased Innersphere remix for The Soup Dragons from 1994. It’s a lovely dub track.
The Soup Dragons were a Scottish indie band that found dance in the early 90s. They had a huge hit I’m Free (included below in its Boys Own remix version) but were all over effectively by 1994. This track comes from that latter period when the band was Sean Dickson and session musicians. The track is explained thus, “In 1994 The Soup Dragons took a trip to Cincinnati and recorded with Bootsy Collins the track ‘Muthafunka‘ London DJ/ producers ‘Innersphere’ did a live dub version at the time that was unreleased until recently discovered on a 12” acetate.” Innersphere on the other hand were a minimal techno duo led by David Hedger.
I’d heard an Innersphere remix of Muthafunker before on the Mutherfunker Meets Innersphere Downtown version released at the time. This was a vocal heavy Stonesy blast of sleaze rock with some electronic intervention. Actually, a bit disappointing because Innersphere were always so inventive. Judge for your self below. I was therefore thrilled to see this new version (why not on vinyl?).
And it’s this new version that which should have been released at the time. The vocal is stripped out and it takes an almost Weatherall on Loaded approach to things by deconstructing and reassembling the track. But this isn’t an ecstasy fuelled epiphany. This is a late night smokers dub. It’s all laid back and paranoid. The dub is sweet and the strings sweeter still. Fabulous.
I’m absolutely delighted to welcome back to the blog, Larry Jefferson. After over two years away he’s back with his trademark acid blended with a classic house vocal to deliver full on hands in the air experience for your Sunday evening.
I asked him about the gap and he said, “I have been honest about this in the past. I was ill, I lost my mind for a while and it all unfolded in my old studio space. Once I got better I could no longer work in there as it reminded me of the period when I lost it. So I have moved and I start again. However the 303 is sounding lush, it must be enjoying it’s new home.” And in a year when physical and mental health have been to the fore it’s great to hear that and have a new track.
Much of Larry’s previous work has had a mournful or downbeat edge. Not so, Let Go. This is a classic uplifting house vocal welded onto his trademark burbling Detroit techno acid sounds. The track has a defiant, wave your hands in the air quality. It brooks no objections in an adrenalin rush of passion. More please, Larry.
