In the early morning cold of a spring sunrise RINZ x Hoffy Beats sounds just perfect with their Empty Streets.
RINZ is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Hoffy Beats is from Denmark. There’s a delicacy in the opening piano line on Empty Streets that’s followed up with some insistent beats that belie the chilled atmosphere. That itself contrasts with a delicious guitar line that mellows things out giving the tune an almost soft rock glow.
There’s bird song lurking in the background but also what could be far off traffic and sirens. For the city never truly sleeps, nor is ever truly empty. This is that between time chilled soundtrack where the night is not yet the day.
OK, so dirty inner London might not be Tokyo, Japan but there are a few trees round here weighed down by big lolling pom poms of delicate pink blossom. Before the wind whisks them away let’s enjoy the sight with the sounds of créature sonore.
créature sonore is from France, as you’d expect. The track is as beautiful as blossom and as short lived. cherry blossom photosynthesis rests on crunchy slow beats overlaid with a piano that tinkles its way in romantic fashion across the piece. There’s some background electronics that give it an almost lounge quality and a bit of surface noise for extra texture. A track to start your day in a quietly beautiful way.
Sometimes knowing how things were created adds to the experience, and sometimes it detracts. Here’s a beautiful piece of ambient wandering from the returning Paul Cousins that benefits from listening before knowing.
The track is Assemblage. It’s a deliciously wonderful hazy piece that whilst only three minutes encapsulates everything that’s breat about ambient. There’s a bit of surface noise. There’s some droney synths and held tones. Keyboards have a little tinkle. Electronics wow and flutter. It transports you somewhere utterly dreamy and away from whatever place you’re in. Just exquisite.
The knowing is that this was created on tape. And that seems unnecessary in this day and age and just a touch pretentious. But when you’ve listened to the track then it seems utterly sensible and reasonable. Paul explains that, “‘Assemblage’ is a study of reconstructing analog formats in the digital realm. The track is composed of 36 individual 1/4″ tape loops created on a 1965 Akai reel-to-reel. The video is animated from 1000 frames of 35mm film, shot using a Lomokino camera.”
This is so good I’m going to have to play it again. Enjoy.
Too many tracks these days play it safe in genre terms. Tracks whose parameters stay within genre tramlines. Not Frank. His slightly bonkers track Retired Hammond vs Invaders From Space harks back to a more cut and paste 90s ethic reminiscent of Coldcut and their ilk.
Frank Freeman is a music producer based in United Kingdom. He says, “To be frank is to be honest, to be free is to have no constraints. Frank says this philosophy guides his music.” The track starts, as it should, with a B-movie sample to get you into that other worldly mood. There’s then some old school breaks to give the whole thing an energising clatter. Before it gets too safe along comes a lovely piano break that feels lifted from one of those big 90s House tracks. This stabs and stomps its way around before the Hammond organ comes along like King Kong to really wreak havoc.
It could all get rather cacophonous but there’s a skilful hand guiding each element to allow their ebbs and flow to interact beautifully. As for what’s going on Frank explains that “I rarely start with a specific idea. This was no different with Retired Hammond. Once I had the piano groove and the initial break I knew that I wanted to do something dynamic, raw and other worldly.” In the end it’s all kinda freeform jazz but that’s fine. Just enjoy the wig out.
Despite comparing this to Coldcut earlier, as a comparator I’m going for a personal favourite Rockit Soul by Funki Porcini from 1999.
And there’s a video, the plot of which is “The Emerald Council has learned of a secret plot, by the Salamander man of the planet Kule-Man, to attack and destroy Earth. They are aware, that the atomic destruction of Earth would contaminate their own atmosphere with radioactivity. In order to save themselves, they must save Earth from the alien invasion. Their only hope is Hammond. A galactic superhero who can disguise himself as an earthling. Will he answer their call?”
Some intelligent techno to end the week with both artists hailing from Japan. We have techno legend Ken Ishii and newcomer to this blog Lycoriscoris, albeit that he’s been around for a decade or more.
Ken Ishii (ケン・イシイ) is a Japanese DJ and record producer from Sapporo. He has been around since the early 90s with his work that mixes Detroit techno, IDM and a particular sort of precise minimalism.
His new release is Bionic Jellyfish. It’s a classic Ishii sounding track. There’s a Detroit techno pace and approach to the beats Breaks are precisely located. But there’s also a ululating warp and throb. A bit like the pulsating movement of a jellyfish, I guess. This manages that rare trick of being something that has more than enough kick for the more leftfield clubs whilst being intricate enough to also work at home. A legend still delivering.
Lycoriscoris is Japanese artist Yunosuke Senoo based in Okayama. He’s been around since 2009. He says, “my own artist name plays on the name of the Lycoris flower. In Japan, it’s often found near cemeteries, which is of course a dark connotation – however, one day when searching in the Language of Flowers (Floriography) I discovered that the word Lycoris also means “I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”
He’s a new album Chiyu which has just been released. It was created during 2020 and is pitched as a, “journey of reflection and recovery.” From the album comes featured track Utsurou. I think it’s based on a character from the Gintama anime/manga series. The track itself takes more from IDM than it does techno. It has a burbling set of beats while space synths wander and reverb in the background. It’s all quite dreamy with held tones but also with an edge from the insistence of the beats. A delicious home listening experience for solitary contemplation.
After a week of mainly techno I’m in need to kicking back a bit with some cool deep house from Trapback.
This Seattle-based producer is about to release his first album from which second single Azure comes. His style mixes genres and Azure is an example of that. It’s essentially a chilled deep house track but manages to deliver a bit of minimal astringency with the precise beats and the restrained keyboard stabs. But electronics flicker around inside to stop it becoming stilted. It’s all quite cool blue and angular. More Mondrian than Rothko.
I need to make a confession. My life in music has thus far been complete without Mogwai.
I know I’m supposed to stroke my beard and worship at the feet of the Scottish masters (and I suspect the word legendary ought to appear somewhere here). But, well, I don’t. The bits of stuff of theirs I have heard over the years haven’t made me want to explore further. There have always seemed other and more interesting paths to follow.
Perhaps that’s going to change with Mogwai’s doomy IDM remix for Grandbrothers.
Grandbrothers are a Turkish-German/Swiss duo (pianist Erol Sarp and producer / electronic engineer Lukas Vogel). Organism is taken from their album All The Unknown. The original is a chiming piano-driven electronic piece with drums that slowly bang away as the piano goes full Elton John.
The remix by Mogwai takes a good track and makes it properly special. Of the remix Mogwai’s Barry Burns comments: “I was listening to Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears a couple of days before starting the remix and thought I’d channel the guitar part from that into this remix. Seemed to fit nicely. Love the boys’ drum parts and just mangled them a little bit, replayed some piano lines on synths and a bit of my singing over the top of it all.”
The remix gets the original a proper kicking. Things that were bright and burnished become dark and scuffed. The electronics and piano don’t shine they glower under lowering skies. Everything gets urban, IDM and a bit motorik. The track develops a wheezy powerful snarl whilst still intermittently reaching for the skies. A quite brilliant remix.
Staying with techno for now, here’s a dark moody slab of techno from Chris Veron.
Chris is from Freiburg in Germany. He may be from the edge of the Black Forest but there’s nothing organic about this track.
Trigger Point is all sleek darkness and unashamedly man made. There’s a melodic electro edge to it all but utterly uncompromising. His work has parallels with people like Umek, Monika Krause or Adam Beyer. But on this track the strongest influence is Red2 era Dave Clarke. That ominous twangy bass line that pulses away as the kick drum does its thing. A sense of the oncoming storm. Chords ripple around in a swirl of inky blackness. It’s all deeply evocative but the breaks are kept quite restrained rather than beating you over the head with their power. Classy classic dark techno.
Overslept this morning. Need a bit of a boost to get this week underway. Fortunately, here’s Alexander Fuentes to give things a bit of techno turbo charge.
Alexander Fuentes is from Stockholm, Sweden. He says techno is what he likes to listen to but hasn’t released any previously. If that’s so then he’s off to a flyer and should do more. Dark is the track name and dark is the nature. This is a tune that rides its luck on the bass. It’s the heart and centre of the track. A moody sort of Doctor Who / Orbital kind of affair. The bass bruises a kick drum and not much else in the opening section. A little light is let in later on but never too much. This is all about the dark side of techno and don’t you forget it.
Anxiety comes in many forms. And music can help. It certainly does me. My music matches my moods. Here’s ROAMS with Breathe if you’re anxious about the week ahead. Some uplifting IDM to encourage you that things will be better.
ROAMS is London-based producer and photographer Jake Longley. ROAMS is the music side of a photography project called ‘Scenes From Films That Don’t Exist’. ROAMS is the soundtrack to these photos.
A track entitled Breathe rather made me assume something soothing and chilled. Not so. This is music on which to focus your attention. The beats are stabbed out like the heartbeats they represent. Around that is wonky and hazy IDM sounds. They have a bit of an edge from the treble and strings. Unsurprising that ROAMS says it, “was written during a period of high anxiety for me. One of the techniques I learnt to help control anxiety is to focus on the detail, see what you can see in a room or a space and let the feeling pass you by.” Once the track has your attention and focus it does shift down a gear to something a bit more soothing but never quite soporific. Music in which to concentrate your anxieties and attention. A late night IDM invitation to explore the darkness and not be scared.
ROAMS says that “The photograph that is used as the cover was taken during the first weekend of the pandemic in London shortly before a full lockdown was announced.” Looks like the South Bank near Waterloo/RFH to me.
