Exeter's Mighty Force record label is undergoing a 21st century renaissance having started up again in summer 2019. Out last month was Described Spaces by KAMs, a twelve track album of uptempo, melodic, analogue acid (with forays into related electronic areas- techno, acid house, breakbeat). This one, Website Rave, is my current favourite- a bouncing bassline, the tsk tsk tsk of the hi hat and thump of the kick drum, chord stabs, bubbling acid synths and squiggly acid synths, sirens, tons of fun and with masses of energy. The rest of the album, from openers Eagle Acid and Rubbish Outlines to packet of Crisps Acid and closer Beautiful Acid, is just as good and works played through headphones while walking as well as loud through speakers.
Also on Mighty Force and out in October last year is Pro- Oxidant by Long Range Desert Group, an album fifteen years in the making, the work of Tim Brown. LRDG takes his inspiration from post- punk and the early 80s scene that saw bands like Talking Heads, ACR and 23 Skidoo turn the wallop of punk into something funkier and more austere. Pro- Oxidant has crunchy drum breaks/ programming, synths, piano, strings and a wave of ambient sounds to produce music that places itself somewhere between club music and cinema soundtracks. Mad Dog State hits the spot with surging drums, big piano, layers of sound- rising orchestral strings, indistinct voices and shouts- combining superbly. Like KAMS, Long Range Desert Group's album is available at Bandcamp.
