The best new singles this week

Your guide to the must-have singles of the week

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Rufige Kru – Krisp Biscuit 2021: Remaster (Metalheadz)

It’s easier said than done. Taking one of the earliest of Goldie’s experiments in jungle – originally released through Reinforced in 1992 – and cleaning it up for the 2022 market runs the very real risk of muting the original’s pulsatingm chaotic energy, rendering it rather pointless. This remaster job necessarily walks a hazardously narrow tightrope, then, but emerges thoroughly triumphant, from the gorgeously klunky sub-bass intro and into the boiling cauldron of sampladelia that follows. You’ll spot snippets of Public Enemy, Baby Ford, Lennie De Ice and a big chunk of a Frankie Bones’ Bonesbreaks DJ tool here, among many others, but that’s very much besides the point.

In actual fact, it’s restless, endlessly chopping and changing nature of the arrangement that really gives this tune its flavour and personality. with obvious links to both the better known RK ‘Terminator’ anthems as well as the very first Metalheadaz release, Doc Scott’s ‘Drums VIP’. Given the incredibly early stage of development that jungle was at in 1992, this is advanced stuff that skirts well away from the hands in the air pianos and stabs of rave. This was back before drum & bass was even a thing and aside from A Guy Callled Gerald up in Manchester, the music was almost exclusively London-based, and yet it has a clear vision of where it, as a music, could be headed. If jungle perhaps was a very specific sound – there’s no sign either of the Amen breaks that typified it here – then this is forging the way for drum & bass the process, an approach into which any style and influence could be inputted and used . And indeed, over the next few years, most definitely was.

‘Krisp Buscuit’ comes backed with ‘Take Me’, a ‘forgotten’ track made by Goldie and Pascal – yes indeed, the same Pascal who would end up being on third of the Ture Playaz set up with Hype and Zinc – during the same era, which very much predicts the shape of epic, soulful future anthems like ‘Inner City Life’ and ‘Kemistry’. It’s sublime, using ambient textures (the ‘Bladerunner’ soundtrack has already had an influence we reckon) but twisting them to give its beats an air of tense foreboding.

Two very different slices of history, sounding fresher than the day they first emerged. A tough trick to pull off, but done with admirable styler and aplomb here.

BW

Sennen – Transmission EP (Sonic Cathedral)

Recorded last year in a flurry of activity around the 15th anniversary reissue of their excellent debut album ‘Widows’, the Norwich nu-gaze four-piece decamped to Goldsmiths Music Studios in June to record a live ‘Transmission’ session for Rough Trade’s Insta TV channel. Three tracks made the show and the whole set has surfaced on this new EP. The performance was the first time the band had played together in five years, so no pressure lads.

It all went swimmingly as you’ll hear. The featured tracks are taken from that debut album and they also bung in a stunning cover of Big Star’s ‘Nightime’ for good measure. The band have a close relationship with Sonic Cathedral, whose central London club night saw them almost as the house band. The label’s Nathaniel Cramp hits the nail on the head when he describes them as “the perfect cross between Mogwai and Teenage Fanclub”. Exhibit A, the chiming Fannies groove of ‘Laid Out’, which is perhaps the standout of this strong set. Then again, the wig-out of the closing title track is well worth writing home about.

It does seem slightly cruel that some 15 years on we only just seem to be appreciating the charms of Sennen. Do pay a visit to their cover of New Order’s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ if you have a moment. And let’s not take so long to champion their other four albums, eh?

NM

Manuel Darquart – Down 2 Dance (Slam City Jams)

Starry-eyed New Zealand production duo Manuel Darquart are back in sizzling house action with their latest EP, this time arriving courtesy of German label, Slam City Jams. Quite where their slightly misleading singular sounding moniker stems from is something of a mystery, but what we know for sure is that the creative pairing of Louis Anderson-Rich and Sean Whittaker have a distinct knack for constructing satisfying melodies and compelling dancefloor grooves. Their work has previously graced the rosters of Wolf Music, Infinite Pleasure, Childsplay and Coastal Haze, and last year’s sumptuous ‘Keep It Dxy’ came complete with a remix from none other than Italo-house pioneer, Don Carlos. The ‘Down 2 Dance’ EP features four tracks that each glow with the synth-heavy harmonics we’ve come to expect from the melodious duo.

As the name suggests, the rousing energy of the title track sees it aimed squarely at the dancers, with driving bass, fizzing beats, and a hyper-infectious vocal lead blending with dreamy synths and cheeky sax licks. Similarly, retro-tinged is the mellow groove of ‘Cultivating Yucca’, with dream-house pads, chocolatey bass notes and vintage lead hook lazily trotting over a tight four/four beat. On the flip, we find the delicious synth lead and broken electro drums of ‘Prince Of The Rinse’ floating gracefully through twilight skies, before the Tech Support mix of ‘Down 2 Dance’ adds a measure or two of old school jack to the scintillating harmonics of the original.

PC

Asylum – Is This The Price? (Demo Tapes)

During their short-lived career, Asylum stayed as true as possible to the commandments of punk DIY. After forming in 1981, this sordid sack of Stoke-On-Trent skinheads only played a few gigs, and until last year, had only released one tape – this one, originally released on Northern punk imprint Retaliation Records. Most of all, they had a strict philosophy: “noise over music”.

The EP’s last-minute name change from ‘Death Of Music, Birth Of Noise’ to ‘Is This The Price?’ wasn’t reflected in the artwork. Clearly, extreme punk bands can get away with this kind of error. And of course, any errs we might perceive here are overshadowed by the jarring nature of the music, which is rather unlike anything we’ve heard before or expect to hear since. With each track barely breaching more than a minute at a time, this is lo-fi noisecore cacophony, alchemically converting amplified guitar sounds to a toneless mud, and vocals to shrieked drawls. In the process, “noise over music” is achieved to a T.

It’s quite difficult to pinpoint exact differences between each track, as they’re all rather similar. But from the depraved moans of ‘Death Or Glory’ to the tongue-tied lyrics of ‘Orders’, lead singler Beano is able to translate a dismal vision of the industrial north to recording, touching on the totalitarian and militaristic themes many punks had on the brain at the time. Vocals are near-vomited out; the phrase “police brutality” gags and lolls around in the blonde frontman’s mouth on the penultimate track, like some sick representation of trauma in humanoid form.

This is the first time the band have released anything on vinyl; we’re thankful they’ve chosen to tarnish the format, given that it’ll be difficult to tell whether the distortion comes from the music itself or a misweighted tonearm.

JIJ

Alex Kassian – Leave Your Life (Pinchy & Friends)

Berlin-based producer Alex Kassian cruises in with some of his most endearing work to date, serving four gorgeously atmospheric cuts on the ‘Leave Your Life’ EP. Kassian’s carefully crafted solo work has found its way to listeners via go-to labels including Love On The Rocks and Utopia, while his equally alluring sounds formed alongside Hiroaki OBA as Opal Sunn have landed on Touch A Distance as well as the Planet Sundae he co-runs. With a sound that elegantly flitters between propulsive techno and dreamy deep house, Kassian’s work has won admirers among the most well-tuned ears operating on the dance underground. Though retaining a foothold in his familiar sonic territory, ‘Leave Your Life’ sees Kassian set sail on a metaphorical yacht ride around the Balearic Islands, repurposing and morphing infectious phrases from the Yes classic ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ into a blissfully floating sunset soundtrack. The EP opens with the irresistible ‘Lonely Hearts mix’ of the title track, with shimmering instrumentation gliding over atmospheric bass as the looped vocal echoes across the sun-kissed horizon. The ‘dance mix’ is very slightly more robust without relinquishing the dream-inducing magic of the opening mix, with a gently nudged floor-focused gravity.

On the reverse, we find two versions of the no-less affecting ‘Spirit Of Eden’. The original version sees emotive synth solos hover over rising arpeggios and whispering drones as levitating percussion adds tension to the groove. The music swells but never resolves, giving the illusion of an endless swansong forever drifting into the infinite ether. Finally, Bill Laswell steps in with his subtle dub interpretation, adding weight to the bass as the spaced-out delay tails permeate the balmy soundscape. Enchanting work all around from Kassian, it isn’t difficult to understand why ‘Leave Your Life’ has already found its way into the crates of innumerable Balearic-minded jocks in recent weeks.

PC

Elliott – Transcendence (Ritual Poison)

This breakbeat-garage masterclass comes courtesy of Elliott, one of the promoters and DJs behind South London queer party Big Dyke Energy. ‘Transcendence’ is their debut solo EP after a collaborative stint with fellow producer Ornography, but this one might just top that EP, being a self-described marrying of acid and UK garage, and working in a style that hasn’t yet been traversed enough.

You might think unswung acid 303s don’t mesh with swung garage clacks, but that’s only because combining the two is no easy feat – it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Opener ‘Tender’ demonstrates just this kind of rhythmic trickery, whereby a swung beat rests on a tripletting bed of wobble, and a straight 16th-note writhes and echoes around in the top range of the mix. Elsewhere, where it’s clearly not possible for acid and 2-step to blend, Elliott leans more into breakstep territory; ‘Loose Tooth’ swaps out wobbles for weapon-like piano stabs and womps, recalling the sound of the West Coast US electro scene, transmogriphied into modern form.

The EP’s standout is the B-flip ‘Metamorphic’, which lowers the tempo (always a telllale sign of a good tune: whether or not it works at a lower speed), and favours buzzing bees’ wails and moaning, verbed-out vocals. Every drum hit nails just the right amount of pump – against a compressed bed of backing ambience and acid squelch – to satiate the anxieties of our restless mind-body conflict, a problem that is especially prevalent on our post-COVID ridden dancefloors today. Lisbon producer and Naive Records boss Violet’s remix is electromagnetic and near-dubsteppy, its spluttering wo

JIJ

Swann & Moriarty – Achab EP (Karat)

Dualistic French newcomer Swann & Moriarty enters the arena with four ably constructed electro cuts, surfacing on vinyl for the very first time courtesy of long-running Parisian imprint, Karat Records. Swann & Moriarty is a literary-themed nom de plume of apparent culture vulture Louis Pierret. Referencing both Proust’s introspective protagonist Charles Swann and Kerouac’s impulsive ‘On The Road’ anti-hero, Dean Moriarty, the moniker – and indeed the music – are an attempt to project the artist’s own polarised psychic tendencies. The ‘Achab EP’ opens with the hazy electro grooves of ‘Changes’, where thick metallic pads caress the delicate lead melody as sub-heavy bass growls over crisp machine drums.

Next, the charging toms and glistening chords of ‘Davy Jones’ are rich with nocturnal atmosphere, simultaneously moody and hopeful as the sparse rhythm cascades through abstract melodies and glitchy sound design. On the B-side, the slamming rhythm of title-track ‘Achab’ bursts with electro energy, with hyperactive bass galloping over stripped drums and characteristically atmospheric pads and (what sound like) full moon wolf howls. Finally, the experimental flex of dusty techno/house jam ‘Rhune’ completes a creditably debut, with capricious harmonics sweeping over jagged drums and subaquatic bass.

PC

This week’s reviewers – Neil Mason, Ben Willmott Jude Iago James, Patrizio Cavaliere