The best new singles this week

The A-list critics’ choice of this week’s singles

LZ MC Can – Attitudelics (TSWG)

Istanbul-based producer Lz MC Can hails from the city’s Beyoglu district, famous for its worldly tourist atmosphere, towering Ottoman architecture, and happy flower shops. At night, though, something more sinister rears its head; a long-fermenting nightlife centring on bass music, or at least, an outcropping of artists focused on the sound, comes out. As it should, this music crosses over with the graf and tattoo scenes (very obvious from MC Can’s penchants for both), and in his case, borders on dirty house influences like Andres, Donna Dee and even strange Euro electronic imports like Futuro Antico. Yes, there’s more to the Istanbul scene than Gantz and ClubToClub!

Can calls his latest EP ‘ghetto house’, but to our ears it sounds closer to the early jazz broken beat works of Dego mixed in with something glitchy or future garagey, like Testset or Mount Kimbie. A strong noughties and early-10s umami wafts off this EP, rendered weird and wonderful by its rhythmic unpredictability, blending dubiously with MC Can’s dubious black-labelled image of mystery.

Every track is a solo-recorded hardware jam, with the recognisable Rolandy sounds of the TR-707, 303, and SH-01 all poking through. ‘JABBASS’ does just this, with at least 3 layers of stabbing basses and acid leads melodically ‘jabbing’ us with their relentlessness. Can’s lo-fi recorded voiceover makes an appearance on ‘AMTR TTOOS’, a brokenly sonic love letter to his own preferred mode of body modification. A deeper cut makes the B, ‘OG’, which is truly the most broken of the lot; we wonder if we’re wandering the streets of New York rather than Istanbul, as a muted funk-soul guitar solo whirls about in the mix’s distance. Toweringly weird stuff.

JIJ

Rudolf Abramov – Losing Perspective (Optimo Music) 

Rudolf Abramov are not one but two individuals, and since 2019 they’ve remained an obviously talented yet reclusive bunch, not quite straying from the usual starting trajectory for artists as knowingly skilled as this. In other words, they’re still kind of anonymous – though a former music video revealed them to be pretty suavely dressed. 

Every one of their recording sessions, including the one for this EP which took place in Berlin, sees them invite a whole host of outsider artists to contribute. It’s a crying shame that a recent eviction notice caused them to lose said studio back in January, but we’re in no state of doubt that they’ll bounce back… ‘Losing Perspective’ is their latest and greatest statement of intent: a 5-track EP of post-punk electronic crossover, with some tracks leaning into coldwave, yet with all tapering off into different directions. The band are keen on disharmony and divergence, causing the EP to become a chromatic ‘wheel’ of sounds sounding at different frequencies and “facets”.

It’s no wonder they’ve now enjoying a starry shoulder-rub with Optimo Music – after an initial release on Sweden’s Hoga Nord, we’re not surprised that the legendary techno duo identified with Abramov’s sound. Lead track ‘Cold Feet’ (aka. ‘Losing Perspective’) has all the hallmarks endemic to a sound that still needs fleshing out, yet fleshes out each hallmark like Cronenberg exo-appendages emergent from torsos. Riffing bass, reversing FX, gramophone’d vocal lines and odd-timed post-punk twangs dance across it and the A2 ‘Agent Kink’, causing just-world fallacies and sanity-maintaining paradigms to collapse in on themselves. 

The synthier cuts appear on the B. ‘Fragments Of A Marching Stone’ is an instrumental moment of downtime, while the EP’s burgeoning Irish identity rings truest on ‘Lazy Soldier’, which features a spoken word segment from poet Brendan Cleary. ‘All Driving Lucid Blues’ rounds thing off with a piece best for home listening: space-lounge piano, arpeggiating synths, whirlwinds of sonic peace… quite a turn from how it started!

JIJ

Ultraflex/DJ Sotofett ‘Work Out Tonight’ Street Pulse

Sprightly Scandinavian duo Ultraflex are on the receiving end of some no-nonsense remix action here, with meta-disco mavericks DJ Sotofett and Telephones drafted to weave a helping of Norse grit into tracks lifted from 2020’s ‘Visions of Ultraflex’ album. While the neon-clad Ultraflex branding is embellished with equal doses of homespun swagger and tongue-in-cheek charm, the remixes presented here reign in the kitsch by a notch or two to subtly reframe the music.

The original version of ‘Work Out Tonight’ features saucy vocals whispered over a synth-pop/boogie backing track, displaying a playful impudence alongside a flair for ’80s-themed musicality. Here, Henning Brandt-Hansen Severud, (or Telephones, for short) works his wonky-eyed magic into the track with two striking versions. ‘The Big Fuji Ringo’ remix weaves the sultry vocals over a dreamy backing track that blends vintage Italo charm with a mangled modern twist, with the enchanting choral refrains pitched alongside gravelly sax and deviant synth textures. Meanwhile, the ‘Jigokudani-Ashiddosauna’ version dispenses with the drums in favour of a singing acid line, transposing the music into wigged-out daydream territory.

It’s nigh on impossible not to admire the work of Stefan Alvin Mitterer, better known as DJ Sotofett. Since emerging just over a decade ago, he’s crafted a mind-boggling succession of imaginatively genre-defying releases – presenting his work via labels like Honest Jon’s and Versatile, as well as the various Sex Tags related imprints he runs. The super-stripped ‘Secret Lover’ was a held-down standout from the Ultraflex album. Here, Sotofett imbibes the essence of the original and then regurgitates it in the form of an aberrant electro juggernaut. Robotic vocals screech over hypnotic bass, entwined synths and dubby delays gliding over a bewitching arrangement before the intoxicating music morphs into a whole new track for the EP’s final chapter, ‘Cosmic Lover’. Scandinavian future disco with bags of personality, this is sure to do requisite damage on informed floors.

PC

Lex & Locke ‘7 Day Path EP’ (Delusions Of Grandeur)

Athenian producer Lex joins compatriot Locke on this wildly impressive debut for Delusions Of Grandeur Records. The ‘7 Day Path EP’ sees the pair resume their brilliantly blossoming studio alliance, following last year’s gloriously funk bespeckled ‘Pacifica’ outing on Samosa Records. A revered veteran of the Athens underground and founder of the city’s legendary Radical Soundz record store, in recent times Lex has been successfully channelling his decades-long musical experience to some seriously dazzling productions. Having notched up some charmed releases on Leng and King Street, among other labels, it was last year’s magnificent ‘Players Paradise’ release on B2 Recordings that caught the ever-receptive ear of DOG co-founder, Jimpster. Adding his free-flowing flair to the music, DJ, producer, traveller and educator Locke takes time off from his globe-trotting musical journeying to co-pilot the release, while veteran Italian maestro DJ Rocca momentarily takes the controls to serve a typically cultured remix.

In what’s becoming a compelling signature sound for the production players, the EP opens with live instrumentation and vivacious percussion thoughtfully spread over a meandering arrangement. Taking a cue from deep house demigod, Ron Trent, Lex and Locke blend sparkling synth leads and throbbing bass over the mesmerising title track, creating endless space thanks to carefully positioned sweeps and dubbed-out horns. Next, Rocca works his magic into the track. Adding a gentle future-disco snap to the groove, he reforms the music over glistening bass and crisp drums. Supplying intuitive overdubs in the form of infectious synth motifs and airy flute solos, his version expertly ushers the music into parallel sonic realms. On the flip, Locomotives join the party on the bubbling acid flex of ‘I See No Ball’, where mysterious Hammond organ licks and tension-building chords propel spoken word vocals over a stripped and atmospheric backroom jam. Finally, we arrive in summery Mediterranean swells on the gorgeously cosmic strut of ‘Catch Up With The Sun’, where heartfelt synth solos and shimmering keys glide over feel-good bass for an afternoon sun salutation.

PC

The Invisible Session ‘People All Around The World Can Make It’

Astral travelling Milanese outfit The Invisible Session return to Space Echo Records with their latest cosmically-inclined soul-jazz dispatch, ‘People All Around The World Can Make It’. The talented quartet of Luciano Cantone, Paolo Fedreghini, Marco Bianchi, and Gianluca Petrella arrived with a string of loose-limbed and organically-spun releases on Schema Records in the early ’00s, before pushing pause on release action for well over a decade. Their prolonged silence was magnificently broken by last year’s exquisite ‘Echoes Of Africa’ LP, and this latest EP features one of the album’s standouts set alongside a delightful live version.

It’s difficult to sum up the mythical components that appear to imbue the current crop of Italian jazz, funk and boogie purveying acts, but it’s abundantly clear that there’s musical magic afoot throughout the Peninsula. Serving as a perfectly balanced counterpoint to the refreshing waves being made in the south of the country, The Invisible Sesssion’s immaculately formed compositions are at once authentically-carved and entirely a la mode. ‘People All Around The World Can Make It’ gently unfolds over spellbinding Afro drums, with absorbing chords, enlivening horns and psychedelic synth work powerfully enveloping the inspiring choral line. The delicately revised ‘Studio Live Take’ strips things back a touch, allowing the anodyne rhythm to take control, as dub delays and added percussive weight rise in to replace the errant vocal.

PC

Ben Sun ‘Distant Messenger’ (Razor-N-Tape)

Ben Sun makes his first wax appearance since 2020 with this splendid debut for Brooklyn’s Razor-N-Tape. Since his first releases began hitting the shelves just over a decade ago, the talented UK-based producer’s diligently crafted material has won him plenty of in-the-know admirers. Genre-gliding releases on Voyeurythm, Delusions Of Grandeur, and Quintessentials helped cement his reputation as an artist with a unique story to tell, and his latest effort sees him continue his retro-informed but forward-facing production approach in typically engaging style.

Launching the EP in spectacularly star-gazing fashion, we find the blissfully psychedelic refrains of ‘Transmissions’, where wandering synth solos dart over live-sounding bass, changeable percussion and jazzy chords. Equally atmospheric while endowed with a shade more deep house bump, the ‘Sable Sun’ collaboration with John Sable pits deviant synths against throbbing sub-bass and thick, rolling rhythms. On the reverse, the rolling bass, metallic synths and glassy chords of ‘Tremors’ provide a meditative backroom interlude, before the energy levels are once again raised for the vintage house swagger of ‘Red Light’. Here, undulating bass and full-bodied drums prop up shimmering pianos and energetic claps for an authentic proto-house tribute. Each track is a winner here, with Ben Sun steadily maintaining his exceptionally high quality threshold with every record he sees fit to release.

JIJ

This week’s reviewers: Jude Iago James, Patrizio Cavaliere