The best new singles this week
The week’s must hear singles
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Cafe de la Jungle – Tuvan Spirits (Dans Le Desert)
While he may be based in Kraków, Tomasz Zając looks elsewhere for inspiration with his burgeoning project Cafe de la Jungle. The clue is in the name, which ostensibly projects the cosy climes of a coffee house into the evocative environment of a non-specific jungle. Of course, there are many ways in which electronic artists choose to interpret such ecologically vibrant muses, and Zając in particular opts for a dense, rhythmic tapestry of organic percussion and flexible synthesis. In the Fourth World tradition, it’s not adhering to any specific sonic culture, but rather an imagined exoticism from a nonplace in between distant lands.
There’s a clarity to his sound which cuts through, not least on the winding ‘Chas’ with its springy beat and vocal-esque synth murmurs. You could certainly imagine it finding favour with the Salon Des Amateurs coterie of artists, which makes it no surprise to find Toulouse Low Trax on board for a remix of needlepoint meditation ‘Kysh’. As ever, the German maverick brings an unpredictable verve to his own version of the track, leaning in on a knotty beat and off-centre cyclical motion with an artful thread of distortion. It’s a humid, disorienting affair, which adds a certain element of danger to Zając’s pristine construction.
As opening track ‘Kus’ demonstrates, though, it’s not just head-nodding beat tracks that shape out the imagined Cafe. Without front and centre drums, Zając is able to paint out the edges of his sound through a dexterous bassline and mystical pads. When fragments of breakbeats peek through the mist in the track’s latter stages, they become subtle decoration rather than the dominant force in the mix. It’s in these moments we can more clearly sense the thick foliage and teeming lifeforms that fuel his imagination. Where the project heads from here is an intriguing prospect, whether the emphasis remains on the accomplished beatdowns or the vivid atmospheres around them.
OW
Picnic – Lucky Number (Daisart)
The dubbed-out drone project that is Picnic (made up of Justin Cantrell and Mdo) has done remarkably well for itself in recent years, thanks to its unique take on the ‘tactile ambient’ style that has cropped up. Theirs is a take we might describe as ‘microscopic’.
The stage is set by Picnic’s visual reference points. Their debut album ‘Picnic’, for example, took pride in a sort of chemical, bacterial blur, with the unusual colours on its front cover arranged in odd biological sequence. The album cover for the new EP ‘Lucky Number’, meanwhile, out this year, is obsessed with minor details; it features odd little pendants, woodland crofts, utensils arranged in neat order. Like the music which we are about to describe, there is a sort of subdued joy in these still-life studies.
Musically, we might say ‘Lucky Number’ is microscopic in the abstract, but not in the sonic. The EP is hardly microtonal music or lowercase. It treats each track as though it were an objective view of an arbitrary humming space; like rapidly-flicked-through channels on the TV. ‘Crow’ deconstructs a lone guitar into a watery sample, like a fish writhing in the ambient stream below our remote-controlled CCTV. The bemusingly titled ‘Sock Collector’ follows, a much greater and layered ambient piece that skitters out of step as much as it locks back into rhythm. The midpoint, ‘Enough’, has a loose vestige of ambient techno frittering away in the upper register, but it’s so minute that to some listeners it might be barely perceptible.
We might add that it’s difficult to know from the music which of the collaborators here (Uio Loi, Kindtree, Theodore Cale Schafer, Panphilia) contributed which elements, through we appreciate that this is an intrinsically collaborative project. Something between a tape loop and an R2-D2 bloop is explored on ‘Hazel’, reconciling the natural and futuristic. Finally, ‘Meadow’ curves the ball with what sounds like a giant hall packed with singing bowls and felted gong scrapes, rounding off the EP with an acoustic charm. Yet another compelling addition to the Daisart repertoire.
JIJ
In Flagranti – Raw Substance (Calypso)
Multi-talented creatives In Flagranti present their latest sonic scrap-booking via Mexican label, Calypso, presenting a pair of originals served alongside remixes from Eric Duncan and Fango on the ‘Raw Substance’ EP. Having been embedded in club culture’s luminous fabric from as far back as the ’80s, the enigmatic duo of Sasha Crnobrnja and Alex Gloor’s work recorded as In Flagranti has routinely lit up dancefloors since they commenced their partnership 20-plus-years ago. With releases on labels including Eskimo, Kitsune, and Gomma, as well as frequent outings on their own Codek label, their DIY approach to both music and design is both instantly recognisable and challenging to neatly define.
It feels a little surprising that this release marks their debut on Thomass Jackson and Inigo Vontier’s Calypso label since it feels like such a suitable home for the distinctive In Flagranti sound. The title track mesmerises as it chugs along over a percussive rhythm, with thick bass notes powering atmospheric synth swirls and tripped-out vocal chops. Next up, roving meta-disco maverick Eric Duncan rides in with his ‘Raw Substance’ interpretation, picking up the pace and maintaining the key elements while adding trademark wiggy overdubs and cosmic delays. On the flip, the tone diverges several degrees more askew, with the altogether more hallucinatory ‘Unfit & Toxic’. Here, oddball vocal slices cascade over jagged drums and aberrant bass, with a collage of delirious textures blended to complete the nocturnal mood. Finally, Venetian producer Fango delivers his industrially-charged ‘Unfit & Toxic’ interpretation, stripping back the layers for a moody voyage into cavernous space. This is a well-formed package from the Calypso team, with each carefully considered protagonist bringing much to the off-kilter equation. Stylistically stubborn, idiosyncratic and pointed across the board, lovers of disco’s darkest depths are sure to find plenty to enjoy here.
PC
Gifted + Blessed – Yamaheaters (Technoindigenous Studies)
Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker exists in a scene of his own design, and has done for a long time now. Whether as Gifted + Blessed, The Abstract Eye or The Reflektor, the LA-rooted artist has offered an individual sound which doesn’t particularly align with any other trends in dance music. If you were to break his sound down, it’s undoubtedly a kind of hi-tech soul, but not in the Detroit sense of the term. It’s a little too soft around the edges, introspective even, but it is certainly steeped in emotion and committed to a classic approach to electronic music production which favours the established tools of drum machines and synthesisers as vessels for expression.
While his activity can be a little scatty, he appears to have entered a new phase of visibility with the launch of the Technoindigenous Studies label. The self-steered platform now yields a second EP of typically refined reflections which tease at techno, house and electro without ever falling into genre studies. The inspiration this time around is a Yamaha toy keyboard rescued from a bin, brought home and given a new purpose through the power of MIDI. We don’t find out exactly which synth he’s referring to, but the point made is one relevant to the over-arching concept of this new label – “using the technology of those before him to explore uncharted territory with a modern twist.”
There’s a plaintive sensibility to these constructions, which maintain the airy arrangements Reyes-Whittaker has established his identity on. It’s not dissimilar to the way Steve Spacek makes his beats, favouring a few complementary parts and marking out a compositional narrative that it’s incredibly easy to melt into. ‘Yamahigh’ and ‘Yamahard’ deal in backroom techno with heart, almost alarmingly simple but perfectly pitched. It’s the idea of techno as music to daydream to – a vessel to take your mind to distant places, but with a very human pilot at the helm.
‘Yamajando’ hints at the meditative house refrains you might associate with the Ron Trents of this world, even if it would never land on Prescription. It’s got plenty of meat in the rhythm section, but the elongated pads keep it firmly in the gentler end of the record bag. Even if EP closer ‘Yamaheaven’ has a twitchier demeanour, it’s soon tempered by jazzy piano chords and searching synth lines which keep the snagging drums rooted in the natural world. It’s records like these that remind you just how much can be communicated when you don’t hide behind studio tricks and crafty edits, and place the focus on solid musicality instead.
OW
St Agnis – Om Mani Padme Hum (5 Gate Temple)
From dubwise releases with Tribe Of Colin and Oxhy; to serene drifts with Serafina Steer; and sly reworks of legends like TNT Roots; watching 5 Gate Temple grow over the past few years has been a pleasure of ours. Run by surreptitious conspirator John T. Gast, 5GT is central to a new ‘culture of cool’ that has cropped up in recent years, one that relies on minimal overhype and much mystery.
To please the pedants, we might say the label’s aesthetic lies somewhere on the spectrum between dub, lo-fi, footwork, and ancient gnostic music. Their latest from St. Agnis (Victoria M.) certainly leans into the latter territory. A blurred image of a ghostly Catholic robe, a cassock, looms large over this cassette tape’s frontispiece. The intentional misspelling of the saint’s name by the artist – St. Agnes into St. Agnis – leads us to believe this short run has at least something to do with an otherworldly experience of femininity within religion, with both Roman Catholic and Buddhist influences among them.
The uncanny cover does a good job of preempting the kind of sonic curveball that follows. There are no monastic chants, transcendental mantras or liturgies. Instead, tracks like ‘Shepherdess’ are fast spits of digidub, compressed to high heaven and filtered through digital noise, bloop freakouts, and a pace and tempo borrowed from footwork. ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ brings spooky X-Files arps to distorted kick stabs and home-recorded vocal hums, breathing new alien meaning into the track name’s Sanskrit-to-English translation, “praise to the jewel in the lotus”. ‘What A Joy’, meanwhile, is the messiest of the lot, ironically drowning bit-reduced noise in reverb, out-of-time garglings and cheeky-smiled pulses.
Not much is known about the releasee, but there is humour in combining such anarchic sounds with religious imagery. The EP’s namesake was originally hummed by templars. And of course, mega-cool, dark and edgy music culture is indeed a new religion. Like reality or God, can we pierce the mystery of the Temple? Is there some tangible thing behind the elusive veil? What is Gast guarding?
JIJ
Sai Galaxy – Get It As You Move (Soundway)
Australian multi-instrumentalist Simon Durrington resumes his Sai Galaxy project on the vintage-leaning ‘Get It As You Move’ EP, enlisting a host of talented players to work their magic into the productions. Inspired by classic Afrobeat, disco and West African funk, the likes of Nkono Teles, Jake Sollo and Mike Umoh are name-checked as influences to the deliciously feel-good collection. The ensemble features a glittering cast of musicians, with (former trumpeter of Seun Kuti’s Egypt 80) Olugbade Okunade among those drafted, alongside guests Gabriel Otu, Ray Lédon and Vanessa Baker. The goal was to create authentic sounding grooves with an era-appropriate production aesthetic – forgoing rigid quantising in favour of a loose and limber flow, but with just enough contemporary sheen to ensure requisite dancefloor thrust.
Many of the bandmates have previously worked together under the Digital Afrika moniker, and this preformed studio simpatico is there for all to hear in these intricately woven jams. Opening track ‘Rendezvous’ sees Vanessa Baker’s enchanting vocal served over rolling bass, funk synths and sultry horns as splashing drums and meandering congas. A measure or two freakier, the soaring horns and Ghanaian vocal chants of ‘Obio’ prove to be a highlight, with mischievous instrumentation gorgeously intertwined for an authentic Afro-funk workout. The wildly atmospheric throb of ‘Don’t Wanna Be Your Lover’ broods with intent as captivating vocals, infectious keys, and muted trumpets rise over a pulsing rhythm section. Finally, ‘Get It In The Sun’ injects a healthy dose of fun, with the now familiar combination of rousing horns, psychedelic synths and catchy vocals once again proving irresistible. There isn’t a dull moment across the EP, which, considering it arrives via the Soundway Records camp, should come as little surprise. For fans of Afro-funk and disco, this is a must-check record.
PC
Dmitry Distant – Into The Distant (Garden Of Dystopia)
‘Dark romantic’ (as opposed to dark synth) is a genre term that should have seen more renown than it has, and it’s odd that it’s taken this long to be put into use. But Latvian producer Dmitry Distant and vocalist-lyricist Valeria Simonova put those ideas to great use on their latest self-released single – ‘Into The Distant’ – for Distant’s own label, Garden Of Dystopia, entirely dedicated to the form.
Building on the darksynth style brought into being by the likes of Carpenter Brut or William Orbit, the dark romantic mood of ‘Into The Night’ removes the emphasis on harsh digital synth elements, and replaces them with a hazy vocal drift laid down by Simonova. All that’s left over of the ‘synth’ in the ancestral darksynth is a blood-suckling 303 line; the rest of the track is glumly serene and affecting, like electro meets darkwave.
For remix duty, it makes proper sense to enlist the mythical John Fryer, whose credits include production for Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and Depeche Mode. Fryer is indeed the Vlad II to Dmitry Distant’s Dracula. His version is more immediate and lazery, bulging with acid and gated snare snaps like a varicose jugular, giving an impression of a truly dystopian wider world. We can only hope a new film or TV franchise emerges with this kind of music soundtracking it; we are insatiably hungry, like a starved Turok-Han in daylight, for more.
JIJ
Over the past 10 years Kieron Ifill has quietly established himself as a leading progenitor of UK house music innately rooted in the Black roots of the sound. It would be easy to hear his music and imagine it orbiting the Atlanta-rooted likes of Kai Alcé or the deep-diving East Coast coterie of Fred P et al. Equally though, there’s a touch of jazz in his approach which speaks to the broken beat flourishes of Kaidi Thatham which draws him back towards the UK more tangibly, and it’s no surprise to know he released on Eglo Records as well as touching on Funkineven’s sci-fi boogie stylings on Apron.
His own Escenia label is where Ifill gets to stretch out though, and RITUALS finds him gliding through a range of spaces without losing his innate musicality. When a record is most likely to be lumped in the deep house section but opens up with an extended beatless piece, there’s a strong sense of freedom bedded into the overall concept. ‘Ritual I’ is a glistening piece of jazzy ambience shaped out with expressive synthesis – a glorious interwoven suite of arps and pads as hi-tech as it is soothing. By contrast, ‘Ritual II’ and ‘Ritual III’ cruise through elegant house constructions loaded with expressive chord progressions, still mellow to the last but teeming with vitality.
‘Ritual IV’ brings things full circle with a tender bookend of plaintive piano given a tasteful treatment around the edges. Zoom in on the subtleties of the mix and there’s plenty of detail to be savoured, but primarily it’s a beautiful piece of ivory tinkling which once again confirms Ifill’s place at the vanguard of soulful, deeper than deep house music.
OW
This week’s reviewers: Oli Warwick, Patrizio Cavaliere, Jude Iago James.