The best new singles this week
The tunes at the top of our writers’ lists
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
D Knox – Meditation (Sonic Mind)
This 1996 original from Donnell Knox (D-Knox) is a curious case. Originally released on Jay Denham’s Black Nation Records, it now makes a triumphant return in the form of a remastered version by esteemed mastering engineer Tim Xavier. Now it’s been reissued on Knox’s own new label Sonic Mind, which pre-dates much of the musical landscape as we know it today.
On the cusp of pre-millennium digital enlightenment, this gem of US techno is as scratchy as scratchy electronic music can get. It’s the sonic expression of a time when the gear wasn’t so refined, and when the spokes of the machinery used to make this kind of music weren’t so well-oiled yet. Contrary to the static measure of most techno, many of the tracks on ‘Meditation’ contain all of the shuffle and swing endemic to UK garage – but this EP comes from a different tradition, with Knox known more to be connected to the techno heydays of Chicago and Detroit, not London.
The tracks here are arguably so distorted and clippy that they seem to burst out of the other end of techno and into a fresh realm of what we’d instinctively call hell. Paradoxically enough, though, Knox’s track titles don’t equate techno with the maddening overencroachment of industry, but rather, peace, calm and meditation. To Knox’s ears, the juddering squeaks and squawks of ‘Total Concentration’ are birdsong. The overloaded 909s and claps, which spit and spurt dryly and wryly, are nothing more than mantric repetitions for transcendental meditation. ‘Chanting’, in all its metallic lashings and piston-crushings, is yet again a natural rhythm of life. The calming aspect of even the most abrasive techno is what 1996 Knox stood for. This EP begs the question: who are we to necessarily question the inhumanity of the machine?
JIJ
SL Jung – Inland Delta (Seafoam Fiction)
It’s relatively early days for SL Jung, a producer operating in a seemingly singular fashion with a fresh, original twist on the premise of dubbed out house and techno. This latest 12” marks the second release on his Seafoam Fiction label following a 12” of the same name, and he’s continuing to expand on his ideas with a versatile palette and relatively open-ended possibilities for where the project might be heading. At times you can detect the impetus of classic US deep house informing the basslines, but elsewhere things take a more disjointed direction.
On lead track ‘A Cushioned Reminder’ it feels as though elements of Theo Parrish’s bugged out funk is powering the groove, given the rhythm section consists of nothing but a kick and a wonky bass played off grid. The top end of the track is an indulgent dive into dub, with aqueous synth impressions pulsing through ample echoes and reverbs – overall a simple ensemble, but delivered with a thoroughly natural flair which keeps you comfortably locked in for the duration.
‘Blue Freak’ takes the rhythmic fluidity even further, letting a loose swing set in and allowing the blunted melodies to trip over each other. The saying goes you can’t fake the funk, and Jung knows how to dislodge himself from the grid without derailing the track, maintaining that spaced-out dub patina so eloquently established on the first track. ‘Inland Delta’ shifts the focus a little by allowing some more pronounced synth shapes into the mix. From misty pads to steady pulsing chord stabs, the scene is set for a more linear trip into deep waters. Even the claps are ready on the two and the four to guide us. It’s undoubtedly the track DJs will feel more comfortable with as it gently arcs upwards, but it doesn’t do a disservice to the vibe Jung has built up over the prior two tracks – an immersive shimmer of dub-informed 4/4 with plenty of ingenuity in its bones.
OW
Nam’s – Chaos (Lux Rec Switzerland)
Nam’s (Naamal M’bae) is a Swiss artist operating in the modes of EBM, industrial and new wave, but the fusion of these parts culminates in much more than their sum. Lux Rec, meanwhile, are a group of sonic insurrectionists from the very same Scandi foundland; its founders Daniele Cosmo and Dominik Faber share the vision of redefining the roots of electronic dance music.
Starting a revisionist history of the roots of electronic dance music is a bold feat, especially when most if not all of it is oral history in the first place. But perhaps only art, not words, can set such a task in motion. Nam’s’s music is ecstatic and angry, with its militant reuse of cold and industrial EBM-style instrumentation (acid, tinny drum machines, crudely static structures) being redeployed to express very human and hot desires, such as ‘I Want You Dead’.
‘Kill!’ is similarly post-fascist, with its breakneck speed and megaphoned-in audio ‘warfare’ mocking the ridiculous military tendency of ultranationalist states to purge its ‘thems’. “Do you want to die?” goes its Big Brother-like announcement. ‘Chaos’ ensues, with counter-static beats and ominous vocal drones abounding – this is really a rather calming storm.
Finally, the star of the show, ‘Spiral Vision’, makes itself known on the B4. Here’s where everything blurs into one – while so much industrial music seems to want to separate drums and vocals, Nam’s does not hesitate here to blur them both into one strategically rich texture. Industry isn’t just robotic, after all. Industrial processes can and do blend well with human voices, human expression. At the same time, however, this blurring doesn’t come without its downside: the track is apocalyptic, and sounds like rapture, the four horsemen raining it down on us. Perhaps industrial humanity comes at a cost.
JIJ
Space Dimension Controller – Cro2ma (Hypercolour)
Space Dimension Controller has routinely impressed since emerging a little over a decade ago, with each release imbued with a healthy blend of originality, refinement, and, in most cases, dancefloor thrust. His music regularly finds room in the rosters of the dance underground’s most esteemed labels, with Dekmantel, Aus Music, Ninja Tune and Rush Hour among those to have championed his distinct sound. ‘Cro2ma’ follows on from the ‘Tiraquon Recordings Volume 1’ LP that arrived earlier in the year and marks his Hypercolour debut in fine style, serving three deep-but-accessible jams that are sure to win plenty of admirers. While some of his most memorable work has been rooted in synth-funk sensibilities — with ‘Synths & An 808’, ‘The Love Quadrant’ and his utterly timeless rework of Anthony Shakir’s ‘Detroit State Of Mind’ just a few examples of his genre-bending keyboard virtuosity — the latest EP is a touch starker in tone.
That’s not to say the music isn’t funky, which it most certainly is, but the loose and limber synth work takes on something of a grubbier tone, with the agile melodics arriving in the form of errant bass lines and the like. The EP opens with the fluid rhythms of the title track, with scattered drums and darting synth lines joined by thick bass over a sparse arrangement, jagged chords and mysterious pads meandering through the spacious gaps as the groove unfolds. ‘IG00158’ follows a similar trajectory, with glitchy rhythms driving off-world synths deep into the shadows, before closing track ‘Highborne’ sees out the EP, arriving as perhaps the most kinetically charged of the set. Here, jagged synth bass flits over a sparse drum track while brooding pads, alien synths and fizzing hats maintain the dynamic charge. Yet more classy work here from Jack Hamill, and while not as immediate as some of his previous work, each track is endowed with more than enough substance to intrigue and invigorate.
PC
The Streets – Brexit At Tiffany’s (Island)
One of the most enduring illusions of The Streets is that they’re not necessarily a band; as their fame has grown over time, it’s made itself clearer and clearer that The Streets is more or less the brainchild of one man, Mike Skinner – as is often the case with musical acts that masquerade as ‘bands’.As he’s released more and more music, the music itself seems to have grown sparser and sparser, hollower and thinner, skinnier and Skinner, mainly seeming to contain Skinner’s voice against a thin beat. This is as much the case with this latest single as it is with a Skinner side project, The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light, which debuted in the mid-to-late 2010s. This project dealt in nocturnal trap beats, wilfully bare production and lamenting lyrical themes, as if every comment Skinner passed on the world could be expressed in a lo-fi, boxy beatbite.
We don’t make this observation in a negative way. To the contrary, ‘Brexit At Tiffany’s’, like TDTSTBTL, is an ironic commentary on the hollowness of the reasoning behind popular verdicts such as Brexit (David Cameron’s ideologies, of course, have always been an easy target for mid-2010s rappers – Plan B was similar to Skinner in his deep skepticism of the “hug a hoodie” soundbite). The tracks here, to our ears, sound equally as ‘hollow’. For Skinner, the doomsday clock being ‘3 Minutes To Midnight’ isn’t sounded by grand, glorious choirs of angels beset by classical music, reckoning divine melodious judgement on leagues of sinners – it sounds more like a man tucked away under a duvet, or in a cafe, wittering bemusedly about the state of the world, while his phone blares from its speaker a haunted standardisation of UK garage. The title track is decidedly much more beautiful, with vocals from Jazz Morley backboning a lo-fi garage ‘epiphany’ shared between Skinner and his collaborators. A wisely-produced, ironic, white-flag-waving EP, which is nonetheless beautiful.
JIJ
Pinky Perzelle feat Eda Eren – No Games (Perzelle Recordings)
Pinky Perzelle’s magnetic debut ‘No Games’ has been a regular feature in the sets and playlists of the most knowing of Balearic jocks throughout the summer months. Now at last available on vinyl, the seductive soundscapes appear set to continue soothing listeners through the long, cold winter nights. Though the name Pinky Perzelle may be a new arrival in the record racks, the man behind the moniker is steeped in meta-disco heritage. The distinctive nom de plume was conjured by producer and multi-instrumentalist, Sonny Rooney — son of none other than cosmic OG, Gerry Rooney. Serving inspired edits and supremely cultured productions alongside Joel Martin as Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold, Gerry famously co-piloted some of the earliest productions of quasi-mythical DJ colossus, DJ Harvey.
Growing up surrounded by crates of esoteric records, instruments and gizmos left an indelible mark on Sonny, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that he opted to forge his own path in the kaleidoscopic world of music production. Armed with an enviable schooling from his father (as well as guitar lessons from his grandad), Pinky Perzelle took a patient approach to perfecting his sonic craft. Indeed, the process of recording ‘No Games’ began many years ago, and, though the bare bones of the track came together quickly, Sonny spent countless hours fine-tuning and refining the composition. The bulk of the beautifully constructed orchestration was performed and composed by Sonny himself, the evocative vocal gorgeously sung by British-Turkish singer, Eda Eren. The sumptuous original version is backed up by a neat radio edit as well as a club-primed ‘Electronic Mix’, demonstrating some serious production range from the talented newcomer. If that wasn’t enough, Rooney Senior shows support in the best possible way, pitching in with a mesmerising VS&HOG remix that completes the package in sublime style. A stunning release from beginning to end, we patiently await further musical delights from the one they call Pinky.
PC
Various Artists – Uprooted Vol 1 (Versatile)
Vidal Benjamin is the archetypal digger, building his entire musical persona around the mythology of obscure records found in flea markets, baiting trainspotters and blowing minds with his sets. In being given a series on Versatile to pursue a particular question, he’s struck upon a grand idea, to celebrate the fluidity of human habitation and identity through track selections from people with split locales in their DNA. Vladimir Ivkovic is a perfect first guest, being a Belgrade-born DJ with the closest of ties to the Salon Des Amateurs scene in Düsseldorf.
The A side of this record looks back to Belgrade and the work of Rex Ilusivii, a Serbian visionary who made some genuinely astounding music in relative obscurity in the 80s, and whose work has since been recognised and revived by labels like Versatile and Ivkovic’s own Offen Music. This untitled piece features Ilusivii alongside Goran Vejvoda and Milan Mladenovic, recorded at Goran Vejvoda’s home studio 1984 and featuring the kind of slow, simmering outernational funk that bled out of the edges of the post-punk era.
It slaps plenty tough enough for a modern DJ set, but it doesn’t hold back on the freakiness one iota. On the flip, we trip backwards a few years to 1981 in Düsseldorf, when Beate Bartel and Chrislo Haas were forming the sound which would manifest to great underground success as Liaisons Dangereuses. Lifted from one of the supremely rare CHBB tapes they distributed at the time, this transcendental beatdown hinges around a relentless broken kick drum pound, a sample of what sounds like throat singing and Bartel’s distorted shrieks. It’s devastating, immersive and entirely not of this world, like all the best techno-not-techno should sound.
OW
Capinera – Il Volo (Serie Pegaso)
The Periodica Records team never fail to evoke Neapolitan wonder with their warm and emotion-rich releases. Their latest project arrives in the form of the Serie Pegaso offshoot label — a project designed as an outlet for music composed and themed with their beloved Napoli home at its very core. The familiar production crew of Dario di Pace and Raffaele Arcella are joined here by Disco Segreta’s Gianpaolo Della Noce and revered local beatmaker Michele Cesare. Recording under the Capinera moniker — a name shared by a migratory bird that leaves colder climes to settle in the balmy embrace of Mount Vesuvius as well as a folkloric, cigarette-smuggling Neapolitan beauty — the team craft a pair of alluring cuts that are every bit as compelling as the best of the Periodica back-cat. Adriana Salomone provides the vocals on both jams, starting with the reggae-infused syncopation of A-side cut, ‘Il Volo’.
Here, funk-centred synths and soaring sax solo gorgeously combine over a head-nodding groove, the sultry vocal mystically summoning the near-mythical charm of an Ionian sunset. On the reverse, a disco-funk feel takes to the fore on the blissful serenade of ’Suonno’, with cheeky synth licks, gliding bass notes and feel-good chords playing out an enchanting mid-tempo groove from where the heartfelt vocal lead elegantly soars. Gorgeously musical and majestically produced, which is pretty much par for the course from these players.
PC
More house music history lessons from two bona fide masters of the craft here, as BBE once again charge DJ Spinna and Kai Alce with the task of unearthing seductive sounds from the movement’s formative years. After highlighting killer material from Ralph Rosario, Dreamer G, Cajmere, Chip E & K-Joy and Tyree Cooper, the sixth instalment of the series is once again steeped in heritage. ‘Notice Me’ features the sensual vocals of (Exposè singer) Sandeé riding over a robust rhythm composed by Robert Clivilles and co-produced with David ‘C+C Music Factory’ Cole.
Interestingly, Latina girl group Exposè have been on the receiving end of much renewed attention in recent years, not to mention the recent re-issue of original member Laurie Miller’s ‘Love Is A Natural Magical Thing’ last month, adding a little extra spice to this pair of 7” edits. ‘Part 1’ sees erotically charged vocals echo over throbbing bass and thick house drums, while the equally dubbed-out and fractionally tougher ‘Part 2’ introduces an alluring synth top-line to the sleazy, late-night mix. Certainly not the best-known of early house cuts, ‘Notice Me’ represents an inspired piece of digging from Spinna and Alce. The music here serves as a testament to the strong start made by house music’s pioneers, with much of the new music forged in the revivalist mould frankly pale in comparison.
PC
This week’s reviewers: Jude Iago James, Oli Warwick, Patrizio Cavaliere.