The best new singles this week

From Detroit legends to Bristol genre-busters, they’re all here

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Kyle Hall – Baci Ballers (Forget The Clock)
It would be extraordinarily hard to argue against the notion that Kyle Hall has been among the most reliably brilliant Detroit house producers operating during the last decade or so. Once hailed as the Motor City’s new hope, he’s seamlessly transitioned into the role of a seasoned pro, delivering a steady stream of imaginatively carved titles since first appearing on Omar S’ FXHE way back in 2007.

His latest effort ‘Baci Ballers’ once again lands via his Forget The Clock imprint, from where all of his recent material has been housed. This time out, we find him hitting harder than he has done for quite some time, with three varied dancefloor jams that each blur the gloriously fertile boundaries between Detroit house and techno.

The EP launches with ‘Baci Ballers’, probably the most hypnotic of the set. Pitched over a percussive rhythm, the looped-up cut undulates over a delightfully grubby bass as mesmerising drums subtly evolve, with vocal chops adding texture as they drift in from the distance. Next, the brilliantly agile ‘Big Mamma Tech’ features a majestic fusion of subterranean sensibilities, with bumping drums pounding over snarling bass as funk-laced organ licks and soul-drenched vocals entwine.

This is irresistible club material, and, quite remarkably, Hall manages to maintain the momentum throughout, with the closing track ‘Ground Up Dub’ just as essential as those it follows. Here, hyper-atmospheric chords (faintly reminiscent of DJ Rasoul’s seminal ‘Love’s Theme’) glide over jagged drums and rhythmic synth pops as snarling bass gyrates below. Stripped to its barest components, no parts are wasted, the music serving as a lesson in less-is-more machine funk. Kyle Hall is a master of his art, and this is among the most compelling material he’s released in recent years, which — considering how high he sets the bar — is really saying something.

PC

Underground Resistance – Nation 2 Nation (Underground Resistance)
Underground Resistance guide us on a journey to their formative years via the re-issue of 1991’s ‘Nation 2 Nation’, a collection of forward-facing tracks that vividly set the scene for some of the group’s better-known moments that followed. Listening back to the music contained within, it’s probably fair to ask oneself just how far house music has actually come in the 30-plus years since the EP first appeared, such is the imagination, musicality, and quality of production on display.

If this were a new release, it would unquestionably still have an impact, which is either a testament to just how far ahead of their time they were back then, or how little progress has been made since. In any case, the influence UR have had on the wider dance music is both well documented and easy to understand, as ‘Nation 2 Nation’ vividly demonstrates. From the ambient rave of the ‘Big Stone Lake’ opener to the Balearic acid of the ‘303 Sunset’ closing cut, the taut collection is magnetic throughout.

Layering futurist jazz with the searing magma of early dance abandon, soul-rich emotion explodes from the music, with each number amounting to a highlight in its own right. Rush-inducing pads abound on ‘Sometimes I Feel Like’ as subdued acid bubbles below fiercely optimistic chords, while then seductive sax solos of Lenny Price soar over life-affirming strings on the timeless title track before Latin-infused pianos and vocal chants power the track into anthem territory.

The dexterous motifs and thick pads of ‘Body & Soul’ easily eclipse the proliferation of rave-revival jams that have featured so heavily in recent years, while the unabashed freedom of ‘The Theory (Mind Mix)’ serves as a hallucinatory interlude. To summarise, here are six genuinely brilliant compositions from some of the most pioneering production minds the electronic dance movement has ever witnessed. 

PC

Seekersinternational – No Parasites (Sneaker Social Club)

As anyone who has followed their progress will attest, no one does it quite like Seekersinternational. The enigmatic crew have been confounding ideas about how to approach Jamaican music culture since their first wild-style tapes, twisting up a seemingly bottomless well of ragga and dancehall samples with fluorescent daubs of melody and rhythm which splay out like vivid graffiti murals. Sneaker Social Club know what’s up, having already pressed up their RaggaPreservationSociety tape as a vinyl release back in 2017, and now they’re carrying some dazzling new transmissions from whichever dimension these soundbite-flipping maestros reside in.

In line with the label’s hardcore leanings, there’s a notable junglist thread running through this new EP, with labyrinthe opener ‘No Parasites’ happily chucking snatches of diced up breaks into the mix amidst the deejay flex, taking the non-linear narrative flow which lands you a long way from where the track first started. It’s a quality which absolutely fits with the joyously disorienting quality of listening to Seekers, but don’t mistake the discombobulation for a lack of focus or intention. Nothing is happening by chance, and there’s sonic clarity to make these fever-dream patchworks as tangible as they are bewildering.

‘Caught Up (Heart Breaks)’ almost edges towards a formalised structure, cutting between the airy lead-in and absolute shockout drops atop clattering breaks and the myriad snatches of vocal. ‘2GoldChain (DriveUCrazy)’ widens the sound palette with some 90s RnB flex woven in amongst the toasting, nodding to the kind of tunes that get run late into the night in a proper soundsystem dance in Jamrock. Holding true to the notion the only constant is change, ‘Original Of The Original’ flips the script for an almost apocalyptic slab of squarewave bass and the titular sample looping into an annihilating cycle, piledriving your bewildered bonce into the dust under a thousand skanking feet. It’s like nothing else out there – true genius, teetering on the edge of madness.

OW

Kenneth Scott – Light Blooming (Circus Company)

French institution Circus Company has been scoring high on the release schedule in recent months. Two exquisite albums in the shape of Mélopée’s Ezéchiel Pailhès and The River Widens by The Mole, the latter so good we had to interview the artist ourselves to make sure we weren’t dreaming, along with an invaluable pack of Portable remixes, by now the real question is why the label isn’t offering subscriptions. Maybe they are, honestly we’ve not actually looked into it. Still, you get the point.

If anyone’s at home on the imprint, and guaranteed to keep standards way-way-up, it’s surely Kenneth Scott. His work for the platform stretches back to its early catalogue, and has continued to this day, and this point. If that’s not a seal of approval from the crew we don’t know what is, and when you’re talking about this crew everyone should be paying attention to their nods. Offering three sublime tracks that are both ‘very Circus’ and yet impressively individualistic, it’s safe to say the Berlin-based don has served up an EP fans of both his stuff and the label will find hard to resist.

Textures abound throughout the release, which errs on the deeper side of dance music while finding plenty of room for tech and urgency. ‘Lost Sonar’ descending from serene harmony into tight percussive loops and hooks, hi-hats sharpened, is just one example. ‘Light Blooming’, meanwhile, leaves housier flavours behind in favour of a timeless 4AM breakbeat sound, as euphoric as it is nostalgic, before busting out electro-Italo-esque wasp-y arpeggiation to stunning, step-changing effect. Stopping short of describing every track on here (nobody wants that), the fundamental message we’re trying to get across is that Scott’s latest represents a masterclass in difference and complexity, blending genres and packing surprises in without being obtuse.

MH

Edward KA SPEL – Permission To Leave The Temple (Lumberton Trading Co)

Edward Ka Spel – legendary frontman and legendary founder of legendary band The Legendary Pink Dots – slyly but finally drops a new 10” mini-album here, ‘Permission To Leave The Temple’, via the affiliated imprint Lumberton Trading Co. 

The project is a known gestator, unfortunately suffering horrible delays that lasted over ten years due to the fickle nature of the vinyl industry. While such a story might elicit groans from insiders and fans alike, it still ultimately feeds into its seeming nature as a “cursed” project. Themes of wasted time, surreal evil, and ultimate entrapment abound, with appealing yet discordant experimental dance pieces (made up of instruments as weird as overmixed horns, prepared tinkerings, and sinkingly reverberative vocals) conveying the collapse of a prison of the mind. 

And while the material that makes up this project might come in part from TLPD leftovers, that doesn’t stop it at all from evoking its own, disparately strange world. Spel’s whispered vocals on ‘Urban Prayer’ hail from another dimension: perhaps the Upside-Down, perhaps the Soul Cairn, or perhaps an interim realm from the Twilight Zone. Eerie, highpassed and backlaid by a low drone of swirling vocals and tonal oneness, we’re met with the sonic mood of being trapped in a doorless room of odd proportions, with only a telephone on the wall through which Spel riddlingly dictates a possible way out. “And sure… it’s a waste of precious time… for the end respects no limits. It has always been ending, and it always will be. And it is our duty to live each of those seconds with maximum intensity. Sleep must be denied.” Meanwhile, ‘With My Blessing’ and ‘The New People’ are masterclasses in vocal processing, both keeping one foot in the human and one foot in the machinic, amounting to glitching, dystopian-futuristic madhouse moods. Overall, the feel is that of a parting message from another world.

JIJ

DJ ojo – Coiled Up (Blank Mind)

Unless you’re especially keyed into the highways and byways of online radio, you probably won’t have heard of DJ ojo before. Regularly found spinning maverick selections alongside k means and others, he’s mapped out an artistic style within his practice which promised much for an entry into the production arena.

Blank Mind is a pertinent spot for his debut release, being the kind of label which is actively incubating a wonderful strain of delicate, crooked, dubby club music. In the era of needlepoint production flair and intricate mix downs, space becomes an ever more powerful ingredient and it’s clear that ojo understands this. ‘Coiled Up’ does some marvellous things to your brain as synth shapes move across the frequency range, diving from high-frequency ticklers down to fulsome, gut-rubbing bass.

There’s also space for glassy impulses which help shape out the depth of the track, and everything’s gently propelled by a feathered beat which exudes energy without any of the usual bludgeoning force you expect from soundsystem music.

This marrying of considered detail and subtle physicality continues across the rest of this outstanding EP – a shining example of the kind of restorative dance fodder we need in the face of lumpen techno nihilism.  

OW

The Allergies – Mash Up The Sound (Jalapeno)

To repeat the question Wiley once posed in his song of the same name, “wot u call it?!” It’s funk, it’s disco, it would fit neatly into a house set and it’s got a reggae MC on it. Erm, your guess is a good as ours. Luckily, it doesn’t really matter too much – or indeed at all – when the results are this good.

The Bristol duo of Rackabeat and DJ Moneyshot have been churning out grooves of quality at an alamringly steady rate for years now, and their sound has never quite settled into a comfortable pigeonhole. This, though, feels like they’ve upped the ante significantly, really going for the jugular of the dancefloor and as e ver, depending much more on their own wits and skills than simply sampling their way into your good books.

‘Mash Up The Sound’ is a peak time thriller, the ace in your DJ pack that you’ll want to hold in reserve until you need to lay down the killer blow. Just the kind of genre-hopping amalgamation of all the best party tunes you ever heard – especially if you hail from the sound system nirvana that is Bristol. Just what we need to warm the cockles as it feels the cold winter nights will never end. Come on, only 267 or something sleeps til carnival! You can bet this will be playing somewhere when you get there too.

BW

Kyoto Jazz Massive feat Roy Ayers – Get Up (HMV Japan)
Now, this is certainly an intriguing combination. Jazz-funk legend Roy Ayers joining forces with masters of contemporary jazz, Kyoto Jazz Massive, is in itself something to savour. Last year’s ‘Get Up’ collaboration was predictably brilliant, and here, UK broken beat craftsman Kaidi Tatham takes the controls with a pair of sublime reworks. But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there.

Over on the other side, Christian Franck and Patrick Forge combine under their Da Lata alias to work their magic into ‘This Feeling’, completing what amounts to an essential release for lovers of modern jazz wonderment. The original versions of both tracks first appeared on KJM’s ‘Messages From A New Dawn’ LP last year, a pair of highlights from a roundly enjoyable collection from the wildly talented Okino brothers. Tatham weaves the burnished instrumentation over a trademark scattered rhythm, his broken drums propelling the densely orchestrated blend of Ayers’ unfathomably nimble vibes, sumptuous piano, feel-good vocals and more.

Da Lata’s take on ‘This Feeling’ is a more spacey affair, with fluid synth lead meandering over a soothing bed of Brazilian-led instrumentation as the optimistic vocal powerfully lifts the spirits. Instrumental versions of both interpretations are included for a subtly more subdued mood, with each standing up rather well despite the absence of the forceful vocal leads.

PC

Kouslin – Patterns (Livity Sound) 

After coming through to wider attention during Livity Sound’s prolific run of releases in 2020, Kouslin returns to Pev’s label with a new EP of wide-eyed variations on this ill-defined zone of club experimentation. There’s an instant hit of something different at work as ‘Why Don’t You Don’t’ fires up on a mutant dancehall pulse, calling to mind the sound Equiknoxx mapped out on their albums for DDS. It’s interesting to note how London-based Kouslin approaches the style compared to a crew very much bedded into Jamaican music culture – there’s no sense of Kouslin trying to make actual dancehall, but rather absorbing and processing the tempo and crooked rhythm and using it as a framework for his own bizarro sound design meditations.

As is apparent once ‘Five Four’ kicks into gear, the interest for Kouslin at this point lies in toying with rhythm and groove. There’s a feast for the ears in the snatched figures of synth, samples and percussion up top, but it’s the sharp attack of the beat which makes the time signature referenced in the title land so effectively. It might confuse the body movement of a 4/4-conditioned crowd much like the half step throb of dubstep did in the early days, but the shift in meter instantly feels refreshing.

‘King’ returns to the lower-slung pressure of dancehall, this time with a leaner sound palette which lets the bass come through in no uncertain terms. It’s a chance to observe Kouslin’s flexibility, leaving the many-layered sound design flex to one side to deliver something more minimal for the dance. Meanwhile ‘Michael’ flips the script once again with its more prominent melodic figures which call to mind some of the synthier cuts in Livity’s catalogue overall. Given the many-sided nature of the label, it’s never going to be easy for an artist to sum up what it’s all about in four tracks, but intentionally or not Kouslin comes very close.

OW

Cloud – Visions (Backatcha)
Swindon’s finest are once again on the receiving end of some well-deserved re-issue treatment here, with Backatcha once again shining light on long-lost material crafted by the mythical Brit-funk outfit, Cloud.

Back in 2021, the label pulled off a master stroke by inviting Ge-Ology to remix arguably the band’s most sought-after cut, ‘All Night Long’. This time, both the Cloud line-up and the sound are markedly different while maintaining a distinctive UK funk flavour, with an all-new electro palette combined with the familiar soul-infused instrumentation that characterises the group’s small-but-delightfully-formed catalogue.

Recorded in 1983, it was recorded just two months prior to the Cloud’s final release ‘Steppin Out’ and featured an almost completely new set of players. Shelley Law rides in on lead vocals, with Mark Mansfield on bass, Mitch Keene on guitar and Mike Allen on keys, while Alan Bateman hits especially hard with some serious solo sax moves. Cloud’s original drummer Paul Holmes keeps the groove in check, while producer Alan Osborne provides the glue in the form of some inspired studio wizardry.

While a stripped version of the track was previously released on the ‘Designed For Dancing Volume One’ compilation, this is the first time it’s received a single release, presented here in four subtly distinct versions. The ‘Starlight’ mix ripples with the gentlest of futurist intentions thanks to raw drum machine hits and spacey synth textures, all the while rooted in glorious funk heritage thanks to rolling bass, free-flowing sax and soothing Rhodes chords as the carefree vocal floats across the groove. The ‘Glimmer’ mix is an instrumental interpretation, while the ‘Moon Glow’ version leans heavily into electro-funk, taking its lead from the sounds of David Joseph, Man Parrish and Nucleus that were permeating the airwaves when ‘Visions’ was recorded. Finally, the ‘Moon Rock’ version maintains the raw electro vibrations while dispensing with the vocal, allowing the glistening orchestration ample room to flourish as the impactful arrangement unfurls.

Already proving irresistible among the usual, dusty-fingered suspects, this is an absolute must for all the self-respecting diggers out there.

PC

Kishi Bashi – Room For Dream (reissue) (Joyful Noise)

Kishi Bashi, the acclaimed one-man loop wizard and beatbox/violin mastermind, returns with a reissue of his debut, ‘Room For Dream’. Harking back to the artist’s origins in 2011, not every artist manages to make their output so consistently great, but Bashi was one of the rare few whose talent was evident from the beginning. He’s a skilled multi-instrumentalist and composer who blends a colorful palette of genres including indie-pop, classical, and folk.

‘Room For Dream’ could just as easily find itself on the West End as it could on the indie snob’s tape deck, but that’s besides the point. Fans of Dear Laika or Animal Collective will be floored. Intricate layers of violin, guitar, and percussion – all played by Bashi – unfurl over the course of just four pieces, producing a jolly but surreal mood in which we’re not quite sure whether we’re listening to a loop or a live section.

‘Manchester’ establishes the EP’s lyrical free-association, immediately launching into such odd tirades as “wrote a novel, cos everybody likes to read a novel, it started with a word, and started pretty well, about a rare and fragile bird, I couldn’t even spell… I found the last page in the sky.” Pastoral and flat-earth themes follow on ‘Bright Whites’, with Bashi singing “you and me at the edge of the world” as a skippy, double-time neofolk progression of drums and guitar sweeps us off our feet.  Continue on, and you’ll find much of the same, but it gets weirder and more odelike towards the end.

Whatever the case, this is a sonic wonderland, firmly rooted in pop sensibility and naff charm. Plus, this reissue comes packed with a bonus 7″ vinyl featuring two previously unreleased tracks, adding to the appeal of this already delightful album.

JIJ

Atom TM – Nacht (Raster Media)

You can always count on Uwe Schmidt to deliver his music with a thought-provoking purpose. Sometimes it’s arch and playful, other times quite compelling, and in the case of this new EP on Raster, it feels like the seasoned pro is saying something significant within the patterns and sequences of his techno. Of course such approaches rely on some kind of textual framework, and Nacht is presented “with the growing meta-techno dancefloor in mind”, so as these tracks unfold we’re imaging the surreal virtual spaces where some might well be choosing to cut loose and experience electronic body music.

Schmidt has turned his hand to so many styles over the years, it’s futile trying to place the production in the context of his other work. Instead, it’s more useful to consider how he’s rendered the idea and experience of the meta-techno dancefloor. In its motorik 4/4 movement, this is absolutely techno, nodding a little to Schmidt’s industrial roots in its steely palette. What is interesting is that he’s made tracks less reliant on the well-worn tropes of thundering kicks and hi-hats which are required on a soundsystem in a physical space.

On ‘Selbst’, for example, there’s barely any bass in the mix and yet the gated vocal interference, squashed sawtooth stabs and insistent upper-mids churn create all the energy you expect from a lean and mean banger. It would leave something of a vacuum in the fabled halls of Berghain, but perhaps in headphones while flailing around a Minecraft party it gives the energy rush without feeling too stimulating?

Schmidt is an expert at raising questions with his music, and so it goes on this artful EP of what we might well call meta-techno.

OW

This week’s reviewers: Patrizio Cavaliere, Martin Hewitt, Oliver Warwick, Ben Willmott, Jude Iago James.