The best new singles this week

by Juno Daily on 30.03.2023 at 17:12pm.
Last edited: 31.03.2023 at 15:40pm.

Our writers give you the heads up

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Eddie Fowlkes is a Detroit icon and one of the originators of techno outright. ‘Forever’ is a great example of his straight-up no-fluffery: four tracks of new steeze, all of which resist any indulgence in high concept or background in favour of simply delivering the goods.

In house music of late, there’s been a slow move towards a wonky, clean and textural sound, harking back to a time where we could’ve sworn said sound was all the rage and anything less would’ve been sacrilege. It was only a couple of weeks ago that we gushed over the latest posthumous release by Boston artist DKMA, thanks to its contemporary quality (even though the tracks were made in the late 90s and early 00s, and were simply restored from tape). Fowlkes, by contrast, has only moved into this kind of hi-fidelity sound over the past five years or so, with his earlier material favouring city-slicking, sci-fi, action-drama rough cuts – not sultry swing.

‘Forever’ is a plodding piece that nails the feel of ‘cool’ in trak form. Some elements (the main beat and topper) are unswung, while some (the lead stab) are incredibly swung, and the tension seems to nail a kind of mastery: the self-assuredness that comes with freedom of choice. Air raid sirens and sexual whispers pepper the mix, again layering a cool sense of ambivalence, war and peace. The rough and scratchy timings continue on ‘Shake Your Hips’, with a dissonant low synth signalling that this is a mid-rave fire-fueller: these are dream-states in the dance, not rambunctious opening statements. A Paul Johnson-esque vocal blares out early on: “it’s so easy for you to move, baby, now follow me…” Then an unusual lean-in to jackin’ soul-sampling house appears on ‘What About Us’, sounding like what would happen if Fowlkes were to give Storm Queen a run for his money. ‘Nice’ is nice too, opting for minimalism to reflect a simple pique of emotion. Fowlkes clearly knows how to access the rarer recesses of feeling in house music.

JIJ

Rune Lindbaek / Helene Rickhard – Fiero EP (Cosmic Oslo)

Coming from Rune Lindbaek and with a name like Cosmic Oslo, it feels like a fairly safe bet to assume that this intriguing new label project is going to be well worth keeping a close eye on. A titan of the kaleidoscopic world of Norse disco, Lindbaek has brought boundless joy to cosmically-inclined diggers throughout his storied career. Since emerging sometime around the (most recent) turn of the century, he’s delivered meta-disco pearls and Balearic curios on the likes of Disco Hamam, Norsk Tripping, and Smalltown Supersound as well as his Drum Island imprint. While his solo work is routinely engaging, collaborations with off-kilter production dons the Idjut Boys and Balearic hero Chris Coco have been richly rewarding, and his latest release once again sees him join production forces to beguiling effect. This time out, Lindbaek welcomes Nordic disco queen Helene Rickhard into the studio, and the results are nothing short of spellbinding.

Launching the ‘Fiero EP’ in gorgeously wobbly fashion is ‘Blodekjaer Rave’, where hallucinatory sonics set a decidedly tripped-out tone for what’s to follow. Freaky sweeps and spooky textures are blended over rumbling bass, with precise disco drums forging a tempo through the thick audio fog as weirdo melodies echo over the panorama. Next, continuing the mysterious atmospherics is the ‘Fiero’ title track. Determined bass powers the groove as yet more disorienting motifs and grainy effects drift across glitchy beats, with eerie vocals permeating the evolving twilight mood. Over on the other side, ‘Hubris’ takes us on a deep dive into wigged-out Balearica, with slow-mo rhythms powering intricate harmonics as they ripple over throbbing bass, with delicate vocals whispers adding suspense while tight drums keep the heads downtempo. Finally, the ambient haze of ‘Julemix’ sees dense synth waves rising over distant vocals, closing the hyper-atmospheric EP in a fittingly disorienting style.

The Don – The Don EP (The Don)

There may be many dons in the world of house music, but this Don is surely one of the kings of the lower underground, operating only in the darkest recesses of said musical tunnel system. Legend has it that the producer behind this EP is Marvin/Marvyn Don – a supremely obscure minimal house and techno artist operating in the UK in the early noughties.

Affiliated with the likes of LilacRoad and Swag Records, The Don’s music has Croydon written all over it, from the sound to the manner of its original release. ‘The Don’ EP clearly originated as some kind of private press, having been licensed to the former label with little to no brand identity – yet it’s also one of those records that has somehow ended up on hundreds’ of collectors’ shelves over the years. Some deep Discogs sleuthing will reveal that Marvin himself has an account, and commented on the master release page that he was looking for a copy.

Marvin’s cry for help – “Yes this is me just wish I had a copy, Regards Marv” – highlights an unfortunately common divide between artists and releases, where at the small scale, there’s often not enough commercial incentive for artists to keep just one record of their own. It’s stories like these that spur distributors like Outside In to swoop in and save the day; now we the people, including Marvin, can hear the music once more in proper digitized form. Sonically, ‘The Don’ is as scratchy and legit as they come, with its four untitled tracks bearing the tonal cross of 2-step while structurally remaining stooped in techno. Playful whistles, massive drum-machine snare breakdowns, future science-lab undulations and icy pads make up most of its mixes, all while seeming to move as freely and quickly between ideas as oldschool breaks medleys. Except this isn’t breaks: this is techno, in the raw.

JIJ

Kasra V – Hyperdelic (Radiant Love)
Kasra V makes a welcome return to the new releases rack with his debut on Radiant Love imprint, serving four tracks alongside a tight remix on the ‘Hyperdelic’ EP. Tehran-born and London-based artist Kasra V made a promising start to his production career back in 2015, crafting a string of alluring EPs before dipping below the release radar in 2018. Five years on, and the NTS Radio alumnus lovingly referred to as the Persian Prince is very much back in the game, picking up where he left off and finding a fitting home on Byron Yeates’ relatively young but extraordinarily high-grade label. First up, ‘Voice Note To Self’ unfolds over lively breaks as oddball sound bites flit through the cavernous space. Mangled vocals add to the suspense, with grubby bass and sparse synth sweeps joined by ethereal pads as the groove persists.

Next, label boss Yeates joins Australian artist RozaTerenzi on remix duty, reforming ‘Voice Note To Self’ over slightly more robust rhythms that morph between breaks and determined four/four thrust. Very much in keeping with the original but with a touch more beef, the stripped sonics are expertly primed to come alive in the big room. The less-is-more aesthetic continues over on the B-side, with the spacious clicks and pops of ‘Vesper’ echoing over sinister bass notes and growling synths as distorted vocals drift in and out of focus. Dropping the tempo for a wildly enjoyable heads-down romp, the crisp drums and snarling synths of ‘Night Prime’ provide an intoxicating backroom moment, with freaky textures once again taking centre stage as melody again makes way for hallucinatory vibrations. Finally, completing an altogether nocturnal set, the wiggy waves of ‘Warm Up Great’ prove utterly absorbing, with gnarly sweeps and glitchy bursts intricately woven over raw breaks. It’s good to hear new work from Kasra V, and as we’ve come to expect, more faultlessly deviant material from Radiant Love.

Yorobi – Eden (Sneaker Social Club)

Dutch producer Yorobi makes her solo debut on the reliably rule breaking Speaker Social Club and quite a debut it is too. She’s by no means a new name though – the more eagle eared among this parish may have remembered her appearing previously, paired with Tim Reaper, and as well as regular visits to London’s alt jungle night Rupture and a prime position in her home scene of The Netherlands. Perhaps that’s why, as opening shots go, this comprehensive five track affair is more of a prolonged burst of machine gun fire than a single popgun bang.

‘Motherless Child’ opens the EP with melancholic piano twirls spiralling over light beats, like the jazz-inflected work of Waxdoctor only with choppier, more roughneck drums – the breakbeat switch up half way through is worth the purchase price alone. ‘Stabs’ is starker and more epic sounding, staccato dancehall percussion leading to an impressive Apache meltdown later on.

‘Model Patient’ takes the tempo down to the 140-ish area, leading up to a breakbeaty core with plenty of attention to detail and edits galore. ‘Rhode To Nowhere’ – see what she did there… – is another novel and original take on jungle aesthetics, as synths, bongos and raw breakbeats do their complex but effective stuff. The title track, meanwhile, is the most uncompromising of the lot, an almost entirely percussion-free sound design showcase, chugging chords providing the rhythmic momentum rather than beats.

Five very varied tracks that show Yorobi’s viewpoints on the genre of jungle all come from a position of knowledge and open-mindedness. She’s transferred her skills from decks to the studio most ably, and, naturally enough, we await the next installment with baited breath.

Patrizia Pellegrindo – Da Una Nuvola (Miss You)
More digger’s gold here from German label Miss You, the ever obliging team serving up a vintage slice of kitsch Italo gold in the form of Patrizia Pellegrino’s ‘Il Mondo Da Una Nuvola’. Originally released as the B-side of ‘Scusa Mi Ti Amo’, the music was produced by Roman musical maestro, Constantino Paolini, just one of a string of compositions he recorded featuring Italian movie star Pellegrino. Indeed, the featured singer is an out-and-out celebrity in Italy, adding TV personality to her glittering CV following a successful run on the silver screen. In keeping with much of the Miss You catalogue, copies of the original 7” are both rare and prohibitively expensive, making this lovingly remastered version a most worthy addition to the collections of the Italo-loving heads out there.

Polished and gently intergalactic the immaculately orchestrated music envelopes Pellegrino’s honeyed vocal, and while unquestionably a little on the poppy side, the track has more than enough cosmic charm and wide-eyed innocence to cement its holy grail status. Accompanying the original, a gently stretched ‘extended version’ adds to the allure, giving audiences more time to savour the sounds while allowing jocks a little more wiggle room between mixes. Probably best to grab this one while it’s hot.

Talking Drums – Vol 6 (Talking Drums)

We all love a bit of mystery, and the being or beings behind the edit-focused Talking Drums series certainly seems to enjoy injecting more than a little ambiguity into the lives of their listeners. Quite who’s responsible for the work is the source of much debate, quite possibly an unassuming salary person by day who becomes endowed with superhuman studio skills after sipping on a cup of disco juice, or, perhaps more likely, a well-known technician enjoying the freedom of producing behind a mask. In any case, the (rumoured to be) Manchester-based person/outfit is/are most certainly endowed with the goods when it comes to serving, what their ultra-vague bio refers to as, ‘music for the fringe class’.

In any case, ‘Vol 6’ is every bit as engaging as previous chapters, starting with the boogie synth bass, sexy vocals and cheerful horns of ‘Air Ecosse’, with its rap bursts and dreamy lead melodies gliding across the entirety of the A-side. On the flip, twinkling guitars and airy xylophone licks compliment the soul-rich vocals of the playfully titled ‘Too Yacht to Handle’, before the tempo drops via the bittersweet serenade of ‘Aorwaves’, another cheekily titled and gorgeously seductive edit bursting with saucer-eyed charm and gently psychedelic swagger.

UC Beatz – Orchid’s Wish (Heist Recordings)

Following releases on one of house music’s decade spanning big impact imprints, Classic Music Company, and the fresher but nonetheless excellent Razor ’n Tape, Entrepot Records bossman UC Beatz heads to Dam Swindle’s Heist for his next outing. At the risk of understating things, Orchid’s Wish is as engrossing as it is reassuring, confirming our suspicions about the producer’s talent, and alleviating any concerns about dance music’s ability to continue keeping things fresh without ignoring its pre-requisite repetition.

Resolutely house, the five tracks here give short thrift to the idea that at the centre of any genre is a fixed one-dimensional sound. There are certainly running themes — the use of top percussion is particularly on point throughout, creating constant forward energy while navigating upfront and deeper avenues. And beneath, the drums are all the kind that seem to find a little bit extra just when you thought you’d had it all. Nevertheless, from the thump, basic organ riff, and vocal hook of ‘Blu Thang’, to the smooth sunset hues of ‘Free’, and the title track’s timeless filtered loop, the EP is packed with what you might call useful tracks, but each one can and will stand out within a set.

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