Search results: Intuition

Review: At one with nature and evolution - while challenging reductionist ideas like survival of the fittest - the artist known as Davina Adeosun-Bright, aka. Muva Of Earth, here presents her latest album on Brownswood, Align With Nature's Intelligence. A spiritual jazz opus full of confidence, it instantly recalls the historic trace of Alice Coltrane, Lonnie Liston Smith or Pharoah Sanders, as we hear the Muva effortlessly command every instrument at her disposal - from harp to voice - while staking impassioned claims to her femininity, ancestry and empowerment. Sonically, it's implied that the only way to achieve an "evolved thinking" is through a return to source, and that's done using seemingly endless beds of twinkly jazz shimmer, which form the backbone for progressive double bass, vocal and drum-brushed wildouts.

Review: Always brimming with partystarting energy, Brooklyn Funk Essentials' motto "funk is what you make it" has carried them for three decades. Coming up in Brooklyn and finding a local fanbase for their electricity on the big smoke's live stage, said electricity later translated to a deluge of full-length LPs showing off the best way to represent funk in the present day. Intuition is their latest album, released by fellow fun-lovers Doraodo. Reflecting a recent line-up change (Alison Limerick and Desmond Foster now pairing up on lead vocals) this project is boundlessly bouncy and confident, spanning bog-standard freak funk to headsier nods to styles like bossa nova and dub.

Notes: Two Of Cups - include samples in your live set. Two of them at once with a wide variety of CV-able features. Simply load one of 8 (!) banks each containing up to 24 samples for each of the two voices and off you go (unlock this feature with firmware 1.1!). Needless to say you can change the samples under CV and if needed - you can set up the trigger delay for each voice because that boy plays its sample so instantly and sample accurate with the with lightning speed. Breathe life and fresh sounds into your setup with a small footprint (6 HP) you would normally need to carry around a gazillion of gear to reproduce the sonic capabilities. Alternatively, use it the boring way and simply play drum one-shots off it.

2 voice intuitive sample player each containing 24 samples and organized in 8 banks

Zero-latency sample playback - directly from micro SD card

Factory sound-bank by Julia Bondar

On-board envelope generator decay control, pitch control with 1V/Oct input and sample selection control with meta cv input

Arbitrary sample rate: 8, 16 and 24 bit samples with 12 bit output bitrate

Power consumption:

125 mA +12V
20 mA -12V
0 mA 5V

Dimensions:

6 HP
30 mm deep

Review: Philip Sayce's highly anticipated new album, The Wolves Are Coming, is more powerful, unique, and brash than anything he has written or recorded to date. In Sayce's own words, the album came into focus during his darkest times, and represents a bridge - a connection between despair and hope - that invites broken spirits into transformation and healing. The likes of 'Oh! That Bitches Brew' and 'Backstabber' hit like hurricanes, while 'Lady Love Divine' explores light in contrast to darkness, deploying an uplifting, foot-stomping funk groove that lands its hooks in all the right places. Ballads like 'It's Over Now' and the magical instrumental 'Intuition' round out Sayce's signature fuzz tones and sledgehammer mountain- sized drum grooves with delicate, intimate, and dynamic performances.

Review: It's not always easy to keep up with the output of the relentlessly prolific Flaty, a core tenet of Moscow's Gost Zvuk as well as pursuing his own endeavours. From hard-edged experimentalism and dub-scuffed glitch to oddball ambient and wayward techno, he's a truly original spirit, and his new album continues that trend with yet another dimension to his sound. Intuitive Word is imbued with a strong pop and RnB slant which bleeds into the sample sources and the strong sense of melody, but still this remains a leftfield, compelling release for those with an experimental appetite. Quite how Flaty has squared off these contrasting forces is hard to express, but take a listen to 'Intension' with its tripped out beat and synth arrays shot through with vocal licks and you begin to get the picture. It's dope as hell and oh so sweet on top, like nothing else out there right now.

Review: One half of the former Ilian Tapes fixture The Zenker Brothers, Marco Zenker continues his solo adventures with 12 tracks of idiosyncratic techno productions. If you're looking for a comparison it's perhaps worth looking over the border to Vienna and the two fingers to convention shown by Cheap Records at their height. In similar style, the tracklisting sees lithe, dancefloor pleasers like 'Carefree' and edgily distorted 'Switch Stance' rubbing shoulders with the vintage drum machine-led dubbiness of 'The Tibet Terrier'. So, whether you're after maverick beats or something renegade and yet playable, it's all here waiting for you.

Review: The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound, to give its full title, is one of the less talked-about Jon Hassell albums, but it's just as worthy of celebration. The Fourth World pioneer and raga trumpeter had established his fundamental sound by the late 80s, and this album works so brilliantly as a demonstration of that sound in action. Hassell's distinctive treated trumpet remains the central focus, while undulating rhythms and atmospheres unfurl around it as we're quickly buffeted away to strange and distant places. The mood Hassell captured on his finest works is a rare and unique thing - intense and subtle, ominous and calming, mysterious and yet so immediately appealing.

Review: Lizard Label is a brand new American imprint that kicks off with the aim to "be that sunbathed rock, the artist to be the sun and the listener to be that lizard" and provide warm sounds to pock you in the moment. The first release is a notable one from Chicago-based artist Wav Fuzz who offers up a true electronic odyssey across six tracks on Sensing. These are sub-aquatic techno excursions, electro workouts and deeply immersive dubbed-out soundscapes for maximum cathartic impact. All the music is finely crafted which makes us all the more intrigued about who is behind this low-key alias.

Review: Do we really want to know What You Should Know About Yourself? There's a high chance we find out something we don't want to hear but alas, the NX1 duo poses the question anyway across a broad selection of techno sounds on 11 different tracks. The moods are often introspective and provide an opportunity to get lost in deep thought and challenge yourself. The dramatic ambient start makes way for crunchy drums and fizzing synth disruption on 'Based In Lies', then dark and hard drums define the monstrous menace of Polarized Soul' and industrial clatter brings the heat on the militant and marching grooves of 'Cosmos Inside You.' A fierce album of uncompromising techno.

Notes: Ultra-simple 16-step Eurorack CV sequencer with randomisation option and storage for up to 16 patterns. Straight to the point business, all in just 4HP of rack space.

Supplier notes:
Small, easy-to-program sequencers are a bit of a rarity. Vox Digitalis is our answer to this issue. With intuitive displays and simple controls, VD is perfect for all your pitch CV needs. Set your sequence length, dial in each note, randomize, save and load 16 sequences -- VD does all the stuff the big sequencers do, just in 4HP.

Review: Los Angeles by way of Milwaukee's DC Don's Funeral album was his third though it has never been available on vinyl, until now that is. The record features standout cuts like 'Hate Being Lonely,' as well as '12AM' and 'Hate The New You' all of which helped the album perform well and ultimate earn DC an inclusion in the 2023 XXL Freshman class. The 25 year old rapper DC is a vocalist with a great emotive range but also the power to and ability to switch up his rhyming so he always keeps you on your toes. Add in some percolating instrumentals and ethereal melodies and you have a fine album.