The reason A Future Animal restarted was down to Daniel Lopatin rehashing Chris de Burgh into a looped-out glow of electronics. Betamaxx, therefore, were always going to find a place close to my heart. Sure, giving themselves the title of ‘chillwave’ may not do them many favours. But look past the tag and you’ll see a far more honest homage to the oh-so-everpresent nostalgic aesthetic than most. “Charlotte Wants To Dream” was the first track to emerge from the Newcastle duo (sometimes trio) before a collaboration with Echo Shade came to fruition. A gloriously chill one it was too. But Betamaxx (good god *ahem*) may just outlast many of their web peers. It’s a year old already! So 2k10/11.
Very few things moved me this year as much as Slime’s debut EP ‘Increases’. It managed to create some sort of meteorological catharsis by battling the warmth of organic instruments trying with the synthetics of computer samples, all the while trying to convey a romantic heart. It did so. Very well. The young Brixton-based Will Archer has now release his first bit of music since that EP release with this, ‘Draw In’. Using his oboe skills to full effect once more, the track is vintage Slime (if there can be such a thing just yet). It’s video partner, however, is the real standout as a beautifully shot montage of decidedly creepy puppet movements in an autumnal haze march by its side.
OK, so everyone misses Sleigh Bells. TV Colours obviously do. It may be a wanton comparison to make, but on hearing their debut tracks, the Australian maestro ‘Bobby Kill’ would probably be the first to admit the influence. But the distorted sloppiness of ‘Heavy Metal Sleeve Skies’ is kind of impossible to not find some kind of charm in. Whether it be the shredded Distillers-esque riff, the instrumental headbang of an ending or its general ‘Frat Party Chic’, TV Colours could easily offer up the same alcohol-soaked good times as their cross-pacific peers.
The ideal of the instrumental has, arguably, had a bit of a tarnished name since the heyday of post-rock. But Eachothers seem content with their fleeting look back at Godspeed’s more tender side. They actually sit somewhere between a downtrodden Moricone and Noah Lennox’s pickups, from the sound of it. ‘Brim’ comes like the end of a disheartening sci-fi epic, as twinkling keys and guiar noise are lost in a vacuum of something far more overpowering. It may sound escapist, but such sonic obviousness is never what it seems.
Like a cascade of broken Fisher Price toys tumbling towards a chasm, Inkships has created a late-in-the-year bedroom anthem that would top many of his so-called peers’ efforts. Coming from an ever-more-affluent Manchester scene, ‘Cassettes’ lifespan is all too short given the sweet textures he creates. Melancholic vocals wrap themselves tight around a pretty simple pop melody, but making it work is a challenge that few have done with this much aplomb on their debut streams (who needs proper releases anymore, hey?). .
Final post for the day / night / month / year / lifetime, and it comes from an immense tip from the ever brilliant Music Fan’s Mic in the form of The Soft. At once exhaling with dischordant vocal patterns and baiting with swift switches in electronic style, it’s the introduction of the guitar - the creeping mistress to its synthetic partner’s beat - that brings the melee to a blissful state. By the time the strings manipulated resonance swim atop the disintegrating drive of the song’s ending, there’s wondrous, sated relief. Oh, that and a free EP worth of the stuff (‘Hot Summer’) to download from their Bandcamp.
Another that has been covered to the hilt, but an undeniably exciting tack from Dylan Baldi aka Cloud Nothings. Given the upbeat, light hearted slack of his record from earlier this year, it’s even more surprising. Maybe this cathartic change in tone from his debut has been welded out of his work with Steve Albini (yes, he of In Utero production/Shellac fame, yadda yadda). Regardless of any of the gumpf though, ‘No Future/No Past’ offers the kind of heartfelt lurch towards a crescendo The Paper Chase are adored for. Dark, oddly monotonous and oddly obsessive.
No Pain In Pop are, without a doubt, one of the finest UK labels around. Seeing their blog return recently only went to emphasise just how their slant on alternative sounds is just one step above the rest. Emerging from the ether of the blog’s resurrection was Ukkonen - a Finish producer apparently already lauded for his take on ‘house expressionism’. Already roped in to rework the formidable electronics of patten, ‘The Barbarian’ is as startling as its Google image search implies. Like Emeralds breaking free from folded arms pacing towards Berghain, it’s an oscillation of emotive soundscapes turning from comforting to arresting in perilously sudden movements.
“So, you’ve all heard it? Right, what should I do? I mean, those drips sound like they have been stuck in that cave for decades. She sounds really lonely, and pretty angry. Can’t be alone in thinking that this isn’t just some normal angst? It’s feverous.”
This is Female Band. Deservedly given the seal of approval from our friends at Lost Lost Lost a good while back. It sounds like the forelorn former partner of Forest Swords after fleeing over the Atlantic. Mesmerising and intoxicating, but torn and listless. Another one for the broken.
This isn’t about going forward. At all. It’s about resolution. This is Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never and one half of Ford and Lopatin) as Sunset Corp. A guise he took way before the masses of journalistic hyperbole were thrown his way for his new projects. A sit down and listen to his recent RBMA lecture (via Dummy Mag) led me here. But I can’t seem to stop going back. There is a mausoleum of gold sitting on the Sunset Corp YouTube channel - it’s kept up to date, but more as an archive than a profile. This here is only two and a half minutes of a music. It is essentially a drawn out romantic slur resting with an endless 16-bit, visual path. But it is the most hypnotic, tender and emotive cycle I have heard in a long while (days). I am besotted.
