Amsterdam-based distributor Konkurrent couldn’t have facilitated a better match-up for their studio-jam series, In the Fishtank, granting grandly anguished San Diego chamber-poppers Black Heart Procession their wish to hook up with grandiose Dutch post-prog rockers Solbakken for the weepiest hoedown this side of Nick Cave. But not so fast…or sad, as it were. Yes, BHP lead singer Pall Zappoli’s growl-to-whine vocals battle Solbakken’s guitar screech on the tragic downtempo tango “Voiture En Rouge.” But we also find Zappoli bemoaning his pooch on the eminently silly “Dog Song,” and the collaborators concocting the strangely kinetic, 6/8-timed “A Taste of You and Me” and the almost spaghetti Western tenor of “Things Go On With Mistakes.” Now this is intriguing.
Hafler Trio Normally
Andrew McKenzie marks his 25th year as Hafler Trio with this follow-up to last year’s long drone piece, No Man Put Asunder. This gorgeously packaged album is supposedly based on words or vowels spoken by Einsturzende Neubauten’s Blixa Bargeld, but as usual with this kind of thing, backstory is secondary. Disc one comprises a cavernous, hour-long unnatural mantric roar with bits of high-register feedback that bide their time inaudibly in the background. The world of discernible sound seems to twitter in the maw of the piece until it’s all swallowed in a huge rumble 40 minutes in. Disc two’s hour is relatively more kinetic, working from slowly shifting, sustained mid-tone chimes to vocal chants to high-register peals to Blixa’s digitally stretched and twirled vocal. Meditative and massive.
DJ Virus Rude Sting Refix
Your man Virus takes another crack at his explosive debut for the West Beat Sound System’s label, and it pounds in a minimal and vertical style with a twanging bass note, relenting kick, eerie flute notes and shuffling snares. Raw and ugly for ya, as is the flip’s freakily named “Pancreas Kid.”
The Notwist Different Cars And Trains
Munich indie-scruff trio the Notwist are a lucky bunch, getting three of the tunes from their Neon Golden album from last year and a newie re-rubbed by the best of the left. Console tweaks the Belle & Sebastian tenderness of “Neon Golden” and “Pilot” with some 4/4 bwippiness, while Four Tet and Manitoba go all epic with the eight minute deconstructed electro/emo crunch of “This Room.” Loopspool ends things with a gorgeous dub of the title track, worth the price alone. Feel it.
Kode9 vs. Daddi Gee Sign Of The Dub/Spit
Hyperdub/Dubplate keeper Steve Goodman launches his Hyperdub imprint with two plates of minimalist UK grime arrangements wrapped around ultra-lethargic MC/spoken wordist Daddi Gee’s fathoms-deep voice. On the first slab, a throbbing bass tone, a semi-open hi-hat and the occasional eternally echoing dub chord are all that jab at Daddi’s recitation of Prince’s “Sign of the Times,” while half-time garridge fuels the spooky flipside, “Stalker.” “Spit,” the second record, finds Gee havin’ at Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome” in front of Goodman’s chunky, haunted skarage. Order this one up at ya shops.
Tim Xavier Scandalistic Endeavour
On the original, Xavier throws some echo-delayed high-register signal beeps into this heaving, unfolding bit of techno stomp; they augment both the twangy stabs and rhythmic rumble in the background. Bryan Zentz brings a cavernous, buzzing, bass-heavy remix on the flip. Heavy duty-this ain’t your big brother’s techno.
Wonder Cancer
Brassy and proud half-time bizzness on this one. Wonder gives you an almost heavy-metal kind of chug stuffed with laser bits, whispering female voices, stolid synth chords, and what sounds like a car engine turning over! Now that’s street.
Quant Tryin’
The Vienna-based Ecco Chamber label has cemented a well-earned reputation during its short existence. “Tryin'” by Swedish don Jonas Quant is soulful and warm, aided nicely by Ernesto’s vocals, and Brighton’s Quantic and Rotterdam’s Gerd step in with unique interpretations. Also check “Chills N’ Thrills” here, with Jazzinho’s Guida de Palma crooning over Quant’s signature funk. With Quant’s second album in tow, look for the father of Gonkyburg to leave skid marks in his wake.
Murr Girl Gone West
From Toronto comes Murr, collaborating with Rustic Hut for this EP from PTR. Broken future soul pervades “Fall Apart,” taking its deep flow in the right ways. “Watching You” gets heavier on the beats, with deep synth bass that funks the tune up into a floor-stomper, while “See You Again” goes the broken beat route with syncopating rhythm, tough basslines and a touch of sonic ambiance. Toronto gets its groove on, dontcha know!
Random Factor Convergence
Electro master Carl Finlow’s latest album marks the 100th release for well-respected UK house imprint 20:20 Vision, and what a glimmering, tongue-in-cheek celebration it is. Convergence is less hands-in-the-air than hands-down-your-pants, full of tronic funk and pop lock that gets boiled down to a restrained liquid latex groove. “After The Tone” is gorgeous, burbling, early morning 4/4, for when everyone but you and your lover has left the floor. “Convergence” plays like an elegy for Construction Time Again-era Depeche Mode, full of somber New Wave vocals and minor-key synths, but Finlow also finds time for happier numbers like the sashaying and shant»-ing “Move On.” Delicious computer house for Luomo fans and lithe dancefloor mavens.
