Our One On One feature has been on a slight break over the past year – but our record collections haven’t gotten any smaller. The idea originally started as a means to shine some light on camouflaged gems, rare undiscovered B-sides and decade-old tracks that we thought could slip their way into sets amongst some […]
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I told Wayne I was ready for the paper like Usher He said cool, sit back, stay away from busters Now Thug got the big (?), I am a gusher I am not the best but I am better than others Young Thug there on “Achieve” (from I Came From Nothing) at one of his many […]
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Throughout his four albums released on Miasmah under the moniker Kreng, Pepijn Caudron’s music has played on the tension between intense, ominous drone and more “light” – even pretty, modern classical motifs. When delicate bell tones occasionally break through the murk of sombre violin strings and mournful piano, the affective impact of one is made more […]
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It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since Berlin resident Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf provided us with the fifth edition of our Functions of the Now series. There we were given a taster of what Biberkopf does. As Tobias put it so succinctly “JGB works with Jersey and grime most prominently – yet smothers them […]
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So many rnb remixes/refixes/edits from people that don’t even like rnb. — Mr Mitch It must be easy to take apart a track that means nothing to you, chopping up lyrics and ad libs until they become little more than empty signifiers; Cassie’s heavy breathing little more than a hint at sensuality, an Ashanti hook a play […]
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It feels like surprise release drops have been the talk of major labels town ever since Beyoncé’s self-titled tornado tore through social media, towards that increasingly rare thing – actual album sales. Even though Beyoncé is hardly the first artist to have gone down that route (though she may have been the first to successfully […]
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While it’s unfortunate that we’ve had to wait four months for a new release from the Vancouver label ASL Singles Club, its founders Project Pablo and Heartbeat(s) made sure the wait was worth it. The label’s outstanding new EP resembles the quality to which we’ve held it since its inaugural single, but assembled with a rawer attitude. Perpetuating the quasi-less-is-more sonic […]
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If -ness denotes the quality, state or character of an abstract noun, then what is ond? An abstract abstraction, perhaps. An empty signifier, signifying nothing, on to which the reader can project whatever they so choose. Confounding meaning further is the title of the latest release from Bruno Silva’s ever-busy Ondness project, Them Corja, on […]
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If Truly Blessed was a departure from the excellent Life Of A Savage 3, SD’s latest mixtape sees him continue evading confinement to any particular style. Young Chop drinches the record here and there with splashes of intricate organ melodies, while “Amnesia”, produced by Zaytoven & Will A Fool, makes for a more unusual track than you’d expect […]
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For what seems like forever, there’s been that vague notion of “future” promulgated around and applied to modify existing forms like garage and house, or used in tandem with the all-encompassing bass. Instead of denoting characteristics that are cutting-edge, its implication—of vocal sampling conventions or texture parameters—has turned redundant, disparaging for some. Brooklyn producer Seafloor […]
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“Things were looking bad today / I didn’t know what to say / And the sirens are far away / But I never ever felt this way.” So ends “Crisis”, a B-side number from Jam City’s second album, Dream A Garden. The words, and the voice singing them, are Jack Latham’s own – a confirmation of the Night Slugs […]
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As observers of American label cum curatorial servicer Apothecary Compositions, it’s not at all surprising how we once again are presented with work from a producer who inhabits a junction of disparate modes. While being a “jack of all trades” may or may not be a promising qualification for some artists in this day, and […]
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