The Predatory Wasp
Shadi G is a classically trained Swedish songwriter, producer and singer who’s latest single Goddess pt. 1 sits somewhere between contemporary r&b and electro pop. The production is simple but extremely effective, with muted drums and hushed snares providing the perfect bed for her wonderful vocals, which remind me of NAO at times and Empress Of at others.
Kelly Moran and Prurient recently announced a split LP Chain Reaction At Dusk, with Helix III one of three tracks than Moran has contributed to the project. As with a lot of her previous work it sits somewhere between traditional classical composition and electronic experimentation, with whirling polyrhythms and glassy chimes creating a gently disorienting atmosphere. Be sure to check out the full release when it lands on Prurient’s Hospital Productions 04 December.
Considering the kind of completely unclassifiable music Oneohtrix Point Never usually crafts, a schmaltzy, vocoder-infused ballad – with The Weeknd no less – isn’t necessarily something you’d expect to find on his latest album. But then hasn’t this just been a year of the unexpected? No Nightmares is warm and wonderfully reassuring, and crackles with just enough weirdness to ensure you don’t think you’ve stumbled into the final moments of 80s school disco. And if you’re really not into it, you only need take a step in either direction on the album to be confused and slightly unsettled again.
There aren’t many artists who could pull together album features from Kid Cudi, Post Malone, Kanye West, Anderson .Paak, Thundercat, Nicki Minaj, Kehlani, Future, Young Thug, etc, etc – but Ty Dolla $ign is a Big Dog Indeed and ha$ done ju$t that. Honestly I haven’t enjoyed a rap album this much since Saint Jhn’s Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs (and I really, really enjoyed that), and even though it conforms to the now omnipresent rap trend of clocking in at over an hour and includes more tracks than seems reasonable, it never overstays its welcome, and actually just gets better and better. Time Will Tell is one of the few tracks with no features, but without doubt one of the strongest, with Ty rolling effortlessly over a subdued, hypnotic beat.
There’s a lot to enjoy on Ela Minus’s debut album acts of rebellion, which moves from the expansive experimental electronica of its opener through moody synth-pop and glassy ambient, all within its first few tracks. And then you get to dominique, which is a towering presence at around the album’s midpoint; one of those ‘woah’ moments that makes you double check what you’re listening to, knowing before it’s even finished that’s it’s going to be on hard repeat for quite some time to come.
This is taken from Call Super’s excellent new album Every Mouth Teeth Missing. I’ve always found Call Super’s music vaguely intimidating, for reasons I’m not entirely clear about, but whatever the reasons might be this is the first album I’ve got properly stuck into and I’m very glad I did. Pleasure For Pleasure is like two different tracks hammered together: the glitchy, video game-evoking bounce of the main rhythm section and the glassy pads that are occasionally permitted to break through more and more frequently until it all gels together into a satisfying mess of phased drums and white noise.
The second joint production by pianist Sebastian Knauer and the composer Arash Safaian, This Is (Not) Beethoven is an album made up of variations on themes from Ludwig van Beethoven, aiming to modernise the work of the classical musician to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth. More recently, the project was opened up to a number of remixers, among them Matthew Herbert, who provided this epic reworking of Adagietto. Patient, haunting and completely transfixing, it’s an incredible reimagining, and goes to show you really can remix anyone and anything, as long as you do it properly.
This is taken from Biig Piig’s latest EP Oh No / Liahr and is inspired by the fact that Jess Smyth often felt like her room was where she found the most solace: the place she’d retreat to if things got a bit too much. “When I get paranoid or anxious or upset, hiding away felt like the easiest thing to do. Which is mad, because then quarantine happened and that literally was the safest place to be.” It’s definitely a lot more reflective and downbeat than a lot of her breezy hip-hop tracks, but no less engaging, with Smyth creating an atmosphere that moves from the claustrophobia of the verses to the expansive redemption of the chorus.
Why stop at four aliases when you can just keeping making up new ones? DJ Healer / DJ Metatron / Traumprinz / Prince Of Denmark recently announced two double EPs under a new moniker, The Phantasy, and – obviously – it’s great. As usual it’s vinyl only and also as usual it sold out about in about a minute, however all the tracks are now up on YouTube. Usually I wouldn’t condone this kind of behaviour, but as this is the only way the 95% of us who love the music but aren’t prepared to pay insane prices on Discogs will ever get to hear it, I think it’s probably fine.
There’s also a new DJ Metatron album Loops Of Infinity (A Rave Loveletter) that I haven’t even had a chance to listen to yet, but I’m pretty confident will also be exquisite. I’ve said it before: what a time to be alive.
Gabrielle Current new single marks a bit of a departure from her previous glossy pop, and channels 90s R&B aesthetics to very enjoyable effect. Both the vocal and production are hazy and understated, gently rolling along without vying for your attention and creating a quietly beguiling, nostalgic atmosphere as a result.
The Predatory Wasp 