The Predatory Wasp
I never heard New Mexican Stargazers’ 2021 album Highway Dreamscape, but I’m reliably informed it was one of the year’s best. Menu is taken from their new release Alternate Soundtrack To: B-Jeweled: a sprawling, near two-hour collection of crushed pop and ambient soundscapes that sounds like the Blade Runner soundtrack as reimagined by The Caretaker.
https://newmexicanstargazers.bandcamp.com/album/alternate-soundtrack-to-b-jeweled
Washington, D.C.-based hip-hop artist Raw Poetic’s album Laminated Skies landed last week, and I’m hooked. Backed by Damu The Fudegmunk on drums and percussion and host of other musicians all contributing the record, he’s created a body of work that sits somewhere between the classic hip-hop sounds of the 80s and early 90s, and the dreamier, more abstract structures of artists like Dean Blunt. Nowhere are these qualities more perfectly brought together than in the final track Cadillac; a fittingly sublime end to a remarkable album.
I had a sudden epiphany halfway through listening to Croatian Amor’s new album Remember Rainbow Bridge. “Jesus christ – he’s Traumprinz!” He’s not, obviously, but listening to the yearning, nostalgia-inducing tones of Young Adult, Common Nettle – with its billowing synths and samples of ravers waxing lyrical about life in a drug-induced moment of existentialism “‘You don’t have to wait for death to experience ecstasy”), I hope you’ll forgive me for momentarily thinking I’d cracked the Greatest Enigma In The History of Electronic Music ™.
I loved Harkin’s self-titled 2020 album, so it’s fantastic to hear new music from her – especially when it’s this good – alongside the announcement of a new LP Honeymoon Suite, due out in June. Leaning heavily into the synths and self-producing for the first time, Body Clock is full-blooded and evocative, its glacial electronics exploding into life in its final third. Also, the video is ace, with a 90s video-game aesthetic that makes me want to go and play the original version of Flashback all over again.
Read our interview with Harkin here.
I played this to my daughter at the weekend, fully expecting us to bond over its easily accessible hooks and soft-focus melodies and after a couple of minutes she looked at me and said “This is ok, but let’s listen to something else”. What a dick! It’s much better than ok. But then maybe I’ve been sucked in by the Carpenters-evoking cover art and the fact that it was really warm and sunny when I first listened to it. Anyway, you can judge for yourself. Turns out 6 year-olds really have no taste at all.
Fantazia came out on the brilliantly-named album Weaponised Serenity around six months ago, but aside from this piece from A Strangely Isolated Place I can’t find any coverage for it at all. Recorded by Dennis Huddleston under his 36 alias for the 9128.live label – which asks artists to push their creative boundaries by presenting new and experimental approaches to music creation – Weaponised Serenity is a joyous journey through Huddleston’s rave heritage, exploring both the deeply meditative qualities and drug-fulled hedonism of the rave, often within a single track.
Swedish techno duo SHXCXCHCXSH released their latest album Kongestion earlier this month, and it’s mostly brutal, terrifying listen: ominous and unforgiving, but also really, really good. Stio is the most ‘chilled’ track on there, but only because it’s devoid of the punishing drums employed elsewhere. It’s still deeply unsettling, but with just the merest hint of sunlight peeking through the gloom. I mean, just look at that photo of them. These guys are absolutely not fucking about.
One 4 Me is the first track on Yayoyanoh’s self-titled debut album, commencing 30 or so minutes of some of the silkiest, most atmospheric R&B I’ve heard for some time. Laid back flows and reverb abound, so if you’re into that kind of vibe you’re in for a treat.
For 30 minutes – ie 90% of its running time – Charli XCX’s new album CRASH is a crushing disappointment. Yes, there are good tracks on it: New Shapes, alongside alt-pop royalty Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek, and Baby are towering, bullet-proof pop records, but both of these were singles, so their inclusion isn’t exactly a cause celebre. The UK garage bounce of (also previously released) Beg For You leaves me completely cold, as does Good Ones, which comes across – to me at least – as uninspiringly one-note.
So what are we left with? A few meticulously produced, immediately forgettable tracks, and one complete abomination in the shape of Used To Know Me, which serves only to remind us why most people stopped ripping off Robyn S over a decade ago. And then, when all hope seems to be lost, we have album closer Twice, which is vintage Charli: introspective, yet effervescent pop which bangs hard and makes you cry at the same time. The hype train has clearly addled the critical faculties of more than one reviewer, but Twice demonstrates than when she’s on form, no-one does this kind of stuff better.
It’s been a long old time since I heard a straight up house track (or amapiano, as I’m reliably informed this should be classed) I enjoyed at much as this, which given my day job is a dispiriting state of affairs. Calling to mind Mr Fingers-era Larry Heard without directly aping it, it’s soulful and deeply relaxing, but with enough low-end throb to shake your chest. Stirring stuff.
The Predatory Wasp 