The Predatory Wasp
This is exactly the vibe I need for today. Unhurried, gentle melodies bubbling over warm pads alongside soft 8-bit bleeps and the occasional purred ‘yeah’. Like Boards of Canada without even a shred of existential angst. Taken from Khotin’s new album Release Spirit which landed last week on Ghostly.
A lot of good music has been released today, but nothing excites me more than Keep Up The Good Work, the new album from Danish group Lowly. I love their previous two LPs, and on first listen it sounds like this new one is keeping the bar just as high. Happen is vintage Lowly, with warm, haunting melodies and Soffie Viemose’s distinct vocal becoming ever more anguished as it progresses.
https://bellaunion.ochre.store/release/338316-lowly-keep-up-the-good-work
Taken from Tennis’s sixth album Pollen, Forbidden Doors is absolutely brilliant: gently propulsive and instantly hooky, with some really beautiful melodies half-hidden under its hazy sheen.
https://www.crashrecords.co.uk/products/tennis-pollen-pre-order
It’s Valentine’s Day, so what better way to spend it than by cooking yourself an enormous steak and listening to Caroline Polachek’s deeply romantic new album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You. I know that’s what I’ll be doing. It’s only a matter of time before Pitchfork inevitably names this Best New Music, so get it now while it’s HOT.
Six(!) years after her last LP, Raven finally landed today. To quote Loraine James: “It’s Kelela day today, don’t talk to me about anything else”
I have so few accurate reference points for this kind of stuff that I’m not even going to bother trying to relate it to anything: I just kinda like it, ok. Pitchfork says it’s post-punk, so I guess that’s about right.
This probably isn’t the kind of thing you want to listen to as you roll into the first weekend of February, but this collaboration between ambient experimental electronic titans Loscil and Lawrence English is just too good to ignore, sorry about that. This is taken from their new album Colours Of Air which is out today, with track titles tracks “named for the hue each piece suggests – from the gauzy levitational miasma of Yellow to the pulsing melancholic mirage of Violet to the seething twilit sandstorm of Magenta.” I don’t know about all that, but it’s inescapably excellent.
You have three days left to download Dean Blunt’s new EP via the Wetransfer link he made available out over the weekend. Clocking in at less than eight minutes, Give me a moment features five new original tracks, including PRESSED. His ability to create and rapidly exit a vibe remains unparalleled.
It’s arguably a touch early to make this call, but: Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here is the album of the year. It’s incredible! And the opening track, the BLACK semihole encapsulate everything that’s great about it, moving from Steve Lacy-esque funk rock to Echoes-era Pink Floyd, complete with mid-song tempo shift. Time will tell whether I’ve been grossly premature – and to be fair I’ve only listened to it twice – but for now, this is the album by which all others should be judged.
https://lilyachtyshop.com/products/lets-start-here-digital-album
First single from a forthcoming split EP alongside Nick León on worldwide unlimited. I wondered if I would have liked this if it wasn’t by old Peezy. Guess I’ll never know. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The Predatory Wasp 