The Predatory Wasp
The latest single to be released from London-based jazz musician Ben Marc’s – the alias of Neil Charles – forthcoming album, Sometimes Slow is in a similarly impressive vein to last year’s collab with Midnightroba Breathe Suite A, swelling from relatively hushed beginnings to a final third that pulses with untamed vigour.
While the majority of us have been patting ourselves on the back for avoiding alcohol for an entire month, or looking at festival lineups with a curious mix of hope, anxiety and outright terror, Patricia Taxxon has already released two entire albums, the latest of which, Gloria, includes this soothing, glitchy gem. Her output is hard to keep up with, especially given the almost celebratory inaccessibility of some of it, but this is definitely one that hits the mark.
Vessels to Motherland are Danica Borisavljevic and Nikita Morozov, currently based in NYC and both classically trained musicians (piano and violin respectively) now exploring more electronic-orientated realms. Taken from their debut album MACHINE LIEDER which landed last week, this must be… draws on their classical heritage, melding organic instrumentation with subtle flourish of synth and glitchy percussion to create something rather striking.
In 2017 Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer traveled together to the Åland Islands (an archipelago that is host to around 6,500 islands) in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. The concept of recording music there came about as Honer & Chiu learned more and more about the islands and were taken by the serene and strange quality of the place. I’m much looking forward to Recordings from the Åland Islands (the album that came out of their time there) landing next month, as Stureby House Piano – the second single to the taken from the LP – is just lovely, and a perfect way to drift into the weekend.
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/recordings-from-the-land-islands
There’s something uniquely joyful about hearing an artist’s work for the first time, loving it, and then discovering they have an extensive back catalogue in which you’re destined to completely lose yourself for some time to come. Before this morning I had never heard of Turkish musician Ekin Fil, and now I am completely obsessed. Variously described as “drone-folk” (amazing) and “Grouper-adjacent” (reductive, but fairly accurate), her latest album Feelings is absolutely stunning, and Being Held is just sublime, ominous throughout until the merest fragment of distant vocal lets you know that everything’s going to be ok.
I tried pretty hard to like Mitski’s 2018 album Be The Cowboy, returning to it several times especially after Pitchfork lost their shit about it so spectacularly. It always felt like hard work though and ultimately never clicked, but given how everyone else loved it it’s probably my problem, all of which makes me especially pleased to report that I absolutely love her latest Laurel Hell which came out last week. An effortless joy from start to finish, Stay Soft is an early highlight with bright, brisk drums and soaring, sun-drenched chords.
Just listen to those drums! They are truly incredible: so much energy and raw angst, and when paired with the restrained huskiness of Yanya’s vocal and the late addition of distorted guitars – with melodies reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins – it’s hard to tell whether it’s 2022 or 1992, but it really doesn’t matter as this is SO FUCKING GOOD.
Neil Foster continues to establish himself as one of my favourite new musical discoveries: at least, new to me, as the ambient-focussed Irish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist has been putting music out for a few years now. Trawalua – named after, I’m assuming, the dramatic shores of Trawalua Strand – is warm and expansive, and does that thing of sitting somewhere between hope and deep melancholy that I’m especially drawn to.
Nope that’s not a typo: it’s really spelt ‘twoards’, which gives some indication of the approach Vegyn has taken on his new mixtape, Don’t Follow Me Because I’m Lost Too!! – as if he banged out the titles in 10 seconds and just thought ‘fuck it that’ll do’. Of course there are Aphex comparisons – not least in the inclusion of the track BPMs – but the entire project has an unpolished, ramshackle vibe that I’m really into and sets it in its own distinct space.
Lady Wray released her long-awaited album Piece Of Me last week, and thankfully it’s a banger, the only drawback being that if you’ve kept up with the run of singles over the last couple of years, you’ve already heard half of it, including a lot of the best tracks. There’s still some previously unreleased gold in there though like opener I Do, and if you’re completely new to her music you’re in for an intensely soulful treat.
The Predatory Wasp 