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Music

Katie Dey – Closeness

Closeness is taken from mydata, the fourth album from Australian artist Katie Dey: an intimate electronic album about an ‘internet relationship” in which Dey’s vocals are more often than not partially buried, emerging twisted, hushed and barely audible from beneath layers of winding static, triumphant strings, or whatever other musical textures she’s thrown at the canvas. Closeness is short, barely clocking in over two minutes, but packs a huge punch: a sincere and incredibly moving minimalist ballad.

https://katiedey.bandcamp.com

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Yo La Tengo – James gets up and watches mourning birds with Abraham (Wednesday)

Yo La Tengo’s latest release is the five-track ambient drone piece We Have Amnesia Sometimes, recorded with a single microphone placed in the middle of the trio. Not that you can necessarily tell that it’s been recorded in this relatively unorthodox way, although there is definitely an all-encompassing quality to the music here; guitars are gently twanged at random, or left to drift endlessly into meandering waves of static and reverb. James gets up… is probably the stand out, and certainly the dreamiest and most relaxing, but it’s worth committing yourself to the album’s half an hour or so running time, and becoming one with the majesty and awesomeness of the cosmos, dude.

https://yolatengo.com

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Music

Chevel – Crush

It’s a question I’ve asked before on this blog, but how can something this good get some little attention? I mean obviously I know: people have precious little time and for some people trawling through every record releases in a given week isn’t (shockingly) what gets them out of bed in the morning. But still. At time of writing Crush is currently sitting on two (2!) views on YouTube, and though it’s faring a little better on other streaming platforms, it’s deserving of way, way more people knowing about it as it’s literally better than 99% of music I’ve heard this year. So come on people – GET ON THIS. Oh yeah, and it’s kinda glitchy, hyperactive, bassy techno/breaks etc (you know, that vibe).

https://soundcloud.com/chevelmusic

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Music

Becky and the Birds – Paris

Becky and the Birds is the solo project of Swedish artist Thea Gustafsson, and someone I first came across via her eponymous 2018 debut EP, which is still one I go back to regulalrly. Paris is taken from her new EP Trasslig, which roughly translates from the Swedish “entangled, messy, intricate”, which neatly sums up the vibe across the seven tracks it contains. As on much of her work, her voice on Paris is extraordinary, hitting high notes that transcend traditional vocals and become strange, eerie textures floating above sparse, otherworldly production.

https://www.beckyandthebirds.com

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Music

Jessy Lanza – Over And Over

Amid the mania of a surprise-released Taylor Swift album, thank fuck for the understated brilliance of Jessy Lanza’s new electro-inflected pop LP All The Time. There’s so much to enjoy here – not least the wide-eyed effervescence of lead single Lick In Heaven – but Over and Over is my pick: a driving, delicate, happy, sad, restrained banger. How’s that for a bunch of contradictions? Whatever, I’m standing by it.

https://jessylanza.bandcamp.com

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Music

The Transcendence Orchestra – Hinge Caterpillar

I’m only two tracks into The Transcendence Orchestra’s new album Feeling The Spirit, and it’s already a pretty overwhelming experience. Sometimes ambient music can wash over you: enjoyable, but not necessarily something you’re paying much attention to. Hinge Caterpillar manages to be both deeply relaxing and compellingly intense: an experience that grips you throughout, albeit with a touch so delicate you feel as if you could be cast adrift at any moment.

https://thetranscendenceorchestra.bandcamp.com/

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Music

Squarepusher – Midi Sans Frontières (Avec Batterie)

Squarepusher is a gaping and frankly quite embarrassing hole in my musical knowledge. I’ve basically thought of him as a “bit like Aphex Twin” for years, without really bothering to delve into his sprawling back catalogue. This is often the case with artists who have a huge body of work behind them: it can feel intimidating and somewhat overwhelming without an obvious point of entry. However his last album Be Up A Hello was listed highly in the Quietus’s always excellent best albums of the year so far list, so I thought this was as good a time as any to get stuck in.

Midi Sans Frontières (Avec Batterie) is actually from his more recent Lamental EP, and it’s brilliant: spine-tingling synths slowly arcing over tranquil breakbeats. So now it’s just the small matter of 16 albums to wade through and I’ll be fully Pusher-literate. Wish me luck.

https://squarepusher.net

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Music

Jackie Lynn – Control

Control is the final track on Jackie Lynn’s (aka Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr) latest album Jacqueline, and it’s a pretty phenomenal way to wrap up the 30 minutes or so of eclecticism that precedes it. Ranging from electro-inflected punk to soaring, ethereal folk to out-and-out pop, it’s a disorienting experience of being flung from one genre to another without the slightest bit of warning. And then there’s Control, an epic, grandiose finale that’s both fragile and foreboding, and a fitting end to a hugely ambitious release.

https://jackielynn.bandcamp.com/album/jacqueline

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Music

ML Buch – I’m A Girl You Can Hold IRL

This is taken from Skinned, the new album from Danish artist ML Buch: an electro-pop-ambient hybrid that’s unpredictable, hugely creative and a highly recommended listen. For the majority of its fairly short running time I’m A Girl You Can Hold IRL is nothing more than a vocal and a gentle twanging synth line, before rich, poignant pads rush in for the final quarter, somehow bringing everything that’s come before into even sharper focus.

https://mlbuch.bandcamp.com

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Music

Faded Paper Figures – Bones

The lead single and opening track of Salt Lake City synth-pop trio Faded Paper Figures’ new album Kairos, Bones is a glossy, effervescent joy. A song about “the history and culture of skateboarding” according to the band, and inspired by sad, trashy cityscapes made glorious as they’re taken over by teenage skaters, it’s haunting and punchy in equal measure and a great introduction to their music – if, like me, this is the first song you’ve heard of theirs, despite them being six albums deep into their career.

https://www.fadedpaperfigures.com