The Predatory Wasp
Andrea’s last album Ritorno was one of my favourite releases of 2020, so it’s great to see him back on Ilian Tape for the follow up, Due In Color. Atmospheric breaks one again dominate, with perhaps just a little more ambient whimsey present than last time around. Lush In End (Drum Version) is one of the more energetic tracks, and it’s absolutely brilliant.
I’m sick for what feels like the third time this year already. Even typing is taking it out of me, so here’s a quick one for you that’s soothing my weary brain.
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)_/¯
Barker is someone I wish released more music, as pretty much everything he does put out is fucking incredible. Since 2018’s groundbreakingly brilliant Debiasing EP he’s been ploughing a particularly rich furrow of (nearly) beatless atmospheric techno, now taking on a remix of techno royalty Luke Slater under his Planetary Assault Systems alias. Slowing the tempo and erasing all but the tiniest hint of a kick drum, Barker’s version is meditative, warm and essential.
Despite their being an absolute ton of great new music out today, I’m choosing to share this track from 2020 as I’ve only just heard it and its blowing my tiny little mind. This is pretty much how I want all electronic music to sound: moody, atmospheric, sparse, beautiful. And yes, I have been listening to his mixes all day, thanks for checking.
Lush, broken beat electronics for you today courtesy of California-based Tomu DJ, who has a real knack for squeezing a huge amount of emotion out of whatever machineware she uses to make music. If you missed it last year her debut album FEMINISTA is well worth checking out and features many tracks of the same tone and structure that makes Morning Groove such a breezy delight, albeit mixed with some far darker more disquieting introspections.
Taken from the the debut solo EP from Texan electro producer Terrestrial Access Network, Endless Dunes is exactly the kind of contemplative, broken-beat electronic music I completely lose my shit over, especially when there are a few gentle acid flourishes thrown in for good measure. Only gentle mind: I want to be soothed, not challenged. Inspired by the artist’s “shifting and hectic nomadic existence around the rattling expanse of the United States”, it’s out now and comes packaged with a remix from TPW favourite Versalife which is also well worth checking out.
https://www.juno.co.uk/products/terrestrial-access-network-distant-lands-ep/857210-01/
DJ Python moves from the dark, claustrophobic polyrhythms that made 2020’s Mas Amable such a moody delight towards something far more warm-hearted and accessible with latest single Angel, a gentle 10 minute opus that skips merrily along on a broken beat, shards of sunlight glinting hazily off its soft corners and buoyant chords: perfect for sending you (or me, at least) off into the weekend with a smile and long overdue sense of optimism.
https://djpythonnyc.bandcamp.com/album/club-sentimientos-vol-2
It’s been so long that I’ve been to anything even remotely resembling a rave I can’t speak with anything like authority about them any more. But also, imagine: the overwhelming, Biblical euphoria of hearing this drop towards the end of an absolutely banging, take-no-prisoners techno set – Rødhåd, or whoever the kids are listening to these days – during which you stomped so hard you thought your knees might snap like dry little twigs.
Jesus christ I miss pingers.
There’s no shortage of people making whimsical, melody-focussed electronica, and in the wrong hands (ie. the vast majority of the time) it can come across as overly sincere or laughably lightweight. Varsity Star hits the tricky-to-find sweet spot here with Mixtape – the lead single from a forthcoming mini-LP – pairing crushed, broken beats with a glistening synth line and demonstrating it’s perfectly possibly to make something beautiful yet punchy in this genre, as long as you get the balance just right.
The Predatory Wasp 