The Predatory Wasp
I came across this during a frantic Spotify cull of albums I’ve saved but rarely (if ever) listened to. Cucina Povera is the alias of the Glasgow-based artist Maria Rossi, originally from Finland, and this is taken from her 2021 LP Dalmarnock Tapes, throughout which she layers her own vocals to create a choir of one, with invariably intensely haunting results.
Rrose’s compositional process centres on “seed” sounds being fed through elaborate webs of interrelated audio processing: essentially a chain of sequences where changes in any one element have resulting implications further down the line. If that all sounds a bit technical its because its largely copied from the press notes, but I thought it was quite interesting. The new album from which Spore is taken splits its time between radical techno iterations and pieces which pare back the percussion, letting the synth textures uncurl in their own time and space. Spore lands firmly in the former category, and is among the most straightforwardly enjoyable tracks on Please Touch.
Loraine James released two of the best albums of last year, so news of a new LP is real welcome on this blog. Landing in September on Hyperdub – her third for the label – Gentle Confrontations will feature collabs with George Riley and keiyaA and others, and has been touted as “a teenage Loraine would like to have made” and described as “positively languid”, which is excellent news. Lead single 2003 certainly fits with this description, and has echoes of Tirzah in both the haunting, loopy simplicity of its production and low-key vocal delivery.
https://lorainejames.bandcamp.com/album/gentle-confrontation
Everywhere I look, Mandy, Indiana’s new album i’ve seen a way is getting glowing reviews. A four-piece experimental noise band formed in Manchester, the group was initially comprised of vocalist Valentine Caulfield and Scott Fair after they sharing a bill with their former projects, and were subsequently joined by Simon Catling (synth) and Alex MacDougall (drums). Their debut LP is noisy, chaotic and at times overwhelming, with a raw urgency throughout, even in its less full-on moments. 2 Stipe is arguably one of the most conventional tracks, even though they’d surely rail against the use of that word.
Natural Beauty Wonder Concept is the new project from DJ Python and Ana Roxanne, both of whom I love. There’s an album due out in July, primarily recorded during covid days, and this is the first single. It’s great, and not even the press release describing the LP as “two artists learning to be alone, together” (🤮) can dull my enthusiasm.
https://naturalwonderbeautyconcept.bandcamp.com/album/natural-wonder-beauty-concept
Yves Tumor continues their evolution from experimental electronic noodler to stadium rock icon with their new album, the insanely (and brilliantly) titled Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds). I haven’t had a proper chance to delve into its metallic depths yet, but on the first listen Parody stood out as particularly fun.
I’m a bit late to the party on this one as it feels like everyone’s been singing the praises of Liv.e’s new album Girl In the Half Pearl for some time now, but I just couldn’t risk the ire of the music blogging community so am jumping on the appreciation bandwagon. Also: it’s really great, and about as varied an album as you’re likely to find anytime soon, from the full on soul balladry of Wild Animals to the arpeggiated chaos of Snowing!.
Following collaborations with artist like Space Afrika, Ben Vince, and Elena Isolini, Bianca Scout’s new album The Heart of the Anchoress started life as a three day recording session at St Giles Church in Camberwell. Dark, dreamy and hypnotic, it sits somewhere between TPW favourites Grouper and Andy Stott, with opening track Empty space nicely setting the tone for the gloomy euphoria to come.
https://firstterracerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-heart-of-the-anchoress
Here’s a brilliant – if deeply unsettling – slice of dubby electronica for you that genuinely seemed to make my tinnitus swerve to an entirely new, ferocious pitch. Taken from her recent LP Les Chemins De L’inconnu, out now on the relentlessly good Ilian Tape.
https://iliantape.bandcamp.com/album/itlp13-les-chemins-de-linconnu
Canto Ostinato is the new volume of classical minimalism from musician and producer Erik Hall. Written for four pianos in 1979 by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, the piece is freshly framed as an intimate, hour-long solo performance consisting of multitracked grand pianos, electric piano, and organ, with Sections 17-30 out now ahead of the full album. For fans of Steve Reich, Philip Glass and meditative modern classical in general.
The Predatory Wasp 