NEO MIKYAKO [ENGLAND]
my nuthin’ babe mp3
a duo from the uk making more of that crunchy electro rock that seems to be filling floors down here in sunny old australia. someone recently called it “datarock” which freaked me out – i’m all for splintering genres, but “datarock” sounds a little too mechanical for something that’s still imbued with dirty rock’n’roll posturing. mind you, i hated ‘mathrock’ too, such an ugly phrase. more of the above on the queep organic music site.
JUANA MOLINA [ARGENTINA]
no es tan cierto mp3
her last album ‘seguendo’ was one of my highlights of last year – a rare blend of acoustic and electronic music that doesn’t fall into the noddle-some realm of ‘folktronica’, it’s far more beautiful than that. seems like we’re coming very late to juana, both ‘segeundo’ and the so-called ‘new’ album ‘ tres cosas’ have been circulating for a while in argentina, but only recently received a worldwide release thanks to the domino label. the above track (from ‘tres cosas’) is indicative of the intricate subtleties that infuse juana’s entire output – the relative lack of any electro-trickery simply adds to the beauty.
OMR [FRANCE]
the door mp3
a great find, a m/f duo from france, taking on the blueprint laid down by so much french electronica – layered harmonies, breathy french vocal and a hard edge to the beats. i’ve been getting into the recent album from m83 (‘dead cities, red seas & lost ghosts’ – highly recommended ), proving that there’s far more to french music than kitsch electro-pop, light rhumbas and dirty old men. every week i discover more and more fascinating sounds, and these people are no exception. try and pick up a copy of their limited edition album which features an outstanding selection of remixes from prefuse 73, ellen alien, abstract keal agram (m83 labelmates), console and russia’s dj vadim.
TO ROCOCO ROT [GERMANY]
from dream to daylight mp3
fresh from their recent album ‘hotel morgen’, trr have released an e.p. of all new material entitled ‘cosimo’. the track from the show was called ‘days’. sadly no recent mp3s to be had, so we’ll have to make do with this track from their 2001 collaboration with i-sound. nine years on, to rococo rot are cementing their status as one of the contemporary pioneers of downtempo electronica. also recommended is trr founder robert lippock‘s new ‘remix’ album ‘ falling into komeit’.
TABLA BEAT SCIENCE [INDIA]
sacred channel mp3
i’ve never really engaged with bill laswell‘s axiom releases for a couple of reasons – firstly, not really having an idea where to begin and secondly, for fear that once i start, i might not be able to stop. my compulsive music purchasing is already way of control without getting into a whole new back catalogue. well, curse that laswell, because tabla beat science is so damn tasty that i probably now can’t prevent myself from further investigation. the project sees some of the finest contemporary indian musicians getting together for an electro tabla jam session and the results are inspiring. this isn’t a lame east meets west crossover attempt, this is a genuine collaboration that is carried off in fine style, marrying laswell’s western dub sensibilities, outstanding tabla from drum’n’bass producer karsh kale, some electro tweaking from midival punditz (whose ‘bhangra fever’ featured on my ‘best of 2003-04’ show last week) – all wrapped up with the work of ‘master percussionist’ zakir hussain. hit that download.
DAEDELUS [US: CALIFORNIA]
a mashnote mp3
i played a track from the daedelus / boom bip split 7″ inspired by’ donnie darko’ – ’28:06:42:12′. my sister-in-law susie went to see the directors cut recently and wasn’t too overawed by it. the film seems to be enjoying a phenomenal cult status – i enjoyed it the first time around, it made me smile for sure, but it seems to be drifting off into hazardous territory (those dangerous ‘top ten lists’) and i can’t say it really belongs there. talking of films, i tried my hand at part 3 of matthew ‘mr bjork’ barney’s ‘cremaster’ cycle at the weekend. i’m torn between the beauty of the repetitive simplicity and the sheer mind-numbing boredom of the whole thing. maybe i’m just a heathen after all. anyway, back to the mp3 – an old one from epitonic, taken from a various artists compilation on emperor norton called ‘freeways’.