Author: Justin Anastasio

Deepcore by Locklead

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uttu059-locklead

Strobe lights flash from every corner of the room, distorting your perspective of the undulating crowd that surrounds you. How did you get here? Sweat drips from your body, soaking your clothes and causing your hair to become matted. You really don’t remember how you got here? The floor rumbles, the bass shakes your ribcage, and you are tossed around the tangled mass of moving limbs. You try to remember, but the bass takes you . . .

House is a genre with countless sub-species; you’ve got your deep, acid, progressive, and tech renditions, all of which rely on the strength of driving bass-lines, but none highlight the low-end to quite the same degree as the charming sub-genre known as Bassline. Utrecht, Holland is currently dominating the bass-driven house scene, thanks to artists such as this one. Deepcore is the newest release from Dutch producer Locklead.

Three tracks are all this producer requires in order to stake his claim in the realm of dance music; three tracks overflowing with skittering garage house rhythms, colossal bass-lines, and subterranean atmosphere. Clinking bottles, MC shout-outs, underground rave synths, and sirens accentuate the pulsing instrumentation, adding a retro, crowd-pleasing quality without submerging the compositions in pastiche.

Bassline (the genre) can be perplexing to a first-time listener; the heavy emphasis on drums and bass with a distinct lack in the melodic department, and the extreme subtlety in progressions can throw many for a loop. It’s normal to search for a standout vocal or lead melody, but attuning oneself to the bass will reveal the many treasures that this style holds. If you’re seeking bass-driven garage house, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Deepcore by Locklead

Escapements by Beacon

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Beacon - Escapements

A cloaked wraith hovers in front of you, its face shrouded by a hood. It slowly floats backward into the mouth of a cavern, beckoning you with its shriveled finger. Fear envelops your mind, but your feet carry you forward. Glowing insects canvas the catacomb walls, illuminating the path taken by the phantom. After a long while, you emerge into a chamber bathed in sickly green light. The ground begins to vibrate, undulating in rhythm. The wraith begins to sing . . .

Restraint is what sets apart overindulgent artists from the ones that would rather take advantage of the wide range of dynamics available in music creation. What’s heard is just as important as what isn’t, as space allows the listener to focus on what’s most important in a composition. Starting with less also allows progression to more, and to higher peaks. Escapements is the newest full-length from New York-based band Beacon.

The duo of Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett craft unique concoctions of minimal IDM and electronic pop. Mullarney’s ethereally tender voice is a compelling presence, floating through foggy synths and subtly propulsive rhythms like a phantom. Tycho drummer Rory O’Connor was brought in for this album, and his inclusion fills out the mixes by adding layers of lively energy to the predominantly synthetic instrumentation.

Time is a constant theme across this record; ‘escapements’ are timekeeping regulators in clocks, while the cover image shows a time-lapse image of our planet’s rotation. The two artists gracefully explore concepts under this umbrella descriptor, and the result is a enthralling collection of songs that defy categorization, allowing the listener to become lost in the sounds. If you’re seeking ethereal, IDM-tinged pop, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Escapements by Beacon

Man Made Object by GoGo Penguin

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GoGo Penguin - Man Made Object

You jump from hammer to hammer, pressing down until they strike the taut wires below. A sliver of light cuts through the darkness, dimly illuminating your pathway across the falling platforms. Pristine tones accompany the strikes, resonating through your surroundings and vibrating your entire body. The roof above ascends, showering you in blinding light. You crawl out and sit on a narrow cliff, looking down on large hands over black and white keys . . .

Jazz is cool again, thank heavens. Residing on the fringe of obscure music tastes for too long, the genre made a recent resurgence as a vessel for artists outside the realm of jazz, permeating the sounds of rock (David Bowie), soul (Kamasi Washington), hip-hop (Kendrick Lamar), and especially electronica. Man Made Object is a pristine example of that last one, and the newest full-length from Manchester band GoGo Penguin.

The trio of pianist Chris Illingworth, drummer Rob Turner, and bassist Nick Blacka are masterful in their ability to mix flavors of grandiose classical and experimental electronic music with their unique breed of improvisation-heavy jazz. These compositions are predominantly upbeat, groove-filled, piano-led affairs (vaguely resembling Robert Glasper), but the musicians individually and collectively radiate in equal amount.

If an inkling of jazz interest can be found within a listener, the sounds of GoGo Penguin are an excellent entry-point; they also cater to those that can call themselves enthusiasts of the genre. Man Made Object is a rarity: a collection of songs so undemanding on the surface, yet so intricately compelling at its core, that nearly any kind of listener can become infatuated with it. If you’re seeking euphonious jazz, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Man Made Object by GoGo Penguin

Animal Eclipse by Lance Neptune

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Lance Neptune - Animal Eclipse

You step off a dock, and into a wobbly boat. The vessel steadily floats away from the wooden peninsula, and carries you out of the cave’s mouth. You can’t believe what your eyes fall upon: a towering palace canvassed in pristine emerald. Multitudes of colored lights blink from the inside, and are refracted through the gems like prisms, illuminating the night sky. Twinkling melodies swarm your ears and grow in volume as you near the structure’s open gate . . . 

When the topic of genre preference is broached in a music conversation, the word ‘ambient’ seldom arises, most likely because of its lack of primary focus on the rhythm section, or it might be the glacial pace at which songs progress. Now, the term ‘house’ is one that comes up far more often; but should they be intertwined? Animal Eclipse is the answer to that, and the newest release from Maryland producer Lance Neptune.

Across a brief six-song EP, Neptune dazzles with ambient-house hybrids, highlighting the most compelling aspects of each genre and sewing them together seamlessly. The solely ambient tracks that bookend the record consist of glistening, sun-drenched synths and enveloping nature samples, while the album’s core revels in club-primed, garage-house-leaning beats drenched in starry-eyed melodies, grooving bass, and mantra-like vocals.

There’s something distinctly dream-like about the environments that Neptune builds with his compositions. The producer is clearly proficient with sound design, as each song wraps around listeners with lush mixing and transportive field samples. Animal Eclipse is a short plunge into a vivid imagination, with both meditative ambience and enticing grooves abound. If you’re seeking glistening ambient-house, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Animal Eclipse by Lance Neptune

Mowing by Michael Nau

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Michael Nau - Mowing

There exists a rickety old house on the shores of a nearby river. It serves as a temporary home for traveling artists of all species and doctrines. A smokiness hangs on the air that wafts from the doorway. Rooms are dimly lit by shards of sunlight that cut through bulky curtains, and music is always present. Individuals arrive, they live comfortably for a short or long while, and they depart, leaving no trace. A husband and wife step onto the makeshift stage . . .

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and warmth drips from every note. There exist few artists that possess the rare ability to convey that most pleasant of all feelings, the cradling embrace of songs that radiate like the sun; there exist even fewer that can infuse those euphonious sounds with compelling ideas. Mowing is the debut solo full-length from singer-songwriter and Page France/Cotton Jones frontman Michael Nau.

There’s a hypnotic aura to Nau’s acoustic guitar-centered compositions, which gracefully cascade through various americana-tinged sub-genres. Mixtures of slack indie-rock are flavored with gospel harmonies, latin instrumentation, reggae rhythms, and more than a few ethereal samples. Nau’s weathered voice is charismatic, and his ability to subtly arrange multitudes of compelling elements into deceptive simplicity is masterful.

These songs are living, breathing entities, and that’s most clearly shown in “Maralou”, a duet between Nau and his wife/bandmate Whitney McGraw. The track is one of the shortest on the record at just under three minutes, but the love between the two emanates in the form of effortless, undemanding beauty. Mowing provides respite in a captivating way. If you’re seeking warm, enchanting indie-rock, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Mowing by Michael Nau

Pathways by Ed:it

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Ed:it - Pathways

You step into a translucent orb, dimly lit by aqueous hues of blue. You exhale, watch the visible air leave your body, and slowly look around at the impenetrable blackness residing on the other side of the orb’s glass. A droplet of liquid spatters onto your forehead. You step back, and watch the steady drip fall onto the floor. After ten droplets descend, the orb roars to life and the darkness is replaced by flashing, colored lights. The orb is moving, and fast . . .

You can’t go wrong with drum & bass. The rapid-fire rhythms are intoxicating and, depending on the producer’s chosen palettes, the elements surrounding those rhythms can be just as compelling in a melodic sense. Standing out from the hoard of d&b creators is something entirely different, and requires an elegant balancing act. Pathways is the newest release from Nottingham-based producer Ed Warrener, AKA Ed:it.

Warrener utilizes a highly refined formula in his drum & bass creations; foundations of agile, hard-hitting drum beats are accentuated with subtle percussion, otherworldly samples, and tender-hearted synth melodies, all combining to form compositions that are gorgeous and intense in equal amounts. There’s a finesse in the progressions and transitions that make these four songs more captivating than many full-length records.

Drum & bass producers often have a penchant for either making their tracks as soft and unimposing, or as pummeling as humanly possible; but this isn’t so for Warrener, who dresses his instrumentals in twinkling accoutrements, while bringing them to life with roaring bass and collaborations with Linguistics and Pennygiles. Pathways is soulful, and it’s also fierce. If you’re seeking melodic, hard-hitting drum & bass, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Pathways by Ed:it

Commontime by Field Music

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Field Music - Commontime

With a tinge of pep in your step, you stride along a garden path and through the open door of a modest two-story house. The living room is spacious and empty, the same as every room on the first floor. Your feet carry you up the stairs. You hear a rhythm now, audible this time. You open the first door on the right, revealing a man playing the drums and staring at you. Another door reveals two individuals on bass and guitar. One more contains two singers . . .

‘Pop’ and ‘experimentation’ are inherently counterweights; the former encompasses the accepted sounds of the masses, while the latter delves into the unknown, in search of new musical elements. However, there exist artists so adept in contorting their fresh discoveries, that they emerge from the laboratory in readily consumable form. Commontime is the newest full-length from Sunderland-based band Field Music.

For over a decade, brothers Peter and David Brewis (complimented by a revolving cast of supporting musicians) have reveled in elegantly-composed pop know-how, crafting songs that radiate in their subtle intricacies just as much as in their irresistible, harmony-laden hooks. Jazzy, funky, and adorned with multitudes of diverse instrumentation, these 14 compositions are captivating in conception and performance.

As can be expected from siblings late in their conjoined careers, the Brewis brothers possess a rare creative chemistry, and this record serves as a collection of conversations; between the individual band members, various loved ones, and also their fans. Like younger brothers of the legendary XTC, Field Music are masterful in the art of charismatic pop. If you’re seeking funky, jazzy, erudite pop, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Commontime by Field Music

Fones by MssingNo

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MssingNo - Fones

Bustling machinery surrounds you, and begins to roar with exuberant life. Panels slide in every which way, compartments open and close, and a colossal door slowly rises in front of you. You step through, and into a hallway adorned with cylindrical glass containers on either side. You can’t see anything through the fogged-up transparency of the cylinders, until you arrive at the largest at the end of the corridor. A woman sits inside. She starts to sing . . .

Genre hybrids are what keep music interesting and consistently evolving. The more disparate the styles are from each other, the weightier the risk of incoherent clashing, but also the greater the potential for unique magic to occur. It’s a tightrope-walk, but even that perilous activity sounds more plausible than the marriage of r&b and grime. Fones is the newest releases from anonymous London-born producer MssingNo.

Most artists that contort the sultry vocal samples of r&b tend to do so in an effort to fill the holes in their instrumentals, but the advantage of this particular artist is his masterful ability to create productions that cradle featured singers, rather than swallow them up. MssingNo crafts compelling, grime-tinged arrangements, with distinct flavors of Burial and Timbaland, that lovingly embrace the pitch-shifted, ethereal voices.

In most cases when singers are involved, a producer shouldn’t stand out from behind the control panel. Restraint is crucial, especially when merging two elements as seemingly discordant as grime and r&b, and it’s a component that MssingNo utilizes in the most tasteful of ways. This brief collection of songs is otherworldly, sexy, and captivating throughout. If you’re seeking ethereal r&b-grime, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Fones by MssingNo

Meditations/Industry by Bill Converse

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Bill Converse - Meditations/Industry

You sit in darkness, surrounded by metal on the ocean floor. You stare at a sonar display for what seems like days, awaiting the most minuscule indication of nearby life. Suddenly, a blip appears on the screen, accompanied by a hollow PING sound. Something is drawing closer, and it looks colossal on the display. Fifty yards away. The walls of the submarine begin to vibrate. Twenty yards away. You hear distant, watery melodies. It’s on top of you now . . .

Acid-techno is a perplexing genre for a couple of reasons. For unseasoned listeners, the squiggly, slightly fuzzy melodies, and the meditative pace at which many compositions progress can be off-putting initially. The subtlety of the style requires close examination and a focused mind. Meditations/Industry is the newest full-length from Texan producer and veteran within the acid/techno tape-swapping community, Bill Converse.

This collection of tracks was compiled from straight-to-tape recordings created at the producer’s home studio, and there’s an organic quality to each of them. Converse steadily builds towers of aqueous synths and techno rhythms, fitting each moving piece perfectly within the overall instrumentals. Each melody is compelling, and every element works in tandem to form something that’s both captivating and zen-inducing.

The environments that Converse conceives of are vibrant, and they cradle listeners in a cushiony embrace that’s effortless to submit to. It’s stunningly graceful in its fluid progression from song to song, in a way that’s rare to find any type of music, let alone techno. Lastly, it’s able to be enjoyed as either a focused listening experience, or as a gorgeous backdrop. If you’re seeking effervescent acid-techno, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Meditations/Industry by Bill Converse

Tan by Lafawndah

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Lafawndah - Tan

You wipe the sand from your eyes as you stumble through a stone door that slowly closes behind you. You are cast in complete darkness, having entered an unlit temple to escape the enveloping sandstorm outside, but at least you’re safe from the skin-shredding wind. A torch lights itself on your left, and another on your right. Others appear, and illuminate a corridor. You follow their lead, and emerge into a chamber. The boom of drums in the distance . . .

Artists that experience much of the world will oftentimes contort those diverse influences into elements that enhance the art that they create. Those type of impacts can arise from one of two things: 1. ancestral osmosis, or 2. individually seeking out new adventures, possibly in new lands. Tan is the newest release from Egyptian, Iranian, Paris-born singer-producer Lafawndah, who’s lived in New York, Mexico, and Tehran.

The versatile artist creates a unique breed of pop music that’s ripe with cultural collisions. The militaristic, trunk-rattling rhythms lean toward dance music and hip-hop sensibilities, while the darkly captivating synths entice with Eastern-sounding melodies. Lafawndah’s voice is a compelling presence, slightly resembling the glistening FKA twigs, but it’s her masterful application of ominous space that’s the most captivating.

There are risks taken on this record that most pop-leaning artists wouldn’t conceive of; off-kilter samples and melodic ideas that might make the close-minded cringe. These quirks are what set this collection of compositions apart from many others, because the listener never once questions the artist’s creative authenticity. Plus, it’s one of the most fun releases of the year. If you’re seeking worldly electronic pop, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Tan by Lafawndah