2301211600

Com Truise - Iteration
2017
It's difficult for me to tell if Com Truise has mastered their craft, or lacks versaility. I don't mean to be overly harsh, I love the aesthetic they put forth but this one fell a bit flat for me. +

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Com Truise - In Decay
2012
I enjoyed this one as well, but I think it's a bit more of the same. Maybe it's because I enjoyed the prior records in their catalog so much, that I was perhaps expecting a bit more. +

2301091400

Com Truise - Cyanide Sisters
2011
I guess I'm gonna try to listen to Com Truise's discography based on the last post. This is maybe the even the more memorable record of the first two, especially because this si the last time we see a heavy plunderphonic bend from CT. Some of the sample manipulation and glitching is so believable, it almost seems like resampled beat repeat from Ableton. Some of the riffs here are also so catchy as they weave in and out of each other. There is so much to be learned form this record. Again, always a fantastic replay. ++

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Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
2021
It's pretty clear that this is a "digger's digger" type record. It's literally a wormhole montage of the best 90s breaks, composed in a very energetic and organic way. It's like sweat, or San Pellegrino or something. Eris is a natural and powerful force, and this is a wonderful debut album from one of the most interesting DJs out there at the moment. Maybe one of the best closes to an electronic dance record I've heard. +

2301091200

Four Tet - Beautiful Rewind
2013
Masterclass in sampling and groove. It would be cool to gather a group of records like that and do a breakdown of them. This sample selection reminds me of Eris Drew's Quivering in Time, and I'd be willing to Keiran had some influence on her production. ++

Favorites: Buchla

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Com Truise - Galactic Melt
1994
Testing out some new equipment and realize this acts as a pretty nice reference track. I love Com Truise's early work, which was super influential on my preferences as a late teen. Amazing vibe, and pretty insane sequencing, honestly. Seth has an incredible ear for sound design, and is a very talented mixer if his own work is anything to judge him by. I hold this record and "Cyanide Sisters" very dear. Always a joy to replay. ++

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Susumu Yakota - Acid Mt.Fuji = 赤富士
Sublime Records, 1994
Really nice record. Does the 90s thing well. Some amazing club tracks when he isn’t doing like a Berlin school meets Tamagotchi. Not the best mix, but serviceable. Great hat work here but can often sound a little too drum machine-y, reminiscent of Korg Volcas. I guess that was the sound then. Overall, I think I've more enjoyed the ambient work I've heard from him, but this is really neat. There's something about a reverbed 808 hat that's reminiscent of Dinosaur L. Favorites: "Tamballin", "Alphaville", "F" ++

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Teebs - Anicca
Brainfeeder, 2019
Has that classic Teebs sound, although a noticable improvement to fidelity which may indeicatet a switch from the 404 to more Ableton (this release predates the MKII which I presume has a higher resolution). Record was a bit hit and miss for me. Some of the vocal performances fell flat. +

2211151000

Caterina Barbieri - Patterns of Consciousness
Important Records, 2017
I really love this record. Barbieri does something incredible with a few rows of modular. Other worldly, dreamlike even. I have a fond memory of this coming on the PA at the Fox in Oakland just before seeing Big Thief and I was freaking out at hearing it over such a nice system. I've always been fond of this stretch of three or four records of hers. Such impressive work. ++

2211140200

Radiohead - In Rainbows
XL, 2007
Listened to both disks. Great listen. Much more peaky and resonant than I imagine. So many bops. ++

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Deafheaven - Sunbather
Deathwish, 2013
I can definitely hear the influence on Fire-Toolz in this record. Record really takes a turn on "Windows." I didn't realize I've been listening to shoegaze this entire time, but it's nice. Definitely not what I had anticipated. I enjoy the heavier sound at times, but it's so spectrally dense, that I often find it difficult to situate myself in my typical auditory disposition which tends to be listening from inside the mid, but just under (Y-axis) the sides. I think the density of metal and hardcore often push the front of my nose up and away from the mid to the point where I feel like I'm absorbing reflections with the back of my end. That is my room to some extent, but I generally find this to be the case, and it's really present on this record. Very well mixed though, the title track is amazing. I'm not sure how the mixer keeps the low-mid so tight. Great work here. I think that the less I find a piece of hardcore melodically challenging or intricate, the more disposed I am to dislike it. That's to say the more predicatable the melody is, the more I feel like it plays into tropes of metal that I dislike. Yes, I am intentionally conflating genres here, but what can ya do, meaning is spun from webs of difference, etc.. +

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Kaytranada - 99%
XL, 2016
This record makes me realize how hard it is to pull off the chopped aesthetic. On the one hand a pretty simple technique, but hard to do with intention in such a manner that it actually present a coherent phrase. I think KAYTRA does this to great effect on the first track of this record. He has this amazing ability to present a quarter note groove, which shines on so many of his tracks. The bass is also extremely well written and mixed. The obvious connection between this record and the last one logged is the presence of Anderson Paak and it occurs to me just how nice his vocal performances both adapt to and round out a range of tracks. I like how KAYTRA really rides the line between these more beat-oriented tracks and these quite complex electronic orchestrations. Other related artists to look into (besides Soulection crew): Pomo, Louis Futon, Arona Mane, Mr. Carmack (sure, yeah), Snakehips, JNTHN STEIN, Point Point, Medasin. Kaytra also mentions Haitian Kompa music as an influence given his background. +

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DOMi + JD Beck - NOT TiGHT
Blue Note, 2022
Can't stop listening to the single, "TAKE A CHANCE" feat. Anderson Paak. Just more of the same fantastic grooves like the single. It makes me want to lsiten to more modern jazz. In the media, you don't really get the impression that they are jazz hedas, but this album is really of tome of influences. For artists their age, you can tell they are just constantly listening to music and drawing ispirations from a broad swath of new and old, and this is very /new/. It's also hilarious to have Herbie, Busta, and Snoop feature on your debut record. It's so clear that the whole LA scene is really fostering these two in a really positive way. Excited to see where they go with this. The drums are also mixed so well. There's a couple moments where JD is tuning the kit to sound like the textures of tape, which is pretty incredible. Lots of DOMi's passages sound like the most articulate bits of FlyLo (and so so much more), and JD is like if Jojo Meyer and Quest birthed a jazz prodigy. +

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Bambounou's early releases (cont.)
50Weapons, 2012 - 2013
Full of Feelings... Again, a really fantastic bit of dance music coming from Bambounou. They do the whole retuned saw thing really well, other examples of this sound done well include Boddika. B has this really polished feel on all of their tracks that I quite enjoy. Great hat work throughout. There something to be said for stepped filter and octave modulation quantized to the bar or half-bar really developing many of these phrases into complex compositions. Ignition/Take It Out On Me... Take It Out On Me is SUCH a banger. Mixed really tightly. Everything is filtered resonantly just on the edge of being harsh. Really impressive. Both +

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Bambounou's early releases
50Weapons, 2011 - 2012
Not sure why I hadn't come across Bambounou's work until now, but it's so thoroughly impresive thus far. I listened to Fructose EP (2011, a collab with Joakim), and Cobe EP (2012), both of which are really confident and articulate the movement in the early 2010s left field away from a Hawtin, for instance, and towards an Objekt. Yes... I absolutely thought about that pun. Will have to dig in more. Jams so far. +

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Kendrick Lamar's Discography
TDE, 2010 - 2022
I'm gonna cheat a bit here. Between last Monday and today, I've been working through Kendrick's discography excluding "Untitled Unmastered" which was a little too scattered. Overly Dedicated: wack. Section 80: there's promise. Good Kid: One of my favorite rap records of all time. Butterfly: A true work of art. Was very tempted to immediately replay. There's a lot of really amazing storytelling on this record. Damn: Maybe my favorite of his. It really sheds the jazzy veneer and just goes hard. Mr. Morale: A quarantine record in every sense of the word. There's a lot of really complex themes going on here that I don't know if I fully understand. But I'm also not meant to. I'm surprised at how self-deprecating K can be. He delivers this really interesting balance of ego and self-destruction, which he then uses as a symbol of black struggle, and dual admonishment/prescription of his hometown of Compton. I was so so struck with how "L.A." his music sounds. There was a whole lot more brainfeeder influence than I had anticipated, even on the cuts where Thundercat was absent. Absolutely amazing moment to hear K on Knxwledge like that. Might be my favorite rapper after this little excursion. I'd be quite curious to do the same with Ye About 5 months after this, Ye would come out as a racist + anti-semite, not sure I'll ever listen again and Drake as well. I can't believe it took me seven years to listen to Buttefly, smh. ++ all around

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Actress - 88
Self, 2020
(see below) There is a bunch of really interesting things going on in 88. I think it plays on the same techniques that we hear beginning with Splazsh and being further developed in the 'Villes. This mixtape feels a bit like the cutting room floor of the R.I.P. days, and I just wanna scoop up and savour every bit of it. So so glad we got this release. So so much to unpack and replay here. ++

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Actress - Karma and Desire
Ninja Tune, 2020
I've tried several times, and I just have a hard time finishing this record. It's pretty underwhelming, or I'm just looking for something different from him than what he puts on display. I can appreciate the fact that he is expressly stepping outside of his comfort zone, I just don't think the vocal production is impressive enough to warrant the space on these tracks. I'm not as into Sampha as the rest of the world is? Funnily enough, he released the "88" mixtape just before this and it is classic "Splazsh" era choons in the best way possible. -

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Terrence Dixon - Far From The Future Pt. 2
Night Vision, 2012
Yeah, it's just so good. Someone mentioned the influence on Actress, I can really hear it here, and it's something I'd like to explore further. The timing certainly lines up quite interestingly. ++

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Terrence Dixon - Climb EP
Night Vision, 2008
Just incredible work, can't believe I havent heard him yet. I need to dig further into the techno auteurs list on discogs. ++

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Klein - Lifetime
Self, 2019
I've been pretty thrilled with this record. Listened on repeat a few times. There's so much to be said here I'm not sure where to start, I will definitely have to do some longer form writing on this record. It's just a brilliant piece of collage, and a really inspiring bit of composition from an artist who clearly has so much in store. Very exciting. ++

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Call Super - Arpo
Self, 2017
It's so good. DJ Mag Album of The Year so everyone was into it. I think Call Super has quite a few simlarities to Actress, and I'm trying to suss those out by deep diving into their discography. Arpo is a pretty wild ride. It's got the sort of Actress whimsy, but everything is really crisp and articulate. There are moments that feel very Grim Fandango (90s PC game - almost in the same way bits of Objekt's Cocoon Crush has a very Carmen Sandiego/Sutherland's 24 vibe), and while that would be a dig at other records, I think those bits were some of teh fondest in my listen. There's some really gorgeous layering throughout the whole record. Interesting contrast in how CS uses noise on this record compared to how Actress uses it (in general). I think CS also shares quite a bit of a language of gesture with Floating Points. Must be a British thing. Will absolutely need to revisit. Work of art. ++

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EPROM - Samurai EP
Self, 2016
This one is interesting as well. I feel like I can sort of hear EPROM transition from more beat-oriented sequencing to their later looser, but more complex, form of composition. I think I like this one a bit less than Pineapple. +

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EPROM - Pineapple EP
Self, 2017
Starting to see a pattern in EPROM's production. I'm realizing I enjoy a prolonged chord over a half-time beat. There's some really interersting use of reverb on this record as well. +

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Shades - Shades EP
Self, 2015
I've been enjoying listening to harsher bass music produced over the last ten years for the last week or so. I don't usually go this direction, but for whatever reason the heavier stuff has been interesting to me lately. Shades is a collaboration between EPROM and Alix Perez who both have plenty of independent credits. This was a nice record if just slightly overcompressed for my taste. +

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Visible Cloaks - Fairlights, Mallets and Bamboo
Self, 2010
Quite an interesting mis of 80s music from Japan. A very passive listen, certainly a work of art. Would consider replaying. +

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Tipper - Insolito
Self, 2021
I really like Tipper, but I also don't know what to think about some of their stuff. It's almost so detailed that it feels at times rough and grainy. Insolito, seems to defy this textural dissonance and comes together as a really clean and coherent record despite being overly reliant on some of the modern bass music tropes that I wouldn't miss. I also feel like Tipper leans more heavily on some denser chords on this record, more so that I remember him doing on previous works. I will say that Tipper stuff is always quite well mastered. Reading Tipper's wikipedia, interesting to her abou the "Fuel Sound System" which seems like a banger of a system. I'd like to do more reading on soundsystem culture as it was just slightly before my time. Maybe worth a replay. +

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TSURUDA - Prowler​/​Fragment
Self, 2021
Fantastic single. Definitely requires a breakdown of some sort. Sidechaining is pretty immaculate on this entire record, and I get a much more open image from open-backs that I don't remember hearing from his work before this (could just be the mix though). Oof, so good. ++

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EPROM x G Jones - Acid Disk 2
Self, 2022
I love EPROM, and the partnership with G Jones is great. When I want really hard-hitting wirting music, I generally turn to EPROM (in fact, I'd love to expand the folks on this list, may need to think about it. I think the sense in which G Jones and EPROM match aesthetically is in one of composition, but not necessarily in sound design, which is whjat makes their collaboration on the first track so interesting. G Jones is relaly doing a great job of reinterpreting the 303, espp. to great effect on "On The Platform". "Final Lap" is a great outro track, super powerful, has that really groovy phaser thing going. Definitely worth a replay when in the mood. ++

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ITLP09 - Pool
Ilian Tape, 2021
Crazy from the start. Modulated and bitcrushed reverb really is a vibe. Braindance vibes right off the first track. "CZ3000" is a bop. Honestly, Skee is doing so much, I will have to come back to close listen. "Ozone" is also gorgeous and I feel like the first half of the track really lends itself to the new direction Skee is going since backing off the hardcore. Left off on "Rio Dub". it was getting a bit slow for the task I needed to get done. +

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Music For Breathing - Selected Works
Self, 2020
Quite interesting. I love when the artist(s) describe how the record was made: "These improvised one-take tracks were recorded during one afternoon using the Roland D50, Korg MS20, Korg SQ-1, a reverb pedal, a sampler, and the object both artists hold dear to life: Ventolin." That is just a fascinating way to put together a record and what beautiful results come from such a simple premise. Kassian and Clark take the trope of the filter modulated sequence and emboss it into a Fabergé of reverbed textures. Very pleasant in a passive listening context. Tracks were so subtle, the record looped. Would replay. ++

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Phelimuncasi - Ama Gogela
Nyege Nyege Tapes, 2022
This is the type of music that really gets me hyped. There's so so much incredible electronic music coming from South Africa (Durban among others). This record seems like it draws on some of the same club influences as DJ Lag (that two-step, shifting downbeat feel), sticks to the minimal banging drums, and then just goes crazy with the vocal production. It's layer after layer of gorgeous and agressive vocal delivery. It's incredible how so few elements can create such a powerful hook. Despite this record being comprised of beats from Gqom all-stars, some very interesting grime elements can be heard throughout. Not likely to replay, but really interested in hearing more. +

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33EMYBW - Golem
SVBKVLT, 2018
A really beautiful record. Quite percussive, and each percussive layer, be it melodic or noise has a beautiful top-end that relly gives a character to the whole record. What seems to be these really gestural movements get folded into very vibey but more straightforward patterns. Either some really excellent sampling technique or some experiementation with physical modelling. Gives me hope for an anti-lofi future. I don't want to mix asian traditions, but there's definitely a Taiko-esque vibe. Like if and Arca produced a score for a traditional ensemble. The back half of the record drags on a bit but it's no less listenable, and I really enjoy some of the more screechy, metallic, textures here. Was looking for singeli (sp?) on bandcamp, went through related, found this. Maybe replay, even if just to grab some production ideas. ++ (This is the first post in a new listening journal that I'm testing out. We'll see if it sticks.)