Review: Scuba - Triangulation...

Triangulation (definition): The location of an unknown point.

What initially strikes me upon listening to Scuba’s sophomore effort however is that the Hot Flush Records boss knows exactly where he’s at. Despite running his own label (home to recent critical faves Mount Kimbie), holding a residency at Berlin’s legendary Berghain and releasing music under two different monikers (SCB is his more techno orientated sound), Paul Rose has managed to produce an album that stands out as one of the best of the year.

While Rose may move between the boundaries of electronic music, there is still a unifying theme to his productions. Pressure, depth and melody are often present, and whether the track in particular leans towards dubstep, techno, or (more recently) drum n bass, it’s always very ‘Scuba-ish’. These three genres do provide the backbone to the album, but they’re blended so well that it would be unfair to categorise it as anything other than ‘post-dubstep’ and leave it at that.

After opener Descent informs us that we’re in for some deep listening, second track Latch explodes into action after a relaxed start with a half-step drum pattern and mounting synth line. Minerals employs the sound of dripping water as a percussion tool, while You Got Me takes the heaviest stab at drum n bass of any track on the album.

Album highlight Before comes thumping out of the speakers with a beat that would snap your neck if it weren’t so, well, ambient. A chopped-up vocal sample provides the hook, and the synths provide an aural signpost that is completely recognisable after only one listen. So You Think You’re Special provides an uplifting counterpoint to the darker tracks on the record, containing as it does the lines ‘Here you’ll find the one/Here in the sun’.

All told, Triangulation is a beguiling, cohesive album that more than justifies being listened to as a whole, and only on repeat listens does it reveal hitherto unseen intricacies and depths that are simply hinted at with a cursory glance. A must for any discerning fan of music, electronic or otherwise.

Crabs out of 5: 4.5

Buy it at Boomkat

We Have Band - WHB...

I'm sure that being in the loop and au courant has its advantages, but it sure does take a lot of effort to stay on top of the game. What with the proliferation of music being thrown at the listener from all sides, separating the wheat from chaff can be hard work. Which is why at the Eclectic Hermit nowadays you will only find me posting about music that i really, actually, like.

WHB have been on my radar since the start of last year, having won the Glatonbury emerging talent competition, released a couple of superb singles and floated a few demo tracks of material around the web. I saw them twice at Glastonbury and they shot straight to the top of my bands of '09 mental list.

Well due to my total ineptitude at staying on top of the latest music news, it was only yesterday I found out that WHB are releasing their eponymous debut album on April 5th.

Tracklisting:

01. Piano
02. Buffet
03. Divisive
04. Love, What You Doing?
05. Oh!
06. How To Make Friends
07. Honeytrap
08. Hear It In The Cans
09. Centrefolds And Empty Screens
10. You Came Out
11. WHB
12. Hero Knows

Feel free to pre-order the album here.

The Divisive EP was released yesterday, buy it at 7Digital.

Divisive comes backed by four remixes, not including this one by DJ Mujava of Township Funk fame.

Download: We Have Band - Divisive (DJ Mujava Edit) (YSI)

The video for Divisive sees the band acting as a human font and being extremely patient with the directors.

We Have Band - Divisive - by JUL & MAT from JUL & MAT on Vimeo.

And finally, the unreleased demo of You've Had Band, the track that really piqued my interest in this fantastic group. I believe it will appear on the album as Centrefolds And Empty Screens.

Download: We Have Band - You've Had Band (YSI)

Deep Medi...

I've spent much of the day delving into the archives of Mala, DMZ, and Deep Medi Musik. I started digging last week after checking out Mala's interview/lecture for the Red Bull Music Academy. It's amazing what you can do with some Discogs info and a bit of googling.

Out this month on the Deep Medi imprint is Mark Pritchard's Elephant Dub/Heavy As A Stone 12". Heavy As A Stone is stunning, I just had to loop it 3 times in a row to appreciate what's going on in this track. Very essential stuff.



Read what Boomkat have to say on the matter and get your copy here, before it's sold out.

Mala Myspace
DMZ Myspace
Mala Discogs

Oh aye, and the other half of DMZ, Coki, is at The Faversham in Leeds this Friday with Joy Orb and Brackles. Get on down.

Magnetic Man...

If you didn't know, Skream + Benga + Artwork = Magnetic Man.

You might think that the originators and innovators of the dubstep sound would be content to rest on their collective laurels and let a new slew of producers take the mantle, but they are still pushing forward into new territory as The Cyberman EP shows in abundance.

Much attention has been lavished on the title track, but it's Eclipse that captured my attention. What with all the stabbing synths, staccato drums and, of course, a nice bit of wobble, you may need a neck massage after listening. Be warned, this is big.

Magnetic Man - Eclipse (YSI)

Blackdown posted an interview with the guys recently, well worth a read in you're interested in dubstep history.

Buy the EP at Boomkat

Thanks Brain(feeder)!...

Well Hot Damn! That Flying Lotus chap sure knows how to start a record label. His new Brainfeeder roster includes Samiyam, Ras G, The Gaslamp Killer, FLYamSAM, Mono/Poly, Teebs, Dr. Strangeloop, Lorn, Matthewdavid, Ques, Daedelus and many more.

New Daedelus EP/Mini-album 'Righteous Fists of Harmony is out March 22nd.

MP3: Order of the Golden Dawn ft. Laura Darling (YSI)

Below is the new video for 'Fin de Siecle'.

Daedelus "Righteous Fists of Harmony" from DestroyRockMusic Inc. on Vimeo.

If you're anywhere near big London Town on the 10th of March you have to check out the Brainfeeder sessions @ Fabric. How's this for a line-up:

Nosaj Thing
Tokimonsta
Dimlite
Gaslamp Killer
Daedalus
Flying Lotus
Dorian Concept
Martyn & Kode9

I imagine that will get quite raucous.

brainfeedersite.com
myspace.com/brainfeeder
twitter.com/BrainFeeder
vimeo.com/brainfeeder

Whack my Bonobo...

"Simon Green aka Bonobo returns with one of the key cuts from his forthcoming album, “Black Sands”. Drawing as much on the rhythms of two-step as the lush soundscapes for which he’s best known, “Eyesdown” also features a remarkable vocal from Andreya Triana and enough fuzzed-out sub-bass for a binful of dubsteppers. Classic and contemporary, melancholy and exhilarating all at once, “Eyesdown” sounds like the kind of record Massive Attack could be making if they were starting out now."

Well that's what the PR says, but listening to the track i've no idea how they came up with that Massive Attack reference. Still though, tis a good 'un, and well worth a few clicks of your mouse.

The drums are reminding me of Mujava's Towship Funk too, which is no bad thing.

Listen/Download/Pre-order here.

Hold your Tunng...

My favourite experimental folk band, Tunng, are set to release their new album And Then We Saw Land on March 1st on Full Time Hobby records. From the Tunng site:

"Our new album '..And Then We Saw Land' will be released on March 1st. It's available to pre-order on CD, LP, MP3 download and FLAC lossless audio download, as part of an exclusive bundle which includes a live DVD of the our Twisted Folk collaboration with desert dudes Tinariwen. You can pre-order the album (and DVD) from Full Time Hobby and if you would like to download a taster track right now click here!"

Well go on then! I've just ordered the CD/T-shirt bundle.

George & Caplin get remix'd...

Plastic Sound Supply are a record & art label from Denver, CO, USA, specializing in genre defying experimental electronic music and art.

They're celebrating the release of George & Caplin's 'He Really Got Through to Advertising' remix album with a free MP3, and how could I resist?

This Cacheflow remix from the album is right up my street. The term 'melting pot' may have been coined for just such an occasion, as Cacheflow segues seamlessly from glitchy futurism to dubstep-lite and all the way through to folksy, ambient beats.

Grab it for yourself here (Right-click)

Preview & buy MP3s from the album here

You bring me Joy...

Seems like every man and his blog has posted the Joy Orbison BSRkR 01 mix over the past 6 months, so I won't bother repeating it here. However there is one track from it that i just can't get out of my head. Here's a decription of the track by the ever lyrical 20jazzfunkgreats:

"The last C.O.M.B.i. edits 12 is killer, this mystery Japanese wizard gets the party going like the old skool was N.O.W. on one side, and get down well nocturnal on the flip, which is what we are bringing you: a metronomic disco funk beast that slides menacing across streets of a deep blue which resemble, for a moment, colossal coralline reefs across whose ancient underwater surfaces flicker hallucinatory shadows, the echoes of a dramatic score to make all Chromatics fans lose their shit do spread like blood spilling from wounds inflicted with frantic strings that stab the soul of a beautiful ghost of unbearable loneliness and mad longing."

Indeed.

C.O.M.B.I. - It a late (YSI)

If you live in The North and fancy seeing Joy Orbison spinning his impeccable tastes live, you couldn't do much better than seeing him headline The Faversham in Leeds on February 26th, alongside Coki, Floating Points and Brackles.

What a ridiculous line-up. Tickets here. See you there.

Drowning in a sea of wav...

Or a sea of mp3, if you're less inclined towards a pun and more towards correctness.

Over two years ago I published what ranks among my most popular blog posts ever. (It had four comments, although one was spam).

It was an A to Z of tracks that I was into, and looking back at it now I think the list stands up as a pretty good and varied barometer of what was around at the time. Think of it as an extremely local Hype Machine if you will. It was partly topical (Bat for Lashes), but mostly it was an excuse for me to post up an eclectic bunch of tunes (which is what this blog was started for in the first place).

This week I was reading an article in The Guardian that mentioned something about how music in its digital form was losing out to solid formats because of its vast availability and the increasingly unlimited storage capacity of digital players/hard-drives. I have been feeling this myself over the last couple of years, having moved almost exclusively from purchasing CDs and vinyl to exclusively downloading mp3s.

So this post is actually only an excuse for me to sift through my laptop in an attempt to try and connect with some of the music that has been languishing there, unlistened, while searching for more, more, more on the neverending network of blogs, websites and online record shops over the last year or so.

I've got hold of more new music in the last year than at any other time in my life, and it was hard to pick only one artist for each letter (should it be Burial&Four Tet/Benga/Boxcutter/Bok Bok/Bat for Lashes etc) but who knows, there may be more A to Zs in the future.

If you have any suggestions/comments/praise/hate, stick a comment in below. And it goes without saying: if you like the artist, do something to support them like buying a gig ticket, mp3 or even better, a CD!

A is for Aardvarck - Untitled 2 (Bloom 3)

B is for Boy 8-bit - The Cricket Scores

C is for Caspa - Back to '93

D is for Darkstar - Aidy's Girl is a Computer (Kyle Hall Oats remix)

E is for Emika - Drop the Other (Scuba's Vulpine mix)

F is for Fever Ray - Seven (Martyn's Seventh mix)

G is for Gemmy - Rainbow Road

H is for Hudson Mohawke - ZooOOoom

I is for Ikonika - Smuck

J is for Joy Orbison - J. Doe

K is for King Midas Sound - Lost

L is for L-Vis 1990 - Come Together

M is for Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement

N is for Nosaj Thing - IOIO

O is for Optimus Grime - Immortal

P is for Peter, Bjorn & John - It Don't Move Me (Weird Tapes remix)

Q is for Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap remix (ft. Busta Rhymes/Raekwon/Lil' Wayne)

R is for Rustie - Zig-Zag

S is for Skream - Dutch Flowerz

T is for Toddla T - Rice & Peas (ft. Mr Versatile)

U is for Untold - Stop What You're Doing (James Blake remix)

V is for Visti & Meyland - Yes Ma'am (Trentemoller remix)

W is for White Denim - I Start to Run

X is for The XX - Heart Skipped A Beat

Y is for Yeasayer - One (MMMatthias remix)

Z is for Zomby - Tarantula

Download A to M here (Z-Share)

Download N to Z here (Z-Share)

The post artwork is taken from The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an illustrated poem by Edward Gorey. View it here.

You better run fast...

Seeing as my last post about Yeasayer got taken down for copyright infringement, i thought it might be nice to share some music that the artist themselves has already made freely available.

If you are a) into the Swedish reggae scene or b) been keeping up with the european snowboard films this year, you may well have heard of Congo Man Crew. If not, now's the time to get involved. Their Myspace and Facebook pages provide scant biographical information, but the music more than speaks for itself.

Deep roots reggae laden with tasty riddims and vocal hooks is what the crew is about, and you can download their latest EP Run Fast ft. Mysticman right here.

Download: Run Fast EP (Z-Share)

Congospace

Their music features on Jolly Roger, the latest flick from the Pirates crew.

Check the trailer below.