It’s about time I posted this up. Do you ever feel like there’s something missing in your life, something reminiscent of house music that celebrates its heady past while at the same time meditating selfishly in that wistful modern way that we all know and love? If not, take your delusional sense of contempt elsewhere. If so, then go back to The Drawing Board (genius wordplay such as this is what they pay me for).
After their huge single ‘Without You’, that indeed topped RA’s list of the top 50 tracks of 2010, Art Department kind of blew up. So a full-length album is as close as you’re going to get to the next logical step, and it doesn’t disappoint. Sparse, echoing and predominately male vocals (whether courtesy of Kenny Glasgow himself, the infamous Seth Troxler or Soul Clap) play out over and under elongated 4/4 patterns that at no point feel rushed or frantic. Epic opener ‘Much Too Much’ is enough to have you sprawled out, mesmerised on your beanbag. I don’t know if watching a video of Art Department’s two club music veterans shooting the shit will be beneficial in your appreciation of their debut LP, but it’s not like I can invite you round, throw the album on the hi-fi and hush any of your inquisitive mutterings. So here’s a couple of samplers and said video. Live long and prosper.
Reliability of the narrator? I don’t know what Stimming was up to, musically or otherwise, before Liquorice. Just putting it out there because, as that old white guy with all the fried chicken says, honesty is the best policy. And in all honesty, is the past really relevant when the present is so exciting? The ‘present’ here being the specific experience of listening to Liquorice, not the general experience of any of our trivial existences.
Apparently, this LP wanders off in a completely new and different direction, away from any of his previously known work. And it definitely wanders, with an epically simplistic style reminiscent of one N. Jaar. Lonesome kicks and claps glue the sonic narrative together, sometimes explicitly and others not so. Although Stimming was in a dark place when making Liquorice (see Defected for more if you care), it is not a sinister album. More deep, pensive and care-free. An abundance of field recordings and samples entwine with the loose synth/beat patterns to create something atmospheric and real that resonates. It’s a weird album for sure, and if you want proof, check out ‘Don’t Touch This’ below. Absolutely glorious.
Instead of getting mad when the vending machine spiral doesn’t turn enough to let your chocolate fall, buy Liquorice from Juno.
I recently posted an amazing Dark Sky remix of ‘Ice and Arrows’ which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention like soldiers saluting a fallen comrade. This new Skream remix, whilst not quite as good, adopts a different approach and consequently evokes an altered landscape of emotion. Wittily dubbed ‘Skream’s I Ain’t Got a License Mix’, it’s an epic and heavy yet fairly simple rework of ‘Drive’ from Alpines’ recent Night Drive EP and inspires more of a deep melodic rib-cracking vibe. Think disconsolate female vocals meets the frequency of Barry White snoring (low, lower than that) and you’re about halfway there. Drenched in Skream’s distinct style, it unsurprisingly reminds me of his massive if a little overplayed ‘In for the Kill’ remix, although to be honest I think I actually prefer this.
Submotion Orchestra’s latest single ‘All Yours’ is a beautiful tune and this remix by fellow loiner Jack Sparrow is an equally charming take on the faultless original. Mellifluous vocals and searching trumpet set to an ethereal beat inflected with remnants of reverb-drenched white noise is a combination which produces stunning results. More chilled out than a day at the beach with Towelie, this makes me want to stare off into the distance and think about something in a really intense manner, just like enigmatic detective characters dealing with relationship troubles in crime thrillers. Unfortunately, my tiny brain can only conjure whirling images of cereal and Micro Machines. But who can blame me? Imagine eating a bowl of Coco Pops and then getting to re-enact the plot from Speed with your Micro Machines…it’d be like the perfect day ever. But yeah, uh, listen to this song, it’s a gem.
Jamie XX first unveiled ‘Far Nearer’ in September last year and it has been circulating in various truncated incarnations ever since. Thankfully, Post Dubstep uploaded a longer and better quality version to YouTube a couple of days ago so we can all enjoy it in its full glory. I wasn’t actually going to post it, but I’ve been messing around with the design (see considerably larger and possibly unfinished links in the sidebar to your right) for the past hour and this has been on loop the entire time. It makes me smile. I think my dreams are going to be pretty chilled out and happy tonight, not the usual giant squirrel chase where I end up living in fear amongst nuts in a huge tree, hoping I won’t be picked for dinner. I am completely sane by the way…completely sane.
Today’s artistically crafted to-do list stated that I should post on BM lest I suffer grave consequences. So after a day of dodging manhole covers, jumping over cracks and brushing my teeth anti-clockwise for two minutes every hour, I decided not to mess with the universal power of superstition and despite having no significant news to post, would throw up a tune which I’ve been re-rinsing for the last few weeks. Art of Noise’s ‘Moments in Love’ is more of a classic than Mozart drinking Coca-Cola and its spectral presence sends me on a mental slow-motion walk through the darkened back-alleys of a noirish sci-fi thriller. If you’ve heard it before, which I’m assuming most of you have, you may as well listen to it again and if you’ve somehow been living underground for the last 20 years and never even caught a hint of its emotional density, then now is the time to see the light my brethren. Today, we show the machines that we are not afraid! Or we listen to synth music, either will be funky as fuck and free of grisly repercussions. I’ll post something new tomorrow.
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