Don Dayglow Ft Jack Baldus - Love To Pluto (Video) Hottwerk
Coming out on Jan 19th, the new single from Don Dayglow features the insane Moog performance of Jack Baldus - no stranger to these pages for his exceptional work under the Jackson banner.
Any DJs or party organisers out there will know the bittersweet prospect of the busiest time of year, replete with part-time party-goers and their horrendous opinions, low alcohol tolerance and slowly manifesting childhood traumas. Lots of people out and about, lots of people having fun, and lots more having a little too much fun.
Well, neutralise those pesky requesters by giving them just what they... they asked for Christmas music, right? And what's more Christmassy than Band Aid and The Snowman?
A deadly EP from NYC Records here... all Electro vibes, classic drum machines, vintage synths and an overall aesthetic of a top-notch Miami Vice library submission. Bafflingly, the label themselves describe the music within as 'Modern Funk' which is absolutely not true. Neither modern, nor Funk, it's a curious description. There are some funky touches, but the old addage that one swallow does not a summer make rings true. Still, all that really matters is the music, which Hiding in Tthe Shadows delivers with conviction and quality.
The dedication to retro synthesis is clear, but unlike many of the current crop of revisionists, this EP eschews straight imitation and instead maintains the prerogative to craft proper songs rather than merely rehash classic tropes.
A nice mix of styles across these 4 tracks, too. From the Prince style Electro-pop of Synthman'sNord Lead, to the suspenseful Acid vibes of Windy City's, er, Windy City. Kozmik Funk delivers a slow groover while Synthman's first effort steals the show, the slow-but-dancefloor-friendly fun of Synths in the Jungle, which sounds like a theme tune for a short-lived 1986 cop show called Palm Springs Police Squad. Or something.
These songs could all be by the same artist and one wouldn't be able to tell, which leads me to wonder if they have a time-share scheme on the same expensive synth collection. Speculation aside, this is a cracking little EP from a label I'll be paying close attention to from now on. Go get it on 12" or digi here
Sounding exactly like the 80s thought the 2020 would sound like, Galaxians release ther debut LP Let the Rhythm In on Dither Down. Only the 80s actually recorded what they thought 2020 would sound like, and in so doing meant that 2020 had a heads up and would actually sound more like Justin Bieber. Funny old world.
Anyway, it's a cracking album, all power vocals vocals and staccato synths punctuating drum machine-led rhythms and swirly bloops and bleeps. Lovely.
Afro7 continue their inspired limited 12" series with a taste package from Them Mushrooms. A fully licensed EP of four catchy 80's afro-synth tracks out of Kenya. Housed in a beautiful cardboard jacket with silk screened coastal-inspired artwork designed by Steve Roden.
Lovely vinyl repress of 1982's ambient masterpiece
Despite his status as a key figure in the history of Japanese ambient music, Hiroshi Yoshimura remains tragically under-known outside of his home country. Empire of Signs – a new imprint co-helmed by Maxwell August Croy, Spencer Doran and distributed by Light In The Attic – is proud to reissue Yoshimura’s debut Music for Nine Post Cards for the first time outside Japan in collaboration with Hiroshi’s widow Yoko Yoshimura, with more reissues of Hiroshi’s works to follow in the future.
Working initially as a conceptual artist, the musical side of Yoshimura’s artistic practice came to prominence in the post-Fluxus scene of late 1970s Tokyo alongside Akio Suzuki and Takehisa Kosugi, taking many subsequent turns within Japan’s bubble economy afterward. His sound works took on many forms – commissioned fashion runway scores, soundtracking perfume, soundscapes for pre-fab houses, train station sound design – all existing not as side work but as logical extensions of his philosophy of sound. His work strived for serenity as an ideal, and this approach can be felt strongly on Music for Nine Post Cards.
Home recorded on a minimal setup of keyboard and Fender Rhodes, Music for Nine Post Cards was Yoshimura’s first concrete collection of music, initially a demo recording given to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art to be played within the building’s architecture. This was not background music in the prior Japanese “BGM” sense of the word, but “environmental music”, the literal translation of the Japanese term kankyō ongaku [環境音楽] given to Brian Eno’s “ambient” music when it arrived in late 70’s Japan. Yoshimura, along with his musical co-traveler Satoshi Ashikawa, searched for a new dialog between sound and space: music not as an external absolute, but as something that interlocks with a physical environment and shifts the listener’s experience within it. Erik Satie’s furniture music, R. Murray Schafer’s concept of the soundscape and Eno’s ambience all greatly informed their work, but the specific form of tranquil stasis presented on releases like Nine Post Cards is still difficult to place within a specific tradition, remaining elusive and idiosyncratic despite the economy of its construction. This record offers the perfect introduction to Hiroshi’s unique and beautiful worldview: it’s one that can be listened to – and lived in – endlessly. Buy here: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/3538-music-for-nine-post-cards
Beastie Boys fans will recognise this record title, and indeed cover art, font and graphic style - the Beasties released a 1995 album of the same name that looks remarkably similar to Perrey-Kingsley's 1966 escapade into experimental synth-pop psychedlia. In turn, that record owes a lot to the influence of another 'delia' - not psyche-delia, but Delia Derbyshire, the pioneering sound designer famous for her work with the BBC during the 60s. See what i did there? That's journalism, baby.
The In Sound From Way Out is a remarkable collection of standards and hits a la mode, reimagined using the trusty Moog synthesizer, plus field recordings, found sounds, tape splicing and many other experimental techniques... from children laughing and splashing about in the bath to what sounds like someone snoring, sped up. The results are some quite remarkable sounds, with some choice loops appearing throughout that will delight many a producer.
Also worth mentioning is some superior recording and mixing - many similar records suffered from muddy, dull mixes, but this record has splendid depth of sound and is beautifully mixed. Well worth searching out... but let us do the work for you... here's its Discogs entry
And you want to hear it as well? Bloody hell... alright, fine!
August 2015 Podcast now up! We're delighted to bring you our very first podcast! We dig into some very odd records and talk bollocks. What more could you want. It'll be up on iTunes shortly, but for now you can hear it Mixcloud... Tracklist
Idris Muhammad - Soulful Drums
La Batteria - Scenario
Tullio de Piscopo - Drum Fantasy
Dr Strangely Strange - Strangely Strange yet Oddly Normal
One of those minimalist synth gems that sold out the moment it was released, Hypoxia is one of the many 'homages' to sci-fi soundtracks from yesteryear, sonically dripping in all of the appropriate analog goodness. Recorded to tape from single takes upon a Buchla synth, then run through an analog reverb "with no post-production or overdubs", the two songs that comprise this 12" are beautiful and repetitive in equal measure, harbouring a dirty, earthy aesthetic born of the subtle drifts of oscillators on tape.
Limited to 200 pressings, Hypoxia comes in an assortment of five colors "carefully crafted by hand-mixing the vinyl materials. The clear plastic case is silk-screened with the Drumcell sigil in red ink and includes a 12x12 lithograph of Drumcell artwork created on a circuit-bent video processor". Marvellous.
Seems to be unavailable everywhere, but rumour has it Transmission will get a few more in soon.
Everyone loves Giorgio Moroder, and everyone loves a bargain, so I thought I'd shine a light on a nice little steal I managed to find yesterday - the original pressing for just 99p on ebay. Absolutely stunning soundtrack to a great film, definitely worth £1! With Moroder's trademark analogue, driving synth lines and insistent, electronic drums, the record is a charismatic piece of work that enhances the film no end. Have a listen below.
Here's it's Discogs entry if you want to pick one up yourself. There's a repress that looks pretty nice and of course the 1981 OG
