V/A - Zoo Keeping 2 (Particle Zoo Recordings)

V/A - Zoo Keeping 2 Particle Zoo Recordings

Indie Electronic label Particle Zoo Recordings have curated a brand new Free Compilation featuring some of the hottest rising talent and established artists in the electronic music world. 

Weighing in at a hefty nineteen exclusive tracks, ranging in tone from soulful Electronica, quirky Synth-Pop, and Deep House with actual depth, to varying shades of DnB and party-starting Midtempo, Big Room House and Ambient Downtempo, Zoo Keeping 2 is an accomplished label sampler that should have something for everyone interested in unusual Electronic Music.

Get your copy exclusively at Bandcamp on a Pay What You Want basis. 

Sasha Conda - Bronco

"Bronco Stephenson - a man devoid of self doubt or the capacity for deep thought, but exceedingly effective in more carnal procedures. Armed with a solid gold hand cannon, a long territorial strut and a fierce addiction to adrenaline, inhalants and psycho-inhibitors, Bronco carves a path through The Palace Interior - a hyper-terrarean ultra mall the size of a city. A mecca of consumeristic glee where half-jacked vape junkies crowd the halls of The Walgreen’s Health Services Stratum, and The Plasticmen survey every square inch of marketable real estate."

That's what it says on the Bandcamp page, anyway. Bronco is a concept album from Sasha Conda (music) and Patrick Scott-Walsh (words), who appear to hail from Minneapolis. Out on the hipster-sating medium of cassette with story-book, I want to hate this, but it's just a little too good. 

There are some beautiful arrangements on display in an album that maintains a dramatic, 80s superhero soundtrack feel throughout, but manages to surprise the listener by drifting into unusual rhythms and ethereal atmospherics at the same time. There are elements of Cumbia, Electronica, even Trance jostling with crescendoing Electronica, arpeggiated Synthpop and psychedelic swirls, all underpinned by the driving, retro sound currently enjoying a resurgence (for good reason, I might add).

Released by the ever-interesting Not Not Fun Records, Bronco is reminiscent of Synthwave artists such as Com Truise and Matthew Dear, while retaining its own distinct sound.

As I don't have a cassette player I'll just stick to the digital release while lamenting the lack of what would be a beautiful record. Although having said that, the cover art is pretty hideous. Not really sure why they gave the brief to a thirteen year old boy who just got Photoshop for his birthday, which is what I assume they did.

You can buy it here and listen to snippets of all the tracks via Juno, but the rest of the internet appears to only house the 3 singles, which you can check out below

Freak of The Week - 8 - Yellow Magic Orchestra - Firecracker / Technopolis

Some glitchy, ahead-of-its-time computer game synth pop for this installment of Freak of the Week... all the way from Japan.

Yellow Magic Orchestra (AKA YMO) were (are?) a pioneering group of musicians credited with influencing the early days of synthpop, electro and electronica. Using samples and drum machines before most people considered them 'proper' instruments, they forged sounds that seem less wild today than they would have in 1979, when this particular 12" came out. To be fair, this could have been a Charity Shop Gem of the Week as it was picked up in a bargain bin for 99p many years ago, but I feel its combination of glitchy 8-bit sounds, peculiar synthesis and the ridiculously long build-up to Firecracker make it a glorious candidate for Freak of the Week instead.
Also worth noting there are some serious samples to be pilfered if you're that way inclined!

Each of the 3 tracks is deliciously wonky and has that Japanese sense of wonder - I love it.

And of course you can pick up a copy for peanuts at Discogs