I’m reviving an old music blog at the end of 2021?

Maybe it’s foolish, and maybe I’m the only one who misses the blog ol’ days, but I’m gonna give it a shot. I’ll be working on restoring some of the old content, though much of it was lost. If there’s interest, I’ll try to figure out how to safely share some more of the old remix sunday archives.

For now though, you can find all the label’s releases here, on bandcamp, or anywhere you listen to music these days. I’ve also still got copies of some of the old vinyl releases, and I’ve just released the first in a set of charitable cassette compilations to raise awareness about the continued [mis]use of broken windows policing methods.

Plus I’ve put together a playlists section with a handful of spotify lists that hopefully start to capture a [slightly] updated version of the moods we used to peddle. Give those a listen and a ❤ if you would be so kind. If people want me to put together soundcloud playlists, or something else, give me a holler.

– Haldan/Boody

Remix Sunday 164

“So then you’re free?” “Yes, I’m free,” said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.
– Franz Kafka

Remix Sunday 163

Securing your desired username on a new app is the closest millennials and zoomers will get to owning land.
– @notsofiacoppola

True Faith / Final Cut – Take Me Away (Pinned Up Mix) (1990)
True Faith / Final Cut – Take Me Away (Pinned Up Mix) (1990)

This is one of those songs that has so many different versions, and so many people associated with it, that no one ever seems to agree on its provenance or exact history.

Remix Sunday 162
Remix Sunday 162

Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.
– Dag Hammarskjold

Thodén – This Codified Drift
Thodén – This Codified Drift

It was then, floating in the passivity of induced consumption, in which it became clear that this functional mechanism of time was but a codified drift. With our particular indifference to an imposed rationality, all semblance of alterity had been lost […]

Remix Sunday 161
Remix Sunday 161

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
– (attributed to) Florynce Kennedy

Remix Sunday 160
Remix Sunday 160

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
– Steven Wright

Kahvi Collective – Tangents
Kahvi Collective – Tangents

I remember in the Napster and Limewire days how often I’d find tracks that were mislabeled in order to mislead people into thinking they’d stumbled across the long lost Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin song, or whatever, and how hard my young ears would have to work to discern if these were in fact […]

Remix Sunday 159
Remix Sunday 159

Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.
– Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot)

Donna Missal – (to me) your face is love
Donna Missal – (to me) your face is love

Donna Missal, who recently put out the best work of her career – an excellent EP produced by Sega Bodega – was dropped by Harvest/UMG shortly after the EP’s release. Subsequently, she posted to twitter a good encapsulation of how preexisting economic privilege is often the most potent ingredient for music industry success: Nepotism and […]

Remix Sunday 158
Remix Sunday 158

Empathy–not squishy self-serving conflict avoidance–is the hand-maiden, not the enemy, of reason and intellectual inquiry.
– Ta-Nehisi Coates

House of Venus – Dish & Tell (Bitch Mix)(1990)
House of Venus – Dish & Tell (Bitch Mix)(1990)

Venus absorbs and tempers the masculine essence, uniting the masculine and feminine in mutual affection. She is assimilative and benign, born of sea foam, a charm, a magic philtre. You’ve no doubt heard this Loleatta Holloway-sampling 1990 classic by the polyonymous Dutch trio composed of Eddy de Clercq, Gert van Veen, and Erik van Putten. […]

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  • Mailbox: Aatocaster – Pendant / Exp

    Aatocaster is LA-based Alex Lubeck. His latest release is this pair of bright rays of delicate electronica. According to the artist, both songs are about gratitude. “Pendant” tells of a talisman—either object, person, place, or being—that can be relied upon to save you in your moments of greatest need. However amorphous, it’s so important to have emotional and psychological backup, a support system of some sort, even if not in the form of friends and family. I shudder to think what would have happened to me in the past were it not for the support of my personal outlets, my favorite places, my people. “Exp” is meant to illustrate the result of that support — what one can then contribute to the world as a result of having survived it.

    These songs are out now on bandcamp or for streaming, and will apparently be part of a larger release coming later this year.

    Aatocaster – “Pendant” (sc)

    Aatocaster – “Exp” (sc)

  • From the Mailbox 3

    Fluttery drum-n-pop from Malaysian artist Lunadira. The most obvious reference here is PinkPantheress, but this song also really brings to mind that Sassy 009 song I wrote about a couple of years ago, “Blue Racecar” — that’s a good reference coming from me; I constantly have that song stuck in my head. No bandcamp for this, but catch it on streaming.

    Lunadira – “crying over nothing (wah wah)” (sc)

    Tightly-knit drum patterns, staccato synth shimmers, and indecipherable vocal sample dust on this sharp percussion workout from Madrid’s frankydrama. I can see this going off on the right floor. Grab it on bandcamp or for streaming.

    frankydrama – “Y.E.I.S.” (sc)

    Icy North Sea-inspired breakbeat angst from Drive to Tears, about whom I don’t know much except that this is the third song he’s made public. But he’s open about the fact that he’s using his music as a direct outlet for his depression, which is more than respectable. Strong early showing. No bandcamp, so find it on streaming.

    Drive to Tears – “Running” (sc)

  • Visual Velcro 28

    Kim Gordon – “BYE BYE” (bc)

    Beth Gibbons – “Floating On A Moment” (sc)

    YUVI – “Жидає” (bc)

  • Flex Ariani & Lacy – Tension / Neck

    Flex Ariani and Lacy are both artists from Greensboro, NC. They’re current with this white label maxi, the first release on Less Than Family, a DIY imprint meant to act as a vehicle for the output of a collective of musicians (most based on the East Coast) of which both artists are a part.

    A-side “Tension” lives up to its name perfectly. It’s a patient half-time roller centered around larger-than-life sub and a disembodied voice telling us what’s what. It’s a great example of how a minimalist quasi-drop can be so much more rewind-worthy than a drop that goes big. “Neck” is on the flip, and it’s likely the more versatile tool of the two: a shuffling bit of mongrel UKG with choppy reptilian vocals and appropriately clattering percussion.

    Both tracks (but particularly the A-side) are perfect examples of understated modern dubstep that’s low-end-focused and mid-range avoidant, out at a time when many of the genre’s originators are returning to their old styles in force. It’s really refreshing to see a new generation of artists embracing the elements of dubstep that made it so exciting when it first emerged, before it was co-opted by the EDM machine and maximal-ized for its midrange–and often middling—big room potential. All that midrange wobble worked fine to shred the fuck out of the open air in a stadium, but what was lost was all that wonderful greasy viscous sub, and the power it had to fully engulf a human-sized audience in a well filled basement. That’s not to say there isn’t a role for the shreddy midrange wobble, or that the Skreams of the world shouldn’t strive to fill giant venues with dubstep heads old and new, “real” and “bros” alike. It’s just even more encouraging to me that those events are coinciding with a new wave of producers warming up to the sultrier side of what was once the most ambrosial club genre around. If this single is any indication, Flex Ariani and Lacy—and the Less Than Family crew in general—deserve our continued attention going forward.

    Tension / Neck is available on bandcamp, so go support the artists there. Or for those of you more inclined towards streaming, both songs can be found at all the usual outlets.

    Flex Ariani & Lacy – “Tension” (sc)

    Flex Ariani & Lacy – “Neck” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Morwell – Loving You (Remix)

    Celestial-scale breakbeats from British-Croatian Morwell, off of his newly released remix EP on which he reinterprets the tracks from his previous record from early last year, Resonance. In the case of “Loving You,” the dissonant rave stabs of the original are swapped out for cosmic piano chords, and vocals read from HP Lovecraft’s Beyond the Wall of Sleep, and the clobber of the break is dialed back (but just a smidgen). While these two versions exist in the same general orbit, the other remixes on the new record tend to be more severe departures from the originals upon which they’re based, often dipping dramatically in tempo or shifting genre altogether.

    You can grab both the Resonance remixes or the originals on Morwell’s bandcamp, and while you’re there, check out his whole catalog. He’s impressively prolific; there’s tons of good stuff to get lost in. You can also find all of his stuff from streaming, if that’s more your speed.

    Morwell – “Loving You” (Remix) (sc)

    Morwell – “Loving You” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Havening – gorpt up

    Infectiously odd experimentation from New Zealand’s Havening. I’m telling you, they do it weird in NZ. I wrote about some of Havening’s compatriots last month—about how well those artists from NZ captured a sense of everyday dread and gloom, and that maybe that was part of the Kiwi condition, so to speak. But this track, and Havening’s other work, leads me to believe it may be more accurate to describe a willingness to embrace esoterica, and let the everyday weird in. This song is just as strange as those I posted from flip for garth and Qwazdyn, but most of the gloom is replaced by a sense of calm curiosity. There’s still an underlying current of mild dread in that arpeggiating synth line, but don’t we all wake up some mornings with a combination of resignation and optimism? I may dread one part of my upcoming day, and look forward to another.

    I’m not sure if there’s more direct meaning intended here. ‘Gorp’ is a funny word, and that may be the extent of it, or maybe Havening is referencing the act of eating greedily, or an affinity for trail mix. Either way, I like this song.

    You can find this for streaming anywhere you do that sort of thing, or support the artist by grabbing a copy on bandcamp.

    Havening – “gorpt up” (sc)

  • From the Mailbox 2

    First up is Syglit, an artist from Russia about whom I know just about nothing else, but both tracks on their new record are sublime exercises in mood and glitch. Find them streaming all over, or grab them on bandcamp.

    Syglit – “you_re late” (sc)

    Syglit – “source .env” (sc)

    Next is the new single from Iranian artist Pari Eskandari. I posted the video for Eskandari’s previous single a couple of months ago, which was a vivid exploration of the struggle of women in Iran, made in-part as a tribute to Mahsa Amini. This new song is equally compelling, and was produced by Eskandari, together with Tricky and Peter Kirn, and released on Tricky’s False Idols imprint. Find it for streaming, or on bandcamp.

    Pari Eskandari – “Drehmoment” (sc)

    The last one is from another artist I know little about: London’s Omar Moon. This is from a charming beat tape that you can find on all the streamers, but unfortunately not on bandcamp. Thankfully, Moon okayed me sharing with you all the mp3, which you can download below. Lovely stuff, this.

    Omar Moon – “i love us” (mp3)

  • Olof Dreijer – Coral

    I was so overcome by excitement for Olof Dreijer‘s Rosa Rugosa 12″ last year on Hessle Audio that I totally overlooked sharing it here. Suffice it to say, the record was exactly what I’d been missing since falling in love with the old Knife records — songs that elegantly teeter between emotionality and humor. Dreijer hasn’t lost any of his Swedish knack for pop sensibility, and he’s still combining that with a healthy dose of side eye, a curled smile, and an aesthetic all his own: one I will clumsily describe as evocative of impish toucans flying around in a botanical garden formed of plasticine.

    Now he’s got another record on the way, this time for the ever-exciting AD93. It’s out March 6th, but you can listen to the A1 below, and pre-order the 12″ on bandcamp. You can also still grab a copy of Rosa Rugosa on bandcamp too, but I’m sure they’ll sell out soon. I can’t pick a favorite song from that record, so I’m just sharing all three here.

    Olof Dreijer – “Coral” (sc)

    Olof Dreijer – “Rosa Rugosa” (sc)

    Olof Dreijer – “Camelia” (sc)

    Olof Dreijer – “Cassia” (sc)

  • Hidetoshi Koizumi – Number Face

    Number Face is the new album from Tokyo and Paris-based composer Hidetoshi Koizumi. Koizumi is better known as Hybrid Leisureland, the pseudonym under which he released music between the years of 2007 and 2021, at which point he shifted to using his real name. The new album—his second under his real name—follows closely his previous work, and is primarily concerned with the intersection of serene texture and minimalist, hyper-intricate programming. Over the course of the album’s seventy-five minutes, on songs like “Finale” and “Illusion in Illusion,” Koizumi coasts gently across the tranquil waters of carefully laid pad washes, disturbed only by the delicate insect-wing flutters of serial clicks and blips. He moves from the near-neo-classical territory of “Clowns” and “Second Delight” to songs like “Phantom” and “Misalignment” that almost feel like highly restrained takes on dub techno.

    Koizumi describes Number Face as an exercise in “express[ing] a sympathy with the various movements of the human heart; the thoughts, feelings, and concerns of our daily lives.” This sentiment feels realized here. After a few listens, I found myself hearing the record as the soundtrack of everyday people completing their activities of daily living, if perhaps at times at both lethargic and manic paces. On “Second Delight” I can picture the overworked parent frantically vacuuming their house as soon as they’ve arrived home from work, before rushing to get dinner prepared; “Snow Tiger” could be the soundtrack of someone soaking in the tub until they prune; “Judge” could be the song you hear when you catch someone’s eye for a couple of seconds too long on the street; album closer “So Was Red” could be just for someone eating a meal alone with their thoughts.

    These daily mundanities are easily overlooked, but they carry with them most of our feelings and thoughts, whether fleeting or concrete. As is the case with much of his previous work, Koizumi seems willing to treasure these moments, in lieu of focusing on the more melodramatic or visceral. The result is a record that at first blush is placid, but upon more thoughtful reflection is full of insight into everyday living, the kind of record that can keep you company while keeping you even-keeled — one that doesn’t feed on your agita or lull you to sleep.

    Number Face is available now on all streaming services, and for purchase on bandcamp.

    Hidetoshi Koizumi – “Phantom” (bc)

    Hidetoshi Koizumi – “Illusion in Illusion” (bc)

    Hidetoshi Koizumi – “Judge” (bc)

  • Visual Velcro 27

    Joshua Crumbly – “again, on the road” (bc)

    Brian Wenner – “Age of Execution” (bc)

    Paultra Violet – “I Will Find Your Heart” (bc)

  • From the Mailbox

    I’ve got so much good stuff coming in all the time, and I don’t always have the bandwidth to cover as much as I’d like. So, in the interest of not letting too many gems fall through the cracks, I’ll occasionally be collecting a handful of recent contributions into a new From the Mailbox feature.

    Wonderfully idiosyncratic club music from Perth’s Nikolas Thompson. I love when a song feels totally built for purpose, like it was produced by a DJ just to fill a specific hole in their set. Grab the mp3 so it can serve that purpose for you too. Thompson seems full of personality, zeal, and good ideas, so I’d keep an ear out for more from him.

    Nikolas Thompson – “On The Sure (Waiting For Me)” (mp3)

    Next, it’s more dancefloor frenzy from Norway’s Dr. Sepi. This time it’s breakneck triplet carioca syncopation meets 170bpm breakbeat fury. DJ’s: grab the mp3 for free below (and don’t miss that last one I posted too).

    Dr. Sepi – “IceDrop” (mp3)

    Finally, another slice of ambient breakcore / online jungle vibes from ERRx, who I’ve covered in the past. Two pristine minutes of flow state music.

    ERRx – “breaking down” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Sound of Fractures – Don’t Worry

    More unabashedly vulnerable dance music from North London’s Sound of Fractures (aka Jamie Reddington), who I’ve covered a couple of times now. This is the third single from Reddington’s interactive album Scenes, a project that encourages listeners to contribute their own memories and rewards them by generating unique album art for the next song in the series based on their contribution (plus one of the submissions becomes the official artwork). Participate in the project, and in so doing get to have a listen to the next single.

    The Scenes project is also emblematic of Reddington’s approach. I’ve been following him on socials the past few months, and the guy is clearly working hard to try to create something special — leaving no stone unturned. I know he has young children, as I do, so I’m extra impressed by what he’s managing to accomplish. He’s seemingly using even the most peripheral of moments to generate content that may inch him forward. I can’t always say the same for myself, but his determination is almost as inspiring as the music itself.

    Find this song, along with previous Sound of Fractures material, on all the streaming services, or support the artist and grab this one on bandcamp.

    Sound of Fractures – “Don’t Worry” (bc)

  • Astrid Sonne – Great Doubt

    Do you wanna have a baby?
    Do you wanna bring people into this world?

    Hope battles doom on Danish composer Astrid Sonne‘s new LP Great Doubt. It’s fair to feel trapped in this tension. There’s so much in the world to be in awe of, and so much simple beauty by which to be captured. But we’re also inundated with information that rightly ought to make us doubt our collective futures, and in turn would cause most artists seeking sincerity or posterity to doubt themselves. Sonne puts these contradictions on plain display on her new record, and in doing so, gives the impression of utter confidence–anything but great doubt.

    Sonne’s previous three records were largely instrumental; confluences of heady and often futuristic sound design and measured instrumentation. They were all terribly beautiful at times, but also sometimes bearish. They gave a sense of Sonne as thoughtful and self-aware, but maybe also a touch self-conscious or unfeeling. There were previous glimpses of something else among those records too — Cliodynamic‘s “To Change Is To Continue”, outside your lifetime‘s “Withdrawal”, or Human Lines‘s “Alta” were all moments that made me sure something much more fluid was at work beneath all the virtuosity.

    The new record is so much looser than its predecessors, and it’s wonderful for it. Most obvious is the addition of Sonne’s words; they appear on much of Great Doubt, and they’re almost all full of such a welcoming tender unpretentiousness and intimacy. But I also get the impression that Sonne has become unwilling to hide behind a complicated sound palette. The sound design across the album is skeletal, and at times, almost naive in its simplicity (at least when compared to her previous work). This is a ruse, I think — there’s still plenty of care put into these sounds, but I think that’s mostly just a product of Sonne’s skill in getting at the essence of the recipe, no longer overworking the ingredients. I believe she just had the confidence on this record to let the sounds serve the songs, and not obfuscate her feelings with overthinking.

    Great Doubt is out now on Escho. You can purchase it on bandcamp, or find it for streaming anywhere.

    Astrid Sonne – “Do You Wanna” (bc)

    Astrid Sonne – “Boost” (bc)

  • Macro/micro – Reassembling the Self

    New work from Tommy Simpson, also known as Macro/micro, whose last album I wrote about in 2022. This song is the ending credits music for R.A.E.R BETA 0027, a sci-fi short film about a novel confrontational therapy modality that cinematizes the subject’s psyche and draws them through a visual tour of their own memories and feelings. It’s a wild little film, and Simpson’s score is perfectly subdued and tense. His work lends itself to this sort of thing, so it’s no wonder the whole soundtrack works so well. Find it on bandcamp, or for streaming all over.

    Macro/micro – “Reassembling the Self” (bc)

    Simpson also recently released “VoE” or (Velocity of Emotions), a commission for Lever Couture to soundtrack their recent collection and runway event of the same name. This is an epic—clocking in at just over fifteen minutes, but wholly engaging throughout—intended to capture the internal contradictions of being human, and our collective struggle to find peace in our respective polarities. Listen below, or find it on bandcamp.

    Macro/micro – “VoE” (sc)

  • Visual Velcro 26

    Gacha Bakradze – “Bowl” (bc)

    Solbore – “The Often” (bc)

    Kelela – “Happy Ending” (A.G Remix) (bc)

  • Remix Sunday 164

    “So then you’re free?” “Yes, I’m free,” said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.
    Franz Kafka

    Remix Sunday 164 Zipped Up. (113mb zip)

    Charli XCX – “No Angel” (Lil Gossip Remix)

    Jason Derulo – “Watcha Say” (Proc Fiscal ‘paul fisk olbas oil’ Mix)

    Mez – “Woiya” (Kami-O Remix)

    Yasin – “Har Dig” (Slackin Beats Edit)

    Joy Orbison & Overmono – “Blind Date” ft. ABRA (Disaffected Bootleg)

    B Goody & Tjerbor – “Coasting” (Mick Jeets Remix)

    Robert Miles – “Children” (9TRANE Edit)

    Tame Impala / Austin Marshmallows – “Borderline (Cover)” (Udachi Remix)

    Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” (RamonPang Remix)

    Ice Spice – “In Ha Mood” (Yunzero Edit)

    ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ – “△▃△▓ – …” (Kelbin Edit)

    Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Forbidden Colours” (Florentino Version)

    image/ Olgaç Bozalp

  • New Hots Hots 9

    DJ Arana e Triz – “Fuzil dos Drake” (sc)

    pherris – “Sinta Isto” (sc) [buy on bandcamp]

    Falcons & Richtanner – “Art of Baile” (mp3)

  • Mailbox: Maud – Wherever I Go

    Glittery and tense breakup pop from Oslo’s Maud, real name Kristine Hoff. The gist here is straightforward, but familiar to many: it’s after a painful breakup and you’d rather never see that other person again (or at least you need some real distance for a minute), but you keep running into them, either actually, virtually, or at least mentally.

    This is from Maud’s upcoming full-length The Love That Remains, which you can pre-order on bandcamp. It’s out February 16th. You can also find this for streaming all over.

    Maud – “Wherever I Go” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Thys, Big Dope P, TT The Artist – Squad Up

    Filter house meets g-tech from Baltimore’s club queen, TT The Artist, together with Noisia’s Thys and Big Dope P himself. Doppie and Moveltraxx continue their neverending quest to remain the most productive ass shakers east of the Atlantic.

    Taken from the upcoming SBF26 compilation, out 2/26. Preorder on bandcamp, or find it for streaming wherever.

    Thys, Big Dope P, TT The Artist – “Squad Up” (sc)

  • Mailbox: miiinty – playing spyro on a ps2 emulator gave me a hit of dopamine!!!

    More of that internetcore-adjacent online jungle I was on about a couple of months ago. This time it’s this very playstation roller from miiinty, who I know nothing about except that they’re [maybe] from the UK. Besides the song’s bloodshot title, the only indication of miiinty’s inspiration is the following statement: “born to uwu forced to thug it out tbh.” Like any good loading screen song, this song’s appeal is immediate and it remains engaging throughout, in a way that could probably go on forever before you’d notice the game had frozen.

    Not on bandcamp, but you can find it for streaming anywhere you’d think to look.

    miiinty – “playing spyro on a ps2 emulator gave me a hit of dopamine!!!” (sc)

  • Mailbox: bad snacks – iiwannabe

    Like many of her fans, I became aware of LA-based bad snacks from that great track she made during a session of Andrew Huang’s “4 producers 1 sample” challenge. Notwithstanding her violin chops, at the time, she was primarily putting out LA beat scene-type stuff (there’s still no great name for that subgenre, but you know the wonky stuff I’m referring to, right?), which she continued to focus on for quite a while afterwards. She did some great performances in that context too, including online during the pandemic for the likes of Brainfeeder’s twitch channel.

    Lately though, she’s been putting out sublime dance music. She shies away from calling it house music, instead referring to it as “home music.” Cute joke, sure, but it’s honestly a pretty apt description. I can’t really see “iiwannabe” fitting all that well in most club sets, but I sure do see plenty of people (myself included) really enjoying a romp around the living room to it.

    Grab this on bandcamp or find it for streaming. Her youtube persona, much like her music, is also as earnest as can be, and a great resource for producers and other music people of all sorts—I recommend you check that too, if you’re not already there.

    bad snacks – “iiwannabe” (sc)

  • Mailbox: kmodp – 2023:01.2 Electric Telegraphy 24 May 1844

    Today is just a day for experimental composition and ambient explorations, I guess. Seattle-based composer and producer Stephen Karukas, aka kmodp sent me this curious piece a couple of weeks ago. The title refers to Samuel Morse’s first message sent over telegraph: “What Hath God Wrought.” As Karukas tells it, because this first transmission was the basis of all electronic communication that followed—including music distribution—he sought to write something that would juxtapose Morse’s “weathered quasi-religious” message with other elements more “enigmatic and futuristic.” The song does just that. It feels like its the product of time travel, like something that might have been made by a church organist from 1844 transported to the present and plopped in front of an open Ableton Live session.

    The song is available now on bandcamp or for streaming. It’s the first single from kmodp’s upcoming album Crimée No. 7 scheduled for released in early February.

    kmodp – “2023:01.2 Electric Telegraphy 24 May 1844” (bc)

  • Sebastian Zawadzki – Pax Elysium

    Sebastian Zawadzki is a Polish-born classical pianist and composer living in Copenhagen. His previous work tends closer to the neoclassical, having composed for the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and across film and television. The two songs I’ve included here are less so. They’re from his upcoming full length Pax Elysium (which might be loosely translated from the latin to ‘heaven’s peace’). Both are delicate and minimalist, based primarily on an electronic sound palette—the whole album is just as meditative and patient. It’s a beautiful and accessible record, and could work just fine as pleasant background music, but Zawasdki’s attention to detail really rewards the attentive listener—I suggest taking a half hour to actively listen to the whole thing.

    Pax Elysium is available for streaming all over. It’s not yet available for purchase, but you can find the two included singles on bandcamp.

    Sebastian Zawadzki – “Dulcis Experrectio” (bc)

    Sebastian Zawadzki – “Quiessentia Inter Notas” (bc)

  • Mattia Cupelli – Cells

    Otherworldly experiments in sound design from Mattia Cupelli, based in Rome. “Cells” is from Cupelli’s newest album, Artificial Hades—it typifies the album’s overall sense of menace and its exploration of data as living entity. Save for a few moments of elemental reprieve, most the record is true to its title; it sounds like the white-hot forging of new elements and their painful journey from the underworld up to the earth’s surface. Not for the faint of heart, but also full of beauty.

    I’ve also included a track from another recent collection EP III 2017_2020. “Eon” gazes upward more and is slightly gentler than the material on the new album, but is perhaps and even more impressive demonstration of Cupelli’s command of restrained distortion.

    Both records are available on bandcamp or for streaming. I recommend exploring Cupelli’s whole catalog, there’s tons to explore.

    Mattia Cupelli – “Cells” (sc)

    Mattia Cupelli – “Eon” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Keli & EstHer – Gufunes

    Pristine percussive downtempo from Icelandic couple Keli (Hrafnkell Örn Guðjónsson) and EstHer (Esther Þorvaldsdóttir). “Gufunes” is named after the area of Rejkavik where the couple live — once a thriving settlement, it became a waste disposal site, and has now been repurposed as a sculpture park and center for creative innovation. Þorvaldsdóttir is herself a member of the Intelligent Instruments Lab, which developed the proto-langspil—used as the lead on the song. The instrument is based on the traditional Icelandic langspil or trichord, but has been augmented with an embedded computer running algorithms to manipulate the strings’ vibrations, in an effort to bring unpredictability to the instrument’s tone and resonance. Guðjónsson, an accomplished drummer and percussionist, used a violin bow to create the lead rhythm, while Þorvaldsdóttir adjusted the strings’ suspension in real time to modulate the instruments’ pitch and rhythm. The result is haunting.

    Pick up the song on bandcamp, or stream it anywhere streaming is done.

    Keli & EstHer – “Gufunes” (bc)

  • Mailbox: Joseph Salazar – The Main Sequence

    When Joseph Salazar, a producer and composer from Austin, sent over this song, he included only a link to the following tweet by writer and illustrator Tim Urban:

    The last stars will die out 120 trillion years from now (at most) followed by 10^106 years of just black holes.

    Condensed, that’s like the universe starting with 1 second of stars and then a billion billion billion billion billion billion billion years of just black holes.

    Stars are basically the immediate after-effects of the Big Bang. A one-second sizzle of brightness before settling into an essentially endless era of darkness.

    We live in that one bright second.

    As much of a mind fuck as the thought of all that is, how can you not feel a little luckier to get to live within that “one bright second”? The thought of an eternity of darkness before and afterwards is terrifying, but I’m comforted by my luck to have landed where and when I did. I think this is applicable on a smaller scale too: sometimes I wish I’d been born in another era, especially when I worry about how the world will change throughout my daughter’s lifetime, but I should ultimately just count myself lucky that I get to have lived now versus having missed it all altogether. The luck is in the living itself.

    This song must have been made in the same stargazing frame of mind. It sounds it–contemplative synthwave with a fuzzy euphoric finish.

    Grab it on bandcamp for whatever you wish to pay, or find it for streaming anywhere.

    Joseph Salazar – “The Main Sequence” (bc)

  • Mailbox: an:mu – 04

    Apache chops and hurdy-gurdy drone on this bouncy breakbeat number from Berlin-based an:mu, who describes their material as “just some music.” Their naming conventions are similarly understated—despite having released dozens of tracks on several releases in the past year alone, almost all the songs are just numbered, with no names, and the EPs are also just named by catalog number. “04” is from an:mu’s latest AN016, which includes five other similarly expressive breakbeat-heavy tracks. “02” is from their previous AN015, released this past October, which is a little deeper and nods closer to outsider and ambient house.

    Grab these on bandcamp for whatever you wish to pay. Or stream them to your heart’s content wherever you do that.

    an:mu – “04” (bc)

    an:mu – “02” (bc)

  • Mailbox: Fermi Lëkundë – April

    Gentle warble meets satisfying rattle on this easygoing breakbeat exploration by Toronto-based Fermi Lëkundë. The winter feels insurmountable here right now (Toronto’s probably worse), but as its title would imply, this track has genuine springtime vibes. I’m here for it; sun and sky, please.

    Grab this on bandcamp or stream it wherever you do that. (And while you’re there, check the club mix version, which is something else entirely.)

    Fermi Lëkundë – “April” (sc)

  • Mailbox: Bermano – Xyloflare

    Clean lines and overall precision on this lovely bit of melodic brain dance from Guadalajara-based Australian pianist Bermano. I’m also including an older track— “Humo”— which he sent me a couple of years ago and I previously overlooked. Similar melodic exactness on this, but based on a 2-step shuffle.

    Grab these on bandcamp or stream them on your outlet of choice.

    Bermano – “Xyloflare” (sc)

    Bermano – “Humo” (sc)

  • Doris Saturday – Jack Ruby

    Jaunty two-step roller from Philly’s Doris Saturday (real name Roby Saavedra). There’s a touch of bitterness and sadness in those Rhodes too, which is probably appropriate given the song is named after a man famous for killing a killer. It’s a really pretty song.

    This is from Saavedra’s recent self-released Memorylessness three-tracker, which you can grab for whatever you wish to pay on bandcamp.

    While you’re there, check his last few releases too—including his excellent January 2023 maxi for Queens-based label Mechanical. I’ve included the B-side from that below as well, but both sides are excellent.

    Doris Saturday – “Jack Ruby” (bc)

    Doris Saturday – “Spring Wave” (bc)

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