Author: TheVinylFactory

TVF’s 10 favorite new releases this week – 6.4.21

Posted on by TheVinylFactory

Electronic introspection, sunshine soul, dreamy house, and more.

This week’s rundown is by The Vinyl Factory’s Gabriela Helfet and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Alice Whittington, James Hammond and Emily Hill.

Albums

Loraine James

Reflection

(Hyperdub)

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Hyperdub releases the second album from exceptionally talented UK producer Loraine James, Reflection. Throughout, James explores the tremendous scope of her sound by fusing elements of pop, drill and r’n’b with techno. Over 11 tracks, Reflections acts as an intimate journey through her identity, as told via narratives through sound. ‘Simple Stuff’ uses broken rhythms alongside textured spoken words to question the reach of equal rights for Black communities, whilst the elasticity of ‘Let’s Go’ demonstrates feelings of anxious uncertainty. Taken as a whole, the LP expresses the formidable growth in Loraine James’ unique artistry. – EH

Various Artists

Club Coco

(Bongo Joe)

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Collecting Latin, Afro-rooted music primed for sun-dappling dancing, DJ and label head Coco Maria presents Club Coco. Showcasing artists who have been part of Coco Maria’s weekly Worldwide FM shows – the 11-track release includes music by Nico Mauskovic, La Perla, Meridian Brothers y Grupo Renacimineto, and Coco Maria herself. Taken as a whole the compilation is a wonderful ride through Coco Maria’s sonic world that will tide you over until you’re able to see her DJ irl. – GH

Various Artists

For The Love Of You

(Athens Of The North)

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Lovers rock has seen a resurgence over the past year, so Athens of the North’s For The Love Of You compilation couldn’t have been better timed. The tenderness and vulnerability of lovers rock evokes a feeling of connectivity and healing – and importantly, it signifies the emergence of a unique Black British sound from the 70s. Freshly re-pressed on double vinyl, we can bask in the soulful glow of these twelve reggae covers, preferably booming through a large sound system in the sunshine. Top pick: Christine Lewin’s cover of Mtume’s ‘Juicy Fruit’. – AW

Pan Daijing

Jade 玉观音

(PAN)

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Drawn from an expanse of solitude and diaristic approaches to sound making, Pan Daijing’s latest long player, Jade 玉观音, is a tangle of electricity and voice that scorches as readily as it envelops. Upping the noisier proclivities of 2017’s Lack, Jade is framed with unease and tension, with Daijing’s unfettered vocals feeling like they operate inside even more claustrophobic and insular zones. – JH

Mark Leckey

O’ Magic Power Of Bleakness

(The Death of Rave)

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Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey unveils the soundtrack to his O’ Magic Power Of Bleakness exhibition, on The Death of Rave. Continuing his long-standing interest in youth, class, and folklore, the soundtrack sees Leckey conjure a liminal sonic world through iPhone notification sounds, disjointed vocals, swelling synthesizers and wooly electronics. – LR

Hassan Wargui

Tiddukla

(Hive Mind)

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Steeped in Amazigh songcraft and the cultural landscape of southern Morocco’s Anti-Atlas mountains, Tiddukla collects five banjo led compositions from Hassan Wargui. Long active in Amazigh musical communities and local groups, Wargui’s strings and uplifting vocal melodies are accompanied here by a group of close collaborators playing guembri, tamtam, bendir and krakch. Recorded in 2015 and self-released on YouTube, this is a first vinyl release for Wargui’s rhythmically complex work. – JH

Wanton Witch

Wanton Witch

(Stroboscopic Artefacts)

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Wanton Witch explores IDM, experimental club, and hardcore via “caustic electronics” on her self-titled debut album. “Reflecting Wanton Witch’s own experience navigating a hostile world as a Queer trans woman in Malaysia”, the LP presents slithering, incantatory, eyebrow-searing, sounds that are primed to get loose to on a dark basement dance floor. – GH

Singles

Slikback

‘Quoios​’ /​ ‘Klout’

(Byrd Out)

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There are two things a Slikback EP is virtually guaranteed to be: very heavy, and very good. ‘Quoios​’ / ‘​Klout’ delivers on both counts. While ‘Quoios​’ sees the Nairobi-based producer fusing techno with “chainsaw-wielding industrial beats”, the murky mechanics of ‘Klout’ line it up as the soundtrack to rave fever dreams in the year 2035. ‘Quoios​’ / ‘​Klout’ also features a remix from Bristol’s Sunun and a dub re-working from Sarmacja. – LR

Almas Fronterizas

Cruel Desperation

(Names You Can Trust)

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Oh I how love a cheeky 7” hidden gem. Almas Fronterizas – a group of cousins of indigenous Mexican origin – have been steadily honing their craft through their time in Mexico City and California – blending psych, Afro-Latin percussion, cumbia, and soul. ‘Cruel Desperation’ is a low-fi, ’60s psychedelic, jerky freakbeat trip, contrasted with brown-eyed soul vocals sung in both English and Spanish. On the flip side, ‘Linda Morenita’ is a slower, spaced-out Chicano soul jam with fluttering flutes layered over sleepy horns and breathy, aching lyrics. – AW

Vincent Floyd

Cruising

(Rush Hour Music)

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Classic Chicago house from the masterful hands of Vincent Floyd is reissued by Rush Hour. Originally pressed in 1990 via Resound Records on the Gherkin imprint, the exceptional cuts on Cruising are timeless. Driving through a sensuous 12 minutes, title track ‘Cruising’ is a voyage through a dreamy city, as you pull up into a perfect summery state of mind. The B-side bubbles with emotional depth on ‘isolation’, before reaching resolution through the euphoria of ‘Silent Noise’. – EH

VF Team

TVF’s 10 favourite new album releases this week (May 28th)

Posted on by TheVinylFactory

masayoshifujitaOur 10 favourite new releases this week (28th May)

indierockreleases

Ambient gothic, lo-fi soul, fierce rap, and more.

This week’s rundown is by The Vinyl Factory’s Gabriela Helfet and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside James Hammond and Emily Hill.

Albums

Penelope Trappes

Penelope Three

(Houndstooth)

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Penelope Trappes completes her musical trilogy with Penelope Three, released on Houndstooth. While the first two albums explored rebirth, grief, and the female body, Penelope Three taps into ideas of love, motherhood and the divine feminine. Amidst this theoretical framework, Trappes conjures “ambient gothic dreamlands” through shadowy vocal loops, reverb-heavy guitar, and drone.

Scotch Rolex

TEWARI

(Hakuna Kulala)

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Japanese producer Shigeru Ishihara (aka DJ Scotch Egg) launches his new project Scotch Rolex – named after the Ugandan street food, on Nyege Nyege Tapes. The fruits of Ishihara’s residence at NN’s Kampala studios, described as ” love letter to Hakuna Kulala from one of experimental dance music’s true originals”, across 11-tracks Ishihara collaborates with MC Yallah, Chrisman, Lord Spikeheart, Don Zilla, and Sowrdman Dilla. Driven by shuddering bass lines throughout, TEWARI showcases the gleeful variety of sounds that emanate from the singular creative hub – including brain searing death metal, space-hued club bop, and shuddering Ugandan rap. – GH

Masayoshi Fujita

Bird Ambience

(Erased Tapes)

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Masayoshi Fujita’s Bird Ambiance is a world of its own – conjuring ambient to the dance of his marimba. However, by simultaneously drawing on glitched drums and noise flashes –  On tracks like ‘Cumulonimbus Dream’ – Fujita allows the album to transcend beyond becoming mere background noise. – LR

Mustafa

When Smoke Rises

(Regent Park Songs)

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Weaving his halcyon, lo-fi soul vocals with stripped-back folk influences, Toronto artist Mustafa unveils his debut, When Smoke Rises. As much a self-described poet as a musician, Mustafa imbues this creative lyricism into his work, in unexpected ways, thanks to a seemingly subdued croon that takes off on the wings of his breath straight into your heart. It’s a quality that calls to mind Sampha, who also makes a cameo on the album. Who knew a song beginning with lyrics instructing ‘don’t crease your Air Forces’ could make a listener catch such deep feels? – GH

indierocksongs

Laila Sakini

Into the Traffic, Under the Moonlight

(Laila Sakini)

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Originally released on cassette at the end of last year alongside the Vivienne LP, the songs on Laila Sakini’s Into the Traffic, Under the Moonlight felt far from than mere addendums, and this vinyl edition comes as further testament. In comparison to Vivienne, this work brings in a broader palette of sounds and percussive ideas whilst keeping the oneiric qualities firmly intact. Whether working from foundations of metronome like percussion or sparse instrumental lines, the subtly interlocking results are always evocative and alluringly unhurried. – JH

Bruxas

Muscle Memory

(Dekmantel)

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Dutch duo triumphantly return to Amsterdam’s Dekmantel. Whereas the group’s first outing, Mas Profundo, was a cosmic balance of no-wave funk. Muscle Memory practices those same sentiments whilst stirring into the pot wider psychedelic tendencies. All nine tracks have elements of synthesizer dominance bubbling with playfulness, whilst some tracks are slightly more percussion based such as ‘crazy spacey’ which fills your soul with the hopeful promise of a festival heavy summer. – EH

black midi

Cavalcade

(Rough Trade)

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South London three-piece black midi are back with Cavalcade, exploring the outer reaches of punk via jazz and noise freakouts. Its sees original band members Geordie Greep on guitar/vocals, Cameron Picton on bass/vocals, and Morgan Simpson on drums joined by saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi and keyboard player Seth Evans. According to the group, the album presents “a line of larger than life figures, from a cult leader fallen on hard times and an ancient corpse found in a diamond mine, to legendary cabaret singer Marlene Dietrich. Each tells their story one by one and as each track ends they overtake you, replaced by the next in line.” – GH

CAN

Live In Stuttgart 1975

(Mute)

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With appetites whetted by the news that founding Can member Irmin Schmidt had been in the mastering studio selecting and cleaning up a host of the groups’ key performances, Live in Stuttgart 1975 delivers the first dispatch from these sessions. Leading on from 1975’s Landed, Live In Stuttgart 1975 finds the group free of that release’s studio polish and vocals, and true to a central tenet of the groups existence, improvisation leads the way with these five tracks. Although familiar sections from other studio recordings do present themselves, this recording is all about the vitality of Can’s free flowing approach, with grooves pushed forward and fortified by years of adventurous interplay. – JH

Vivian Koch

Beyond Contact

(AD 93)

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AD 93 continues its journey through the realms of experimental modern classics via the sonic navigational skills of Vivian Koch. Beyond Contact is a selection of six tracks touching on feelings of unity with each track centring itself in elements of serene ambiance mixed with the occasional dabble of breaks. ‘Enter’ and ‘I Know Your Here’ are combinations of tranquil explorative ambiance, which sit comfortably against the idm electronics of ‘Lil Birdy Starts To Fly Again’ – all building a special, cinematic soundtrack-of-my-life vibe. – EH

Singles

Chapeau Claudette

Fashion C’est La Latest Attraction

(Into The Light)

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Having worked as a photographer, filmmaker and hat designer, Chapeau Claudette — aka Claudette Outland — highlights the fertile intersection of music and art. With lyrics in both French and English, ‘Fashion C’est La Latest Attraction’ combines street soul with glossy synthesizers. On the flip, ‘Pass Auf (Kifissias Ave Dub)’ is — slightly unexpectedly — inspired by German reunification. – LR