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This track from Melbourne four-piece Lower Plenty is pretty special. A dark, bluesy and claustrophobic tale of loneliness, this feels like a strangely urban take on country music and I love it.
Though the members have worked on other projects in the past, last year saw the release of Lower Plenty's debut album Hard Rubbish in Australia, and it's set for release globally in April through Fire records.
This new single from Bristol's Typesun is a bit of a mystery. The vocals are puzzling and the vocalist himself has even chosen to remain anonymous, suggesting this one cuts close to the bone.
It's certainly an emotionally charged tale of trying to avoid feelings for someone - the trepidation that comes when you are falling a little faster than intended. The vocals are smooth and soulful in their delivery but, much like the track itself, understated.
The music is tense, reflecting the song's emotional state, at fracture not quite at that point when it explodes. The live drums and bass that subtly builds throughout that track perfectly match the lyrics, even building to a crescendo halfway through, but the singer just about reigns it in: "Keep it on the DL, I think I'm feeling PL: player's love crept up on me". We're left in the half anxious, half dreamy and spell-bound musical backing, the vocals seemingly silenced by their creator whilst the feelings remain.
On the flip is a remix from Behling & Simpson, who give it a deep, hard garage makeover. Tough looping beats and a lo fi bass line give this a really old school sound that opens up to a love-struck sounding second half. A nice, fresh sounding take but it lacks the innovation and feeling of the original.
With an album due to follow, The PL marks an exciting start to 2013. This recalls both the late-90s nu soul movement and some of Britain's best mid-nineties soul-dance cross-over artists such as Soul II Soul. I can't wait to hear more.
The PL is out today on Root Elevation, available for purchase digitally from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link]. Hear Gilles Peterson play the track on his radio show:
This new track from Pulp is genius. It's great to hear something new from the band even if it does surface as a fair well at the end of their extended reunion tour.
The track was originally a demo back in 2000 but was recently re-recorded with James Murphy on production duties and the collaboration works fantastically. Their is a stripped-back minimalism to Murphy's style that gives Pulp a suitable tautness, whilst also calling to mind a few of Murphy's earlier productions. The call-outs to Hackney and supermarkets are also pure Pulp, and I miss them.
Check it out on Soundcloud below:
I've followed Mountains since their first release through Thrill Jockey - Choral, their third album overall - and whilst their sound doesn't ever change massively every album feels like a treat to listen to.
Mountains are Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg and they specialise in making slow-cooked ambient soundscapes. I've probably said this before: ambient music makes me hate my ears a little bit. But when it is done well it can be truly special, and Mountains can generally be relied upon to get it right.
To make this album Holtkamp and Anderegg focused on separating their acoustic and electronic instruments out, with each recorded separately. What this means is that their is no electronically manipulated sound based on acoustic sources. The result adds a little more of a human element to the Mountains sound, as the acoustic elements - the guitars, cello, organs and piano - all feel a little more exposed.
In places this combination is Mountains at their best. The desert-mirage soundscape of the closing minutes of 'Sand' - the cello rhythmically circling back into the music. The dreamy piano keys hidden behind the layers of electronic hum and gentle guitar on 'Indentical Ship'. The descent into nature's ambient noise on 'Tilt' and the contrasting electronic equivalent on 'Propeller'.
The pure electronic moments don't always work, a little clinical and with less perceptible change, but the album is tied together like a constantly changing iceberg, flipping as sounds are created and other melt away. Mountains remain a transcendent act within the ambient genre.
Centralia is released through Thrill Jockey on 21 January, available for pre-order on CD or LP from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate links]. Listen to and download 'Living Lens' via Soundcloud below:
'Hemingway' is the result of a collaboration between Piek,
Mianyo and vocalist Samuel Fitch. And it's just the sort of polished disco-house record to kick start your January.
Piek comes from Northern Spain and has released through Azari, Cray1, LabWorks, Inmotion and his own label Paulatine, which he runs with Uner and Baum. Hemingway comes out through Fiakun initially on vinyl, with the digital release following later in the month.
The single features two versions. The original boasts a thick, satisfyingly infectious bass line that's hard to ignore, layers of loose percussion and Fitch's slinky vocals. The combination of the hard, electronic square-wave bass and live, clattering drums create a deep, organic but still modern sounding record.
M.V.I.P. - that'll be Mathias Vogt and Ian Pooley - deliver the remix, and it's a more stripped back affair. There are nods to classic house in some of the big atmospheric sounds, whilst the track is given a tight techie edge. It still has a few of the disco flourishes but it's a much deeper cut and a strong complement to the a-side.
Hemingway is out today through Fiakun on 12" and 21 January as a digital release. Preview the release on Soundcloud below: