EP Review: Mira - Baio

The Mira EP is the second electronic release from Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio and follows on from last year's Sunburn EP. Baio's first release came out of the so-hot-right-now label Greco-Roman whilst this comes from Aussie label Future Classic and builds on the melancholic but warm and Balearic sounds that Baio is busy making his own as part of this side project. 

I'm quite a fan of Vampire Weekend's increasingly sophisticated sound and lyrical sophistication but Mira is enjoyable precisely for being something completely different. To anyone not aware of Baio's electronic work this release will come as a surprise... The EP's title track is built from a chunky groove, with heavy, funky bass that betrays Baio's instrument of choice in his band. Some liberal reverb, sharp synth stabs and minimal drum patterns make this a deep track that still retains an emotional resonance. 

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Mira - Baio

Baio's own vocals are given a prominent position on "Welterweight", a track that rides a grimey analogue bass line and features some big house melodies that give the track a more rounded out feel. It's slightly all over the place, complex and messy and big, but very enjoyable... An uplifting an celebratory moment.

"Zona" is based on a heavy calypso vibe that actually marks the EP's closest moment to Vampire Weekend's own material, but it's still a deep electronic piece full of big chords and hard, bumping drums. Final track 'Banj' is darker, a bluesy feeling tech-house track that once again creates atmosphere through ambience and reverb, an appropriate bookend to the EP's title track. 

Mira is out now through Future Classic, available on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].  Check out the title track on Soundcloud below: 

The title track from Baio's sophomore EP, to be released on Future Classic worldwide on October 28. @CBaio www.facebook.com/baiodj www.facebook.com/futureclassic

EP Review: Space Me Out - Downtown Party Network feat. Egle Sirvydyte

Space Me Out doesn't sound like the sort of thing I expect to hear from artists called Downtown Party Network but it is pretty glorious all the same. Far away from the jump-up party sounds their name suggest this Downtown Party Network track is a spectral and sunny electronic-influenced ballad.

Egle Sirvydyte's delicate vocals create a beautiful centre for this record, delicate as she lays down the verses and breathless and drenched in reverb as she repeats the track's title for the chorus. A warm, round four-four beat provides a little momentum but it is the friction of an electronic bass line and glistening piano that provide the real counter to those vocals. And it's pretty lovely.

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Space Me Out - Downtown Party Newtwork ft. Egle Sirvydyte

Three remixes feature. First up is regular Needwant star Mario Basanov, whose work I have praised in the past even though he occasionally falters. Here he plays it clean - this is a version almost as laid back as the original, and whilst at times he layers in some slightly darker bass it still continues to respect the original. It's very tasteful, but given the quality of the source and Basanov's way with warm Balearic epics it feels a little... tame.

Musk's version is a little more raw, some deep bass and lots of reverb adding a little grit to the mix whilst the vocal is manipulated into a series of percussive cuts. It is clearly more of a club cut but still retains the feel of the original. The final mix comes from Berlin's Hannes Fischer, who gives the track an intelligent tech-house vibe, not far from a Luomo track. It is a considerably tighter version but retains a soulful feel, warm synths and electronic patterns adding some depth and body to the track.

A quality and refined take on electronic soul. Space Me Out is out on Silence Music now soon, and you will be able to buy the MP3 from Amazon.co.uk here [affiliate link]. Listen via Soundcloud below:

www.facebook.com/downtownpartynetwork Downtown Party Network released their first single Days Like These back in 2009, which quickly become an earworm for clubbers in Lithuania, Ibiza, the UK and everywhere else. The mission had to be continued, so summer of 2009 was greeted with the second record on Eskimo.

Album Review: Americana 2 - Various

  Americana 2 is the latest compilation from BBE and it celebrates some of the American folk and soul influenced sounds of the 1970s and 80s. I've not heard the previous album in this series and I'm not massively familiar with the blue eyed soul scene it ploughs, but there is a lot here to like.

The album has a sunny west coast vibe to match the soaring picture of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge that emblazons the cover. The laid back, highly polished take on soul feels particularly relevant to contemporary music, what with recent fetishisation of the west coast sound on Random Access Memories and the more California moments of Fleetwood Mac that inspire Haim. On the back of years of fascination with disco much of this album sits in a musical sweet spot - perfect for plundering. But BBE know their onions and you can be confident in the selection and intentions behind this album.

There is variety in sound here, but a coherent atmosphere that would make this the perfect soundtrack to long drives with the top down on sunny days... If only it wasn't October!

There are taught, disco numbers such as Breakaway's jiggy "There's A New Girl In Town", a track that feels like a seventies discoteque until precisely the moment a bold yet lethargic steely guitar solo kicks in after the third-minute. In comparison E.J. Stamp's "I Know All About It" is like the Eagles vocal harmonies applied to an upfront and assertive soul record - and that's a pretty glorious thing.

There's so much here that I've never heard before from artists I've never heard of that it is simpler to just recommend you check it out - if you like the premise, you'll probably like the album. However, some further highlights include Freudian Funk Band's frankly ridiculously but brilliantly titled "I'm Ambivalent About You Baby (Yes, Yes, Yes... No, No, No)", an epic put down that rolls on in a largely freestyle fashion to almost eight-minutes.

Also fantastic is the vocodered "You Win, I Lose" by Hal Bradbury, that actually sounds like what I would expect a Daft Punk track to sound like if they had made music in the 1970s, and has the kind of heartbreaking golden chorus you can't help but fall for... And TR's Hot Ice deliver something scratchy and weird that feels part punk-funk, part disco, all sunshine glory.

An album that pulls together some obscure gems from an under-appreciated style in a way that spans genres, Americana 2 is a sunshine holiday roadtrip in aural form.

Americana 2 is released on 11 November through BBE, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD with AutoRip or MP3 [affiliate links].

Stream: Get Down present Disco Diggin'

Get Down present... Disco Diggin' by Getdownsounds on Mixcloud

Loving this tight disco mix from London DJ collective (and real world associates) Get Down Sounds. Check out the Get Down website for details on their gigs and to keep up with their latest musings on the world of funk, soul and breaks. 

Some truths, or why I have to change the way this site works

For the past six months or so I've been wrestling with the fact that either I have to change, or this site does. 

BlackPlastic.co.uk started out as a hobby and an outlet for my views on music. Despite the modest size of the site in terms of visitors I find that over the past few years it has taken an ever larger amount of my time to manage. For those that don't know me personally this is just a side project - I have a separate full time job and run the site in what little spare time I have. And to be clear, BlackPlastic.co.uk makes almost no revenue, and is as such a loss leader (the annual hosting costs more than affiliate links have made in six years or so, not that I am complaining, or counting).

In other words, I only do this for the joy of finding, sharing and writing about music. Yet of late, I feel like it's killing what I like about music completely. I receive something like 30 emails a day from bands, labels and PR companies and to date have always tried to at least give the contents a listen. Some of what I receive is good, but quite a lot isn't... And the result is a massive burden in terms of time and a lot of what I listen to ends up dictated by external parties, which isn't fun for me and isn't necessarily great for readers.

Earlier this week I seriously considered just shutting the site down. I still plan on an extended leave of absence from mid-November, probably for a month or so to cleanse my pallet, but instead of shutting the site I'm going to try and change the way it works.

This will broadly mean two things:

1. The smaller change is that I want to most more short-form content, just sharing what I'm enjoying but not always critiquing or describing it. I've always been keen to be a blog that actually writes rather than just posting videos without any comment. That isn't going to change, but there just might be some more Soundcloud, YouTube and Spotify posts amongst the longer content. I've been dialling up this component for 12 months or so anyway but expect more short-form, and a bit less long-form. I hope this makes the blog easier to consume, more timely and more varied.
2. The bigger change - I'm no longer going to listen to everything (or even most) or what I get sent by email or through the site's contact form. I simply can't keep it up - it is slowly grinding me down and killing my passion for music. For a long time I've refused to respond to confirm non-coverage, those emails I receive, listen to and then decide not to feature (about 98%), just confirming when I do like something. But I'm now going a (big) step forward. I'm only clicking those links and listening to those samples when I fancy it.

Those two changes should enable me to better focus on the music I really care about and less on the music that just has PR muscle behind it. I hope it will make the site better for readers and less of a chore for me.

I'll try and communicate this change to anybody that regularly contacts me now, but I wanted to post it here publicly and give some insight into how things have worked in the past. If you currently send me music and this makes you want to stop, then I'm sorry and understand, but okay - do what you need to. If you were going to send me a message through the contact form just be aware that I will read it, but may well ignore requests to listen to links now... I never did before. I'm sorry that it has come to this, but something has to give.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to do so. Comments are welcome on this list or feel free to send me a message.