It's well 'ot

The cruel irony of working with computers is that they too generate heat - this vintage meme pretty much nails it (just replace the gaming part with 3D and video rendering). It's well documented I don't get on well in the heat anyway, but this post isn't going to be me sitting here and complaining at you (but it was important context for the songs on show!). Let's go ahead and get some suitably sweltering songs on the go.

Charles Sheeler - Golden Gate (1955)

Kicking off with a bit of Ceephax, Sidney's Sizzler always seems to crop up quickly whenever you search for anything related to the man, no doubt helped by the wild homemade video he made for it. This was the first track that came to mind when thinking up tracks for this post, beyond just the obvious name it does sound like Ceephax's equipment is on the border of melting throughout - especially with that stumbling breakdown at 2:10 making it sound as if the whole setup is breaking down. A touch more intense than the other Ceephax tracks I've posted in the past but nothing too wild. I've not had the chance to listen to his entire discography as of yet but in my experience there's a strong melodic element that keeps it from going into full on 303 arpeggio territory.



I've been back on a bit of a Soichi Terada thing ever since my last post, and the man has plenty of works that would fit this theme. I've gone with the timeless classic Sun Showered this time though, it's the instrumental mix of one of his breakout hits: Sunshower with Nami Shimada from 1989. I have nothing against Nami's vocal, both versions of the tune are stellar in their own right - but the instrumental really lets Terada's work shine through. I do think it feels a bit empty without the vocal in parts, but I've also mentioned it a ton of times in the past so I figured the instrumental gives a little bit of variety too. Check out the whole compilation this is from if you like the vibe, Sounds From The Far East is a fantastic 'best of' Terada's House works.



Keeping in a similar sort of vein to play us out, we have techno mogul Ian O'Brien. I initially knew him from a spate of remixes and of course Desert Scores, which opens with the homage to his influence taken from Underground Resistance with Mad Mike Disease. I checked out some of his more recent work a little while ago and The High Frontier EP quickly made it onto the ever-growing wishlist. It's a great little 3-tracker going from Tech, to downtempo almost IDM and full on Ambient across the tracklist. They are all lovely tracks but Harmonix really starts the thing off on a high note - it's a distillation of all my favourite bits of the Detroit sound. I say it every time a track like this comes up but I'm just real glad that tracks like this are still being made, absolutely gorgeous stuff.



And that'll about do it for today, the heat is set to continue for a couple of days so I might be able to fit another one of these in before the week is out - in true fashion for me it'll probably be a return to the more downtempo side of things! Hope you find something to love in these selections as I have, and as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Belated Best Of

I sat down today with the intention of doing my annual bevy of tunes to schedule for the day before NYE - what originally started as my teenage electro-fiend self sharing my own personal playlist of big choons sort of became a cross section of past and present faves from a variety of genres. I still intend to do that, but as I started hashing out some choices I thought I'd change gears a bit and instead share some of my favourites from this year. Time has gone all funny as I had to trim some out that were very firmly from last year but I think I've ended up with a good selection, we'll get into it after the break.

It goes without saying it's been a pretty strange year - as such I've been spending a lot of time with HEALTH as their current electronic infused sound is very cathartic at times: often intense and with a pronounced nihilistic streak as well. While DEATH MAGIC is probably still my favourite of theirs, I've got a real fondness for everything they've done since that pivot to the more electronic side of things (which was always there to be fair, it just got more pronounced with DEATH MAGIC). Some of their latest I haven't been so hot on - on paper the collab with Nine Inch Nails should have been amazing, I don't think it was bad mind you, but I think perhaps my expectations were a little high. Still, you're always going to have moments like that with artists no matter what, and the rest of the singles that have been coming out like DEAD FLOWERS have been more up my street. Perhaps not as electronic as previous, but still a very great example of what I mentioned in the opening sentence.



I'd also been spending a lot more time with Oneohtrix Point Never as well. I'm incredibly behind on the man's output nowadays, but I am more than happy to see him achieve the levels of success he has done. I'm pretty sure if you go back and read my first post about OPN when I first discovered him about 10 years ago I mention his work having that cinematic quality to it, and to see him get soundtrack work is very validating (plus as well noted, I am all in favour of film soundtracks being more electronic and interesting than your usual stereotypical 'cinema strings')

But we're getting a little off topic, I've listened to a ton of ambient this year, much for the same reasons as listed above, and OPN's work is still among my favourites of the genre. I've liked a lot of the direction he's taken since - there's been much more experimental output as of late and I'd go as far to say as the last traditional 'ambient' album he did was R Plus Seven in 2013, and even then parts of that album were totally signposting the more experimental direction he'd take. All of this is to say that there was perhaps part of me pining for a 'classic' OPN tune, perhaps not one loaded with lush Juno arpeggios like the Betrayed In The Octagon era but along the same kind of lines.

The original Nothing's Special (that's included as a b-side on this single and on the main album, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never) came close with it's lush synth-work and mournful treated vocals - but the version that features Rosalía on the vocals is just spectacular. An unexpected collaboration to be sure, one that I've seen written off and bashed for as a result, but one that I absolutely adore. My only complaint is that I would have liked an instrumental version on the single to complete the trilogy.



It's not all doom and gloom though, as I mentioned in my little mixtape last post, I've also been spinning a ton of the soundtrack to Unbeatable, an upcoming rhythm game with a little free demo called [White Label] on Steam and Itch. I'm going to essentially copy/paste what I said last time here because otherwise I would just be repeating the same points anyway - Unbeatable has a totally enthralling visual style that is utterly drenched in nostalgia - it's totally designed to target that [adult swim] generation, if you're at all like me and stayed up way too late watching shows like FLCL as a teen, then you'll find it familiar.

The soundtrack does a downright perfect job of complimenting that aesthetic, aping bands like The Pillows to great effect, with a real rough 'round the edges feel that makes sense in the context of the game but also . I couldn't not mention this one just because it became a swift obsession of mine and made up a big chunk of my listening for this year. While not totally electronic, it does stray into that side from time to time: be it the Avalanches style sampling of Proper Rhythm, or the mandatory lo-fi hip hop joint I chose in Homework Salad By Night - it just wouldn't be the complete [adult swim] experience without it now would it?



And finally, a little bit from LNS. A recent addition to my radar, I ended up scooping her entire discography on Bandcamp not long after first being introduced. Her latest, the punnily titled LNS-id, is as you might expect a much more acidic affair than her usual. Don't be put off by the cover though, despite the cover's design, the sound on here is pretty far from 'ardcore acid stuff - as album opener and my favourite of the bunch Blue Acid does a fantastic job of demonstrating. It's a somewhat menacing beast, the Acid is definitely there in the form of a machine gun 303 arpeggio lurking in the background but it's contrasted with these slow synth sweeps in the background that give it an altogether different feel from the small amount of acid I have in my collection (which isn't saying much because I'm really unfamiliar with the genre beyond broad strokes as a result!). The rest of the album is a more standard Acid affair, I don't mean that as a knock though as it's all lovingly done: even following the standard 'Acid' blueprint of sounds LNS still manages to make some interesting stuff but by far and away the most striking is this intro track. Brilliant.



Honestly, there was even more I could have put here. I did hesitate calling it the 'best of' because A) I am perpetually behind on new stuff, so there could be things I haven't even heard yet and B) You all know I like to talk at length, so at least this way it keeps things more manageable! (Plus, I don't know how many more covers I could have used to make that blended pic I used up above for the post either) finally, C) not everything is available on bandcamp unfortunately, so this was the best compromise. Rest assured it was a bumper year for new tunes, I even managed to get some new Eurobeat as well. I'll try and swing back around again with a big end of year track dump, but if I don't manage that take care and I'll see you all in 2022. As always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Bite-sized Bits 03

Pierre Alechinsky - Discovery of Acid (Act II) (1968)

A bit from Ceephax Acid Crew this time - an artist I didn't check out for a long time just because we never really crossed paths. Always a little undersold as 'Squarepusher's brother', Andy Jenkinson's work is very different to his siblings and stands alone. As the name would suggest, Ceephax dwells mainly within the world of Acid - as mentioned last time I brought up acid it's a genre I'm not super familiar with, I like it at a base level but I ended up bouncing off a lot of it I came across in the wild, not the case here though.

Like DMX Krew, there's a certain playful irony to some of Ceephax's work - again hinted in the name, a play on Ceefax which informs a great deal of his art direction. Look no further than the video for the track I've picked, 'Mediterranean Acid' for proof of that, taking the form of a poorly chroma keyed holiday promotion video, complete with naff effects and Ceephax himself hamming it up with some synths. You can tell he had a ton of fun making it, and that too is reflected in the track itself - a bouncy, more melodic take on Acid than I was used to at the time, I quickly fell in love with it. Dig a little deeper into the Crew's catalogue if you like this one, he has plenty more like it.



I'm surprised I haven't brought this one up more often, this is at least the first time since swapping over to the bandcamp player. I went through a brief period where I wasn't able to stop looping that intro. To this day I think it might be one of my favourite 303 lines ever put down, the base thing is pretty good as is, but I just love how squelchy it gets at points. That'll wrap up today's entry, tune back in tomorrow for more at roundabout the same time - and as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Trip Report

I am back with a sit-rep on what I actually got around to getting on Bandcamp Friday. No massive changes in plans this time though, I did end up subbing out the Arpanet LP for some other stuff though, as well as getting the ADULT. EP thingy I talked about last time but didn't actually post about. Let's get stuck in.

M.C. Escher - Blocks of Basalt along the Sea (1919)
First major change was I decided to listen to a couple of other LNS releases just to feel them out, I ended up on her latest LNS-id first of all - the pun in the title is stretching it a bit, but as it suggests, this is much more Acid flavoured than the track from Recons One I used last time. I do like Acid, but I don't have a right lot of it in my archives, I feel like it's one of those genres that can suffer from being quite same-y in its execution (but admittedly, I haven't gone too deep into the genre so take that with two handfuls of salt). Most of my Acid comes from Squarepusher's brother's project Ceephax Acid Crew, his work tends to be quite creative in the boundaries of Acid and as you might have guessed from some of those album covers, often very much embracing the sillier side of things. I thought that maybe this one might be the same, what with the massive Acid smiley over LNS' frog logo on the cover and all.

So with that in mind, I wasn't really sure what exactly to expect going into this one - would it be some tongue-in-cheek Acid? A straight up tribute to the style that fully embraces all the clichés like Luke Vibert's Luke Vibert Presents UK Garave Vol. 1 maybe? Not quite as it turns out, the opening Blue Acid grabbed my attention straight away with its ambient techy vibes, the frantic 303 that you might expect for an Acid track is very subdued at first and it gives the whole thing this very different feel than I've ever encountered in the world of Acid before. LNS nails the production side of things here too, just when I find myself thinking that it needs a little something to spice it up, something that changed up the formula would drop right in. I can understand the 303 being repetitive to some, and there are some times where I feel it too - I'd have liked that ambience lurking in the background to have more time to shine like it does around the 4:10 mark - but overall I'm very into it, even if the EP has given me 200% of my recommended dose of 303 for the next few weeks.



Turning around in terms of sound with a bit from that ADULT. EP I brought up last time. One thing I love about about ADULT. is that they are doing a fantastic job of making most of their discography available on Bandcamp, including things that were super rare before. The extremely on brand titled Let's Feel Bad Together EP was previously a Beatport exclusive - but you could also get an 'Official Bootleg' CD of it from their website that they would sign with a little personal message for you too. It's from 2008, so just after the release of the nihilistic and intense punk of Why Bother? - though that LP would sometimes leave the electronics behind, Let's Feel... is very much in the vein of ADULT. releases of old.

It waxes and wanes though, tracks like Dance Avoid feel more like their Resuscitation-era sound and shares some DNA with the album immediately after this The Way Things Fall, whereas album closer Sideways feels much more like the fidgety anxiety of Why Bother>. There's not a dull moment on this EP, each of the four tracks are pretty relentless and don't let up until the timer runs out. They feel a little less fleshed out than the mainline album tracks or even some of their other EPs, but I don't want to make out like that's a negative - it makes everything here feel like the 'best of' of an extended jam session or even some live improv.

This is most easily spotted in Nicola's vocals, there aren't really verses to speak of here so much as her playing around with the titles of the songs, most obviously on Dance Avoid with lines like 'Dance avoid, dance avoid, dancing in a void', but again that just plays into what I mentioned above, and even if the content is much more simple than usual, her trademark delivery does an amazing job of matching that Punky atmosphere. I've picked both Today and Dance Avoid here because I think the two show off the two 'moods' of the EP really well (and because Avoid came on as I was typing and I fell in love with the intro all over again).





I also got around to getting the other two thirds of the Evoked Potentials series from E.R.P. (AKA Gerard Hanson or Convextion). They're super small and bite sized at two tracks each, I feel like the label could have compiled them into one, especially considering the original vinyl releases were limited to a couple hundred copies but hey ho. About the tracks themselves though - E.R.P. has fast become one of my favourites over the past year or so, the brand of hi-tech electro slash techno released under the name just really appeals to me in the same way all the early 90's Artificial Intelligence series from Warp does. I know that's a comparison I trot out all the time when talking about this kind of sound but it's more apt than usual this time, parts of the Evoked Potentials series sound a hell of a lot like the stuff B12 was (and continues to) make.

And you'll find yourself among good company if you're into this style of electro - Discogs recommends stuff like Drexciya, The Other People Place and early Underground Resistance - that's especially true here, of all the E.R.P. I've posted so far, Repose most certainly feels more in line with that kind of style. I just adore the spacey vibes on this one, it's very easy to get lost in - the stripped back ambient turn in the last quarter is just divine. It's not quite dethroned the Alsoran EP as my favourite release from him (But there is some bias there as it was the first thing I'd heard as well), but I will happily snap up more of this sound whenever I find it. My only complaint is a very nit-picky one: for some reason there's a good chunk of silence on the end of this one, it ends at around 6:40 for reference.



And that'll do it for this time. I'm a little late on this one because I took an easy day off yesterday because I was feeling a little sick, but that actually gave me time to listen and hash out some thoughts on these picks so it wasn't *too* bad I suppose. I'll be back soon enough with more but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Quicksort

Running through the list to make some selections for the upcoming BC Friday, there are some definite ones on there but as I've mentioned in previous posts a lot of them are things I said I would pick up 'soon' a decade ago. Still there's been some interesting developments along the way, I've picked out some that are of a similar school of sound, even if I don't end up getting them *this* BC Friday. Join me on this particularly IDM-ish instalment of things I'm looking at.

Thought I'd start off with Abfahrt Hinwil, the duo behind the Toytronic label. Toytronic has been a great source of IDM and ambient for me over the years, but to my shame I never actually got around to picking up the main release from the two, the equally difficult to spell Links Berge Rechts Seen. Which is a shame really as it's the album that set me off on that journey all those years ago after like so many other finds in my library it cropped up on Grooveshark of all places - I was supremely into anything IDM I could get my hands on then, and with artwork that is very evocative of Autechre's Amber (as seen above!) and that distinct Designer's Republic-esque hi-tech flair, it ticked all my boxes.

The intro track 'Bumperstufe2' is typically IDM, from its title down to the actual production on show. If you'r familiar with the genre at all you will find it fairly standard (though I admit perhaps it's just the sheer amount of the genre I've heard over the years) That's not a mark against it by any means though - my love of this sound is well documented after all. By the time of the compilation's original release in 2002 the other big name IDM artists were moving on to more intense versions of their sounds, so having this slightly Artificial Intelligence era style sound kicking around is lovely for me - the breakdown at 1:40 is a divine encapsulation of exactly what I mean. Beautiful stuff.



Speaking of moving on to more intense versions of their sounds - Autechre next. I've mentioned many times over the years that they kind of lose me with the direction they take after Tri Repetae, focusing more on the more magled techy sound without the contrasting almost organic melodies of before. It's potentially one of the hottest electronic music takes I have, Chiastic Slide is OK and all, but it doesn't resonate with me like Clipper from Tri Repetae does for example, and I've never really been able to get into anything after that unfortunatley. Not to say I don't admire what Autechre have done as a group though, they've been at it for a good 30 years now, the stuff they were making is crazy complex for the times it was released in a lot of the time, and in recent years have reliably dropped album(s) every year or so which takes some doing.

And that's not to say I don't dip my toe in every now and then: Altibzz, the opening track for Quaristice is lovely and there are a few tracks from after Tri Repetae that I do like a whole lot too. Enter Yeesland, a great demonstrator of that hyper-mechanical direction they started to take around this time. Yeesland still has that melodic streak that keeps me interested and the introduction of that lovely synth pulse around 1:38 gives the track that contrast that I loved so much about earlier Autechre. I'll still keep trying to explore their later work every now and then, but even just exploring the shallows there are plenty of releases to get stuck into. I'm an outlier in that their early sound might still be my favourite though - the recent release of those late 80's / early 90's demo tapes was a real treat for me.



And finally, some straight up techno stuff from Richie Hawtin under the F.U.S.E. alias again. It's nice to see him working under that name again, I had perhaps rather cynically assumed it was just going to be a one off revival for the 25th anniversary of Dimension Intrusion and it's new companion album (though oddly in places this release is credited to both Richie Hawtin and F.U.S.E. so it might be that his Brother has taken up the name? It's just credited to Hawtin on Bandcamp to muddy the waters further.) At any rate, it's quite a bit different from the F.U.S.E. of old, but not a million miles removed - Dimension Intrusion was one of the Warp Artificial Intelligence albums and so had plenty of that brand of ambient-ish techno on show, albeit with a bit of a minimal edge in parts as you'd expect given Hawtin's other work)

But nestled between things like the cascading arpeggios of title track and the delicate ambience of Nitedrive there were tracks that were much heavier beasts. Tracks like Substance Abuse and Train-trac come to mind - these tracks stand out just because they're so different from the main body of the album and perhaps feel a little out of place (and in fact Train-trac was taken off the anniversary re-issue), but the tracks aren't bad - Hawtin is right at home in either mode. Enter Syntax, part one of which is an acid drenched experience that is expertly crafted with peaks and valleys. I have in the past critiqued Hawtin's more minimal work but here I think there is a nice balance, just when I find myself getting tired of a section, in drops something to keep it fresh - and I'm a total sucker for that extended outro where everything slows to a crawl and the arpeggios get stretched out to their base components. Recently I was thinking I might be a bit bored of 303 stuff but this one has certainly made me eat those words a bit.



And that'll do it for this time, it's been nice to mix things up a little bit, think it's been a while since I went on an IDM trip like this! Got a bit heavier on the text front this time than I iamagine when I started, but it's been a little while too so I can give myself a bit of leeway I suppose. I'll be back soon enough with more but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

The Scoops

Ralph Goings - Chocolate Lean (2010)

That time of the month where I share what I got on Bandcamp Friday. Not too much this time, but some overdue additions and some new stuff too. Originally I was wanting this to be a retro rundown with Luke Vibert's UK Garave Vol. 1 leading it but that didn't quite pan out. Still managed to get a bit of retro vibe in it though thanks to another release from ThorHighHeels.

Positive Yellow is a little like UK Garave Vol. 1 in that it's very much a tribute to a very specific kind of sound, though as you might expect if you follow Thor's video work - this time it's a love letter to the soundtracks of games when they started to take advantage of CD Audio. Each of the tracks is fairly bite size, but they all do a great job of nailing that sound - plus as a bonus there's plenty of samples to spot: from classic drum & bass breaks to the beat from this one which I think is taken from the Todd Terry Remix of Everything But The Girl's Wrong. About once a year I get a little nostalgic for the kind of house and general 'dance' that was on the radio when I was younger, in fact I just spent the last couple of weeks putting together and curating playlist with a friend on exactly that theme, that might sound like a statement out of left-field at first, but I bring it up because Summer's Edge is exactly the kind of sound that I mean - it's that special kind of House that typifies that vibe for me.



Freezepop next - a band I've had multiple brief flings with. This release has long been overdue to add to my collection - it's got one of my favourites from them on in Here Comes A Special Boy, a tune that I have had in my collection for coming up on 15 years now(!) - though as a crap 96kbps version that I got from some p2p network. A better quality version never surfaced after all those years, and if I remember right this EP's physical release was a super limited one as well so I kind of gave up on it. When I found this on my Bandcamp travels a year or so ago, I knew I owed it to them to actually buy it one day (and so I could get my mitts on a better quality version!).

And so here we are, sentimentality aside, this EP hails from the early days of Freezepop's output - they're another band that kind of got lumped in with the 'Electroclash' scene but their work is definitely more straight up Synthpop. There's a certain playfulness and irreverence they have throughout that you can hear most obviously on tracks like Here Comes A Special Boy that can turn some people away, and that's something I totally understand, coming back to some of these tracks has more than a few times brought up some long repressed memories of my teenage years.

But if you're willing to dig a little deeper, you're rewarded. The live version(s) of Outer Space and Plastic Stars included on this EP are really beautiful. It's a little strange to have them both be one big monster track at 10+ mins long but they blend together pretty seamlessly - the way the dreamy repetition of Outer Space fades into the much more poppy Plastic Stars is great. You can kind of hear where those electroclash labels come from there too: there's plenty of fairly stoic delivery that's evocative of the genre here (but as we all know, Electroclash lifted that from Kraftwerk anyway!). It's perhaps a little bit dated but I can't help but smile a bit at these tracks, part of me will always love this kind of skeletal, homemade sounding electronic.



And finally, another track from Ceephax's Byron's Ballads EP. I'll admit I'm not super well versed in the ways of Ceephax - but this EP is fast becoming what I'd recommend to a first time listener, even if it is quite a bit different from his usual output. As mentioned before, when I think of Ceephax, my mind comes up with images of deliberately naff visuals and slightly satirical acid tracks - a little like DMX Krew in that regard. But on Byron's Ballads there's not really any of that (save for maybe the visuals and title), each and every one of these tracks would absolutely be at home on the dancefloor just fine. From the remarkably accessible acid tinged house of Sneaker to the driving yet subdued 303 of The Hague, each tune on here has something unique to offer while keeping things distinctly Ceephax.

I've picked the opening track Citylink this time, purely because it's a fantastic opening track that lets you know exactly what you're in for as the housey opening soon gives way to some lovely squelchy 303. Perhaps the least acidic track on here by quite a ways, it also has a little bit of that retro vibe to it (though, most all of Ceephax's work does having said that). Super accessible, this isn't the kind of Acid that's going to melt your speakers or anything which makes it a great starting point if you're looking to get into it as a whole, or if you're like me and only occasionally swim out to that side of the pool and don't want anything too intense.



And that'll do it for this month's instalment. I hope you find something you like here, and maybe it'll even set you off on a retro kick like me. I might even have to post that playlist I mentioned in a little while, I like to think we did a pretty thorough rundown of the whole 90's for it: from the cheese of the big hits to my secret ingredients there's plenty of variety, perhaps some eye rollers but that's all part of the fun isn't it? Anyway, I'll wrap up here, hope you're all keeping well and as always - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Newfound

It's been a productive time in terms of finding new tunes - between Omodaka and this bevy of stuff I'm sharing today we've got a decent amount of variety. For a while I felt like I was stagnating a bit - but I've also had it go the other way where I'm getting so much new music that I don't think that I'm giving it a good amount of appreciation. Not so much this time, a smattering of EPs makes for just the right amount of new stuff in my experience, and that's exactly what we have today - bits and pieces I've found either through recommendations, looking up old EPs to see if they're readily available for streaming and just generally exploring the world of electronic.

Wilhelm Sasnal - Kacper and Anka (2009)


Photek to begin with, yet another artist on the list of 'Things that I should be familiar with on paper'. I've never really explored Photek in much detail despite my occasional dips into 90's D&B - outside of the now customary bits and pieces I have from soundtracks I can't say I have much. But that's not really as relevant anyway as Photek has done much more than just Drum & Bass since the 90's (something that often sees people come out of the woodwork to whinge and moan about as well). The Aviator / Totem EP is a House / Dubstep record respectively, and it's the title track I've chosen today. Discogs says it's Deep House and I can kinda get where it's coming from, it's not the kind that I talked about in my big Deep House dive a couple posts ago though - But I'm not here to argue semantics, it's a lovely piece of mid-tempo house with a nice groove to it, a real far cry from the rough cut breakbeats that you may know him for. It's not hard to see why Photek is doing a lot of soundtrack stuff these days, tracks like this have that slick edge to them that makes for good ammo for that kind of thing.

Please excuse the doubling up of players, I wanted one for the Hypem archives but there is only this preview on 'tek's official soundcloud, so I included the YT player underneath with the full thing just to cover both bases.

Photek · Aviator [clip]

Heading back to the 90's next with Dave Angel. I wrongfully assumed that a lot of Dave's older work would be not readily available online, as is so often the story with so many electronic artists, there's normally a licence issue or something stopping it from being readily available. But I am glad to report that is not the case - the entirety of the Seas Of Tranquility EP is up on Dave's soundcloud, as it is on other streaming platforms, albeit with much more plain album art than the actual original vinyl.

As you might have guessed from the titles, the whole EP has this aquatic theme running throughout it which is used to great effect when creating all different kinds of atmospheres. The EP dances between techno and house, with bits and pieces (Especially the opening track Shallow Waters) sounding like what Underground Resistance were making for Galaxy 2 Galaxy - think Jupiter Jazz and the like.

Some of these tracks could have gone into the Deep House post quite easily as well: Abyss is one of the standouts from the EP and would have fit right in with the rest of my selections there - though it's a little bit more heavy with those kicks than the choices I made for that post, the oceanic theme still makes for generous applications of lush synth work. I would have liked a little bit more variety throughout, but there's plenty to go at if you love the sound of each element as much as I as they each have their chance in the spotlight. I also love the pitch bends down during the break around the 5:30 mark, it's a small touch but one that's masterfully placed - It's a shame it happens so late in the mix though. The whole EP is a great listen but I just can't stop myself from playing this one out recently, for a track that's as old as I am I'm finding it incredibly fresh.

Dave Angel · Abyss

And finally - a little more from Ceephax. I've mentioned Ceephax a couple of times, mainly because I love Mediterranean Acid very much. And if you needed an introduction to the kind of thing you can expect from the Acid Crew, that video should let you know. Like DMX Krew, Ceephax has a rather playful approach to electronic music - making Acid covers of Bach, cheekily called Prelude in 303 Major, with deliberatley dated album art to go along with them.

But don't be tempted to write it off as just a tongue in cheek comedy project, as you might have heard on those last two examples - Ceephax has a penchant for being able to write real ear-worms which makes a lot of his works a real treat to listen to. Enter Haliphax (Friend Reunited), a reworking of an older tune called Friend Track. It's a refreshing take for me, lovely and smooth but with some pretty hefty kicks once the track gets going, similar to the Dave Angel track in that respect actually. While it's pretty hefty at a 9 and a half minute runtime, it's kept consistently fresh throughout so it doesn't feel overly extended.

I like the approach Ceephax takes on tracks like this too, it would be very easy to fall into the trap of making it all about the analogue tech, whereas I think that Ceephax's productions are more like modern tracks that just happen to be made on old equipment. While as you heard on Prelude in 303 Major Ceephax does go all in on the acid front from time to time, tracks like Haliphax really show off how good he is at taking those hallmark sounds and making something new with them. Tracks like this feel like they come out of a sincere place of love for the equipment, I love a squealing 303 as much as anyone but it's great to hear fresh spins like this every now and then.



And that'll do it for this time, I hope you like some of these tracks as much as I do - I've been really into the Seas Of Tranquility EP as of late following on from that House post before - and I plan on saving some of that Ceephax goodness for the next Bandcamp Friday so you can expect it to crop up again soon! I have my eyes on a couple of things to talk about next too, but IRL commitments are picking back up so it may be a day or two later than usual like this one was, but I'll be here!

And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Acieeeeeeeeeeed

Pierre Alechinsky - Discovery of Acid (Act I) (1968)

Been taking this time to dip my toes further into some genres I've only a passing relationship with. As mentioned on the poscast moons ago, entering any new electronic genre is a bit of a minefield, there are so many sub-genres and jargon it can be hard to find your way. I've tried my best to do a quick rundown here of all things I like that are Acid. What kind of Acid? Well, all kinds really (apart from Jazz). Let's 'ave a look.

Kicking off with a bit from Ceephax Acid Crew. Yet another artist that kept cropping up in my recommends but sorely overlooked. Ceephax is Andy Jenkinson, brother of Thomas of Squarepusher fame, in fact some of the early Squarepusher stuff (Especially under his Chaos A.D. alias) is quite Acidic. Ceephax has stuck to those acid guns though, hence the name. I really dig his stuff, mainly because there's interesting things happening beyond squealing 303s, not that I don't like that mind you but it's definitely refreshing to hear this kind of approach. Ceephax also gets full on DMX Krew style irony when it comes to the visual side of things, really going for that Ceefax aesthetic that he takes his name from. Get a load of the video for this one for example



That of course isn't where I got my start with Acid however, we're going back to the acid heyday of 1988 here for one of, if not the first, acid tunes I had in my collection. Hailing from 'round my neck of the woods is Gerald Simpson, better known by his stage name the beautifully understated A Guy Called Gerald. A far cry from synths that sound like they're about to explode that comes to my mind when I think of Acid, Voodoo Ray is in contrast a rather sedate piece. But all the hallmarks are still there, and the house influence is much more clear. This is a time where a lot of releases blur the line between House, Acid, Garage, Techno and so on (Strings Of Life springs to mind). Totally understandable as genres evolve and get more popular, but as mentioned above Voodoo Ray is unmistakably Acid, albeit in its early form! You can totally hear the similarities and influence on the Ceephax track and there's a good 24 years between them.



And finally rounding things out, a new one I picked up along the way. Heard this one on some random Acid mix I ended up on and I was a little disappointed when I looked it up. Not because the tune's bad or anything but it was played faster in the mix, and honestly I think it sounds better a little quicker. I found that was the case for most of the tracks in that mix actually, but still good to have to hand. Perhaps a little generic in parts but that's not necessarily a bad thing (see my post on Eurobeat for proof!). And as I've said in previous posts, music is a lot like food, sure you will appreciate a really well done dish but sometimes you just want a bit of greasy comfort food. And to me, that's tunes like this.



And so ends our brief foray into the acid world. I hope I showed enough variety here, it does feel a little shorter than other posts. Regardless, keep reading as there will still be content to come, reminder that next post will be an old one republished and then back to a new one after that. As always; stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

A Belated Pod (Or Two)

Apologies in advance for this one, I completely forgot to post the last couple podcasts myself and Adam did. To be fair it was 3 months ago and I was busy in the throes of my new job (and dealing with a broken hand + elbow on opposite arms). We haven't recorded since but we're both fairly busy with life things atm, still I should reach out to him and hopefully we can get another one out before the end of the year (I probably shouldn't have said it won't be so long before the next one in hindsight...).

in the meantime though, here are our two solo episodes we recorded due to schedule issues. First up, Me! Again, apologies for the slightly naff audio quality from me, I'm recording these on my G430s, which might be good for counter strike but not so much Podcast recording. I might sound a little worse than Adam's setup but the tunes will shine through methinks. Tracklist after the embed:

Tracklist:
Intro:
Siriusmo - Nights Off
HEALTH - Stonefist
Leila - Welcome To Your Life
Maya Jane Coles - Over
Funkstörung - Disconnected
Adam's Outro:
Octo Octa - New Paths

And also Adam's. I gave it a listen while I was transcribing the track-list. Adam's tunes are a lot longer than mine but that's not a complaint whatsoever, I enjoy what he brings to the table too, sometimes I feel like you can get stuck in a rut of 'recommended artists' from Spotify and the like, so having Adam come in with cuts like these is refreshing to say the least. My choice pick would be the Addvibe tune, definitely stick around for that.


Tracklist:
Intro:
Phuture - Your Only Friend
Decoy - Imp Overlord Dub
Addvibe - Sada (N'Dinga Gaba Diplomacy Soul remix)
Johnick - C'mon Give It Up
Pablo Valentino - One (Detroit Swindle Perspective)
Outro:
DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer - In Effect

-Claude Van Foxbat

Tech-Yes

Albert Oehlen - DJ Techno (2001)

Been on a bit of a techno thing as of late, you might have seen a glimpse of it on my twitter. Not gonna dilly dally anymore and get straight into it, speaking of twitter things; this is a tune in question that I had to track down to a shady Polish site in a rare case of digital crate diggin' for me, It's not the best quality but after the trawling I did it'll do. it's a nice listen too, Mijk was pretty big in Japan at the time and it ain't hard to see why. Don't let the title dissuade you too much if you aren't a girl, but if it matters there's also a 'For Boys' version too. Also probably wins the award for most 'I's and 'J's in the metadata for anything in my collection



More obscurities next with Chaos A.D. or as you might know him better, Squarepusher. The album's a bit of a mixed bag in all honesty, but I think that's to be expected given it was a much more acid driven sound than his usual stuff, there are small glimpses of the Squarepusher sound under all that acid though. Take Psultan for instance, that intro is definitely reminiscent of tunes like Tundra and the like, and there's even a Squarepusher remix of it that appeared on a Rephlex that is even more like it (and is actually the better version, but I don't have it on me).



And finally, rounding it out with Joey Beltram's contribution to the PS1 Ghost In The Shell Soundtrack. I went looking and it seems this is the only place it was actually released which I find really surprising cos it's a stonker of a tune. I imagine there's some copyright thing with Sony and co. preventing it from appearing elsewhere at the time which is a shame bu thanks to The Internet™ we're no longer limited by that, so enjoy.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Belated Monday Updates

Fell behind a little again, but I m prepared. This time it's a good old soundcloud roundup because I've been meaning to for about 2 weeks at this point. And look who's back, that's right it's everyone's favourite vowel hating Canadians MSTRKRFT! Boy I do love their electro stuff from back in the day, I wonder what they've been cooking up in the meantime...



Oh my, is that... Acid? It's a bold move all things considered, I'm sure everyone (probably me too tbh) would like to see the glory days of blog electro return but as controversial as this move is, I kinda like it. Sometimes you gotta have abrasion in there and it's done pretty well here. It's a bit like the darker half of Daft Punk's Homework, the Rollin' & Scratchin' compared to Da Funk



Unfortunately that's all for the abrasive stuff, moving onto the tune I've been meaning to put up for those two weeks! Not a real lot to say, hits all my instrumental hip hop buttons and that wh-wah is giving me major flashbacks to Nightmares On Wax's remix of Olive's You're Not Alone and that is a very good thing indeed.



Playing us out is a bit more of an upbeat period piece. Calls itself dub-lounge but methinks it's a bit too fast for either, but that's really not a concern. Enjoy the bassline and I'll see you again with more in couple of days!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Back In Time

Hey y'all, thought now would be a good time to spring an idea we had a long time ago, for the next week or so of posts we'll be taking a trip back to the 1980's and seeing what musical trasures it has to offer. I realise this would have been better to start closer to BTTF day but you should all know by now I am far too organised to do anything like that. So let's take a trip back to when it was Maggie's Britain shall we?

Keith Haring - Pop Shop Quad 1 (1987)

I thought I'd start with some early house. Seems fitting as that was my first real love when I started following electronic music exclusively. The roots for all the stuff you and I adore on are all laid out here starting in 1987 with Derrick May's now legendary Strings Of Life. I gotta tell you it holds up real well though the piano hook may be a little dated to some ears, it kind of borders the line between Techno and House in some spots too. Regardless it remains an incredibly important milestone in House.



Following it up with another all time favourite of mine that's especially relevant today. I'm sure you're all aware that Deep House has been the in thing for a while now and I'm sure like a lot of you its fans really grate on me. The ones I've encountered keep talking like Deep House is this new genre that's only just come around, and that's when I like to spring a little Mr. Fingers on them. Can You Feel It made it's debut in '86 and it remains pretty much my favourite example of the genre to this day.



And finally, I may not be the biggest fan of Acid, but this one more than earns its place. Chances are you've heard this one somewhere before despite the tabloids of the time doing their best to demonise Acid House. It's a far cry from the screeching 303s one might usually associate with Acid, as is to be expected with its age. Now there's nothing wrong with the other tracks on the EP, but something about Voodoo Ray just pushes it above the rest. I suppose it makes sense given that it's the title track and all but still. Take a bite out of this one and treat yourself to some acidic goodness.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Belated Soundcloud Roundup

Oops I have forgotten to post. Well lets fix that once again with a quick visit to my soundcloud feed shall we? My man Celadon has been far too kind with the releases as of late, here is is with yet another free edit for download that will warm the cockles of your heart as fall approaches.



I've been subsisting on a steady diet of Tangerine Dream and the Analord series, so synths are kinda my bag ATM. I've mentioned Abbrev.'s previous forays into almost acid territory but this one is by far and away my favourite, something about the combination of those airy synths and the bouncy bass that comes in just takes me back to all the weird electronic I found in my dad's cassettes that made me fall in love with electronic music in the first place.



And finally something I found thanks to the friend-of-a-friend reblogging that I like to dive into now and then, a group(?) from France called mechanical television. There's more than a smidgen of influence from both IDM and Post Rock in their work and thinking about it I'm surprised the two don't go together more often. Regardless, this track might not be for everyone once it gets going, but once gain I absolutely adore that intro.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Another Techy Tuesday

Upgraded my stuff again, now with a shiny new case, PSU and GPU combo I am ready to waste time at a glorious 60FPS+ so that's petty nice. And the subtle blue glow from my LEDs has me in the mood again for that special breed of sound that tickles my techy buttons. So let's see what I can serve you today.

Atelier Olschinsky - A.D. 2099 - 2311 (04)

Ghost In The Shell continues to be a mainstay, though this time not featuring Yoko Kanno. Nope, this one here comes from the soundtrack to the PS1 game that came out around the same time as the film. And while the film OST was practically all a mixture of ambient and dark ambient, the soundtrack to the PS1 game is all mid-90's techno stuff. Not all of it's a winner, but there's more than a few solid tracks in there, bob this one on next time you go piloting a walking tank.



Of course you can't have me mentioning things like that without an honourary shoutout to Aphex under one of his many aliases. The entire Analord series is a fantastic return to form which saw AFX pick up the analogue gear once again after a ten year hiatus using only digital. It's pretty much a more refined and expanded version of Classics, the compilation of his early acid stuff. Oh and of course because AFX likes to take the piss, a good number of the tracks are named after viruses and malware, have fun with that!



And recently I was made aware of a game called Grip on kickstarter, which is basically a modern reboot of the Rollcage games of way back to the point where they've even reuinted some of the Moving Shadow crew to do soundtrack duties once again. Rollcage, Ape Escape and GTA III were my intro to Drum & Bass back when, but sadly I didn't see Omni Trio on the list, which is a shame because he has always been a constant favourite of mine,especially the album Even Angels Cast Shadows. Have a taste of it here:



-Claude Van Foxbat

Soundcloud Roundup 4: Revengeance

Droppignby with another rundown of my feed, this time a more downtempo contributions than previous. Starting out once again with recent pals Mississippi Jones heading it up with more stuff from their forthcoming release, this time much more sedate than anything I've shared of theirs previously. Way back when I mentioned I couldn't see the Portishead comparisons being drawn with their work but it turns out I wasn't looking deep enough. Mississippi is almost a slightly less moody Beth Gibbons here.



Speaking of flexibility, Abbrev. is back with a flurry of new tracks in a variety of styles, a highlight of this being this psuedo-acid house number. Around halfway through there's an unexpected change in sound from the bleepy not-quite-acid to the kind of sugary sweet synths you'd hear from Rustie slowly come up from the background, and it changes to be a more housey number and it's so nice.



And finally, some more reposted goodness from Celadon City. I'm always game for more stuff that is like his, and of course his reposts are a solid source for this. I know I've said it a bunch about him before, but this sound is pretty much a modern Plone which was a gap in my library for a long time. I almost want the vocals to be vocoded like on Plone's Plock, but frankly I'm fine with it as is.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Let's Cyber (Punk)

As you might have guessed based on my outpouring of love of the genre not too long ago, I dig me some cyberpunk. And one of my frequent digital haunts is explicitly devoted to sharing tunes that fit into it nicely. And It's been fun as owt, even got some of my experimental stuff in there to boot, so let's have a rundown shall we?

Syd Mead - City On A Megabeam

Honestly Yoko Kanno could be queen of this post, between her contributions to Ghost In The Shell and Cowboy Bebop there is more than enough future tune to go around. I love the more techy sounds than the jazzy vibes of the Bebop OST though, so lets have more of that.



Aphex has his cyberpunk moments for sure, but nothing comes close to this bit from the Analord series where RDJ lets loose with his own DIY synth, hence the track title. Imagine the cliche Hollywood hacker setup circa '87 and you can almost imagine this one there too. It helps that the tune is real nice too though.



And of course I can't not mention one of the chief players in the ambient field. OPN's blown up in recent years but he still has quality tunes in him. This album was a massive inspiration for me when I started doing video stuff in year 2, and the closing track bears posting again.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Updater

Seems weird for me to have to only go in one day a week but have more work to do but hey ho, thats how things is. I'll still drop by now and then to give out tunes. Like right now for example!

Takashi Murakami - Jellyfish Eyes

Not been too long since I posted this one but it's been repeating on me hard. I've told the tale of Autechre's protest EP before, both in a post and a full 3 page essay I did like 2 years ago. Long story short, in the early 90s the UK government tries to ban outdoor raves with 'repetitive beats', Autechre respond by writing a tune in which no two bars have the same beats. Classic, and the tune's not too bad neither.



On a vocoder kick again as usual and one of my favourtie underrated bits from Monkeytown is helping me scratch that itch. Deliciously smooth, 'Selektor have a penchant for the chiller side of things, here's hopign for more with this vibe on the follow up!



Also decided to go all out and put all the Analords on my phone for commute listenin'. AFX remains a wizard with analogue gear, even when it isn't in the extreme style of say Drukqus or any of the later Aphex Twin LPs. This one will always be a favourite.



-Claude Van Foxbat

AFX Appreciation Station

Never thought AFX would scoop himself a Grammy (especially over Röyksopp). Who'da thought a lad from Cornwall twiddling knobs and making acid would go on to such great things? Now as you all saw in the Warped history posts, me and AFX are longtime listening bros, but I'd like to take this post to reflect on and be thankful for Richard D. James. Here would be a good place to start if you are new!

Never one to discount his origins, I honestly love Digeridoo in all it's rough sounding glory. A far cry from his later productions, and certainly nothing like the 'IDM' tag thrown around him and other Warp artists. Bump this one loud and simulate your own warehouse rave circa 1992.



If you're jut looking for a crash course in AFX, the Richard D. James Album is a good place to start. Case in point is track 1, I've had this one in my library close to a decade at this point, and it never stops sounding fresh every time. As soon as I hear that opening beats 'n strings combo I can't help but smile.



Mandatory mention of Selected Ambient Works Vol. II now. There's not much I can say that hasn't been said either by me or elsewhere about this album, it's reputation is well deserved and it's been long enough now that I think it has earned it's place among the all time classics of the genre. Absolutely essential ownership for anyone with an interest in ambient, get it!



It would be a long time before Rich returned to his acid stylings, but when he did in 2005 with the Analord series it was pretty special. Here's one of my favourites from it, demonstrating Rich's mean synthesizer skills, as well as his specialist brand of taking the piss as shown here in the track's title.



So ends our brief tour of AFX, if you like what you've heard go digging on here for more, I've covered more than my fair share of it over the years!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Automated

As you may know work is stepping up, that is why I am writing this to you around three days in advance (but don't tell nobody). Here to provide you with some tunes from the past, it's me again.

Dabs Myla - Tokyo Delux

Vaporwave may be long buried but hey I still got love for the vibe. As much as stuff like this gets hated on for being the trendy thing to reblog on tumblr I can't help but dig it just a little bit. Maybe it's because I'm such an Oneohtrix Point Never fanboy.



Speaking of dead genres, have some proper Old School dubstep from Stenchman circa 2010. Nothing to shake your house foundations, but not the same 2-step garage evolution that started it all, probably the best area of Dubsep to be in in all honesty.

Stenchman - Everything [No stream available as of 2020]

Dare I say Acid falls on that list too, but at least it's still being made it's just not blasting out of the Hacienda anymore. Here's a tune from AFX's Analord series, proving that acid doesn't have to be TB-303s screeching their circuits off.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Technolg (ae)

I got around to sorting out June's monthly playlist yesterday and I think it's gonna be pretty neat. Anyways, while perusing for tunes to fill it with I got a real hankering for techy stuff and returned to some old favorites I have kicking around.

Auteche first with their unique brand of Industrial meets IDM that sounds more like a machine made it than a couple of blokes from Manchester. The Anvil Vapre EP is a good jumping in point if you're new to them, it blends the melodic and experimental sides of their sound quite well, and still sounds pretty fresh nearly 20 years later.



I wish they'd stuck to this model for a while longer, I mean their style consistently changed for each of their first three albums but after that it begins to move away from the melodic. Which is a shame because I always loved that about Autechre, it was machine music with a touch of soul. Anyway have another track from the EP which harks a little bit back to the roots of Amber and Incunabula.



On the opposite end we have AFX with the Analord series. Richard's triumphant return to the world of analogue is full of highlights but playing these two back to back has made me realise that unlike Autechre's very deliberate and sterile sound, all the Analords sound much more warm and human, with a bit of a DIY edge to them. Especially on this one as the title probably clued you in on.



The same applies here, even the name itself sounds like it was something that AFX whacked together in about an hour or so, which given Rich's methodology on the Richard D James Album woudln't be too surprising. Still the track is pretty gorgeous, a real testament to the man and his skills with the gear for sure. Check the Analord series out for more acid tinged meddling, Rephlex put out an expanded digital release of the entire series a while back with some bonus goodies.



-Claude Van Foxbat