Council Meeting Memo #005
Slikback: Melt (Self-Released, Album)
Ever had your face melted? Navigated Dante’s nine circles of hell? Me neither. You could listen to Slikback’s fourth album instead, it’s terrifying enough. Each of the 16 tracks is a collaboration, with opener TOKETA (everything is in all caps) featuring Teya Logos, self-described as “a teenage transpinay and militant artist-activist from the Philippines”. The intensity of the first three tracks could scare you off like a particularly onerous initiation test, it nearly did me, but persevere and more space opens up. Admittedly, it’s bedevilled by wraiths bent on vengeance, best not look them in the eye and you might be alright. Melt is well-named as the outcome is absolutely cohesive. Whether your preference is for gqom or scorched earth, electronica or death metal there’s something here for you.
Alphonse: Beechwood DNA (Klasse Wrecks, EP)
‘Fanatic’ bathes you in a Balearic wash before it abruptly turns a darker corner with an aggressively hyperactive TB-303 wig-out. ‘Signify’ is driven by a commanding bassline that tussles with everything else for supremacy. A saccharine-tinged twitch that hurls snippets of female vocals drenched in reverb and high-pitched acid at you is the best descriptor for ‘Everstar’. ‘Beechwood’ evokes night-time city drives from times past — melodies in time with the luminous streaks of passing street lights. Any of these tracks would definitely feature in the peak moments of my club-based DJ sets. If I DJ’d. Which I don’t.
Dauwd: PSSSH 02 (Psssh Records, EP)
It’s all about ‘Steve’. Great name for a great track! Dark brooding hypnotechno done right.
FJAAK: SYS03 (FJAAK, EP)
Look kinda stupid listening to this sort of stuff at home. But seeming as I’m never gonna see the inside of a club ever again, I have no other choice. Basically, it’s four prime slabs of jugular grabbing techno. But buried under the jackhammer intent there’s some interesting stuff going on. ‘Fuse’ was the highlight > an effervescent Roland drum-machine workout.
Kessler: Foul Play (Holding Hands, EP)
I was initially attracted to the track title ‘R2D2 on Crack’. And indeed it is a fairly accurate musical interpretation of what the famous pedal bin might sound like if he was off his tits on substances.
