Council Meeting Memo #030
All Trades: In Ether (Warehouse Rave, EP)
There’s me moaning like a cliched old raver about the state of new jungle. Then something like this turns up to shut me up. Five tracks of uptempo freneticism. Would be unfair of me to pick out a highlight, but I am unfair so I’m gonna do it anyway. With it’s elastic beats and hollowed out pads the aptly titled ‘Worp’ is the prize winner. SA
Various Artists: TufStuf 01 (TufStuf, 12”)
Fun but totally forgettable meze of contemporary jungle. Loaded with so many staple genre samples and techniques, it almost becomes a parody. But staying positive, there are some moments of gnarliness in amongst the clatter. SA
CiM: Reference (Delsin, Album Reissue)
Back in 2000 I was running a relatively popular online music magazine. I clearly remember this turning up for review. And I literally just let it sit there for months. Everything about it screamed genre mediocrity: the title, cover art, label…..everything. Fast forward 22 years later and it’s come around again to haunt me courtesy of this welcome re-issue by Delsin. This time, the main thing I can hear is a sort of innocence to it all. Presets that totally evoke the era but sculpted into tracks that barely last a few minutes, before hurriedly moving on to the next idea. ‘Warm Data’ and ‘Clean Code’ perfectly sum up this accomplished aesthetic. SA
Torn: Borderline (Samurai Music, Album)
Borderline is a thrillingly propulsive hybrid of techno and drum’n’bass. It reminded me a little of Grooverider’s epochal Mysteries of Funk, but earthbound and shorn of sci-fi references. It’s dark, determined and seemingly unstoppable. I actually thought, as I first listened to it, that it sounded like the musical equivalent of an invasion. I doubt I’d have thought of that particular comparision if not for the appalling real life invasion of Ukraine that forms the awful backdrop of our lives now. But of course Borderline isn’t an invasion, it’s music and thoroughly enjoyable at that. I was about to order the attractively coloured triple vinyl from Bandcamp and then hesitated on learning from the bio that Torn is a Russian artist. Should I be buying this record? I needed to know his politics before doing so. Following a Facebook link I discovered that he’s loudly anti-war and pro-Ukraine. I bought the record. Each time I listen to it I’m thrilled and also kind of unsettled. CB
Tape: Apt E Vol 3 (Apt E, 12”)
Quite brilliant fusion of acid techno and krautrock. Two extended journeys that sound both structured and freeform. Some lineage between this and the sort of stuff I’d heard back in the Megadog days from the early 90’s. Take a trip. More please. SA
