POST CATEGORY : Trip Hop

ROTATION ROUND-UP #4

Time is becoming increasingly precious and difficult to obtain these days but I still have a grá on me for blogging.

So, this is an attempt cover more of what I am listening to on a regular basis, with a relatively quick roundup of what has been on rotation over the past week or two.

Enjoy!

Adwaith – ‘ETO’

Welsh outfit Adwaith – Hollie Singer, Gwenllian Anthony & Heledd Owen – will release the follow-up to their wonderful and Welsh Music Prize winning debut with new album Bato Mato on July 1st via Libertino Records. The new record is led by ‘ETO’, a soaring evocative guitar driven adventure brimming with confidence and ideas. It is shimmering, evocative, life-affirming and moving, and bursting with open-hearted soaring melody’s and lyrical vulnerability – instantly sweeping us along with this stirring anthem. This is Adwaith at their finest; you will be replaying, again and again, and again.

Many Voices Speak – ‘Within Reach’

Many Voices Speak – the project of Swedish musician Matilda Mård – has announced her return with second album Gestures, released on 29th April 2022 via Strangers Candy.

A master of misty-eyed, melancholic and hazy indie-pop, Many Voices Speak has always found its power in its ability to capture an eternity in an expression; found in abundance on her debut and lead single ‘Within Reach’. A six-minute long reflective slow burn that just brims with beauty, as Mård’s elegant, yearning dream-pop makes the world seem to slow down around it, where time stretches out, and you become totally immersed in it. ‘Within Reach’ showcases Mård’s continued growth as a songwriter, one more comfortable in her own skin.

Komla MC vs Fold – ‘Victoria Falls’

Komla MC vs Fold is the unlikely combination of two expats in Leeds, UK. Hailing from Accra and New York respectively, Rob (Komla MC) and Seth (of the band Fold) were brought together by having kids at the same school and united in their undying love of hip hop. Given that Seth’s work with Hip-Hop/Trip Hop outfit Fold has a rep for funky, groovy and cool sounds, it is no surprise that this delivers a healthy dose of all three pitted with a fun and cheeky sensibility. Hopefully there is more to come from this collab – top marks!

The AM – ‘On Joy Road’

The AM – AKA Ann-Marie Teasley – is a DJ with a penchant for Techno and Electro that started out as a classical violinist in Detroit. The AM is releasing her debut EP Black Majik on March 11, and comes fronted by ‘On Joy Road’; an Electro-influenced jam named after the long, dual-carriageway street that connects the centre of Detroit to Nankin Lake and the enclaves on the city’s west side. It is urgent and intense while simultaneously elegant as a hypnotic spell is spun by frantic up-tempo snappy beats, claps, rippling electronics and winding synths, while a warped vocal sample and woozy flourishes fade in and out of view. A mesmerising and thumping dancefloor ready banger.

Clwb Fuzz – ‘Sertraline’

Cardiff outfit Clwb Fuzz return with new single ‘Sertraline’; a magnificent blaze of fuzzed-up spiralling psychedelic-rock. Burning guitars fuzz, ominous eerie synths and swaying, pendulumic percussion, set the swirling stage for Emily Kocan’s haunting vocals, regaling vivid and sometimes far too real dreams, occurring as a side-effect of taking antidepressants. Unsettling paranoid introspection has never sounded so glorious.

Noah – ‘Rosa Alba’

Hokkaido-born Noah is an artist and musician who’s sound constantly evolves, while underpinned by an unmistakable ear for rhythm, she continues to seek out new and interesting shifting series of settings, with beguiling results.

In keeping with this, new EP Étoile out October 27th via FLAU, Noah continues takes things into denser territory, rich with atmosphere and a healthy dose of the mysterious.

The latest single lifted from the EP is opener ‘Rosa Alba’; a delicious blend of golden-age Ninja Tune, sliced up piano and eerie mysterious air. Soft, dusty beats patter below the dusky atmosphere flecked flourishes of lavish strings, while Noah’s hushed vocals glide along calmly while cast to the backdrop of shapeshifting sounds, creating something hypnotic, transfixing and mysterious. A stunning, otherworldly and beautiful blend of trip hop meets latenight downtempo electronica.

Listen to ‘Rosa Alba’ below and the EP Étoile is out now.

Gushh – ‘Here We Are Still’

Gushh is the solo project of Bristol-based artist Richard Stockley who looks after everything involved; composing, recording, mixing, mastering and artwork.

Gushh revolves around the concept of looping elements and building tracks up whilst telling a narrative through old-timey samples from forgotten pieces of media and having introduced the project with ‘Drifting Through the Emptiness of Space’ back in June, Stockley has returned with new single ‘Here We Are Still’. Propelled by a hypnotic cosmic groove, steady beats build and build whisking us through a misty haze of psychedelic and ambient textures while bright, clipped riffs spark alongside shimmering guitars. Oozing with a cosmic aura, ‘Here We Are Still’ builds and builds to a triumphant explosion of epic proportions, marked with a real sense of awe, wonder and hope. Magnificent once again from Gushh!

‘Here We Are Still’ is lifted from a forthcoming – so far unnamed – EP due in the Autumn. Till then, give the single a spin below:

Asta Hiroki – ‘Slumber’ feat. Dontmesswithjuan

Brighton-based producer Asta Hiroki deals in beautiful, cinematic and soulful electronica.

Drawing from jazz, electronica, post-Dilla hip hop, lo-fi and glitch music Asta Hiroki resides in a space between downtempo hip hop, chillout and ambient electronica and glitchy beats – and demonstrating this perfectly is new single ‘Slumber’. Aided and abetted by Dontmesswithjuan the aptly titled ‘Slumber’ is an elegant, lush and woozy slice of dreamy electronica. Hushed, syrupy smooth vocals drift above a sea of atmospherics meandering along a seductive slo-mo groove and dusty beats pattering below. ‘Slumber’ is rich, melodic and dripping with soulful vibes – a mellow and super seductive groover.

Listen to ‘Slumber’ below now:

Fable – ‘Orbiting’

Brighton’s Fable (aka Holly Cosgrove) has a real flair for captivating, cinematic electronica; something that is patently clear from new single ‘Orbiting’.

With a debut album recorded and newly-signed to Naim Records, ‘Orbiting’ should be the first of many offerings from Fable throughout 2021 – and if they are anything like this, we are in for a treat. Hauntingly stark, yet hopeful, ‘Orbiting’ is an expansive yet cosy trip-hop-inspired sound as Fable’s stunning vocals glide across a super smooth, downtempo groove and serene bassline while the atmospheric surrounding smoulder with rich allure and moving emotion.  The deftness of touch here is breathtaking, it remains simultaneously blissfully dreamy and intimate and yet expansive and epic – no mean feat.

‘Orbiting’ is out now and it’s a truly stunning single, and perfect introduction to Fable. Tune in below.


El Levtchenko – ‘After Hours’

We were introduced to Brazilian / American pairing El Levtchenko and their lush, sun-kissed and world encompassing sonic distillations throughout 2020 – offering beautiful and beguiling bouts of escapism as they did. 

El Levtchenko’s sound is magpie like, in the very best way possible, borrowing from a world of influences; there’s Cuban guitar music, a touch of hip hop, some Middle Eastern and African influences, funk and soul, and a whole lot of beautiful psychedelia. Their latest single ‘After Hours’ is – like previous singles ‘Hopeton Overton’ and ‘Sunday Social’ – a perfect exposition of their well honed style. It is an intoxicating brew, built on seductive grooves and cool, calm and chilled vibes, offering a zen-like state as it drifts along a funky, hypnotic groove as guitars chime and chords strut their languid wares amid the late night vibes. This is super chill, beautifully addictive and mellow, while oozing nocturnal vibes, it is a tune make the day better no matter the hour.

Check out the sunny delights of ‘After Hours’ below:


Monggrel – ‘Dhobi Ghat’

Monggrel is US producer – AKA  B. Wood – who fuses lo-fi beats, dub rhythms, industrial noise, and field recordings into an immersive listening experience.

Monggrel recently released his latest album, Ceremonies, and latest single ‘Dhobi Ghat’ offers a perfect introduction to the record, and the artist. From the first note, Monggrel creates an ominous pitch black soundscape that is suitably murky, eerie and subterranean. Stark, minimal production and haunting repetition creates an eerie vibe for a murmuring malaise of beats, clanking synth and dub infused groove and subterranean tones to swirl around. As ominous as it is, it is super seductive as it thrives amid the sparse, scorched earth tone of the barren atmosphere. ‘Dhobi Ghat’ is bone-chilling but also utterly captivating.

Listen to ‘Dhobi Ghat’ below:

Ian Simmonds – ‘The Falling Tree’

Ian Simmonds is a Welsh musician & producer whose music oscillates between nu jazz or downtempo and heavily produced electronica, often interwoven with hip hop textures.

With 15 studio albums to his name already, Simmonds latest work is the stunning and seductive ‘The Falling Tree’. Lifted from Diffract Records 17-track compilation Rhuba, it is one of many highlights among a superb collection filled with immersive electronica, trip hop, jazzy breakbeats, movie samples, abstract atmospheres, and funky grooves. ‘The Falling Tree’ is one of the most bewitching with its gentle but irresistible groove and soft patter of beats lulling you into a trance as melodies undulate alongside latin flavours, low-slung, bubbling double bass before orchestral bursts and chilling tones create a darker, more sinister atmosphere. It is lush and superbly seductive with its sunken groove and its rich array of colourful sound collages.

Listen to ‘The Falling Tree’ below and Rhuba is here.

El Levtchenko – ‘Hopeton Overton’

We were introduced to Brazilian / American pairing El Levtchenko and their lush, sun-kissed and world encompassing sonic distillations earlier in the summer.

El Levtchenko’s sound is magpie like in the best way possible, their compositions borrow from a world of influences; there’s Cuban guitar music, a touch of hip hop, some Middle Eastern and African influences, funk and soul, and a whole lot of beautiful psychedelia. Their latest single is ‘Hopeton Overton’ and like its predecessor ‘Sunday Social’, has a suitably seasonal sound. A sort of a funk and dub fusion, ‘Hopeton Overton’ brings all the good vibes as it slinks and swaggers along a super seductive groove as a guitar chirps, ripples and twangs amid the hazy, dub-esque echoes. It is a catchy, feel good and vibrant jam that will work its way into your psyche and leave you all the better for it.

Check out the sunny delights of ‘Hopeton Overton’ below:

123 Mixtape – ‘Cloud Into River’

123 Mixtape is both the pseudonym of Producer/Mixer/Engineer, Brett Shaw and conveniently, the name of the project.

Shaw is better known for his work with Foals and Florence and the Machine among others but being at a loose end with no one else to record during lockdown, Shaw set out on a simple mission; make some music he’d like to listen to and share with friends. The fruits of his labour is 123 Mixtape which is released on August 24 and preceded by sublime single ‘Cloud Into River’. All recorded on old funky tape machines at 123 studios, ‘Cloud Into River’ oozes with coolness as it swaggers along a super seductive and irresistible groove. The funky bassline plumbs the depths of soul as soft beats ripple beneath the rich swells of brass and grandiose strings sweep by with an orchestral air and touch of pure class.

Listen to ‘Cloud Into River’ below, it is quite simply stunning!