POSTS TAGGED : Electronic

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.

ASTER – ‘Unaware Bliss’

ASTER is a singer, songwriter and musician from Glasgow.

Drawing from a deep well of folk, psych, pop and subtle electronica influences, ranging from  the likes of Big Thief, Perfume Genius and Half Waif, ASTER crafts a unique brand of beautiful, expansive, fragile and experimental psych-folk; something born out on new stunning single ‘Unaware Bliss’. It is an exquisite psych-folk daydreamer that whisks us away on a dreamy meditative journey. ‘Unaware Bliss’ meanders gracefully along a blissful groove and swirling, rhythmic psych-folk, and splashes of electronics complete the mesmeric backdrop for ASTER’s bewitching crystalline vocals entrance the listener completely. An elegant, awe-inspiring and charming blend of shimmering psych-folk and glistening electronica – a hazy, soothing and altogether wonderful song.

Listen to ‘Unaware Bliss’ below.

Introducing: Varsity Star

Varsity Star is a Brooklyn-based electronic musician / producer. He grew up in the suburbs of Boston, played jazz through college until becoming comfortable making music alone.

In 2017 he headed to Berlin, partially spurred by a biblical flea infestation in his apartment but also for music and while there, recorded his first album, Model Home.  Now, back on American soil, with a second album under his belt and mostly pest-free, Varsity Star has been occupying his time with shorter form output – singles, EPS, remixes & the like.

Most recently, that has seen the release of That’s Something; a just under 20 minute excursion into a world of electronic goodness built around an ear for melody, playfulness and richness of sound – demonstrated in exquisite fashion by both ‘Ball’ & ‘Treehouse’. ‘Ball’ is playful, pinging here and there, as a bouncing beat dances gleefully with pulsing synth and bendy, playful melodies – it is buoyant, bright and utterly contagious. While ‘Treehouse’ offers a more mellow take on the sound as it slinks and gentle bubbles along richly melodic keys, soft plush beats and twinkly synths as it meanders with a wide-eyed wandering air and peace of mind.

Varsity Star’s most recent release, a rework of ’19TET’ by UK producer Inwards, is a perfect coming together of all these aforementioned attributes. Warm woozy synths drift by like fluffy clouds on a balmy summer day while a flurry of beats – soft and crunchy – rush by like a babbling brook as we are whisked away, transfixed by the serenity, beauty and melodic allure. A wonderfully inventive and masterful producer.

You can sample some choice cuts below and if that’s not enough to sate your appetite, there’s loads more where that came from here.

Samoun – ‘Chakchouka’

‘Chakchouka’ is the debut single from Parisian pairing Samoun. Composed of two ‘famous’ producers, they are described as “the investigators of the Techno Raï genre” – whatever the back story, their debut single is a mouthwatering slice of minimalist heaven. 

Delivered with a deft touch that brings to mind the golden age of French electro (think Mr Oizo, Justice & a slew of other Ed Banger luminaries & early Daft Punk), metallic percussion, peculiar vocal and woozy, ghostly synth creates an otherworldly environment before the bassline drops and things lift off as it swaggers, grooves and moves. It is an absolutely stunning track, one that is not only addicting but destined to get people moving.

Tune in to the stunning powers of ‘Chakchouka’ below – the video is pretty great too:

https://open.spotify.com/track/71N3YYdTgwlCRSKLMmHBRJ


Holly Tomás – ‘Unfolded’

Holly Tomás is a musician / singer songwriter based in the Lowlands of Scotland. Originally from Cheshire by way of the Isle of Skye and Edinburgh, Tomás has been plying her craft from the past three decades in which she has traversed a more traditional singer/songwriter approach to recent incarnations which retain the emotional, intimate vocal textures and are woven into downtempo atmospheric soundscapes.

New single ‘Unfolded’ is a perfect example of the latter; a bewitching and ethereal affair, it unfolds slowly, gently introducing itself as bass murmurs, beats slowly groove and hazy dreamlike textures and atmospheric tones swirl all around Tomás’ beautiful and evocative vocals. ‘Unfolded’ is hauntingly evocative and thrillingly propulsive, evoking moods from melancholy to optimism – impeccably crafted and utterly captivating.

Listen to ‘Unfolded’ below:

Radio Europa – Something Beautiful [feat. Gwenllian Anthony of Adwaith] (Conformist Remix)

Conformist is the moniker of Cardiff producer Michael Simmons – taking inspiration from Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad and cut n’ paste pioneers Coldcut, Steinski and The Dust Brothers to name a few – renowned for his leftfield, meticulous, dense and layered productions.

Conformist has returned with a new remix of Radio Europa’s ‘Something Beautiful’ featuring vocals by Gwenllian Anthony of Adwaith – a teaser of more to come, with a third album expected from Conformist later in 2020. Conformist has given it a fresh new look, a makeover blending an intricate palette of synths, glitches and glistening strings, spliced vocal samples and spluttering beats to create something sophisticated, seductive and supremely inventive. In short, the outcome is stunning.

Listen to Conformist’s rework below:

BAILE – ‘Cyclical feat. Lukas Oppenheimer (Fake Fever Remix)’

We were introduced to BAILE, the project of New York producer Reed Kackley, who specializes in bouts of lavish, downtempo escapism, with EP, Winte earlier this year.

Hot in the heels of the EP, the Brooklyn-based producer has shared Winte, The Remixes and led by Fake Fever’s rework of ‘Cyclical feat. Lukas Oppenheimer’. It is a woozy and spaced out slice of otherworldly electronic music that expands on the original’s lullaby vibes and music box feels with glistening synths and lavish layers of lush electronics that whisk away to cosmic realms of tranquility. This aesthetic swells and gushes while a rising tide of breakbeats and murmuring bass up the tempo as we take a detour to glitch and psychedelic infused electronica.

You can sample Fake Fever’s Remix of ’Cyclical’ below now and if if that is to your liking, why not try the remix EP here, and original Winte EP here?

Ynys – ‘Aros Am Byth’

Ynys is the moniker of Welsh artist Dylan Hughes (formerly of Race Horses and Radio Luxembourg) who has dazzled us with his work to date; namely singles ‘Mae’n Hawdd’ and  ‘Caneuon.

Teaming up with the excellent Libertino Records once again, Hughes has returned with a super smooth and hypnotic new single; ‘Aros Am Byth’. It is yet another lavish psych-washed synth-pop beauty filled with starry-eyed wonder as Hughes brings together 70s Italian disco synths and power pop harmonies – a magical combo. ‘Aros Am Byth’ washes over you with ease as lush vocals flow above a slinking groove and seductive beats while woozy flourishes of synth ripple amid the psychedelic swirl. A beautiful hypnotic tune tinged with melancholy and swelling heart and soul – another dazzling display from Ynys.

Listen to ‘Aros Am Byth’ below:


Luke Hawker – ‘Uno Mono’

Luke Hawker is a musician and producer from Bournemouth on England’s south coast, mixing it up between electronic, downtempo and trip-hop.

Hawker’s latest single ‘Uno Mono’ came to fruition as an attempt to create “Nintendo meets Tame Impala” – he’s arrived there, and a whole lot more. At its core, it is built upon a charming blend of bright synths, seductive grooves and melodic allure. ‘Uno Mono’ danders along a bed of colour synths and playful melodies (that bring to my mind The Specials) with an airy, carefree vibe while more sounds, riffs and frazzled electronics enter the fray. It is measured, melodic and never overdone – everything has its place to which it fits perfectly for an utterly irresistible electronic excursion.

A beautiful charming delight – listen to ‘Uno Mono’ below: