EP: AMBASSADEURS •
EP (soundcloud.com/ambassadeurs)
Three tracks arrive in a Soundcloud player, and we’ve rarely seen so many positive comments along the waveforms for an unreleased EP. ‘Fly By Night’ opens with swathes of glitchy, downtempo dubstep, while ‘Hot Foot’ has a hypnotic, decidedly Aphex Twin funk about it. ‘M.O.P.E.’ again recalls a Richard James approach to vocal oddity, with a female lead put through an electronica mangle that wrings out the sinister to leave an oddly attractive sound. It’s looking for a commercial release – it certainly deserves one. (NC)
SINGLE: CLOWNS •
Idiot Bouncing (Lynched Recordings)
Already one of the best live bands in town, Clowns finally unleash their debut single, and it’s quite something – an urgent, melodic collision of guitars and caustic punk. ‘Idiot Bouncing’ simply explodes at you, lurching along on a demented guitar riff, while ‘Trousers’ is full of sweaty garage rock swagger. Their sound is darkly playful, gloriously dirty and loud, like a perverted Sparks with their amps cranked all the way up to 11. Brighton, beware, Clowns are here. (IC)
ALBUM: STEVE MAC •
Roots (Saved)
House and techno are about to cross over again. That might seem strange when they haven’t really gone away. Steve Mac has been nailing this stuff for years so an LP that travels from the hip house and Chink St acid to Sneak-style jackin’ disco cut-ups is aptly timed. If you want a history lesson that has the immaculate sonic construction of a studio master like Mac then you’ve certainly come to the right place. Every track is aimed at dancefloor destruction. (JK)
SINGLE: THE MOJO FINS •
The Spell (Amazon)
The first single from a new album due next month, ‘The Spell’ is an epic production from the off. Atmospheric guitar harmonies thread through the song alongside nicely understated strings, propelled along by a driving indie rock beat and a haunting vocal. There’s no ‘edgy’ artifice here, it’s just a superlative exercise in how to get it right – hopefully it will get the chance to shine in a wider arena. (NC)
ALBUM: THE ROBOT HEART •
The Robot Heart (Bleeding Heart)
We sift through a lot of new music at SOURCE, but we instantly remembered The Robot Heart from an EP we reviewed last year. This fully realised album continues in a similar vein – rejoicing in lush vocal harmonies, pastoral acoustics and orchestration. If you want a visual metaphor, it’s music for a camper van journey on a sunny day, arm out of the window in the breeze as the songs unwittingly soundtrack a laidback, feelgood movie playing only in your head. It actually is, trust us. (NC)
ALBUM: VARIOUS
Messthetics #108: South Coast D.I.Y. ’77-81
(Hyped To Death)
Massachusetts’ Hyped To Death has diligently unearthed lost recordings by hundreds of forgotten UK and US acts operating in the punk aftermath. This wonderful CD sweeps the coast from Bournemouth to Brighton, dredging up cruddy cassette demos, obscure compilation appearances and ferociously lo-fi live tapes. Apart from Attrix Records’ ubiquitous Vaultage LPs, little of this stuff was actually heard outside Brighton at the time, let alone since (the excellent Punk History Of Brighton website aside). A fascinating glimpse into the past. (SH)
DEMO OF THE MONTH: BLAH BLAH BLAH •
Left (soundcloud.com/weareblahblahblah)
Wow. Right out the gate, this long time DJ squad are giving Carl Craig a run for his money. Yeah, really. A slow-building piece of tech electro, it starts with a similar feel to the techno god’s ‘Falling Up’ remix before subtly switching up a notch building layers and layers of tense micro melodies. There’s a huge prog payoff at the end as the tunes expand and soar. We’re betting on this being a huge club hit. (JK)
WORDS BY IAN CHAMBERS, NICK COQUET, STUART HUGGETT, JAMES KENDALL
