Roundup, August #4
From demonic soundscapes to serpentine techno, we roundup our favourite releases of the week. Listen below.
Follow our Roundup Selections playlist on Spotify to stay updated on what we have on repeat.
Lolahol – Lock&Key
For her debut single, Lourdes Leon, the daughter of an artist you may know called Madonna, adopts a new moniker and an on trend throwback style. Produced and co-written with Eartheater, Lock&Key is a lethargic jungle lullaby full of racing break beats and orbital ambient backdrops anchored by Lolahol’s wistful, breathless vocals. Perhaps most surprising is how down to earth it all feels. For someone with infinite resources at her disposal, it’s refreshing to see Lolahol choose the low key approach as her debut, rallying the ranks of her underground peers and friends as collaborators to write the beginning of her own mythology.
I, Jordan – Hey Baby
On their latest single, British producer I, Jordan delivers what they do best with a sweaty, sticky, club banger. Existing somewhere between techno, house, and UKG, Hey Baby is a total rager. It takes I, Jordan back to where they left off on the queer euphoria of For You, and locates them firmly back in a sea of writhing night creatures following the sunnier, desperately romantic Always Been. It’s also a testament to their incredibly dextrous skill as a producer; for them, genre is as fluid as gender. As it should be.
Tristan Arp x Kellen303 – suspension of disbelief
Multimedia artist and producer Tristan Arp teams up with New York’s Kellen303 for an exercise in rhythm. suspension of disbelief is a breathtaking and tightly woven mesh of syncopated polyrhythms and sharp focus percussion that’s alarmingly detailed. The way Arp and Kellen303 weave a multitude of patterns into an ultimately streamlined, serpentine, and slick composition is laudable and deliciously satisfying.
Diamanda Galás – Broken Gargoyles I. Mutilatus
This longform sound piece from avant-garde multi-hyphenate Diamanda Galás was originally composed as part of an immersive installation at Leper’s Sanctuary in Hanover, Germany. Probably the closest to acoustic doomcore you’ll ever find, Galás’s piano crashes and plods in a swirl of menacing industrial noise crow sounds. But it’s Galás’s own voice that’s truly chilling and awe-striking, as she swings from choral chants to visceral vocalisations. Featuring clips of German war poems by Georg Heym menacingly recited over distorted layers of Galás’s soprano sfogato. Like a demonic incantation above her misshapen harmonies, the energy and effect of Mutilatus is formidable.
Alok – Always Feel Like
Currently working in a style he has dubbed as ‘future-tech,’ EDM heavyweight Alok is taking classic, old-school samples and weaving them into his futuristic, club heavy repertoire. On Always Feel Like, he looks to Rockwell’s 1984 hit, Somebody’s Watching Me. Working off the tension of the chorus, featuring vocals from Michael and Jermaine Jackson, Alok crafts an imposing and hard-hitting tech house diorama that zones in on the innate neurosis at the core of his source material.
