Monday, July 6, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

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Obba Supa – To:AM – Free:AM (Project Mooncircle)

Posted: 06 Jul 2009 05:18 AM PDT

Obba Supa - To:AM - Free:AM

Some new UK experiments from the Project Mooncircle label, which has developed into a close brother of the Beta Bodega Coalition and Botanica Del Jibaro labels from the US. It doesn't seem accidental either, all sharing a similar philosophy with their musical journey, cosmic conversations and artistic sensibilities, Gordon seems to undertake the graphical representation of the label, being the common thread of all three labels.

Hey!Zeus handles production duties on this cd release, also available on vinyl and digitally, while Teknical Development handles the mic with great ease. The UK rap scene has been somewhat lacking in my eyes over the last few years, loosing direction, being corrupted by grime… Obba Supa reaffirm my faith, not just in UK hip hop, but in electronica too, and in particular, Teknical Development has that tendency to draw his vocabulary from the cosmos, which is just so intriguing, so mesmerizing, having the ability to keep you listening. Tonally pleasing too, not unlike Earthling, an underrated band in the 90's.

Musically, without wanting to compare everything great to Flying Lotus, there is an element of that sound here, a large emphasis on warm soundscapes, eastern instrumentation, sombre horns, soothing flutes and comforting keys. There is a distinctive jazz influence here, but its way after midnight, cognac has flowed freely for too long and smoke chokes the air… There is some reference to the 'wonky' sound of Flying Lotus and the like, the disjointed drums, staggering beats, but ceases to be a genre copying album, mainly due to its many influences, the melancholy of late night jazz and hazy organic electronica winning out. Imagine the UK equivalent of Shadow Huntaz with the glitched edges of heavily edited electronics smoothed and stretched, and you'll be halfway there.

Obba Supa deliver such a refreshing release, not just for UK hip hop, but for electronica too, pushing past neglected boundaries, conquering new worlds. Brilliant, an essential album, from an emerging giant of independent labels. Check them out at www.projectmooncircle.com.

Wayne Stronell

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Alpine – Fr:om Harmed Weather to Stark, Micro, Climates (Highpoint Lowlife)

Posted: 06 Jul 2009 03:42 AM PDT

Highpoint Lowlife are most well known for championing fractured, idiosyncratic dubsteppers, but they’re equally adept at spotting interesting ambient producers, and this concise EP by Alpine aka Alex Smalley, one half of Pausal, is a minor treat. With six tracks all under five minutes, ‘Fr:om Harmed Weather to Stark, Micro, Climates’ (sic.) suffers the rare affliction of understaying its welcome, but that just makes these bite-sized pieces all the more attractive. Smalley’s clearly listened to Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series, and he borrows liberally: bells and windchimes from early Markus Guentner (’Fr:om’, ‘To Stark’), treacly synth pads from Andrew Thomas (and countless others) (’Micro’), with the mournful, weeping tones of Ulf Lohmann audible throughout, but combined with rustic field recordings and lazily daubed effects, the result is more handmade and welcoming. It’s all over before you know it, but such is the nature of ambient music that you can go right back to the start and it will be just as fresh as the first listen.

Joshua Meggitt

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Icy Demons – Miami Ice (The Leaf Label/Inertia)

Posted: 05 Jul 2009 08:37 PM PDT

There are some upshots to MP3s taking their place as the preferred audio format of the early 21st century. The average music consumer has abandoned the notion of release length being dictated by the limitations of format. And artists are beginning to follow suit. So, while a format for delivering an album might still be the compact disc, the 90s notion of an album needing to be 75 minutes long to make it value for money, no matter the quality control of the material, is thankfully falling by the wayside. Artists are beginning to deliver their music in whatever lengths they think the music works best. In just the last few months I’ve been noticing a proliferation of releases just getting over the 30 minute mark, yet having a powerful impact and never feeling less than complete. Add Miami Ice to that list, 9 tracks and 32 minutes of freeform pop manipulations.

Like all great pop, Miami Ice has a knowing sense of being disposable – just take a look at those cheap, tacky, 80s pastel graphics – which is overcome inspite of itself by memorable melodies, memorable arrangements and an abiding sense of fun. ‘Summer Samba’ has Brasil ‘66 all over it’s breezy harmonies and sliding diminished chord structures. The title track could be Parts And Labor on a laidback day. ‘Centurion’ is lo-fi electro while ‘Crittin’ Down To Baba’s’ follows up with distilled post-punk agit-funk. But best of all to my ears are tracks like ‘1850′ and ‘Spywatchers’ whose jerky polyrhythms remind me of what Captain Beefheart might do were he to emerge 40 years later than he actually did, twisting the pop form into new shapes. ‘1850′ in particular, the album highlight for me, sees cello pulses and what sounds like an old mellotron mix with white noise bursts and mildly distorted glockenspiel, all atop a loping groove and a series of melody patterns, each of which could serve as the chorus. Vaguely surrealistic intonations such as, “Like a doctor when you die, he can see into your mind”, or “Drink a sliver of the sky, see an angel passing by” add to the late 60s grandeur.

Miami Ice is great fun and, inspite of initial appearances, an album of sonic depth. Icy Demons themselves seem to be erecting a wall of inpenetrable kitsch around themselves aesthetically (don’t try looking at their garish website for too long) but, personally, I’m seeing through it all. This is great.

Adrian Elmer

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at 6:46 PM