It’s been five years since his acclaimed debut ‘Severant’ and time has proved it prescient; its futuristic trap influence is now ubiquitous. ‘Slow Knife‘ seems to return to where ‘Severant’ left off, but with the intricate sound design of last year’s haunting EP ‘Assertion Of A Surrounding Presence’ subsumed into the compositions, making them more exacting and beautifully crafted. Between albums Kuedo has been working as a sound designer and composer for hire and the application of intent and widescreen rigour that commercial work requires has definitely found its way into the new album. ‘Slow Knife’ has the subtlety, ambition and pacing of a brilliant soundtrack - a sense of an album of scenes, that easily lends itself to an impressionistic narrative. But, as with ‘Severant’, the title suggests relationship unease, with the slow knife being a metaphor for the building resentment in any close relationship. ‘Slow Knife’ is almost two albums; the first half, according to Kuedo, invokes the seduction of the city, taking the music of Michael Mann’s ‘Manhunter’ as a cue, with the latter half being inspired by the bloody starscapes and voodoo wilderness of films such as ‘Angel Heart’, ‘Night Of The Hunter’ and more recently the ‘True Detective’ series. Both halves of the album are also in thrall to Mica Levi’s inspiring ‘Under The Skin’ soundtrack, especially in the turbulence of the mid-section. The songs of the albums first half are synthetic and seductive, a gelatinous veil with shades of the pseudo-sophisticated trance of Enigma, of all things, underpinned with dusky unsettling shadows and atmosphere. ‘In Your Sleep’, perhaps surprisingly, features the vocals of Hayden Thorpe from Wild Beasts, who settles his dark, whispered vocals into the moonlit shadowy atmosphere. ‘Floating Forest’ is the first track to allow back some of Kuedo’s experimentation with the Southern rap template, which he explored before it became commonplace, with echoed drum splashes and a sinister repetitive motif, ending with a haunting growl. The second half of the album enters wilderness territory with ‘Approaching’s slow descending notes, before ‘Broken Fox - Black Hole’ throws the record into the cathartic darkness, as undulating chords play hide and seek with riotous reeds and scratchy strings grown from challenging collaborations with cello player Koenraad Ecker (from Lumisokea). ‘Breaking The Surface’ shivers and coils, before metal and strings dominate while ‘In Your Skin’ feels like being lost in a vast hinterland before ‘Warmer Light’ introduces some memories of sunshine, with its plucked bassline and spiralling dub. ‘Halogen Light’ opens with the sound of crickets and a clear piano, cleansing the soul before ‘Lathe’ brings things down to earth with a short, yet powerful coda.
A: 1/Hourglass 2/Under The Surface 3/In Your Sleep B: 1/Bending Moon 2/Slow Knife 3/Floating Forest 4/Love Theme C: 1/Approaching 2/Broken Fox - Black Hole 3/Breaking The Surface D: 1/In Your Skin 2/Warmer Light 3/Halogen Light 4/Lathe
CD Edition. It’s been five years since his acclaimed debut ‘Severant’ and time has proved it prescient; its futuristic trap influence is now ubiquitous. ‘Slow Knife‘ seems to return to where ‘Severant’ left off, but with the intricate sound design of last year’s haunting EP ‘Assertion Of A Surrounding Presence’ subsumed into the compositions, making them more exacting and beautifully crafted. Between albums Kuedo has been working as a sound designer and composer for hire and the application of intent and widescreen rigour that commercial work requires has definitely found its way into the new album. ‘Slow Knife’ has the subtlety, ambition and pacing of a brilliant soundtrack - a sense of an album of scenes, that easily lends itself to an impressionistic narrative. But, as with ‘Severant’, the title suggests relationship unease, with the slow knife being a metaphor for the building resentment in any close relationship. ‘Slow Knife’ is almost two albums; the first half, according to Kuedo, invokes the seduction of the city, taking the music of Michael Mann’s ‘Manhunter’ as a cue, with the latter half being inspired by the bloody starscapes and voodoo wilderness of films such as ‘Angel Heart’, ‘Night Of The Hunter’ and more recently the ‘True Detective’ series. Both halves of the album are also in thrall to Mica Levi’s inspiring ‘Under The Skin’ soundtrack, especially in the turbulence of the mid-section. The songs of the albums first half are synthetic and seductive, a gelatinous veil with shades of the pseudo-sophisticated trance of Enigma, of all things, underpinned with dusky unsettling shadows and atmosphere. ‘In Your Sleep’, perhaps surprisingly, features the vocals of Hayden Thorpe from Wild Beasts, who settles his dark, whispered vocals into the moonlit shadowy atmosphere. ‘Floating Forest’ is the first track to allow back some of Kuedo’s experimentation with the Southern rap template, which he explored before it became commonplace, with echoed drum splashes and a sinister repetitive motif, ending with a haunting growl. The second half of the album enters wilderness territory with ‘Approaching’s slow descending notes, before ‘Broken Fox - Black Hole’ throws the record into the cathartic darkness, as undulating chords play hide and seek with riotous reeds and scratchy strings grown from challenging collaborations with cello player Koenraad Ecker (from Lumisokea). ‘Breaking The Surface’ shivers and coils, before metal and strings dominate while ‘In Your Skin’ feels like being lost in a vast hinterland before ‘Warmer Light’ introduces some memories of sunshine, with its plucked bassline and spiralling dub. ‘Halogen Light’ opens with the sound of crickets and a clear piano, cleansing the soul before ‘Lathe’ brings things down to earth with a short, yet powerful coda.
1/ Hourglass 2/ Under The Surface 3/ In Your Sleep 4/ Bending Moon 5/ Slow Knife 6/ Floating Forest 7/ Love Theme 8/ Approaching 9/ Broken Fox - Black Hole 10/ Breaking The Surface 11/ In Your Skin 12/ Warmer Light 13/ Halogen Light 14/ Lathe
A collaboration between Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and µ–Ziq (Mike Paradinas), Mike & Rich - ’Expert Knob Twiddlers’ was made back in 1994. Richard edited the tracks into shape later in 1996 with his new Apple Mac computer and it was released later that year on Rephlex, the label he co-owned and which released the first two albums by µ-Ziq. This new reissued version has been carefully cleaned up, re-edited and remastered from the original DAT tapes, put into a more fitting order and, more excitingly, seven new bonus tracks and alternative versions have also been added. The album was recorded over a few days during the 1994 World Cup, back when Richard lived in a big shared flat in Stoke Newington. Richard had tried to collaborate with a few other likeminded artists but something clicked when Mike and Rich worked together and the sessions have a unique feel; playful and at times actually drunk. These are fun experiments in the spirit of lighthearted moog pop and ripe 70s British TV themes, standing out from the po-faced electronica of the time with a garish glee. The record was made on what is now seen as pretty primitive gear - an Atari, Roland MKS-80, Memorymoog, Roland R8 and a handful of samples on a Casio FZ-10M - but it’s to their credit that it resonates well with the hardware workouts coming out today. There's a broadminded but sloppy funk to the record, even whistling, singing and harpsichord in 'Reg' and wonky beat pile-ons in 'Jelly Fish'. There's latin piano and wheezy drunken techno in ‘Vodka’, or the sleepy spaced out ambience of ‘Bu Bu Bu Ba' with its barely contained laughter which seems to reflect the absurdity. The new versions and bonus tracks are an absolute delight - from a trancier version of ‘Vodka' to the wonky bounce of ‘Portamento Gosh', The 3/4 dub of 'Waltz,' the banging door bass of' Brivert and Muonds', the creepy seasick atmosphere of 'Clissold Bathroom' and finishing with the strangely graceful and serious 'Organ Plodder'. A generous and welcome return to the racks.
DISC 1: 01/ Mr. Frosty 02/ Reg 03/ Jelly Fish 04/ Eggy Toast 05/ Vodka 06/ Winner Takes All 07/ Upright Kangaroo 08/ Giant Deflating Football 09/ The Sound Of The Beady Eyes 10/ Bu Bu Bu Ba DISC 2: 01/ Vodka (Mix 2) 02/ Portamento Gosh 03/ Waltz 04/ Brivert & Muonds 05/ Clissold Bathroom 06/ Jelly Fish (Mix 2) 07/ Organ Plodder
A collaboration between Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and µ–Ziq (Mike Paradinas), Mike & Rich - ’Expert Knob Twiddlers’ was made back in 1994. Richard edited the tracks into shape later in 1996 with his new Apple Mac computer and it was released later that year on Rephlex, the label he co-owned and which released the first two albums by µ-Ziq. This new reissued version has been carefully cleaned up, re-edited and remastered from the original DAT tapes, put into a more fitting order and, more excitingly, seven new bonus tracks and alternative versions have also been added. The album was recorded over a few days during the 1994 World Cup, back when Richard lived in a big shared flat in Stoke Newington. Richard had tried to collaborate with a few other likeminded artists but something clicked when Mike and Rich worked together and the sessions have a unique feel; playful and at times actually drunk. These are fun experiments in the spirit of lighthearted moog pop and ripe 70s British TV themes, standing out from the po-faced electronica of the time with a garish glee. The record was made on what is now seen as pretty primitive gear - an Atari, Roland MKS-80, Memorymoog, Roland R8 and a handful of samples on a Casio FZ-10M - but it’s to their credit that it resonates well with the hardware workouts coming out today. There's a broadminded but sloppy funk to the record, even whistling, singing and harpsichord in 'Reg' and wonky beat pile-ons in 'Jelly Fish'. There's latin piano and wheezy drunken techno in ‘Vodka’, or the sleepy spaced out ambience of ‘Bu Bu Bu Ba' with its barely contained laughter which seems to reflect the absurdity. The new versions and bonus tracks are an absolute delight - from a trancier version of ‘Vodka' to the wonky bounce of ‘Portamento Gosh', The 3/4 dub of 'Waltz,' the banging door bass of' Brivert and Muonds', the creepy seasick atmosphere of 'Clissold Bathroom' and finishing with the strangely graceful and serious 'Organ Plodder'. A generous and welcome return to the racks.
A: 01/Mr. Frosty // 02/Reg B: 01/Jelly Fish // 02/Eggy Toast // 03/Vodka C: 01/Winner Takes All // 02/Giant Deflating Football // 03/Upright Kangaroo D: 01/The Sound Of The Beady Eyes // 02/Bu Bu Bu Ba E: 01/Vodka (Mix 2) // 02/Portamento Gosh // 03/Waltz F: 01/Brivert & Muonds // 02/Clissold Bathroom // 03/Jelly Fish (Mix 2) // 04/Organ Plodder
CD Re-Issue. Vex’d’s Degenerate was the second ever dubstep album, released in the fertile year of 2005, it encapsulated the sound of two musicians inspiring the scene and in return being inspired. Skrillex has cited Degenerate as the album which inspired him to start producing. Before they caused too much damage Vex’d split in 2008. Jamie went on to success under the name Kuedo with acclaimed releases on Planet Mu and Roly Porter released three amazing albums on Subtext records. Now available again.
CD1 01 Pop Pop V.I.P. 02 Thunder 03 Angels 04 Corridor 05 Cold 06 Venus 07 Gunman 08 Crusher Dub 09 Fire 10 Destruction 11 Lion V.I.P. 12 Slime CD2 01 Canyon 02 Pop Pop 03 Ghost 04 Lion 05 Smart Bomb 06 End OF Line (ft. Search & Destroy)
Founding member ‘Lit Internet’ says of the music WWWINGS makes: “Our main inspiration is not good for our health, we live in post-Soviet countries and for people like us with our interests and hobbies and points of view, it’s a very uncomfortable zone. It’s not about the place, actually we like the nature here, it’s about the people who rule these countries and their laws. Struggle with real life in almost totalitarian countries affects us, so I think thats why most of our tracks sounds disturbing and depressive”. WWWINGS consists of three members aged between 18 and 25, ‘Lit Internet’ from the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far East of Russia, ‘Lit Eyne’ from Siberia and ‘Lit Daw’ from Ukraine. The three of them met on the Russian social networking site VK where Lit Internet and Lit Eyne formed a music blog, prior to their making music together. Pre-WWWINGS Lit Eyne taught and collaborated with Lit Internet, creating a soundcloud page and posting a track per month, gathering interest and forming many international friendships with like-minded artists, some of whom ended up collaborating on this album. After this, Lit Internet met Lit Daw who was already a skilled producer and in 2015 the three of them collaborated on the ‘WWWINGS’ project, remotely, using the Russian instant messenger service Telegram. The tracks on ‘PHOENIXXX’ approach electronic music with a punky, chaotic attitude. WWWINGS’ music straddles and sutures unlikely sounds and structures, often in the same tracks. Musique concrète morphs into trap and trashcan drums, the twisting dramatic soundscapes of gaming soundtracks, Eastern European folk music, new metal, industrial noise and explosions everywhere. This culture clash is hammered into something impulsive, dystopian and dripping in cold, alien slime. With a featured artists list that features the cream of the new wave of 2016 such as NON’s Chino Amobi, NAAFI artists Imaabs and Lao, Hyperdub signing ‘Endgame’, self described ‘transhuman experiment’ Born In Flamez, Symbols Records’ Kastle, Ebbo Kraan and DJ Heroin, PHOENIXXX is an uncompromising and highly original record.
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