Ok, so here is another hour of top quality music; quite a broad range this month – some modern classical, some house, some techno, a little ambient music, and a light sprinkling of jazz (as always!). Something for everyone, I think.
Here’s a walkthrough of the track listing.
1. Kiasmos – Held – Taken from the album Kiasmos – Erased Tapes – Buy
Kiasmos is a collaboration between Janus Rasmussen and Ólafur Arnalds. Their debut album appeared in 2014 and I’ve been meaning to include this for some time, but only just got around to it. It’s a lovely blend of modern classical music and techno – they’ve been touring this album, and I’m hoping I’ll get to see it some time soon.
2. Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch -Joi – Taken from the Bladerunner 2049: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Buy
Given that most musicians I can think of rate Vangelis’ 1982 Bladerunner soundtrack as an influence, writing a soundtrack for the sequel must have been the most daunting task that any musician could be tasked with. I gather that the personnel on this soundtrack did switch up throughout the project, but I personally think Zimmer & Wallfisch did a great job with it. I like it.
3. Pye Corner Audio – The Mirror Ball Cracked – Taken from the album Sleep Games – Ghost Box – Buy
This is a piece I heard via an Adam Curtis documentary which appeared on the BBC a couple of years ago. It’s a pretty spooky synth piece, and right up my street, musically speaking.
4. Radiohead – Spectre – Taken from the single Burn The Witch – XL – Buy
For reasons which shall remain unknown forever, Radiohead’s submitted score for the Bond movie Spectre was rejected, in favour for Sam Smith. Nevertheless, the band decided to release their title track anyway, firstly via soundcloud, and then, later, as the AA side to the opening single from A Moon Shaped Pool. It’s pretty epic and would have sounded great in the movie.
5. Anna Calvi – Papi Pacify – Taken from the Strange Weather EP – Domino – Buy
Strange Weather is a nice little collection of covers and new material, and features a great collaboration with David Byrne (not this one). This one is a cover of an FKA Twigs track, but you probably wouldn’t recognise it as that, as Anna has completely reworked it from top to bottom, and transformed it into a mysterious lynchian nightmare, full of atmosphere and intrigue….highly underrated, I think.
6. En – Secret Samba – Taken from the album City Of Brides – Students Of Decay – Buy
En is a collaboration between Maxwell August Croy and James Devane, who cropped up on many of the early episodes of this podcast. James and Maxwell create ambient soundscapes by apparently bowing guitars and feeding the signal through various pedals and effects.
To be honest, I don’t really care how it’s made, only that it’s really beautiful music. I recommend getting as much of the JD and En back catalogue as you can possibly find, as it’s all utterly wonderful.
7. Pharoah Sanders – Greeting to Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner) – Taken from the album Elevation – Universal Sound – Buy
A lovely little jazz interlude. This is just crying out to be sampled and turned into a summery drum & bass workout – I would put a small wager on the possibility that someone like Calibre may have already done so.
8. Gacha Bakradze – Knowledge – Taken from the We Must Be Woods EP – Apollo – Buy
A great example of emotive electronic music. This has a kind of Bonobo vibe about it, and I like it a lot. Another great release from the excellent Apollo label, which I understand is part of the legendary R&S label.
9. Theory Of Movement – Far Reach – Taken from the album Theory Of Movement – Dukes Distribution – Buy
Contrary to popular belief, I am not paid to include tracks by the mysterious Grant on this podcast, but his material only appears on vinyl, and sells out so fast that I tend to snap it all up as soon as it comes out. This LP is a collaboration between Grant and Dan Piu, and it’s a great old school deep house record. Very enjoyable.
10. Four Tet – SW9 9SL – Taken from the album New Energy – Text – Buy
Four Tet has been in the game for quite some time, and he’s had incredible success as an electronic music artist, without having to sell out in any way, I think. He’s had some major label releases through Domino, but has opted to release this LP, at the tail end of last year, through his own label, Text. New Energy is a great album, his best release since There Is Love In You, many tracks of which appeared on this podcast, many years ago. It’s great to have Four Tet back on the Sessions Podcast!
11. Shedbug – Recovery – Taken from the Afterglow EP – Flux – Buy
Another vinyl only release here, from Shedbug, who I’m afraid to say, I know nothing about, other than he produces very melodic techno which ticks all the right boxes for me. This is a very mellow track that closes off the Afterglow EP. I can imagine that Shedbug will be featuring many more times on this podcast, if this is a taste of things to come.
12. Sandwell District – Falling The Same Way – Taken from the digital edition of Feed Forward – Buy
Sometimes you don’t forget a record, especially if you don’t own it. The Feed Forward vinyl album was released in 2010, on vinyl only. I don’t know how, but I stumbled across it, and liked it, but I hesitated to buy it. It has since vanished in it’s physical format.
It made me laugh when I read that ASC had exactly the same experience as me. So you’re probably wondering how this has ended up here if I don’t own it – Well, there’s a digital version of the album, but it’s totally different to the LP. There’s also a CD version which is different again.
I gather that Sandwell District toured the album a bit, so created some alternative mixes to the LP, and this is from that set, but the vinyl is still very much on my wishlist.
I have been kicking myself ever since about this. Hopefully, at some point, they’ll re-master and reissue the vinyl version of the album, because it’s truly excellent.
13. Kiyoko – Causeway – Samurai Horo – Buy
Kiyoko is a collaboration between Synkro and Bering Strait. This is a fantastic, synth-heavy, slow paced electronic piece which I stumbled across accidentally a few weeks ago. The Samurai Music Group release a lot of very interesting music across various genres, and it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do.
14. Telefon Tel Aviv – Introductory Nomenclature – Taken from the album Fahrenheit Fair Enough – Ghostly International – Buy
Telefon Tel Aviv appeared on a much earlier podcast with their terrific Depeche Mode-esque track The Birds, and also, more recently, the loud and brooding Something Akin To Lust, which appeared on Episode 049.
So I’m going back through their back catalogue, and this one really stood out to me – it has a slight Steve Reich Electric Counterpoint vibe to it, but with excellent drum machine rhythms. The whole album (their debut), which originally appeared in 2001, is fantastic.
15. Synkro – Vanishing Point – Taken from the Hand In Hand EP – Apollo – Buy
….and so we finish with Synkro, a regular artist for this podcast. Synkro just always seems to deliver musically in anything he writes, and this one has a really nice, vintage Boards Of Canada vibe to it, but with much more punchy drums than you’d normally get from a BoC release. Another sublime piece, from an excellent EP.
