On Repeat: Songs of Repetition
I wrote about my enjoyment of repetition when I dove into Ambient sounds, and here I am writing about it again, this time with varied BPMs and sonic disruptors. Professional pattern orchestrator Martin Jenkins aka Pye Corner Audio anchors his latest warpy-warbly synths in Where Things Are Hollow 2 a melodic tune that is kinetic and kind of sexy. The title track from the forthcoming EP embodies what Martin says will be a more dance-focused follow up to 2017’s Where Things Are Hollow. Save the first dance for me, when we all get out of quarantine, that is.
Musicians releasing new music in quarantine might feel compelled to crowd-source their visual inspirations for a new song. One of my longtime favorites Ernest Greene aka Washed Out has done this for “Too Late”, which sounds like the Act I to the overture that is Life of Leisure ‘s Feel It All Around (even the first frame of the video feels wonderfully familiar). Beachy sunsets blushing pink and vibrant tangerines frame the foreground of smiling faces and joyous release from around the world. You’d hardly guess a pandemic was happening.
I'm forever indebted and forever in debt thanks to the wonderful world of Bandcamp. Their articles championing their favorite micro-genre explorations led me to purchase Agrume’s latest techno-dance effort Revival. My favorite thing about his Bandcamp page is the comments from backers - there is no one “favorite track.” I read that as, “they’re all good, it just depends on what kind of mood you’re in.” Right now I’m in the mood to hit a French discotechque with Todd Terje as my plus one before we hang out with Will Ferrel and Chris Kattan at the Roxbury. Cue tracks popping with groovy disco bliss like “Baguette” and the day-glo block-party-to-the-ball attitude of “Monofunk”.
Come with me while I keep exploring this imaginary night out - if something more grainy and industrial is your mood, Malvoeaux’s sublime “Targets” creases precision corners of funk and dancehall. A steady undercurrent of fuzzed-out bass anchors the joyous, seamless tinkering with what sounds like every setting on a classic Casio. Each corner of the six-minute song brings something delightfully, refreshingly new.
Now you’re in the mood for something darker, weirder, abyss-dwelling. You are here for bass so you are here for the rumbling noir of Commodo’s “Loan Shark.” The UK producer makes music that feels cinematic, so it’s no wonder that the first 26 seconds sound like a 2020 take on the Jaws theme. It propels steadily for an eerie four minutes, playing out like a magnum plated car chase on a road to nowhere.