The Victory Of The Echo Over The Voice - (2:15) 115 BPM
Sevastopol - (2:11) 112 BPM
Tsars And Hussars (feat Amir Yaghmai) - (5:00) 69 BPM
Battery Smoke - (2:16) 56 BPM
Belonging (feat Amir Yaghmai) - (3:33) 68 BPM
Pre-munitions - (2:24) 86 BPM
Shot And Shell - (1:52) 80 BPM
Country Of Conquest - (2:09) 77 BPM
Review: Alfred Weisburg-Roberts has always been impressively productive. Even so, few producers would be driven or creative enough to release 12 albums in as many years. The Light Brigade is his 13th, and offers a distinctly dreamy, sparse and evocative blend of drifting textures, eyes-wide-shut vocals, folksy acoustic guitars and complimentary electronics. According to Weisburg-Roberts, the album was inspired by the grim and bloody Crimean War, which certainly explains the album's melancholic tone. Certainly, it offers food for thought, with bittersweet, layered instrumentals - mostly of a beatless variety - flanking a trickle of thought-provoking, reverb-laden songs. Crucially, it's a stunning set that offers an immersive, heart-aching vision of the horrors of war.
What Can You Do? (feat Busdriver) - (2:54) 138 BPM
French Cuffs (feat Baths) - (3:41) 93 BPM
In Tatters (feat Kelela Mizanekristos) - (3:18) 126 BPM
Slowercase D - (6:16) 94 BPM
Overwhelmed (feat Bilal) - (3:39) 131 BPM
Nightcap - (0:42) 75 BPM
Review: It must be great to be Alfred Darlington. The tweed suits, the PG Wodehouse-esque name... all awesome. But what must be so extra lovely is the complete freedom he enjoys. In a musical way of course, not in a "eating a jar of Nutella for lunch" way. From indie-tronica, to the dank hip-hop of his Exquisite Corpse album, to his 2006 sample-fuelled Denies The Day's Demise LP, Daedelus has covered a huge amount of ground already in his career. His move to Ninja for 2008's Love To Make Music By saw another sea change - a concerted application of house music tempos and instrumentation to his scattergun songwriting that resulted in the wonderful Make It So single and a brace of highly engaging hypnogogic mindfucks. Bespoke picks up from those learned lessons, but this time he's created an even wider scope for himself. His distinctively choppy production style lends itself to having 3 or 4 competing styles going on at any one time, in the manner of Japanese Pico-Pop artists like Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. "What Can You Do" featuring Busdriver is a case in point - though underscored by a simple kick "n' clap, the sheer crazed randomness of his drum sequences opens the space up to allow things like clarinets, acid-pianos and torch song vocals to actually sound normal working together. The mythological Daedelus was well aware of the dangers of flying too close to the sun. As Bespoke proves, the more lifelike version should never be subject to any such constraints.
Review: Alfred Darlington. Quite why you'd pick a pseudonym when you already have a name as incredible as Alfred Darlington at your disposal is a mystery, but then, it's one of many brilliantly odd things about both Daedelus and his ever-evolving music. From indie-tronica, to the deeply warped hip-hop of his "Exquisite Corpse" album, his MF Doom hook-up "Impending Doom" or his 2006 sample-tastic release on Mush, "Denies The Day's Demise", Daedelus has covered a huge amount of ground. Since signing with Ninja however, he's distinctly upped the tempo and applied his scattered, bricolage techniques to making electronic/dance music in his own idiosyncratic way. As a prelude to new album Bespoke, this first single features Canadian electronica producer (and former Plug Research labelmate) Milosh on the vocals and positively charges out of your speakers at a galloping 130bpm tempo. With a thick kick and a juke-like clap keeping time, a wave of samples gets slowly filtered up, much like the start of "Make It So", but even more bug-eyed and delirious. Short loops of urgent strings samples nestle up against tight bass hits, barber shop quartet backing harmonies, even guitar chanks that sound eerily like they've been sampled from Arabesque's "In The Heat Of A Disco Night". Milosh's languid vocals fit like a glove over this sea of soaring noise, as he takes time over each line and allows the melodies to float over the top of it all like a saxophone player playing a deliberately restrained solo. The whole thing reminds hugely of Radiohead's "Idioteque" but constructed with warm organic sounds rather than icy electronic ones. A Floating Points remix of "Tailor Made" is lined up for the future, which will no doubt be pretty special, and on the strength of this first single, Bespoke looks like being an essential purchase too.
Review: Brainfeeder as a project have been known to bring together the weird and wonderful, more often than not supplying the world with stunning original music. This latest compilation from them celebrates 10 years of the label, putting Flying Lotus's visions into reality. We explore previously undiscovered realms of futuristic hip hop production, with immediate stand outs being the the unpredictable neurotic drum crunches of 'Delusions' from Little Snake, along with the pulsating drum work and 4x4 flavours of 'Squaz' courtesy of Ross From Friends. Another shout out has to go to FlyLo himself as he teams up with Busdriver for a super skat heavy run out on 'Ain't No Coming Back'. This one is a fantastic listen from start to finish.
