Review: It's notoriously difficult to make albums of emotive, musically complex, club-friendly music, but Felix Clary Weatherall achieved it with his 2018 full-length debut as Ross From Friends, Family Portrait. This belated sequel hits all the right notes, too, skipping between heart-aching post-two-step deepness ('The Daisy'), lilting breakbeat-house warmth ('Revellers'), spaced-out, sample-heavy downtempo soul ('A Brand New Start'), tipsy, fuzz-fuelled outsider house oddness (the swelling 'Grub'), sunrise-ready ambient ('Morning Sun in a Dusty Room') and classic 1990s IDM-inspired electronica sweetness ('Thresho 1.0'). In other words, it's that rarest of beasts: a second album that's genuinely superior to its predecessor.
Review: Ahead of Ross From Friends Tread LP due for release on Brainfeeder this year comes the album's first single, and opening track, "The Daisy''. It sees Ross From Friends pick up on post-dubstep percussion and sweetly soulful R&B vocals in an ambient tinged, progressive pop number that experiments with house and dubbed-out electronics. More to come!
Review: Hiatus Kaiyote is a four piece group out of Melbourne that have slowly but surely seen their music picked up by the likes of BBE and now Brainfeeder. Combining a bunch of soul notes and cool jazz with electro-acoustic beats, R&B vocals and other virtuosic instrumentation, the twice grammy nominated band deliver their most acclaimed release yet. Described by Rolling Stone as 'a stunning step', a true LA Beat scene sound can be heard clear as day in the summery synth waves and keys of "Chivalry Is Not Dead". With downtempo beats and complex arrangements colliding with found sound and ambient melodies in other numbers like "Blood & Marrow" and "Sparkle Tape Break Up", there's extra piano sessions in "Red Room" alongside the twinkling keys of "Sip Into Something Soft". A fully fledged album of deep influences channeling a new age in blues, it's safe to say after six years: Hiatus Kaiyote have arrived.
Review: An intriguing artist for the Brainfeeder label since 2018 - Little Snake presents its debut album: A Fragmented Love Story, Written By The Infinite Helix Architect. The Canadian producer - real name Gino Serpentini - has been deconstructing dancefloor norms, subverting traditional structures and refining his utterly inimitable sonic signature since 2017, spearheading a new wave of experimental producers hell bent on breaking new ground. Presenting an overtly deconstructed aesthetic full of mind bending sound design and a unique way of crafting vocals and MPC-styled melodies, this very explorable album takes in collaborations with Amon Tobin and Flying Lotus alongside fellow upstarts SABROI, Tutara Peak and Shrimpnose. Fantasmic listening.