#3
daily? every few days? weekly? music updates brought to you by my ears and interest. likely to include other little one off things as it comes but let's see how this goes
Hornet - Pearson Sound
Hessle Audio head Pearson Sound, dropping an absolute HEATER for the summertime. Hornet puts you inside of the nest of one of these insects, even if you absolutely did not want to be. I keep this one on repeat many times over, and over. Wonderful use of chops, rhythm, spacing. GRRL coded, as fuck.
Mahōgakkō - Hakushi Hasegawa
Translated to “Magic School”, Hakushi is back with their newest world breaking album. If reading this, you should absolutely cut out 40 minutes of time in your life for a mind bending sonic journey.
It’s nonstop. Crashing. Banging. Full of distortion. Abrasive and intense. All the while still so beautiful, and so soft.
There were 5 singles for this record, one of which… Boy’s Texture hit me hard and fast. The video, directed by Gauspel (Brandon Saunders), explores the desire to find a missing piece of yourself in the wild. “Most people hold this preconceived notion that your being will be complete upon this revelation and that the broken pieces that comprise you will find their final puzzle piece,” he explains. “But there is no such grand revelation, just self-reflection… just you.” You’re met with sounds of nature, chorus vocals, chops, GORGEOUS strings, and ultimately a heavenly vocal performance. This all takes place until you reach the final leg, and the listener is bombarded with this wall of sound and have all of these enormous performances taking place together in a climax. Forever, this will be in my top 3 tracks from Hakushi.
FORBIDDEN THING (KIMMOTSU) is one of the strongest singular track performances I’ve ever heard. The keys glide across your ears and are then met with the most beautiful vocal showing that could be displayed by such an artist. Followed by a drum pattern that progressively starts to drive this story even more forward while hiding behind the keys and vocal performance, way in the back.
“A balance of pop and pandemonium, the album is one of extremes, where chipmunk-pitched voices square off against percussion set to speed metal’s tempo and volume. Noise and melody, cutesy and aggressive, acoustic and electronic — all come to a head in a process Hasegawa calls the Explanatory Ratio.” - Brainfeeder
Hakushi Hasegawa is an enigmatic and extremely personable artist, they do a wonderful thing of being so emphatically THEM. No one else will make music like this, ever.
Tu Vacilatela Que Yo Estoy En Otra - CRRDR
“Latin Core” as monikered by the artist & Latin Bass are on the board again with this EP from CRRDR by way of Colombia!! Extremely fun and lots of influences are spread throughout these club beats driving percussion harder, and faster.
Standout tracks: TRAN’T & Bulla
Agor - Koreless
This is not a new release, it hit the airwaves three years ago… though, a conversation with someone today caused a revisitation, and so I became excited to expose more people to the project.
I suggest listening during the late night hours, full run through. It’s the most form fitting setting for the hauntingly beautiful alien soundscapes that comprise this record. You’re taken to a very dark and eerie world, one of Welsh rituals and countryside folklore.
It’s precise and deliberate. Sounds that are so specific and evocative. Concise and to the point, sounds that can pierce you like sharp blades. I’ve never heard someone splice vocals and chop samples so precisely. With that in mind, it makes a high amount of sense that the artist spent a strong 5 years sketching these ideas out further and further, to fully reach this level of exactness that is displayed throughout the record.
The year of 2021 was a fantastic year for many long form releases as far as I am concerned, and this is one of my highest contenders of the year amongst the likes of Rochelle Jordan, Porter Robinson, Byron the Aquarius, Arca, Nala Sinephro, Little Simz, and CFCF…to name (more than) a few…
“I love to feel this fantastical sense of the unnatural world through the album Agor by Koreless” - Heath Atchley, 2024
Standouts: Joy Squad, Frozen, Act(s), Shellshock
In Light of that Learnt Later (Purelink remix) - Corker Conboy
Here we have a wonderful drum driven ambient cut from the Purelink trio, who put out a favorite record of mine in 2023! Signs
This rework is definitely true to the world of sounds that typically come from this powerhouse group. It feels like floating above the clouds during a late afternoon, in a very soft and slow manner of course.
The last leg of this slowly drifts out of your ears over the course of a minute and some change, and it feels so good. I see a world in which this complements Nala Sinephro’s sonic palette and we receive a full scale collaborative project, but that’s just me projecting my blue sky dream right...
HeadSpace - H31R
Coming from Brooklyn, we have the duo of JWords and maassai, known together as H31R that are making waves with their fusion of electronica and hip hop. The funky instrumental production is met with this form fitting vocal delivery that slides perfectly into all the pockets. This record is new to my ears, but its brilliance is easily found upon a mere few listens!
I love this fusion of where the vocals and production meet, it feels like a very positive exploration into bridging these two genres together in a way that feels new to my ears. Experimentation that could lead to so much more down the line as this duo grows and also inspires others along the way.
Standout tracks: Backwards, Train of Thought, Rotation, Down Down Bb
All right, that’s all that I’ve got today y’all. Hope you enjoy these !
