We Actually Like #14

Music

The weekly outpourings of love towards people actually putting out wondrous good stuff continues…

Raime – Quarter Turns Over A Living Line LP
Raime's long-awaited debut LP on Blackest Ever Black is definitely worth the wait, with the young Londoners delivering a collection of tracks steeped in a meticulously crafted sense of menace. Personally, I sometimes find 'home-listening' electronica a bit bland, fading into the background and ultimately failing to maintain my attention, but the pairing's utilisation of atmospherics and pacing single this out as a compelling and decidedly unsettling record. Stylistically hard to pin-down, drawing influences from doom metal, jungle, dub, techno and a whole host of other genres, this is likely to be floating around in my list of this year's top LPs. (Patrick)

Jay L: 'Looking Up Part 1' and 'Try Slung'.
Two track 'EP' as they now get called, or 'single' as us old folk refer to them.
BRSTL records is the kind of label I like. Militant in their refusal to embrace digital, all their releases are hand stamped, limited run, heavyweight vinyl. Fuck you technology! The fourth release on the BRSTL is the debut from Bristolian DJ/Producer Jay L, two tracks of raw, bumpy, heartfelt house with fractured rythyms all imbued with a heavy sense of longing. There's obvious nods to the production aesthetic and moods of Theo Parrish as well as a lingering memory of broken beat, but all the references are handled with grace rather than becoming acts of imitation. As a DJ, Jay L's taste in music is pretty flawless and, with this debut, he's shown a lightness of touch that bodes well for the future. (Joe)

Inga Copeland – Rumors (Unmastered)
Dean Blunt’s The Narcissist II (who partners Inga in Hype Williams) comes out in physical form this week, so in honour of that and because I can’t put that whole gloriously drowsy, jumbling, stumbling, aleatory assortment up (quotations, lightning, fireworks, and domestic strife all feature) I thought I’d share one they sent out free a while back, in their own inimitable way, which came unadorned, labelled awfully (‘copeland rumors unmastered’) like those downloads you used to get off Kazaa or Limewire (Yeah, remember that) It’s kind of dub, almost dancehall without being either. I’ve played this a lot. (Tim)

Fimber Bravo – Life After Doomsday
Ah, there was me about to pick some second rate Boards of Canada 'bass' rip off as my pick of the weekn when up pops this little beauty into my inbox… the ever amazing Zongamin with Fimber Bravo injecting some off-kilter steel drummed electronic greatness into these Thursday ears. Got rather excited about this a few weeks back when it first came through and now there's a video to boot. I love music. Unexpected music like this is even better. Repeat… then repeat again. (Wil)