New Music: December
Here is a very small selection of the new music we've been playlisting this month
Dark Captain - Dead Legs & Alibis (LoAF Recordings)
Taking the alt/psych folk tag into new dimensions, Walthamstow's second most famous musical sons present their second album of Stereolab-meets-Fleetwood Mac hooks and cosmic melody. An uncharacteristically positive vibe abounds throughout the pastoral electronics and guitar, and is probably what's going to move Dan Carney's krautrock troubadours into the mainstream.
Anchorsong - Chapters (Tru Thoughts)
With beats and strings Anchorsong (aka Tokyo-born Masaaki Yoshida) builds layers of sound; a focused blur of electronica, hip-hop and rock. The multi-instrumentalist is becoming known for his live show - he's played with Prefuse 73, Jaga Jazzist, DJ Krush, Daedelus and Bonobo - and this album perfectly captures why. A vital, exciting modern album from an accomplished, forward-thinking musician.
Ango - Another City Now (LuckyMe)
Slick R&B with an underground edge for the discerning electronic dancefloor. Montreal's Ango brings the funk to Glasgow's Lucky Me, and fans of the label's Hud Mo and Rustie will lap this up. Post-modern funk-pop that you're as likely to hear on Match Of The Day as you are in a basement rave.
Various - Mutants (Tokyo Dawn)
More modernist retrofunk, this time from Sweden and a whole lot more groovy. An entire album of remixes by Tokyo Dawn's in-house disco scientist Opolopo, this selection takes in twisted re-visions of tracks by Colonel Red, Syl Johnson, Talib Kweli, Amalia and Erik Rico. Owning this record will automatically enhance your Christmas party by 50%.
The Soft Hills - The Bird Is Coming Down (Tapete)
A perfect accompaniment to the Dark Captain album, 'The Bird Is Coming Down' sees Seattle's Soft Hills voyage through harmony, reverb, melody and psychedelia to create this platter of odes to space folk. A hallucinogenic fairy tale crafted by the other-worldly hands and minds of a group with a true exploratory vision.
Laura Veirs - Tumble Bee (Belle Union)
Very often an established artist releases an album of childrens' songs as a stop-gap, when their mind's creative vista is barren and fruitless. Yet only a cynic could dismiss Veirs' collection of lullabies as this - her honey-sweet vocal steeps these tracks in genuine humility, and results in one of the warmest albums of the winter. For children and adults alike.
Mark De Clive-Lowe - Renegades (Tru Thoughts)
MdCL's ninth album of beats and basslines, synths and soul. Razor-sharp productions aimed squarely at the dancefloor with vocals and strings supplied by a glittering gallery of talent. Mark tells us that his idea behind the music he makes is about "balancing electronics and programming with organic and live musicianship. I love for that line to be blurred almost to the point where you don't know which is which."
Mauricio Maestro feat. Nana Vasconcelos - Upside Down (Far Out)
Mind-bending exotic instrumentation, acoustic psychedelics and infectious grooves - it's no wonder Far Out asked this duo to get together and record a follow-up to their 1976 debut, 'Visions of Dawn'. Like a modern hybrid of Milton Nascimento and Van Morrison, this deserves to be in the collection of anybody with even a passing interest in the exotic.
Wild Beasts - Smother (Domino)
Described as existing 'outside fashion', so therefore decidedly fashionable, Wild Beasts certainly split the vote. But we can't stop listening to this (their third) album of immersive and delicate electronic heartbreak songs. Evoking everything from Soft Cell to Hurts and The Cure to Radiohead; 'Smother' gets the thumbs up from Open Ear.
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