Genres in this issue: pop, rock, electro, breakbeat, rave
SOAK
Grim Town
Selected by Mike (Wax & Stamp)
Bobo
Homeworld EP
Selected by Mike (Wax & Stamp)
The Letter
We’re writing this month’s letter to you off the back of a mind-blowing gig. The legendary DJ Krush played in London, and boy was it an eye-opener! The trip hop icon played a good couple of hours of new electronic music heavily laden with dubstep followed by a showcase of his classic releases from the ‘90s. This must be the most accomplished set of turntable skills we’ve ever seen. Krush played his mixer sampler and decks like an instrument. If you get the chance, go see him!
Now, on to the vinyl:
This month’s album is the second long player from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson—aka SOAK. The title of the album, “Grim Town” is a cheeky phrase she and her friends use to describe something that’s “a bit sh*t.” SOAK has graduated from her first ( Mercury Music Prize-nominated) album as lonesome singer-songwriter to wide-eyed art-pop auteur, and her growing confidence is palpable, with her voice being compared to Camera Obscura’s Traceyanne Campbell, the peculiar interior dialogues of Lorde, and in our own view, old school Cerys Matthews. This is a lovely overarchingly pop/rock album which is a very good second offering from Monds-Watson.
Our 12” is by Bobo, a Producer, Mix and Master engineer based in Manchester and owner of the music project/record label Ambient Machine, as well as his own mixing and mastering studio called 'A Working Studio'.
Bobo has had a strong few years since debuting with our friends on the Gunfinger Food label, minting releases on Further Electronix and Gestalt Recordings, but it's to Gunfinger he returns for this assured five-track drop exploring the terrain between punchy electro and boisterous breakbeat. 'Pressure' is a strong opening statement of this mission, keeping the claustrophobic intensity up but offsetting the squashed drums with spooked out synth lines. 'Scrapyard' unsurprisingly has fun playing around with metallic perc hits, while 'NBDT Dub' locks into uptempo electro geared towards the rave. 'Home' brings the more emotive flavours to the table, albeit with some amens, and 'Hydraulic' closes the record in another burst of razor-sharp machine funk and breakbeat science.
