#11: Best of August '24
Some standout releases from the month of August 🌀
Wow, and just like that summer is over.
Apologies on this being a few weeks late but life has been just been wild lately as I’ve spent the month without a home base staying with friends, working a ton, attending Sustain Release, and getting ready to leave for a 3 week euro trip.
I’ll be stopping by London, Paris, and Milan before Unsound in Krakow at the start of October. Following that it will be some hiking in the Tatras, Slovakia, Budapest and I’ll probably end the trip at Climate of Fear in Berlin. I’d love to connect with any European readers who might be attending these events or able to offer some guidance in any of these locations.
I’m working on a Fall Concert Preview that will cover live music through the end of 2024 so stay tuned for that post soon.
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Albums
Belong - Realistic IX [Kranky]
The Kranky duo merges shoegaze and noise-rock in a gauze of smoggy distortion on their follow-up to 2011’s Common Era, letting subterranean earworms wriggle up through your subconscious with bleached guitars, metronomic drums, and buried voices reving, swirling, and seething across shifting gradients of haze and hypnosis.
JPEGMAFIA - I Lay Down My Life for You [AWAL]
A tour de force of experimental hip-hop, blending punk aggression with tender vulnerability showcasing Peggy's versatility, from abrasive bangers to soulful introspection, all underpinned by his always bonkers production. It's a complex, layered work that cements JPEGMAFIA's status as a boundary-pushing artist in contemporary hip-hop and his strongest offering since his breakthrough album "Veteran".
Cecile Believe - Tender The Spark
An innovative and captivating EP from the artist most known as the vocalist on some of SOPHIE’s most iconic tracks like “Ponyboy” and “Faceshopping”. Oscillating between brooding, sexy club bangers and tender, reflective pieces Cecile carves out her own sonic territory while echoing the spirit of PC Music.
Tristwch Y Fenywod - Tristwch Y Fenywod
Tristwch y Fenywod's debut is a bewitching blend of ancient and modern, marrying spiky double zither with robotic drums and cavernous Welsh vocals. This Leeds trio conjures a uniquely hypnotic avant-pop that feels like Celtic darkwave dredged from a moonlit bog and infused with queer magic.
Phantom Handshakes - Sirens at Golden Hour
A mesmerizing dream-pop album blending ethereal soundscapes, groovy basslines, and jangly guitars that crescendo at times into a wall of sound. The album delivers a nostalgic atmosphere that transports listeners to a beautifully imagined past.
Lyndsie Alguire - time is but the drawing of a sword [Hush Hush Records]
A enthralling exploration of whimsical ambient passages and dream-pop ballads that captures a magnetic melancholic tone with flickers of glimmering hope over its sweeping 10-track journey.
Chuck Johnson - Sun Glories
Chuck Johnson’s latest work marks a significant evolution showcasing his versatility, from patient, reverb-laden rock to intricate ambient compositions, culminating in an anthemic seven-minute distortion-fueled finale not unlike the soaring post-rock grandeur of bands like Mogwai and Sigur Ros.
Andy Martin - La creación de las aves
Andy Martin's latest LP masterfully blends Berlin-style depth with Latin American rhythms, creating a hypnotic, psychedelic soundscape inspired by surrealist art. This is minimalist yet potent techno that prioritizes atmosphere and spaciousness.
Expugnantis - Return to Madadeni [enmossed]
A hypnotic journey through minimalist dub soundscapes, blending foggy memories with precise, crystalline production that masterfully balances emotive depth and driving rhythms, evoking a dreamlike state akin to being lost in a sea of mist.
Ghost Dubs - Damaged
This is dub so atomized that it disintegrates within your eardrums. Relentlessly hypnotic, seriously sedated, 'Damaged' celebrates the point of departure within it's mesmerising low end grooves in a wonderfully warm sea of hiss and static bliss.
Fake Fruit - Mucho Mistrust [Carpark]
Fake Fruit’s visceral indie rock careens with volatile energy and lyrics are enveloped with sardonic humor and resonant perceptiveness. Across 12 propulsively unpredictable tracks, the album is both their most immediate yet.
Kloke - The Cosmik Connection Lost Tape [UTTU]
An 8 track voyage into the outer reaches of jungle’s far reaching atmosphere crafting well used breaks into exciting new ideas.
Other Noteworthy Albums
RXKNephew - Always Remember me
Lucy Sissy Miller - Pre County [Métron Records]
Spirit of the Beehive - You’ll Have to Lose Something [Saddle Creek]
Fontaines D.C. - Romance [XL]
Navy Blue - Memoirs in Armour [Freedom Sounds]
Other Noteworthy Dance Albums
blue ringed baby - born online / not ur bride
EP’s
Nectax - Body Talk EP
Pure heat, cover to cover - unwieldy sub pressure, excellent sampling, and precisely programmed junglish breaks
E Wata - EP 1 [Slink]
Enayet + K Wata = E Wata
As 50% of SLINK (along with Simisea and rrao) the duo worked together for years throwing events and honing a sound before working together in the studio.
These tracks emerged from a series of late night sessions marked by “what if?” wormholes and “why not?” arrangements for a live set at Sustain Release in 2022 and refined over the following year. (really kicking myself for missing that set)
Slikback - FORZA EP
New Slikback is an auto buy every time (and always pay what you want) but now that Bandcamp Fridays are back save it to buy on Oct 5th unless you have a set coming up where you need a couple sparkly and euphoric but somehow also grimy gabber and trap leaning tracks.
Submerse - Fifteen Blocks [Breaker Breaker]
4 cuts of retrospective, video-game-inspired Jungle from Tokyo based Submerse full of of deftly cut breaks, convivial pads and tightly sprung bass tones with a clear sense of mastery and ease.
Hotline TNT - Cartwheel (Remix)
5 remixes of one of the hottest shoegaze revival albums of 2023 from the likes of TAGABOW, DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, Poisonfrog, and Physical Therapy.
FKA Boursin - you just give in, giving it all to the wind [Accidental Meetings]
Two heady, deep extended excursions into the dubby ether mastered without compression in an attempt to counter the over saturation of three minute, brick-walled, max-energy production trends in contemporary dance music.
Tim Reaper - Scorched Earth [Future Retro London]
This month is heavy on jungle but I missed this one back in May and it’s a well known fact that Tim Reaper doesn’t miss but this is on a whole other face melting level.
Compilations
A dub/sub heavy compilation of the best of Perfect Records so far, part 2.
In a bold return to '90s white label culture, unknown - untitled's latest compilation serves up a raw, eclectic feast of UK bass music, ranging from mutant dancehall to Drexciya-inspired electro. This innovative label strips away modern marketing fluff, letting six anonymized tracks speak for themselves in a refreshing celebration of pure sonic diversity.
Singles
Mexican producer OMAAR has been pumping out just about an EP per month this year and while I haven’t gotten to listen to it all yet this track will give you all the reason you need to dive in.
Om Unit adds a fair heap of dub to lush sub bass
Special Guest DJ & Ben Bondy in the blissful 3XL bag
An exquisite downbeat shoegaze gem from the Bristollian trio
A 20 minute exploration of classical guitar and effects conceived in a period of experimentation guaranteed to set you on a peaceful trajectory.
Mixes
An ongoing lists of my favorite mixes and sets from the year can be found here.
I decided to push mixes from August to the next transmission because this post is already too long but this live morning set from Bobby at Lodge (which is described as “More than a music festival, closer to a family reunion.") is too good not to share.
If you enjoyed this newsletter I’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend or two.
Playlists
NYC Concert List
I’m working on a Fall Concert Preview highlighting the most exciting NYC shows worth your time and dollars in the next few months and will post a full list in the next week or so but for now here is the next 10 days.
Thu, Sep 19 - Nina Night: Cousin, DJ Lostboi (live), ex wiish, James K, Pavel Milyakov (live) @Nowadays
Thu, Sep 19 - Caterina Barbieri, Valentina Magaletti @knockdown center
Fri, Sep 20 - Magdalena Bay @ Brooklyn Steel
Fri, Sep 20 - Sarah Davachi @ LPR
Sat, Sep 21 - Special Interest @ Le Poisson Rouge
Sat, Sep 21 - Yaeji, Sofia Kourtesis, Nourished by Time, Malibu @knockdown center
Sun, Sep 22 - Rapsody @ Bowery Ballroom
Mon, Sep 23 - Astrid Sonne + Christelle Bofale @ Public Records
Mon, Sep 23 - Luna Li @ Bowery Ballroom
Mon, Sep 23 - Mabe Fratti @ Public Records
Wed, Sep 25 - The Armed / H09909 @ Pioneer Works
Wed, Sep 25 - Mk.gee @ Terminal 5
Wed, Sep 25 - JOHN GLACIER, IFE RADIO, ANYSIA KYM @ Elsewhere
Wed, Sep 25 - NABIHAH IQBAL, SUGAR MILK @ Elsewhere
Thu, Sep 26 - Deerhoof, Ekko Astral, model home @knockdown center
Fri, Sep 27 - IDLES, The Walkmen @ Forest Hills Stadium
Sat, Sep 28 - Objekt, See Mask, ADAB @ Knockdown Center Ruins
(selling a ticket for this one ^^ , hmu on Instagram)
Thx for reading, cheers til next time 🫂