Forest Swords - Engravings

Label: Tri Angle

While obviously grounded in the aural domain, some music is so imagistic that one cannot help but find listening a visual experience. On certain albums, each song will soundtrack imaginary films, as melodies and rhythms engage the cinema of your inner eye as well as your ear. Matthew Barnes’ astonishing debut EP as Forest Swords, Dagger Paths, was just such a record. Drawing liberally from distinct pools of influences; dub, rock, Eastern melodies and even RnB, it was not Barnes’ corralling of genres which impressed the listener – it was the mesmerising power of that music to evoke atmospheres, images and moods. The sound of Forest Swords was strikingly original: clattering percussion and deep dubby basslines conjured hazy atmospheres which bordered on the mystical, as powerful guitar riffs coursed through the terrain; resulting in a sound that felt ancient, powerful and seductive.

After three years of radio silence (he has been missed), Barnes finally returns for Forest Swords’ first LP, Engravings. This fittingly marks his entry to the Tri Angle stable, whose reputation for experimental long players, atmospheric but always pop-aware, precedes them. Do not expect a grand departure: Engravings is in every way a continuation of the Forest Swords sound, a deeper exploration of the project’s meditative terrain, delivering and even exceeding the promise so evident in those early releases. While this may disappoint the few hoping for a dramatic stylistic shift, the majority will not fail to be humbled by the depth and power of Forest Swords’ first full-length statement.

Thor's Stone

Indeed, while on first listen these songs may sound similar to Dagger Paths, this is mostly due to Barnes’ establishment of a remarkably distinct sound, which he plies here in a dazzling array of iterations. Each track is a rich tapestry of sound, offering new ground for the listener to chart and explore over repeated listens, revealing hidden depths. Yet this is not opaque music – the mist has cleared somewhat since those early EPs, and there is a new clarity to the arrangements as Barnes refines rather than piling on layers, drawing out the essential hooks and grooves in each distillation.

The music of Forest Swords comes pre-aged and organic, the simmering atmospherics and hefty lope of Ljoss introducing the sound that the album will continue to explore. As the song wears on, the ambient sounds are tied brilliantly to a chunky guitar riff in trademark style, showing Barnes’ talent for marrying vital experimental atmospheres and arresting melodic hooks. Follow-up Thor’s Stone is another strong example, where a mesmeric Eastern melody comes out of nowhere to dominate the distorted vocals and rattling drumhits of the track’s second half.

The Weight of Gold

While the conflation of referenced genres is difficult to unpick, some of the album’s strongest songs veer closer to established forms. Sinuous dubwise basslines underpin the syrup-thick atmospherics of Irby Tremor, only to be cannibalised by haunting synth sirens and sudden squalls of distorted melody.  Meanwhile a greater interest in vocal manipulation can be found on the likes of Anneka’s Battle, as the singer’s voice is twisted elegantly around some of the album’s more delicate guitar-work, before surrendering to a whirring synth which brings the track to its hypnotic conclusion. There are clearer traces of electronic manipulation than were present in earlier works, such as the numerous canny intros and outros which take the form of staccato vocal manipulations, fluidly serving as both mood-setters and palette-cleansers between the main courses. Late entry Gathering is in fact composed of these stop-start vocal samples, the liquid keys of its latter half making for one of the album’s most bewitchingly transcendent moments.

An album so rich in detail and mystique is sure to draw different listeners to different highlights, but a pair of melodic crescendos make for some of the album’s most nakedly beautiful moments. There’s a trace of the eternal in the beautiful piano loop that makes up the core of An Hour, an RnB-infused number with ghostly vocals that you’ll want to return to. It is earlier, however, amidst the angular percussion of Onward where Engravings achieves what is, for this reviewer, its prime moment of sublime inspiration. Building over a soft, lingering guitar melody, the gasping percussion and sluggish basslines disappear, giving way to the rise of an astonishingly moving string section, distorted as if heard from a tinny radio yet sacrificing none of its emotional power. The percussion builds anew, a fevered march, atavistic in its yearning and unstoppably propulsive – and then it’s gone. A single moment like this in an hour of music would make for something very special indeed, but Engravings is full of these strokes of inspiration, the engaged listener need only enter the forest and seek them.

9/10

Shigeto - No Better Time Than Now

Label: Ghostly International

Despite his Michigan roots, beatmaker Shigeto (aka Zach Saginaw) has long drawn comparisons to the burgeoning LA beat scene, producing off-kilter hip hop beats shot through with jazz and soul. Shigeto’s two albums to date have impressed but come off ultimately lacking, yet Saginaw’s talent as a percussionist has always been abundantly clear; his rich, live drum sounds replacing the tinny machinedrum loops of many of his Californian peers. After two long players, Full Circle and Lineage, which came across as examinations of nostalgia and the continuing effect of the past on the present, the title and musical content of his third full-length show Saginaw turning to face the present, resulting in his strongest, most confident release to date.

The thing it’s impossible to miss here is how beautifully produced every track on here is: each sound and instrument infuse the listening space with a rich warmth, bringing the listener’s attention to the myriad details that make up each sonic tapestry. The composition itself is also a huge step up for Shigeto, who shows a sonic adventurousness as he allows his sound to expand and move across different motifs and styles within the space of a single track. This thrilling restlessness is best encapsulated on the likes of Detroit Part 1, where a dense beat field recalls FlyLo (but richer, more expensive), as soulful chords give way to a sophisticated chiming melody, drawing the track into a warbling analog synth-jam where it concludes. Each phrase moves into the next organically and unpredictably, showing off Saginaw’s new production chops.

One of the album’s other showstoppers is follow-up Ringleader, a complex song hewn from jazzy drumwork and gorgeous melodies that burst from the speakers with uninhibited joy.  Yet Saginaw’s new talents are not limited to beat-tracks - indeed some of No Better Time Than Now’s strongest moments are on its beatless numbers. Opener First Saturn Return is a beautiful foray into cosmic jazz where luscious keys roll over a whirring synth that gains in speed, as searing woodwind join the mix in a moment of alchemic power and elegance. Later, on album highlight Miss U, Shigeto drops the pace, allowing mournful Rhodes keys to play out over reverbed chimes and yearning atmospherics.

The range of styles and forms across the album show an artist utterly unrestrained by genre boundaries and established forms, as Saginaw moves through styles and tempos with the deft hand of an experienced virtuoso. While all of the tracks may not leave the lasting impact of the album’s best, No Better Time Than Now is a joy from start to finish, its ever-shifting array of rhythms and melodies pleasing the music-lover, its lush sonic universe sure to delight even the most hardened audiophiles. 

7/10

Zomby - With Love

Label: 4AD

While some critics may think that Zomby’s notorious personality is not relevant to a discussion of his music, one might equally argue the opposite. The obnoxious web presence is perhaps not wholly unmerited, masking as it does a producer who is eminently talented. At the same time, the infamous no-shows at headlining spots across his career correlate neatly with an artist who rarely finishes his own tracks, instead releasing albums of beautiful sketches which range from tantalising to frustrating in their brevity. On With Love, his third full length (and second for major indie label 4AD), Zomby’s character is more pertinent than ever; as the album’s first disc could almost be called a summary of the producer’s evolving style over the last half decade.

It’s testament to Zomby’s musicality and his unique voice that he has legions of fans despite the notoriety: the man makes good music. Yet still, With Love is a something of a hard sell. 33 tracks stretched over two discs - parts of the album show Zomby at his best, yet as a whole the LP is somewhat unwieldy. Some may find the abundance gratifying: if you’re going to keep all the songs under four minutes in length, you may as well offer a lot of them. On the other hand, it’s difficult not to feel that trimmed down to the fifteen finest, With Love could be one of the year’s best albums. It will ultimately come down to a question of individual taste, but there is undeniably a lot to love here.

Ascension / Sunshine In November / Overdose / Memories

With Love’s first disc offers a cross-section of Zomby’s musical history, from the ravey breaks of Where Were U In ’92? on Overdose and 777 to the delicate darkness of Dedication recalled on If I Will. Being Zomby, there is of course the obligatory RnB sample, here on Rendezvous, where Brandy's voice is turned distant and anaesthetised. It’s a nocturnal, sometimes unsettling listen, where the mood can stray from urgent to calm within seconds, conjuring an effective dissonance. In what is becoming a trademark, the album deals in myriad references to the UK’s hardcore continuum; here jungle and hardcore rub shoulders with grime and garage, all woven into a sound indisputably Zomby’s own.

The disc hits its stride with Horrid, all tunnelling bass hits and bristling, paranoid synthwork. From here is a run of some of the artist’s best work to date; If I Will’s urgent vocal is set over a field of cheap grime strings and crystalline xylophone-esque melodies, through the low-slung lope and glittering piano of Isis to the dazed breaks of It’s Time. The disc reaches its zenith with Memories, a delicately-crafted duel between soft and hard synthwork, set over a military beat pattern. Yet after this, With Love’s first disc seems to lose its edge. Aside from the mournful darkness of Pray For Me, the same ideas are reworked with less flair, giving the disc’s second half the distinct taint of excess.

Soliloquy

The album’s second disc looks further to Zomby’s future as an artist, but it doesn’t venture that far from his established sound. Here the familiar atmospheres, forged by fragile synthwork painted in bright digital strokes, are supported by skittering 808 percussion, like a tasteful zombification of the current trap trend. These tracks are at their best when Zomby grows introspective, and the run from Reflection In Black Glass to Sunshine In November is where the majority of the disc’s highlights are hidden. These two beautiful beatless sketches are ruthlessly brief, but stunning nonetheless. They also sandwich album highlight Soliloquy, the closest With Love gets to an actual song with a real sense of structure, progression and melodic richness.

The complexity of this late-album highlight illuminates just how impressive Zomby’s work can be when it’s simple: for the album’s best 40-odd minutes he works with just a few sonic layers and practically zero structural progression yet the results are utterly enchanting. Some may justifiably call this album excessive, or denounce the brief tracks as lazy sketches, but since Dedication Zomby’s music has been something that demands to be taken on its own terms. Perhaps the magic of his productions depends on these qualities: if Zomby sat down to write ten 6-minute tracks as a coherent album, would the end result be this good? This reviewer thinks not. With Love is the latest beautiful, messy release from an increasingly singular artist, who deserves to be appreciated because of, rather than despite, his flaws.

7.5/10

Shlohmo – Laid Out

Label: Friends of Friends

Long-term fans of young Californian Henry Laufer, who records as Shlohmo, have borne witness to a stratospheric musical trajectory, as Laufer has moved from the bedroom noodlings of the Shlo-Fi and Shlomoshun releases to the unique, glacially chilled tunes of his Places EP and superb Bad Vibes album. These early works showcased a producer who, if you could get a glimpse through the cloud of weed smoke, excelled at combining acoustic and electronic instrumentation to craft detailed hazes of music, as intriguing as they were effortlessly atmospheric.

However, Laufer’s recent output has seen a turn, from the Vacation EP’s flirtation with UK bass sounds to a series of live performances and remixes that have dipped into southern hip hop percussion and trap tropes. With the Laid Out EP, his first release in a year, Shlohmo takes these influences a lot further, digitising his moody tunes with the razor-sharp sheen of computer production and synthetic soundcraft. While it may lack the relaxed, homely evocations of the producer’s earlier work, these five tracks still show a producer with a unique voice ably melding myriad influences into one intoxicating package.

Laufer’s clear interest in RnB and hip hop is less dormant here, practically thrust in the listener’s face with gorgeous opener Don’t Say No, featuring the falsetto vocal work of Tom Krell, who some may know better as How To Dress Well. The choice of vocalist is a perfect match for Shlohmo’s intensely emotive instrumentation, which bursts from a stripped-down 3/4 pattern to a cinematic, widescreen assault of skittering hi-hats, heavily distorted vocal samples that keen like guitars and a vast array of melodic and percussive accents, including the deep crystalline echoes of some moody guitar-work. Fans will expect his music to sound hazy, and the sonic miasma persists, but the sound is cleaner, less dense, allowing each layer to be appreciated while admittedly losing some of the warmth and character of Laufer’s early work. Second tune Out Of Hand goes deeper and darker, frantic percussion clattering over persistent evocative synth work and ghosted vocals. It results in an impressive mood piece but feels a little underdeveloped compared to to the tracks that surround it.

After spending a couple of tracks laying out the basics of his new sound, Shlohmo goes for the jugular with third tune Later, his longest – and most epic – tune to date. The vocals this time are warped into a stunning refrain that is undeniably catchy despite the loss of humanity, presented with hard-edged rolling snares and a nasty bass throb that accentuates the vocal’s emotive ascent. It serves to highlight Shlohmo’s evolution in structure, with all the sonic details coming together in an unfathomably impressive package across the 6-plus minute runtime.

You’d expect an EP to lose steam after such a blazing highlight, and Laid Out doesn’t quite top Later’s dazzling vertigo, but that’s not to say the final two tracks aren’t worthwhile. While Put It admittedly feels like a deft rework of Later’s winning formula, final track Without harks back to Shlohmo’s earlier sounds, deep percussion finally allowed space to breathe before a midway break into more menacing territory, the snares picking up pace alongside a continuous, rising synthline that ups the intensity.

Any producer who changes their style is bound to open themselves up to criticism, and part of Shlohmo’s departure from his chilled soundscapes is undoubtedly down to the increasing demand for him as a crowd-pleasing live act. But ultimately, all you can ask of an artist who goes for a transformation is that they do it well, and that they go the whole way, and while it may be reasonable to mourn the warmth of Shlohmo circa Bad Vibes, his deft skill at implementing the threatening, sensuous tropes of trap and hip hop should reassure the listener that Laufer still has so much more to give.

8/10

Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes

Label: Warp

If you survey the last decade or so of electronic music, few producers have been as universally lauded and appreciated as LA-based producer Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, and it’s easy to see why. He's been an important frontrunner of the LA beat crew, who have been making a name for themselves spinning deranged hip hop experiments out of their home, LA’s Low End Theory club, and has kept up a steady train of dependable releases through his own Brainfeeder label. The great nephew of legendary jazz harpist Alice Coltrane, one can hear the strains of black musical history rebounding through FlyLo’s increasingly taut productions. Some have gone as far as to call Ellison the spiritual successor to J Dilla, and he has been justly acclaimed for his last 3 LPs, where he fused elements of jazz and electronic music into thrilling hip hop hybrids; and every album so far has been a powerful and individual statement.

Through his last three albums; 1983, Los Angeles, and Cosmogramma (all of which should be required listening); Ellison’s sound has accelerated, becoming more paranoid and frenetic while also becoming increasingly concerned with sonic texture. The only direction he could justifiably pursue after the twitchy heights of Cosmogramma is deconstruction, and in Until The Quiet Comes he explores the dreamy underside of his sound, while proving that he’s still willing to innovate and sidestep expectations. In this LP he continues to eschew conventional song structure (much like Dilla) in terms of track length, but to say FlyLo’s tracks are sketches would be to miss the point; each of his albums is an impressionistic collage of moods and textures, and best enjoyed as a whole.

See Thru To U feat. Erykah Badu

Yet unlike its predecessors, UTQC will not be lauded for its big beats and wonky experimentation; Ellison really impresses here with his subtlety and restraint. In Heave(n), sampled harps and far-off vocals reach skyward but are brought down to earth by a glitchy locked groove. Later in the aptly-titled Tiny Tortures, jazzy guitar lines are pitted against jittering percussive clicks, but it is all done with such delicacy that the whole comes across more introspective contrast than jarring juxtaposition.

Here we also see a continuation of FlyLo’s vocal collaborations, a little more high profile this time; Erykah Badu and Thom Yorke are the big names here while others such as Thundercat have made a name for themselves in between this release and the last. While the guests aren’t treated quite as they were in Cosmogramma; where Yorke’s voice was warped and distilled to be merely another one of Ellison’s melodic playthings, they still never pull undue attention away from the gorgeous instrumentation. On Electric Candyman Yorke pulls off a particularly restrained performance, singing in a dreamy croak, his voice swathed and eventually engulfed by ambient mist and a vast array of shifting percussive textures.

While there are perhaps less tracks here that stand out from the whole than on previous releases, Until The Quiet Comes marks a new level of compositional sophistication for Flying Lotus. Here he creates intricate and surprising patterns of both melody and beats which play out simultaneously, meaning that it is a true delight to give a close listen to the intricacy of these productions.

Putty Boy Strut

An early standout is the bizarre Putty Boy Strut, where a wind-up toy melody is set alongside a faltering bass loop that is more than a little unnerving, before the whole thing gently unspools to gorgeous effect with the arrival of a pitch-perfect guitar line. The Nightcaller is another excellent highlight, where syncopated claps are the only thing anchoring searing synths and mutated basslines to earth before it all comes crashing down in spectacularly funky fashion for its final minute. Nor is this the only track to pull off a stunning shifty midway through- in Hunger the tune breaks loose from its gritty beats to unveil a nakedly beautiful guitar melody and celestial vocal cries.

As stated earlier, the tracks on UTQC don’t stand out from the whole as much as individual tunes did on previous FlyLo albums, and this is both a blessing and a curse. It certainly makes for a smoother, more accessible listen, but attentive listeners might be a little disappointed searching for the jagged standouts scattered across his last two LPs. Ultimately it proves to the album’s advantage however, one doesn’t need to listen intensely here, just put the album on and music will seep into your brain, rewarding enormously across repeated spins.

Until the Quiet Comes does an excellent job of continuing FlyLo’s spirited venture into the delightfully strange corners of instrumental hip hop and electronic music, but ultimately perhaps does not bring as much innovative material to the table as previous efforts. At the same time, this album is a more ambient, wistful experience than any of his past releases, and Ellison truly does excel in using his music to access some of the furthest, spaciest reaches of the subconscious.

7.5/10

Anenon - Acquiescence

Label: Non Projects

The intersection between electronic and organic instrumentation is a subject I’ve often found myself pondering, because the possibilities for real innovation and beauty are so clear but so few producers manage to get it right. Here Brian Simon sheds new light on the subject on his latest EP as Anenon for his own Non Projects label, crafting a cinematic and introspective record that treads new ground without ever feeling insistent or misdirected.

Using little more than a tenor sax, a Rhodes piano and a 909 drum machine, Anenon showcases variations on a delicate and refined sound, leaving a lot of the organic instrumentals richly untreated and combining them with clever drum patterns to great effect. Apparently the EP was crafted in two weeks, one for recording at the Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid and another mixing at home, but Acquiescence feels like an impossible combination between improvisation and perfectionism; with spontaneous and vibrant instrumentation that simultaneously feels carefully composed to provide a series of heartstoppingly beautiful moments embedded in deeply atmospheric soundscapes. This being the case, it’s fitting how Simon himself views production, comparing making records to live improvisation in an xlr8r review, “It's like slowed-down improvising for me. I take a microscope and make things how I want them to be, because, why wouldn't I do that?” Considering the gorgeous sounds on display here, the statement seems to challenge other similarly-minded producers to give their tracks a little more time under the microscope.

Rites

While light, opening track Clairvoyance is the perfect introduction to this sound, building layers of ambient textures over a stripped hint of percussion and gradually deepening piano chords. There is a patient quality to these tracks that rewards deeper listening, with subtle percussive and acoustic layers carefully implemented over time, such as the whirring effect that rises slowly in this track, threatening to overcome it before fading suddenly. On the beautiful title track Anenon gives his sound a fuller workout, building a melancholy atmosphere with piano and strings before crafting a careful tension with IDM-style beats. The track begins to take off midway through with the introduction of a fluttering tenor sax, before the beats drop away to leave these ethereal melodic lines to soar over the soundscape in a moment of naked beauty, before they are airily combined once more with the tight percussive sequencing.

There’s an unparalleled organic quality to these tunes, mostly thanks to the amount of unprocessed live instrumentation which is so rare in electronic releases. Mostly the live instruments are left untouched but a few are drenched in reverb and decayed, creating an interesting dichotomy where organic instruments play out alongside their processed counterparts, not to mention that it always sounds stunning. Because of this even a brief interlude like Equilibrium can cause a stir in the listener, as piano and strings are looped on top of each other and processed differently before they crumble away, seemingly crushed under their own accumulated weight.

If I have one criticism of the record, it’s that occasionally the drums feel like they could use a little more punch, occasionally seeming reliant on quite simple patterns that, while effective, just can’t sound as lush and powerful as the sax and piano they are placed next to. Twenty Twenty rights this issue with a loping beat that scrapes from side to side, pacing over simmering ambient sounds where a melody seems always on the point of rising from the fog but never quite makes it. Rites shows Anenon at his most emotive, but it’s a curious emotion that he conjures. The twinkling piano notes that meld with a range of punchy beat patterns on this final track could be interpreted as any number of emotions that the listener wishes to attribute to it, while still remaining powerful despite its vagueness. Across Acquiescence Simon offers unique sounds with rare beauty and power, and the tracks on its 18-minute runtime are more than meaty enough to tide listeners over until the release of his debut LP, Inner Hue in May.

8/10

Shlohmo – Vacation

Label: Friends of Friends

The Way U Do

Wen Uuu

Rained The Whole Time

Since Shlohmo, aka Californian Henry Laufer, began putting out his first EPs he seemed like one to watch. His early Shlo-Fi and Shlohmoshun Deluxe releases ranged from chilled instrumental Hip Hop to growling electro crunk, but it was his stellar debut album Bad Vibes that solidified his impressive talent and unique voice.  On this LP he combined a textured percussive field of clicks and blips with lush organic loops, occasionally added to by his dreamy, wordless falsetto. The result was a deeply atmospheric album that truly sounded like the work of an individual, and while it had its darker moments it could easily be played just to relax. What was almost more worthy of attention was how much he had advanced his sound between his early EPs and his debut, and it’s satisfying to see that here on Vacation, a short collection of three choice tunes, he is once more changing and looking to the future while never losing his unique sound.

This EP doesn’t feel like a rushed post-album release, more a transitionary collection, but given that placement each track here feels very polished and complete. The EP opens with The Way U Do which emotes through a subdued two-note synthline and a broad sweep of percussive accents. A crooning pitched-up vocal creates a gorgeous melody that is effaced by a proggy guitar line, sometimes growling, sometimes screeching, that somehow coheres with his sound, proving yet again Shlohmo’s talent for combining unexpected elements fluidly in his songs. Another talent he has brought on from his debut is that of refusing to let a track settle as a simple set of loops, constantly changing up his sounds and combining them to new effects, such as the twinned vocal lines towards the close of this track. Second track Wen Uuu is equally impressive, with a choppy vocal providing a lilting rhythm that compliments the jerky beats and contrasts with the constant ambient fuzz, occasionally surfacing from this back-and-forth in moments of beauty that you can’t help but notice. Interestingly, it feels that a little influence has seeped into his sound from the dance world; with hollow drum hits of the first track and the chopped up vocals of the second, and although there’s barely a trace of a dance song in these productions these ideas are certainly an interesting addition that work well with his existing sound.

There’s an emotional immediacy to these tunes that reveals the downcast but hopeful mood more clearly than on Bad Vibes, which could occasionally sound a little detached. Lurking behind these lush tunes there was always a hint of melancholy, and here it’s brought more clearly to the fore. Final cut Rained The Whole Time could easily be a tune left off his last record, dealing with slightly more familiar sounds but is none the worse for it. A starker composition with twinkling percussive twitches is supplemented by guitar riffs laced with longing.  A deep vocal growl adds a note of threat before the beautiful second ‘drop’, if you could call it that, where all the sounds come together in a languid beauty. This release is nothing particularly new from Shlohmo but it clearly shows him looking in new directions, and as three cuts of lush, lazy beats it’s practically faultless.

8.5/10