JON HOPKINS – RITUAL

Posted on 2024-08-12

Jon Hopkins’ discography has tiptoed ever closer to the transcendental as his over two decade career has evolved. From the conceptual rave euphoria of Immunity, to the DMT-fuelled philosophy of Singularity, to the deep meditative ambience of Music For Psychedelic Therapy, spiritual and esoteric themes have crept into his classically informed, highly textural club productions. Where his last album pulled away from the dancefloor entirely, RITUAL returns with a new mindset, a syncretism of all his musical eras wrapped up into one.

www.dominomusic.com

  

WU-LU – BLUNTED STRINGS

Posted on 2024-08-05

Wu-Lu has shared heartfelt new single Daylight Song, his first release since his acclaimed 2022 debut album, LOGGERHEAD. Watch the accompanying video here

Wu-Lu describes Daylight Song as; “a chant for the ones coming and the ones lost. This is a song to clarify that we’ve all got it in us to be better everyday”.

Daylight Song is the soaring lead single from the South London vocalist and musician’s forthcoming EP, Learning To Swim On Empty, out 17th May on Warp Records. The visual is directed by returning collaborator, Ethan Barrett (Jeshi, The Murder Capital, Flohio).

Both Daylight Song and Learning To Swim On Empty demonstrate the growing depth and range of Wu-Lu’s sound. Whilst his breakthrough, anti-gentrification anthem South and widely-praised LOGGERHEAD album were largely fuelled by an explosive energy, this new material finds Wu-Lu taking a more nuanced, personal approach.

wu-lu.warp.net

  

THE SMILE – DON’T GET ME STARTED

Posted on 2024-08-05

“Don’t Get Me Started,” recorded in both Oxford and Abbey Road Studios, was produced and mixed by Sam Petts-Davies, who produced the Smile’s 2024 LP Wall Of Eyes, one of the best albums of the year so far. The song originally premiered live earlier this year on the band’s tour in support of that album and was a mainstay throughout the Smile’s since-canceled European trek.

www.thesmiletheband.com

  

TOP DAWG ENTERTAINMENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Posted on 2024-08-05

Top Dawg Entertainment continues to go all-out for its 20th anniversary. After yesterday’s mixtape announcement from Doechii, the TDE talent is repping her label in its latest lookbook, which presents a capsule of apparel to commemorate the 20-year milestone and also sees cameos from Isaiah Rashad and Jay Rock.

In a campaign shot by Mark Peaced, the three TDE rappers flex the pieces from the new capsule, which consists of graphic tees and headwear as well as branded bags. T-shirts are stamped with different graphic artwork, two standout options featuring oversized silver lettering in the middle of the silhouette. Hats land in hues of red and black and are designed with a “TDE” logo across the middle.

txdxe.com

  

THROWING SNOW – ISTHMUS

Posted on 2024-07-29

Marking a decade with Houndstooth, Throwing Snow’s fifth album for the label Isthmus reaches through his history of contorting dubstep, techno, and UK bass with chamber folk and orchestral flourishes in a metaphoric tug of war between tides and geography. Dancefloor devastation and club cinematics are the game here, with tracks like ‘Apricity’ full of imagery from its rattling ice crystal crushes and razed bass, to jittery vocal manipulations and reedy drones. ‘Ephemeral’ meanwhile snakes a labyrinthine four to the floor through Ross Tones’s glittering multi-instrumentalist garage vision.

www.houndstoothlabel.com

  

NINECHECKER – A VERY ENGLISH WIND

Posted on 2024-07-29

Toronto producer Ninechecker makes his debut on the brokntoys label with a new EP entitled A Very English Wind. Coming off a string of lauded releases on Orson and Varial plus a hotly-tipped live hardware tour, Ninechecker leans into his range here, zig-zagging between harshly beautiful ambience and hard swinging electro and braindance. While the tie that binds here is his arsenal of analogue synths and the crackling hiss they kick up, there’s a certain sensibility to these tracks that feel all his own regardless of genre.

brokntoys.bandcamp.com