Today’s edition of The List is a rich tapestry of emotion and sonics. You will find some familiar names (especially if you’re a longtime Vehlinggoland resident) and some now.
Mr. Eff — Meditation For Violence
Mr. Eff’s first album in five years — since the Burning Witches Records release Nostalgic Confessions and the subsequent (but unrelated) incineration of that label — is a Muay Thai-inspired electronic record that features the artist’s well-honed blend of dirty-gorgeous synths, tight rhythms, and evocative themes. As he has in the past, Mr. Eff on Meditation For Violence is able to basically make an “ear movie” that wastes no time in giving your brain permission to conjure an entire narrative. By the end of the release, it’s easy to want this to be the score to an actual film. Perhaps one from around 1988 that involves a fighter who practices The Science of Eight Limbs. Out now on streamers and Mr. Eff’s Bandcamp.
Drum & Lace — “Lichen”
London-based Drum & Lace is no stranger to these pages (or the erstwhile Vehlinggo Podcast): The artist-also-known-as Sofia degli Alessandri and Sofia Hultquist is a well respected film and TV score composer, when she’s not creating fantastic studio albums and EPs. Her latest of the latter, Terra, is afoot, and until then we’re privy to a couple great singles. One of them is “Lichen,” which is true-to-form for D&L: An intricately woven electronic piece that sounds as spacious and organic as electronic music can, augmented with her gorgeous wordless vox. The track has an urgent kinesis to it that becomes utterly hypnotic as the piece moves through its lifecycle. “Lichen” is out now and you can pre-order the whole five-track Terra EP via Bandcamp. And when I write, “you can,” I mean, “you must.” (As an aside, I really wish Sofia and Bjork would collaborate.)
Italo Overdrive
Two Californian synthwavers — videographer/musician Brad A. Kinnan (AKA SLACKMACHINE) and Ryan Roth (AKA Driver405) — have launched a new boutique label, Italo Overdrive. The name might ring familiar for SoCal folks, because it’s an offshoot of their popular event series of the same name that features genres such as synthwave, trance, techno, EBM, and Italo disco, among others. To celebrate, they recently released a new Driver405 single entitled “Where Do I Belong,” with a new SLACKMACHINE cut coming down the pike soon. The song goes hard, with a delightfully unhinged blast of Italo disco with a trance finish. The production has a gritty, edgy quality to it, while staying firmly in a modern aesthetic. The result is that there are no smooth, software-synth vibes here. It has the untamed DIY character of classic 1980s Italo that no doubt makes the track go just that much harder in the club. Add Roth’s Gahan-style vox, and what you have is a stunner. It’s out now on streamers and Italo Overdrive’s Bandcamp.
Colin Riley, Lottie P, Nic Pendlebury, & Steve Pretty — “Ebb and Flow”
Composer Colin Riley and crew have cultivated quite the stunningly beautiful song (and album, if “Ebb and Flow” is any indication of the rest of the forthcoming Ocean Songs). The music evokes the title, with an intricately woven cascade of vocal samples, twinkling piano, synths and strings, interlaced with arpeggios, soundscapes, and Lottie P’s tempered vocal lead moving slowly put purposefully back and forth like laidback ocean waves. In the distance a bright trumpet punctuates the arrangement like delicate wind. The result is a hypnotic ambient electronic/contempo classical number. The full Ocean Songs album releases March 24 digitally and on CD via Riley’s Squeaky Kate Music label. “Ebb and Flow” is out now on the streamers and Bandcamp.
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