Archive for the ‘Electronic’ Category

Witchy new video “Hubble Bubble” by FreQ Nasty feat. Chris Munky and MARF

Posted: December 8, 2022 by Kat Meow in Chris Munky, Electronic, Experimental, Freq Nasty, London, Los Angeles, MARF
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FreQ Nasty and his dreadlocked crown hail from desert festivals and underground dancefloors writhing with experimental madness.  Known mostly for his instantly recognizable work with Santigold, and a long resumé of well-known collaborators and remixes, FreQ (Darin to his mum) also pioneers with his own bass and breakbeat collection.  His newest video release, “Hubble Bubble,” is a potion concocted with velvet vocalist MARF and fellow breakbeat producer Chris Munky.  It is spooky, and disconcerting, and rumbles with ill-fated sensuality.  MARF’s shiraz voice casts a potent spell over this ominous gem and its fractured smatterings of sound. 

“Hubble Bubble’s” spell brings toil and trouble in the form of gently pagan motifs and warped analog tape.  Shots of FreQ Nasty and Chris Munky seem to flaunt a collection of imprisoned and mind-warped men as MARF lavishes menacingly in her own cauldron.  FreQ Nasty’s eyes are crazed as if still warped by a spell binding him to his urges.  You get the sense that the desperate spider under a glass, panicking with the drum flourishes, is being rendered impotent by the very spell MARF is casting with her knife and chess token.  She lounges among nature adorned in beats and furs while the vibrating bass rumbles with primal magicks.  Her gaze, dark and witchy with flavors of Siouxsie, enraptures: “Give me your wrists so I can hold them / Give me your heart so I can put it in a bag / Give me your love and devotion / He knelt down and I pulled out my dagger.”  Fuzzy screens, ladders, and reversed physics give the whole video a vibe akin to the cursed video in The Ring, so thanks for those nightmares again.  

FreQ Nasty describes the tune’s “angular amen cuts, slow-motion 808 kick drums, and hypnotic mantra-esque whispers,” which, for the technically uneducated, means he makes all the twiddly knob bits make absolutely looney sounds like distended wibblewobbles and fwips and thudnnnnnnn-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D *clap* bits.  It’s really good. It’s electronic music with a really delicious homemade visual experience.  I would do some weird psychedelic shit on the dance floor to this one if I encountered it in the wild, and I hope I do.

FreQ Nasty Links ★ Chris Munky Linktree ★ MARF Website

Basic Printer’s HAHA YEAH Drops A Week Early

Posted: November 17, 2022 by Kat Meow in Basic Printer, Electronic, Experimental, Nashville, Pop
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The front page of his bold bright-on-black website welcomes you with the following: “You’re finally home, my fellow weirdo.” He might as well have rolled out a red carpet for a dweeb like me.  Basic Printer (Jesse Gillenwalters) and his color-blocked universe hail from Nashville’s underground, where he has developed a small but mighty following for his catchy experimental pop with electronic twiddly sound bits.  True to the tone of the album, he succumbed to his id and set it free a week early. HAHA YEAH is 26 minutes of bright vocals over earwormy rhythms as he explores relationship drama and emotional blockage, an experience he describes as a “temper tantrum” of emotional immaturity.

The album makes an interesting choice by tossing medical terms in with its robo-imagery, giving this pop a bit of iron and gristle.  The first track is called “<3 MECHANICAL HEARTBEAT <3,” pre-emoji hearts included. This tune laments the speaker’s defensively cold heart with a pretty vocal.  Boppy “TOURNIQUET,” references tying wounds and “razors in her mouth.”  It’s a little metal for the bedroom pop but I’m not mad about it – these medical references give his candied synth an edge. But HAHA YEAH gets more dark than gooey. “EVER SINCE YOU MOVED (DOWN THE STREET)” uses its mechanical voice for a fizzy buzzy confession and then lets VGM sounds express the shame and panic that the voice cannot.  Even the end of “PATIENT ROLE” slows itself down and darkly declares that “we are conjoined,” the weightiest medical word of the tune and one that shifts its sadness into what feels like a want of control. 

“PATIENT ROLE” ends up being a stand out track.  It has this mellow descent that is so smooth and beautiful while also being powerfully desperate.  A hip hop interlude from A. J. Crew slides smoothly through extended covidian metaphors.  But the biggest draw for me is how Jesse’s cutie-pie vocal wraps around my vena cava.  We get moments of his raw insecurity coming through: “Tell me/I need to know I’m needed/I need to know I’m healthy/I’m begging for empathy/know me.”  It warbles through my mellow and pokes the buttons in my needy spots.  I like the way his voice goes high.  Get it, Mariah.

HAHA YEAH reveals a lot of turmoil in eight pop tracks.  It comes to a begrudging, maybe even petulant conclusion that makes it hard to know if its voice is maturing or just yielding.  But what it does most successfully is toss in eggs and sugar to bake these contradictions into funfetti cake.  It’s a worthy choice for the repeat button, I think.

Basic Printer Website ★ Basic Printer Bandcamp ★ Basic Printer Instagram

Moon Panda – Submarine now available streaming

Posted: September 21, 2022 by Kat Meow in Denmark, Downtempo, Electronic, Moon Panda
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Danish duo Moon Panda have brought their bonus-only track “Submarine” to streaming.  This woozy trip-hop tune was previously only available as a bonus track on Moon Panda’s celebrated March debut, What on Earth.  The vocals hiss a whispery singing of the fates, and then the melody hits that beautiful coasting-through-existence motif that comes on so well for this genre.  Maddy Myers’ tone transforms lyrics about riding the city streets into something spacious and otherworldly.  

Moon Panda just played stateside at the emerging Same Same But Different Festival in Southern California.  Here’s hoping they catch on with more USian music fans, those of us who like to lay back in darkened lounges with sounds that make the spirit glide through the plane. Great tune for those who like Zero 7 or Massive Attack.

Moon Panda Instagram ★ Moon Panda Bandcamp ★ Moon Panda Website

T F D – Total Fucking Darkness

Posted: September 14, 2022 by Kat Meow in Electronic, Pop, Total Fucking Darkness
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You could say hello to the world, or you could say “BLEEP BLOOP ASSHOLES IT’S TOTAL FUCKING DARKNESS.”  The TFD’s self-titled debut single is 80s synthpop brimming with delicious irony.  It sneers with dark sarcasm and yet earnestly hopeful lyrics… when you get past the calls for death… for things that should die (like fascism).  This is quite a broad mission statement, but the track is tight. Well, Total Fucking Darkness, you’ve gotten my attention.  Lights out!

TFD Bandcamp ★ TFD Soundcloud ★ TFD Instagram

Male Tears new single “Domin8”

Posted: April 13, 2022 by Kat Meow in Darkwave, Electronic, Los Angeles, Male Tears
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I need to throw some love at this duo. Hailing from an empty cargo freighter wired with black lights and a subwoofer the size of a Chevrolet (California), Male Tears are fresh off of their second album Trauma Club and are still going strong with new single “Domin8.” More Xymox than Depeche, “Domin8” is a cigarette-length goth-night-at-the-club stomper – 98% ethically-sourced pure cacao darkwave. Sturdy and kinky, the groans of “capitulate” and “rid me of my soul” reveal masochistic self-loathing, but that beat is all thrust, baby. Male Tears, comprised of duo James Edward and Frank Shark, seem to be mixing their potion a little better with each release.

Also check out the fun aesthetic on their recent video for Trauma Club banger “Model Citizen.”

Male Tears Bandcamp ★ Male Tears Instagram ★ Male Tears Linktree

Five New Tunes Not to Miss

Posted: April 6, 2022 by Kat Meow in Afrobeats, Agath Christ, Alternative, Down With Space, Electronic, Indie, John Orpheus, Lydia Persaud, Montreal, Opeongo, Rock, Soul, Toronto, Trinidad
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Trying to write while neck deep in the grind means sometimes good tunes fall through the cracks. Here I’m going to offer my inbox some relief while sharing worthy musical goodness with you lovable clickers. Five tunes not to miss coming right up!

Opeongo – tragedy

Artwork by Patrick Decourcy

Opeongo’s voice is so uniquely clear that it paints “tragedy” in bold colors.  His tone is sweet and vaguely nasal that it feels like Steve Harley, making “tragedy” feel very glam. It nods so good and demands your attention.  The lyrics tell a grim story of Canadian-indigenous genocide, but end in the potential for hope as voices like Opeongo’s try and remember history so it never repeats.  It’s gorgeous and sorrowful, and that voice will stick to you.

Listen to “tragedy” ★ Opeongo Facebook ★ Opeongo Bandcamp

Down With Space – We Were Strangers

“We Were Strangers” has a post-punk drum flavor and an electro agenda.  The chorus has that kind of foot-stomping energy that is completely magnetic.  The result is a pop tension that feels a lot like 1am with four drinks in the gullet, about to make a very exciting bad decision.  Vaguely nostalgic, exacerbated by the video’s visuals as the viewer perpetually leaves everything behind. There’s just something about that combination of tones that is so compelling.

We Were Strangers Video ★ Down With Space Instagram ★ Down With Space Bandcamp

Lydia Persaud – Good For Us

Soulful, smooth, and cool as hell, Lydia Persaud’s “Good For Us” is the flavor of self-care and new clarity. Simple rhythm and delicate guitar let Persaud’s voice wash over and cleanse the soul as she sings the praises of time away from one’s lover. The video sees Persaud smudging away the bad vibes and spending some much-needed personal time with her besties. Send the other half out for groceries and roll out the bath bombs to melt into this one.

Good For Us Video ★ Lydia Persaud Instagram ★ Lydia Persaud Bandcamp

John Orpheus – House of Cards (Radiohead Cover)

It’s hard to top an original, but John Orpheus gives and old favorite new breath in his Afro-pop cover of Radiohead’s “House of Cards.” Capitalizing on the original’s minimalist percussion, Orpheus adds delicate Caribbean rhythm that gives the song a new optimism. His vocals feel a bit like Phil Collins at moments. Refreshingly honest, video director Patrick Hodgson illustrates the tune with images of real couples in love, from the joyful to the mildly erotic, which capture the (often underrepresented) love shared in a long-term relationships.

House Of Cards by John Orpheus Video ★ John Orpheus Instagram ★ John Orpheus Bandcamp

Agath Christ – Blood

It starts like a post-punk electro tune until the beat takes on this off-kilter syncopation that rests on the border between darkwave and electro jazz, if there is one. Noisy and tense, “Blood” is trying desperately to break through the weighted chains of our algorithmic technological oppression. “Blood” is visceral, and stressful, and so very easy to connect with if you’ve ever felt overburdened by the world as it has been engineered. Visuals show (what I interpret as) sufferers escaping their homes to find the last vestige of land free from the looming pressures of technocracy, only able to find rest by laying in the woods in snow. I get it – screens can start to feel like prison walls. Engage with this one.

Blood Video ★ Agath Christ Instagram ★ Agath Christ Bandcamp

Try ’em out! Let me know what you think in the comments or hit us up on Instagram.