Published on
October 4, 2024
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and contributors Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill and James Hammond.
Dar Disku
Dar Disku
(Soundway Records)
Dar Disku, the Bahrain-born, UK-based duo have been long-time friends and collaborators, exploring the dynamic rich sonic landscapes from their Arabic heritage whilst touching on influences from Turkish psych through to disco. Their debut self-titled album is a delightful presentation of grooves amalgamating their vast arsenal of worldwide sounds, excelling production skills and knowledge of music. Released via trusted London-based label Soundway Records, Dar Disku is a bouquet of beautiful upbeat celebratory music. – EH
Milan W.
Leave Another Day
(Stroom)
Having worked under different guises over the past 15 years, Milan Warmoeskerken delivers Leave Another Day as a high-water mark of his alluring songcraft. With guitar and voice effectively leading the way, this one avoids the conventions that could be offered up with creative twists and a blurring of contemporary and folkloric leanings with tracks that take in pastoralism, heartache and library music whilst forging their own distinct identity. Bound to a certain balminess in its delivery, Leave Another Day is an enveloping listen that thrives on its variety and oneiric qualities. – JH
Midland
Fragments of Us
(Graded)
Fragments Of Us, the long-awaited debut album from UK producer and DJ Midland, explores queer history through the interrogation of homophobic laws such as Section 28 and the sampled words of figures including the late visual artist David Wojnarowicz, filmmaker Marlon Riggs and musical pioneer Arthur Russell. Fragments of Us is a heady electronic journey through the pain and euphoria of queer lives – placing political struggle against the house and club sounds that have soundtracked queer freedom. Thoughtful, impactful work that astutely balances driving production and conceptual depth. – KD
Wildplanet
Synthetic / Moving On
(Under The Radar)
An essential reissue of a late ’90s techno gem by producer Simon J Hartley aka Wildplanet, whose vast career has seen him decorate labels such as Warp and 430 West. This special and highly in-demand 12″ features two tracks and sits sonically on the more Detroitian techno sphere. A radiant EP set to perfectly soundtrack the early hours of the morning on dancefloors across the world. – EH
Chiminyo
NRG 3
(Self-released)
London-based drummer/producer Chiminyo explores the raw kineticism of improvisation across his NRG series, capturing the explosive dynamism of the capital’s live music scene, now in the third instalment of the project. NRG 3 is a musical dialogue between Chiminyo and guest musicians Pouya Ehsaei, Maria Chiara Argiró and Sam Warner centred around the central concept of ‘NRG: is the UK Scene really Jazz?’. Shifting and morphing into unexpected states across its 40-minute runtime, NRG 3 is an exhilarating interplay between four museums working at the top of their game. – AVD
Various Artists
Tránsitos Sónicos – Música electrónica y para cinta de compositores peruanos (1964-1984)
(Buh Records)
This collection of electroacoustic music from Peru delves into the work of a group of composers who were united by the ideas of musique concrete and their own experiments in the malleability of recorded sound. Starting in the 1960s with works by Enrique Iturriaga, Enrique Pinilla and Edgar Valcarcel, the inspiration of French electroacoustic music and academic hubs can be heard before a subsequent generation pushes the ideas a further step forward. Working in private studios and around work in film and television, compositions from the 1970s onwards flourish from a Peruvian identity that takes in some of the country’s traditional instruments and unites a loose scene of outliers and sonic adventurers. – JH
Various Artists
Haunted Presence
(Numero Group)
With the nights getting darker and Halloween season on the horizon, Numero Group have compiled a spellbinding assortment of spooky foot stompers and kitschy garage spookers—upgrading that worn-out Halloween playlist beyond the “Monster Mash” and the “Time Warp”. Capturing the occult and esoteric fascinations embedded within the rock and psychedelia of the 1960s, Haunted Presence is full of dizzying guitar solos and mournful Americana vocals— sure to send you hellbound. – AVD
