The Music Box.
Entries about the music I like.
Rival Consoles — Articulation
So much minimal electronic music does a great job of creating exactly this sort of vibe: armchair, headbob, toetap, lemony beverage, one person daydreaming. Like Jon Hopkins’ Immunity manages to convert even an early morning run on just another manic monday into a contemplative, meditative, in-the-here-and-now sort of experience. While Articulation doesn’t do this perfectly, it comes close enough.
Murthovic — Antariksha Sanchar: Transmissions in Space, Vol. 1
The two Antariksha Sanchar albums by Murthovic are splendid heady mix of electronic music and Carnatic classical music. Through collaborations with incredibly talented instrumentalists and producers, the album traverses through such a rich variety of sounds, while managing to create two coherent opuses of moody downtempo.
Yaeji — What We Drew 우리가 그려왔
Each short track of this mixtape is a hazy journey into the self. The lyrics deal with the everyday, the mundane: easily my favourite lyrical focus. Rarely have I heard the simple combination of bass + drums + vocals + synth done this expertly.
Kelly Lee Owens — On
Kelly Lee Owens’s second album, Inner Song, was slated for release on May 1, 2020, but was delayed due to Covid. Last week, she released the fantastic single, On.
Seasonal Affected Beats — 2°
New Delhi-based jazz drummer Tarun Balani’s debut EP under this electronic music moniker, 2° is 20 minutes of carefully crafted, moving electronica; what used to somewhat condescendingly be called ‘intelligent dance music’ or IDM.
Nicolas Jaar — Cenizas
Since his previous album Sirens, Nicolas Jaar has been particularly concerned with how electronic music can reflect his anxieties about the geopolitical future of the world. Cenizas appears to very much be a continuation of that exploration. It isn't bleak, but it is certainly concerned.
The Soft Pink Truth — Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase
Great ambient albums don’t sit in the background, but are instead unforgettable. Be it Music For Airports, or Disintegration Loops, or The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, they’re all hugely memorable. The same is true for Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase, by The Soft Pink Truth, the pseudonym of Drew Daniel, one half of Matmos.
Equiknoxx — Bird Sound Power
An article about great Jamaican music: a bit of ska, rocksteady, and dancehall. Equiknoxx’s Bird Sound Power is eccentric post-dancehall.
Washed Out — Within and Without
I was a washed-up hostel-dweller during chillwave’s brief and wondrous life. I can’t imagine a better mental space to enjoy Washed Out's Within and Without, the archetypical album of the genre. I’d like to listen to this while sheltered under a blue umbrella on a white-sand beach that is neither too hot nor too cold, just temperate.
The Orb — Adventures Beyond The Underworld
The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld is a classic of ambient house and electronica, it feels like floating through space with headphones on — tuned to the frequency of some alien radio station playing music from their home planet that mimics music inspired by human electronic music.