Four Pieces Of Silken Fun

I realise that the following releases from Not Not Fun Records and its 100% Silk subsidiary have been around for a little bit, and aren't the kind of sounds that usually grace these hallowed halls (especially the second two releases - HOUSE!) but after BPB and Mick Turner got me down, i need some synthetic fun times to claw even further out of this hazed fugue state - come at me Jonas Reinhardt!

Mask Of The Maker is pretty much kinetic genius - a series of tracks designed purely for logarithmic dancehalls of the 2300s, albeit with a sardonic wedge of faux Germanic fetishism thrown in for good measure. How a track like 'Elimination Street' can sound ultra-futuristic and retroactive at the same time is confounding, yet commendable. Jesse Reiner's synth patterns mold into a monotonic ouroborous, chasing its own tail in a cyclical beat that rejuvenates by eating itself whole - total immersion. This kind of music never really crosses my turntable for more than a cursory stopover - Mask of the Maker has been a mainstay. Welcome back to the future.

Jonas Reinhardt - Jungle Jah

Very similar in sonics is Xander Harris, and whilst his The New Dark Age Of Love doesn't strike me as immediately as Mask of the Maker, it has its sensual moments. The Texan (AKA Justin Sweatt) really strikes gold in his attempts at darker synth alchemy, such as the incessant creeping march (think the T-1000, in metallic sonic form, yet being more seductive and less rapey) of 'Tristitia' or the slow-core grindout of 'Legacies' that transforms into a dense soul stirrer - the sun rising over a frozen horizon just as all hope seemed lost. The New Wave about-turns on the likes of 'I Still Look Young In The Dark' don't really do it for me though. But hey, Xander Harris is responsible for "scoring" Neal Stephenson's seminal steampunk-noir novel Snow Crash - the dude can do whatever the fuck he wants.

Xander Harris - Tristitia

Octo Octa's Between Two Selves is an 8-track LP that wavers between displacement and warmth, a disconcerting yet eloquent combination. The Brooklyn artist is crowned as the heir apparent of modern house, which of course is evident in his music but is just as reactive to the genre as it is embracing it, utilising field recordings and altruistic flourishes that showcase a much more intuitive production ideal. 'Fear' really stands out to me because it seems to perfectly encapsulate that inherent schizophrenic outlook that Octo Octa harbours, and why he is a pretty special prospect.

Octo Octa - Fear

The least likely to have grabbed my attention though is this 6-track cassette also out on 100% Silk, City Life 88, from London's Jupiter Jax (AKA Rudi Aguis). Why? Because this isn't just close to house music - this IS house. And I hate most versions/genres/whatever attribute to house. Yet there is something plaintive, unadorned, with City Life 88 that really appeals, as if Jupiter Jax doesn't need the gloss to discover the deepest core of the dancefloor and have people drawn inexorably towards it. A visceral journey through temporal glitter trails. You can grab the cassette here.

Jupiter Jax - Soulless City

Looks like I'm going out tonight, then...

Weird Dance Mixtape, Anyone?

I feel like dancing. You cant question this kind of thing, so you just do it. But there's no dancing unless there is music, so Ive tried to create a weird little soundtrack to boogie around to half naked in full view of the neighbours. These tracks arent your regular floorburners, but they will get the job done in a myriad better ways...

We will start and finish with Motorboater, a Kansas City artist that is mining the same ground as Delorean. Sunny, insistent synth, pattering percussion loops and some lovely crooned vocals, all combining to really sink their teeth in and refuses to let go. All with a smile, a wink and no blood being spilled of course - this is all about a love-in! Both this first track and the closer 'Lessons' are off his freshly released album Sport...

Motorboater - Left Limb
Hooray For Earth, having been born from the afterbirth of Of Montreal, were always going to have skewed dynamics and off-kilter beats, yet this song really took me by surprise. I do love me some RnB when it isnt RnB, or tries hard not to be when it so blatantly is - and 'No Love' is transparent as they come. A lot of fun.

Hooray For Earth - No Love

UMO are Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a name that is floating about a bit lately. Their debut self-titled album is coming out on Fat Possum. This track has been around for a year or so, but is still damned addictive. Its somehow glacial, hypnotic and sundrenched in equal measure. They have a crazy formula that works - Im very keen to hear what the album sounds like... (And for those who want some kind of connection, the band is the brainchild of Ruban Neilson, one third of New Zealand's ace Mint Chicks...)

UMO - Ffunny Ffrends (New Bounce)

Doug Hoyer is among Edmonton’s premier pop practitioners. He is dropping his full length debut Walks with the Tender and Growing Night next week via Old Ugly Recording Co., June 30th. His songs tend to utilise a deluge of different instruments, record samples, and field recordings on every track. It feels like a long lost moody 80s number...

Doug Hoyer - Northern Lights

I really need to stick a Baltimore band on here - they always get me groovin - and you can't really go wrong with some Future Islands! The new single, 'Before The Bridge' isnt out in a physical format until July 19, but I couldnt resist... It still doesnt beat 'Seize A Shark' in my opinion - but then again, not much does - but the track utilises the dance beats, glam punk ethics and Samuel T Herring's vocals to great effect - plus Double Dagger's Denny is on additional percussion, so double ace!

Future Islands - Before The Bridge

We haven't heard from Camera Phone, Luftwaffe's Toby Altman's side project in a while! But here is 'Fauntelroy', a taster of some new releases he has up his sleeve that will be dropped very very soon. Its another easy, groovy number - maybe, rather than dancing, I should just be swaying with my eyes closed, a fat one clamped between my lips???

Camera Phone - Fauntelroy

If we are going for warped dance toons, but dont want to delve into devil worship or Italo disco, then riffling through the Not Not Fun catalogue is a must. And as its one of their newest releases, Ive decided upon Jonas Reinhardt, and a track off Music For The Tactile Dome. His an SF artist that has tinkered with synths for about a decade, but its only the past couple of years that he's music has been finding an audience outside the Bay Area. Hopefully this might get a few more hooked...

Jonas Reinhardt - Smokey Jotus

And, as promised, that other Motorboater track...

Motorboater - Lessons

Well, I hope this lifts your Saturday somewhat. I should add more, but Im floating to the bean bag now...