Thursday Catch Up

An ambient ode to fatbergs, microdosed new age soaked spiritual jazz from Japan, dub technoid downtempo and healing music for modern living ills. Support the independent artist underground.

Rubbish Music - Fatbergs (Persistence of Sound)

Mainly for its challenging subject matter, but also as I like to gently nudge people about the environment, I’m giving pride of place this week to Kate Carr and Iain Chamber’s Rubbish Music project. I mean let’s face it we’ve all heard far too many love songs and, quite possibly as a result, divorce rates are now around 50% worldwide.

If you aren’t aware fatbergs are dense masses of wet wipes, nappies, food waste and other items that aren’t supposed to be flushed down a toilet like fats and oils. They can grow to pretty epic sizes, and are increasingly blocking up the sewers of densely populated areas.

I’m classifying the recording as experimental ambient but don’t be scared, the water, as well as being slightly greasy and full of non biodegradable items, is pretty warm. Most, if not all of the noises on the recording appear to be found sounds, but there is a unifying, suitably shadowy subterranean ambiguity to them. I imagine sewer walls creaking, unpleasant cocktails gurgling through the rapidly narrowing channels, the faint hum and vibrational rumble of surface traffic echoing along century old tunnels, but as mentioned, possibly due to the food waste fermenting, there is a genuine warmth and hence listenability to this fatberg ode. Give it a spin, it’s oddly comforting.

Whilst on the subject of Kate Carr I should also mention her Midsummer, London solo LP of field recordings that are a sonic diary of her London wanderings. Artfully and remarkably she’s managed to turn the hustle and bustle of this fast paced city into another soothing, gently experimental ambient LP.

Yaryu / 野流 - For Damage (Centripetal)

I’d be tempted to recommend Yaryu project’s new release just on the basis of their commitment to creating community in today’s increasingly divided world, but it just so happens the music is great as well.

Yaryu began as a duo, keyboardist/harpist Hyozo and Indian flute/harpist Hajime Orikawa who hold improvisational music workshops with both experienced and inexperienced musicians, encouraging participation by all present. Refreshingly, rather than give pride of place to the best musicians, they place more importance on the best expression possible among the members participating at the time. It’s an impressive endeavour, with over 200 people having attended the workshops and so far 7 session recordings. It’s a serious labour of love.

Probably for the sake of sanity they’ve stripped down to some core members for this recording and united behind a guiding musical philosophy, the vibes coalescing around new age, spiritual jazz, cautious psychedelia and kosmische sounds, which I’m hoping might put me in the running for musical director if ever the position became available.

The recording itself is the distillation of several 20th century musical golden ages - whether jazz arkestras or counter cultural collectives, the deep appreciation for their cultural ancestors is worn proudly on their sleeves, but fear not For Damage is anything but lame 21st century pastiche.

Most of the tracks ooze serenity, peace and love, and don’t we all need some of that these days? Apart from a little mid-recording krautrockery, where it sounds like someone misjudged the microdosing and things got a bit ritualistic, the LP is an exercise in blissful spiritual jazz, anchored by a deeply soulful, almost horizontal grooviness and soaked in new age radiance for good measure. It’s a wonderful listen and respect must go to America’s Centripetal, the UK’s Cardinal Fuzz and Australia’s Ramble Records for another fine collaborative release. Strength in numbers.

Quick Mentions As I’ve Run Out Of Time:

Brendon Moeller is back on TSMM fave Constellation Tatsu with a follow up to his excellent and TSMM blogged Pathways LP, and I’m happy to report it’s thankfully more of the same brain cell repairing dub technoid downtempo deepness. If you want to hear the sound of Berlin club culture repurposed for smoky living rooms and after the after party then don’t delay.

El Hardwick’s sophomore for the ever interesting AD93 label is an adventurous, beautifully realised healing aid to all sorts of modern living induced ailments. I highly recommend you sink into its ambient pop, ritualistic revivalism, downtempo delights, ethereal escapism and weightless jazz delights.

Playlist Companions

Although the recommendations have suffered this month due to hosting and “holidaying”, I’ve been updating the TSMM playlists as usual. They’re available on Tidal, Apple Music, Deezer, Youtube Music, Youtube, Soundcloud, Amazon Music and Spotify (if you must). Hit this link to check out a thousand tracks of great music from independent artists spread over twenty stylistically diverse playlists.