maya ongaku - Electronic Phantoms (Guruguru Brain)
Japanese acid-folk evolution + Singles & emerging artists round up.
A Few Brief Thoughts…
Well this is an interesting evolution from maya ongaku. Their soft edged, jazz tickled, acid-folk Approach To Anima LP from last year was a bit of a TSMM fave, but after touring it, even playing some festivals, they’ve felt the need to work on some dancier tunes which I totally understand. I mean unless I was in a comfortably seated venue, as much as I liked the LP, I wouldn’t have much interest in seeing them live. I just need a bit more stage action if I’m at a standing gig, especially at a festival when I’ve visited a few stages and my legs are feeling their age.
Dance music though, as with all things, is relative so don’t expect to be stage diving and staggering bloodied from a mosh pit at a show, although “Anoyo Drive” has a bit of a post punk attitude to it and “Meiso Ongaku 3“ has some hard sax whipped Krautrock oomph. The LP’s other two “dancers” are more drum machine propelled waltzes and “Meiso Ongaku 1 & 2” are wellness centre spiritual jazz & new age vibes respectively, and wouldn’t cause any waves if they were slipped into their sedate debut.
Maya ongaku’s evolution is in progress and I’m on the bus looking at the punch suspiciously.
New Singles & Emerging Artists from the Independent Underground.
I have a feeling that Trio Ramberget & The Slow Music Movement are going to grow old together. This new single & the forthcoming LP sees previous collaborator Matti Bye augmenting their ambient ambiquity, by giving this dawn lit, slowly stirring soundscape a twinkle sprinkle. Find them in the Slow Ambient Playlist & I'll remind you later about November's LP.
I first saw Manu Chao opening the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in '90 as part of Manu Negra, lured there by hearing "King Kong Five" on MTV, & even through my morning come down fog I recognised a good thing. Roll on 30 years & not much has changed from the classic "Bongo Bong" & that's OK; the classic mestizo vibes are a welcome constant in today's continual flux, & his force is still strong. Find him in the Slow World Playlist.
Old school keepin' it real business from the Windy City, one of disco & house's elite centres of learning where Rahaan was a straight A student. On his new LP he's decided to go all Al Kent & recreate the deeper side of 70's disco with a stellar cast of musos. There's no cheese, just vibes on this simple, satisfying groove. The LP drops September, find him in the Slow Grooves Playlist today.
Quindi continue to dig out the gems, this time with new material from Petter Herbertsson's ever evolving Testbild! collective, who've been lurking in the the Swedish shadows for 20+ years. I just did my homework & skipped the quirky, whimsical back catalogue & will return, but am currently all ears on this deep, calming & contemplative vocal jazz delight - find a quiet place & take a moment.
The last one today is a deep banger from Ben Lukas Boysen who sneaks up on you like a Barcelona pickpocket. An ambient start is soon joined by a low impact kick before electronic layers are slipped in the mix to slowly lure you to the dancefloor before it picks your marbles one by one. Head to the End of Week Freak for a listen, & look out for the November's LP.
Have a good weekend all.