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Releases
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08 Jenny Hval The Long Sleep Sacred Bones
REVIEWS
Norwegian avant-pop performer Jenny Hval is an artist of versatility. Her approach to musical styles has shifted and developed over time, from early gothic metal as a member of Shellyz Raven to the eerie choral folk of her initial solo venture, Rockettothesky. As Jenny Hval, her music mixes provocative social commentary on gender and sexuality with a lyrical sophistication that’s both matched and assuaged by delicate sonic compositions. For The Long Sleep, more subtle conceptual movements are taking place across four tracks, which were recorded with touring member and long time collaborator Håvard Volden – as well as an additional quartet of jazz musicians on percussion and wind instruments. Opening track Spells presents an elaborate layering of electric guitar, saxophone and keys, underscoring Hval's bellow of the chorus, “You will not be awake for long.” The Dreamer is Everyone in Her Dream to follow, picks up on that same lyric in a more sparsely arranged piano number, along with the whisper, “You might be in pieces, but let’s call it something else.” That particular song echoes the simplicity of PJ Harvey’s 2007 catalogue diversion, White Chalk, which speaks as much to the stylistic similarities between the two records as it does an aesthetic mutability between the two artists. Perhaps following a similar trajectory, Hval builds up and out of the more combative themes and approaches to earlier albums like Apocalypse, girl and Blood Bitch with the more meandering rhythms of indie pop that’s swathed in poignant romanticism. A free-spirited flush of melody for mending a broken heart. !
Steph Kretowicz
09
Various Artists Patina Echoes Timedance Anything feels possible pressing play on the first Timedance compilation. There are, of course, some traits one expects – hi-tech production acrobatics, confident reframing of club music traditions, a healthy dose of weirdness. All those elements are present in abundance, and still this collection from known and lesser-known artists feels like a welcome jolt from a defibrillator strapped to the temples. Despite being among the most exciting artists in leftfield UK dance music, label-head Batu has chosen not to appear, but there are Timedance regulars in attendance. Fellow Bristolbased producer Bruce has ditched the beats and plunged into visceral, widescreen sound design, while Ploy has shaken up a fermented bottle of 90s Mo Wax samples and poured it over a dish of errant synth. Other familiar names making their first moves on Timedance include Simo Cell, whose contribution Consider The Internet is bloated and psychedelic in equal measure, and Berlin’s rRoxymore, who steals the show with the limber, rubber band techno brilliance of bRINGTHEbRAVE. But the compilation also showcases some fresh faces – Cleyra’s Naked Echoes is a heart-melting opener, Rae’s Sleep Rotation is a textbook modular ping-fest, and Neinzer lays down a staggering, highpressure broken beat roller. Each individual track feels like an occasion, which can often make for a disjointed compilation. Not so here – Timedance’s classy execution holds strong across 11 tracks, delighting the mind and forging ahead into new territory – just like everyone expected. !
Oli Warwick
Various Artists Modeselektor Presents: Modeselektion Vol. 04 Monkeytown Records There’s an impossible-todefine skill in the art of the compilation, and Modeselektor have had plenty of practice. As artists, they are rightly revered for their snarling, crunching fidgeting electro and big room techno, as well as more delicate material (with Apparat) as Moderat. But if you could level a criticism at their own work, it’s that Modeselektor’s playfulness and boisterousness could occasionally become a bit mawkish and repetitive. They have been arguably more consistent and influential through the Modeselektion compilations that have showcased dozens of breaking and established artists over more than a decade, and this latest collection is no exception. A gentle, bumping track from Actress reveals a less acerbic side to the producer’s palette. The criminally underrated Lone brings his day-glo synths but keeps them locked behind a lolloping bassline and understated rhythm on Smoke Signals, a low-key highlight. And Claude Speede’s offering is a beautiful, almost tranquil take on leftfield, melodic techno. A harder edge is provided by FJAAK, and the consistently brilliant Peder Mannerfelt, who provides an enjoyably warped contribution, and Modeselektor themselves provide both a glitchy edit (of Vatican Shadow) and a blistering new track of their own, Kalif Storch. A masterclass in how to curate a compilation, the Modeselektion series thunders on. !
Adam Corner
Snail Mail Lush Matador Records
Oneohtrix Point Never Age Of Warp As Oneohtrix Point Never, Daniel Lopatin has always been something of a ghost in the machine, bridging and simultaneously destroying the gap between ideas of humanity and technology. In its fascination with horror, 2015’s Garden of Delete came closer to achieving this than any of his previous work. With Age Of, 0PN has once again taken things up a notch. The titular opener is a twisted combination of medieval and MIDI that echoes Garden of Delete track Stick Drama, wherein 0PN provides the most distilled version of his sound to date: something that speaks to both old and new ideas, conjuring thoughts of faith and Final Fantasy in equal measure. The elegiac Babylon goes a step further still, putting the focus on the compassion of Prurient’s vocal take. Where Age Of differs most dramatically from its predecessors, however, is that it feels more like cut scenes interspersed with gameplay, with Lopatin having embraced a more fluid narrative feel. With its pitch bends and shimmering synths, Toys 2 evokes the curiously unnamed sensation of learning to sincerely feel for arcade game characters in story mode, while myriad.industries combines the blissfully uneasy feeling of exploring new terrain with the frenetic energy of half-expected violence. As an album, Age Of is another lesson in machine empathy from 0PN. Between the self-destructing, Black Snow – which is voiced by Anohni – and the hectic roboticism of the James Blake-featuring We’ll Take It, these are 13 tracks which stand as testament that melancholy – above all – is not an exclusively human experience. !
Karl Smith
That 19-year-old singersongwriter Lindsey Jordan has grown up in these apathetic times and created such tender songs is nearly as remarkable as the talent she’s accrued at her young age. Tutored by fellow Matador artist Mary Timony (of Helium and Wild Flag), Jordan’s guitar playing spans sparky and insistent strumming to waterfalls of complex fingerpicking. Each song creates its own idiosyncratic ecosystem in which a new relationship blooms, or withers. On her debut album as Snail Mail, Jordan pines for a series of former lovers throughout the album, and it’s refreshing to hear the emotions which we usually thrash out in our own heads being clearly communicated with no shame. In fact, this becomes a theme of the album: Jordan repeatedly finds that a consequence of showing herself so plainly to the world is that she has her ego and sense of self knocked around. But she keeps on loving even when that’s hard to do. On Full Control, she asserts the importance of keeping a sense of herself, even when she’s utterly smitten: ‘I’m not lost, even when it’s love’ she repeats, determinedly. In a world of ghosting, situationships and an innate fear of ‘catching feelings’, Snail Mail’s Lush is the sound of Lindsey Jordan reminding us authentic emotional connections really are out there – even if you have to wade through some terrible shit along the way. !
Sammy Jones
