Image: Planet Mu
From mutant cumbian to erratic and complex polyrhythmic breakbeats, we roundup our favourite releases of the week. In no particular order, here’s what we’ve had on repeat.
Juan Ramos – Iniciado
Berlin collective REIF recently announced their upcoming first compilation project REIF01, and with it an epic list of fifteen contributing artists who have all been a part of REIF’s journey, among them Jeff Mills and Wolfgang Tillmans. Our first taste of what is shaping up to be a diverse and propulsive collection comes from Juan Ramos, whose Iniciado is a mutant cumbian banger dripping in Latinx flavour and featuring screeching alien synth warbles ripped from the realm of drum & bass and dubstep. It’s sort of new-era Arca and a distinct departure from the disco tinged house of Oxford House or the skeletal industrial techno of Changing Hands. Pre-order REIF01 here.
Sally Shapiro – Forget About You
Underground Italo disco and Swedish synth pop star Sally Shapiro pretty much went dark about five years ago, claiming she and creative partner producer Johan Agebjörn had released their final single as the project. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer, with the announcement of their upcoming album Sad Cities and the release of its lead single Forget About You on Italians Do It Better. Forget About You is a satisfyingly retro-camp synth pop ballad, featuring 80’s keyboards and twinkling organ synth refrains as Shapiro laments wistfully on some kind of romance, soaked in all sorts of neon lit nostalgia. Download it here.
David Morales – Easy
New York City born Grammy Award winning producer David Morales is probably one of the most legendary names in dance music, arguably one of pop culture’s first instances of the superstar DJ. The legend is gearing up to release his new album Life Is A Song this January, and Easy serves as the second single from the collection. Painting itself with simultaneous shades of broody bass and laid-back house percussion, Easy presents buoyant club escapism at its finest, backed by a soulful vocal take from British singer Joe Roberts. Download it here.
Santé, Re.You – Road To Nowhere (EP)
German brothers Santé and Re.You celebrate the launch of their new label LSF21+ with their first collaborative release in over a decade. Road To Nowhere, a two track EP, also serves as the first taste of the duo’s highly anticipated upcoming album. Both tracks are simmering, textured cuts of tech-house perfection. Road To Nowhere builds itself on a distant, echoey pulse and Biishop’s soulful vocals, layering monstrous bass and rhythmic textures toward something slightly ominous, while Faithful is a grooving, modulating cut informed by the afro-tech aesthetics of Oluhle’s vocal poetics. Download and stream the EP here.
Jlin – Embryo
Jerrilynn Patton, aka Jlin, unleashes an erratic, cacophonous orchestra of bouncing polyrhythms and buzzing extraterrestrial synths with the lead single off her forthcoming EP of the same name, Embryo on Planet Mu. Across its runtime, it’s easy to assume the track is longer than it’s nearly four minute mark by virtue of the way it twists and contorts, expanding and contracting, changing shape constantly while never stopping for a moment. It’s an experience that’s both mind bending and wickedly enjoyable, a beast of a track full of rhythmic complexity that’s as immersive as it is propulsive. Pre-order the EP here.
Follow our roundup playlist, ‘What We Have on Repeat’ on Spotify to hear and save our weekly selections:
