Jaša Bužinel
, February 25th, 2021 07:00
Hyperspecific is back with the first instalment from our new columnist Jaša Bužinel, bringing you a selection of exciting new releases from Kode9, Autechre, Rian Treanor, Venus Ex Machina, Pauline Anna Strom and Giant Swan, among others
Venus Ex Machina by Karsten Buch
My name is Jaša Bužinel, a music writer from Slovenia, and I m going to be taking over tQ s monthly Hyperspecific column, dedicated to pinpointing the most intriguing electronic, dance and experimental electronic records released each month. I m writing this from my Central European motherland where I currently live. As the pandemic slowly approaches another year, we ve reached a, hopefully temporary, point in dance music history where it doesn t really matter where you are situated as a music writer. Be it in London or Ljubljana, we all have access to the same nexus of deterritorialised electronic music scenes which currently only exist in cyberspace via a constant f
SHERELLE, Adam Beyer and Flava D are among the acts locked for the opening weekend of Tobacco Dock s virtual festival.
Last month, London party and festival promoter, LWE, announced a new, virtual hybrid music event at their usual stomping ground of Tobacco Dock.
Now, they ve announced the full line-up for the the forthcoming opening weekend, which will take place on Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd April 2021, and is completely free-to-attend across all platforms and devices. The events will run from 8PM until 2AM, and over 40 artists will perform across four arenas hosted by the likes of Hospitality, Keep Hush and Mr. Afterparty.
Western Lore is only a little over three-and-a-half years old, but already its releases are some of the most sought-after drops around. Filed under ‘modern jungle’, but with a sound and look that encompass the broader spirit of rave, it’s a home for hypnotic, ruffneck beats that bring together elements of techno, house, drum & bass, trance and more.
The label’s origins lie back in 2014; founder Alex Eveson had seen some success producing breaksy liquid d&b under his last name and with his label Channel 82. But with vinyl sales dwindling the imprint became impractical, and he found himself disillusioned with the clinical sound dominating drum & bass all clean, surgical drum-work and crisp mix-downs. He longed for the crunch and the dirt of the ‘90s sounds he grew up on.
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Juno Daily’s reviewing prospectors digging deep for this week’s vinyl gold nuggets
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
It’s hard to keep up with Denham Audio right now. The last few years have seen a salvo of killer 12”s splaying across labels like Sneaker Social Club, Frendzone! and WNCL’s Library Tool Kit, while frequent sparring with Borai helped launch the Club Glow series as well as essential drops on Higher Level and E-Beamz. It’s a buoyant time for hypercharged rave music, which seems ironic given the dearth of raves across the globe, but right now there’s a great catharsis in listening to peak time rushers and imagining a crowd losing their collective minds.
Hooversound Recordings is kicking 2021 off with a bang. The label’s first release of the year sees breakthrough jungle star Tim Reaper remixing cuts from Special Request’s 2019 album, ‘Zero Fucks’.
Set for release on 22nd January via SHERELLE and Naina’s burgeoning imprint, the four-track EP is a blazing feast of breaks. Reaper, whose encyclopedic knowledge of jungle’s history and knack for innovation has seen him rise to dazzling heights in the past year, puts a fresh spin on Paul Woolford’s febrile rhythms as Special Request.
Where ‘Zero Fucks’ focussed “purely on the heavyweight original hardcore ethos of taking whatever you want from anywhere”, Reaper’s reworks hold the magnifying glass to those tracks’ most striking features; paring the beats back to let the melodies shine through, or letting the drums run loose over freshly chopped up vocal samples.