This is an overview of the music that the 909 crew are feeling this month. Not focused on new releases, it serves as an insight to our musical journeys and the discoveries we make on the way.
Buttechno – Experimentator
Well this is just a bit of a rudeboi, isn’t it? The first time I listened to this I was convinced that Buttechno must’ve been an alias of I-F, as it shares those eerily vilifying atmospherics that dominate his productions. Alas, I was wrong, and in fact Buttechno is in fact some Russian dude called Pavel. This is actually a pretty cool release, as this song was the soundtrack to the Gosha Rubchinskiy ss/16 show, and only 50 transparent 7” were originally pressed. Immediately, you can understand why this song would fit a Gosha show like a glove. They both share that cold, Soviet aesthetic and I can’t help but think that this song’s commandingly dystopian narrative perfectly matches Gosha’s designs, which are more suited to Alex’s droogs than to real human beings. I really like how the song abruptly cuts off and goes into a piano solo after about 2ish minutes. The juxtaposition between the two works well, and the piano chords might be even more disturbing than the reigning terror of cosmic synths that preceded them. Luckily this got repressed onto a 12” last year, so this is actually an attainable record now and you won’t have to fight off discogs sharks for a copy. Unfortunately, that’s a battle that few rarely win.
Dreamcast – Liquid Deep
It’s really refreshing to find music like this still being released. This came out in 2017, but you could easily mistake it for 1983. It turns out the funk didn’t die with James Brown after all… The title of the song is emblematic of what this song is; smooth as hell and deeeeep. The production feels gentle and natural, and it is as fluid as it is tight. The guitar chords feel somewhat psychedelic, and are reminiscent of the one’s in Sotofett’s Ibiza Dub (see for yourself here if you don’t believe me). The chorus is also super catchy, I promise you you’ll be wailing out ‘it’s that liquid deeeeep‘ in the shower in no time! I’ll be honest, I thought that good funk music these days basically began and ended with Thundercat and what George Clinton can just about squeak out these days. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong. This song feels so urgently relevant and contemporary, whilst also possessing that indescribable feeling of nostalgia and timelessness. This is a careless summer jam that preferably needs to be listened to whilst in your convertible.
Fabiano de Nascimento – Canto De Imanja
This is something almost entirely different from what I usually listen to. However, I stumbled across it during a John Gómez set and it just absolutely mesmerised me. Sometimes you can forget the acoustical power that a singular instrument can have. I always go on about how people crave simplicity in music, and how the monumental success of Ed Sheeran and Adele in popular music (just singers with a guitar and a piano respectively) is a symptom of the backlash against the hyperbolic performances and overproduced productions of your typical 21st century pop star, and while I don’t pay those guys that much attention, I can completely understand the appeal of returning to these roots. The musicianship here is extraordinary, like this guy can really shred a guitar. The narrative of the song is also intriguing and electrifying, it twists and turns in a seemingly improvised fashion, but at the same time it feels too sharp to just be a jam. This is evidence that you don’t need a drum machine and a synthesizer to please me, and sometimes it’s just good to dig a bit deeper and find the music being released by true musicians.
Hymns – Water Acid
Well it wouldn’t be a 909 tracks of the month if there wasn’t at least one electro tune, would it?! Although this was released in May of last year, it has only been a very recent find. I wouldn’t say there is anything groundbreaking about it, but it’s a certainly a real nice, well produced slice of spacey, atmospheric electro. The intermittent breaks that appear every now and then are heavily reminiscent of something from a Skee Mask production I feel, and they are very satisfying when they catch with the more steadfast 808 beat. The synths are reluctantly melancholic, and glide effortlessly into your eardrums with a slender precision. I feel that the acid is decent enough when it creeps in, but at the same time it’s slightly underwhelming and undeveloped when comparing it to 303 lines from people like Tin Man or Cadency. This track is still undeniably very solid though, and it is a perfect weapon to use when you’re deep into the rave. The synth lines and acid have a hypnotic quality to them, and there is certainly a narrative to be found within the song. Don’t let my constructive criticism fool you, this is a slice of fried gold!
LCD Soundsystem – You Can’t Hide
The 909 crew went on a cheeky excursion to Nottingham last Friday to visit the old stomping ground (for one of us at least). They dragged me kicking and screaming from the steps of Ocean and took me to the Brickworks to see Lorenzo Senni, Young Marco and DJ Stingray slay it for Wigflex. This was the opening song from Marco’s set, which praise tha lord was absolutely wicked. Keen readers of this established rag may remember that we reported that Marco’s headline at Selectors in August was disappointingly deflating. The omnipresent question on all of our minds in the state of limbo that was the following months was ‘can Marco still kill it?’. Thank God we found out that hell yeah he still can. In a set full of percussive thrashers, doofy face-melters and Abba singalongs, this was the standout tune for me and the one that made me record a fleeting video so that I could beg Analogue Shazam for an ID. The piano riff that perseveres through this song is smilingly satisfying. Like all piano melodies, the beauty is in the simplicity, and they embody so much emotion and optimism that they are almost swollen. The key moment of the song is when the bassline finally kicks in and then we are rockin’. Credit to LCD Soundsystem, their bass guitarist knows how to slappa da bass. The vitality of a good bassline is always underappreciated, and it’s nice to see in this song how necessary it really is. If you’re tired of Der Alte or that Kink Sunshine tune or any other slightly stale piano house tunes, then look no further cause this will fill that gap.