This weeks Staff pick comes from one of our beloved interns and all around great girl, Lucie! When Lucie’s not slaving away here at phonica, she makes some pretty sweet music which you can check out ->here<-
Notorious for their refined taste, Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker of Demdike Stare are making every release on their DDS label a highly anticipated affair. Their devotion to record digging, affiliation with Finders Keepers and mind open to yet undiscovered and long forgotten sounds has delivered some mind blowing rare material since the labels initiation in 2009. Top picks of the list are, apart from their own numerous outings, Shinichi Atobe’s ‘Butterfly Effect’ and a repress of his masterpiece ‘Ship-Scope’ as well as solo drone LP of Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley.
The latest release comes from a freeform jazz, metal, drone and vocal enthusiast and keen collaborator, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. His output varies from meditative vocal explorations (Lichens) to dreamy eastern aesthetics of his last years collaboration with Ariel Kalma to his guest appearance in the drone metal band Om and his eponymous project which assumes a life of its own. This 12″ combines some of the elements present in his collaborative work, exploring obscure textures of masterfully designed modular synth sounds and slow tribal rhythms.
A side, “Cognintion (Forbes)”, keeps it grainy with discordant string arrangements and distinctive modular percussion and bass. The drums are heavy and patient, suggestive of collective memory from a distant past. A ritual gathering, substantial presence of spirituality. Occasional rips of noise and heavy harmonics. There is a certain ancestral energy. The hypnotic element of repetition, seemingly static, is slowly evolving into an curiously dissonant peak before being stripped to bare bones by the very end. “Observation (Sophrons)” on B side is showing off influences from contemporary techno, drone and glitch. Slow drum loop topped with fluctuating percussions, potent looming bass and primordial strings with complex timbres which are appearing seemingly at random all over the composition are morphing into a hell of a trip!
A true gem for all the experimental drone and eccentric ambient connoisseurs out there! Beautifully weird stuff!
