Video review by Kahlil Crawford

Okayama/Japan based producer Yunosuke Senoo aka Lycoriscoris has been producing electronic music since 2009 and has released two albums and digital EPs on a Japanese indie label. His subtle fusion of organic melodies and futuristic electronic production has won him numerous support from the likes of DJ Koze and Michael Mayer, who released his ’Transient EP’ on Kompakt sub-label KX in 2016. He made his debut on Anjunadeep in 2018, contributing a track to the iTunes #1 Dance Album ‘Anjunadeep 08’, before following up with the 6-track ‘Drop EP’ in 2017 which has since notched up 1 million streams. They were first introduced on KEXP, NTS Radio, BBC radio, and through DUMMY Mag. Lycoricoris album ‘Flight’ is set for digital release and on vinyl on Friday 25th May 2018 via Anjunadeep. He performs live by using a laptop, playing the piano, and other hardware. He has successfully left an intense impact on the likes of “DOMMUNE” and many other label showcases. And he performed with The Field, MARK FELL, Andreas Tilliander, Moritz von Oswald in Japan. His work is not only as “Lycoriscoris” but as composer who makes songs for TV and web commercials. He is always challenging to discover the possibility of new music, and to keep making an organic sound by using Analogue and Digital equipment.

Fluid soundscapes segmented 

by marigold plates flashing murkily ~

weaving in & out of industrial vessels.

Patterns alternating to floating wastelands;

Aquatic sculptures,

rippling, parsing foam

Waves glisten in isolation ~

recalling their source.

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by Kahlil Crawford

Pinhdar is Cecilia Miradoli and Max Tarenzi.

The Milan-based duo is a throwback to the era when blissed-out beats were the preferred soundtrack to after-hours sessions – chill enough to come down to, but hard enough to keep your head nodding. Their sound fits snugly into the narrative of the storied “The Bristol Sound” and its ongoing derivatives.

Pinhdar’s surrealistic take on current reality is consistent with the existential escapism and altered mental states characteristic of the “trip-hop” aesthetic – best-evoked by emotive female vocals washing through abstract compositions.

Pindhar’s second compilation, Parallel, opens with characteristically lush whirs, blips, and bleeps forming “Anacreonte” – an angst-ridden self-reflection occurring during a suicide stemmed by unwanted aging. Next, the “Parallel” title track balances extremes to achieve a Zen-like harmony…

so long so short

so sweet so cruel

Its elements emit a vibrational nothingness – so full, yet so empty. The sparse, stripped down arrangements evoke early Smiths – mood music that only extensive solitude can produce – insightful, yet unburdened; emotional, yet content.

Parallel’s pronounced influence continues through “Glass Soul” – gentle drums pulsate toward a slightly shrill vocal dancing with free-spirited guitar phrasing. Words become wails as Cecilia hopelessly laments the uncertainty of time…

How can we tear these days off the calendar?

By pretending that the worst is over…

…Cause I am emotionally undone

In “Too Late”, Cecilia breathily sorts out her relationship woes amidst warped basslines and distanced guitar licks that suddenly converge to drag her ponderings out to sea. Not only did Cecilia lose her self, but she lost her love…

Today my heart is as dry as an extinguished star

The stellar “Atoms and Dust” is a zeitgeist of this unforeseen era. Humanity has literally been transformed down to the molecular level, and Pinhdar provides a peek into its cosmic implications…

We are atoms and dust

that will fall to the earth…

…when will we return to breath

and chase the stars?

“Atoms and Dust” is one of those era-defining pieces in which the gravity of the lyrics equates the density of the arrangements. In fact, I venture to say this period piece defines the band itself. Like many of its genric predecessors, Parallel will appreciate over time – steadily gaining new listeners as it travels along the existential pathway of thought-provoking “head” music…

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by Kahlil Crawford

Industry veteran Matt Boroff conjures new rhythmic spells with Future Crimes from the oncoming Beautiful Machine collection – a musical narration on human fate. 

Its atmospheric orchestration hearkens early Portishead – a dubbed infusion of trudging rhythm, sparse syncopation, jogging riffs and wailing feedback. His gapped, metric chants sculpt meditative space for our dystopian meanderings:

In a courtroom drama of 1’s and 0’s

Our humanity is on triiiiaaall…

Boroff then choruses shrill, end-time prophecies proclaiming:

We’re all guilty of Future Crimes…

…And now we’re gonna pay for our Digital Sins.

Halfway through the track, Boroff pivots into electronic abstraction with low, gurgling basslines echoing our “digital sins.” Our meditation descends into a state of purgatory revealing the immeasurable gravity of our malintent. His digital gavel thrashes down harder and harder upon our seemingly unforgivable transgressions.

With its chaotic movements and apocalyptic oratory, Future Crimes, indeed, provides a stark and timely perusal of our failing mortality before the Beautiful Machine rains down upon us.

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Bluey Maunick returns with ‘Tinted Sky’

by Kahlil Crawford

Acid jazz pioneer, ‘Bluey’ Maunick of Britfunk band Light of The World and Incognito, returns with ‘Tinted Sky’ – his third solo outing on Splash Blue. In collaboration with co-writer Richard Bull, the album is thematically constructed around “coping mechanisms” in the current era; hence spawning unchained expressions of Bluey’s creative quest to help “feed the souls of many”.

Crazy ‘Bout You starts off with a keyboard introduction that segues into punctuated high hats cascading down deep into and through the mellow funk you expect from the Incognito frontman. Simple well-crafted lyrics complement the crisp arrangements that draw you in and beg you to:

Pour into me, stay into me

Pour into me and shine

You Are The One’s disco-style guitar licks carry the listener along an agile baseline that careens through the number’s melodious chorus. Off-kilter jazz vocals narrate Bluey’s heart-filled trip through a musical courtship, pursuit of love, and freewheeling adventure:

Dance with me to Afro Blue

I’m head over heels in love with you

Had To Make You Mine continues the love theme with a groove reminiscent of the Sound of Los Angeles Records (SOLAR) – synth-laden with plucking guitar riffs, heavyweight percussion, and intricate basslines:

And the tunes kept coming

The bass lines were rolling

Vocally, Bluey sounds as if he is not only serenading a new love interest but the music as well. Either way, Bluey is clearly being ushered into a state of artistic ecstasy.

Happiness I’d never known before

Each melody would set me free…

Nobody Knows takes you back to the heyday of acid jazz with an uptempo groove, tighter-than-tight arrangements, crisp changes, uplifting lyrics, and clean harmonies shepherded to the conclusion by a sweet guitar:

Through fire, through rain, through joy and pain

We came through all the same

 The lyrics could very well summarize Bluey’s long career in music, spanning well over 40 years. I’m sure he has lived the full spectrum of musical experience, yet always comes through with quality productions to appease his listeners. ‘Tinted Sky‘s’ finished arrangements and accessible lyrics provide an acoustic space for listeners to hearken the wider possibilities of love and relationships, if not broader themes surrounding human fate and existence.

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..enter Hazel English out April 24th

by Kahlil Crawford

Singer/songwriter Hazel English penned her latest album of songs as a means to subvert feelings of complacency, mundanity, and isolation. The musical outcome is a love-laced attempt to “wake up and be present” amidst a world of rapid and perpetual interconnectivity. For Wake Up! English receives bi-metropolis production courtesy of Atlantan Ben H. Allen and Angeleno Justin Raise.

If we’re gonna be honest

We’ve got to lay it all out

On the line

The gentle blues licks and echoing percussion of Combat provides a musical raft upon which Hazel’s airy vocals coast through her relationship ambivalence:

In Off My Mind, Hazel masterfully interlocks her longing for self-understanding with her quest for love. The space in-between each line of thought is filled with her melodic musings:

I’m caught in a moment in-between

I’m caught in a distant dream

Hazel displays her vocal range, as well as her emotional range, in Five and Dime – where she seems to find refuge from yet another hazy love affair. Perhaps sorting through simply-priced store items helps English unravel the complexities of her heart:

You know i need my space

So, I’m heading to the five and dime

Wake Up! provides a master class in the interweaving of themes, emotions, and sounds to illustrate the importance of maintaining self-awareness within the larger framework of human evolution. It is much-needed easy listening in a world filled with hardships and heartaches, which requires the type of patience and mindfulness that Hazel English invests in her craft.

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“…we had acid, and then acid changed to…happy house, and happy house changed to house and garage, and house and garage…went to jungle…that was the groove of street people…”

In the pantheon of underground music vocalists, most are unheralded and even more are unknown. Then there is Blu James, a sonic virtuosa who has reached plateaus most vocalists only dream of. Prolifically, there are few musical genres she has not touched, all the while representing her underground roots and culture.

A “UK Windrush” child of Trinidadian and Australian heritage, Blu cut her first dubplate at the age of 13 and performed with London’s famed Java Nuclear Power Sound System. After the UK acid house explosion, Blu started raving and MCing – singing rare groove (old school reggae and R&B) classics over “happy house” music at parties spun by DJ Spoony and Timmy Magic.

“…my idea was that, because London is small and consolidated…I’m gonna saturate the market with my voice, so that’s what I decided to do.”

After establishing herself as an MC, Blu became a “voice for hire”, and sold her talent to countless producers and DJ’s throughout the London scene. Many tracks made it to dubplate, some were released on labels, and others never saw the light of day.

Later, as a member of the ska band Maroon Town, Blu performed internationally on behalf of the British Council – the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

“Everywhere I’ve been in the world, there’s people with that same (love) energy, with that same vibe…”

Blu reached a plateau with the global anthem “Red Alert”, alongside mainstream club act Basement Jaxx. She toured with the duo for two years before departing due to business differences. Soon after, Blu decided it was time to settle down and raise a family, which brought her to Tampa, Florida, where she currently resides.

Since then, Blu has recorded a self-titled album with Bugz in The Attic – the West London broken beat collective. The self-described “homegrown vocalist” laid down rangy chords over an array of beat patterns that crescendo with the emotional “Walk On” (note her Ripperton-esque, high octave squeals and wails).

After starring in “Viva Gaia” (“Long Live Mother Earth”) at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, Blu is now poised for another resurgence with “Morning Sunrise” – an ethereal runner with previous collaborator Danny Wheeler and company:

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Every…work begins by a moment of ecstasy; only in the second place does the talent of arrangement, the technique of transitions, connection of ideas, construction, come into play. -Sertillanges

Soul vocalist Nao grew up in Osaka, Japan, with a love for painting and sculpting nurtured by a family of artistic creatives. When she was a girl, her sister introduced her to the soul of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Nao later relocated to New York City to compete in the McDonald’s Gospel Festival, and placed 2nd at The Apollo Theater Amateur Night in Harlem. Upon her return to Japan, Nao signed with Sweet Soul Records. 

In 2016, Nao made her major US music festival debut at the Capital Jazz Fest. In 2017, she performed on the 11th Annual Capital Jazz SuperCruise. In 2018 Nao relocated from Japan to the US to re-release her 3rd album The Truth (#32 on Billboard’s Urban Adult Contemporary chart). Nao’s most recent album, Undeniable, was released in 2019.

Upon listening to the album, it is undeniable that she is passionately committed to her craft; and it is equally undeniable that she is willing to dissect her soul, on its behalf, to concisely sculpt her destiny:

“I had to face myself, talk to my heart and ask myself who I really am and what I really want…Because I needed to know what I most desire, and what my desire wants me to do.”

The aesthetic Liberation evokes nascent neosoul trenches with improvisational keys. syncopated percussion, and a string choir (think Soul II Soul) – a mighty artillery of sound in her war on soul music mediocrity and identity crisis:

The deepness continues through the subdued rhythms of About U – her duet with frequent collaborator Eric Roberson – an emotional confessional between two distraught lovers.

So many lifetimes, lifestyles can’t put it in words

But I feel what I feel and that’s my main concern

The filtered programming of Up and Away, a contemporary R&B ballad with PHER, is a primed canvas upon which Nao self-portrays her journey toward self-actualization; and her willingness to journey as far as possible to existentially ascend. 

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by Kahlil Crawford

DeStijl was formed in 1995 by John Cleary and Pascal DeStijl, which led to their eponymous debut album released in 1997. In 2011, after a ten-year hiatus, the band released The White Stripes concept album:

“Bursting with 21st century dystopia, radiating dark melodies and thundering with new blood…It’s particularly strong on atmospherics…drawing us deeper into…gritty, dark themes, and alternative, melodic dance.”

In late 2012, DeStijl recorded Something Wicked This Way Comes, produced by Yves Altana with Peter Hook on bass. They followed up this effort with the 2015 Debut, mixed by Danny Saber with Monica Ward on vocals. DeStijl’s newest project is Greatest Hits Vol.2, recorded at Eve Studio in Stockport. All 10 tracks are mixed by Jim Spencer with Kermit Leveridge, Liam Croker, Rikki Turner and Scott Jefferies on lead vocals.

Move On

“If you want the view to forever

Then never move on”

Aggressive, pulsating chords highly punctuate Scott’s aggressive attempt to hold on to his departing love, pleading “let’s start again”…again and again…

https://destijl.bandcamp.com/track/move-on

Your Love Is A Prison

“..a place I choose to bleed…”

Interweaving synths and rhythmic guitars offer a playful elegance beneath Rikki’s tortuous lore of romantic failure, yet there remains a smidgeon of hope in his tone. Perhaps this love affair still pulsates feintly?

https://destijl.bandcamp.com/track/your-love-is-a-prison

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is an enjoyable effort from a band that has mastered the art of creative collaboration, thus placing a lasting stamp on the post-New Wave genre and eclectic music in general. 

-Kahlil Crawford