Noah’s latest collaborative project finds the singer/songwriter/producer teaming with…well, the producer Teams and Repeat Pattern. A full-length album is on the way, and “Miminashi” offers a preview of what to expect. Drums and sudden splashes of 8-bit noise guide the track forward, replacing the more spacious backdrops Noah has used in the past. Yet what “Miminashi” proves, at least on early listens, is that her voice can thread through any backdrop. She adds a charm and intrigue to the song, and makes us really curious to get to the whole album. Listen above.
New Parkgolf: “Multiverse”
“Multiverse” finds the usually frantic Parkgolf slowing down considerably. This just-under-five-minute number finds the producer trying out something close to new age music, as this number doesn’t so much build as it recedes in and out, bringing in new pieces every once in awhile. I’m not sure Parkgolf should drop the high-speed format in favor of trying to make it big on a Spotify new age playlist — “Multiverse” is absorbing and certainly good background music when looking over emails, but lacks a punch — but it is a nice temporary diversion at least, and a nice showcase of what else Parkgolf can do. Listen above.
In The Sun: Blanco’s A Place For Youthful Days
Tokyo’s Blanco first popped up on this year’s Die In Pop compilation via Ano(t)raks, with the song “Paradise.” That number rounds out this new release A Place For Youthful Days, offering a bit of a contrast to the other number present here. Let’s start with “Paradise,” though, as it is familiar both because of timing and because of a structure leaning toward tradition, the whole thing one big melancholy gallop, broken up by some electronic squiggles and longer guitar passages. What really makes it stick around, though, is the decision to keep the vocals on the fuzzy side, giving this one a slightly more blurred feel than other straightforward indie-pop efforts. And that is also the connecting tissue to opener “Isolated City,” which moves at a slower pace but lets a nice wave of feedback and synthesizer soak over it to give it a similarly out-of-space feel. Get it here, or listen below.
New Cola Splash: Cider Stream
In the Trekkie Trax song catalog, Cola Splash’s “Curry Drinker” stands as a fan favorite…at least based on seeing people react to it at various DJ events and other live gatherings. It is a pretty good snapshot of what the label is all about — it manages to be both hard-hitting and fluttery, pacing itself just right to be one of Trekkie Trax’s finest bangers. Despite that, Cola Splash has been pretty quiet since putting that one out! But no longer, as now comes the Cider Stream release, a three-track blast of familiar dance energy. The title track recreates a familiar fizzy rush, starting off around sliced-up vocal samples before building up to a big drop, with the slight twist that this central part isn’t quire total release but rather a more reserved outburst. “Crying Salmon” takes this start-stop dynamic even further, while “Charming Steak” moves at a more consistent pace. Glad to see Cola Splash back bringing the same energy. Get it here, or listen below.
Ventla Returns With 10 Albums, Saves 2018
Semi-mysterious producer Ventla set out years ago to release 100 albums featuring instruments all played by Ventla themselves. The resulting releases touched on every style around, from neon-smeared synth-pop to acoustic pop to bedroom exotica. Ventla was getting pretty far and…then just kind of stopped, in 2015. And more or less vanished. When I talked to Keith Rankin at Orange Milk Records — a label that put out a non-100 Ventla album — he told me he had zero idea where Ventla went, but would love to hear more. I think a lot of people fell under the latter.
And then, this week…Ventla just came back! And they didn’t hold back, uploading ten (!) albums of new songs to Bandcamp, which you can get here. I don’t even know where to start, because each deserves to be digested fully. Genuinely Superficial stood out immediately with its slinky electro funk, while Fluffy Yet Moist packs in some oddball pop samples alongside great cover art. Look, more thoughts to come, but for now just dive in here.