G’Day,
Welcome to Issue #5 of Crow’s Nest. As always thank you for reading. I don’t really have an essay in me for this one—stress from my job has been affecting my mental load for reading and offsetting the cautious optimism I feel at the change in administration. At least things aren’t (currently) getting worse at as a great of a rate as they had been recently, I feel. Hopefully the music inside is enough of a conversation.
But above all do not forget the reason for the season, as Spinn, Taso and Sunny Norway remind us with their recent track:
Tweets are back but no Bernie Sanders memes in this one. They’re fine but I’m sure you’ve had your fill and there are other tweets that also deserve your attention.
As usual if you enjoy what you’ve read here please spread the word and subscribe if you’ve not.
Ok, so usually the order in which I blurb these releases is somewhat arbitrary, but that isn’t the case here. Palberta5000 is easily my favorite of the bunch. Ani Ivry-Block, Lily Konigsberg, and Nina Ryser are truly locked in here. I’ve had to have listened to this at least 10 times since Friday afternoon. With each play I find myself wondering: has it been 2 hours? 15 minutes? Has this groove gone on for 2 bars or 2 minutes? Impossible to say. Like if ESG, Shopping or any other dance-heavy post-punk band were the ones to write Remain In Light instead of Talking Heads. That might be a bold claim but I have a feeling it will hold up. Truly stunning stuff. I’m kicking myself for not giving them a chance earlier.
I’ve highlighted Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being’s work in past issues. As the producer continues to dig through his archives and release music at a frankly ridiculous rate, this album of “NOISE DRONE NON AMBIENT EXPERIMENTAL FCKERY CULLED FROM VHS TAPES RECORDED BACK 1999” stands above the rest. What is even going on in tracks like “GLIESE 357” and “GLIESE 1123”?
I was going to write a melodramatic bit about this being the time of year in Chicago where direct sunlight can be measured in minutes per month, but it’s actually been quite sunny and pleasant from that end these past few days (other than today). That was going to lead into this release of hard melodic techno from these Scots. It’s still worth checking out as is every track Clouds releases.
Related (nice):
The hottest club track of 2014/2015 just dropped! Better late than never I suppose. Say what you want about either or the timing of this but Bipp remains excellent and Autechre have done a good job extending its longevity, perhaps.
Smerz’s Have Fun, with its Dean Blunt-esque existentialism and heavy percussive low-end was a 2018 highlight, so you could say I’m very excited for their recently announced debut album. The title track appears a step up from Have Fun, and provided there are a few more tracks of its caliber inside I’m sure it will satisfy similarly.
Going (partially, I admit) through a recent issue of Turntable Report, a newsletter run by indie lifer Tracy Wilson, I came across this album from Dutch band Noveau Vélo. If you were to tell me there’s a hidden gem of a jangly indie band based in suburban Eindhoven, I’d believe you immediately then ask for their name. Only in writing this blurb did I realize this album was from 2014 and they’ve put out 2 more since, but that just means there’s another 2 albums from them to put on every now and again.
Back in 2019 Finders Keepers and Steve Stapleton put out a compilation of highlight tracks from the legendary Nurse With Wound list, focusing on French albums on the list. Volume 2 has yet to appear. This release, which also came to my attention via Turntable Report, wasn’t on volume 1 or the list but I strongly suspect it could have been. This was recorded in 1967. Using the ondes Martenot 4 years before Johnny Greenwood was born. It’s blowing my mind to consider it.
I don’t think it’s illegal for one track to be released on two different records on the same day but it is definitely odd. That’s the case with ‘Mare Nostrum’ by Alex Martin under his Sideral guise, which has turned up on both his retrospective compilation Classics 1994-1998 and Music From Memory’s Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997. It’s dual inclusion is definitely indicative of its quality. Both releases are worth checking out though I favor the MFM release.
Oakland-based producer Tomu DJ has been putting out EPs and other short releases at a decent clip this past year. While Fruit 2 appears to be the recent highlight release I’m more partial to this collaborative EP with Kyra.
I’m not going to rehash Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s life story and recent rise in prominence as you’ve probably encountered at least 2 articles on it already. What has gone below the radar is the Peaking Lights remix of this Jesse Futerman track he features on. Wonderful stuff.
Stereolab have announced Volume 4 of their singles/rarities/outtakes Switched On compilation series, Electrically Possessed. I’m not a huge fan of their super-smooth post-Dots and Loops work but the first single from this is promising.
The second album from the Norwegian art-rock group. Lots of left turns and other moments to really dig into. (Writing brain and my Palberta binging is taking its toll on this blurb, sorry.)
Freedom to Spend, which is the reissue arm of the RVNG Intl. label family iirc, have put out their latest, highlighting Tiziano Popoli’s works from the 80s. As you can tell I’m a big fan of semi-hidden off-kilter stuff, and this is between academic music, minimalism, dance, crossover classical and other moody 80s stuff middle-aged crate diggers tend to love. Nils Frahm is probably the best RIYL option here. Well worth a few spins.
There’s always more music to write about and attempt to bring attention to but that’s enough for now. As always, if you’ve gotten to this point thank you so much for reading and your time, I hope you discovered a release or two worth your time. I’m @embirdened on Twitter but you can also reach out through this newsletter, notes and comments are so much better than Substack analytics.
“Things I’ve read” is the odd man out this issue so here is an animal picture from my phone for you. Cheers, drop your shoulders a bit and be sure to do something deeply relaxing soon.
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