What’s up, welcome to issue #22 of Crow’s Nest. As always if you’re reading these words, I truly appreciate it and hope you find something within to enjoy.
No essays or longwinded intro here. I am deep into preparing for a trip to Miami next week to iii Points, which is looking to have the most overwhelmingly chaotic energy I’ve ever seen in a lineup outside of Le Guess Who?:
If you have any tips or recommendations for that feel free to send me your recommendations. I’ll also be in Miami for some time after so general things to do/see/eat are also appreciated.
Now let’s get to the music and more. I’m very much a bit behind my ‘listen through’ playlist but it’s music, not fruit, so it’s not like it has an expiration date no matter how quickly popular discussion may move on from even big-ticket names. The Substack editor says this is too big from email before I added show pics so open the full thing if needed.
I feel I seek out new/different music at the intensity I do often because I’m looking for something new, innovative, unique or different. But moreso I feel I do this as I suspect there’s frequently something better out there—something not getting the attention it deserves, someone doing it better than those in the spotlight today, seeing the next big thing before everyone else does. Toronto jangle/bedroom pop duo Ducks Ltd. certainly fall into the latter category.
The two don’t reinvent the wheel—their Flying Nun, Dunedin sound, Orange Juice et al. influences are worn on their sleeves—but the execution and the feelings they convey are simply superb. It’s getting the drum machines to swing just right. It’s the tender examinations of lonely evenings, knowing they will pass yet living in those feelings while they’re present. It’s being with a few people at a bar or an apartment, getting back with another drink, and realizing there’s simply nowhere else on the planet you’d rather be at that moment. Simply excellent all around.
Maloya is a traditional music from the Indian Ocean island of Réunion, frequently compared to the blues both in terms of its origins and originality. I’ve been fascinated by the genre since discovering it a few years ago, both due to my interest in small island geography and the genre’s originality, hybridizing it with modern production techniques. (You might recall the BoogzBrown EP from earlier this year as another maloya piece.) Bandcamp Daily recently surveyed the genre, introducing me to many more artists in the genre, with the highlight of those being Corail by Loya.
The building blocks of maolya—6/8 time, call and responses vocals, polyrhythmic drumming, drone—are all present. On Corail those elements combine with the producer’s background of 90s IDM, creating an album I really can also describe as sublime. I’m reminded quite a bit of Jon Hopkins and King Creosote’s Diamond Mine at certain points. If integrating modular synthesizers, field recordings and other attempts to break out of studio grids have grown somewhat tiring for you in electronic music, I still implore you to give this a shot.
East Asia has long been in thrall to shoegaze that doesn’t compare to the Anglosphere’s ever-changing relationship with Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine et al. This pseudonymous solo project by a concerningly self-deprecating Seoul resident adds emo into the mix, and caught the attention of the forum underground’s most passionate earlier this year. I gave it another go last week after a new split release involving the artist came out, and I have to give it its credit. The end result seems a bit like Deafheaven filtered through a PS1 or Gamecube sound card, and is well on its way to becoming a true cult classic of the genre.
Crow’s Nest hereby returns from its unanticipated interruption to bring you the latest in Portuguese dance music. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience with us. This techno EP comes from a new-to-me name with a Hieroglyphic Being-sized back catalog, the sort I wish I could have additional time to dig into while staying on top of everything else. Like Jamal Moss, there’s a tendency to slam things into the red without strong regard for the playback, perfect for losing hearing to in a warehouse worth less than the soundsystem in a deindustrialized part of town at 3 AM. What’s interesting to my ear is the dubby sheen on top of everything; I imagine it won’t be too long before I see if this is a one-off or the producer’s modus operandi.
Until I went to his Bandcamp I thought producer Madteo was from northern England? His prolific nature and ‘endlessly f*cked’-type Boomkat blurbs made me think he hangs out irl with Demdike Stare and similar but no, he’s from Queens. Another too-deep-to-casually-wade-into catalog at this time for me, Str8 Crooked caught my ear on the Pink Line to Pitchfork. On ‘Episcopi Vagantes’, after 5-10 minutes of pulling apart his composition (including, impressively, an ASMR-like klaxon), the beat reconstructs into something danceable. It seems his releases are loaded with wonderful pieces like that and more.
A few issues back I wondered what introduction to the Berlin techno scene could compare to No Photos On The Dancefloor, and now I have to admit I underestimated the German passion for proper documentation. Tresor’s 30th anniversary compilation can’t and shouldn’t be compared straightforwardly to the former, as this compilation dives deeper into the origins and exchanges with Detroit that have bolstered both cities (Huey Mnenomic, Drexciya) while also spotlighting rising global talent (Bergsonist, SHE Spells Doom, KMRU) alongside the legends (Jeff Mills, Porter Ricks). At nearly 5 hours there’s plenty to dig into as you plan your next visit to either locale.
I came across this album of Mexican krautrock, one of those somewhat idiosyncratic regional phenomena that immediately gets my attention, via the official Bandcamp twitter. While your longform repetitive beats and expected freakouts are present like the best records from half a century ago, this solo project also heads into spacey kosmiche territory when those acts started digging deeper into their synthesizers.
Finn’s capacity to make perky, uptempo dancefloor bangers with under-your-skin creepy vocal hooks is unparalleled. While the rest of his latest EP A Good Place didn’t do much for me, the title track certainly stands among his best in this style. Try not to think too hard about its contradiction … perhaps.
Fire Talk’s Open Tab singles series continues introducing me to quality indie acts from across the country. A few weeks ago that was Advertisment, which certainly sounds like they’d be a post-punk act, but I can’t necessarily categorize them as such. ‘Desert rock’ isn’t a term I’d use for much music out of Seattle, if any, yet the krautrock drumming, organs, and another signals pointing to 70s rock make for an exciting debut album from last year.
I’m not a fan of Jack White—among other reasons, I was at the guacamolegate show in Oklahoma—but I do respect and appreciate his and Third Man’s attention to rediscovering and preserving the history of rock, and drawing attention to the poor state of those archives. Recent unearthing Magic Roundabout, from 80s Manchester, is exactly the sort of hidden gem crate diggers might look for, and I’m glad this is seeing the light of day again. Standouts include the lo-fi pop number ‘She’s A Waterfall’ and the Cottonwoodhill-style collage freakout ‘Alice’s Paper Plane’ that takes up the entire B-side.
I caught Louisville post-punk trio Wombo opening for Moontype this summer at Sleeping Village. The taut grooviness of their EP Keesh Mountain has stayed in my ears since then. At 9 minutes long it’s infinitely replayable—perhaps one of the tightest releases to come out of Kentucky since Spiderland—and has soundtracked a few stressful stretches of work since then. They’ll be returning to Chicago next week and no doubt will be back on the road elsewhere before long.
As my frequent references to it outside of a blurb upon release can attest, Ignorance by The Weather Station is and remains one of my favorite albums of the year. She’s released a deluxe version of the album containing live versions of some songs, piano versions and a few session leftovers. I’d be remiss to not mention that her live performance of ‘Robber’ at Pitchfork Music Festival last month has been officially posted online, easily one of my highlights of the fest. You know what to do with those.
And with that I’m calling this an issue. As always if you’ve gotten to this point, thank you for reading, I hope you found something within you enjoy. Until next time, soak up as much sun as you can.