AU59: Mary Anne Hobbs compilation review

VARIOUS ARTISTS
MARY ANNE HOBBS PRESENTS WILD ANGELS
PLANET MU

For those anyone not able or inclined to listen to Mary Anne Hobbs’ radio show every week, her Planet Mu compilations are fast becoming indispensable. Third time round, Hobbs’ picks have shifted slightly from dubstep-dominated Warrior Dubz and Evangeline to reflect more of the broad palette of experimental electronica, with five exclusives among its 18 tracks. In a slightly obtuse move, it opens with the hazy drone of Mark Pritchard’s ‘?’, before settling into a diet of skewed hip-hop (Hudson Mohawke, Mike Slott, Rustie, Nosaj Thing, Architeq, Teebs), mixed with work from the boundaries of dubstep (the techno-inflected Hyetal; Gemmy and Brackles with their bright neon synths), and some stuff that’s completely uncategorisable, such as Mono/Poly’s hyperactive ‘Red And Yellow Toys’, Irish act Legion Of Two’s dark and heavy ‘And Now We Wait’ or Darkstar’s haunting reworking of ‘Videotape’ by Radiohead. As ever, Hobbs shows that her ear is among the best in the business, and anyone with the slightest interest in the more esoteric end of electronic music will find more than the odd track to fall for here. Highly recommended.

8/10

DOWNLOAD: HYETAL – ‘WE SHOULD LIGHT A FIRE’, HUDSON MOHAWKE – ‘SPOTTED’, DARKSTAR – ‘VIDEOTAPE’.
FOR FANS OF: BASS-HEAVY ELECTRONICA.

AU59: AU Stereo tracks

My tunes of the (then) moment…

VITALIC
POISON LIPS
PIAS

After a long hiatus, Pascal Arbez has gone a little bit disco on the second Vitalic album, Flashmob. It makes for a more colourful experience than the heavy duty slabs of uncompromising electro and icy atmospherics of 2005’s OK Cowboy, and ‘Poison Lips’ is an undoubted highlight, invoking that staple of achingly cool electronica, the femme fatale. Deliriously, dangerously danceable stuff.

NOSAJ THING
CAVES
ALPHA PUP

Like trailblazers Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke, LA’s Jason Chung operates in the field of so-called ‘wonky’ – essentially fucked-up instrumental hip-hop with dubby effects, serious bass weight and disorienting rhythms. His new album Drift is well worth a listen and this track is key – when the surging bass locks with the crisp claps, you won’t be able to sit still.

LIQUID VEGA
HEARTBREAK DANCER
WHITE

We’re getting all hot under the collar about The xx at the minute – such grace, mystery and restraint. And if they are indeed doing the business for you as well, give this lot a go too. There’s two of them, they’re from London and this track is the perfect introduction – a gorgeous slice of bruised and beaten disco, perfect for deserted dancefloors.

LIGHTNING BOLT
COLOSSUS
LOAD

From this month’s ‘Ronseal’ section comes this towering new track from noise rock behemoths Lightning Bolt, whose new album Earthly Delights is out in October imminent. Initially a sludgy slow-burner, it soon blasts into life with metallic riffola, mind-bending wah-wah bass and the inimitably frantic drumming of Mr Brian Chippendale. It’s been too long but the Bolt are back.

AU59: Nosaj Thing Incoming piece

Single-page piece based on an email interview with Jason Chung – it was kind of last minute and he wasn’t available for a phoner. His album Drift is one of my favourite electronic records this year.

INCOMING

NOSAJ THING

REAL NAME: Jason Chung
FROM: Los Angeles, California.
FOR FANS OF: Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, J Dilla.
CHECK OUT: Debut album Drift, out now on Alpha Pup.
WEBSITE: www.nosajthing.com

Jason. Nosaj. Nosaj. Jason. See what he’s done there? Pretty clever on the part of young Mr. Chung, we think you’ll agree. At least, that’s what we keep telling ourselves since it took several weeks to clock the origin of the stage name. By then, of course, the 24-year-old from LA had reeled us in with his quite exquisite debut album, Drift, a record that’s ensured that his card is marked as one of the best young hip-hop/electronica producers around.

The man himself describes his music as “emotional electronic music with a hip-hop backbone”. Others might use the horrible term ‘wonky’, but in truth it’s enough to let Chung do what he does without getting too bogged down in genre names. Drift belongs to the spectrum of hip-hop and electronica that is touched by dubstep in atmosphere and an emphasis on bass (see also emergent acts like Hudson Mohawke, Mount Kimbie and Rustie) without fully committing to the strict norms of the genre. So Drift sounds expansive, sleek and futuristic, with plenty of gleaming, luxurious synths and wide open spaces, while also boasting some juicy sub-bass and Dilla-esque hip-hop beats. It’s an intoxicating mixture. Chung says that he “got into dubstep late” and denies that it’s a significant influence, though he does single out Martyn and Burial as the producers that he’s “feeling” the most. More significant in his development, however, were “mainstream hip-hop, Nineties music, and bands like Radiohead and Cornelius” as well as family and friends.

The latter comment perhaps gives away the most, because Chung doesn’t just have any old friends. Chief among them is the current golden boy of avant-garde hip-hop, fellow LA native and Warp Records artist Flying Lotus, to who Nosaj Thing is often – justifiably – compared, even though his sound is much less busy and claustrophobic than that of his more illustrious counterpart. “He’s a friend of mine and [has] also been a inspiration,” says Chung, and with the success FlyLo enjoyed off the back of his Los Angeles record last year, that’s no surprise. And according to Chung, there’s more to come from the city, as he namechecks Free The Robots, Gaslamp Killer, My Hollow Drum Crew, Brainfeeder Crew, and Dibiase as acts to check out. Although it might seem facile to bring his hometown into it too much, Chung insists that it was the making of him.

“I believe so,” he says. “My parents enrolled me in an after-school program when I was in fourth grade and the bus driver that picked us up from school always had on one of LA’s local hip-hop radio stations. This was when the Beat Junkies were the resident DJs. I used to record their mixes at home and listen to them all the time. Lots of West Coast hip-hop.”

In his own stylish way, then, Nosaj Thing is continuing that tradition.