June '23: Track Picks, and a bit on loss...
A hectic month of festivals and events is rounded off with some bitter news; music be the remedy...
The international music scene has lost two great figures this month: the first, and lightest, is that Czech experimental label Genot Centre has decided to close down upon releasing their latest and final album from Bryce Helm. Later in the letter you’ll find a little about why they have been so instrumental. The second loss is much harder, much more painful. Odai Masri, among many other things the founder/director of Exist Festival Palestine, has died. The details are less important than remembering what he lived for: emancipation for the people of Palestine, through music and celebration, connecting hearts in the global scene with the cause of justice in the territory of Palestine.
The cover art I made for Odai’s contribution to my radio show. I asked for a picture which represents what his mix is about, and he sent an over-exposed digitally-made image of a hand seizing the dove of peace.
Opposing the typical dialogue from Westerners (or non-Palestinian people), of rather empty pity and inexpressable regret, Odai’s mission was to have Palestine seen as a place of exceptional music — which it certainly is — and for the qualities of his people and culture to be celebrated outside of the context of the Zionist occupation. While writing my review for the Exist Festival x Gaza Skate Crew community fundraiser for Electronic Sound magazine, he really urged me that the words should focus entirely on the fundraiser itself, and to separate it from the discussions of the occupation which creep so easily into writing about the region.
It seemed to me that for Odai, the importance of being seen as an already-liberated people was paramount, contradicting the conflicted narratives whereby Palestinians are forever a people marred by the occupation. Of course, this is not a matter of denying the oppression his family and friends face daily, but about reframing the discussion: we don’t have to make Palestinians bear the cross of the occupation in everything they do. They have the right to make art, and for the art to be appreciated for what it is, rather than the artist live in perpetually politicised space. I think this might be where his festival, Exist, took its name: a celebration of life and culture.
I think that Odai taught me more than I’m currently aware, and not least of the lessons is the one of love, which was always present in talking with him. Another might be that solidarity doesn’t require a supporter to always relate something (art, music, etc) from an oppressed group to the narrative of their oppression: we don’t love the music of Arca and SOPHIE just because they’re trans artists, but because it’s great art. Odai taught me that supporting oppressed people demands that you see them as people before viewing them through the circumstances of their existence.
The mix mentioned at the start. Odai explained to me that he didn’t “have the right equipment” to record the mix but somehow managed anyway, which says something about determination, perhaps.
GENOT CENTRE: 2015 - 2023.
It’s always sad when a label you love decides to shut up shop. The closure of Genot Centre was quite unexpected by just about everyone, I think, and feels too soon. I’d caught wind of Genot Centre before I ever moved out to Czechia (I think it was the Corporation release, a duo with Racine who I interviewed back in pre-pandemic 2020), and very quickly the label impressed on me (via this all-time favourite release from Finnish musician Eilien) as an essential one for just about all the reasons you can hope for from a label.
Gold-standard music, a superbly curated artist roster, excellent artworks (and, for the ferrically-inclined, quality tape production courtesy of Headless Duplicated here in Prague), and operated by lovely individuals that truly, deeply cared about the state of decent contemporary weirdo music out there in the world. They were one of the earlier guests on the show I hosted on Radio Punctum, and you can listen back to them talking about the label on the SoundCloud link below.
There weren’t too many Genot nights during my few years here, but the legends of the sleepover nights still get told with a misty look in the eyes of those who were there. I recall early in my time here in Prague, when the city was still under an almost all-encompassing lockdown, I was invited to come and hang out for a live-streamed event from the Archa theatre. The attention and care to the music of the performers was tangible in everything related to the stream. Later, I’d go to see ABADIR live for the first time, fresh after the label released his stunning album Pause/Stutter/Uh/Repeat, and that would evolve to be a fairly life-changing event for me, too.
When I started working at the now-defunct synth shop Noise Kitchen my key responsibility was taking care of the messy state of our little tape and vinyl store. At the time it was almost exclusively local releases (we had just bought a crate of Miasma/Sonic Pieces vinyl) and, tasked with listening and writing something about everything in stock, flitting through the extensive classic Genot collection was some of the most rewarding digging I’ve done. At the time, they were releasing QOW, Eilien, and ABADIR, a trio of 5* instantly sold-out tapes, and following the thread from the beautifully weird yet relatively placcid In-Store Music by Ten Hyphen Twenty to the pounding psuedo-post club of ABADIR was a staggering and wonderful procedure.
Moving on from the personal experiences and back onto why you need more Genot (which translates as ‘pleasure’) in your life, get your fangs sunk into the latest and last — Bryce Helm’s Close You're Eyes Why Smokeing Weed is as bizarre as the best of the label’s output: wacky, yes, but never-erring in its enjoyability. The tracks disappear in a blink, many shorter than a Public Enemy skit, but in the sparing seconds of each piece Bryce Helm manages to cram in a really bewildering amount of technique and production. This could be the most perfect album for TikTok-length attention-spans — as boring and overly-repeated an analogy as they come, but nonetheless one that holds true.
In honesty I’ve always held something of an aversion to music that ends so quickly — influence from my DJing style I expect, for my sins — but Bryce Helm manages to achieve a pleasure in listening during these scant seconds that some don’t succeed in a far longer time period. Vapour and Nyjah Huston Visits The FaZe House kick like Actress at his most playful, but without the sometimes-arduous ‘oooh so mysterious’ fluff that comes with it, while Marijuana sets an anticipatory stoner up for a sound design-induced psychotic breakdown. If you’re after the intravenous experience, whack the last track on: it might be about 4 times longer than the rest, but there’s a whole second album’s worth of impressionistic sounds in this chaotic fuckfest of noise that are quite literally crammed into the very last pockets of air on the tape, all crushed together and gorgeously unholy in unrestrained, indistinct clamour.
I wonder if Genot will ride again in some guise or another — certainly I hope so — but, in the event that it doesn’t, keep your eyes peeled for music by Wim Dehaen, talented musician and co-founder of the label, and that of his wife and sometimes-partner in music, who goes solo by the name Enchanted Lands. And, if Genot is new news to you, it’s good news at the end: the whole discography of 50+ releases is going for just six of your finest Euro.
The last edition of Reach was shorter, just three reviews, and I’ve decided that doing this playlisting thing is much simpler to do once per month, but more comprehensive. I'm also going to be condensing the writeups and removing many of the embedded listen links: I go to quite a lot of effort in building out the BuyMusicClub playlist, so I’m going to be placing something of a priority there. Everything will remain here, but it’s going to be much easier to listen via the BMC link, which you can find here and by clicking on the header image. I know that the email view of the newsletter isn’t necessarily the best way to check the embedded music, so there’s links on the titles of the releases to follow and buy.
Alongside some hot tracks from this month I’m including some older cuts inside here, some pieces which returned from the awareness grave in some sets I’ve been playing throughout the month. I believe in the longevity of music, and the flash-in-the-pan attention spans on Instagram, and the general music PR structure, has been sapping this for some time. Time to take a look back, and cover some music which has perhaps been overlooked.
FH HF - A Hole, Yet Part Of The Whole [S/R]
FH HF is a brilliant field recordist/sound artist based in Tbilisi and my love for their music has nothing to do with the fact we share initials.
Ellen Zweig - Act of Watching [Phantom Limb]
This selection of reissued material from poet Ellen Zweig has me utterly smitten — bewildering spoken word blended with effective yet minimal ambient production, the narratives, if you can follow them, alter and change. A masterclass in the unexpected.
Before Putin started his desecration in Ukraine, DiG was shaping up to be one of my favourite labels-cum-record stores. Now decamped and escaped to Yerevan, the ex-Moscow-based shop had a good recent run, featuring Misha Sultan, Koyil, and Mitka — all of which infused ambient music with a certain spirituality, without going all in on the gongs and resonant sine waves. This album from Mårble is incredibly vibrant, explorative, and a great one for just putting on and drifting away.
The most arresting performance of all of Transforma festival was, for me, Gnäw. A duo, one half Finnish, the other Iranian, have a total magnetism when performing their evolving ambient music. I’m very excited that they have a new album coming.
Ike - Vernis VIP [INDEX:Records]
Not one, but two fab releases from INDEX this month, so we’ll put them together — a long-awaited EP from Ike starts us off, and Vernis VIP has been a staple of my summery sets (I think I’ve played it in every set this month), thanks to its perfect pairing with a great forthcoming track from Yetsuby on Third Place - you’ll have to wait until July’s edition (or the 21st) to listen to Commercial Noisy Day, though. Highly recommend the Mathis Ruffing remix of Gage, also!
Genus Aix - Quicksilver Tooth [INDEX:Records]
This second from INDEX was a bit of a surprise drop, at least for me, and honestly it’s brilliant — I’d not known of Genus Aix, and I’m going to carve out the time to find anything else by them. It’s a perfect fit for INDEX — glistening and fluid, clubby yet with fingers in ambient pies. This is the choicest of that mood on the EP, but dig deeper for slower, rolling cuts that avoid tiresome unimaginative repetition.
High Places vs Mankind - The Most Beautiful Name [Thrill Jockey]
It’s sunny in Prague, but who doesn’t go in for some happy/sad dubby music in the sunshine? Slide it in next to Dennis Brown’s Money In My Pocket, or Dry Cry by Sizzla.
Thistle - Ceylon [Stoned To Death]
This is a flashback release: Thistle is a crew member of Noise Kitchen along with Simo Hakalisto (AKA Shakali — peep his Good Morning Tapes release). They played together at Transforma in the peak of the day and were spellbinding. I used Ceylon to wind down my set in Gnojki, and it remains one of my favourite pieces of ambient music from Czechia.
Stefan Vincent - Yonghegong Lama Temple Exit F (Priori Remix) [Musar]
Priori does no wrong. This one is more sedate, in style and tempo, than some of his other work, but still packs in amazing sounds.
Current Bias - Pensive Walk [S/R]
Current Bias has a hilarious touch to his music (I honestly find this track so silly (positive)) but at the same time contains some of the downright sickest productions about. These scrambled and scattered breaks that come in towards the end trump 99.5% of the watery “breakbeat” I’m hearing about lately.
Nikos - Critter [Flippen Discs]
Flippen is fast becoming a really big favourite — fun, fast, sophisticated music, that somehow doesn’t get lost in translation by taking itself completely seriously.
Big Hands - A Square, A Circle [Blank Mind]
Wicked dance manoeuvres from Big Hands. His control of non-standard rhythms always piques my interest, and his technique is forever growing. This one works at 33 + 45 RPM, or +33% for all you digital lovers — which reminds me, if you didn’t have it already there’s a chrome extension that lets you use the BC webplayer with a tempo adjust, like modern CDJs.
MARMO - Sacrificio Quotidiano [UTTER]
This one’s off an upcoming album by Christian Duka (of the excellent Vādin duo, with his partner Avsluta) and visual artist and musician Marco Maldarella — I’ll be reviewing this one in the next episode of Reach, but since the album’s out soon, I’ll tuck this one in here also.
Toumba - Rashash [Nervous Horizon]
Great new percussion-heavy EP from Toumba on Nervous Horizon — pairs nicely with Ramadanman’s Glut, for a flashback to the glory days of post-dubstep.
Bryce Helm - I’m Not Greying [Genot Centre]
Should be enough room for this groovy little interstitial piece from the new Genot Centre.
Ikävä Pii - Rhizomorph Era [Pampsychia]
Ikävä Pii has a real knack for wiggly micro-grooves, and this new EP from the London-based musician showcases their emergent, more club-ready sound. My pick from this release is actually Process Vertigo, but you’ll have to cop the EP or wait until release to hear that one.
Phil In A Maze - Stuttter [Pho Bho Records]
This one came as a surprise — was checking out Ikävä Pii’s track on this compilation and spotted Phil in a Maze, who’s a Prague-based DJ, but his productions are news to me! This is a brilliantly skewed cut, perfect for people yawning at rote pattern 4/4 sigh boring boring techno.
There’s only one track to listen to, so far, of the new album from Shanghai-based Gooooose, but it’s among my favourites from the release (which you can expect to find reviewed in the next edition of the newsletter). Incredibly cool weirdo club music, unashamed to be fun while also sticking it to the speakers. The switch-ups in this track are insane.
Celes - Palladium [Club Paradiso]
Late night taxi ride heaven.
Shoal - MO-VI [Something Happening Somewhere]
Shoal’s just released a debut album via SoHaSo, and this is my pick — gliding intro, hammering, deep as the ocean slamming basslines to close. What could go wrong?
I’m just going to echo my own words about their more recent release: Sage make dance music in the soulful way, that makes people want to move, but doesn’t demand it.
Yek - This is my court [Flower Storm]
Really compelling dance stuff from Sepehr and Kasra V for their inaugural release on their project Flower Storm. Complex rhythms, diced vocals and slick use of Iranian musical motifs.
Bryce Helm - Vapour [Genot Centre]
Oh, go on let’s have another, they’re only small.
asvanyviz2 és ekse - sound of the summer [Benska]
This one is hot off the press and, as of writing time, I’m STILL the only one whos copped it??! asvanyvis2 is probably my favourite figure in the underground Hungarian scene, and this link between them and ekse of Benska is just primo wonky club. The title says it all — all those trap/ambient releases (see: nueen) filtered through a kinda latino club rhythm, with extra space to make it bizarro.
asvanyvis2 - post-world tour [Exiles]
Speaking of asvanyvis2 — Exiles released a great compilation and their music features. I know I’m always going on about Exiles, but really do check this out — outstanding selection of music from the nascent electronic scene in Hungary.
Portway - Panorama [Trax Haven]
Yet to have a good situation to play this utter banger from the Trax Haven crew but FUCK ME does it kick off. Modern 90’s-minded junglism, hyped up for the 21st century. Proper damn club material.
Lyra Valenza - Life on the Line [Petrola 80]
Lyra Valenza are still probably the most fun I’ve had at a liveset, and this cut from their long-awaited album proper distills the best of their infectious smiles and energy into, at long last, recorded material.
Ossia - Dedication to Umm al-Khair _ Free Palestine [Exist x Avon Terror Corps]
If I’m not mistaken in my memories, this was recorded by Ossia during a trip to Palestine for Exist Festival. It’s a very touching conversation (almost monologue) with a young educator from Umm al-Khair, that is also inherently dark. The perspectives offered by this man cast a great beam of light into the life of those on his side of the walls and fences and inside the refugee camps of occupied Palestine. The compilation was released in 2021 (has raised over £5000 for the Palestinian Medical Relief Society!) and still holds depressingly true, as the IOF’s brutal invasion of the Jenin camp shows.
p.s. If my support of Palestine offends you, there’s an unsubscribe button that you can find yourself, without telling me of your pathetic willful ignorance. Thank you!