Högni – Komdu Með
After recently announcing his signing to Erased Tapes Records, Icelandic artist Högni, of indie rock group Hjaltalín & electronic group GusGus will release his debut album Two Trains on October 20th. Today he’s sharing the first single from the record, “Komdu Með”.
Listen to “Komdu Með” here:
Amidst destruction on the mainland, the two locomotives Minør and Pionér transported wagons full of rock and gravel to the Icelandic seaside during the construction of the Reykjavík harbour in 1913-1917. The two metallic giants ushered in a new age in Iceland. However, soon after construction ceased the two trains were parked and have never driven since. Now they only serve to remind us of the grandeur of a bygone future. They are the only trains ever to have graced the Icelandic landscape.
The music in Two Trains embraces the spirit of the original European avant-garde and invokes these concepts in its chugging rhythms, metallic clangs and brooding choral arrangements (men’s choruses are a distinctly Icelandic phenomena related to the national/romantic politics of the 19th and 20th century) while the lyrics speak of ominous clouds on the war-ridden eastern horizon and freight cars filled with gravel and dreams.
Words from Högni, July 2017:
“The music on Two Trains is a blue-print of a period in my life where I collided with my own self, and at that point I felt the indifference between the personal and the universal, the absolute consciousness of life’s unconsciousness. Perhaps it’s a feeling that cannot be conveyed, like watercolours that just seem to wash off into the sea. But also a flashing mirage that you can enjoy before you arrive at your last destination.”
As time went on, the two trains also began to bear a psychological implication to Högni and came to represent the different incarnations of his persona during a difficult period in his life. As a society we are also quite often faced with a fork in the road and a decision to make, and most importantly the acceptance of one’s self.
Today, the real Minør and Pionér are unemployed, mere relics. Minør is on display near the Reykjavík waterfront and Pionér is parked in an outdoor museum on a hill. But for Högni, with this release, the two trains have ushered in a new chapter in his own life.
The cover art incorporates a distorted portrait photograph taken by Anna Maggy with the help of Sigurður Oddsson’s art direction, using projected features to reflect the idea of duality.
Pre-order Two Trains here: http://phonofile.link/two-trains
Two Trains track listing:
1. Andaðu
2. Shed Your Skin
3. Komdu Með
4. Crash
5. Dragðu Mig
6. Óveðursský
7. Break Up
8. Moon Pitcher
9. Parallel
10. Enn Næða Orð
See Högni live:
3rd Sept – Erased Tapes 10th Anniversary Piano Stage Takeover, End of the Road Festival, DORSET UK
Video: Lali Puna – The Bucket
Taken from “Two Windows” out on Morr Music Sept. 2017
Directed by : Lali Puna
Earlham Mystics (aka Luke Abbott) – Waters
Hot on the heels of the ‘Truth EP’ from March this year, Luke Abbott is to release the second in a trilogy of Earlham Mystics recordings with ‘Waters EP’ available digitally from July 28th and 12” vinyl on sale from September 15th 2017. The four-track collection is to be released via Gold Panda’s NOTOWN Recordings label.
Listen to the new EP’s title track, “Waters”:
Like its predecessor, the ‘Waters EP’, sees Luke presenting another series of immediate, yet nuanced and immersive tracks. Warm and inviting, the first two productions, ‘Waters’ and ‘Ada L’ lean on hypnotic vocal samples – ie, according to Luke, “the bits where it sounds like someone speaking in tongues” and unfurl gorgeously somewhere between lush ambience and more meditative techno. The two tracks that comprise Side B of the record, are journeys into “generative music processes – one focused on rhythm and the other on melody”, according to Luke, which doesn’t quite pay enough credit to their understated beauty – especially the playful, delicate ‘PIGG’.
Born out of a desire to break some of his own rules, Earlham Mystics is Luke Abbott hopping onto an alternate timeline for his career, both looking back to basics and moving in exciting new directions. Describing this second EP (of a series of three) as “like playtime”, Luke describes his Earlham Mystics guise as a way of playing with form and function in a new way: “I was speaking to a comedian once after a stand up show, he told me “it’s a formula”. I like thinking about function and formula, it’s at the core of creativity. I think you have to embrace it and be aware that it’s there; otherwise you fall foul of it.
‘Waters EP’ is available to pre-order from: lukeabbottmusic.bandcamp.com/album/waters-ep and www.musicglue.com/notown/shop/.
In conjunction with his Earlham Mystics releases, Luke has also begun DJing – another new venture for him. He DJs this Friday July 28th at The Colombian @ Corsica Studios, London.
‘Waters EP’ tracklist:
01. Waters
02. Ada L
03. Omnishambles
04. PIGG
Blue Hawaii – No One Like You
Blue Hawaii is the songwriting, production, and DJ project of Raphaelle ‘Ra’ Standell and Alexander ‘Agor’ Kerby. After some four years apart, the duo rekindled their creative flame in 2016 and begun writing music about an intimate relationship Ra was experiencing mostly over instant messaging, sparking ideas about the meaning of closeness in our highly connected world.
Today, they duo is pleased to announce their new album Tenderness due for release on October 6th via Arbutus Records. With the announcement they share the album’s lead single, “No One Like You”
Listen to “No One Like You”
Tenderness is a concept album which brings forth the challenges of handling relationships online. Maintaining closeness over distance and a need for more tenderness between each other – both in real and virtual life – are important themes in the album’s progression. The album draws upon influence from 90’s dance tracks and deep disco cuts, often mixed with Ra’s acoustic guitar playing. It unfolds like a play and each song being supported by shorter interlude pieces: skits, phone calls, acoustic demos, real life samples and quiet left-turns. “Free At Last” opens as a smooth house jam with a half-spoken vocal, rasping out the bittersweet tear between the end of Ra’s last relationship and her budding self-confidence. The listener is guided through the many other phases of letting go: pining, anger, nostalgia, forgiveness, and abandonment, until reaching the title track, “Tenderness”. Here the strength which Ra has been searching for is boldly stated: “I learn to greet the day, with as much tenderness as if I were laying in your arms, learning how to be alone without you, and happy to be with me”.
Blue Hawaii have traced a unique path. They made a splash back in 2010 by releasing the sun-soaked EP Blooming Summer, following their loving, dustyrose coloured travels through Central America. Three years quickly passed and they suddenly found themselves touring a break-up record called Untogether (2013), dealing with complex issues surrounding technology & their relationship, living apart while creating together, and seeing their local community torn apart by success and jealousy. Since then, Ra spent much of her time with her band Braids, while Agor has lived in LA and Berlin developing a deeper understanding of dance music production and DJing — something the two are well known to bring to their heavy-hitting live show & DJ sets.
The cover image of Tenderness is shot in Agor’s ex-living room in Glendale, CA – it depicts a couple close to each other, ironically tender, communicating primarily on their phones. This speaks to the contradictory power of technology, wherein people are both alienated and brought together by its use. It offers one view on our preferred method of staying in touch, but not an altogether depressing one for it is somehow also rose-coloured and loving, with room for personal growth. By the end of the record Ra has dismissed her absent lover and finds validation without a need for them – investing newfound energy in being tender to herself.
Blue Hawaii – Tenderness (October 6th – Arbutus)
Free At Last
No One Like You
Pregame
Versus Game
Belong to Myself
Prepare for Flight
Younger Heart
Strummin
Make Love Stay
Big News
Blossoming From Your Story
Searching For You
Do You Need Me
Tenderness
Giggles
Far Away Soon
Pre-Order Tenderness: http://smarturl.it/9vj2m5
The Penelopes – Mulholland Drive (Mighty Mouse Remix)
‘Mulholland Drive’ is a taster of The Penelopes forthcoming EP ‘Leave Them All Behind’ and sets the gorgeous, nostalgic tone for songs about loneliness and isolation. In this way, ‘Mulholland Drive’ conjures instantly the classically French tones of Ed Banger disciples Kavinsky or Justice. It’s an equally well-formed and beautifully-formed gem – a moody, glamorous track that evokes the best of 90 and 00s Paris.
The French duo have come together with English producer Mighty Mouse to add his innovative, disco-influenced stamp on the nostalgic ‘Mulholland Drive’. Mighty Mouse has garnered high-praise from publications such as MIXMAG, EARMILK and INDIE SHUFFLE but most recently has been working with side project Du Tonc.
Gidge – Hope
Mini album LNLNN is out now on Atomnation. Stream / purchase: atomnationrec.lnk.to/LNLNN
Video: Tendts – Who Are The Pleiadians
Taken from our new EP ‘It’s Everywhere’, out now on Lower Parts Records.
Order the EP: https://lowerparts.bandcamp.com/album/its-everywhere
‘It’s Everywhere’ is a concept EP soundtracking Tendts’ intergalatic encounter with The Pleiadians (dimension traversing Nordic aliens to the unenlightened ) at the far edge of the universe. Upon their journey home they brought with them not only costumes, masks and relics of extraterrestrial civilizations, they brought with them the spirits of two great celestial beings, Momongo and Floflolo. Fotis and Christos were the reincarnation of these two and the main purpose of their return was to enlighten the people of Earth about the beginning of the era of the Cosmic Swimmer.
Video: DJ Shadow – Corridors feat. Steven Price
Download/Stream here: https://DJShadow.lnk.to/TMHF
The Mountain Has Fallen EP featuring Nas, Danny Brown, and Steven Price, available now. Director: Dan Emmerson.
Indian Wells – Where The World Ends LP
Indian Wells, producer Pietro Iannuzzi from southern Italy, is set to release his third album ‘Where The World Ends’ via LA based Friends Of Friends on 8th September 2017. Across a range of artfully composed, emotive electronic music, ‘Where The World Ends’ channels feelings of geographical, social and political isolation formed from borders both ageless and imposed.
From ‘Voices’ opening soundscape, the heavenly techno of ‘Cascades’, the melodic peaks of ‘The Alps’ and the soaring title track; ‘Where The World Ends’ is in turns ebullient and melancholic, compelling and hypnotic. Choirs of wordless vocals provide a universal element of communication throughout; breaking down barriers of language, creating connections, crossing borders.
Releases September 8, 2017. Pre-order link: https://fofmusic.lnk.to/ WhereTheWorldEnds
