Record Reviews (05/11/24)
Peverelist - Pulse Echo EP [Livity Sound]
I hope that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, someone far more qualified than me will write an article that does justice to Peverelist’s Pulse EPs, and that that text will end up as the liner notes for an elegant boxset release compiling the entire series. But who knows if that will ever happen: from reading previous reviews it seems that initial press releases announced the series as a trilogy, yet here we are on release number four already. I’m not complaining, though. Indeed, there’s an argument to be made that they just keep getting better and better.
Most of the aforementioned reviews usually contain a phrase along the lines of “that’s how you know it’s Pev”, and it’s that gut feeling, more than any specific sound or structure or stylistic reference, that characterises these tunes. He has this knack for starting out in one register — Dan Bell hard disk fry, Roni Size afternoon jam, Jesper Dahlbäck dub glider, Rob Gordon body pop — before then blending in another completely different register — sedated ambient wooze, bucolic IDM twinkle, depth of ocean amapiano, Bristol (or Detroit, or Chicago, or…) clatter — and occasionally sliding in something else in only the dying moments of the track, as if these many disparate things were destined, all along, to flow and merge into something “Pev”.
On paper that makes it sound like there’s far too much going on, yet I think we can all agree that these tracks are some of the most tightly constructed, spacious, flat-out exposed pieces of dance music being released right now. I played ‘Pulse XVI’ out for the first time on Saturday and for such a (on the face of it) simple track it sounded fucking lethal. It makes me think he’s cracked the code of whatever the Burrell brothers or Forgemasters or whoever were up to back in 1990, shooting the shit in the studio and coming out with some of the best music ever made. Except the mental image I have of Pev is him alone in the studio, a select few sounds bent to his will by a forensic ear, a beating heart and sheer force of concentration.
It also makes me think how grateful I am that someone is making this calibre of music today.
Moaïs - Tales Of An Astral Voyager EP [1432 R]
Will I make a habit of reviewing every EP that comes out on 1432 R? Only if they continue to put out bangers, and this is yet another one from the DC label. Moaïs aka Mzss from Côte d'Ivoire has a Sweely-esque knack for a bassline and a rug-pull fill, but where the French funnyman leans ever further into facile if, presumably, lucrative bloggy electro house, you won’t find that kind of knowing cartoonishness on this EP. Rather, at his best moments — the dreamier Boo Williams bump of ‘Plank Star’, the footwork-confounding fake-outs of ‘Galaxy Express’ — Mzss achieves a kind of deep yet joyful sincerity that, these days at least, is something of a rarity.
JZKL - Pancake Of The Infinite EP [Sweet Abyss]
There’s literally no point me trying to match the promo text for this EP for either accuracy or poetry or brute persuasion, so here’s an excerpt from it to whet your appetite:
The imprint’s inaugural “Pancake of the Infinite” triumphantly announces itself with the the lesbian musique concréte turned oddball dance floor anthem “Horse Girls” (itself partly an interpretation of Ruth Anderson’s “Conversations”, released on kindred esoteric music imprint Ergot Records) - a unique and mischievous concoction of organic breakbeats, turntablized naughtiness, & prismatic Mother32 melodiousness that embodies the flamboyant spirit of discotek psychedelia & mystique.
The whole wild howl of a blurb can be found on the release’s bandcamp page, as can the EP itself, which more than lives up to its barmy billing. It’s punk as fuck.
DJ Split - Fear Factory/Love Factory [Non Stop Rhythm]
DJ Split has put out two of the best records to appear on Non Stop Rhythm in 2024, which, given the label’s torrent of releases, is really saying something. As I’ve noted before, I’ve always found something a bit mysterious about NSR’s incontinence when it comes to putting out music, yet, reading this straightforward-to-the-point-of-banality interview with label head and principle contributor Tom Carruthers, it seems there’s very little mystery at all. He just likes good tunes, and has a gift for finding the bedroom producers making them.
Anyway, back to DJ Split, whose track ‘She Terribly XX’ instantly became a staple for me when I heard it a few months ago. Of course it reminded me of ‘Butterflight’, though it never attains (nor does it really shoot for) the bugged-out heights of Minx’s all-time weirdo record. It has a more laid back, loping feel to it, which Split continues on ‘Love Factory’ on this new EP. On the A, however, the lope turns into more of a prowl, with ‘Fear Factory’ hitting somewhere between Shep Pettibone and Junior Vasquez. Indeed, it reminds me of the ‘My Acid House’ remix of Paul Lekakis, a true one-off that was produced in sequence by those two New York greats.
Elsewhere, Split has put out some pretty bait Canoe/Semi Delicious-like tunes, but I hope he keeps on giving NSR these classy ones.
Vermelho Wonder - VAMP [Gop Tun]
I already know that ‘Se Você’ will go down as one of my favourite tunes of the 2020s, so it’s been a tough act to follow not only for Vermelho Wonder but for Gop Tun as a whole. The label provides a platform for all sorts, but even just on the dance music spectrum it ranges from tracks that hit my buttons (Paloma, Kurc & Chausi, the BADSISTA remix of ‘Révolution’) to others that simply make no sense to my ears (‘Badow’ sounds like a piano house algorithm gone egregiously wrong). I guess that means they’re following their own taste rather than trends, which is something I relate to, and admire.
‘Vamp’ is Vermelho Wonder’s Halloween release, which dates it almost immediately, but it’s clearly not a track that’s worried about datedness. Rather, it’s a hybrid of about a hundred different references I can’t ignore as I listen, ‘Problemes d’Amour’ bassline, ‘Self Hypnosis’ pads and the whole atmosphere of ‘Dancing In The Dark’ just for starters. The lyrics tell a story of nighttime cruising/creeping, though they’re more ‘Thriller’ vanilla than ‘Walk The Night’ filth. (A quick moment here to say RIP Quincy Jones, one of the greatest to ever do it.)
Ivanka Wonder’s delivery on the spoken-sung verses lives up to the title, giving the track a ghost story vibe right from the off, while the upward cadences in the chorus return to the melodrama of the repeated “Qualquer lugar/lugar nenhum” and “Eu não quero nem saber” sections in ‘Se Você’. That’s a trick that works very well but risks becoming a crutch if overused. Nevertheless, ‘Vamp’ once again shows off the pair’s sterling songwriting skills, and I’ve enjoyed this track a lot this past week. Now I’m looking forward to something more enduring next time round.