Search Results for:

LO RECORDINGS

Private Agenda

A Mannequin

    A Mannequin: Twelve tracks corresponding to twelve character traits, imagined as personalities in musical form. What are the dichotomies that define us? Our seen and unseen selves, the façade and the fundamental, the real and the imaginary. The result is musical hyper-realism.

    Through these contradictions, Private Agenda craft a musical world of effortless eclecticism. Classic pop songwriting is complemented with expansive production; the forward-thinking electronica of Jessy Lanza and Yves Tumor co-exists with the soft, soulful pop of Babeheaven and Erika de Casier. As a whole, it’s a record which rewrites the case for the concept album, where coherence needn’t be cringe.

    Album opener Irresistible is a decadent dream pop opener in the vein of Japanese Breakfast; its lyrics assertive yet amorous. Channelling the sentimentality of previous releases such as Aura from the pair’s debut album, Île de Rêve (2019), Neo-Nostalgia is a throwback to the future, a warm electronic pop exposition in the vein of Toro y Moi and Bullion. Touching has the intimate balladry and melancholy romance of Perfume Genius, while Splendour has the effortless groove of Sinkane or Jaako Eino Kalevi.

    Flipping over, the album’s two instrumental pieces link Private Agenda’s past and present. Purity is an extension of the minimalism of Primary Colours EP (2017), with a shuffle of feet and the dull thuds of keys accompanying the delicate composition. Alterations puts the late 90s trip hop and downtempo of Air and Portishead through a 2020s filter. Dressed in Velvet and Automation are explorations in eccentric yet polished alt-pop. The record’s penultimate track The Current, is striking in its synth-pop surrealism. Industrial textures composed by the avant-garde electronic musician Nicolas Bougaïeff cut across ethereal vocalism, a delightfully disconcerting collaboration. Completing the record, Substance trips out on psychedelic synth swells before a motorik beat kicks in, completing the collection in a cavernous crescendo.

    TRACK LISTING

    A1. Irresistible
    A2. Neo-Nostalgia
    A3. Gemini
    A4. Touching
    A5. Splendour
    B1. Dressed In Velvet
    B2. Purity
    B3. Automation
    B4. Alterations
    B5. Narcotica
    B6. The Current
    B7. Substance

    Various Artists

    Milky Disco

      As it says on the wrapper to this CD 'A quintessential compendium of cosmic disco' not my words but ones I will echo throughout this review, because here we have pretty much everyone who counts on that scene from the magnificent Danny Wang, through Quiet Village Feat. Godsy (exclusive track) on to Studio and winding up with Six Cups Of Rebel (exclusive track). Basically it's all you need to get your swirling disco dancing friends heated up into a frenzy without having to get behind the one's and two's, and that's always a blessing when you're feeling a bit ropey after the club's ended.

      Susumu Yokota returns with one of his most engaging albums to date, with every track a gently glowing gem. The set features the vocal talents of Casper Clausen (Efterklang), Anna Bronsted (Our Broken Garden), Claire Hope (The Chap), Panos Ghikas (The Chap), Nancy Elizabeth, Caroline Ross and Kaori. Yokota creates an album full of great songs within a mesmerising web of sound made of subtle rhythms and deep tones. From the almost soft bossa vibes of "Love Tendrilises" to the fractured folk of "A Flower White", the electronic jazz of "A Ray Of Light" and the Twin Peaks beauty of "Meltwater", this as an album that repays deep and repeated listening.

      Tracklisting
      1. Love Tendrilises - vocals by Casper Clausen (Efterklang) & Anna Bronsted (Our Broken Garden)
      2. Breeze - vocals by Nancy Elizabeth
      3. A Ray Of Light - vocals by Nancy Elizabeth
      4. A Flower White - vocals by Nancy Elizabeth
      5. The Natural Process - vocals by Caroline Ross
      6. Reflect Mind - vocals by Nancy Elizabeth and Kaori
      7. Inside Foresighted - vocals by Kaori
      8. Meltwater - vocals by Caroline Ross and Kaori
      9. Tree Surgeon - vocals by Kaori, ClaireHope (The Chap) & Panos Ghikas (The Chap)
      10. Suture - vocals by Casper Clausen (Efterklang) & Anna Bronsted (Our Broken Garden)
      11. Bonda - vocals by Kaori
      12. 12 Days 12 Nights - vocals by Nancy Elizabeth
      13. Warmth


      Latest Pre-Sales

      158 NEW ITEMS

      E-newsletter —
      Sign up
      Back to top