The most essential tracks of the last week handpicked by the Nialler9 team. Subscribe to the weekly Spotify playlist (1.3k subscribers) or the daily playlist (4.9k subscribers).
1.
Ross From Friends – John Cage
Lo=-fi house producer Ross From Friends’ may sound at first to be taking the absolute experimental new-age piss but repeated plays of ‘John Cage’ with thits pitched down vocals and aquatic ambience reveal, a beaut for the ages, that will be sticking around long on my playlists this year. It’s on an EP out now on Brainfeeder.
2/3.
Lykke Li – ‘Hard Rain’ / ‘Deep End’
The Swedish singer is back and released two new songs today >Both ‘Hard Rain’ and ‘Deep End’ have a similar ambient R&B gait to them that is fresh for the artist. In fact, the songs sound like something that The Weeknd might have concocted. The songs are from her new album so sad so sexy will be released on June 8. Lykke supports LCD Soundsystem in Malahide Castle that week.
4.
Tyler, The Creator – Okra
Tyler is back after his excellent Flower Boy album and dtermined to remind us he can rap. He succeeds with flying colours. He also dropped a demo from that album this week ‘Rose Tinted Cheeks’.
5.
Arvo Party – Liberté (Club mix)
Herb Magee is a Northern Irish electronic artist, and former member of Lafaro, whose 2017 Arvo Party album was a late addition to my lists. For the followup track Liberté, Magee has constructed a song that builds with rushes of synthesizer trance euphoria that I first heard via The Thin Air. I remarked that the song was fantastic and I would love a club mix. Magee duly obliged.
6.
Jenny Wilson – ‘Hi Lo’
Jenny Wilson is an artist not afraid of confronting difficult topics and the latest from her Exorcism album, out tomorrow is an album about Wilson’s experience of sexual assault. That she turned such a harrowing experience into a song as engnging as ‘Hi Lo’ but an album about it really indicative of how brave, strong and artistic the Swedish artist is. It’s a tough listen once you realise beneath the surface of her delivery that there is deep pain. She also released a song called ‘Rapin’.
On the album she released this statement:
This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.
In so many ways.At first, I actually didn’t know if I even wanted to go on with music anymore.
Then, something terrible happened to me.I ended up at a crossroads.
Either silent – or speaking.
It was not an easy choice.I didn’t want to talk.
I didn’t manage to talk.But I had to talk.
Not to bring justice or to take revenge.
Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.I wanted to take back what I’d lost.
I had to get rid of what was hurting me.
7.
Jens Kuross – It Could Happen To You
Art! At The Expense Of Mental Health Volume 1 is the latest EP from the oft-recommended LA singer Jens Kuross. His sound is still indebted to Radiohead Kid A era and that is STILL no bad thing.
8.
Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay (Tunng) – Curse of the Contemporary
Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay (Tunng) have teamed up to record a full-length album called LUMP out on June 1st on Dead Oceans. ‘Curse Of The Contemporary’ is our first taste of it, a woozy folk song with an eera aura. “If you should be bored in California / I’m sure I’m not the first to warn you / We salute the sun / Because when the day is done / We can’t believe what we’ve become / Something else to prey upon,” Marling sings sounding more like Broadcast or Stereolab than her customary influence Joni Mitchell.
9.
Superorganism – Night-Time
Superorganism’s hyper-active pop music is easier to digest and enjoy in smaller bites and newer focused single from the album ‘Night-Time’ benefits from a solo run. The band play Forbidden Fruit in June and The Academy in May.
10.
Gang Gang Dance – Lotus
It’s been seven years since we last heard from Gang Gang Dance but they’ve returned with news of a new album Kazuashita on June 22nd. It’s hard to know what it’ll be like but Lotus is a pretty dreamy re-intro.
11.
Ben Khan – 2000 Angels
Ben Khan’s music appears to have its nucleus in the music of Jai Paul. It’s very close into tone and timbre to the Pauls. He even has something called The Foundation where the Pauls have the Paul Institute. However, it’s still good on its own terms. Khan has announced his debut album too for this summer.
