With so many releases flying at you, here are recommended vetted listens from Nialler9 for you this week, as collated in the Nialler9 New Releases Spotify playlist, updated weekly.
1.
Big Red Machine
Big Red Machine
Big Red Machine’s self-titled LP is the result of 10 years of collaboration and friendship. The group, consisting primarily of Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner, found its first signs of life in an instrumental sketch entitled ‘Big Red Machine’ sent to Vernon from Dessner in 2008. The project took shape proper through the PEOPLE festival gathering in Berlin. The music of Big Red Machine is not only an example of cutting-edge collaboration but also, at its core, a celebration of friendship.
Vernon and Dessner seem to giddily bounce sound off one another throughout the LP. ‘Gratitude’, an early highlight, takes the bones of Vernon’s distinctive nu-folk sound and dresses it in layers of art music and hip-hop styled vocals. Tiny smatterings of guitar riffs collide into one another and diffuse into the programmed drum patterns. It sounds like the product of many creative outlooks and it is, the result of the open studio style of collaboration featured throughout the PEOPLE festival. Copious varieties of genre are littered throughout the album. Whether it be the gospel-influenced chorus on ‘Lyla’ or the overtly industrial and sometimes abrasive ‘Air Stryp’.
It’s a quintessentially modern project, held together at its core by the songwriting talent and chemistry between Vernon and Dessner, in constant collaboration with friends (see the extensive credits) who are proving themselves to be making the most adventurous and intriguing material of their career’s to date. Best summed up by Dessner’s reflections on the album’s creation, stating that “The process was more important then the outcome, but the outcome reminds me why I fell in love with making music in the first place.”
2.
The Blaze
Dancehall
French duo The Blaze have been creating a stir amongst fans of electronic music since the release of their breakthrough single ‘Virile’ in early 2017. Not only for their euphonic melodies and primal rhythms but also the stunning visuals which have accompanied the release of their singles to date. Dancehall is the debut full-length album from the pair. The name is a nod of the head to the band’s love of dance music and dance culture in general, something which is prevalent throughout the entirety of the LP.
There’s lots to love about the album. The Blaze’s brand of dance music is very easy on the ear and the sheer exuberance of the group’s output is beyond charismatic. Only the most stony-hearted of listeners will remain unmoved by a track like ‘She’ or ‘Queens’, both of which will be no doubt counted among the best singles of 2018. There’s a constant sense of momentum in the group’s best music, a tension constantly building toward some ecstatic climax. Melancholy has never sounded so sweet in the build toward the first drop in ‘She’, the repeated refrain of “She’s never been loved” atop warm piano chords and those classic house hi-hat patterns are exhilarating, to say the least. Dancehall is an album that reaches toward and often achieves a specific sound, powerful and nostalgic.
To the album’s detriment, it never reaches for anything much beyond that one sound. Individual tracks are stunning but continued exposure to the entire tracklist can make for emotional and sonic fatigue. Tracks like ‘Places’ or ‘Breath’ begin and slip away without any real impact, a flaw that keeps the album and the group from reaching the heights they’re obviously capable of. Thankfully, Dancehall leaves the listener with a reminder of why The Blaze are one of the most exciting prospects in electronic music in ‘Faces’ – a heartbreakingly beautiful track.
3.
Maribou State
Kingdoms Of Colour
Chris Davids and Liam Ivory have been making music under the name of Maribou State since 2011. With their foundations in the British school of house music, the group have earned high acclaim for their incorporation of guitars and other organic instrumentation into their work. Kingdoms In Colour is the group’s second full-length LP. One which sees them push further still a live band sound and set-up.
The group obviously have a good appetite for collaboration. Many of Kingdoms In Colour’s standout moments are in the way they showcase the talent of the artists they’ve gotten involved in the project. ‘Feeling Good’, the album’s lead single, features Texas-based retro guitar group Khruangbin. The contrast of the very exotic guitar riff with those syrupy vocal samples makes the track feel like a Sergio Leone/Jamie XX crossover, a genuinely unique sound with mass appeal. Much appreciated too are the vocal contributions of Holly Walker, who is the group’s defacto touring singer. ‘Nervous Tics’ is a fantastic example. A slow burner whose melodramatic lyrics are only further highlighted by the dynamic swells of the instrumental’s synth and guitar lines.
The album struggles from time to time when the band are left to their own devices. ‘Glasshouses’ is a very pretty song but a totally underwhelming follow up to ‘Nervous Tics’. ‘Beginner’s Luck’ is a lacklustre opening track despite the ornate oriental main melody. These few blips never knock the album off kilter and it must be said that Kingdoms In Colour plays fantastically as a whole, better than any other album on this week’s list. On it, Maribou State offers a tantalising take on just what a clever crossover between electronic and organic music sounds like.
