44 Ardent – Hold The World In Your Hands

The creative energy that emanates from Mammal Sounds located at  Bondi Beach, just outside of Sydney, Australia is truly astounding. Jez and his crew must work 24/7 in order to  be involved with so many cool releases. To prove that point, 44 Ardent is back with a new single, Hold The World In Your Hands, the Brisbane-based producer never fails to deliver work that is seemingly simple, yet carefully arranged, recorded and in turn satisfying electro-pop.

Yolo Manolo – Duvet Track

Duvet Track is from a double-sided limited edition 7” from Yolo Manolo out of Glasgow. A restrained beginning underplays the depth of this song and the smart instrumentation. About their music, Yolo Manolo say they are “Odd noise collectors observing all things lo-fi to mix their favorite elements of dream-pop and slacker-rock”. Curiously they feature the silhouette of an American football helmet on their cover artwork and on their FB page they say they are, “Lazy sophomore jive/chimp rock slackers, rarely seen in the wild”. Yolo Manolo partly namecheck the maker of the finest pair of shoes I’ve ever owned, but that is just coincidental, I do like what these people from Scotland are doing.

Whitelands – Setting Sun (A.R. Kane Initiation Dub)

Within moments of listening to this version of Setting Sun from Whitelands, you should be able to recognize the deft hand at the production desk of one Rudy Tambala, he of course of A. R. Kane fame. Londoners, Étienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Micheal say they were thrilled to have Mr. Tambala offer his mixing abilities to their music. Whitelands’ Remixes EP is available on 10” orange vinyl and a digital edition.

Phoebe Coco – Earth Dream

It’s always good to hear a new releases from Phoebe Coco. Earth Dream is from her forthcoming EP and Phoebe says this one is about her concern for how we are mistreating our planet. As with all of Phoebe Coco’s work, here we have a sparkling production, showcasing her strong songwriting abilities. 

Munan – Taxi Driver

South Korean-Australian artist, Munan says he “stayed out way too late, oh look it’s already 9am, morning coffee brewing, Sunday mass, God damn”…obviously it was quite a Saturday night for Mr. Munan. Anyone who has stayed out way to late and managed to stumble into a taxi as the sun rises will identify with Munan’s song. Yet another glorious releases via Mammal Sounds.

Drinking Boys And Girls Choir – Listen To Me

From Daegu, South Korea, DBAGC have a lot to say and you could spend ages at their site discovering their output and videos. I love what these people are doing, not least of all because of their unbridled enthusiasm. Listen To Me is from their EP Hey, Listen To Me…wonderful!

Defset – Chish And Fips

Found sounds, samples, mixing board trickery are all used to full effect on Chish And Fips. ( A delightful classic English play on words). The London-based producer says, “My studio backs on to where my mum lived the last year of her life. I used to hear her talking to friends on the phone while I was working in there. I found it difficult to go in to the studio for many months after she died, so didn’t have access to all my modular gear. The majority of this EP has therefore been written on my laptop, which has given it a different feel to my other more glitchy, analogue stuff”. And to make sure we don’t overlook Defset’s sardonic humor he writes on his Twitter page, “I’m a producer of fine, organic, gluten free, vegan, artisanal electronic music. Created with fair trade waveforms using ethical supply chains”. 

Halogenix – Lost Friends

Here is a dazzling Dubstep workout from Halogenix’s Lost Friends EP. Categorizing Drum & Bass, Dubstep, and Grime can be perplexing, but when you have a superior set like this, the end result overrides the genres. London producer, Halogenix is on top form with this EP.

Bill Pritchard – Balcony

The album is Bill Pritchard Sings Poems By Patrick Woodcock. This is a collaboration between Bill Pritchard and acclaimed Canadian poet Patrick Woodcock, who has written nine books of poetry and whose work has been translated into 14 languages. He has been a Bill Pritchard fan for three decades and during the long, dark lockdown days he decided to reach out to Pritchard and ask if he would write a song based on one of his poems. Thus began a great email friendship between the award-winning poet living far above the Arctic Circle and the singer-songwriter from the Midlands. I consider this a most enjoyable collection of songs. Highly recommended. 

Tiny Ruins – Out Of Phase

The album, Ceremony from Tiny Ruins out of Auckland, New Zealand has been another contender for repeat play at Life Elsewhere Tower. All the brilliant songs here are written by Hollie Fullbrook, accompanied by Cast Basil, Alex Freer, and Tom Healy. And, a big thumbs up to Christiane Shortal for the marvelous artwork.

Special Friend – Selkie

Special Friend is the Paris-based duo of Erica Ashleson from America and from France, Guillaume Siracusa. With their album, Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In Erica and Guillaume have created a must listen-to selection of songs. They don’t wander of into fits of experimentation but we we get is a well-crated album and it’s on the Skep Wax imprint, so you know it’s gotta be good.

Adele & the Chandeliers – Up There For Thinking

“A cheeky fling in post punk power pop” is how these folks from Brisbane describe their music. Adele Pickvance is known for her work with The Go-Betweens, Robert Forster and more, she is joined by Scott Mercer on guitar, and brother Jonny Pickvance on drums. Up There For Thinking is from their Still Thinking EP. Yes, I could easily date this one as a lost release from circa 1980, and that’s a compliment.

Princess Papaya – Hey There 

“My music is about electronic, broken beats and synth pop”, says music lover, Princess Papaya born in Guatemala now living in Madrid. Beba Urruela AKA Princess Papaya can also be found under the moniker, Babeat, certainly worth exploring.

Medicine 8 – Big Dick In The Room

The question does get asked, “Big dick energy, anyone?” Medicine 8 from London was the previous acid house incarnation of Luke & Liam May. They are now operating as members of Decius & also in-house producers & owners of Trashmouth Records. Here we have a raucous outing of Electronica and Acid House. Psst, make sure you check out more from these producers.

Listen to the Podcast here

Artwork by Eugenia Rondell-Koos “Quiet lion” 2007 36″ x 36″ Digital print on archival paper. Courtesy of Norman B’s collection