A Wild Week (and a bit)

Well, here I am again. And what a whirlwind week of weirdness it has been, both locally and internationally (and continues to be, at the risk of jinxing it as it's only midweek) I haven't really had time to sit down and write anything of substance, but I have had the chance to do plenty of listening in the meantime so I'm not short of ammo to detail - so silver linings and all that. Let's take a look at a random smattering of tunes.

Wayne Thiebaud - 24th Street Intersection (1977)

Picking up some leftovers from that spacey post that I still haven't gotten around to making with a little piece from The Exaltics, remixed by Gosub. Fitting actually, as I first got turned onto The Exaltics via Gerard Hanson's E.R.P. project, which in turn put me onto the SolarOne Music label, co-founded by the man behind The Exaltics Robert Witschakowski. E.R.P is one of my go-to examples for exactly the kind of hi-tech smooth electro style stuff I'm talking about - honestly, this one could probably make that list as it very much fits the bill, albeit a little more bouncy electro than the usual stuff I put under that space label. This mix of I.M.O.E.H. is catchy as, and full of lovely little touches to keep it fresh, I'm a sucker for pitch bends and the like as you all know.



Another one that's been sat on the backburner for a while that I haven't had an opportunity to talk about yet: the remastered soundtrack to a 1994 FMV point and click adventure game Burn Cycle. And If you've learned anything about me from my postings in the past you'll know that from the description alone that is supremely my bag. The soundtrack was actually included with the game way back when, but I imagine it's a touch hard to come by these days, making the remastered version all the more important. I'm not entirely sure how this came up on my radar if I'm honest, but probably through the suggestions for one of the many techy playlists I maintain - I do however remember the first track that was recommended, which was Zip. It had me gripped with those twinkling opening stabs, which builds to a thumping techno peak - twinned with the samples from the game itself, it certainly sets a befitting atmosphere.



Keeping on that trend of easier to access reissues, a slice of deep house that found its way onto my wishlist next. Late Night Basix Vol. 2 is originally from 1998, but this this version is from 2021 thanks to this reissue on Ghostly International's sub-label Spectral Sound. I've been on a bit of a deep house thing lately after diving back in to my collection of Guidance Recordings material, and half remembering sampling some of the tracks on here I figured it might be just the thing to scratch that itch. And right I was, the whole EP is a nice ride, I've gone ahead and picked the fittingly titled Forgotten Track this time around: it wastes absolutely no time at all getting down to brass tacks by hitting you with that classic 4/4 straight away. From there it's a lovely journey of lush pads, catchy stabs and all manner of things Deep House, just when I find it getting stale there's a little switch up to make it fresh again.



And that'll be all for this time, a little more scattered than usual I feel like, but that's also kind of how these past couple weeks have been so it's apt if nothing else. Still, hope you've found a groove to enjoy amongst these choices - I'll be back soon enough with more, but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF