Days

Paulo Tercio - Nothing Is What It Seems IV (2013/4)

Days are catching up on me again, but I'll manage. Feeling pretty Synthy this bank holiday weekend, so here's a cross section of what I've had going on lately. Starting with the floor rattling goodness that is I Surrender from former Games collaborators Joel Ford & Daniel Lopatin. Channel Pressure is their only album so far, and every time I listen to it I itch for more.



Somethin' a little different now, I think it's been long enough that I can pop back into the Ghost In The Shell territory again. I've already sung the praises of Corenlius' production on it, and that's still true here, but it also features Sean Lennon on the vocal side of things too. Wouldn't be my first choice for this kind of thing but I gotta say he pulls it off very well indeed. Gives me the same sorta vibe as the more cyberpunky parts of Electric Light Orchestra's Time.



And finally, one more revisit to potentially one of the oldest tunes on my HDD. Picked this one up sometime in the early 00's and it's been a mainstay ever since, takes a little while to get into the main body but it makes up for it with patience. Spent plenty of youthful late nights to this one, and it's a trend that isn't going to stop anytime soon.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Missing (Soundcloud player broken as of 2020)

Well looks like one of the tunes from the last post has since gone AWOL. To make up for it here's another something form the feed, I almost wanna say it reminds me a little of Plaid's style of IDM, or it did until the hoover synths got involved, that's more Rustie's deal. Anyway, apologies for that, and I'll be back with a proper post again in due time!



-Claude Van Foxbat

Over Watched (Links broken as of 2020)

Apologies on missing my usual spot again, it's been a lil bit of a hectic week and also Overwatch is a thing that exists. To make up for it here is a couple of things from Soundcloud that caught my ear. It should come as no surprise that I'm always down for more instrumental hip hop jams, just yesterday I was tracking down some [as] bumps again for the first time in years and this one would fit in there nicely.



Another smooth offering here too, which also may have the longest intro I've ever heard on soundcloud. Not that I'm complaining mind, because it remains very pretty throughout, and there's always room for more smoothness in my repertoire.



-Claude Van Foxbat

One For The Road

Robert Filliou - Main D'artiste (1967)

Had a couple things lined up for another post but they fell through unfort, so instead I've cobbled together an alternte list real quick. I've been trying ot keep things pretty mellow as of late and that is definitely going to reflect here. Take number one; one of my all time favourites from Seefeel, dare I say I actually like this mix more than the original.



Plaid occasionally hits a nice middle ground with that type of sound too, granted their breed of IDM isn't as aggressive as say Squarepusher or the like, but even compared to their own output Ralome is deliciously smooth. Easily one of the standouts from Rest Proof Clockwork.



And finally yet another piece of Corenlius' soundtrack for Ghost In The Shell Arise. I've said before that the OST is by far and away the most electronic of all the GITS incarnations (which is a little surprising considering how many and how long it's been), it fits incredibly well. Take this ambient piece with bonus AFX reference that'd be right at home in an OPN mix or the like.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Always Returning

You may have noticed it's been a lil' quiet on the Celadon City front for a while. I can't blame the guy after the album release and finals season, and all but there's been a gap in my schedule for that special brand of lush electronic.



Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that no more, CC is back with more happy sounds for ye,and just in time for the dawn of summer. it's certainly nice to have him back, I could do without the tease at the end of the soundcloud description though!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Slightly Perturbed

Oh boy was I ever excited to see this one in my inbox. It should come as no surprise to any regulars I love me some cyberpunk Sci-Fi and some Hotline Miami synthwavy goodness, and do I have a treat for you if you also dig that kind of thing. Let's go.

Click here for uncensored

Now, if that artwork didn't tip you off, Perturbator is one of the big names of the scene I see a lot, alongside say Carpenter Brut and Lazerhawk, there's a whole lot of retro influence drawn from, mainly 80's anime and seedy occult slasher flicks. It's with some slight shame I admit I haven't kept up with 'Bator's actual releases so much, but like many a great cyberpunk inspired musician before him there's a glut of world-building and story behind the LP which I will put up now:

"The album continues in the same story thread as the artist's previous works, taking place 24 years after the finale of “Dangerous Days.” Focus shifts from the world of Nocturne City into the future alleys of Tokyo, after the finale of the War Against Machines."

And with that, lets begin. From the get go it's not hard to see why the devs of Hotline Miami picked up on it, from all I've heard that slightly menacing off kilter sound has been perfected. As is to be expected from a tune with a title like this.



It's not always instantaneous release of Synthwave violence though, one of the strengths of Perturbator I've come to know is that the composition of the tracks to achieve a certain atmosphere is top notch. Thankfully it's not long before The Uncanny Valley gives us a stellar example of both these. Keep an eye out for the inevitable AMVs of this one in the near future.



I've always liked the more downbeat pieces on offer too, and this album features probably my favourite of them all so far. There's certainly a comparison to be made between the sound of this one and Vapourwave, but that was going to be a given seeing as they both derive a lot of inspiration from 80's anime. Still, it feels very authentic, I don't think it'd sound too out of place coming out of a Sega CD game (specifically Snatcher).



And finally the album's title track, one final synth filled swan song to see it out. As much as it's sounds cliché I definitely think there's a strong cinematic element to the LP as a whole and not just because of the cited influences from say Akira and Ghost In The Shell, even this one feels like ti was structured to accompany a finale into credits roll, complete with a fade at the end for a teaser for the next one to show.



Once again I sheepishly apologise for not having properly dug into Perturbator's back-catalogue before, but I'm sure if I posted my backlog of things I have to pick up you'd understand! Regardless, I highly recommend checking Perturbator and the like out if this kinda sound is scratching an itch for you, there's plenty out there to get stuck into you can start over at /r/outrun or even better...

Find more Perturbator on:
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Youtube
Twitter

-Claude Van Foxbat

Return Of The Soundcloud Roundup

Been a long time since I pulled one of these, and now that Soundcloud only offers previews for a lot of stuff you might see a lot more of it in future. Regardless here's one from my feed that caught my ear, there's always a gap in my library for more A:xus-esque hosue numbers that are home to some slightly downbeat lyrical content despite the upbeat backing.



It should be no secret by now that I'm a sucker for instrumental hip hop stuff and slow jams. Chalk it up to early exposure to Adult Swim, which is actually relevant here with the cover being The Big O and all. Regardless, this one ticks all my boxes for that, with maybe just a smidgen of bonus Vapourwave in there too.



Me and Adam were talking a while back about how HudMo is never going to bless us with another LP like Butter, and that got me a lil nostalgic for that ever changing genre that wavers between ridiculous names like aquacrunk and #beats. Lucky there's enough floating around to scratch that itch a little, my mind would have melted had FlyLo been putting samples like this in Los Angeles.



-Cluade Van Foxbat

Tuesday

Frederic Leighton - Songs Without Words (1860)

Not feelin' so hot again, so once again be prepared for more downbeat offerings. Not ideal given it's getting warmer but I ain't feelin' up to it right now. Starting with an instrumental as in the spirit of the painting above, here's an ambient piece from the usual noise rock folks of HEALTH.



Revisiting Blu Mar Ten hot off the heels of the international bent Thievery Corp sent me on. It's been in my collection for a long, long time. And like HEALTH's example above is a bit of a far cry from their Drum & Bass stuff, check out their debut if you're in the mood for some downtempo vibes with some house sprinkled in.



Röyksopp's Senior also fits that bill to an extent, though I'd probably say errs more on the ambient side throughout. Didn't think it'd been six years since the album came out, it's still pretty fresh in my mind, but then again even though there's only a year between it and the electropop sweetness of the previous album Junior, that gap felt like forever. Time is weird like that.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Hangin'

Claude Monet - Impression, Sunrise (1873)

Hello, it is a sunny day here in England,it was yesterday too which is why I'm takin' it easy after an eve of merriment and a pretty big fire. So here are some tunes that I am on ATM. Starting with Massive Attack's Weather Storm again, only this time it's slightly ironic cos there's no rain for once.



Here's one I always forget about. Thanks to shuffle tho I get treated to it every now and then and it's a treat. There are some rough patches on Daft Club for sure, but that's to be expected given it's a remix album and all. Thankfully, Romanthony's acoustic take on One More Time isn't among them.



And just for funsies, one of the smooth jazzy drum & bass numbers from the E-Z Rollers' Weekend World. The opening for it is gorgeous for starters and it only keeps it up from there. Suppose you could call it Liquid, but I don't think Liquid Drum & Bass was a thing in '98 when it came out. Anyways I'm off again, enjoy!



-Claude Van Foxbat

That Time Again

George Stefanescu - Harlequin’s Sadness (1978)

Been a surprisingly fine couple of weeks but it looks like that downbeat train has pulled into the station again. Shan't dwell too long mind, onto some Massive Attack to start. Del Naja's delivery remains on point, and the slightly unnerving instrumentation certainly helps deliver that classic Massive darkness.



Since we're talking vocals, lets pay Karin Dreijer a visit. Those of you who are regulars will know she's pretty far up there when it comes to my favourite voices. Here's The Kinfe's live version of Heartbeats in which the sibling duo absolutely nail it.



And finally my all time favourite from Kenji Kawai's soundtrack to the original Ghost In The Shell. The entire album is a masterpiece of dark ambient, but Nightstalker (and the scene it plays over) pretty much summarise the entire atmosphere in just under 2 minutes. A gorgeous piece that I definitely recommend.



-Claude Van Foxbat