With their profound take on electronic music, Animistic Beliefs have steadily solidified their spot in the global underground. Influenced by cultural concepts such as ancestry, animism and mythology, as well as the languages of political techno, punk, bubbling and IDM, Linh Luu and Marvin Lalihatu consistently translate their visions into sensitive productions as well as high-octane live performances. On MERDEKA, the artists explore and embrace their cultural heritage in all of its pride, pain and complexity. It symbolizes Animistic Beliefs' breaking free, coming to terms with their changing selves and letting go of external expectations. The record rethinks childhood memories, confronts the generational trauma left by (post-)colonialism, and re-connects Linh and Marvin â?? respectively of Vietnamese-Chinese and Dutch-Moluccan descent â?? with their formative cultures. MERDEKA marks their first step in an overall departure from western club music. For its layered sound, Animistic Beliefs once again draw from the past, present and future of global club music, creating a sonic space where fast techno, warped breakbeats and ambient soundscapes make way for the augmented influence of (Southeast Asian) tribal music. The record incorporates Indonesian scales and recordings of the Tahuri (a wind instrument made out of a conch shell), Totobuang (Gamelan-like gongs) and Tifa drums, known as â??the Moluccan heartbeatâ??. In true Animistic Beliefs fashion, MERDEKA will set fire to sweltering clubs and (sleepless) dreams. Yet, for the artists, it is essential to amplify the stories that spark that flame and keep it burning. The release of MERDEKA follows CACHE/SPIRIT, their ongoing collaboration with visual artist Jeisson Drenth, which extensively explores the artistsâ?? intersectional identities. As such, the latest album is the next step within a bigger, introspective investigation. More unapologetic than ever, MERDEKA embodies a turning point on Animistic Beliefsâ?? ongoing journey towards self-acceptance â?? fuelled by the sound of urgency.
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- A1: Hot With Fleas
- A2: Nation
- A3: Unleash Your Sword
- A4: Jetlag
- A5: Contempt
- B1: Bad Mood Guy
- B2: Dressed In Air
- B3: Rabbi Nardoo Flagoon
- B4: Heaven Is What Heaven Eats
- B5: Mad Dad Mangles A Strad
- C1: Bad Mood Guy (Day 1)
- C2: Unleash Your Sword (Day 1)
- C3: Canine (Day 1)
- C4: Nature 10 (Terse)
- C5: Contempt (Day 1)
- C6: I've Always Hated Severed Heads (Live)
- D1: Hot With Fleas (12" Remix)
- D2: Nation (Nyc Mix)
- D3: Canine (12" Remix)
Futurismo present a deluxe vinyl package of the never before reissued 1987 avant industrial album: Bad Mood Guy by Severed Heads.
With an oeuvre of electronic experimentation that dates back to 1979, Australia’s Severed Heads rawly garnered everything from the sources around them: the sounds of the city, tape loops, old machines, distortion.
Although essentially one man, chief noisemaker Tom Ellard, he was joined here by film maker/homebrew video synthesizer operator Stephen Jones, and effects producer Robert Racic: who had worked with New Order. The result is a punishing view of pop, all crunching rhythms and electronic juxtapose. By incorporating popular tropes such as consistent rhythms, melodic vocal lines and drum machines this was perhaps as near to alittle “boogie-oogie-oogie” as Severed Heads were likely to get, but the outcome is a striking hybrid of the avant-garde, EBM and Synth-pop, an industrial vortex in which the sounds of the 20th century are sucked in and spat out around a monstrous dance beat.
Never pandering to expectations, Ellard saw dance music as a benchmark area where exploration was still possible. Big ideas and big sounds, notto mention big headaches when the original CBS mixes were left in a taxi cab. Whilst many of their contemporaries persisted without dignity, Bad Mood Guy’s cool melancholy assured a fanbase in America and dance floor loyalty with ‘Hot With Fleas’, which dares to sit alongside classics like ‘Dead Eyes Opened’. The unique inventiveness inherent in Severed Heads work makes this release essential for fans of Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk, Skinny Puppy and Cabaret Voltaire.
This remastered version of the original CD contains lost original versions and remixes and comes with a fold-out artzine booklet with liners by Ellard.
The old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great
variety of morbid symptoms appear"
-Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks.
Iskandr's latest offering "Spiritus Sylvestris" appears to be a radical
statement in both content and form Signifying a departure from the black metal roots of the project, the psychedelic folk doom of the new album builds upon the directions of where both "Vergezicht" and "Glas" were already moving towards.
"Spiritus Sylvestris" is cinematic in scope: majestic and threatening in its aura of sublime grandeur. The Latin title translates to "spirit of the wild" and also refers to the early modern alchemical name for carbon dioxide - when the spirit of the wilderness is released into the
aether through the burning of wood and charcoal. The songs tell impressionistic stories of natural elements personified; when powerful spirits that linger in the earth are stirred, those elemental forces will be forced to haunt our world.
In an era of irreversible damage to our planet and anthropogenic climate change, Iskandr aims to offer funeral dirges for the world that we have already lost.
"Spiritus Sylvestris" embraces a limitless approach to translate this vision into musical form. Employing musical elements from a broad array of genres; easily moving between the martial stomp of early Laibach and the ethereal melodics of Dead Can Dance.
Recorded and mixed by the legendary Pieter Kloos (The Devil's
Blood, Motorpsycho) at The Void Studio in Eindhoven, the new Iskandr record has broadened the scope and sound of the project beyond any confines, resulting in the most open soundscapes from Iskandr to date. The heavy baritone guitar riffs that form the backbone of the record provide a pitch-black canvas in which huge percussive rhythms and psychedelic layers of Hammond organ, Mellotron as well
as subtle acoustics move in and out of focus. If this world is at an end it deserves a requiem for that what is lost.
Mona Mur - ein Name, der für eine rauchig-coole Stimme, manisch-intensive Auftritte und eine illustre Liste von wechselnden Mitmusikern steht. Sie ist nicht nur Sängerin, sondern auch Songschreiberin und Produzentin. Als "80s survivor" hat sie sich in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten kontinuierlich in der Musikszene behauptet, auf Tour oder in ihrem eigenen Berliner Studio KATANA. Jetzt können Musikliebhaber ihr 2019er Album "Delinquent" als limitierte Vinyl-Edition auf dem Hamburger Label Cheezy Crust Records erleben. "Delinquent" ist eine Sammlung von 12 Songs auf Deutsch in hartem Schwarz-Weiß, - kurze Geschichten im Urban Desperado Style - körperlich schmerzhaft, schön und brutal wie die gegenwärtige Realität. Trotz ihrer Intensität sind sie tanzbar und verströmen eine unerwartete Leichtigkeit, sogar Humor. An der Seite von Mona Mur: Ralf Goldkind (bekannt durch Lucilectric und Die Fantastischen 4), Co-Produzent und Co-Autor von "Delinquent". Goldkinds hypnotische Twang-Gitarren und Minimal-Elektronik-Loops fungieren als kraftvolle Auslöser für den Elektro-Rock'n'Roll, der auf diesem Album zu hören ist. Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Mona Mur und Ralf Goldkind hat einen knalligen und eingängigen Sound hervorgebracht. Goldkind, Hitproduzent und Punk der ersten Stunde, zeigte sich begeistert, endlich das Mona Mur-Album zu realisieren, von dem er schon immer geträumt hatte. Die Musik von Mona Mur ist eine einzigartige Mischung aus düsteren und intensiven Emotionen, die in einem elektrisierenden Soundgewand verpackt sind. Mit "Delinquent" setzt sie ein eindrucksvolles Zeichen in der Welt der alternativen Musik. "Delinquent" wird die Fans begeistern und neue Hörer in ihren Bann ziehen. Als Gastvokalistinnen sind Anja Huwe (X Mal Deutschland), Bettina Köster (Malaria) und Annika Line Trost (Cobra Killer) zu hören.
The debut EP of 'heizen records' takes a step aside from modern production techniques heading towards a late 90's/early 2000's sound. Without waiting for permission, Daito & impala kick off with 'Fuck Protocol', a warehouse tool containing two simple yet well placed synths followed by a pushy acid-lead giving the first track an incredibly energetic drive. impala's & vnice's 'Bohlen' is a ghetto-tech homage with a catchy vocal and a propulsive kick and bass combo which brings you straight to the party. On the B-side, Daito's & emagemuser's 'Grazie' comes in like a stomping closing banger quickly gathering a lot of momentum through its polyrhythmic structure and dreamy pad-synths, whereas the beat of 'Simulektronik' conveys a trippy yet shaky feeling through the swinging synergy of a clamouring synth-line and semiquaver hats followed by a suprising bass lead.
La Rama is back on wax with two original compositions from local producer/DJ Rig Thrall. We first linked up with the Rakya crew member at the shop and soon after released his music on a limited run 10” named ‘Exit 19’ via our La Rama Dubs sub label. We kept in touch, and when an assortment of unreleased material caught our ears, we quickly jumped on the opportunity to get working on this 4th record on our label.
‘Broken Guru’ drones and grooves you through the cavernous depths, out in to the open, where the clouds part and a voice reaffirms that you are on the right path. From here we dive back into the depths, with the full confidence that this is the right path.
Thanks to two Roman legends, we have variations on the theme of ‘Broken Guru’. Marco Passarani delivers the masterful hyper dance floor club dub with his many years of experience clearly on display… play it out and you will see that this is some kind of sorcery. In speaking of magic, we are honoured to have the one and only Lory D serve us up a bass heavy re-interpretation, recorded in one pass through his live rig and edited to perfection.
‘Acidly Dose’ is the second original from Rig Thrall, an acid infused beat of the highest order with all the necessary elements to give the room a communal high.
Out on the 6th of January 2024, mastered by Nik Kozub, manufactured and distributed by La Rama Records. Much love to all the distros, shops, DJs, radio players, jam organizers, rave goers… may these tunes add to the life of your party :-)
Trip Hill is a one-man operation by Fabrizio Cecchi out of Florence, Italy. With a naïve approach to making music and inspiration from all over the world he is making his own homemade and original version of trippy psychedelia and krautrock. Fabrizio Cecchi played in various garage and psych rock bands in the early 90's but by 1994 he set his own cause and started to work alone and in his own universe. Originally a bass-player he since taught himself guitar, drums, keyboards and various other instruments to be able to find his own way in making psychedelic music. Ain't Trip Ceremony is the latest output in a long string of experimental home productions recorded in his basement studio. Until recently it was only available on his Bandcamp and as a very cool limited edition CD-R with covers printed on thick cardboard with a special linograph technique. But now it gets the proper release on vinyl via Bad Afro Records that these recordings deserve. 1st print is limited to 500 copies on black vinyl.
“Water Tiger” is the debut album from oqbqbo & Scandinavian Star, compiling their previously released singles with 3 new songs. In 2020 the couple released their first collaborative work, the double single “Airdrops / Coercion” just as the the first wave of Covid lockdowns set in action across Europe and the rest of the world. The music offered a kind and compassionate stance to the turmoil that swept across the world in those months. Later that year the single “Wakening” was released on Rift One, a compilation by Year0001. In 2022 they returned with another double single “Dandelions / Sleep Lines”. “Water Tiger” compiles all those with 3 new songs; Free Fall, Colibri and Water Tiger. oqbqbo is the moniker of Russian born artist Nastya Sipulina. Scandinavian Star is Malthe Fischer, producer and part of pop outfit Lust For Youth. They live together in Copenhagen, Amager with their daughter Freja Rei. Together they make uplifting and bubbly dance music that inhabits its own world whilst playfully referencing both euro dance and contemporary club music. The LP version comes on white vinyl, housed in a white, stickered disco sleeve, with hand-stamped and numbered white labels, a fold around two-sided color cover and an obistrip. ltd to 300 copies
On Natura Morta, Sven Wunder is exploring art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions with brightly colored textures and an emphasis on vibrant melodies.
Throughout human history, we have depicted the world we live in through art. By reworking what we see in the world, the simplest things have helped us understand the beauty of nature and to evaluate the material world that we have created around us, as a window to a constantly changing reality, through our own perception. It is that absolute reality that appears in the seam of human and nature and that can be revealed through art.
Still life painting, also referred to as Natura Morta (”dead nature”) in Italian, stretches back to ancient times. Some of the earliest works, found in Pompeii, depict commonplace objects such as fresh autumn fruits alongside man-made objects such as a small amphora and a small terracotta heap with dried fruits. These two-thousand-year-old paintings give a snapshot of Roman life, and also creates a link to time and space. A slice of life has been created by binding the earth’s pigments with extracts of oil, made from nuts and seeds, painted with brushes, made from a variety of fibers, such as trees and hair from animals. While life wanes with each brushstroke, by shifting reality into the past, art exists to make us come alive, being a living image of a dead thing, a surface and a symbol with symbolic powers of its own. Still life works celebrate material and ephemeral pleasures by returning to nature as the ultimate source for our standards in art as well as in life itself.
Natura Morta collects pieces from a continuous variety of melodies — supported by a decisive rhythm section — creating a musical kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. Sven Wunder brings life into this rich assortment of musical implications by fusing and combining melodic instruments with each other in a setting that spans from a classical to a modern idiom. The author evokes this panoramic portrait by articulating an instrumental dialog between a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. The result is a musical celebration of material pleasures that also serves as a reminder of the brevity of human life. This album was produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.
London-based producer Otik releases his first album 'Cosmosis' on Martyn's label 3024. The 11-track LP signifies the fourth album on the imprint across its ten-year tenure, showcasing a more introspective side to Otik's musical output.
The album leans into delicate melodies, hazy atmospheres and lush analogue sounds, often evoking blissed-out feels and ripples of brilliant colour. Produced three years ago during lockdown, 'Cosmosis' comes after a period of spiritual struggles, where Otik questioned his faith, religious beliefs, and the concepts of right and wrong. While the pandemic allowed ample time for reflection, Otik translated these thoughts into music from his Peckham-based studio, later finding a home on 3024's evolving discography.
Following Otik's EP 'Soulo' in 2021, 'Cosmosis' marks the second release from the Bristol-born DJ and producer on 3024. This time, his sound stems from a broader palette, touching on slower, aerated ambient notes through to rugged D'n'B, displaying the far-reaching breadth, vision and maturity of Otik's aesthetic.
Keen to release a body of work that explores the journey of enlightenment and the struggles to get there, Otik drew inspiration from the luminary filmmaker Terrence Malick and how Malick portrayed ideas and philosophies in films like The Tree of Life and Voyage of Time. As a result, the record conveys a compelling narrative of rebirth, told through exquisite sound design and a push-pull pace that oscillates across the album.
The lead single 'Cosmosis' binds astral breakbeats with a star-lined melody stitched against a spacious backdrop. Sparse, celestial vocals punctuate the soundscape and add a spiritual feel, culminating in a dazzling trip at just over five minutes.
This is the first stop on Sven Wunder’s musical journey. Wunder takes the listener somewhere around the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, around the Levantine Sea, where he paints a colourful portrait and illustrates the regions flora through sound.
The fruitage is a vivid bouquet where Wunder fuses colours and pigments by using traditional and modern instruments merged with arrangements and melodies that stretches from popular to folk music by portraying tulips, red roses, hibiscus, hyacinths, chamomile, magnolia, daisies etcetera. With both fine and thick brushes are these flowers being pictured in a both modern and classic idiom.
The outcome is prismatic. It stands between Anatolian rock and European jazz-funk with ponderous drum patterns, groovy organs, far-out synthesizers, enchanting Saz and impetuous bass lines. Eastern Flowers sweeps through time and space and points towards the future. It could appeal both psych and prog listeners, folk or jazz aficionados and as well the gourmet hip hop connoisseurs.
"This is an album to treasure - it'll surprise you at every turn" Joel McIver (Record
Collector) One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival
scene, the Ozrics layer ambient & ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips,
incredible rave grooves & psychedelic progressive rock. It's an open exploration
of music & the soul. For over 30 years, the Ozrics have experienced the
vicissitudes of the rock & roll life. The band has flourished through a number of
line- up changes, spawned several side projects, created their own record label,
scored a hit record & sold over a million albums world-wide. And yet, the basic
motivation behind the band's existence has never wavered.Their signature blend
of hippy aesthetics & raver electronics with spiraling guitars, textured waves of
keyboard & midi samplers & super- groovy bass & drum rhythms continue to
delight fans across the world to this day.Originally released in September 1999,
'Waterfall Cities' was a giant leap forward for the band, taking a more obvious
step into electronica, whilst still managing to retain their unique sound. An
explosion of keyboards, acid squelches & blistering guitar passages, the musical
& technical brilliance of the Ozrics comes to the fore in strange & unexpected
ways on this album.'Waterfall Cities' - Remastered by Ed Wynne & available on
Double LP via Kscope.
Clear Vinyl
The fourth Exposure Series release is upon us. If you have not heard, the Exposure series is our signature compilation series that features multiple artists and is pressed on vinyl for the most discerning DJs and collectors. 'Linear Radiance' gathers together 4 extremely hot artists in the scene for one special 12'.
The EP begins with 'Raizel' by the hot newcomer Grush. This early set builder is smooth in the constraint it has rolling along in the sweet spot. A beautiful jaunt that is rich and fluid.
Next, is the amazing Philipp Priebe. 'So Glad' is another Priebe heater. A very talented producer, you can always count on him for great dancefloor business. The melody sneaks up on you as it builds from deep within. A sublime and subdued corker!
'Sonic Shadows' starts out on the B-side from skillful Nicolas Barnes. His contribution is a combination of a big club techno sound and a melodic flow that is almost reminiscent of some prime late 1990's progressive house.
Finally, is 'Grey Rythem' by Cirkel Square. Riding a catchy micro dub sound that is clever, fun, and surprisingly deeper than we could have ever hoped! All four tracks make for a healthy, well-balanced piece of wax!
Linear Radiance is lovingly pressed and shared on crystal clear 180- gram vinyl. Act quick while copies are in stock. This compilation is sure to get picked up by DJs, collectors, and fans.
Shed Seven will return with their first album in more than six years. For "A Matter of Time", Shed Seven"s core members - vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks and bassist Tom Gladwin - reconnected with the classic albums that first inspired them to form a band. The resulting record sparkles with the liberated exuberance and full-throttle rock "n" roll attitude of a group who are making music for the sheer joy of expressing themselves and performing together. While the album broadens the Shed Seven sonic palette a touch, it"s full of the towering, arms-in-the-air anthems and yearning melancholia that fans have come to love them for. The trio enlisted a new line-up for the album, calling upon drummer Rob "Maxi" Maxfield (Audioweb) and keyboardist Tim Willis (Ian Brown). The album was produced by the Grammy Award-winning Youth (The Verve, Pink Floyd) at El Mirador Studios in Andalucia, Spain, before being completed by leading mixer Cenzo Townshend (Florence + The Machine, Inhaler). "A Matter of Time" flows from adrenalised punky power-pop right through to epic slow-burners, complete with some special guests: Happy Mondays" legend Rowetta contributing fervent gospel vocals to "In Ecstasy", Laura McClure of Reverend & The Makers on the folky-pop of "Tripping With You" and Peter Doherty, who duets with Witter on the dramatic closer "Throwaways". Shed Seven emerged as one of the big hitters during the heyday of Britpop, their catalogue of classic singles leading to seven Top 20 hits including "Going For Gold", "Chasing Rainbows", "Disco Down" and "On Standby" as well as four Top 10 albums. Their popularity has continued since reforming in 2007, with 2017"s "Instant Pleasures" album debuting at #8 - their highest-charting record in eighteen years. 2024 will mark 30 years since Shed Seven"s debut, Change Giver, and A Matter Of Time demonstrates that the band are at the very top of their game and the journey is far from nearing its end.
Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. My Words Are Music provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. The spoken word album hosts an inspired array of artists who personally chose their favorite Sun Ra poems to recite. Freed from the page, his poetry acquires an unexpected simplicity and poignance it possessed all along.
This all-star and intergenerational lineup of artists conjure wisdom from his words: spoken word elder Abiodun Oweyole of The Last Poets; rapper, and singer-songwriter Saul Williams; jazz experimentalist Melanie Charles; British-Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph; poet Mahogany L. Browne; poet, playwright, and conceptual artist Carl Hancock Rux; musician/digital composer L’Rain; singer, actor, and director Tunde Adibempe of TV on the Radio singer; British DJ and BBC radio host Zakia Sewell; ballistic hip-hop poet Jive Poetic; and longtime members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Marshall Allen, Knoel Scott, and Tara Middleton.
Punctuated by impish electronic interludes composed and played by Marshall Allen, these voices bless Sun Ra’s poetry with new life My Words Are Music offers the opportunity to follow Sun Ra into a
better future. “Prepare for the journey,” he writes in his poem “The Cosmic Age”, “You have a rendezvous / With the living wisdom.” My Words Are Music is a project developed in conjunction with Living Sky, the all-instrumental Sun Ra Arkestra album released on Omni Sound in 2022
Mit ihrem neuen Heavy Rock Album "2024" legen RAVENSTINE noch eine Schippe drauf und präsentieren sich musikalisch noch reifer und geschlossener als auf ihrem selbstbetitelten Debüt. Diesmal übernahm John die Hauptaufgaben als Komponist, aber alle Bandmitglieder trugen zum großen Ganzen bei. RAVENSTINE sind ihrem eigenen Stil treu geblieben, die Texte handeln von Themen, die sie in ihrem Alltag beschäftigen, wie z.B. Depressionen ("Black Is The Brightest Color"); über eine verlorene Heimat sowie das Gefühl, dass Heimat gar nicht mehr existiert ("A Long Way Home"); die Aussicht auf den eigenen Untergang ("When I'm Dead And Gone") oder die mögliche Verbindung zwischen Social Media und Amokläufen ("Killing Spree"). Die Band hat mit ihrem Song "Fly Eagle Fly" auch ein lupenreines Juwel komponiert, das alles bietet, was ein Hit braucht: Ein gutes Riff, einen Groove, der einen packt und einen Killer-Refrain! Auch Fans von Balladen werden sich freuen: Während "Signs By The Roadside" von seiner Atmosphäre lebt, kommt "When I'm Dead And Gone" mit einem Refrain daher, der den Hörer dazu bringt, ein Feuerzeug hochzuhalten und es von links nach rechts zu bewegen.
Mit ihrem neuen Heavy Rock Album "2024" legen RAVENSTINE noch eine Schippe drauf und präsentieren sich musikalisch noch reifer und geschlossener als auf ihrem selbstbetitelten Debüt. Diesmal übernahm John die Hauptaufgaben als Komponist, aber alle Bandmitglieder trugen zum großen Ganzen bei. RAVENSTINE sind ihrem eigenen Stil treu geblieben, die Texte handeln von Themen, die sie in ihrem Alltag beschäftigen, wie z.B. Depressionen ("Black Is The Brightest Color"); über eine verlorene Heimat sowie das Gefühl, dass Heimat gar nicht mehr existiert ("A Long Way Home"); die Aussicht auf den eigenen Untergang ("When I'm Dead And Gone") oder die mögliche Verbindung zwischen Social Media und Amokläufen ("Killing Spree"). Die Band hat mit ihrem Song "Fly Eagle Fly" auch ein lupenreines Juwel komponiert, das alles bietet, was ein Hit braucht: Ein gutes Riff, einen Groove, der einen packt und einen Killer-Refrain! Auch Fans von Balladen werden sich freuen: Während "Signs By The Roadside" von seiner Atmosphäre lebt, kommt "When I'm Dead And Gone" mit einem Refrain daher, der den Hörer dazu bringt, ein Feuerzeug hochzuhalten und es von links nach rechts zu bewegen.
Producer / composer / multi-instrumentalist Angel Marcloid records music under the moniker Fire-Toolz. Though Marcloid’s output emerges in a litany of aliases and projects — from the jazz fusion / new age of Nonlocal Forecast to the vaporous nostalgia of MindSpring Memories — the Fire-Toolz catalog remains the central focus of the prolific artist’s musical universe and a home for Marcloid’s most ambitious work.
"I am upset because I see something that is not there.", the fifth Fire-Toolz album to join the Hausu Mountain catalog since 2017, follows 2021’s sprawling double-album Eternal Home and 2022’s self-released EP I will not use the body’s eyes today. I am upset… offers listeners a prismatic cross-section of juxtaposed genres and compositional contortions to explore, maintaining Fire-Toolz’s signature density and complexity while tightening the scope of Marcloid’s experimentation into the project’s most focused song cycle to date.
Perhaps more than any previous Fire-Toolz album, I am upset... presents some form of pop music, carried in Marcloid’s passages of clean vocals, in the bright synth tones that animate its tracks, in the yearning saxophone lines that pour into view and whisk the narrative onto a new path. The format of a one-person “band” carries a different weight in a landscape of solo artists crafting modernist productions that don’t allude in the slightest to various twentieth-century rock-related traditions. Fire-Toolz exists on both sides of this divide. The music of Fire-Toolz draws energy on a moment-to-moment basis from the constant fluctuation between seemingly disparate styles, yet Marcloid repeatedly pulls off the impossible feat of making chaotic deviations and improbable jump-cuts between ideas sound holistic, as if such compositional gambits were already logical to begin with. Bursts of harsh textural noise cut into drifts of new age synth bliss, while screamo verses bookend passages of hyper-technical jazz fusion.




















