Ewan Jansen
Island Diary

Last Resort: ...One of life’s most difficult arts is learning to let go. You can try to cling to control in the face of a turbulent world, but the only constant we can count on is change—the tendrils of cleansing fire wiping away the old, new life springing forth from the dust and ash. So what’s the point? Give yourself over to the depths. Surrender to the flow.G.S. Schray’s new solo album The Changing Account is an appropriate soundtrack for learning to cope with a world we can’t count on. Each piece is full of elliptical melodies that swirl with the unstable logic of dreams. Flurries of piano, guitar lines, and other more alien instrumentation shimmer delicately, but before they coalesce into familiar shapes or rhythms they change, then change, then change again. Listening is a bit like falling asleep on a long road—with each passing song you’re waking up somewhere new, trying to get your bearings in another strange world. How did I get here? Where are we going? It doesn’t matter. Close your eyes, drift away again.

The filthiest of dungeon crawling synth-noise acts has returned. Let the universe howl in despair, Robedoor is delivering to us their 'Negative Legacy'. This is the duo's 1st full length album for Deathbomb Arc, on the heels of decades worth of one offs and comp tracks for the label (including a collaboration with Grammy and Tony winning member of clipping, Daveed Diggs). On 'Negative Legacy', Robedoor dive deeper into murky beats than they ever have before, while introducing a new element of melodic vocals to resonate through their unlit caves of hopelessness. Let the dark eternity begin.

boomkat: ...Among electronic music’s most intriguing new artists, Zoë McPherson devilishly complicates her sound in adeventurously strong 2nd album starring Elvin Brandhi and Greetje Bijma. Really strong LP this.Chasing up her debut LP ’String Figures’ (2018) and last year’s collab with Rupert Clervaux, ‘States of Fugue’ frames Zoë’s sound at its most elusive/illusive and cryptic, weft with samples of uncertain origin and sledding into unexpected places of enquiry. "On ‘States Of Fugue’, Zoë Mc Pherson orchestrates a very personal, tactile and fluid journey through emotions that range from subdued calm through to outright rage and playful devastation. She takes plunges into the deepest depths, lead by multiplied voices from the distance, with sounds crawling from beneath the surface of bass-frequencies, with what we can only describe as a rubbery synth glue (check ‘Growth’) before untangling all the tension in a whirlwind of mangled percussion (Exile) and letting completely loose on the rhythm-driven ‘Taste’… And this is just a pointer towards the three opening tracks!As the record continues, we visit vast worlds via Zoë Mc Pherson’s forward-thinking, left-turn taking sound. We haven’t even reached the polyrhythmic banger ‘Tenace (Dogs On Road)’ and the vocal disturbance of ‘Get It!’ yet, and we’re already super-charged on Zoë’s unique energy.Although her roots as a drummer can be heard throughout the record’s versatile and deft appliance of off-setting rhythms and the unique unscrewing of percussive elements, it’s the use of her voice that carries the record through so effectively. The direct stream of voice that locks in and out through each tune, wether in a directly understandable form or in a more guttural, effected shape really gives the record its feeling. The noises are relatable even in their strangest shape, and the narrative only compliments the sentiments of sound within. On ‘Learn Your Language Faster’ with Elvin Brandi on vocals, Zoë found her perfect match in terms of this vocal-charged message."

Martin O'Cuthbert: 'B.E.M.S' (Esoteric Records):..."Seriously, when I played this record, an object on the wall started to vibrate very quickly, and I have witnesses to prove it. Martin O'Cuthbert is either a very evil person (just listen to the record) or a total fool (just listen to the record). Probably be big in Japan, and at a guess I'd say the whole thing comes off a Yamaha organ cos no synthesizer could sound that bad, could it?" (John Lydon, New Musical Express, July 22, 1978)