Constantin John
Transform

boomkat: ...Burbank appears to takes cues from FIS’ geologic structures and Autechrian warp in ‘Botanical Clipboard’, his first record for Kinlaw’s Bristol-based Ceramics labelCheck for heavily abstract electronics in the technoid roil and sputter of ‘Powdery Mildew’ and the swaggering, distended beast called ‘Stame’.

boomkat: ...Peter Mekwunye aka Pedro’s self-released side of homebrew boogie pop is a total one-of-a-kind find dating to 1993 Portland, OR, and has been newly discovered by Musique Plastique, who issued Visible Cloaks eponymous debut LP in 2015. Trust that you’ve hardly ever heard such a raw, lo-fi slab so full of soul and vibes as One Kind of Love!As a new arrival from Nigeria to Portland, OR in North West America, Peter Mekwunye assembled a small home studio consisting of casio keyboard, microphone and a multitrack recorder to realise his dream of making and releasing his own music a reality with One Kind of Love. As these things go, Peter self-distributed the album on tape to local shops and it pretty much disappeared without a trace of acclaim In the history books.Fast fwd to the modern day and its rediscovery tees up a total melter of an album for a whole new generation, offering the kind of obscurity that you’d well expect to hear on Awesome Tapes From Africa, especially with its distinctly Nigerian-sounding melodies and loping grooves influenced by Fela Kuti and the piquant dance-pop of William Onyeabor. But this this one ended up coming out in America and therefore kinda by-passed ATFA to end up in its own geo-temporal time-warp.Now remastered from tape by Brandon Hocura at Invisible City, One Kind Of Love’s blend of impassioned pop songs and hushed, spoken word poetry set to wobbling grooves and rhythmelodies possesses a deeply special charm, remaining as testament to the idea of going it alone and finding your place in the world, which, although it only took him 24 years, Pedro has clearly come back into circulation at a time when bedroom boogienauts and dreamers are especially hungry for this stuff - a deeply familiar yet at once alien and enigmatic sort of electronic soul.Highly recommended!

EM Records: ...Here's a tasty treat for all fans of DIY pop music: a multinational confection, the perfect blend of sweet and smart. Based around the core members Matt Jones, originally from Western Massachusetts, and Busan native Jee Eun Lim, who met in Korea in 2011, The Jee Jee Band fuses simple pop structures, airy instrumentation and breathy vocals with clever lyrics, in both Korean and English, often of a satirical or political nature. Currently based in Northern California, the band quietly celebrates Korean culture while also evidencing a cosmopolitan classic pop sensibility, blending K-Pop and other Asian pop elements with a classic and yet contemporary US/UK pop feel. The songs on "Glass Fish", all very fresh-sounding, feature performers from South Korea, America, and, on one song, the Khmer-language vocals of Cambodian filmmaker Vanntey Morn. Jones' Western Massachusetts pop roots allowed him to enlist the skills of former members of Sunburned, Sebadoh and others to help record this charming and refreshing release, sure to appeal to fans of the K Label, DIY sounds, and pure pop.