Julien Grycan
Post-Atom

EM Records: ...A revered figure in his native Isan region, and indeed throughout Thailand, Doi Inthanon is a legendary producer, composer, visionary and talent-spotter, a man who combines business acumen with an unerring ability to both predict and engender new directions in Thai popular music. Fittingly naming himself after the tallest mountain in the nation, he has towered over Thai music since the early 70s, and is still active today. This compilation, the first "various artists" collection in the EM Records + Soi 48 Thai music series, is an avalanche of Doi Inthanon productions, big hits and rare treasures spanning the early 70s to the mid-80s. The songs here cover a range of genres, comprising luk thung isan, Thai funk, and molam, including examples of "lam phaen", one of several styles created by the producer himself. Doi Inthanon is highly regarded as a developer of singers, and this compilation has no shortage of greats: national icons Angkanang Khunchai and Po Chalatnoi Songsoem, second-generation molam idols such as Onuma Singsiri and Hongthong Dao-udon, soul sister No. 1 Khwanta Fasawang, and 80s-90s Isan star Thongmai Mali.Doi Inthanon is a key figure in Isan pop music, and this essential collection conveniently gathers hard-to-find tracks which have been issued on various labels in Thailand, including Double Rabbits, Apple, Uea Aree and his own private label. Available now on vinyl and CD, with most of the tracks on the CD version making their appearance in that format.

ORANGE MILK RECORDS: ...Drose is on the forefront of the evolving experimental / outsider metal scene, and have developed a devout following from their incredible live shows. Their music contains the power and aggression of traditional metal music without the macho posturing. At times the heaviness takes on a sense of beauty or bittersweetness, aided by an alternately hushed and scathing unconventional vocal performance. Boy Man Machine is also built on a foundation of industrial machine samples which create a rigid, mechanical base that perfectly contrasts the overarching human elements.

Sky Diver Records: ...Half baked bedroom psych stacked full of jangly guitar, effects, overdubs and electronics from 1977 by unknown Toronto native Martin Wall.

boomkat: ...NPLGNN comes gnashing at the bit for Bristol’s Lava Lava label - a part of the rwdfwd fam - with a mean volley of acid dancehall punk entitled Sonico. Arriving in the wide-eyed wake his Eternal Flame session with Dave Saved and turns with Reel Torque and Where To Now? before that, NPLGNN shows a more rugged and hot-stepping side of his sound that we haven’t heard before.A-side keels in with the gully dancehall slosh of Weaponized Riddim, whipping desiccated claps, kicks and snares into a militant bogle built for extreme daggering - come test! - whereas Dancing Under CS works with a crankier budge, spitting double timed hi-hats and slaty AF bass hits like a rogue Itinerant Dubs workout. B-side is where it really boots off with Sonic Guerrilla, an intensifying payload of squat party raggamuffin noise that seethes with pure malific rave intent. Play this at your next rave/rally/protest to increase the pressure.Big RIYL The Bug, Ossia, DJ Scud

When the Tree Bears Fruit is the debut album from Melbourne four-piece Parsnip. Following on from two 7-inches in the last two years, Parsnip’s first full-length is playful, poetic, propulsive punk.An album perpetually in motion, When the Tree Bears Fruit is just over half an hour of absurd, understated energy. There’s an immediacy to the sheer joy, velocity and whimsy of Parsnip’s delivery. Bass player and most-of-the-time lyricist Paris Richens is the first to admit that she finds inspiration in children’s verse and the sonics of nursery rhymes – “Sprouts” is an ode to plants in their first form, and “Trip the Light” is about the sheer joy of dancing. That said, Richens’ bandmates – drummer Carolyn Hawkins, guitarist Stella Rennex and keys player Rebecca Liston – are quick to remind her that nursery rhymes are almost always pretty twisted.No one is being baked into a pie in a Parsnip song, but they deal in themes of loneliness, longing, the unknown and the mundane, almost as much as they dream of travel and make a romantic spectacle of the everyday. Across the album, transport and movement recur as an image, mostly alluding to a dreamy sense of possibility: lead single “Lift Off” is a plea for a quick flight away, “Seafarer” is a voyage against nature’s adversity, and “Lighthouse Beacon” sees a hope in the distance.Ultimately, this is an album that invites its listener to join in its celebration: the record’s title, inspired by the ideas of guru and poet Sri Chinmoy, refers to the idea that a tree will grow fruit and it will be offered for anyone and everyone to share in. The band see this principle as it applies to their work – to sharing their joy and nonsense with the world, and hoping people will enjoy it.