On the decks
This week we've got a couple recordings from the ever excellent Hard Return label!
Hall-of-mirrors beats from Yosuke Tokunaga, who takes pointers from Matisse and Cezanne in the reconstruction of forms of the natural and unnatural, of the individual and the universal. By layering repeated refrains at various tempos – synth samples pulsing moderately, processed voices in lethargic loop, ride cymbals through rapid delays – Tokunaga conjures solar system of various orbits, all adherent to a common gravity while also embarking on their own autonomous spin. Elements of dub and techno can be detected throughout, albeit subjected to Yosuke Tokunaga's signature prismatic splay. Dizzy and wonderful.
The repetition within Jo Montgomerie's music has the effect of compounding the atmosphere. It thickens the discolourations, doubles the cranial pressure. "fragments of soyosukimething" was created by taking samples from one of Montgomerie's previous records and rendering them unrecognisable, with this new release centring on a process of slow and ominous accrual: from the smothering aircraft machinations of "view from Snell's window" to the radioactive, untracked-VHS psychedelia on the 15-minute closer "conflict resolution". Play loud; embrace the gathering headache.
