stratus audio: best of ’23
December 27, 2023
Ben UFO, Mexico City and the art of relevancy
February 6, 2024
Four new releases that have piqued our interest this month.
Ste Roberts
Insomniac EP
Alien Communications has provided a slow but meticulous approach over the past four years with 10 tastefully crafted releases, all carrying a distinct yet formidable sound. The most recent addition to their impressive discography comes from Ste Roberts with Insomniac. Following suit to its predecessors, Insomniac carries all the unmistakable elements of an Alien Communications release. Ominous sounding synthscapes, cybernetic-style drum play and teasing tints of forward thinking electro.
With 4 tracks all supplying an equally hefty punch in their own individual way, it’s hard to call a clear favourite - not that anyone asked.
A patient approach resides with every track, and one which sees plenty of space for each fastidiously crafted element to preside when called upon. Kicks rich with analog crunch. Texture scraped into each and every snare hit. Thunderous rolling subs. And bleepy percussion akin to that of an intercepted UFO transmission. Close your eyes and disappear into a swarm of swaying 7am bodies.
She Lies
I Am Out
With only 4 EP releases in 8 years, Berlin post-punk band She Lies are purveyors of quality over quantity. Comprised of ex-flatmates Anni & Ele, with the support of one half of Minimal Pop dream team Rework, they have cultivated a distinctive sound that offers a reinvigorated take on the flurry of synthwave released in the 80’s and early 90’s. Their most recent release I Am Out offers yet another strong contribution to their industrial krautwave sound.
My Heart is a Mess kicks things off with a recital of entrancing femme vocals and a tidy tom loop. Quickly backed up by an unforgiving static bassline and beams of 80’s synth chords the track has a teleporting quality which conjures up images of West Berlin brutalism and anachronistic Soviet factory assembly lines.
A discernibly groovier low-end is deployed in Really alongside familiar Rework drum programming. Gothic synths blend with one another atop the chuggy bassline with manic vocals adding further to the paranoid soundscape. Outcome: a seriously edgy heater.
In what is the fastest production of the bag I Am Out is an up-beat no wave thumper that undergoes a haunting evolution from its initial foundation of euphoric synthwork and crazed vocal articulations. The track grows increasingly delirious and hits its peak when analogue whirrs & whistles are incorporated with formidable effect.
You can buy the EP on Bandcamp here.
Giuliano
Lomonte
Hotel Zurigo
(digi release)
There’s few in the game who turn heads and draw plays quicker than Giuliano Lomonte. The Italian born, Berlin based producer returns to the digital format with a two track EP on Point of View, and sounds as slick as ever.
What defines a ‘roller’? A track with limited peaks and troughs, void of moments but rich in lush soundscapes. It may be loopy, but it somehow unfurls into something more as it evolves, generating the listeners recognition only towards the backend, or on a second, third or fourth listen. Hotel Zurigo ticks all of the above. The standout track of the EP, woozy synths, off-kilter extra terrestrial zips and a rolling bassline come together to make for blissful listening.
Check It Up takes a turn for the urgent, cranking up the weirdness with indiscernible & fractured vocal samples. Together with an all-together meaner sound, it’s a safe bet for those peak-time club moments.
You can grab it on Bandcamp here.
Brawther
Sundials EP
(repress)
We’re cheating slightly with this one, as Brawther’s Sundials EP first dropped in September, but to celebrate its recent re-pressing we’re giving it the delayed spotlight it deserves. Now Lisbon based, the Frenchman is perhaps best known for his work (alongside Tristan Da Cunha) as Dungeon Meat. But it’s his solo work that we’ve always been drawn to, because few do deep and soulful House grooves better than Brawther.
This latest release is no different. The melodies are great, but it feels like it’s the drums that will keep listeners coming back and add real value to a record collection. Whether it be the laconic swung snares on the title track or the bounce and pop heard in the kicks on Second Nature, there’s a warmth and organic feel to the drum programming throughout. If there’s a highlight however, it’s to be found on the B2 – Gotta Let It Go provides a sultry combo of reverb-heavy piano chords, snatches of echoing vocal and a trademark skippy bassline. It’s a Parisian house groove on a dubbed-out trip, and it’s kept us coming back on these long January evenings.
You can cop the repress here, or alternatively grab the digital here.
