OPM: Down Bad Sounds Good

Pocket Lint – The Jet Age

Sophisticated retro pop celebrating the long-lost era when jet-powered air travel was a novelty. Musically, this is a treat for those who love the early era of electronic New Wave – the Human League, OMD, Gary Numan and Ultravox are all spiritual kin, and some are directly referenced. 

A deep, dramatic voice; elegant arrangements of guitar and synthesizer; and a deep love of pop hooks are key elements. The result is a collection of songs out of time – tunes that (apart from this record) they don’t make any more, and that would have sounded right at home in 1982. 

(Listened to the entire album)

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Jet Jaguar – “Downer” / “Reactive”

Intriguing pair of abstract downtempo electronica tunes – relaxed, groovy and thoroughly weird. “Downer” is the “A-side,” and it’s the bolder of the two tracks – still very laidback, but with a confident, almost jazzy swagger. Tubby percussion, a few weird synth timbres and a scrap of a field recording are just about all there is to it, but it gets a lot of mileage out of those bits. 

“Reactive” deconstructs dub elements to create a mysterious channel of overlapping echoes, haunted ambience and slippery percussion. Together the pair offer a peek into a fresh take on the unusual die of mellow electronica. 

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Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack – Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over

Heady, clever post-punk indie art-rock nominally themed around the parasitic nature of the landlord-tenant relationship. There’s some solid musicianship here, but the real draw is a deeply eclectic and experimental approach that isn’t afraid to throw anything up there to see if it sticks. 

Angular guitar figures and brooding vocals in the finest post punk tradition, weird electronic outbursts borrowed from IDM, free jazz freakouts – it’s all here, baby! Reminiscent of, and fitting in nicely beside, early/mid ‘10s art indie – Dirty Projectors, Micachu and the Shapes, that kinda thing – and worth a deep listen for fans of that scene.

(Listened to the entire album)

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eardiod – Isocyanates

Exploratory electronica that fuses elements of techno and IDM with a touch of ambient/drone. The heavier tracks (which is most of them) border on industrial techno, tho they lack the sustained intensity that genre usually offers. The more unusual tracks dip into the IDM playbook and come up with some intriguing results, integrating some cool sound design elements and atmospheric touches. 

Most of this stuff is raw and rough: percussion loops topped with a small handful of melodic/harmonic elements. As a result it feels a bit like a DJ tools collection, and I can definitely see these finding a place in an adventurous techno DJ’s toolbox.

(Listened to the entire album)

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The Cunning – “(We Are) The 99%” / “99% (Rollmottle Remix)”

A slow burn electronic pop song with a shuffling beat, a female vocal and some solid production. Given the political message, this might have been a bit of a hard sell for those old “back to mine” compilations, but otherwise, this would fit right in. 

The relaxed vibe and clean production fit neatly within the downtempo aesthetic; the remix focuses on those elements, cutting most of the vocal out in favor of riding the laidback groove for all it’s worth.