OPM: A New Start in a New Year

Music 1-2-26

Orago – Stasis

A tight little EP that strips the best parts of chillwave, vaporwave and synthwave to build an inviting, lo-fi trip into retro electronic joy. Synths wobble and chirp, the snare hits are big and tom fills ludicrous, and the bass lines drive the energy of most tracks. 

It feels like the lost soundtrack to a lost videogame from somewhere between 1989 and 1992, in the best possible way. The omnivorous, take-what-I-Like approach to mining *wave genres for parts pays off in spades, and the results are fun and engaging. 

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koteBlue – “Walk into the Sea”

A luminescent slice of art pop that draws on the blues, folk, hip hop and AOR singer-songwriter conventions to create a unique approach. Soulful, melancholic yet powerful vocals are complemented by a slick, smart instrumental underpinning. Guitar, drums and bass make up the bulk of the fairly traditional arrangement, but little bits of production flash and touches like the water sample that ends the tune remind you this is a modern-day creation.

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Arnold/Schwer – Terra Formica

A freewheeling, wide-ranging post rock concept album about ants who want to be free. Like all good post rock, this gets injected with some interesting influences – funk, jazz and the electronic side of dub stick out to my ears, including some Roxy Music-like takes on those same elements (or maybe that’s just the sax?). 

The tunes are nice and short (built from recorded improv jams, the liner notes say), avoiding the bloat that sometimes plagues this sort of music. The playing is excellent and the ideas are suitably wild and intriguing enough to hold things together. A solid and inviting set for post rock fans.

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Thriftwicker Audio Society – The Gift Horse’s Mouth

A short album of weird, exploratory soundscapes, haunted lo-fi and manipulated found sound. Bizarre samples are looped and twisted, broken rhythms lurch out of the shadows, washes of twisted sound spill out of the corners. Much of it is a bit unsettling, some of it mildly humorous, nearly all of it is pretty fucking weird. 

It’s almost like a more out-there Negativland, or Future Sound of London minus the techno and plus a datura intoxication. None of this will ever be mistaken for easy listening, but there is a tune or two to be found among the strangeness. Dig in and see what you discover.

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B of Briz – Solace

Leftfield hip hop with a female rapper and some intriguing, IDM-inspired beats. The raps have an unusual starter-stop flow and a rough-edged, freeform approach that is pleasantly softened by the timbre of her voice and the British accent (forgive me, I am American and everything sounds smarter with a British accent). 

Smart lyrical turns of phrase are accompanied by some surprising and unusual musical choices – it’s a pretty mellow outing, but not a simplistic one. If you like adventurous UK hip hop, or generally smart, unusual music of any sort, give this one a chance.