A loose, organic swarm of steel-bound percussion, meditative bass frequencies and improvisational tonal shifts mark the second instalment of GAIA TONES, with the label’s vision remaining conscious: one track per side filling the entirety of the 12” plate, giving these tunes a life of their own. GT002 sparks to life with Side A’s “Chains”, a warped, mystical groove that speaks for the imprint’s deep-rooted sufferation. With a slow-burning swagger of four-to-the-floor, Side B’s “Shackles” digs deeper into the earth’s elements, allowing the room to fill up with that familiar gust of machine haze. Experimentation with a message.
No one knows where dub goes. UK duo Holy Tongue are doing their damndest to track it down. Witness: Post-punk spliced with dub the way it was done, anachronistic but futuristic like if at the end of Primer the time machine room was revealed to be This Heat’s Cold Storage studio. It’s refreshing in the 2020s to hear something so raw yet technical, unsequenced but rhythmically tight. MDonaldson (8sided.blog)
Argentinian duo Klik & Frik offer up rich, textural, indigenous folk-influenced electronic music on their latest EP. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 3, 2019
Mala returns with a new single that’s colored by hushed tones and sedate tempos, topped with a spoken-word piece designed to empower. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 11, 2019