Wednesday, 18 July 2012


IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER SPELLCAST

Hello, fiends. 

It's been some time since I've messed around with this particular name, the "Spellcast"... AH THE NOSTALGIA! Speaking of which, a friend of mine recently had a bash at identifying one of the central tenets of nostalgia and attraction in nerds which y'all should have a goosey at. It points out that nostalgia – even nostalgia for imaginary and unreal events – creeps into our every day lives and makes a difference not only to our preferences but also to our perceptions. In all likelihood I'll cover a topic like that in the future myself, in that it crosses over delightfully into the twin territories of music and memetics.

I mean, I
SAY that I'll write about it, but actually finding the time to write at the moment is a little difficult. Expect a little more time before I get into the swing of things.

RIGHT! On to business!

So, for now I'm going to call this shit the Spellcast, since the last regular mix I did was called that, and because it's a semi-decent name, and because I'll be delving into witch house at intervals - especially what the witch house artists have been up to AFTER that scene had sort of collapsed and exhausted itself - and yada yada yada....

However, this doesn't mean that this podcast thingy is in any connected to the label I run - although I am liable to drop exclusives in the future if I want to - this podcast is NOT AFFILIATED WITH AURAL SECTS AT ALL. Got that? Yeah? OKAY THEN,

This is just going to be a thing where I force tracks upon you that I think are good and important. In that order. Sometimes you'll hear my voice. I'll sometimes tell stories, I'll sometimes make jokes, I'll sometimes deliver gossip and sometimes (only very occasionally) I may rant for short, intense bursts. Though you get none of these this time, because there are no inebriates in the house.

I want y'all to get in touch if'n you can and or want to, about this or that or whatever. Send me links to shit, and I'll check them out, don't like a track? Tell me why. Thing my stories are bullshit? Get at me. I'm looking for Utopian-levels of involvement, here.

Tracklistings can be found wherever I sodding damn well please to put them, and I'll try to provide links to places that you can either download from for free, or purchase for monies.




Tracklisting:
Maribel – Jezebel Jive (Keep Shelly In Athens Remix)

Ritualz featuring How I Quit Crack – Eye (Smashing Pumpkins cover) 

VEILS – SOULMATES

VS//YOUTHCLUB – INFINITY

Holy Other – Know Where (Andy Stott Remix)

Emika – 3 Hours (Ghosts Remix) 

Four Tet – Jupiters (Drvg Cvltvre Remix) 

Playground - Spleen (Jérôme Laufer's Zabriskie Point Remix) 

Poor Spirits – !N3V3R SL33P! 

Vitiligo – Requiem

Memory Ghost – Challenger 

PEACHBLACK – NORTHERN WINDs 
[forthcoming on auralsects.bandcamp.com]

/please/ - Heartbeats (the Knife cover) 

????? - Dog Days (Cover) – 
IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE THIS CAME FROM PLS HALP

Grimes – Visiting Statue (M¥rrĦ Ka Ba remix) 

Meddicine – Lost Control 

Mark Noyes + The Operators – Eat Yr Face Off 

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Fluorescent Records Summer Vacation compilation

It's been a while since my last transmission (2.5 weeks to be exact) which is pretty terrible of me... HOWEVER! I bring with me joyous sounds for you to enjoy. I have, for your aural pleasure, a compilation, brought to you be the glorious Fluorescent Records, based loosely around the the theme of Summer Vacation. Fluorescent Records are a relatively new label, but after having started in October 2011, they are garnering a solid reputation for harvesting some very fresh and beautifully produced beats. It's fair to say at this point that this label, for me, is second only to Tri-Angle in providing music that I consistently love.

The label is run by two of the artists (POLYHYMNIΔ and fathomm) who set up the label initially to share their friends' music out of their geographical locale, however since getting online, they've opened themselves up to artists across this blue-green ball we call Earth. Much like my own efforts in the record whoring business, they firmly believe that digital music should be free to share, if not free to download. Which brings us neatly back to this FREE compilation. At 30 tracks, it's a rapturous slog of a listen, so I've brought you a few tidbits to help ease your journey through it...

Khan Kurra – Nadjya – this track revolves around recurring beat and noise patterns that honestly sound like a walk through a marketplace, looped and toned down, while gentle and un-intrusive percussion underlines the pitched up vox. Imagine if Demdike Stare toned it all down a bit. Beautiful music.



ARPPEGI8 – CHOIR GIRLZ/PRAISE POSEIDON – sounds like a chillout/holy/watery day by the ocean. Fusing dreamy pads, soft percussion and bouncy arpeggios, combining with abstract vocals it creates a softer, more beautiful and hazy form of techno.



Chris Rehm – Coming Up Roses
– coming across like lo-fi noisey gothic pop. I hesitate to use the word “Shoegaze” but it's there in this creature's genetic make-up. Bonus points for creating a greatly catchy singalong chorus.



Other notables: VS//YOUTHCLUB coming across like M83 with a case of the blues and a taste for bouncy techno. Okay, maybe that's a crap description. VS//YOUTHCLUB tend to make music I often find difficult to classify easily... PrettyFacesSplitOpen delivers a quietly stunning track, based around carefully glitched beats and abstract crystalline synth sounds that flow easily from movement to movement and moment to moment. ”Coffins” displays BL▲CK CEILING's own take on the traditional Witch House sound as per usual, with gliding bass synths and a melancholy piano melody that demonstrates why many consider hima t the top of his game at the minute. Other points of interest include :The Ceremonial Dagger, Koda, DARK MOTHER, and, of course the labelheads themselves, POLYHYMNIΔ and fathomm.

In the interests of full disclosure, I also produced a track for compilation using a vocal sample that PrettyFacesSplitOpen thankfully provided, but I could hardly write about THAT could I?

Go get this stunning bit of compilation below.

DOWNLOAD