DEKATRON — TIME FLIES

⌾ LISTEN TO DEKATRON, TIME FLIES ⌾

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Punching into the ether with the anticipation of discovery, 'Time Flies' by Phoenix, Arizona producer Dekatron is a marvel of midiwave simplicity. The unconventional see-saw between kicks and snares in the robust beat gives it a unique rhythm, something which may have been conscious, a sonic illustration of the sea which is partly the inspiration of the track.

"I imagined ... an old sailing vessel sailing the seas with the ups and downs of the tides, as well as the ups and downs of life and survival in general. I wanted to cast the seriousness against a fun experience for the sailors also anticipating the arrival," Dekatron tells yes/no via email.

With the stripped-back instruments helping to place the soundtracking credentials of 'Time Flies' somewhere in a timeless past, it's the constant marriage of strings and bass with the rhythm of the beat that gives the track its kinetic power, that keeps it jolting, lurching forward like a storm-hit ship. Space is left for dynamic additions and subtractions, while more minimal segments with low, moody strings.

"I put myself in the shoes of the sailors and thought about the adrenaline pumping through them as they are geared up for destiny," Dekatron writes.

With imagination such as this laid bare, it's easy to look through the creative resources at any producer's disposal, and find the roots of adventure sprouting into a tract of sound that extends into branches and boughs, galaxies greater than the sum of its parts.

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• 🔔 Listen to more of Dekatron's varied oeuvre of music over on his SoundCloud.

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☟ Dekatron Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ instagram ⚘ spotify ⚘

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CARMELLE (HALCYON TONE) – WET DREAM

Not only do I fucking love this, it also has a brilliant concept. A really fun concept. Whilst on the surface of things it seems to be created by Carmelle, it's actually not as it seems. Ostensibly, Carmelle is a "Minneapolis Funk veteran" who, for the creation of this track 'Wet Dream', "hired a variety of local musicians in his adopted home of Lisbon to bring an uncharacteristically frantic pace to this, his biggest release as an expat."

It is pure fantasy. Carmelle, and in fact every artist featured on this compilation by Halcyon Tone, Halcyon Tone vol. 1: Reflection – yes, even "Yugoslavian-Italian songwriter and record producer" YUNIX – is a fabrication. Explaining themselves, the duo that is Halcyon Tone say: "Many concept albums have been written from the POV of some alter-ego, but Halcyon Tone have invented an entire roster of imaginary and often eccentric artists in order to express their eclectic (and electric) musical impulses."

It's all part of the entertainment, this total immersion in an imagined retro world, with characters as big and bold as any real life star of yesteryear. Rather than be inspired by retro things, be a modern-day person and make music that sounds like old stuff, why not create a whole universe of characters who actually existed back then, and whose music can be retrospectively re-discovered or posthumously released. The possibilities are infinite.

I wish I could write about all of these tracks but I'm afraid I would, uh, gush. Yes, that's the right word. I'd gush. So I'll just mini-gush about 'Wet Dream' (sounds wrong, sorry).

It is a vigorous disco-leaning, boogie-conjuror of a track, bumping forward with robust bass and a brisk jogging beat with supershaker hi-hats; punctuated with sparkling synth chords, delicate and subtle, joined by a different progression towards the end, played this time with a breezy organ. The verse holds in it a simple 3-note synth melody, supporting the vocals, which are incidentally the best part of this track; sung in falsetto and totally aware of how to make everything catchy, they ring with ecstasy and romance and I cannot get the chorus hook "Not a day in my life goes by / When I'm not thinking of you" out of my head. The lyrics are also incredible, full of rich, youthful imagery (you can read them all here). I am in love with this song and you could be, too. Just too damn charming.

I can't say anything else except that this is extremely interesting for me. I love the sounds, I love the concept, aesthetics. I guess I could say that Halcyon Tone are a duo, Josh and Chris, and they are based in Tokyo.

• Please, please, please, please, please do yourself a favour and have a listen to Halcyon Tone Vol. 1: Reflection
• Fun fact: you ever heard the term 'halcyon days'? Like a wordy way to say 'good old days'. But it comes from the Greek world for kingfisher, halcyon, which would often appear in late summer, thus cementing the term 'halcyon days' as reminiscent of very nice warm days of summer.

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☟ Carmelle Social Media Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Bandcamp • official site • Twitter • YouTube

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FOREST SWORDS THE WEIGHT OF GOLD

Over a month ago we heard the fabuloso 'Thor's Stone' by the rather esoteric Forest Swords, a song beset by wild bamboo flutes with more than a little what's-in-the-woods-? mystique about it. Today we have more delights from this experimental British artist, whose music conjures foggy marshlands or murky forests where clusters of ghost lights float panicked ahead of something truly strange and unknown in the unseen depths of nature, in the very trees themselves, in the water, in the air. The grass is cold and wet. The paths are muddy. Britain is an ancient forest swimming in bogs. Huge angry clouds crouch over the land forever.

That's the kind of vibe you get from past songs and also their latest tracks - and the delight I was speaking of today, 'The Weight Of Gold' plays up to the heaviness implied by its title. And it certainly doesn't skimp on the brutal mysticism that seems to emanate from this sound like curling smoke. It's there all the time, hanging in the air. Hear fo yoself.

The song announces itself as an existence in and of itself with distorted horns, the atmosphere conjured with plucked overdriven stringed-something-or-other and scuttling percussion that is both huge and raw. It pounds away, clacking woodblocks against dull-yet-explosive taiko-sounding drums. Sub-bass creeps in from somewhere, giving a nonchalant groove to a wholly non-nonchalant sound. Beginning at the final third of the song, the high-pitched strings play a cyclical melody, summoning the final push that seems to burst forth from the very earth itself, scraping and distorted completely unintelligible/inhuman vocals that reverb and echo as if travelling through twisted jagged caves to get to your ears.

That beat. Wow. It kills your ears but it's kinda gloriously satisfying, that thud of a drum booming, sounding closer to your heart than something more electro-based. It's a tatty kind of sound, rough-around-the-edges, like the kind of paper you'd stain with tea, crumple up, rub with dirt and burn holes in when you were younger to make a treasure map. It's faux-mystic, of course, cause you can't very well record true sounds of unearthly things, but you can whisk your imagination away to a landscape that shudders heavy with meaning and magic.

This is the second song to come from Forest Swords' upcoming DEBUT ALBUM Engravings out 26th August on Tri Angle records.

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KIDKANEVIL INTERVIEW

From bringing to us his glossy, minimalist beats to most recently teaming up with Daisuke Tanabe for side-project Kidsuke (which I wrote a bit about last year), kidkanevil (aka Gerard Roberts) has been pursuing music for a long time. Or rather - not pursuing, but living in it. Within the atmosphere of his music there is a certain love of the process and attention to detail that arises from something very simple: liking, if not loving, what you do.

The man himself was kind enough to allow me to send over some questions for his perusal, and kinder still to send back some answers. Gain some insight from a music man. Yes they are the same questions. Maybe it's a lazy interview. In any case, it's not like anyone can cheat or anything, can they? Every person answers differently. And here's what kidkanevil said...

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
My name is kidkanevil, I’m from the UK, I make music.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
Music has been a passion since I was a kid, so it just happened naturally, I didn’t really ‘decide’ as such.

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
I don’t know really, its rooted in hiphop and watching too much anime. I just try to make original and honest music and hope that myself and other people like it, if it stands out to some people then I am appreciative of that.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
Not that I know of.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
The usual – life, art, film, daydreaming. I have a far too active imagination, it’s kind of a problem sometimes.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
Wow, I don’t know if I can answer that, most of my life has been a musical experience. I met Arvo Part once and I bowed.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?
Arvo Part – Adam’s Lament

Tetsuya Hikita – Party of Autumn

Jameszoo – The Clumtwins

Who do you most admire in the music world?
I admire anyone who makes their own music and not someone else’s.

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
Messy and unexpected probably, like all things.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
Messy and unexpected hopefully! I’m just making ideas for fun at the moment, I don’t like to engage with the ‘music industry’ until I have to. I feel in a really special place creatively right now, the place I’ve been working to get to all this time. I know my next body of work will be very special to me. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t rush it in the excitement.

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
I’m currently in the process of fucking up my life to find out actually, I’ll let you know. ^ _ ^

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A glimpse into the world of kidkanevil. What shines through the most is his "far too active imagination" (be it sometimes a problem or not) - his music is filled with sounds that aren't the regular type to be cradled by a beat, nor are they the regular type full stop. I think it's a case of not being inspired by music itself, but being inspired by other things to create music (as he said); that's how you get a truly original and imaginative sound.

The prospect of a "messy and unexpected" future is a kind of fun uncertainty - it's difficult to predict. Uncertainty is the best policy. But his own musical future sounds good - the reality of that future, when it comes to us all in song-form, will probably sound even better.

As for a concrete future, Mr kidkanevil tells me there is "def gonna be more kidsuke!" amongst other things, so that is pretty cool, too. ありがとう！

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