Picks Of The Week (22.07.23

1. Moleman - Duality LP [Selfreleased]

Recommended if you like: Amaryllis, nuphory, Boxplot

Artists disappearing off the face of the earth is something that happens more often than I'd like. Memtrix, Ownglow and Rawtekk are just a handful of examples. However, sometimes, if you wait long enough, they start coming back. Spor, Kemal and even Pendulum all made comebacks in one way or another lately. Joining this latter batch of legends now is Subsphere Records founder and champion of the 2010s era Dancefloor sound Charlie Cox, better known as Moleman. A good 9 months after we talked about his second comeback single Space Cadet back in October, it's now time for the full release of what Charlie has put together for us during his four years of absence, his debut album Duality! Structured as two halves, with the first one being on the more energetic side and the other not so much, this wonderful body of work showcases both extremes of the 2010s era liquid sound he, and I for that matter, love so much. So let's dig a little deeper and explore these glorious burrows of nostalgia!

Fitting for the weather these past few weeks and literally 100% of the festivals I've been to this year, Charlie sets the nostalgic scene with an actual rain storm pouring down outside our imaginary window, on the album opener This Feeling. Accompanied by some rather lovely strings, our inner monologue starts doubting reality and begins thinking that us all actually living in a dream seems more likely, and slowly but surely the dreadful rain makes way for a delightfully dreamy arrangement. Soon enough, Charlie takes this feeling and goes full throttle with it all: Walls of synths relentlessly pushing you forward, all sorts of melodies to get lost in, dynamic drums, all topped off with a healthy dose of reality-bending glitchiness. That's not the only nostalgic aesthetic we're exploring today though, no no. For example, on Beautiful Dreamer we go full Neo-Y2K, with overpowering, hyperactive trance-y synths as the main driver of an ethereally euphoric yet pretty powerful drop.

We continue the euphoria train with the glitchy ode to the 80s (it makes me think of Phil Collins for some reason and no I can't explain it either) that is Take On The World. While slightly more laid-back than its predecessors, there's still plenty of energy to be had, in the form of rhythmically pleasing and rather potent drums, and what it might (relatively) lack in energy, it makes all the more up for in sheer loveliness, with an incredible lead melody that is simply stunning. Speaking of lovely, Phoenix keeps up the pace on the beauty front, with a synth melody that feels super simple on paper, but in practice conveys all sorts of emotions and a vocal sample amplifying this feeling even further, while the energy levels are pumped up incredibly high once more, with a proper storm of drums and synths. Once again we're switching up the vibe a bit, with the Half-Time, almost Hip-Hop-y, 8-bit glitchy-gamey buildup for our next stop, Solar Flare. Not just that, we're also treated to vocal samples courtesy of our favourite Australian duo, V O E! Of course, after exploring this vibe for quite a bit, we eventually move into DnB territory with an all-encompassing vibe of a drop.

Next, we're about to be robbed of some of our sovereignty, on Lost Control. With a surprisingly epic, for lack of a better word, buildup full of big choirs and even bigger drums, the hype is being built up to immense heights, before Charlie justifies it all with this break-heavy, bass-assisted explosion of euphoria that is the drop. Breaking Through on the other hand, marking the transition to the vibey half of the album, instead opts to get right to the point, by dropping us right into a sea of loveliness, where various overlapping, almost overwhelming waves of syncopated synths continuously crash down on us. Together with the minimal drums and the atmospheric vocals in the background, it all feels larger-than-life yet beautiful, like seeing the arctic ice for the first time in real life.

You've already heard enough of me raving about the stratospheric vibe that is Space Cadet, so I'm gonna go and skip ahead. Wait a second, my car is making a weird noise, probably something with the battery again. Oh no, Hold On, that's the intro of the next tune! Soon enough, the fasten your seatbelt alarm is joined by more and more supremely lovely strings and before you know it, we're part of a stop-and-go traffic jam with fast-paced breaks burning under us. If we practice some patience, however, we eventually break free from the congestion and slide into this pleasantly wobbly liquid vibe. Over time, the scenery changes again and again, even throughout more stop-and-go's, resulting in an experience unlike any other on here. Next, we go full old-school, on Fade Away. And when I say old-school, I don't mean that we're going crazy with breaks or anything, but that everything feels like a sound straight out of an old sampler, from the organ piano to the drum loop. The audio crackles don't hurt either! Over time, however, the arrangement evolves more and more, with more drums, piano melodies and even vocals joining in on the fun, resulting in what scholars refer to as "quite the vibe".

Closing in on the end now, we're going down memory lane with the finest early 2010s wobbles, a wonderfully emotional vocal sample, and a fantastic fusion of think break woo's and piano melodies on Starlight, evolving and changing in its arrangement all the way until the end. Deep End breaks it all down to the bare necessities: An even bigger focus on the piano of it all lulling you into a meditative state, simple breaks gently pushing you through these warm basses and lo-fi synthy vibes, it's just lovely all around. Lastly, we're taking one last, rather big step into the world of lo-fi, with the album closer Anima. Subtle, warm bass wobbles, the occasional piano chord, very minimal drums slowly morphing into slightly less minimal ones, great atmospheric work and samples all come together to create a cuddly, soft pillow, on which we glide towards the very end.

Amidst all the F Minor festival anthems, the frequent 4x4 fun and the semi-automatic baddadan's, it's so nice to return to the good old days of euphoric, energetic and extremely upbeat "Powerliquid". Welcome back, Charlie!

Other upbeat/Dancefloor-y things from this week:

Koven - Chase The Sun
Various Artists - LET TEA ROLL (lmao)
T & Sugah - Indecisive
Axel Boy, Unround - You Want Me
Nothing But Thieves - Overcome (Kove Remix)
Drawn Moon - River Of The Darkness

2. NOTAKU, D3RV, Flow Control - AUTONOMIC - Part 3 💎 [ATNMY]

Recommended if you like: Edlan, Artificial Intelligence, Tatora

From a legend returning to the scene, we now move over to three completely new names making their mark with some rather wonderful bits and bops on Edlan's incredibly underrated label ATNMY. Surely you remember me singing its praises back when TZ's Wonder EP dropped on there, so I'll leave my label love at that for now. So let's get talking about this new one, the third entry in the stunning AUTONOMIC series of EPs, showcasing all sorts of new talents and names! Without further ado, let's jump right into all three artists involved in this masterful collection of tunes. That's right, it's Hidden Gem Of The Week™️ time!

Let's start with NOTAKU. Residing in Bournemouth, UK, Mr. NOTAKU has been grinding away in this production game since he was a mere 17 years of age. Originally inspired by Wilkinson turning his vacuum into a DnB banger (for some reason I simply cannot find it online anymore though), NOTAKU was actually way more fascinated by the heavier, darker parts of DnB. Around 2016, his first few tunes started being uploaded, ranging from Neuro to Jump Up even, under the actually quite well-fitting artist name Horrorstar. Tune after tune, he started exploring all sorts of other vibes and around 2019 the liquid bits achieved majority status, which is also when he rebranded to Shadowdawn. However, he was still not quite happy with that one, and so, inspired by the likes of Dawn Wall, Tatora, KALOA and co, he rebranded one more time in 2021, to NOTAKU. While he has put out a ton of cool tunes over the years, this new one is his very first foray into the world of label releases, ahead of a full-sized solo EP soon™️.

So, what did he bring to the table for this one then? Nights Are Falling! Or, to be more specific: Snappy drum loops smoothly flowing on top of powerful kicks continuously, well, kicking you in the bottocks, all sorts of tribal flutes and moody vocals creating an otherworldly, Ekho-ing atmosphere, and some proper lush basses underneath it all. NOTAKU? More like YESTAKU!

Next, we've got D3RV! Straight outta Geel in Belgium, Fred Lambrechts has been around for similarly long as NOTAKU, with the first pieces of evidence of his musical prowess showing up around 2017, with his DJing career also having started somewhere around that time. Unlike his fellow ATNMY family member, however, Fred seems to be way more interested in the exploration of all kinds of electronic music genres, with his Those Days EP featuring slices of Techno and Bassline, but also Liquid and Jump Up. That's kind of all I have for this one. So, uhm, let's talk about his tune on here then! With In The Dark, his first release since said explorative EP in 2019, Fred carefully crafted a sublime vibe with the use of excellent piano chords, gentle, shuffly drums, an ominous blanket of atmospheric noise, a bassline softly pushing our buttons left and right, and a vocal that is simply outstanding. Also, I just realised his artist name is basically his name backwards. Fred. Derf. D3RV. Do with that information what you will.

Lastly, we've got Flow Control! They seem to be Dutch, I suppose. And they like flowers? That's literally where my research hit a wall already. I found a Flow Control that is chilling in a hot tub, I found a German Rock band called that, there's even one who does some Techno, but he seems to be from Belgium so that doesn't fit. I only "know" that this one is Dutch, because like 90% of their follows are other Dutch people. Well, let's talk a bit about the music then! Ending this EP with a bang, Do You takes some rather high-octane yet pleasantly flowing drums, a uniquely sounding bassline poking out from the arrangement every now and then to cause some chaos, garnishes it with a criminally catchy combination of vocal samples, each processed in a different way, and creates a big ol' banger of a tune out of it all.

Three great new tunes from super fresh, all tremendously talented new names? Sign me up. AUTONOMIC? More like AUTO-YES-MIC!

Other liquid bits from this week:

Technimatic - Where It Begins
Hugh Hardie - Juicebox LP
Monrroe, SOLAH - Overthinking
CELO - GLOW
Mitekiss - Belamour / Mutton Lane
Children Of Our Stars - The Orchid 💎
Note, aya dia - Vespertine