Hello!
There were a few late additions to this issue which shunted the release somewhat, but they were too good not to include. The Happening Again inbox has been slowly filling up with good stuff as well, so if you have music that you think I should be listening to, do drop me a line.
Enough chatter, here’s what I’ve been spinning recently…
Are you a musician? Do you have a certain band or artist you think I should be listening to? Drop them into the Happening Again inbox: wearehappeningagain@gmail.com
If you like what I do and enjoy reading these little send-outs, you can drop me a few quid in my ko-fi jar:
ko-fi.com/happeningagain
Vandoo
SAMPLE METAL
Zonned
The town of Perm, Russia, has become quite the melting pot where electronic music is concerned. It’s the home of psych-rockers Gnoomes, as well as their former bandmate-turned-electronic producer KIKOK. Not surprising then that this latest artist to find a home on Zonned (the imprint helmed by Sasha Piankov, one half of the aforementioned Gnoomes) also hails from Perm. Vandoo is the electronic alias of Vanya Koblov, and this slice of ambient techno is delicious. ‘Sample Metal’ drifts with delicate atmospheres, punctuated by deep, bassy thrums, while off-kilter textures make their acquaintance every now and then. Vandoo feels like a perfect fit for Zonned. Looking forward to seeing what they conjure next.
Flying Lotus
GARMONBOZIA
Warp
“Is it the future or past,” sings Steven Ellison on this latest FlyLo track. Wholly influenced by ‘Twin Peaks’ and specifically the infamous Red Room, this latest offering is one of his more melodic outings, bright synths arpeggiating, deep funky bass slapping, all wrapped around Ellison’s soft, floating vocals. The title takes its name from the creamed corn-like substance in Lynch’s world that acts as a material representation of pain and sorrow, and is linked with several of the spirits that haunt the town. While there’s nothing particularly sorrowful about this single, there are glimpses of FlyLo channelling the darker edges of the ‘Twin Peaks’ universe. There are brief snatches of pitched-down, borderline-demonic vocal interjections, and the last 15 seconds of the track is dark ambience peppered with electrical static. Ellison is no stranger to the world of Lynch. The director featured on his track ‘Fire Is Coming’ from his ‘Flamagra’ album, and he’s previously remixed the ‘Twin Peaks’ theme. A brilliant, leftfield match.
Djo
DECIDE
AWAL
Djo is Joe Keery, and if that name rings a bell it’s because you may know him more commonly as Steve Harrington in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’. ‘Decide’, his second album under his Djo alias released in 2022, is 13 tracks of buoyant synthpop with some guitar twanging for good measure. I have to admit I wrongly assumed that Keery was more wedded to indie, but I’m happy to be proven totally wrong. There’s more than a whiff of Daft Punk about opener ‘Runner’; ‘Half Life’ shudders with a dark intensity before blossoming into a sultry guitar-led number; and you will have definitely heard ‘End Of Beginning’. An anthemic, dreamy synthpop banger, it quickly permeated through the internet via TikTok virality and soundtracking tribute compilations of ‘The Bear’. It really is great though, like a lost track from the 1980s drenched in longing and nostalgia. ‘Stranger Things’ aside, Keery is now firmly on my radar.
The Endearing
INTERNET FRIENDS
NewRetroWave
I love it when an album grabs me and won’t let go. A late addition to this issue of Happening Again, The Endearing is Bristol-based Crayg Williams, and ‘Internet Friends’ is his debut on NewRetroWave. A fine fit, considering the imprint has championed synthwave, vaporwave, and all other 80s-influenced “waves” post-‘Drive’. “Neon-drenched” is the phrase whizzing round my head while listening to this record. The dreamy nostalgic title track serves as the album’s intro, before we go full-throttle into the maximalist ‘Tied Up’, the neon lights turning into blurred ribbons as self-assured vocals rub up against bright synthlines. The intimate ‘Picture Perfect’ charms with reverb-drenched guitar, while bright synthesisers soar over the slow chunter of a drum machine on ‘Crystal Eyes’. All this, and I’ve not even spoken about the gorgeous sleeve, featuring artwork from Mizucat, who in the real world is German graphic artist Jaqueline Ruther. For fans of The Midnight.
That’s it for this time. As always you can find my ramblings elsewhere in both print and online in Electronic Sound. I am going to tentatively dip into the world of microblogging again, so follow me on Bluesky if that’s your sort of thing.
But a few bits before I go…
// For some reason a recent Beano comic appeared on my Instagram feed. It was a Roger The Dodger strip, and he was using a smartphone. I don’t think Beano characters should be portrayed with smartphones, or any technology created after 2003.
// Spooky Season is just around the corner and I’m slowly metamorphosing into Autumn mode - turtlenecks, jumpers, horror, and dark fantasy. I tend to think of Halloween as the entirety of October (maybe one of the few truly decent American imports). There might be a few horror-themed Happening Agains. John Carpenter’s inclusion already priced-in.
Bumpeth That
Please enjoy this medieval version of Charli XCX’s ‘360’ (aptly titled ‘(1)360’).
Starman
Really can’t wait to play this at some point. ‘UFO 50’ is a collection of 50 retro games developed by the fictional company UFO Soft for the fictional 1980s games console LX. Each of them are fully playable, fully realised video games (there’s at least one full RPG in there) and the roster straddles a wide variety of genres. I need a Nintendo Switch release pronto. Check out the trailer below.