Hello! And welcome to what I hope will be the first of many editions of Happening Again, a roughly-fortnightly newsletter where I share the music that’s caught my attention over the past two-ish weeks. Though that’s not to say it’s only music that’s been released over the last fortnight. I’ll mainly be sticking to stuff released this year, and over the last couple of years, but I’ll also throw in the odd album from times gone. It probably won’t just be music recommendations either - I’ll likely throw the TV and films that have caught my attention. As well as videos games - there’s always video games.
Points to you if you understand the reference in this newsletter’s title. And see me after the bell if you didn’t. Also if you spot any typos in this, no you didn’t.
But anyway, on with the show…
Makeup and Vanity Set, Sferro
WAVEFINDER
Stratford Ct
A tentpole of modern synthwave, I’ve been a fan of Makeup And Vanity Set (MAVS for short) since first getting into the genre about 10 years ago. Here they join forces with similarly minded producer Sferro for ‘Wavefinder’, 10 tracks of oscillating melodies and punchy synthlines. And it’s a corker. From the opening wah-wah-wahs of ‘Cursors’ to the title track’s almost-angelic atmosphere that’s punctuated by stabs of keys, it’s a record I’ve had on repeat since it’s release. It’s always nice to listen to a meeting of minds and it’s even better when they turn out as good as this. (A note: those unfamiliar with Sferro should get their lugholes around their 2021 album ‘Emotion Engine’. A delightful genre-jump of synthwave, Italo disco, and future funk).
Smugly Ugly
ALUMNI WEEKEND
Dirty Jerz
Another album that’s been on repeat since its release is this stonking debut from this NYC four-piece. In their own words, a “punk band, jam band, fuck you band!” they’ve instilled this record with their sense of humour and its all the better for it. I’ve been playing a lot of ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ recently, and I couldn’t help feel how every track on ‘Alumni Weekend’ would have a deserved place on the game’s soundtrack (Tony Hawk, take note. I know you’re definitely reading this). Highlights include the anthemic ‘FAAFO’ (I’ll let you work out the acronym), the hilarious ‘New Car’ (not sure I’ve heard a punk track start with a barbershop quartet) and my personal fave ‘Want/Need’, a cacophonic firestorm in which every band member seems in competition with each other over whose instrument is getting centrepiece. In a word: joyous.
ALEX, Megan McDuffee
THE INSTRUMENTALS OF A HERO'S JOURNEY
Bandcamp
Anyone who knows me knows I’m partial to a good instrumental album, and “good” is doing a disservice to this by Scottish electronic musician ALEX and American composer Megan McDuffee. It’s an instrumental cut of their 2018 synthpop outing ‘Hero’, and includes alternative edits of certain tracks to boot. Full of bright melodic electronics and quivering chiptune atmospherics, ‘The Instrumentals Of A Hero’s Journey’ feels like its training you for a boss fight. It’s not just all fun video game electronics though. There’s some real beauty to be found here, specifically in the orchestral versions of ‘Hero’ and ‘Journey’, the latter of which is packed with emotion. If you need anymore convincing stick ‘Love Story’ on - the album’s centrepiece that sums the entire thing up.
James Adrian Brown
THERE IS SPACE UNDER YOUR SEAT
Castles In Space
I’ve written about Mr. Brown in another very fine publication (a bit more on that later), and it would seem amiss not to mention his recently released seven-inch ‘There Is Space Under Your Seat’. Former guitarist in alt-rock group Pulled Apart By Horses, Brown has swapped strings for synths and is all the better for it. A snip at eight minutes in total, the title track and B-side ‘Dreaming Deep Diver’ are contemplative, drifting melodica, dripping in atmosphere and awash with gentle keys and harsher tape hisses. No surprise then that Brown has found a home on the ever-excellent Castles In Space, a label where you can find the likes of Field Lines Cartographer, Polypores and Kayla Painter. Available physically on red vinyl but chop-chop - they won’t last long.
Dan Le Sac
TRON: IDENTITY (ORIGINAL VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACK)
Walt Disney
Mention the words ‘TRON’ and “soundtrack” in a sentence, and chances are that Daft Punk will follow almost immediately. The now-decommissioned Robots’ seminal score to 2010’s ‘TRON: Legacy’ was so good it arguably became more famous than the film is was soundtracking. When a sound is so intrinsically linked to a franchise, you don’t want to be the person to mess around with it. But for Bithell Games’ ‘TRON: Identity’ a new visual novel based in the ‘TRON’ universe, the team recruited Dan Le Sac for scoring duties, he of now-defunct hip hop duo Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, I’m glad they didn’t ask me after listening to this record. Weaving sonic reveries, arpeggiating strings, chunky synthesised bleeps and rhythmic shivers, Dan Le Sac has created a pulsing soundscape of a record; a computer’s motherboard come to life. There’s a whole lot to enjoy here - don’t let your love of The Robots overshadow it.
I think that’s all for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this first edition of Happening Again, of which they’ll be many more to come (fingers-crossed emoji). You can find my ramblings elsewhere in both print and online Electronic Sound, the premier electronic music magazine (support print mags! It’s good for your soul!).
See you in two weeks. Probably. In the meantime, I’ll be watching the new ‘Legend Of Zelda’ trailer on repeat until release (see, I told you I’d manage to get video games in here somewhere).