Happening Again #62
Hot stuff (baby, this evening)
Hello!
This week has felt a bit like being in the gym just before the first lockdown, every single screen tuned to BBC News talking about a virus that was rapidly spreading around China. But on a much larger timescale. Cheery, I know, but I can’t imagine wearing a jumper ever again.
Anyway, here’s what I’ve been spinning recently…
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Leenalchi
HERE COMES THAT CROW
Luaka Bop
Now this is my kind of K-pop. I was deeply and immediately taken with Leenalchi the second I heard the opening bars of ‘Hihi Haha’. They’re a madcap guitar-less seven-piece from South Korea, who straddle the line between post-punk and new wave. Their EP ‘Here Comes That Crow’ is delightful, all thick rippling basslines, psychedelic synthesisers, and some truly zesty lyricism (I can’t understand Korean, but I love how lyrics on tracks like ‘Look At Me Look At Me’ bounce and flow off one another). ‘Bird’ is great fun, starts off all groovy bass and then those synths kick in. Glorious. No wonder they’ve found a home on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label. Need an album pronto.
Two Way Mirrors
SOME MEMORIES ARE CLEAR AND SOME ARE NOT
Frosti
This almost made it into last issue had it not been for me discovering it mere minutes after hitting that “send” button. Thomas Ragsdale returns to his Two Way Mirrors moniker for this 15-minute drone piece, released on his own Frosti imprint. ‘Some Memories Are Clear And Some Are Not’ is “a taste” of a split release coming to the label in July, four tracks apiece between Ragsdale as TWM and another mysterious artist. All dark industrial ambience that groans like wind through a factory, the track was designed around numerous strange “clang” sounds Ragsdale recorded, as well as an ARP that’s been reverbed and delayed to within an inch of its life. He’s written an in-depth breakdown of the track on his Patreon. It’s great to see Ragsdale back under his more atmospheric Two Way Mirrors alias, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s conjured with this split release next month.
Takeshi’s Cashew
OPERATOR
Siluh
Regular readers will know I always enjoy surprises in my inbox, and this week was no different. Look, if you put “for fans of ‘The Legend Of Zelda’ soundtracks” in your press release, say no more. Takeshi’s Cashew (I wish I’d thought of that band name) are a sextet from Vienna that dabble in krauty psychedelia as well as “Psych Medieval Nintendo Core”. They’re a riot. New single ‘Operator’ fuses looping video game-inspired melodies with motorik rhythms and a touch of medieval folk. Not your usual genre mix, but all the better for it. They’ve got a third album due out in October, ‘Planet Odyssey 64’ which I’ve heard snippets of. Oh yes, we’re in for a treat. For now though, check out the visualiser for ‘Operator’ for some trippy pixelated weirdness. Trippixelation? Psychepixelia? Still need to workshop that one.
You’ll Never Get To Heaven
WAVE YOUR MOONLIGHT HAT FOR THE SNOWFALL TRAIN
Mystic Roses
Real life partners Chuck Blazevic and Alice Hansen have been fairly quiet since this, their third full-length as ambient dream pop duo You’ll Never Get To Heaven. If the internet is to be believed, they’ve been playing some live dates recently, and there’s the possibility of a new album on the way. That’s rumours and hearsay though. I came across You’ll Never Get To Heaven via an Instagram reel, which feels like a horribly modern way to discover music. But their ethereal ambient tones drenched in drifting melancholia are hard to resist, so straight to ‘Wave Your Moonlight Hat For The Snowfall Train’ I went. There’s a little of Julee Cruise about ‘Setting Sun’, while delicate looping xylophonic chimes climb across ‘Pink And Gold And Blue’. I’m particularly fond of the piano-led ‘Eye, Soul, And Hand’ (with those cut-up, echoing voices in the background) as well as the looping synth-heavy ‘Eternal Present’. It’s all very gentle and sombre, like they live on the same estate as the Cocteau Twins. Whether that rumoured album materialises we’ll just have to see.
Angine De Poitrine
VOL. II
Spectacles Bonzaï
Finally caught this pair on Jools Holland the other night after somewhat sidestepping their online virality. Like a krautrock Daft Punk, this Québécois duo took the internet by storm earlier this year due to their zany masked outfits - two aliens that look like they’re distantly related to Mr. Blobby. Known only as Klek de Poitrine (drums) and Khn de Poitrine (custom-made double-necked hybrid guitar), they create kaleidoscopic math rock full of looping, hypnotic percussion. And I can see what the fuss is about. There’s a certain madness to their most recent album ‘Vol. II’, particularly on tracks like ‘Mata Zyklek’ and ‘Yor Zarad’, that I really love. But the whole record is an outrageously fun proggy cosmic carousel, that proves the band are more than just a meme.
Steve Roach
STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE
Projekt
I’m not really sure how I found myself revisiting Steve Roach’s seminal ‘Structures From Silence’ recently. Often thought of as Roach’s “breakout” album, the album is a masterclass of expanding synthlines and cyclical motifs. There’s a strong Vangelis vibe to it, particularly on ‘Quiet Friend’, and the whole record is rich with very space age, science fiction atmospheres. Roach really knows how to wield an Oberheim. This album has been particularly welcome during these hazy summer evenings; a slight cooling breather. I wonder if he ever crossed paths with Angelo Badalamenti. The title track really reminds me of some of Badalamenti’s later work. ‘Structures From Silence’ will likely be familiar territory for many of you, but do give it a listen if you’re new to Steve Roach (and then go and raid his back catalogue).
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 before I go, here are some Stray Thoughts and things from across the internet that have caught my eye…
// Loved this horror short by Spanish director Iván Castell. ‘D.I.T.’ follows a conversation between a production assistant and a D.I.T about a horror script the latter is writing. Influenced by Dario Argento and Italian Giallo in general, it’s made all the better by a fantastic Berlin School score by none other than
OGRE Sound. I’ve been a fan of Castell’s since his ‘The Rise Of The Synths’ documentary, which is basically required viewing for Happening Again readers.
// “Hi I’m Saul Goodman, and I want to talk to you about what makes America great,” opines everyone’s favourite criminal lawyer on a YouTube channel called Saul4Democracy. There’s two videos - ‘Know Your Rights!’ and ‘Democracy!’. Sneaky suspicion these are related to the upcoming 250th birthday of the USA and not any upcoming Vince Gilligan projects.
// GTA VI pre-orders finally went live this week, and I’m not sure what the point of releasing a physical version of the game is if that physical version contains no disc (but still costs £69.99).