Culture Abuse
Wilfully obscure distorted electronica, bracing San Fran punk and a smorgasbord of chilled electronica are the orders of the day for Getintothis’ Patrick Clarke in his latest new music round up.
I’ve never quite seen the point of cassettes. They’ve always felt like the needless side of physical revivalism; with vinyl satisfying the romantics after something hefty and high-quality, and streaming catering for cost and convenience, it’s hard to see just what the unhappy, flimsy medium of tape actually offers.
Yet with Neil Reinalda‘s latest of many offerings as PHORK, K, there’s something strangely suitable in the decision to release his intriguing new EP solely on cassette. Absent from Facebook, decidedly minimalist on Twitter, and offering little in the way of information other than an explanation for the name (People’s Higher Order of Royal Kinship), there’s a sense Reinalda revels in willful obscurity.
For all the opacity, the first taste of the new release Ride Up, is an understated gem, a woozy, minimalist obfuscation of EDM, it strips a Factory Floor sound of it’s relentless intensity, substituting it with a searching pulse. Time to dust off the cassette player.
Altogether less subtle is the caustic debut album from San Francisco rockers Culture Abuse, Peach, released today via 6131 Records. Balancing splashes of hardcore, punk and garage rock for a fiercely immediate LP, seizing melodies burst through cacophonic lurches for an enthralling first release, peppered with hostile character.
Finally, London producer Callum Thomas‘ new EP as Sly Bastard, Soul Jerky, dropped under the majority of radars this week. impeccably produced, it’s an enthrallingly diverse selection, if at the expense of a consistent sense of flow to the whole project, cherrypicked old-school samples rub shoulders with glitches and chimes for five tracks each impeccable in their own right.
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