Listening Post #9

1. Klangstof – Doolhof

This is how you open an album. Delicate Alt-J guitar and bouncy synths with more than a hint of Kaytranada to the mix with a general air of half-optimism half-loneliness, and it’s a mix that Norwegian four-piece Klangstof manage to pull off with staggering ease. There’s a pointed lack of vocals, and it’s just as well since there’s no need for them. It’s just a group of guys at the top of their game having a bit of instrumental fun, and it’d be a shame to miss out on it. Great late-night music.

2. Blank Banshee – Meteor Blade (Fragment)

I resent writing about this track, because Blank Banshee really should have released his album a long time ago at this point – his countdown clock hit zero several times and reset itself over the past couple of weeks, and the current theorised release date is on the 30th, though Blank Banshee 2 probably won’t show up then either. With that off my chest, this is a great loop nonetheless – a hypnotic vaporwave beat which echoes earlier work with its sudden spiky error-message accents and intricate drums.

Available on the official website blankbansee.com 

3. Blind Spot – The Middle

More questing in the dark forest of Bandcamp tags this week, and today’s newly obscure record to listen to is Blind Spot’s Forests. It’s a whispered bedroom project which takes the style of The XX and puts an upbeat though quietly melancholic twist on it. The Middle is the feeling of awkward fresherdom distilled into three minutes of lo-fi chill. This guy’s definitely one to keep an eye on – I wish him the best in future artistic endeavours and, if you give him a chance, you will too.

4. Clams Casino & DJ Shadow – Stem / Long Stem Remix

For the upcoming 20th anniversary of legendary instrumental hip-hop album Endtroducing, DJ Shadow’s decided to drop an absolutely massive 6-LP Endtrospective, including a remix album with producers like Prince Paul, Hudson Mohawke, even Adrian Younge. This remix is a bold first single Clams Casino comes within a hair’s breadth of losing what was beautiful about Endtroducing in the first place underneath layers of cloudy synths and trap drums, but every now and then you’ll catch a glimpse of the original like a whale’s back breaking the black surface of the nighttime sea. It’s masterfully done.

5. The Game – Pest Control

So, there’s been a bit of beef brewing the last couple of weeks, between The Game and Meek Mill. Mill released a track featuring a couple of his Dreamchasers crew after Game went after him, and now we get this, the second shot in the war. Game’s dispensed with the need for crew members backing him up and just gone for straight bars. This is biting, personal and far, far better than Meek’s OOOUUU remix. Highlights include calling Meek Mill out for attacking Drake’s ghostwriter Quentin Miller and reminding everyone of Omelly’s infamously awful Sway in the Morning freestyle by including an excerpt at the end that sounds less like a serious attempt at rap and more like an Eric Andre skit. This is the beef to follow.

Listen to the PearShaped Listening Post #9 Playlist below.