Prole June
Musically this month has been dominated by the release of two mind-blowing charity compilations from Sheffield's powerhouse DIY and electronica scenes.
Cover of Echo from Below: New Music from Hatch Vol. 1.
We wrote about some of our faves from these wild releases, whose incredible noises make a fine addition to the city's growing canon of incandescent tunes, and also reveal the shocking and revelatory Conspiracy Truth behind Jack and Broc's latest release.
Summer love!
Yo Dynamo - Comp Romp
‘Comp Romp’ is a swarm of psychedelic imps at a disco full of twitching snakes, like an acid party in the Well of Souls. It’s a miniature dervish rampaging through your earholes in a caffeinated orgasmic waltz, a fuzz-clad gorgon, sensuous and deranged and feral. In other words, this is classic Yo Dynamo that leaves you convulsing for more noise and rhythm. Find it like the jam in the sandwich of Hatch collective’s debut release, Echo from Below. [CJA]
Altoman - Prang Abyss
The track is from the first compilation album released by the Light Entries family, a collective of electronic music producers from, or affiliated with, Sheffield. Their mission is to create emotive tracks at the more ambient end of house and techno for all your home listening needs, and all in aid of charity. Altoman, co-founder of Light Entries and one third of Broken FM, has triumphed in that mission with ‘Prang Abyss’. Sampling an array of wonk and glitch that takes us on a journey through decay and release but with a backdrop akin to nineties piano house vibes, the result is a strangely nostalgic and comforting track. All proceeds from Light Entries #1 go to Samaritans.org suicide support and Chayn.co, a charity supporting victims of gender-based violence. [CB]
James Ewan Tait - Hippie Shakedown
Croon-king Tait contributes the wonderful 'Hippie Shakedown' to Hatch collective's debut compilation album Echo…. Presumably dedicated to the city's now legendary hippy scene (Sheffield is full of them don't you know), James creates an epic and sprawling sound from the building blocks of his distinctive vocal and bluesy guitar. It builds into an outro squall, a crescendo of iridescent chaos that reverberates around your head long after the song is over. [CJA]
Duck - Rabbit Hole
Originally released on Duck’s second LP, There Are No Normal Conversations Any More, way back before lockdown, ‘Rabbit Hole’ has just been re-released as part of a compilation album from our favourite DIY collective, Hatch. I’m glad this song has been given a separate platform because it’s on the more subtle end of Duck’s wonk scale and a bit of a hidden gem on the original release. Still with the powerful beats from the drum machine so characteristic of Duck, but with layered riffs to give a full whack eighties feel, the result is an effective showcase of the higher and softer ranges of Sarah’s voice as well as the band’s epic guitar skills. [CB]
Captain Avery & the Cosmic Triceratops of Intergalactic Peace - Dinosaurs on the Moon
Many aeons past I voyaged to a distant moon. Upon landing I heard the sound of jazz emanating from the lunar hillocks, bebop pumping from subterranean stereos, hot notes in space. There were ‘Dinosaurs on the Moon’! A plethora of paleo-reptilian beasts occupying the orbital rocks of planets all over the place. In one of the biggest conspiracies of all time, these creatures faked their own extinction and ditched Earth for more exotic locations across the galaxy. Crazy eh! Unbelievable even… but true. Proof you ask? This song, my friends, is all the proof you need. [CJA]
Cellar Dweller - Brickwork Theatre
A second track from the Light Entries #1 album, and an entry that epitomises both the mission and the namesake of this electronic music collective. Cellar Dweller is the pseudonym of Ben Dorey, who heads up Sheffield Techno Institute and is another co-creator of Light Entries and a Broken FM-er. With this track he’s managed to generate luminous reverbing motifs that convey a truly calming energy that builds as more and more complex instrumental samples are brought in. Each time the beats drop in you’ll turn to look out one of your other windows, trying to remember what you were doing, bathing in the light and glad you’re not in the cellar. All proceeds from Light Entries #1 go to Samaritans.org suicide support and Chayn.co, a charity supporting victims of gender based violence. [CB]
DSSWAIN - Pemps
Taken from the second album released by the Light Entries music crew, ‘Pemps’ kicks it off with some jazz-infused deep house. The track comes from the very talented DSSWAIN, a.k.a. Danimal Swainger, long time contributor to the Sheffield underground music scene and member of the Kabal crew. The second album takes on an overall deeper sound than the first, but this first track provides a perfect segue, with the bright energy of the jazz samples combined with the progressive melodic house vibes taking us deeper underground. A change of charity this time too, with all proceeds from Light Entries #2 going to Black Lives Matter UK and Black Minds Matter. [CB]
Steel City Wafters - Downloaded for Ritchie Hawtin
Halfway through the second album from the Light Entries crew brings a track from the Steel City’s very own premier Waft squad, a secret team of producers based in a studio in south Sheffield. If you’re not already maniacally dancing by the time you reach this track, the repetitive high-pitched lyrical sample from The Doors’ Jim Morrison, reminding us of the game we’re all playing during lockdown, will tip you over the edge. You’ll be involuntarily wafting all over the place and straight into some uptempo house. Imagine sunglasses, white burgundy and terrace parties. All proceeds from Light Entries #2 go to Black Lives Matter UK and Black Minds Matter. [CB]
