Dummy Picks 005 // May 2013

Text: Selim Bulut, Karen Ka Ying Chan, Aimee Cliff, Adam Harper, Steph Kretowicz, Rachael Markham, Anthony Walker, Zara Wladawsky

May’s Dummy Picks comes at the end of possibly the longest drawn-out winter ever – on both sides of the pond it seems. Although many of the tracks are flecked with warmth and hope, there’s a lot of glacial sounds present throughout. Have a listen, read our track-by-track guide below and thaw out with us as May (hopefully) coaxes the sun out of its extended hibernation.

Click here for April’s Dummy Picks.

Lord Tusk – As We Speak It Grows Stronger
Slowed down, turned-around funk with an industrial edge pioneers the debut release on the mega-anticipated Levels label. I equally love this sexy track indoors, outdoors, upon waking in the morning, and in the club. [ZW]

Drake – Girls Love Beyonce
Oh Drake, self-proclaimed maker of music for women, always telling us what we do and don’t like and taking the choruses of our favourite female-led R&B songs and having them re-sung by men, etc etc. The bleakness of this track’s themes has me thinking that some album artwork of Drake looking even more forlornly at even more gold objects is going to drop any day now – but even so, if you’re looking for a reason not to go out every evening, this infectious song is probably it. [AC]

Chief Keef – First Day Out
After 60 days in the Illinois Department for Juvenile Justice, Keith Cozart went straight back to the “bull stuff” with one of his best songs in recent memory. All out with the mush mouth half-singing and the heavily filtered, coiled beat, it’s everything that’s made people love him or hate him but – even on a Gucci Mane homage – his peculiar self-confidence is inimitable: “Did you miss me? Or you ain’t care bitch”. [AW]

Bibio – You
With the release date for Bibio’s approaching album Silver Wilkinson less than a month away, single You evokes warm nostalgia as it pulses with a similar sense of sincerity and languid soulfulness in its sampling to that which illuminated 2009’s wonderful ‘Ambivalence Avenue’, a method of sampling far more extensive than in his recent more live-instrument-oriented work . Silver Wilkinson is set for release May 14 on Warp. [RM]

Koreless – Sun
This wide-eyed, blisteringly bright music feels made for the movies. It’s a unique trick of Koreless’s that his music is so sparse, and yet feels so overwhelmingly huge – a feeling that pervades his astounding ‘Yugen’ EP, due out on Young Turks on the 20th May. [AC]

Butterclock – Holograms
I don’t really know much about Butterclock except that it’s a really nice word to say, and that she did a song with oOoOO. oOoOO never interested me though – nor did much of the witch house thing, for that matter – so I’m just taking this as I hear it. It’s a spellbinding synth pop song captures a weird, unexplainably teenage feeling in me, and it sets my hair on end. [SB]

The Knife – Without You My Life Would Be Boring
I don’t actually know what’s being sung here beyond the title, but ritual polyrhythms and a howling chorale offers an uplifting reprieve from the browbeating (though still brilliant) weight of the rest of The Knife’s long-awaited fourth album. As Karin Dreijer-Andersson’s war cry leads the horde into battle, announcing, “this is territorial”, there’s an exhilirating sense of the carnal delivered with a sardonic edge. It’s also not a typically Knife-sounding recording, except for maybe their Darwinian opera Tomorrow in a Year. I’d kill to hear this live, which is probably a suitably violent response to its vibe. [SK]

PHYSICS – Anodyne Dream
A cheeky selection as it was technically released in mid-April. I’ve been rinsing this album for over a month, so it’s only fair I included one of the tracks in May’s staff mix. It’s the opening track taken from LA artist [PHYSICS]‘s debut full-length via Oklahoma’s experimental outlet, Digitalis, which is one of my favourite labels. They’ve been on a roll, unleashing a string of impeccable records coming from some thrilling talents; this, obviously, is one of them. It’s just beautiful. [KKYC]

Rainbow Arabia – Thai Iced Tea
I love the new Rainbow Arabia album and this instrumental is one of the highlights. It’s like Giorgio Moroder if he was using a cheap KORG synthesiser. The sax is plastic, the melodies are tacky, and the MIDI choir belongs on a bad sci-fi show from the 90s, but the end result is, somehow, just gorgeous. [SB]

Gold Panda – Brazil
The new Gold Panda record is a stunner, and this track in particular is a moment of epiphany. I just love the journey of it – those taut wooden beats gradually sprawling out over wider spaces, encompassing more and more synth glimmers and splashes, carried by the monotonous anchor of “Brazil”. This is the perfect tune for the city on a hot day. [AC]

Neville Watson – The Girl From Kowloon Tong
A completely personal choice here, ‘cause I’m literally the girl from Kowloon Tong. It’s a track taken from Neville Watson’s forthcoming debut album via the always brilliant Creme Organisation. As opposed to his usual club-rooted, propelling analogue-heavy production, he has carved up this slice of house chimes that runs at a steady pulse, beaming with a kind of sublime sensitivity both intangibly elegant and entirely desirable. [KKYC]

The-Drum – Sirens
Though ensconced underground, The-Drum has been at the forefront of the resurgence in hi-fi, hi-tech electronic sounds, showcasing their remarkable technical aptitude for production. With this taster from the Chicago duo’s debut album, coming via Audraglint in June, it’s obvious that there’s bundles of imagination in there too. One of the most alien tracks I’ve heard in quite a while. [AH]

Vondelpark – California Analog Dream (Factory Floor Remix)
Factory Floor have been on fire with their remixes lately. This one is heavy – the bassline is straight up rave, there are almost acid house-like squelches and the toms sound ginormous. It reminds me of classic Soulwax remixes, which isn’t a bad thing in my book. [SB]

Neon Indian – Blindside Kiss (Actress Remix)
Neon Indian’s ‘Era Extraña’ was remixed for Record Store Day and Actress’ sweltering take on Blindside Kiss makes the perfect soundtrack to a dirty black summer. He doesn’t actually do much to the original vocal but isolates it from washes of guitar reverb and dares it to survive in a thick mat coat of static, bristle and bass. It’s smart but unrelenting and also destructive, like a really good remix should be. [AW]

Maps – I Heard Them Say (Andy Stott Remix)
Andy Stott’s burbling, cement mixer take on electronic music deconstructs Maps with the same precision of all of his output. His ability to highlight and improve on an emotive vocal, as he does so well on Luxury Problems, is quite apparent on this wonderful remix. [ZW]

Diamond Version – When Performance Matters
The devastating collaboration of Alva Noto and Byetone have done it again: snarling, noisy techno with epic sound design and ruinous outcome. Like a nightmare of being stuck in a collapsing steel factory, but a very enjoyable nightmare at that. [ZW]

Gobby – Faculty
Who doesn’t like all the lo-fi rumblings that sit somewhere between techno and noise coming out of this general part of the world (NYC) at the moment? It’s gritty, raw, and makes me want to dance like all my synapses are rapidly misfiring. Ace. [ZW]

Laurel Halo – Sex Mission
This is partially for our dear Ruth, who’s away at the moment, as I remember her singing the praises of this beautiful track as well. Laurel evolves her sound again with this wonderfully complex masterpiece of rhythm and bass that speaks of a mechanical world still driven by the organic warmth of the sun. A great fusion of UK bass music that’s still firmly rooted in Michigan. [ZW]

Tracklisting:

Lord Tusk – As We Speak It Grows Stronger
Drake – Girls Love Beyonce
Chief Keef – First Day Out
Bibio – You
Koreless – Sun
Butterclock – HOLOGRAMS
The Knife – Without You My Life Would Be Boring
[PHYSICS] – Anodyne Dream
Rainbow Arabia – Thai Iced Tea
Gold Panda – Brazil
Neon Indian – Blindside Kiss (Actress Remix)
Maps – I Heard Them Say (Andy Stott Remix)
Neville Watson – The Girl From Kowloon Tong
The-Drum – Sirens
Vondelpark – California Analog Dream (Factory Floor Remix)
Diamond Version – When Performance Matters
Gobby – Faculty
Laurel Halo – Sex Mission