Yoshinori Mizutani’s cover photograph of vivid lime-green parakeets outside a drab urban building is ingeniously suited for Kasper Marott’s Forever Mix EP. Kulør Kasper Marott: “Drømmen om Ø (Forever Mix ’19)” Listen: Joy Orbison, “Burn” | Joy Overmono, “Bromley” | Overmono, “Le Tigre” A nice year for these craftsmen who have long been doing their thing. It smartly utilizes a simple “Amen” drum break in places, a little bit of flavor throughout an excellent, simple meal. Overmono had their own banner year, especially with “Le Tigre,” a bloopy tune made up of plenty of buzz and buildup. Perhaps he’s gotten some of that skill from his work with the duo of brothers Overmono, with whom he collaborated on “Bromley”: three-plus minutes of tight, shuffling drums before a sudden breakdown of tweaked vocals interrupts the proceedings. Orbison has tightened his game, his drumwork impressively tidy while the synths soar. That same emotive quality distinguishes-arguably for the first time in his career since then-this year’s Slipping EP, specifically on “Burn,” featuring guitarist Mansur Brown and vocalist Infinite, who appears just briefly at the track’s beginning. The song’s oft-imitated wordless diva vocals may have become passe, but the song’s ability to tug at heartstrings is still effective. Various Joy Orbison: “Burn” / Joy Overmono: “Bromley” / Overmono: “Le Tigre”īritish producer Joy Orbison was a relative unknown when, a decade ago, he released a track called “Hyph Mngo, which quickly spread throughout clubs and the blogosphere.
Listen: Jay Mitta, Tatizo Pesa | Duke, Uingizaji Hewa | Sisso, Mateso His tracks are just as fast as those of his acolytes, but he likes to let his loops run with minimal interference. Sisso-head of Dar Es Salaam’s Sisso Studios, ground zero of singeli’s experimental underground-has the most hypnotic take of all.
Duke is part mad scientist, part punk rocker: His beats gallop at tempos upwards of 200 BPM, with screamed vocals pushing everything even more dangerously to the breaking point. Jay Mitte’s Tatizo Pesa bobs and weaves with incredible dexterity the bright colors and pinprick tones mimic the movements of an industrial sewing machine. This year, the label returned with three complementary interpretations of a style that often sounds like a merengue cassette with the fast-forward button glued down. It was only last year that Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes label introduced the world to the hyperspeed sound of Tanzanian singeli, a regional genre so fast it makes Chicago footwork seem positively pokey in comparison. Nyege Nyege Tapes Jay Mitta: Tatizo Pesa / Duke: Uingizaji Hewa / Sisso: Mateso Jersey club’s signature bed-squeak sample commingles with blaring flute rhythms in closer “No Idol (Remix),” and gunshots punctuate a tinny drum pattern in “Body Count.” With Grace, Haram makes something new out of her rich musical history. Drums splatter against Middle Eastern rhythms on opener “No Idol,” and throughout Haram’s patchwork compositions you’ll hear the distinct sounds of her New Jersey youth, where she grew up listening to ’80s and ’90s Arabic pop music and her uncle, who played the accordion and darbuka drums. It sounds almost like an audio translation of the album’s cover art, an illustration by artist Samantha Garritano that depicts a six-armed woman in red heels wielding multiple swords, gilded bongs, and mythical creatures like mermaids and hooved monsters. Her proper solo debut, released on Hyperdub this summer, is an even finer introduction to Haram’s world. You might already have a sense for DJ Haram’s razor-sharp sonic world if you’ve heard the experimental music that she makes with Moor Mother as 700 Bliss. Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade | Apple Music | Tidal Sometimes synthesizer bloops and bleeps show up too, but with a percussionist this talented, they’re nearly unnecessary.
To varying degrees, on all three tracks, the frame drum is the engine, as toms and snares fight for time in the mix. On this EP, Anunaku goes a step further, dripping drum over drum until rhythms that at first feel competitive begin to interweave. While far from a household name, Velez has made the frame drum the focal point of his compositions, where its elastic rhythms are completely enchanting. That their sound plays such an outsize role in Anunaku’s “Bronze Age” is a pleasant surprise it gives the music, nominally techno, a unique edge that brings it in line with the very special and very underrated records by onetime Steve Reich Ensemble member Glenn Velez. They are often found in Middle Eastern recordings, and they were popular in somewhat glossy ’90s world music.
THESSA INFINITE PROGRESS PORTABLE
Varying in size, they are deep and wide, and easily portable and playable by hand, making them great for teaching kids. If you’ve encountered a frame drum recently, it was likely in a classroom.
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