FFN 004 :: Dancing Into A New Decade

1.1

Kiyoshi Koyama: „What would you like to be ten years from now?“

Coltrane: „I would like to be a saint.“

The new decade greets with golden sunshine. Only the stars can tell how long it will last, but already it’s hiding behind a thick curtain of gunpowder smoke. It‘s up to us then to paint our future. To turn this new decade into a golden one - this time for real.

I said it before: every new universe begins in sound. Its vibrations determine the nature of future ripples. we may live in times of instant culture where only the new, only the immediate, only the here and now seem to matter. That’s what our gurus preach every day, no? And yes, there is this common misconception that dance music and club culture are about a hedonistic way of life.

But listening to music and dancing to it doesn’t help us escape the world, it helps us live in it. It’s when different things come together that an ordinary club night suddenly turns into something very special: an inspiring atmosphere; different people each bearing their own unique struggles and problems but sharing common believes; a DJ that truly knows how to move such a crowd. The dancers doing their part as well, dancing and celebrating. Reckless, open-minded, open-hearted, with absolute passion and devotion. Thus the night turns into a collage of sensations and feelings.

The very next day, still feeling a little numb, we recall what happened as if looking through tinted glasses. Most memories fly by quickly, too blurry to be grasped and held for more than a second. Others stick out of that pink noise rather visible. But within our heart, our soul we know exactly what has happened: we’ve finally been alive!

1.2 Reviews

Leif - Igam-Ogam EP (Livity Sound)

Hazy synths, repetitive vocal junks, percussion rhythmics, all combined to dazzling effect. Music about the journey, not the home-coming. It’s the subtlety that turns this EP into a masterpiece. Brilliantly complex and intricate sounds. Breaking down reality into rhythmic patterns, turning matter into sonic grooves.

Take „First Image“’s whirling arpeggio loop, for instance. Sucking you into a void of delay-lines, expertly manipulating your rhythmic:sensory metabolism. Or those thick, creamy, and lush chords on „Igam-Ogam“ that keep you well-padded from whatever problems reality seems to throw at you.

All the while it’s the percussion mode that Leif really excels in. Heavy, complex drum-patterns come disguised in absolute airiness, gently floating in and out of your attention. Leaving you stunned and perplexed once the music ends.

There aren’t that many EPs out there that instantly make you yearn for more. Leif’s Igam-Ogam EP is one such, luring you into the depth and complexity of its track, getting you lost in sound in an instant.

Romaal Kultan - Off Grid (YAM Records)

Mind my words, please, this is absolutely deep stuff. Deep as in “Deep House“, but in no way dull. Rather grooving as hell. And with that being said, let’s have a listen.

Stutter echos sending transmitting memories from a distant past. Nights burning hot. Steam and sweat and heat. The warbling bassline being the main hero, while everything else keeps on repeating.

Next, a kick drum pounding your stomach as hard as a .50 fired off by Rambo. Buttery synth chords making a proposition. And again, a bass-line that kills it all. Pure thrill.

Just as you start dreaming away, a jungle:fied beat gently knocks on your ears, inviting you for a dance. Every journey is so much easier when dancing and there’s no reason to aim for any destination as long as this groove keeps going.

Lastly, Eryka keeps us turning round and round in a jungle stylee. Flaunting broken rhythms, floating synths, and Eryka’s sweet vocal silver. That’s what endless freedom sounds like.

Jay Bernheim - View From An Escape Pod (Light Of Other Days)

Sonic fiction generates cosmic space.

So is Jay Bernheim, a young producer from Texas who left earth for us. His mission: exploring the feeling of leaving your old home behind. So what is it that we hear?

Frequencies modulating itself. Analog warmness gushing from the speakers. Such familiar and pleasing aesthetics. Wait? Is that pod talking to me? Where’s it headed? Steel. I feel steel. Cold but smooth steel. Who else is here with me? Who else has touched these sheets of metal before me?

The present is a very rhythmic thing, steadily beating its drum, pushing the future ahead in front of it. Who is playing this drum? And why did she stop? Have we gone too far?

Music is the current that reconnects us to universal harmony. A longing feeling, a sadness of leaving which turns into a lifesaver. Sonic Fiction generating cosmic space. We have come full-circle - with the help of Jay Bernheim’s music.

Bella Boo - Once Upon A Passion (Studio Barnhus)

“Once Upon A Passion” is Bella Boo’s debut album and certainly marks her as a distinctive new voice in our current dance cosmos.

Made-up of nine tracks, the album gives testimony to a very intense creative period in Bella’s live - spending every available minute in her studio from which she was to be evicted. An atmosphere of departure towards new horizons, an „end of an era“ thing.

The rear mirror view indeed stirs up feelings of melancholy, gently putting one’s heart into a C-clamp. Herbert seems to lurk from behind the corner making sure the intimacy of Bella Boo’s sound does its working/wonders. Bits of Soul, Pop, and Jazz keep flirting with deep house bass lines and drum grooves. Chords from an extremely smooth Rhodes compete with synths so lush, they’re trying to wrap around themselves.

Albeit very delicate, „Once Upon A Passion“ is channels unbridled euphoria into real contentment.

HOVE - In Motion (Light Of Other Days)

Balearic might have become a meaningless buzz word … not so with Marc Hofweber’s aka HOVE’s new release on Light of Other Days. Following up on his collaborative EP „Middle Of The Road Less Travelled“ with Michal Turtle, HOVE’s back with a solo stint that brings us dreamy landscapes of reverberated archipelagos seamlessly interweaving organic and electronic sounds.

What makes this album so superb is that HOVE explores those dreamy landscapes in a very playful way. Happily humming melodies, crazy effects and yet a relentlessly driving groove piecing it all together. Strange field-recordings meet with perfectly synced percussions, synthetic melodies dance with echoing guitars. Definitely, an EP that will bring you joy for a long time.

1.4 Thank you for reading, and for your support. And yes, unsubscription is always a quick click at the bottom of this newsletter.

Bobby Mhark