When life resumes back to normal in June, I think I’ll be referring back to these lockdown mixtapes again and again. It’s been a mad time but, somehow, I think I’ll miss the introverted days indoors. I mean, the life of a blogger is prodominantly established due to an urge of sheltering away from reality isn’t it? Who writes six-hundred plus music reviews just for fun eh?
As each tier of lockdown gets lifted, with it, the excuses I’ve had for sheltering away in my shed get thinner and thinner. Come June 21 – restrictions will be gone completely in the UK and we are free to do what we please again. The pressure resumes and work returns. I’ll have to come out of the shed and mingle with people again, I’m out of practise.
Anyways, monologue aside, I’d like to introduce episode twenty of The Sound Sniffer’s Lockdown Mixtape. To mark this milestone number, electronic music is on the menu. Here are the five best electronic songs I’d found on the inter-web this calendar year. There have been some really pleasant experimental tracks produced.
NINZE / Cloud Drive
Cloud Drive is one of them chilled-out productions that has the distinct ability of transporting whoever happens to listen, to a new state of mind. When I first came across it, I had just endured a spate of torrid new commercial pop releases in the submissions inbox. My brain was fried. Next in the queue was this minimal progressive track from German producer Ninze and I was back on form again.
Never escaping from melancholy, this track is high level stuff. Close your eyes and just let the music calm you down on this rainy Tuesday afternoon. There’s so much to admire here.
Adriano Koch / I Love You Sadness
Swiss composer and experimental producer, Adriano Koch, may well have just created one of the most breathtaking releases of 2021 with ‘I Love You Sadness‘. As a music blog that’s recieved over fifteen-thousand music submissions since its incorporation in 2019, it’s not often a track ticks all the boxes. Unique – Check, Brave – Check, Original – Check, Creative – Check, Skilled – Check, Stand-Out – Check….. you get the gist.
Koch’s genius is fully on show in this new single. In a world where many of the world’s most cherished musical darlings use the same producers and sample-packs to create their ‘hits’, it’s nice to finally be blown away by an original and dramatic electronic score. Can’t rate this one highly enough. Get some good speakers and enjoy the depth of what’s been made here. Lovely visuals accompany.
Explosive Melancholy.
Takao / Red Skies
Certainly more conventional that the aforementioned Adriano Koch effort, Takao‘s new single Red Skies is more suited for a dance-hall setting. The first vinyl-only release from the exciting new Pangaea Disco imprint, a well respected collective in the city’s previously-thriving dance scene. Here we have co-founder, Takao’s latest offering, a Congolese folk and dance fusion track that serves as a suitable opener for the label.
Reminds me of O’Flynn‘s vibrant Afro-House style. I bopped away to his live sets on many occasions in the capital. Great music.
Buy the Vinyl here – https://pangaeadisco.bandcamp.com/track/takao-red-skies-2-min-preview
Felipe Gordon / Momma, It’s A Long Journey
I hadn’t heard this tune until five minutes ago, now I’m drafting an impromptu reactionary review. Talk about old-school.
This song came on via YouTube’s autoplay feature as I searched for Takao’s release above. As I typed away, YouTube worked it’s magic in the other tab – Momma, It’s A Long Day poured out of the speakers. As this unknown song played away on its own accord, I got drawn in. By its end, I was googling Felipe Gordon‘s name and gushing over what I was hearing.
Supreme work from the Columbian producer and it’s recently been released by Bristol’s Shall Not Fade label. Have a listen to the sheer beauty of Felipe Gordon’s production style. This is outstanding. There’s even some brass thrown in for good measure in the closing stages. Funky.
Aonian / Ascent
It was the clean and crisp nature of Greek producer Aonian‘s music that stood out immediately when I took in this single in early January. Aonian is the alias of Alkis Livathinos and his music, a fine blend of shimmering melodies, catches the ear here. Ascent is the first release emanating from his forthcoming self-titled debut album. Fusing raw electronic elements with Eastern Mediterranean influences, his sound is carved meticulously.
It’s quite a heavy electronic experience – a song that’d be well-suited to a workout session or whatever else gets your heart rate going.
About ‘The Sound Sniffer’
The Sound Sniffer is a one-man music blog which is still only a baby – Founded by Kevin Coakley, a music writer and ghostwriter, in early 2019. ‘The Sound Sniffer’ also runs gigs and showcases in London since Oct 2019. The showcases are picked from artists found in the blog’s submission inbox.
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