This weeks new music round up see’s Shanti Celeste release her first official record for 2016 with Dolphin Chant. DJ Koze goes dark with Driven on his forthcoming split 12 for Hart & Tief Germany. Traumer unleashes his third Gettraum record, and whilst not as strong as the first two instalments, Catimini is our pick of the bunch. And finally and by no means least Erol Alkan has gotten all deep and reflective with his thoughtful 80’s tinged rework of Beyond The Wizards Sleeve – White Crow.
Shanti Celeste is not an artist we have previously featured on Blah Blah Blah. This is not due to a lack of interest in her music but rather that our introduction was at a time when the BBB blog was in hibernation – 2015. Since that initial introduction via Bicep’s 2015 closing mixtape – Synthol Hit, of which you can preview their 2016 follow now [ Synthol Hit : Part II ], Shanti Celeste has been relatively quiet. As to the reasons we’re not sure, but our guess is that the success of her 2015 records, Being and Nu4him, have resulted in such an abundance of gigs that finding time to write has been a little tricky. But we’re not here to aimlessly speculate, she’s back now and more significantly on fundraising duties for War Child with Dolphin Chant.
Shanti Celeste – Dolphin Chant [ Craigie Knowes War Child Fundraiser ]
Following Shanti we have the somewhat more prolific and convention defying DJ Koze. Koze is the sort of individual you can’t imagine pulling out the traditional Jamie Oliver or Delia Smith cook book for Christmas. And like his inevitably left of centre Christmas dinner he has switched genres once again, this time opting for rolling clanking techno. In reality Driven, unlike its creator, is fairly conventional in its construction, yet despite this linear approach it doesn’t dissapoint.
DJ Koze – Driven [ Hart & Tief Germany ] Coming Soon
Next up is Traumer and his third release on his fresh Gettraum imprint. As we alluded to above this third instalment doesn’t quite live up to the expectations of 001 and 002. The initial two releases felt as though they were diligently exploring new ground with imaginative sampling and drums, check Ukus, our mid 2016 record of the year. This is not to say that the stripped backed techno on offer doesn’t work, or isn’t enjoyable, its just a bit overly snug in its surroundings.
Traumer – Catimini [ Gettraum 003 ]
Closing out this weeks round up is Erol Alkan’s reworking of… well, Erol Alkan. As Im sure you know Beyond The Wizards Sleeve is Erol Alkan’s collaborative project with Richard Norris. What you probably dont know is that Erol Alkan is a longtime source of inspiration for BBB with his trail blazing Trash parties. And Richard Norris soundtracked our very earlier teens with his infectious if slightly questionable banjo led ‘Swamp Thing’, still have the tape single somewhere! Since then they have combined forces, or synths, to create introspective 80’s sounding synth music. Which in a post ‘Stranger Things’ world couldn’t be anymore fitting right now. So if you like 80’s sounds, proper synths and a little introspection this is for you.