Jay Cinema & Jedos

"Hell Of A Life"

Afrosounds

This dude has been one of my favorite independent rappers since his EP "Staring At The Sky", he's yet to disappoint. Since that debut he's released about ten EPs (by my unprofessional count) and was even featured on the Problemas song "The Unemployment Hotline" out via my own Buddyhead Records. I always just trip out how good his lyrics and how much I relate with em, like despite still being in his early twenties Jay Cinema is wise way beyond his years. The high point of this one is definitely "Fast Forward" for me. And honestly my only gripe with this five song release is the same complaint I have with every one of his releases, it's just not long enough. I am heavily anticipating a proper full length from this true original artist and know he's headed for great things.

Me and Axl give this a rating of GOOD:

Album Review: Johnny Flynn & Robert Macfarlane – Lost in the Cedar Wood....

Johnny Flynn truly is a jack of all trades. One moment he’s ripping a trumpet solo at the Roundhouse and the next he’s co-starring alongside Kit Harrington in an ambiguously homoerotic country-western production on the West End. From Shakespeare to Scrotal Recall (sorry: Lovesick, for the American audiences), Johnny Flynn has done it all. And now he’s written an album about Gilgamesh! Which…

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Oliver Coates –  Honey from the  album ‘skins n’ slime’ (rvng International) 

To call Oliver Coates a cellist tells you nothing at all. Oliver Coates is a musician whose work connects the circuits at the edge of dance and classical worlds. It’s not cross-over, it’s not fusion, it’s experimental, rewiring sounds in a dangerous and delectable way (ask Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood)…and yes he plays the cello. 

His earlier solo work, Upsetting (2016) and Shelley Zenn-La (2018) have propelled him into the Warp arena of beat driven electronica with loops and layers of strings treated beyond their quivering comfort zone. Now with his new album ‘skins and slime’ (released on 16th October via rvng) he has shifted the setting away from imaginary techno dens to the open air, to a landscape however damaged and wasted. 

Listen to ‘Honey’, and you’ll find signals of what to expect from this new soundscape. In place of dance sensibility there is a slower beatless vibe, waves of surging modulated cello with the emotive swell of Phaedra era Tangerine Dream. With a drone foundation and a melodic prowl, ‘Honey’ circles around the centre of something. It’s meditative, moving and rooted in the outside. On this evidence ‘skins n’ slime’ will become a force of nature to be reckoned with.

When did folk music simply become “sad music” to the indie masses? Gently strummed guitars and atmospheric production can achieve a range of emotion; I do love anything that allows me to contemplate the depths of the psyche, but these sounds more often than not come from a positive place. New York songwriter A. harlana, né Juno Roome, writes lullabies about the love he has for his partner—a genuinely joyous feeling that levels out unhappiness, at least in the present. 

In 2019, Roome released so much that I frequently lost track. First there was ada belle, a January EP, followed by an ambient record in April, a cover in May, singles in June and September, and a spoken word record in August. He is comfortable in any context, it seems, allowing the sounds—any sounds, his sounds—to bear his soul. 

ada belle, a three-song release that doesn’t necessarily represent the year for A. harlana, still feels like the crowning jewel atop all of his 2019 musings. It opens with a slow, melancholy melody on “textile workers,” featuring lyrics that never quite fit into it. Roome creates his most iconic harmony as he emphasizes different syllables in the chorus: “can’t you see that it’s all poured o-o-o-out?” Roome’s whispers are practically inaudible, and certainly unintelligible to my ears, but provide a deep comfort that doesn’t require denotation. Then again, his voice is not what propels this record—it is the cautious instrumentation. 

While it is the opening hook on “textile workers” that most frequently gets stuck in my head, “faces” and “the thunderings are nearly through” tell more complete stories with guitars, percussion, and production. There are plenty of vocalizations that don’t amount to lyrics, just added sounds swirling in this electric storm of passion and private philosophy. 

Everything that has come after ada belle feels like a drifting continuation—similar themes and melodies appear, but he is always growing. There is courage in “if i’m a bird,” and there is fear in “my dear, i will think of you.” And love always guides him forward.