Pasquale, k.burwash, Bog Bodies, and Johnny Zithers
Pasquale - Specials 2
Pasquale (pronounced Puh-skwa-lee) is the production alter ego of rapper Chadio, a longtime collaborator for the Vancouver label Imaginations Treetrunk. On Specials 2, Pasquale delivers a second instrumental album for Hand'Solo Records and it’s an absolute triumph. Tailor made to slap on and let the hustle a bustle of the daily grind melt away. Specials 2 offers crisp boom-bap beats with delightfully warm, classic AM samples used in a mash-up style that brings Avalanche’s vibes. These old school sounds have the uncanny ability to transport the listener to a different time and place. The crate diggin’ that must have taken place to find these clips never ceases to amaze me and on Specials 2, Pasquale does not squander that effort.
k.burwash - Komputer Musik
Edmonton electronic ambient artist k.burwash moves away from modular synths textures he’s known for on his latest offeriing, Komputer Musik. Instead, he delivers a record that was crafted digitally on a Monome Norns and then forgotten. Burwash (who is the proprietor of Listen Records) was cleaning up files on his work computer and found a folder of tracks which he was playing in the shop when Nadir Bellahmer of Berberophone Recordings walked in. Upon hearing the soothing ambient textures that become unsettling from time to time as intense high frequency chatter breaks the calm, Bellahmer asked to release the songs. This request required Burwash to confirm that these unlabeled tracks were indeed his songs, luckily he did and Komputer Musik was born.
Bog Bodies - Unlike Dermal Cohesion, The Intimate Neoplasm Coos
Calgary’s Bog Bodies. How does one even begin. This duo has been terrifying listeners since 2014 with some of the most unconventional experimental-punk music around. Horror-esque slashes and stabs bursts into ones psyche as lofi electronics meet ultra-fuzzy distortion and ADHD changes in pace and structure. Teetering right on the precipice where solid ground represents utter fascination and the abyss below represents harsh and unlistenable noise, Bog Bodies tempts the listener to walk up to that edge and then tries with all their might to push them over. Most listeners will likely succumb to their efforts but those who manage to keep their feet on the solid ground will be rewarded with wild, weird, and unparalleled punk.
Johnny Zithers - Clydesdale
I was taken aback by how much this album captured my attention. I don’t even know how I found this record but it turns out that Victoria’s Johnny Zithers has been making music for a long time now. This album deals with that a lot, the inability to make a living off art is captured a couple times throughout but there’s also some very tender moments like a child desperately trying to stay awake and not miss the party. Musically it hits me in the right ways like the laissez-faire, reverb-soaked, stoner surf guitar on “what science says” or the twangy country tune that follows or some of the outsider-folk moments throughout, this is one worth checking out.
