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AUDIO Killian Barry Zara Hedderman Ian Lamont Jac
k O’Higgins Low Double Negative [Sub Pop] Animal Collective Tangerine Reef [Domino] Low have always been a consistently good band who do their thing well. Their minimalism centres not on the boundless empty spaces of techno, or the riveting repetition and transformation of 20th century composers, but on a song-based approach fashioned from restraint and delicacy. 25 years into their career however, Low’s 12th album is their most extreme sounding, yet one which immediately makes sense. BJ Burton acted as producer on both this and Low’s previous record, Ones and Sixes, which now appears like the first steps towards the immersive sonic space Double Negative occupies. That is to say this record sounds damaged. Bashed, bruised, beaten, bloodied, burnt and beleaguered. Rather than simply recording some distortions, Low have distorted the very recording itself. Burton’s contributions to Bon Iver’s 22, A Million, which also features a damaged media aesthetic to great effect, feel pertinent. In the distance, through the haze, you can hear impressions of voices, drums, guitars, pianos, Low songs. Then occasionally – like halfway through Tempest – things clear up, and it feels precisely as if your head has emerged from underwater to either a moment of hopeful placidity or the eye of a storm. Aside from the fact that they have employed this deliberate grotesquery in such an elegant and musical way, it feels so wonderfully brave and emotionally apposite for the times Low find themselves in. A belter. IL Like this? Try these: Fennesz — Venice GAS — Königsforst Bon Iver — 22, A Million Of the many unnerving aspects of Tangerine Reef, Animal Collective’s 11th record and first without Panda Bear, the most striking of them is that it sounds like Arcade Fire’s Win Butler took care of vocal duties. Aside from this imagined nightmare, this record is drenched in immersive and exceptionally spacious arrangements inspired by the vastness and ecology of the reef. Mostly comprised of unhinged synthetic timbres this isn’t the Baltimore experimentalists most accessible or exciting releases in their canon. Instead, the band sound pained and agitated. ZH Blood Orange Negro Swan [Domino] Negro Swan, the fourth record from Dev Hynes as Blood Orange, captures New York City living through eloquent monologues and slumberous R’n’B beats gleaning with throwback instrumentation and production values. Again providing fans with an expansive array of catchy songs, 16 in total, Hynes masters commerciality without compromising his artistry. Collaborators on Negro Swan include A$Ap Rocky, Diddy and Steve Lacy, the producer and artist that has a golden touch on everything he lends his hand to. ZH Idles Joy as an Act of Resistance [Partisan Records] Mitski Be the Cowboy [Dead Oceans] At a moment of obsolescence for guitar bands, it’s reassuring to hear a group with credibility and vitality to make NME drool. Too righteously indignant to pause for breath, Idles propagate an incisive yet impressively non-preachy sociopolitical polemic via bubblegum hooks, singalong anthems and moshable rabble-rousing. Employing punk’s sneering vernacular, but dispensing with its nihilism, the album’s scathing wit and wry self-awareness lift Idles beyond cabaret act. A buoyant shot in the arm and exhilarating tonic for a flagging scene. KB Be the Cowboy finds alt-rock songstress Mitski in more reserved form, though her lyrical preoccupations – alienation, regret, lost love – are all present and correct. There are some wonderful tracks, from the lovelorn piano balladry of Two Slow Dancers to the masterful disco cut Nobody, but too many of the songs are slight and indistinct. Mitski’s lyrics are as affecting as ever (haven’t we all pined for ‘one good movie kiss’?), but without stronger melodies, it mostly remains a pleasant background listen. Until your next bad break up that is. JOH FOR EVENTS IN THE CITY, EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND EVERYTHING WE CHAMPION. VISIT TOTALLYDUBLIN.IE