5 Tewns Vol.3

Read Time: 3 mins

Shook & Legowelt – Lamas in Absurdopolis, Nightwind Records

Legowelt returns, in collaboration with synth-funk hero Shook, for some chugging, Casio-heavy electro-funk. I like to play this one loud while strutting around Lidl, like some overweight Celtic John Travolta, hunting pastel-coloured kettles and toasters (if you know, you know). Tape-saturated, charity-shop synth sci-fi funk at its finest.

Valentina Magaletti & YPY – Interlude for Fog Days, AD93

Diffuse drum incantations, haunted atmospherics, and plenty of robotic effects are the order of the day here, from one of my all-time heroes, Valentina Magaletti, and YPY (aka Koshiro Hino of Goat). Taken from their excellent long-player Kansai Bruises. This one keeps me up at night.

Misere, Verschüttet, Mangel

Praise be! A new release on the sensational Mangel Records*. Berlin-based four-piece Misere lay down chorus-dipped bass, echoic vocals, and relentless 16ths on the hi-hats — a kind of dark, spectral disco that brings a tear to this old goth’s eye.

Gruff Rhys – Taro #1 + #2, Rock Action Records

Spaced-out yacht rock yn y Gymraeg, as only Gruff can do. As a 44-year-old man, raised between Germany and Ceredigion with limited Welsh language skills — the last time I spoke even close to fluently was when I was eight — Gruff has always been a kind of phantom uncle in my life. From the days of Ffa Coffi Pawb to the ELO-like pop brilliance of the Super Furries (the band that defined my entire youth on the Cambrian coast) to his later solo work, he only gets better. One day, after I’ve relearned Welsh, I’ll sit down and pore over all those lyrics I never understood the first time round (just got to learn Portuguese first, innit).

Jim Kirkwood – The Ships of Xerlerenes, Out of Season

Originally released in the 1990s and reissued at the start of this year, this track — taken from the album Master of Dragons — is an example of hazy fantasy synth noodling at its very best. Inspired by Michael Moorcock’s Melnibonéan Mythos. I can’t lie: fantasy was never really my bag (I’m more your dystopian sci-fi kind of girl), but starting the day with this in my ears, staring up at the mystic fog rolling over the mountains of the Serra do Marão, does make me feel some kind of way.

*you can read about some Mangel Records here if you want