Jammo’s Music Report No.013

Read Time: 4 mins

Bore da pawb, Olá pessoal und Hallo liebe leute! Helios blesses us once more. Finally, forcing his chariot through the grey skies over Berlin and warming our miserable, ageing bodies with life-giving beams! Spring is here and summer’s just down the road. The walks are getting longer, the post-covid run is becoming a touch easier, and the love of tunes is back! Generally, it’s looking up! So, without further ado, I give you a slightly lengthier Music report:

Robert Wyatt – At Last I am Free

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the park, after dropping the littlest bairn off at Kindergarten. It was the perfect morning to listen to this track; Sun beams slicing through the cherry blossom trees and sprinklers twisting in the morning light, creating tiny artificial rainbows as they nourished the plant life of Neukölln. It was a beautiful scene. I won’t lie, I shed a tear or five.

Pharoah Overlord – Raide 2

To my shame, I had never heard of Pharoah Overlord until last week, when the Molten Retriever sent me this track. It’s tripped-out disco-kraut vibes, cosmic melodies and caffeine-laced rhythms were an instant and much-needed dopamine boost. I am officially a fan.

808 State – Olympic

Possibly my favourite 808 State track — and furthermore one of my all-time favourite acid tracks, ‘Olympic’ gracefully melds the static energy of bleep techno and acid house with the outer space melodies of Kraftwerk. I have never heard this in a rave but gurn uncontrollably at the thought of it.

Higamos Hogomos – Purest Space

This beauty from London’s Higamos Hogamos, on Höga Nord has it all: spiralling arpeggios, hazy synths and percussive blips and bloops galore. Building exponentially for about 4 minutes or so, until it breaks down into pure chaos, ushering in one of the loosest, lo-fi drum breaks I’ve ever heard.

Klaus Johann Grobe – Ein Guter Tag

This funk-tinged piece of deutschsprachige psyche, from Swiss duo Klaus Johann Grobe hits me right in the sweet spot. Its lyrics speak of simple pleasures; “Komm lass uns bald nach draußen gehn’, Siehst du denn nicht, die Sonne scheint, Da sind so viele Vögel, nur, Die lassen uns doch fröhlich sein”. A gorgeous summery number, with a weird airiness that reminds me of Hildegard Knef’s ‘Im 80. stockwerk’.

DJ Swisha x Kush Jones – Snare Track

Unapologetic ritmo-centric dance music from the mighty DJ Swisha and Kush Jones. Pure static drum chaos for the dancers and a worthy rival to Joe’s ‘Claptrap’ — which never leaves my bag. If your botty doesn’t wiggle to this, engage the services of your local undertaker!

Moebius & Plank – Conditionierer

I don’t know if the chords are the same or not, but something in this track reminds me of Iggy Pop’s seminal ‘Lust for Life’ or indeed The Supremes’ ‘You can’t Hurry Love’ — which is lovely. Obviously, as it comes from krautrock legends Moebius and Conny Plank, it’s full of weird, wonderful effects, spotlessly clean drums and a jarring slide guitar. I’ve no idea how the drummer plays the same rhythm for so long, it must be a robot.

Hieroglyphic Being – The Shrine of the Serpent Goddess

You know those arseholes in school, who hang around in the corner, scoffing co-op hummus and hating on anything popular? Well… IT ME! It is one of my worst and most dislikable traits, that I will reject anything outright, on the basis that people, whom I deem to be cunts, think it’s noteworthy.

This, much to my shame, was the case with Hieroglyphic Being. The minute I smelled the gears of the hype machine creaking into action, I decided, it was likely rubbish and simply didn’t bother to listen.

Just last year, after visiting his installation with Cyprien Gaillard at Berlin Atonal (which made me cry), I mentioned to my mate Charlie that I had — due to me being an arsehole — never really heard any of his music. He laughed at my stupidity and ignorance, and sweetly, plugged me into a whole set of sounds which I’d never heard before. He’s a good egg, is our Charlie!

Even though it only clocks in at one minute and seven seconds, ‘The Shrine of the Serpent Goddess’ is a melodic space acid dreamscape, which I have permanently on loop at the moment, and I’m a fool for having dismissed such beauty. Lesson learned.

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