Beatrice Dillon / Karen Gwyer - Curl / Common Soundproofing Myths

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  • Alien Jams is almost too perfect of a name for the London-based record label—they do indeed release otherworldly tracks that, more often than not, are straight-up jams. Over the course of two years, they've dabbled in various strains of experimental electronic music, from the destroyed hardware doodles of oMMM's Parallel Lines Converge to Marreck's unsettling techno mutations on Yuda. It's all been intriguing and unusual, but Alien Jams' fourth release, a split from fellow Londoners Beatrice Dillon and Karen Gwyer, sets a new standard for the label. "Alien jams" these two tracks may be, but they sound distinctly of a bygone era. The machines are clunky and primitive, the arrangements sparse and unassuming, the tones endearingly familiar. So it's how the producers use their retro-futuristic setups that edges their music towards the unknown. Though the raygun synths and organ drones in Gwyer's "Common Soundproofing Myths" evoke '50s horror and sci-fi, the way they permeate every corner gives her jumpy, slow-boiling acid techno a mystical edge. After the ominous keys return around minute 12, the music suddenly zips away, as if compelled by some unseen force. "Curl" is less transportive but engrossing all the same. Dillon spends most of her track corralling synth and drum machine sequences, eventually landing on a mechanical 110 BPM groove that disappears nearly as soon as it's discovered. You'll no doubt want to visit them both again soon.
  • Tracklist
      A Beatrice Dillon - Curl B Karen Gwyer - Common Soundproofing Myths
RA