2022's Most Concrete End of Year List
2022, will we come across a more pleasing to the eye year in our lifetime?
A listicle on the Life from my cell, braincell that is.
Bleekman - Replicator - Digital + CD on DMO
I had been recording some jams or teasers and fishing for some sort of validation via insta stories, as you do, and Morgan asked me if I’d like to put together a release on DMO and I decided it was a great idea.
This album was made with a setup of a B2600, Polyend Tracker, some tracks have the Yamaha QY70 and I ran them through into a Yamaha Pro Mix001 desk, its a cold sounding mixer but it has some classic 90s Yamaha FX (maybe versions of some of the SPX FX) - the chorus, phaser, symphonic, pitch shifter and chorus x stereo delay I’ve used to death over most of my records.
Decided to record each track live with no overdubs. There is an infinite amount of literature on why limitations are an effective approach to anything creative, sometimes this doesn’t work out which is ok but this one came through for me.
I was pretty stoked with most of the tracks on here, especially the opener Headlessness, Aquatic Hypnotic (video below) and Unknown : Untaught which you can also hear below on SC.
These tracks are heavily influenced by likes of Workshop Records, Move D, KM, Anthony Linell, Actress, a lot of 90s Aus techno like deeper polyrhythmic Voiteck tracks, Undefined Recordings, Aerial Recordings, 90s Minimal techno like Robert Hood etc.
Within these few tracks I like most, I think I hit this sound I was hoping to achieve with this setup and project.
You can see the live recording of Aquatic Hypnotic off the album here, I got lucky to capture the good take when I had a camera I’d borrowed setup.
I need to do more of these.
I have to give a huge shout out to Other Joe Buchan who mastered the album and did an incredible job with my shoddy recordings, he salvaged the live takes and really brought the tracks to life. Due to my imperfect muting of channels Live instead of sequencing in the Tracker song mode they were full of clicks which were cleaned up so well, he is a great engineer and his label .jpeg Artefacts is one of my favourite local labels.
Shout out to Morgan from DMO too, I recomend you have a dig through the label bandcamp, if you are not familiar, DMO put out a lot of music digitally and on CD, they are working with a lot newer artists making modern club music. Morgan’s own music, Desilva, Purient, Mabel, Amulet, the new Digitoolz series and Acopia are all highlights for me. Acopia’s LP Chances which includes a re-release of the DMO hit ‘For You I Try’ on new local label Companion is beautiful - more on my favourite releases of the year down the page.
Rings Around Saturn - 7” on Brokntoys
This came out Dec 21’ but whatever, this is my page. Brokntoys, said it before, one of my favourite labels, always a pleasure to work with and they are always finding these brilliant artists I’ve not heard of to release which open doors into new pockets of music, love that.
This is a two track 7” and the only way out is through
The first side of the record..
Machine learning accelerates at a rate beyond our comprehension to try and understand the natural harmony in nature, it is lost and incapable, there is too much data and not enough human understanding, no matter how many operations it creates to simulate this, it fails. The machine documents this operation as a myth, not real.
On the flip side we fast forward,
You are in slow motion but the world continues on seemingly at warp speed, you are hardly able to move but your thoughts don’t seem to be in time dilation, you are comfortable being present as you watch this world flash before your eyes.
You notice time is growing in momentum and you gain a sense of the parasitic life form at the controls, it contorts it towards a petulant climax. It’s a boundless, dizzying expanse of patterns, an automated web growing like bacteria and its replacing space and time, colonising byte by byte. You are trapped in a new virtual ecosystem and held in bondage to it, it may be too late.
Rings Around Saturn - IV 2022 - Repeat Concrete
My favourite gig of the year was playing live at Inner Varnika, it was a great Easter weekend. Its a festival I have been lucky to perform at many times, I love it there and I love crew who run the festival, what they have done for our community in Melbourne gets and deserves high praise, I am forever grateful for the opportunities they have given me in inviting me to perform.
The EP is made up of 4 hardcore / jungle tracks I made with the festival in mind.
After spending weeks listening to 80s Australian rock when I should have been mentally preparing, it occurred to me to try chop some samples from Men at Work and Australian Crawl, it worked surprisingly well in these jungle tracks and I think they went down alright at the festival too.
Animalia Mix 92 - Rings Around Saturn
This is a mix I put together for one of the better mix series going around.
My mix is made up of of all my own music that I’ve made through the last couple years which are a bit more club functional, I chose them with the label and their parties in mind, most of these tracks are unreleased. I will get some of the better cuts finished, organised and up on bandcamp this year, a couple of them should be out on vinyl too.
Animalia are a great local label run by Kia, they have also just launched a new sub label Cirrus with the first release sounding juice, its by The Soulscaper, a side project of Eugene Pascal, member of electronic trio / label and sick live act, Menage.
THE END, OF YEAR LIST
I spent most of the year, and the year previous, working on a new album, its got 10 tracks and I’m looking forward to sharing it. There is an awful lot of psychic and physical energy that goes into making an album, at least there is for me, and between working on the record and working 40 hours a week I’ve not had a lot of time for much.
This is my excuse for neglecting new music*, especially dance and local music in the year of 2022.
I had a dig through my Bandcamp buys want wishlist, youtube and soundcloud likes, records I’ve bought and my itunes to have a look for the songs I played on repeat, couple things I’ve read and albums I’ve been enjoying and music I’ve been tipped off on, they’re not all new but these were on rotation in 2022.
*Alright so it turns out even in a quiet neglectful year, when you WFH, doing an ultra mundane job for a Mega Corp, it gives you the chance to listen to a tonne of music after all.
Hopefully you find something you will enjoy.
So,
Here are some of the gems I have found,
old and new,
which make up my best of 2022.
Wassily Kandinsky - Concerning The Spiritual In Art
Probably no surprise at this point I’m into something like this.
Australian Cavalcade : An Anthology of Australian Prose - PR Smith
I picked this up in an Op shop for a few dollars, its a collection of writings, largely from the 1800’s in Australia, the writings quite often just tell stories of daily life.
The rowdy crowd and drunken haggling of a Shakespeare performance in Melbourne in the late 1800s, a country cricket match between 2 towns being call off and a Round by Round account of a Prize Fight, fought out in the bush to name my favourite parts. Something about these stories were resonant.
Hunger - Knut Hamsun - you read this old book set in late 19C Norway, really enjoy it, can’t put it down. Finish the book and google the author to find out more about this guy and oh shit (ah knuts) he fucking loved Hitler. Apparently he had a meeting with him and it took Hitler three days to get over the anger from it, the author was punished for his support for the Nazi’s but this is all unrelated to the book which is about true hunger and desperation, it’s a grotesque wild ride even by todays standards.
Jenn Pelly - Confronting Music’s Mental Health Problem- This is a Pitchfork article (heads up), sad and maybe confronting but a great article on the world of modern music.
A good article like this spurs something thinking.
Maybe this (being the side of music which uses, manipulates and profits off of you, holds creators hostage, exhausts you, works you to the bone, is demanding to a tight deadline and then slow as shit to pay, high pressure environment etc etc) all relates to a sort of Faustian underbelly which has lived alongside Music since it became an Industry, a function of capital. And as a result, it’s quite possible that this is all essential to the wider mechanisms of the music economy which lives under serious stress at most levels.
Maybe you gotta work out how to manage this spiritual deal with the devil to reduce its impacts on you for any sort of long term survival while some of these problems are addressed at large or on a societal level so it flows through to Industries like music*.
*I don’t think these problems will be addressed
“A new social type was being created by the apartment building, a cool, unemotional personality impervious to the psychological pressures of high-rise life, with minimal needs for privacy, who thrived like an advanced species of machine in the neutral atmosphere. This was the sort of resident who was content to do nothing but sit in his over-priced apartment, watch television with the sound turned down, and wait for his neighbours to make a mistake.”
― J.G. Ballard, High-Rise
** Read the “The Manual” by The Timelords **
It may be a couple decades old but it’s a great read and still relevant for those who make and release music if you want a look behind the curtain, its not hard to intuit today’s version of how this side of the Industry works in reading this.
it’s also about as entertaining as anything you will find on the topic and process of recording and releasing music.
Hugh B of Outer Time Inner Space has created OTIS AUDIO & LOVE BEAMS
The Cosmic Echo Unit
I was very lucky and stoked to get an early make of Love Beams and especially of late, I have been using this almost daily. Initially I used it as a mixer send for the delay and reverb fx over drums and synths but now I’m mainly running the guitar through it.
I’m not a huge pedal guy but I have owned a few pedals, fx and rack units over the past 15 years and all bias aside, this is genuinely one of the best fx units I’ve used.
Its got filtered delays which bend (in) time, double vision chorus, rich shifting harmonic delays, it creates mutant sonics which bring warmth and comfort and reverb that splashes off of the abyss and back ON-(to)U speakers, there are so many sweet spots with this unit its hard to know where to settle down and get to work.
You don’t need to take my word, there are some great demos on youtube and Instagram - especially this Harvey Sutherland Live Dub mix of Type A off his great Neurotic Funk album Boy, which happens to have one of the best record sleeve artworks of the year as well as being a fantastic record of Neu-Rock and Funk.
This channel gave it Best Australian Pedal & Pedal of the Year - I’m out of the loop with guitar pedals but I agree.
I am not sure how it’s all possible to do this in one unit but I am super proud of Hugh for nailing this, he’s gone above and beyond with the creation of the Love Beams and I’m excited by the thought of what the future holds for OTIS Audio.
Go treat yourself, find one to have a play with and buy it.
I believe it’s stocked in many stores around the country now - Found Sound, Delicious audio etc. Stay up to date
Endless love to Hugh and Peta
MUSIC - less talk more action, not enough action, too much talk
Mind Dance - VA 12” + Furious Frank 12”
Mind Dance - Mystic Minds Vol 2
Rich Daddies - Get Close - Best Effort Records - Criminally underrated release
the Babyxxan release here also on Best Effort
Butter Sessions put a few great releases - Jen Loveless , dj pgz 7”, Yuzo Iwata LP, Hybrid Man and the lads Sleep D - Freak of Nature 2
Sunflower Aquarium LP - Paper-Cuts
Act Now 7”
Anna Savage 7” on AST
Th Blisks - How So? - AST
Troth
Leo James - Féth Fíada - the slow slide into hypnosis through these songs is beautiful and so effective a 19 minute track can feel like a moment or a year, this is very good.
Champagne Mirrors - Forager - on Brokntoys
Barking - Self titled - Again on BT, go have a dig
Cousin - Second Message - NAFF
Kloke - Future Retro 005
Tim Reaper and Kloke - Flow State
Laurel Halo - World Without Heroes
Regular Citizen - Patsy Hangdog
Canva6 - Ten Minutes to Midnight - Presto!?
Broadcast - Maida Vale Sessions
Laila Sakini & Lucy Van - Figures (remaster)
HTRK - Live Sydney Opera House 2022
CS + Kreme - Orange
Move D + Dman - All You Can Tweak
GB - Yamaheaven
Kate Alice Greer - Barbarism
Actress - Dummy Corporation
Fia Fiell - Endless Filament
d’Eon - Rhododendron
check out his bandcamp for a huge amount of awesome devotional music
Yunzero - Butterfly DNA
Keith Fejeran - Daquiri - Pacific City Sound Visions
Iasos - Bora Bora 2000
Jack J - Opening the Door
Dentistry - GCR014 LP1
Anuraag Boiler Room - one of my favourite minds within the Melbourne music community to chat with
John Maus - Tenebrae
Eternal Dust EP - and a new album on pre-order now on Lulu’s Sonic Disc Club
On Lulu’s - Low Life from late 21’ and EXEK - Good Thing + Advertise Here
Smoke Point LP
Tim Koch - Volplaning on CPU from an Adelaide veteran
Splitradix - CPU Record below + new CPU Record + might as well check this too
Roza Terenzi & D Tiffany - Edge of Innocence + her killer new Step Ball Chain label
Hud Mo - Cry Sugar
Midnight Tenderness - Hydrosphere EP
Polonius - Son of Checkmate Eternal Warriors on Sun Ark & Anaxia OST
ETRUSCA 3D Trickster Blade
Francesco Cavaliere - TESSERA alata
Valentina Magaletti - A Queer Anthology of Drums
Ernest Hood - Back to the Woodlands
Rain Dogs - Self titled 12” on JPEG Artefacts, its from 2021
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom - Reset LP
Country Funk Comp - Light in the Attic
Loose Fit - Social Graces
The Band - this King Harvest live recording
Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special - Incredible production on this album
Lounge Lizards - Tarantella live
Matt Baldwin - Mysteries
Rephlex Grime comps V 1 & 2
FFT - Clear
Devon Russell - Darker Than Blue reissue on Death Is Not The End
Henry Flynt - Lonesome Train Dreams
Map.ache - Portes (Kassem Mosse remix)
The Arc - Something Wonderful (95)
Planet Uterus - Life mix + Irini - Lost in Dreams
Mosam Howieson - Aphelion
Harmon Eyes - Junoctal ‘96
Shake - My computer is an Optimist
Reptant - Halls of Perception
3NDLESS and CrazyMike - Sydney Bass Deluxe Edition
Legowelt - Ambient Trip Commander - Its a full Movie, this is a cool look into how the soundtrack was made + a new cool studio walkthrough.
Grateful Dead - Live in Europe 72’ - 50 year Anniversary - They have made some odd business calls in recent years but they really do a good job for fan service with new remasters + live shows, a great podcast and busy website full of fun stuff, their songs also have some of the best youtube comment sections.
If you are a bit of a Grateful Dead fan, this site, Playing In The Band, is where it’s at.
You get an interactive mixer where you can play live sound mixer or jam along with four songs from the famed Europe 72’ Tour and you can control the mix for 5 of the channels so you can mix, mute and solo whomever in the mix you’d like.
TIP its a secret haven for samples, especially drums if you can manage the bleed, this album, like a lot of music from this era, has some of the best sounding drums imo.
Mute Jerry’s guitar, close your eyes and play along while pretending to be performing for thousands of filthy hippies tripping balls, it’s quite likely that you are too.
Such a cool idea generally and to include the all time classic China Cat / I Know you Rider jam was a huge win. I know bands have released stems for years but it’d be cool to see more bands do something like this because its a lot of fun to play with and maybe a bit more accessible than downloading two gig of stems.
I remember murmuring predictions online that at some point a lot of music will be released in a format like this but I doubt that will be a trend. If anything, they are some of the best backing tracks you’ll find to practice improvising/shredding over.
Sanford Clark - The Fool
Waylon Jennings - Can’t go wrong with early Outlaw Country
Alex G - God Save The Animals
Chris and Cosey - Hybrid C
T2 - OST
Tangerine Dream - Thief OST - from the best scene in a killer movie
Evian Christ - The Distance
Jerry Martin - New Terrain - Sim City 3000 OST
Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring
Bascom Lamar Lunsford / Appalachian Mountain Music doco
Carter Family - Can’t Feel At Home
The Four Freshman - I’ve Never Loved Anyone More
and Paul Lansky - Patterns Patterns
His website is has a wealth of writings on music and his work.
More Than Idle Chatter to start & Alphabet Book are maybe his best
I have to stop myself here cause this has got out of hand and I have missed a mountain of music, especially local music, luckily Myles at the Melbourne Deepcast always put out a review with his picks of Australian music from the year, its worth a listen.
Its a great time for new music here, many of my favourite tracks are from locals and are from releases which are world class with such tight and high level production, it’s inspiring and hits my competitive spirit to wanna be a better producer.
Everywhere I look there seems to be something decent coming out, new or young artists doing interesting shows, new bands, unique collaborative works, performance pieces and we’re getting the Internationals back touring. I don’t have the time to try, I’m not sure anyone could really keep up with it all.
Maybe the lack of venues is still an issue, it’s sad to see Colour closing up but huge respect to Liam and Ben for what they’ve done with the club since opening, we are lucky to have newer places like Misc providing a hub for music communities to flourish.
We now also seem to have regular Boiler Room shows here in Australia and more new festivals than I can keep up with to cater to the post lockdown frenzy and the booming cultural popularity of dance music - these major platforms and big money ventures are what they are. It is good to see friends being invited to perform.
“The twentieth century ended with its dreams in ruins. The notion of the community as a voluntary association of enlightened citizens has died forever. We realize how suffocatingly humane we've become, dedicated to moderation and the middle way. The suburbanization of the soul has overrun our planet like the plague.”
Not so sure what else to add here, I’ve said too much.
Maybe just that DMT is Trespassing, sort of a joke, a fun internet wormhole to go down at the least. If you made it this far and you are shocked and appalled at the quality of writing and you’d like an actual read, try this.
I am not so comfortable with 2023 as a number but I hear its ok, it should be a ‘year of reflection’, apparently. I plan to keep this blog active with posts from the wider RC family, please do hit us up at repeatconcrete@gmail.com if you’d like to contribute some propaganda or writing of your own, we are not limited to music and would love to hear from you.
Thank you if you made it this far, something for your time..
Here is a Playlist of six free songs from 2016-2022.
The first one was finished for Liveset’s over the past 2 years but regrettably went unused through all the gigs I played, I think it would have been a fun track for a festival rig. The second was sent to the mailing list for free a few months ago, third was on a free comp in about 2020.
The last 3 are older tracks from my MPC live recording days, I used to play these at Lounge / Mania when I’d squeeze my own tracks I’d made that week into a set to hear them on a rig and see if anyone could tell the difference between these and the records I was playing, I think the giveaway was me not being able to use the CDJ to mix them in properly, they were all at some point almost released, but the plans fell through for various reasons and have since sat on my HD being heard once a year at most. Now you can do the same.
And RC08 - Rings Around Saturn - Plasticity is Free until I remember to change it back to $2.
Five Jungle or Jungle adjacent / mutant drum n bass tracks from 2020, I’d not heard these in a while and they sounds pretty good to me. I generally die inside when I release music but more and more, the passage of time is kind to hearing my older tracks again. A few of these have their moments.
Take your picks
ta
