The freelancer playlist: may 2010

Earlier in the month I compiled a playlist for the car that was unashamedly 1970s. It was full of stuff I could turn up loud and sing out of tune to with no fear of reprisals. I can’t tell you how good that drum section and Herbie Flowers’ bass sounds on Nilsson’s Jump into the Fire on Nilsson Scmilsson sounds flying down the motorway. Or Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song or anything by Bad Company or Free. Old hippies never die I suppose, they just get nostalgic from time to time.

But just to prove I don’t live in a time warp, this month’s playlist of music I work with is rather electronic. And thanks to Stuart Maconie and those great people at emusic, the month has been at bit expensive as well.

Darshan Ambient - The Zen Master’s Diary: very close to ambient. One reviewer on emusic says, “This is how I start Sunday morning, along with coffee and the paper. Masterful and mellow”. There you go.

I Monster - Art of Chill EP: part of the 2-disk Art of Chill Volume 6 put together by I Monster. We’ll have to forgive them a dubious version of a dubious song, Tina Turner’s The Best, the rest is a gem. Part Air, part psychedelia, three short(ish) tracks. Just fresh.

The Lickets - Journey in Caldecott: An apparently elusive duo. Hypnotic, melodic and and somehow elevating.

Lemon Jelly – Lost Horizons: Not at all ambient, call it chill, down-tempo or whatever you want. Unchallenging, pass the day away with it.

Rhys Chatham – A Crimson Grail (for 400 electric guitars): 400 electric guitars and the Sacré Coeur cathedral in Paris. Epic, mad and it works.

The Advisory Circle - Other Channels: Retro-synths and public information films. What’s not to like? Like the rest of Ghost Box‘s output.

Sylvain Chaveau – The Black Book of Capitalism: This is an elusive record, a mix of electronic and acoustic. It paints scenes, creates atmospheres.

The Jellyheads – Filthy Mechanoid: Downbeat/down tempo (what the hell is the difference?). Basic guitar, bass and drum supplemented with all kinds synths, software and kitchen utensils (apparently). A glorious smorgasbord.

Inch Time – As the Moon Draws Water: I’ve seen this described as “slow dance music for melancholic robots”. I’ll leave the dancing to others, another electro-acoustic affair with a whole variety of influences, jazz, world and techno.

Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express: OK, this is retro-electronica, but I came to Kraftwerk very, very late. I’d liked an extract from their second album that appeared on the Vertigo sampler Suck it and See, but not all the 80s stuff that I found too mechanical. Take them out of that horrible decade and they sound they sound revolutionary. Mea Culpa, I’m catching up as I write.

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