Welcome to the 9th edition of All Gus No Fuss. This month, I have a gander up in the sky with the newest release on Air Miles, a listen to Yu Su’s lovely new album and finally check out Octo Octa’s latest release. These are three terrific records and I encourage anyone who reads this who would like to support said records grabs them via the Bandcamp links below!
Goodwana at Noon EP – Remotif – Air Miles
The third installment of the Air Miles label is as airy as ever. The Bristolian Remotif’s track ‘Goodwana at Noon’ provides the core of this record with four subsequent remixes from Jeigo, Nathan Micay and Molly.
‘Goodwana at Noon’ is slow, with a ghostly vocal and sky bound chime. It is ten minutes of relaxation with a pinch of groove. The remixes however are to me the stars of the show.
First remix is by Jeigo, a producer I have normally associated with ambient sounding house, lofi and garage. The ambient sound is still there, but this time the genre at question is drum and bass. The glistening sounds of the original track placed behind the thunderously calming drum and bass aesthetic. I wish more drum and bass sounded like this, rave at its heart but not set out with the intention of blowing your ears out.
Nathan Micay is hot off the press of releasing an album for the upcoming television series; Industry. His remixes here however ditche any orchestral and cinematic focus for one true to the rave. For me, I will wait to see and hear the combination of television magic with Micay music, but I think I prefer it when his music focuses on making people dance rather than cry. His remix here is bubbling, bouncy and most importantly brings the feeling of fun to this E.P.
Molly finishes the affair with a slightly more inner looking take on ‘Goodwana at Noon’. A much more minimalistic focus works a treat. A simple and effective blend of new elements within the original sounds, reaching its peak in its final couple of minutes, and providing a brilliant little glimpse into the Parisian producer.
This short little record has brought Air Miles back with a bang and is a beautiful representation of how terrific the median of remixes can be.
https://airmilesrec.bandcamp.com/album/gondwana-at-noon-ep-am003
Yellow River Blue – Yu Su – Bie Records
The sound designer, DJ and producer based in Canada, born in China; Yu Su has been making waves in the dance scene in the last couple of years. Her fresh Eastern inspired take on ambient and dance focused productions has propelled her profile and Yellow River Blue is her first album.
Her boiler room set from Sugar Mountain festival is a hidden gem, she is clearly an accomplished DJ. The long and windy ‘Roll With The Punches’ EP released well over a year ago is a slow, weighty and warm record. Yu Su is a producer who obviously values quality over quantity, Yellow River Blue only being her 6th official release.
This is something I am constantly finding myself torn between, wanting artists to release a steady supply of music, and keeping that music of an exceptional quality. Despite my impatience and frustration, the later is always better and Yellow River Blue feels well thought out and a record that has been carefully crafted with an excellent degree of detail.
The opening is a bubbling and bouncy groover, ‘Xiu’ has an electronic chime but with more alive and focused percussion placed next to a subtle and soothing vocal. ‘Futuro’ focuses more on a weighty dub inspired atmosphere, and brings the listener back down to a more realised and potentially sad place.
This down turn in emotion is given a quick kick in ‘Touch-Me-Not’ which shudders slowly into life. This is a track which glistens and shudders, eardrum to eardrum, buoyant and brilliant as if these shimmers and vibrations exist on a peaceful lake in the Canadian countryside. This mystical metaphor is furthered in ‘Gleam’. Deeper shimmers, but with a more mesmerising and hypnotic loop.
The album’s second half feels a little more electronic, ‘Melaleuca’ is a joyous little number, it is some kind of disco house variant but lacking the elements so prominent in more popular and dated disco music. The album concludes with ‘Melaleuca At Night’. Following a real array of different sounds throughout and a steady journey of emotions, this final track finishes the record brilliantly.
Yu Su was an artist who I was aware of and appreciated but now I love. Not a lot of the music I listen to comes from locations beyond the expanse of Europe, this album has motivated and inspired me to dig a little deeper and try to expand what I listen to beyond the realms of gloomy England.
https://yusu.bandcamp.com/album/yellow-river-blue
She’s Calling EP – Octo Octa – T4T LUV NRG
Resonant Body was a favourite of mine back in 2019, an instant purchase. It was a full length album, portraying everything that is wonderful and fun about the artist Octo Octa. She is one of dance music’s most dynamic and exciting producers and her first release in 2021 shows her scintillating form shows no signs of slowing down.
What struck me most about that mesmerising album in 2019 was the obtuse randomness of every track. Fast deviations, quick cuts and never a time to settle. Unbound by genre or style but strict in its punch-packing emotion, She’s Calling EP, I am glad to say simply feels like an eloquent extension of that album.
The label T4T LUV NRG has been explained to focus on connection, rather than the more stark escapism present throughout all music in this modern dystopia. ‘Godess Calling’ rumbles and lurches through these connections, breakbeat drums and an orchestral overtone begin, before an ambient interlude, and heavy bumping conclusion.
The infamous DJ duo of Octo Octa and Eris Drew are known best for their scratching focused mixing and heavy but fun house. ‘Find Your Way Home’ feels and sounds like an encapsulation of that energy but within a production. With any Octo Octa production, being comfortable is nigh impossible, in its second half the track takes an expected detour.
Final track; ‘Spell For Nature’ concludes an extremely delightful E.P. Simplistic, yet with layers of complexity beautifully embodying those dance floor connections we all miss so much. Shorter than the first two tracks, the overlapping drums click before an optimistic vocal surfaces.
The special and sporadic nature of Maya Bouldry-Morrison’s production are brilliant and her focus on avoiding potential escapism associated with dance music is a fresh and buoyant take on a genre so often providing an escape from negative emotions, rather than focusing on positive ones.