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Album of the Week: Rian Treanor & Ocen James - Saccades | 2023 Week 3
British experimental electronic wiz and Ugandan violin virtuoso team up for an exploratory record of afrofuturist sounds + new albums from Mac DeMarco, John Cale, Ryuichi Sakamoto and more
Posted By Will Backler
2 years ago
Rian Treanor and Ocen James exploratory, dynamic and wild new album of forward-thinking electronic music with a twist of influences from the Kampala, Uganda's modern and traditional scenes, has been 5 years in the making. With the seed planted when Treanor visited Kampala for a residency at the Nyege Nyege studios, of which James is a part, he crafted his acclaimed 2020 LP File Under UK Metaplasm, but wished to keep the collaboration going and to "be as tactile and reactive as a live performance with traditional instruments", with James providing just this opportunity, giving us Saccades.
A beautiful and entrancing meeting of Treanor's hyperactive, digital rhythms and sonic textures alongside James' analogue, dynamic playing, the result is the best of both diverse aural worlds. James' primary instrument, a one-stringed fiddle, are played with an astounding level of expression and feeling, in turn causing the computer-created rhythms to also have more of a human feeling. Ranging from more challenging, abstract compositions to dancefloor and DJ friendly sounds, Saccades is a truly unique and wondrous collaborative musical achievement.
The best of the rest of this week's records:
Fran - Leaving [Fire Talk] USA
Alternative / Folk
Guided By Voices - La La Land [Independent] USA
Alternative / Rock
Italia 90 - Living Human Treasure [Brace Yourself] ENG
Post Punk
John Cale - MERCY [Domino] USA
Alternative
Ladytron - Time's Arrow [Cooking Vinyl] ENG
Electronic / Indie
Mac DeMarco - Five Easy Hot Dogs [Mac's Record Label] CAN
Indie
Oddisee - To What End [Outer Note] USA
Hip Hop
Paleman - Veiled [Sublunar] ENG
Electronic
Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12 [Milan Records] JAP
Experimental
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