Album of the Week: Rian Treanor & Ocen James - Saccades | 2023 Week 3

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