Listen Up - Dance Devotion Edition
We were planning to meet in New Jersey. We were going to do some record shopping. We made plans for March 13. Then the Covid Times began.
We had thoroughly exhausted our stock of mutually owned, previously un-listened to LPs, so we decided to get together at 8pm
… or thereabouts. The plan for the night was pretty simple. Give a call, catch up for a moment or two. Point the other person in the right direction, and then before hitting “play” at the same time…
We get cued up and settled in. We end the call and start the music. First Up…
…the eponymous debut LP from in-demand Amsterdam five piece
The Mauskovic Dance Band
– fusing no-wave dance punk, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and space disco in a “controlled explosion” (The Quietus)
That little intro and all the following descriptors are from their Bandcamp page:
“Afro-Latin psychedelic music of Colombia and Peru,” interpreting it through the context of modern day Amsterdam. The output is a lo-fi No Wave groove all its own - rooted in a deep love of champeta, Palenque, psychedelic cumbia, chichi, classic afrobeat and picó soundsystem culture.
And here is a snippet of our first impression:
So, in short… a whole lotta fun, a wide range of shit going on (in terms of sonic-temporal geolocationality and so on), and the cover art does the music justice. Next up is some cover art that may seem a bit severe, but if are able to see it as intense, yet serene, then the second choice tonight also has some well fitting cover art.
Ana Roxanne
provided us with some very mellow ambient sounds with some beautiful instrumetation, as well as field recordings and other sounds melted in for some humid soundscapes.
BONUS EP:
This was sent to me between our sessions. Very beautiful instrumentation combined with field recording from the Antarctica.
Highly recommend if you need a enveloping sense of calm.