Remix Exchange

I found this again recently, a very smart piece of digital dub from 2013. Group Rhoda is/was the solo electronic project for Oakland, California artist Mara Barenbaum. King was a track on Group Rhoda's 12th House album (the original version of King is available from Bandcamp here). It was remixed by The Asphodells. Weatherall and Fairplay set the controls for the heart of the bass frequencies, echo- drenched bleeps punctuate the synths and Mara's vocals ride over the top.

King (Asphodells Remix)

Group Rhoda returned the favour, the second leg of a remix exchange, by reworking Another Lonely City from The Asphodells only album Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Love. There were a bunch of remixes of tracks from Ruled By Passion... from the likes of Phil Kieran, Justin Robertson, Ivan Smagghe, Hardway Bros, Daniel Avery, Richard Sen and Scott Fraser, all released as a companion album. Played back to back these pair of remixes complement each other really well (unsurprisingly) and give you ten minutes of digital dubbed out pleasure for Saturday.

Another Lonely City (Group Rhoda Remix)

Monday's Long Song

In 2015 Four Tet released a two track album called Morning/Evening, each side twenty minutes long. Morning Side especially is a unique, joyful and innovative piece of music. It began with a sample of the Hindi singer Lata Mangeshkar and took off inspired by her voice and the ragas from the collection of Indian music he inherited from his Grandfather as a child and more contemporary influences like Autechre. The drums are familiar Four Tet, skittering and busy but light and the synths and voice give the twenty minutes of Morning Side the quality of waking from a dream, the sunshine coming in through the blinds. It's a stunning piece of work that never feels like it's twenty minutes long.