Phantom Limb レコード& CD

Review: Described as an ecstatic ritual singer, pianist, and ambient composer, Maroulita de Kol demonstrates the rapturous breadth of her vision with Anasana, her latest LP on Phantom Limb. Channelling her Greek heritage into a fusion of Hellenic folk-musical traditions and cinematic electronic/ambient composition, this is an arresting catharsis in just five tracks, boasting classical piano mastery and huge attention to textural detail.

Review: If you encountered the 2019 album, Essaka Hoisa, Waqwaq Kingdom's inimitable style will already be familiar. For those who never did, the outfit comprises Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg and Kiki Hitomi (ex-King Midas Sound), which should give some clues as to where influences are coming from on this, their first outing since the aforementioned obscure masterpiece. Dokkoisho follows a similar line, marrying elements of 8-bit techno, African polyrhythms, contemporary electronica, dancehall, and traditional Japanese folk. Sometimes, although not always, it almost feels like it's happening all at once, like opener 'Positive Sound'. Although that doesn't mean sacrificing coherency or quality. In other moments, things are more focused, for example 'Positive Sound', which opts to strip things back wonderfully to offer a lunging, hypnotic, drum-first workout.

Review: Kiki Hitomi and Shigeru Ishihara first developed WaqWaq Kingdom as a psychedelic affair with percussionist Andrea Belfi, but with 2019 album Essaka Hoisa they ploughed on alone and created a distinctive, maximalist sound drawing on their respective strengths. Hitomi is a captivating story-teller who can tease a whole cast of characters from her vocal delivery, and Ishihara has a hyperactive approach to production which can render footwork, breakcore, hyper pop, traditional Japanese folk music, hip-hop and much more as bit parts in his vivid tapestries. Drawing on their heritage and making the most out-there modernist music intensely personal in the same beat, Essaka Hoisa sounds like nothing else you've ever heard, and should serve as a perfect primer for a new album from WaqWaq Kingdom in September 2023.