Temporary Residence Limited US レコード& CD

Review: Anches En Maat is the first new album from Grails in over a half-decade - following the masterful Chalice Hymnal in 2017 - and their first album recorded with all members in the studio together since Doomsdayer's Holiday in 2008. A strange mixture of 1980s softcore, daytime soap opera lounge and nods to musique concrete make this the group's most challenging full-length project yet, with the likes of 'Black Rain' and 'Sad & Illegal' seeming to toe the lines of everything from lost cinematic soul to elemental prog, with the spectre of film seeming to haunt its every lilt and impact.

Review: William Basinski and Preston Wendel offered something a little different when they commended their Sparkle Division project in 2020. Rather than Basinski's best-known ambience and minimalism, this project deals in a luxuriant lounge funk shot through with surrealism and strapped to imagined scenarios. On Foxy, the scene is set as an exclusive Hollywood cocktail party in the late 60s with a particularly spicy punch going round. The music doesn't attempt to ape a 60s sounds like you would expect, but instead deals in varied funk-fuelled grooves which come on like library music having been dipped in aforementioned lysergic party juice. It's smooth and salty in equal amounts, and just weird enough to keep you curious as the narrative of the album unravels and we wind up at some surprisingly nimble d&b programming to see the story out.