Playlist 16.07.23

Classical instruments getting themselves into strange situations, noise shaped into hip-hop, field recordings shaped into techno, IDM, dub... and lots of experimental electronics in general tonight. LISTEN AGAIN and you may find the secret meaning of life. Try streaming on demand on the FBi website, or podcasting here. Sun Ra - Nuclear War (Joel Tarman x Kronos Quartet Remix) [Red Hot/Bandcamp]<br /> In 1990, when the AIDS pandemic was still rising, the compilation Red Hot + Blue was released to raise funds for AIDS research and community support. It was a pretty extraordinary collection of a diverse selection of artists of the time, doing often highly creative covers of Cole Porter songs, chosen, no doubt, in reference to Porter's homosexuality. Since then Red Hot have gone on to release numerous compilations and continue to raise money for AIDS research and more broadly health pandemics. The most recent covers collection is Nuclear War, a tribute to Sun Ra featuring current jazz trailblazers like Irreversible Entanglements and Georgia Anne Muldrow. This is extended further with Nuclear War: The Remixes, which features remixes of not only Malcolm Jiyane Tree-o and Angel Bat Dawid's Sun Ra covers, but also two reworkings of Sun Ra & his Arkestra. Of particular interest for me is the teaming up of producer Joel Tarman and the Kronos Quartet, who also remixed Tanya Tagaq to brilliant effect last year. Starting with an absurdly jaunty American radio spot about the equally absurd "duck and cover" defense, Tarman blends this into a drone from the string quartet, perfectly off-key, which accompanies Sun Ra's "Talkin' about / Nuclear War" chant ("It's the motherfucker / Don't you know"), with flowing drums. The whole track is done in this slightly off-kilter way: radio chatter, string drones, Sun Ra samples, combined to disqueting effect. alice does computer music - Coiled [Jolt Music/Bandcamp]<br /> The first step in appreciating experimental cellist Alice Gerlach's music is getting over my resistance to the name alice does computer music. Any resistance was a mistake - don't judge a book by your own dumb feels about the cover. The second single from the forthcoming Shoegaze 5G is a languid pop song with melodic cello, synths and acoustic guitar as well as computer beats and a super-glitchy breakdown. You'll love it. Forest Swords - Butterfly Effect [Ninja Tune/Bandcamp]<br /> A decade or more on from the first releases of Matthew Barnes as Forest Swords, the hypnagogic/chillwave/witch house genrescape is no longer particularly relevant, but Barnes continues to draw influences from everwhere from post-punk