#How To Manifest EP 014

[gemstarb]

How to Manifest | House of Herby Podcast | EP 014

[illustratedtapes]

Welcome to Illustrated Tape’s favourite releases of 2018 that sounded and looked good, chosen by this year’s contributors. We’ve put together a playlist featuring one track from each of the releases featured so you can check out the sounds we were digging this year. Happy listening! 

➔ spoti.fi/2LCgrQp Listening in order recommended

Delta Sleep - Ghost City Big Scary Monsters, 10 August  Artwork: Owen Findley at Or8 Design Selected by Megan Reddi // IT014

This is my favourite music/artwork combo of 2018! The whole album is just amazing - it is beautifully arranged and has this lovely dreamy quality to it, with repeated musical motifs woven throughout to really pull the whole album together. Not only is Ghost City musically fantastic, but the artwork is beautiful and so fitting for the album. It is designed and screen printed by Owen Findley and the warm colours, imagery and textures are just spot on.

Definitely my favourite release of 2018. It is my go-to driving album and I will be blasting it while we’re driving around this Christmas!

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 014: Nautical Dusk by Megan Reddi

Okay Kaya - Both Heavy Body, 1 June  Artwork/design: Kaya Wilkins, Aaron Maine, Phillip Wong

Selected by Hannah Buckman // IT016

Okay Kaya’s Both as an album that came out this year which I enjoyed, and which I feel has a strong visual component to it. To me the album feels sickly (in a good way), gloomy but still pop. I think the mood is conveyed really well through the Adinah Dancyger directed music vids and the album art. 

I liked finding out more about Kaya’s thinking behind the project, like how the twin in the videos is like a physical manifestation of trauma... it’s something that once I read I couldn’t stop thinking about. The idea of something traumatic inducing this birth of a second self, a kind of split off part that is still attached in some way to the whole, but there being a kind of safety in acknowledging what might be a darker part of yourself, from a distance. Also the album art kind of conveys the idea of duality and how that relates to race/sexuality, but I didn’t feel like that was really explored as much. I think I like this album ‘cos it kind of ties in with things (mentioned above) I’m currently interested in, but maybe it feels a bit surface-y at times.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 016: Protect Your Extremities by Hannah Buckman

Quavo - Quavo Huncho Capitol / Mowtown / Quality Control, 12 October  Artwork: Mihailo Andic 

Selected by Conner Perry // IT020

I think my favourite music/design combo of this year has to be Quavo’s Quavo Huncho. Not only is it full of bangers, the cover by Mihailo Andic is just brilliant. It really sets itself apart from the Migo’s visuals and changes the way you listen to the record. Definitely check out the rest of his work, especially the stuff for Lil’ Yachty. 

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 020: Nice one bruva by Conner Perry

Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! Rough Trade, 18 May  Artwork: A. Savage

Selected by Holly St Clair // IT021

I was really late to the Parquet Courts party, but actually both of my initial encounters with their two recent releases have been solid arguments for the importance of decent album artwork. For both Wide Awake! and Human Performance I ran into - literally - the artwork before the music. Twice, two years apart, whilst wandering around London I turned a corner and came face to face with Adam Savage’s superb cover work. He smacked me in the face with poppy colours and amorphous dancing forms and I loved every moment. Add in an anarchic use of type and you’ve got me shouting, “Oh shit! A new Parquet Courts album!” to no one in particular outside an old meat market in Shoreditch.

A. Savage is both front man and painter and that adds a special flavour to the whole affair. Album marketing can be a laboured, commercially driven affair, there’s something authentic - a little DIY flavour - about this relationship between artwork and music. It’s a nice parallel to the musical throwbacks typical of the bands style. Wide Awake! dropped earlier this year and it’s fab. (Although, I love the artwork so much even if it was god awful I’d still buy the record and hang it on my wall.)

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 021: To: You, Love: Me by Holly St Clair

D.A.L.I - When Haro Met Sally Burning Witches, 23 May  Artwork: Luke Insect

Selected by Thomas Hedger // IT017

According to my recently played, I’ve been stuck on a pre-'90s loop. I've crept slowly into 2018's releases picking out albums like books - by their covers - and it really paid off! I don’t often delve into electronic but I love this album, it’s a perfect blend of hopping on your bike and hitting the tracks, nailing the look of how the album feels in all its haze. A solid sunny day good time.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 017: Sink by Thomas Hedger

Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar Ninja Tune, 9 March  Artwork: Tom Hingston

Selected by Katie Chandler // IT003

This cover was immediately striking and memorable to me. Upon listening to the album, I found that the artwork resonated with this feeling of odd, unrestricted expression. It's a little unsettling, ultimately bold and intriguing. Much like the music, it feels hot and cool all at once, like a burst of energy that leaves you in a sweat. It's the exhilarating soundtrack to your runner's high, and you're not really sure why you're running or what you're running from.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 003: Porch Light by Katie Chandler

Gesu no Kiwami Otome (ゲスの極み乙女。) - Suki Nara Towanai (好きなら問わない) Taco Records, 29 August  Selected by Greg Stasiw // IT009

Although it’s not the ambient and electronic fare I usually enjoy, Suki Nara Towanai (好きなら問わない) by Gesu no Kiwami Otome. (ゲスの極み乙女。) is a hoot. The artwork features a stylized neon pachinko machine. Or maybe it’s a console in a rad indie pop spaceship, which would also make sense for this funky fresh group! It feels somehow familiar, somehow alien, and altogether really, really cool.

The neon suggests something retro, and there are some retro leanings in their funkier tracks, but it's definitely neon as seen in 2018. Modern pop (and J-Pop) tropes emerge, but infectious basslines, tight drumming, and smart keys make this album something special. Some math rock even surfaces at times, and the remix included proves that this group goes for whatever feels fresh. One look at the artwork reminds me that this is one of the funnest albums I've listened to in a while. “Funnest” is definitely a word when you’re talking about this band!

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 009: Atmospheres by Greg Stasiw

Aphex Twin - Collapse EP Warp, 14 September Artwork: Weirdcore

Selected by Alex Vissaridis // IT002

2018 was a great year if you grew up listening to the music I was into. Some of my all-time favourite artists released new stuff this year, and they didn’t disappoint. The artwork was pretty excellent too, but nothing grabbed my attention like the world created around Aphex Twin’s Collapse EP. Album art doesn’t seem to mean as much as it once did, so it’s always exciting when it appears outside of the little square on your screen in unexpected ways. 

This year, Aphex Twin logos appeared all over the world, from Elephant & Castle tube station to the side of a record store in Tokyo, designed in a way that made it look like the logo was collapsing into the environment around it. I’m a sucker for stuff like this; random cryptic messages that send internet detectives into a frenzy. It was eventually announced as marketing for the Collapse EP, but they kept the ‘collapsing logo’ visual going on the EP artwork, in the music video for the track ‘T69 collapse’, and even through to projection-mapped videos around London (again announced in typical smoke-and-mirrors fashion) and a collaboration with Crack magazine. Way more than just a collection of pixels.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 002: Tape Fuzz by Alex Vissaridis

Flohio - Wild Yout EP Alpha, 2 November Selected by Rachel Maughan // IT012

I got into Flohio after I saw her on COLORS in January with 'Band'. She's fucking explosive on that track, you can feel her spitting straight into your chest. She's been savvy with her producers and killed her work with God Colony - 'SE16' was my most played track of the year. Her 2018 EP, Wild Yout is a cocktail of perfection. 

Mashing up genres it's a high energy listen with punchy, grimey hip-hop that is uniquely South London. The artwork is beautiful simplicity - her achingly slick androgynous aesthetic, the clean photographic composition, with a flowing chain to bring it tightly back to SE. Gorgeous.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 012: High Rise by Rachel Maughan

Sudan Archives - Sink EP Stones Throw, 25 May Photography: Jack McKain Design: Jeff Jank

Selected By Tom J Newell // IT004

Sink submerges the listener in flowing loops and beats, with splashes of violin and vocals floating above the sunken monolith, which stands tall on the deep blue cover art. The composition is reminiscent of two of Jank’s other iconic Stones Throw sleeves, Donuts and Madvillainy and continues his striking yet varied art direction for the label.

Check out the ‘Nont For Sale’ video from the EP too, which adds powerful choreography and styling to create another successful visual accompaniment to the music. Much love to Sudan Archives and hats off to Jeff Jank. I painted a tribute to the cover art on a 12x12” piece of wood.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 004: FEAR. by Tom J Newell

Drinks - Hippo Lite Drag City, 20 April Selected by Molly Fairhurst // IT015

Hazy, dazed, an album I hold dearly to 2018 (and many strangely lit walks in a then new, unknown city).

A collaboration between Cate Le Bon and White Fence’s Tim Presley, the pair took an (isolated) retreat to St Hippolyte-Du-Fort in the south of France to record, frankly, crudely, seemingly, whatever the fuck they wanted to. Hippo Lite is born, a joyful, playful, sometimes quiet, sometimes screaming object.

What senses like an eavesdrop through closed doors rightly has a cover that can’t be quite understood- a narrow column of, at the glance of the reader, ‘nonsense’ notes, which flank photos of Le Bon and Presley. Both are snapshots of an absurd holiday we have been invited along to, so long as we sit across the table. A tender and private piece.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 015: The Wilder Woman by Molly Fairhurst

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - King of Cowards Rocket, 28 September Artwork: Sophy Hollington

Selected by Drew Milward // IT010

First off, this album is wall to wall, solid gold bangers. Kind of like the lovechild of The Fall and Black Sabbath, who has been cautioned by the police for possession of a massive bag of skunk, a bong in the shape of a skull and a copy of ‘The Holy Mountain’ on DVD. 

Aside from the fact it’s a full on riff-o-rama, the artwork by Sophy Hollington is absolutely incredible. It summons up the sound of the band, via folk horror infused wildness. It really captures the sonic landscape of the album, yet completely avoids any of the cliched imagery that could so easily have taken its place. It really is the whole package.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 010: BE GONE, YOU CREATIVE GREMLINS! by Drew Milward

Djrum - Portrait With Firewood R&S, 17 August Artwork: Michael Mitsas

Selected by Sam Ailey // IT001

Portrait With Firewood is one of those rare gems within the electronic genre - a true ‘album’. With holistic production, emotional range, and a captivating narrative, this really is a stunning listening experience from start to finish. Felix Manuel combines electronic and acoustic sounds seamlessly on this intimate record, with exceptional attention to detail in his sampling and tender piano sections played by Felix himself.

Michael Mistas’s cover art is a real departure from the typical design aesthetic of electronic albums and caught my attention straight away. I love its composition and rough, imperfect execution. To me these feels reflective of the range and depth of emotional states explored across the album, and the feeling that some things are easier to express through your craft than with words. Plus I’m a sucker for pink things.

➔ Listen to Illustrated Tapes 001: Quiet by Sam Ailey

[psychothrillcologne]

PSYCHO THRILL/ ROHBAU/ GOLZHEIM techno industries ... that’s how we gonna do it straight.

3hrs of a Rohbau/ PsychoThrill Cologne power-hour set at Düsseldorf's famous GOLZHEIM club, on sat., nov. 4th 2017 2gether with Dimitri Pike (DTM / WildTek BEL) and Daniel Fritschi (Golzheim / Level Rec.). Claus Bachor riding high through all valleys of cutting edged Techno which are almost natural for his Cologne club brand since 1988/91 (Rave Club/PsychoThrill CGN). featured TRACK LISTING: 01 FUNKADELIC: You And Your Folks _ Claude Young Jr. Club Mix [ D3-track from “Reworked By Detroiters” Westbound Records SEW3-158 UK 3x12" | 2017 ] 02 DEEE-LITE [ANI SCHEMPF, DMITRY BRILL, KIERIN KIRBY, TOWA TEI]: Heart Be Still _ Carl Craig 1996 Remix [ B1-track from “Sampladelic Relics & Dancefloor Oddities” Elektra 61872-1 US Promo-2x12" | 1996 ] 03 NICK SINNA: Come Again _ Luke Hess Remix [ B2-track from “PN19” Prime Numbers PN-019 UK 12" | 2014 ] 04 SHINRA [JAMES CLARKE]: Fallen [ B2-track from “Ball & Chain EP” null+void Recordings NUL-001 UK 12" | 2015 ] 05 JOHN HECKLE: Archipelago [ A-side from “Memories Of Kamerlengo” Moondance Records MR-002 CRO 12" | 2017 ] 06 RICHIE INKLE: Rationell [ B2-track from “2+2=5 EP” Pseudo Records PSEUDO-005 FRA Promo-12" | 2004 ] 07 DIMDJ [DIMITRIS EVAGELOPOULOS] feat. TRENTON CHASE: Computer Beats [ A3-track from “DimDJ” TH Tar Hallow TH-004 NL 12" | 2016 ] 08 ECHELON: Untitled [ B2-track from “002” Echelon 002 GER WL-12" | 2017 ] 09 DONA [DONA BASILE]: City With No Fear [ A-side from “C.W.N.F.” Points Records Points-006 GER 10" | 2016 ] 10 RHYW [ALEX TSIRIDIS]: Skull To The Chest [ B1-track from “Rhyw” TH Tar Hallow TH-005 12" | 2016 ] 11 KHAN [CAN ORAL]: Untitled [ B2-track from “Silent Movie” Electro Bunker Cologne EBC-003 GER Promo-12" | 1996 ] 12 Pacou [LARS LEWANDOWSKI]: Frequency Chain [ B1-track from “Radar” Djax-Up-Beats DJAX-UP-327 NL Promo-12" | 2000 ] 13 ELLERY COWLES: It's Taking Control [ A1-track from “Sonic Control” Djax-Up-Beats DJAX-UP-227 Blu-Promo-12" | 1995 ] 14 DANIEL BELL: Sience Fiction [ A2-track from “Tresor 3” NovaMute PNoMu-043 UK Promo-12" | 1995 ] 15 X-TERNAL PULSE [Ultradyne / Dennis Richardson & Alexandres Lugo]: Crossphaze [ A1-track from “The Silicon Ghetto EP Vol. 3” Accelerate ACC-003 US 12" | 1993 ] 16 DBX [DANIEL BELL]: Back 2 Da Beat [ A2-track from “Ghetto Trax” Accelerate ACC-100 US Promo-12" | 1993 ] 17 DAMON WILD & EPI CENTRUM [JERZY PRZEZDZIECKI]: Snatch [ A2-track from “Produkt” Synewave SW-119 US 12" | 2017 ] 18 BEN SIMS: The Stalker [ B2-track from “Gamma Ray Subway EP” Deeply Rooted House DRH-055 US 12" | 2017 ] 19 SIGHA [JAMES SHAW]: Down _ Function Remix [ B1-track from “Metabolism Remixes” TOKEN-077 BEL 12" | 2017 ] 20 DASHA RUSH: Black Swan [ B1-track from “Ain't No God Nor King” Sonic Groove ‎SG-1780 US 12" | 2017 ] 21 BYLLY: Lysis [ A2-track from “CDT001” Chineurs De Techno CDT-001 FRA Promo-12" | 2017 ] 22 F.U.S.E. [R.M.H. from Windsor]: F.U.2 _ Re-edit [ B2-track from “Substance Abuse” Plus 8 Records PLUS-8013 CAN Promo-12" | 1991 ] 23 FRANCOIS DUBOIS: Dark Angel [ A-side from “Dark Angel” Blue Recordings BLUE-012 CAN Promo-12" | 2002 ] 24 2AMFM [D'MARC CANTU & TADD MULLINIX]: Pattern On The Floor [ B-side from “2AMFM EP” Secret Studio Records SCS-007 FRA BL-12" | 2017 ] 25 FIT SIEGEL + TIM LOVE LEE [AARON SIEGEL & TIM LEE]: Living Is Serious Business _ Carl Craig Remix [ B-side from “Living Is Serious Business” Label Fit Sound FIT-014 / Detroit Threads US 12" | 2017 ] 26 SEEKER [OLIVER HO]: Untitled B [ B-side from “Manifestation” Continual CNL-006 UK Promo-12" | 2001 ] 27 TRAP 10 [JANIS & FABIAN]: DST [ B2-track from “Three EP” a.r.t.less ‎A.R.T.LESS-2182 GER WL-12" | 2017 ] 28 SOUNDERS DEPARTMENT [TOB JONA & MMIKE GERALD]: Cosmopolitan [ A-side from “Cosmopolitan” Sounders Dept. ‎003 GER Promo-12" | 1997 ] 29 DREXCIYA [GERALD DONALD & JAMES STINSON]: Black Sea [ A1-track from “The Journey Home” Warp Records ‎WAP-057 UK Promo-12" | 1995 ] 30 RUSS GABRIEL’s AUDIO SPECTRUM: Alligator Voodoo [ A2-track from “Pilgrimage EP” Soma Quality Recordings SOMA-036 UK Promo-12" | 1996 ] 31 HASHIM [JERRY CALLISTE JR.]: Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) _ Extended Mix [ A1-track from Cutting Records CR-200 US 12" | 1983 ] 32 ‘MAD MIKE’ BANKS: Lo-Tech Reality [ B2-track from “Hi-Tech Dreams / Lo-Tech Reality” Underground Resistance UR-071 US 12" | 2007 ] 33 BETA EVERS [BIGITTE ENZLER]: Destination Lost [ B2-track from “Eruption” Kommando 6 K6-XX GER Promo-12" | 2005 ] 34 ERIK TRAVIS: Freaky (Programming) [ A-side from “Sound Of Mind” F.A.C.T. Records ET-004 / Detroit Threads US 12" | 1998 ] 35 CYBONIX [ODELL PERRY, TAMEKO J. WILLIAMS]: Shake Your Body [ B1-track from “Cybonix In Effect” D-Bass Records DBR-50105 / Detroit Threads US 12" | 1997 ] 36 STALLONE THE REDUCER [SAMUEL CONSIGLIO]: Drug Pusher [ A1-track from “Drug Pusher” Est. 83' Records ‎EST.83-05 / FIT / Detroit Threads US Promo-12" | 2016 ] 37 OBJEKT [TJ HERTZ]: Unglued [ B-side from “Objekt002” OBJEKT-002 GER WL-12" | 2011 ] 38 PERBEC [MARK BROOM & PETER ADSHEAD]: Until The End Part 1 [ A1-track from “Until The End / Variety Club” ifach-017 UK Promo-12" | 1998 ] 39 PETTER B [PETTER BÖRGESSON]: Higher Thirds [ B2-track from “Unconfined EP” Bond ‎Bond-011 SWE 12" | 2017 ] 40 PERBEC [MARK BROOM & PETER ADSHEAD]: Variety Club [ B-side from “Until The End / Variety Club” ifach-017 UK Promo-12" | 1998 ] 41 PETTER B [PETTER BÖRGESSON]: Suspension Lock [ B1-track from “Unconfined EP” Bond ‎Bond-011 SWE 12" | 2017 ] 42 WOO YORK [ANDREW VANZHULA & DENNIS ANDRIYANOW]: I Am Against [ A1-track from “I Am Against” Soma Quality Recordings ‎SOMA-409 UK 12" | 2017 ] 43 HODGE & RANDOMER [JAKE MARTIN & ROHAN WALDER]: Slipping [ B1-track from “If I Could Stop” Clone Basement Series ‎CBS-027 NL 12" | 2017 ] 44 NATHAN JONES: Pillars Of Creation [ A2-track from “Voices Of The Further EP” Vision Collector VC-004 IRE 12" | 2017 ] 45 RUE EAST [DAVE HILL & MARK BROOM]: Remove [ A-side from “Remove / Liquid Line” Rewired RW-005 UK 12" | 1997 ] 46 POPULATION ONE [TERRENCE DIXON]: Out Of Control [ A1-track from “Theater Of A Confused Mind” Label Rush Hour Recordings RHM-013 NL 2x12" | 2014 ] 47 HENNING BAER: DNA [ A2-track from “The Idea Of Instinct” Nonplus Records NONPLUS-040 UK 12" | 2017 ] 48 JOEL MULL: Untitled [ B2-track from “Code Red 05” CODE RED-005 SWE 12" | 1998 ] 49 SHINGO SUWA: Filth Reality [ B-side from “Merkur Ep 06.5” Merkur Schallplatten MER-006.5 GER 12" | 2017 ] 50 DJ SKULL [RON MANEY]: Keep it Hard [ A1-track from “Hard Drive” Djax-Up-Beats DJAX-UP-224 NL Promo-2x12" | 1995 ] 51 MARCOS CABRAL: Loose Lips [ A1-track from “Trak Madnezz II” Clone Jack For Daze ‎C#JFD31 NL 12" | 2017 ] 52 STEVE POINDEXTER: Work That Motherfucker (mixed cutz) [ A1-track from “W.T.M.F.” Muzique Records ‎MR-001 US 12" | 1989 ] 53 JUSTIN BERKOVI: SCSI Dreams [ A2-track from “Rich Bitches & Superstuds #1” Predicaments PRED-005 UK Promo-12" | 1999 ] 54 JOEY BELTRAM: Energy Flash [ A-side from “Energy Flash” Transmat MS-16 US 12" | 1990 ] 55 EXETER [ARMIN LAMERS, NIKOLAI KAEßMANN, ROLAND CASPER]: Feel The Speed _ Mix 1 [ A-side from “F.T.S.” Spacemate Recordings ‎1202 GER Promo-12" | 1992 ] 56 CYBERSONIK [DANIEL BELL, JOHN ACQUAVIVA, R.H.M. from Windsor]: Backlash [ A-side from “Backlash” Plus 8 Records PLUS-8007 CAN Promo-12" | 1991 ] 57 LOCKERTMATIK [STEPHAN SCHINDLER]: 313-0351 [ B2-track from “Break The Chains” Shtum ‎shtum-013 GER Test-12" | 2017 ] 58 LIL'LOUIS [MARVIN LOUIS BURNS]: Jupiter [ B2-track from “French Kiss” Label Diamond Records LL-001 US 12" | 1989 ] 59 NUEL [MANUEL FOGLIATA]: No Wonder [ A2-track from “Replica” Kontra-Musik ‎KMWL-010 SWE WL-12" | 2017 ] 60 METRO SKIM: Awareness [ A1-track from “Identifying Possibilities” 6dimensions 126D-002 UK 12" | 2017 ] 61 INSYNC vs. MYSTERON [CHRIS HARTLEY, DAVID MANUEL, LLEE PURKIS]: Sandman [ B2-track from “Exit 9” Peacefrog Records ‎PF-033 UK Promo-12" | 1995 ] 62 DELANO SMITH feat. DIAMONDANCER [CAROLYN FERRARI]: A Message For The DJ _ Original Mix [ A1-track from “A Message For The DJ” Still Music STILLM-004 US 12" | 2005 ] 63 WAAJEED [ROBERT O'BRYANT]: Winston's Midnight Disco [ A1-track from “SHANGO EP” Dirt Tech Reck DTR-11 / Submerge US 12" | 2017 ] Recent SpyInTheHouse_radio / 674fm_podcast