Fcukers - Ö
Origin: NYC
#TastingNotes: fred again.., LCD Soundsystem, Everything But the Girl

The full length debut out this week on Ninja Tune from our indie sleaze heroes picks up where the Baggy$$ EP left off: reductive, addictive beats, meaningless lyrics built for texture and phonetics, and a lazy DIY punk aesthetic, and it's a banger from start to finish.

I was initially curious about what kind of influence acclaimed producer Kenny Beats might have and whether the don't-overthink-it magic would be preserved. It's clear he understood the assignment, though: while perhaps a bit more diverse in beat selection than the EP, with the occasional half-time breakdown or midtempo headbobber (see Shake It Up), Ö is still the high energy bullshit I expected. I Like it Like That, if you want to party come over to my house, L.U.C.K.Y., beatback: these are the hypnotic bass-heavy booty shakers I'm here for.

Lonely and Getaway feel like a bit of an evolution in their approach, and I wonder if it portents things to come: Shanny has an actual verse's worth of lyrics on Lonely, and the song structures have recognizable A and B sections. This is not clever songwriting, let's be clear. But it proves there could be more here than short shelf life club bangers. Getaway in particular kind of reminds me of 90s-era Lamb, with it's jungle-adjacent breaks and acoustic bass. It's the most accomplished track the duo has released to date, building layers of bleeps and bloops over a breakbeat groove that we have maybe heard a million times before, but there's a reason we still love it.

The brief 30min album closes with Feel the Real, a Stereo MCs throwback with strings, a bit of sitar, and synth whooses. It's groovy and chill and just kind of stops, like cutting the engine after arriving home from the show.

I dig this record. It gives the band more of a unique sonic identity while remaining firmly entrenched in their influences, and hints at possibilities to come. Put it on, turn it up, and if you own a couch push it out of the way.

https://fcukers.bandcamp.com/album/-

#NowPlaying

Happy Friday, Fediverse. the Fcukers album is out and it is stupid and stupid good. Expect a #TastingNotes in the near future but for now:

https://fcukers.bandcamp.com/album/-

Intelligentsia Ethiopia Bishan Fugu Natural

https://islandinthenet.com/intelligentsia-ethiopia-bishan-fugu-natural/

Select Highlights from the Wines of Portugal Tasting : Vinography

I must admit, I was nervous. It was the very first trade and media tasting opportunity since San Francisco emerged from the Orange Tier of COVID-19 status. But the organizers wer…
#wine #Portuguesewine #Arinto #Portugal #scores #tastingnotes #tradetasting #Wine #winecriticism #WinefromPortugal #WineofPortugal #WinesofPortugal
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2553020/select-highlights-from-the-wines-of-portugal-tasting-vinography/

Select Highlights from the Wines of Portugal Tasting : Vinography

I must admit, I was nervous. It was the very first trade and media tasting opportunity since San Francisco emerged from the Orange Tier of COVID-19 status.…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Portuguesewine #Arinto #Portugal #scores #tastingnotes #tradetasting #Wine #winecriticism #WinefromPortugal #WineofPortugal #WinesofPortugal
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2553020/select-highlights-from-the-wines-of-portugal-tasting-vinography/

Schioppettino di Prepotto 2021 – Vigna Petrussa. Prepotto come origine e ritorno: un vitigno che ha rischiato di sparire e che oggi mostra un’identità netta. Nel calice: pepe e mora, humus e una traccia balsamica; sorso ampio e profondo, ma soprattutto equilibrato. Una versione sorprendentemente “amichevole” dello #Schioppettino, senza perdere carattere.

https://www.enonauta.it/2026/02/18/schioppettino-di-prepotto-2021-vigna-petrussa/

#Prepotto #FriuliVeneziaGiulia #ColliOrientaliDelFriuli #VignaPetrussa #VitigniAutoctoni #WineTasting #TastingNotes

Ein fruchtig-schönes Bourbonfass mit klaren Aromen und leicht torfigen und kräuterartigen Komponenten, die dem jungen Ben Nevis schon eine gewisse Komplexität verleihen.

Review: https://notesofmalt.de/Highlands/Ben-Nevis/

#bennevis #whisky #review #tastingnotes #singlemalt

Fireground - Smile as One
Origin: Munich
#TastingNotes: St. Germain, Dimitri From Paris, the Orb

From Germany's Ilian Tape, which continues to be my favourite techno label, comes this short EP by Fireground, an artist I know nothing about except what's in this toot.

Whoever they are, they have delivered some serious tunes: Marea is a nu jazz bop. Harbor Walk fuses elements of deep house and layered tribaly drum tracks under a repeated two chord phrase that serves as a sort of bridge between Madea's groove and Gateway's full on epic trance. The title track goes in a more ambient direction, sort of like an up tempo U. F. Orb. It's exciting and attention-grabbing and makes for excellent headphone music.

I hate record labels that glom everything into a single bandcamp space instead of letting artists have their own, but I might have to make an exception here and dig through for more Fireground releases because if these four tracks are any indication, I may have found a new obsession.

https://iliantape.bandcamp.com/album/it072-smile-as-one

#NowPlaying #Techno

@WangleLine - Rabbit's Journey
Origin: Essen
#TastingNotes: Alex Mauer, Hans Zimmer, Venetian Snares

What a treat this album is! A glitch EDM concept record about a rabbit building a rocket ship, going to space and having adventures? Sign me up.

Wangeline is a gifted sound designer with a taste for weird chiptune-adjacent bleeps and blorps. On Rabbit's Journey, their maximalist chaotic aesthetic is on full display: more noises, more layers, more notes, more more.

But this isn't crazy for crazy's sake; the furious blasts of notes are balanced with a clever use of space and the whole album has a sophisticated compositional structure. It opens with Satellite, a slow building overture of overlapping arpeggiators and massive Hans Zimmer chords. It introduces the main motif, which will be returned to throughout and it's deliciously heroic: I can see our intrepid space bunny slow-motion walking to the rocket ship. The rocket blasts off on Journey to the Lunar Base, the third track, and there's no coming back. If you're a fan of glitchy brokebeat at 140bpm you'll be right at home.

What I really like about Wangeline, and what shines so brightly on this record, is their approach to melody and harmony. I have plenty of mad glitch electronica in my library, but so little of it trades in major keys or soaring, unapologetically heroic, uplifting top lines. Even Strange Relic, the only track here to hang out in a minor key and trade in some dissonance and dubsteppery harshness gives way to a major key resolution and victorious fanfare. It's the climax of the record before the gentle and wistful denouement of the final two tracks.

Rabbit's Journey is a fine, fine record and it'll be in my end of year list for sure.

https://wangleline.bandcamp.com/album/rabbits-journey