Review: Jonti 'Sine & Moon'

JONTI
Sine & Moon
[Stones Throw]

Sine & Moon was first made available as a Stones Throw podcast when promoting new signing, South African-born, Australian-resident Jonti Danilewitz, and his debut album Twirligig. The response was so good that Jonti stretched it into a full-length album - with extras and new mixes - which he's now giving away for free. Which is definitely not a sign of the quality found within. While ostensibly a collection of unused tracks and remixes of early songs, Sine & Moon is a coherent and completely engaging album, which blends Madlib, Panda Bear, Stereolab and The Beach Boys into a South Pacific beat stew. Originally recorded on 4-track, the song structures are anything but lo-fi, with a subtlety of arrangement that hints at remarkable things to come. Fans of those musicians mentioned above - along with Savath + Savalas, Julien Dyne and The Avalanches - will find much to enjoy here. Experimental, yet entirely accessible. The kid's done good.

4 stars from 5

"When I think of how to write about Jonti's music, I don't feel like writing at all. I feel like drawing a picture, with watercolours and maybe crayon - colourful, abstract, youthfully curiuos and open to interpretation. Maybe then I'd staple, glue or nail some found objects to it, recontextualising their intended purpose into something strange and beautiful." Jeremy Sole (Radio Host, KCRW, L.A.)

Check out Jonti performing live in the Stones Throw warehouse here.
Download Sine & Moon for free here. Thanks Stones Throw!

Review: Bachelorette 'Bachelorette'

BACHELORETTE
Bachelorette
[Particle Tracks]

The Air sure is rarified up there where Bachelorette operates. The South Island NZ-raised, East Coast US-based artist also known as Annabel Alpers has delivered yet another slice of sophisticated space case pop with her third - and apparently final - album as Bachelorette. Cleverly self-titled (her debut is called The End Of Things), Alpers brings her delicate indie pop music back to earth without sacrificing the enticing weirdness which has made all of her work so enjoyable. While the songs are more subtle and less overtly electronic than on her last album My Electric Family, she continues the lusciously dense layering of her own voice; sometimes building to massed-choir crescendos, sometimes sounding like Bjork or a seriously stoned Enya, and other times hinting at Stereolab or Radiohead fronted by a breathy-sounding... well, Bachelorette. The vastly talented "ugly duckling" has delivered a gorgeous swansong with this refreshingly strange and highly engaging album.

4 stars from 5