Best of Year 2019
Finally located the repress of Anadol’s seemingly out-of-nowhere insta-classic and one of the albums of the year, originally released as a cassette on Kinship in 2018 and then as a sold out-on-release vinyl pressing in May this year. Haunted Euro cafe hypnotic synth odysseys that have got us charmed like the snakes we are. Initially of mysterious origin (mainly cos how does something this singular and brilliant appear out of the ether?), Anadol is actually the work of Turkish artist Gozen Atila, who describes her interest in sound as the ‘darkness of serious music’. Aside from sounding heart-stoppingly cool, it’s a fitting description of music that has a NWW List feel, being so odd-shaped and out-of-sync with most other things. Though synth-orientated, it keeps almost jazz time and is possessed of a trad folk like knack for melody. It's a remarkable work and I'm clutching at straws for a comparison, but it sort of stands as the extroverted twin sister of the recent Karl Lindh reissue on Low Company. Distinctly European (Atila is, of course, Berlin-based),sophisticated but playful, this is bold and enticing electronic music that mostly stands on its own. Not heard that much exactly like this. More new avenues to explore!
