FBi Monthly Mixtape #006

May 31st 2022

Temperatures are falling around the city, but things are only getting hotter in our studios. FBi Radio specialist presenters bring the fire every day of the week – spinning tracks from all the musical fringes they’re plugged into. You can warm up and plug in too! These are the songs some of out hosts brought to their shows in May.

Hannah Galvin, host of Solstice

Barney McAll ft. Garyy Bartz – Precious Energy – Homage to Leon Thomas and Pharaoh Sanders ft. Julien Wilson and Rita Satch

Personifying banquets of glimmering sounds, Barney McAll reflects on his sacred memories of connecting with the deep blue, where visual resonance has unlocked profound sentimental value; churned and contorted into the album we now know as Precious Energy. As if rejuvenating each and every vertebrae of joy that survives within our human, we realise the exact importance of the language that marries the title to composition; lyrically carried as a motif throughout the entirety of the record. An explorative journey whilst dedicating odes to legends and flooding the party with a mass of contributing artist friends, we comfortably co-exist in this special embrace that holds us so warmly.

Matthew Halsall ‘Canopy & Stars’ (Live at Hallé St. Peter’s)

Throwing the door open to the wild, just as you allow the meditative freeing of spirit to liberate heart and mind, Matthew Halsall’s immersive Salute To The Sun EP encourages the practice of moment to self. Having recorded the initial 7-track with a brand new lineup in 2020, the ill we’ve come to know sweep the world won the fight against the group’s wish to perform such reflections to an audience; so instead reshuffled the sequencing of the EP in a streamed showing from the stage of Manchester’s Hallé St. Peter’s.

Radically drawn to natural phenomenon, whilst insatiably expressing his connection through composition, the result of this live centrepiece breathes a light dappled by the twinkly sway of tree shadow and earthly delight. Raw and sublime, just like the non-judgement of nature unscathed, Halsall’s ‘Canopy & Stars’ was the perfect selection to Solstice’s Midnight Meditation segment.

Krishtie Mofazzal, cohost of Deep Web

Klahrk & Kavari – Wax 

When it comes to new and innovative hybridised forms of electronic music that’s hard to categorise into genre, look no further than Czech label Genot Centre. Their latest release comes from friends Klahrk and Kavari, who were online friends for quite some time before they met in person, and who are both unique artists with singular production styles in their own right. Together over 5 years, the two worked on tracks that are fragmented digital manipulations skittering with chopped up break beats and bright, bursting synths. Their collaborative album Wax is a showcase of the producers’ talents in sharp and highly detailed sound design, and glass-shattering yet club-ready experimental electronica.

salllvage – Las Aves Del Parque 

Beloved Eora/Sydney producer, DJ and dancer Rowan Savage aka Salllvage released his EP Deep Gecko Energy on Female Wizard’s Naarm/Melbourne label Powertrip. Savage is known for their involvement in the ballroom scene with Kiki House of Midnight, and their releases under the alias Guy Ruin, as well as their immaculately selected DJ sets and chopped and screwed edits of First Nations artists. On ‘Deep Gecko Energy’ Queer Indigeneity meets Blak futurism through the lens of bass-y textured club compositions. Salllvage also masterfully infuses field recordings taken on his Country, Kombumerri Country (located in Southeast so-called Queensland), resulting in abstract yet hard-hitting experimental club music.

Lee Tran Lam, host of Local Fidelity

Younger Than Me – Hiding

Remember the charming indie-pop of Sydney/Eora songwriter Emma Davis? (See exhibit A, ‘So It Is’ from her 2018 album Demons, if you need a refresher – I still have good memories of her recreating it live on Local Fidelity after the record came out.) She’s recently enlisted her friend Annie McKinnon for a new project: a band called Younger Than Me. Their first single is called Hiding, but it definitely deserves spotlight and attention. It’s got the sweet, layered indie magic of Emma’s solo music and the warmth and spark of its beats and melodies create this cosy, joyous feeling, like re-discovering your favourite cardigan on a cold day. I suspect fans of Feist, Sylvan Esso and Hatchie might enjoy this, too, and will look forward to the two other singles they’re dropping in 2022.

Minhy – Entangled
Minhy (pronounced Mini) is the musical persona of Minh Huynh, whose family arrived in Melbourne/Naarm as Vietnamese refugees. She’s worked as an industrial designer in the car industry (the Ford Falcon is listed on her CV, too, as is the Ferox Azaris, which the Prince of Monaco helped launch) and she’s won awards in Munich, LA and New York for directing her Dead of the Night video clip. Her latest single, Entangled, is a lush, introspective R&B number that gets you in a hold, as the title suggests, and you can hear how Alicia Keys and Kllo have had an enduring effect on her music. If you like this, you should also check out the slinkyIconic by her friend Meadowhip – Minh designed the cover art for the Wollongong artist’s track.

Contributor

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