PICKS: Finbar's Tasty Synth-Treats

Published on 2020-06-15 00:00:00 by Finbar Preston

Finbar is a beloved friend of the squad, who presents a monthly radio show on Music Box Radio called Codependent, has a one off show coming soon to Threads named Chronic Intrigue and works with homeless people for St Mungo’s charity. He steps up today with an flavourful, electronic sound-platter, the handful of his tracks available on Spotify are gathered here, but really you know youtube / bandcamp / discogs is your friend. Enjoy!Back when I first listened to this album when I was 19, I was mostly into rock and jazz. At that point, I viewed Electronic music as something that was good to dance to, but not as something to spend all my time listening to. The album, and this song in particular, really opened my eyes up to how expressive bleep music could be.There is something so cool about how futuristic jungle and electro were in the 90s, and to me this song typifies that. Originally released on the Likemind Label in 1995, Redcell were made up of Michael Golding and Steve Rutter, later B12. The re-release on Warp in 2018 came with a front cover that I feel perfectly encapsulates the soundscape of the song.The funkiness in this song speaks for itself, and I have always dreamed of hearing it played out. I must have spent an entire summer listening to this song on constant repeat.My girlfriend introduced me to this song during a crash course she decided to give me on IDM about 5 years ago. She gave me the proper lowdown on Aphex, Autechre, DMX, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert and Boards of Canada, who are responsible for this remix that blends funk and electronica better than most other songs I know. I found a promo vinyl pressing of this in Space Hall in Berlin last year, and have never been so sure that I had to buy a record.Another find in Berlin last year, this time in the discount bin of Bikini Waxx. A friend of mine recently sent me a youtube clip of the sample used for the vocals, which is from a 1955 film ’The Night of the Hunter’, about a guy explaining why he has love written on the knuckles of one hand, and hate written on the other.This is one of my favourite breaks tunes from 2019. It feels like the soundtrack to a movie where I’m rattling through space on a magic carpet made of corrugated iron.This was released at the end of last year on Vista Recordings Argentina, a really great label with only a few releases. I have only been able to find 2 songs by Mlee, and can’t seem to find much info on him online, but I’m really excited to hear a third.One of the best jungle tracks of all time, with drums that go in every direction and are never boring or predictable. The variation of breaks is something that got overlooked as jungle started to develop into dnb and the Amen became king, but also thankfully something that current dnb and jungle producers are starting to mix up a bit more.This album from Soichi Terada reminds me of playing video games as a kid, and it definitely isn’t a coincidence as he went on to work on video game soundtracks. One of the youtube comments on this album says it all: ‘Album came out in ’96 but Soichi Teradas living in 2032’.One of the most exciting jungle producers at the moment, dgoHn’s glitchy aesthetic creates in this song blends IDM and jungle perfectly.