Al ak - Falling Into Place

To me, al ak's compilation of tunes titled 'Falling Into Place' was what clearly exhibited a quantum leap in his songwriting abilities and his skill as a producer. This set of six tunes played out like the coming-of-age treatise of an erstwhile under-recognized talent who carves out a unique artistic identity for himself. While doing so, it gave listeners like me a chance to approach electronic music using a slightly different lens and appreciate its multitude of creative possibilities. Going over these tunes exposes you to a lovely mesh of sounds ranging from hints of Burial-esque 2-step and Nigel Godrich-infused IDM/electronica to ambient, glitch and deep house, all interspersed with tastefully chopped-up atmospheric vocal samples.

Al ak eventually went on to join the Karachi-based electronic music collective Forever South, and has been consistently producing tunes. His musical direction might have changed ever so slightly over the course of time, but his production quality and mastery increases exponentially. Whenever I listen to any one of his compositions, I feel that each note is meticulously placed at a specific place and serves a unique purpose in the grand scheme of things in al ak's deterministic musical universe. I'm reproducing the EP in its entirety here, for not doing so wouldn't do justice to it.

Chi.Boss - IslamabadVice

Here's something interesting. A roughly-hewn bassline. A kick-snare combo making a foundation for a basic beat. Hi-hat hits flirting and swirling against flanged electronic debris. An awkward clearing that gives way to sinister/sleazy keys. Escalation, escalation, whitenoise, whitenoise, a complementary synth-line. Slippery when it comes to immediate intuitive grasp, it took me a few listens to absorb it fully. The tune is aptly titled 'IslamabadVice', and is composed by 'Chi.Boss': yet another musician to join the roster of the collective known as 'Forever South'. (Yes, they do crop up like steroid-fed mushrooms). The last few siren-yielding minutes of the tune are constantly pulsating. The pixelated cover art featuring a fat-bellied chillar/thulla just makes things better.

Noah's Heark - 'First Flapping Wings'

Ziyad Habib manipulates sounds in a very subtle, fluid manner in this set titled 'First Flapping Wings'. It comprises of two tunes, and both seem to flow seamlessly in slightly different directions. 'Spider Eyes' is a sound-sampling bonanza, and toys around with an arpeggiated key melody. Background ambience plays a key role. 'First Flapping Wings' is what you might experience if you decide to take a bubble-bath on a lazy August afternoon while you listen to Eastern classical melodies and contemplate on the amount of foreign substance in your system. Reminiscent of Gold Panda and Flying Lotus, this is worth listening to.