ArchivalArchival

Christ, it is hot. I can’t remember a summer as ceaselessly and oppressively warm as this one. Well, not since I moved out of that bungalow on the planet Venus. I really don’t know what I was thinking of there. All the radiation from the sun meant that 3G reception was a bit patchy too. It was cheap, I suppose. Well, at least compared to the London property market; maybe if I’d been moving from Grimsby or somewhere it would have seemed a bit less affordable. At the moment I can barely be bothered to lift my fingers to the keys to tell you how good this new album by Ubeboet is. I can’t believe I actually want it to rain, a proper hard, sharp rain shower to cleave this solid wall of heat.

Ubeboet is the alter ego of the irregularly capitalised m.A.tolosa from Madrid, who also heads the Con-V imprint, which has released recordings by the likes of Francisco Lopez, Akira Rabelais and Asher. Archival shows Ubeboet to share some traits with these individuals, using field recordings and drones to build up minimalist yet intense and evocative sound worlds. Archival is highly suggestive of weather conditions in the main – hot ones, stiflingly humid, with heavy downpours. First side “Orange” is reminiscent of BJ Nilsen, its glowering tropical storms (distant thunder, encroaching squall, a tangible sense of menace) gathering and then slowly subsiding, leaving us to inspect the wreckage of damaged buildings, animals chirping in the pools of water that remain. After a stillness there is a sense of repair and recovery, of a new morning, and of the temperature steadily increasing once again. “Melm” is a shimmering heat haze of Popul Vuh vocal drone, rising and falling, with an intense religious invocation leaking out through the mist in the quieter moments, a synth-free Emeralds meeting the gothic horror stylings of Xela, perhaps. Tension rises with the temperature, so much so that the rainfall that opens “Northern Rain” is so welcome, you just want to stand outside in it and let it be absorbed into your skin, singing a song to the heavens.

Archival is available on LP from Moving Furniture. Limited to 200 copies. Move fast, if you can. *sits down, fans self*

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