Barrio Sur – बड़ा शोक (heart break) (Self-released)
बड़ा शोक (heart break) lives in a cushioned stratosphere of ethereality, with sonic roots deeply grounded in a reshaped vision of past musical eras. Softly strummed timbres of rhythm and blues, drums and bass cohere into a listening experience that’s fractured at a glance, but strangely gratifying in its challenging construction. Its skeleton is digitized in nature, with a surging glow of lo-fi warbles and abstract rushes of distortion and tape fuzz. Sounds are displaced in a manner that feels both intentional and accidental; the warm quality that exudes is impeccable. There isn’t a note on this record that sounds well-arranged, but the results cohere remarkably. बड़ा शोक (heart break) marries source material in beautiful fashion, but plays out against a lingering, ever-present layer of noise. There’s time for all these moving pieces to connect, but they rarely do; folding in-and-out of frame from future-sounds into the sounds of yesteryear.
Trial Track: “redemption (7inch)”
Rating: 8.4
