What was the last gig you went to? For me it was Caroline Polachek at London’s Heaven. It was here CP performed not just her debut solo album, Pang, but a very special cover of one of her favourite songs in collaboration with musical brother Danny L. Harle. The song in question? One of the highlights of the year 2000 — “Breathless” by Irish sibling band The Corrs. Naturally, it was a beautiful rendition, pared right back and blessed with synths, a spiralling “Go on” breakdown and one of Caroline’s signature gasps. Good news: she’s only recorded and released it as a much-appreciated holiday gift and this week’s playlist opener.
Also out now is “Garden of E10” (get it?), the mesmerising new single from London producer and DJ LCY. I’ve listened to it five times now and I’m fairly certain her warped incantation has changed something within my very core. Hey, is anyone familiar with Irish rapper Denise Chaila? No? Listen to her impressive new single “Anseo” featuring Jafaris, you won’t regret it. How about AYA GLOOMY? This week the creepy-cute new Tokyo artist released the dark “Micro Creature” and with it, a cinematic roadtrip to the Japanese countryside that comes with unsettling undertones.
Oh and before I forget, Arca just released a 100-track remix album for Kick i track, “Riquiqui”. Bit excessive, you might think, but there’s more to it than that. “Did you know that up until now I had never allowed anyone to remix an Arca song?” she shared on her IG. “There existed 0 official remixes to an Arca track until today – ‘Riquiqui’ has gotten 100 remixes by an intelligent sentience.” Yep, an AI created and trained by Bronze — with whom Arca collaborated on a musical being called Echo for a 2019 MoMA project — has independently reworked the track into 100 individual versions.
You’ll find 1/100 of those in i-D’s BEST NEW MUSIC playlist alongside new stuff from thomTide (a promising new artist giving off big The Weeknd vibes), Louis Dunford (who laments his experiences on ketamine), Oklou’s remix of Dua Lipa’s “Fever”, Ivorian Doll’s serious “Clout” and a new EP from Yung Baby Tate. All that and more below.