After a short lull, Forest Swords, one of the most respected British producers of the new generation, is returning to the forefront of contemporary electronic music with a new album. The eagerly awaited Compassion was released via the legendary Ninja Tune Records on May 5, with the producer continuing to explore the mid-points between ecstasy and melancholy, the old and the new, the digital and the acoustic, fearlessly delving deep into the mysterious territories of ambient music, ancient folk and techno-dub. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in his live performances, which Slovenia will be able to experience for the first time. New Slovenian dub project Darla Smoking will visit Šiška for the first time as well, combining the percussion skills of Jaka Berger with the inquisitive sampling of Nac.
Matthew Barnes aka Forest Swords won over international audiences with his debut full-length Engravings, which climbed high on numerous best-of-2013 lists. At the time, Pitchfork proclaimed the release “Best New Music”, while Stereogum wrote that Barnes’ boundless cross between emotive post-dubstep and ominous drone “transforms everything happening around you into an epic saga of struggle”. The precisely crafted, at moments almost meditative sonic constructs, echoing the wilderness and tribal rituals and sailing across dub expanses, anchored the Briton firmly alongside contemporaries such as James Blake, Mount Kimbie, Bon Iver, Burial and Four Tet.
Despite the success, four years passed before the elegant single ‘The Highest Flood’ announced Forest Sword’s highly anticipated new album. Compassion was released on May 5 and represents the musician’s response to the uncertainty of today’s aggressive world. In exploring everyday interactions in the digital age, Forest Swords utilises buzzing digital textures and clattering beats, distorted jazz sax and energetic orchestral arrangements, while opening up more space for wordless vocals or, in his own words, “flexible future languages”. With his techno-dub surveying of the mid-points between ecstasy and melancholy, Forest Swords blurs the lines between the old and the new, the digital and the acoustic. In October, Šiška is in for yet another evening electronic treat.
Warming us up, fresh Slovenian duo Darla Smoking, composed of one of the most acclaimed Slovenian percussionists Jaka Berger – Brgs (Borghesia, Ludovik Material, The B. Bees, …) and electronic producer Nac, will take us on a journey across exotic dub soundscapes with contemporary undertones. Combining live drum rhythm and electronic samples, the pair sits at the crossroads of modernity and tradition, having hit a respectable number of stages in the region with its 2017 debut album Big Bug already, including the famed Serbian EXIT Festival.
Organisation: Kino Šiška.
