EXPERIMENTAL PROG
Ambient, electronica and oddities through the monocle of Jo Kendall.
This month’s round-up begins in Poland with julek ploski and Give Up Channel (Mappa). The young DJ/composer is a big fan of concepts, having released records about homophobia in his native country (Homo Sapiens), and, in stark contrast, living next door to a vast supermarket (Tesco). Leaning into film soundtracks, Ploski’s latest steps back from the bombast of 2023’s asterisk-abundant Hotel***** for a moodier, twitchier disc based on “simmering hatred”. Fragments of trap beats, strings, harpsichord, MC chants and horror/game effects create an insomniac brew, with the purring piano and mournful sax of the suite Eco nomy [Movements V-VIII] a Henry Cow-like highlight.