Z.Z. Olive Tree
Where-bouts / Nektar

Ewan Jansen, Perth artist, producer and founder of Red Ember Records, presents his second offering to Butter Sessions following the 2017 EP Best Intentions. The colourful LP from Jansen, Island Diary, wraps up the end of the year at the label on a distinguished note -- courtesy of Jansen’s 20 years of experience in the Australian electronic landscape.Island Diary was recorded over the last 12 months as Jansen returned from a frantic European tour. He was granted a breather with the lockdown, which allowed Jansen the necessary time and space to properly produce his record. Using this period to create intuitively, Jansen refers to his time spent in lockdown as a “chance for discovery,” discernible throughout the record with his novel genre interpretations.The refined character of Island Diary is made clear with Jansen’s experiments in structure and tone, distancing his LP from the formulaic and conventional approach to classic house music.The LP’s opener Mussel Hustle is a nostalgic and shimmering composition with an infectious hook, evidence of Jansen’s versatility as a producer. Kooka utters fleeting minimal techno with vigorous drum programming and hardy synthwork. In contrast, Hot Rain hits like a cool change with its breezy and balmy melody. Proteus Vs Yoshimitsu channels YMO and other proto-electronic affiliates with futuristic sci-fi electro-pop. Jansen’s signature house sound reveals itself more so in the LPs finale Breadcrumbs, which carves out a joyful and yet refreshing passage of house music.Jansen refers to Island Diary as a “palette cleanser,” an apt sentiment. There’s something here for everyone. He has crafted a release to be taken in from start to finish, a treat for eager ears.

With Interludes After Midnight, Blockhead proudly presents his fifth LP. In the two years after the critically lauded The Music Scene, Blockhead, nee Tony Simon, has traveled the globe and emerged with another collection of eclectic songs that twist, turn, and grind their way into the listener’s psyche.While the title Interludes After Midnight, might recall a film from the likes of Truffaut or a sprawling masterpiece by Modigliani, the title comes to us from a decidedly less classical source – an after hours New York City public access show that ran throughout the 80’s and early 90’s. This was a time before cell phones, TiVo, and the Internet – a simpler time that has informed the sonic landscape of the album. This is not rehashing 20 years of popular hip-hop; this is Blockhead’s ultimate homage to the times and places that defined his upbringing.This is a pre-digital road map through the musical consciousness of Blockhead, a virtual tour of a decidedly non-virtual society – when the airwaves were for TV, phones were for making calls, and when newspapers were printed. Hence, Interludes After Midnight is populated with dusty samples of beeping synths, smooth horn samples blended seamlessly with funky percussion and a sound that will keep you listening – this is classic Blockhead.