The producer known as ACTRESS and his r&b concrète

Yeah, I love when he convincingly reminds you that you don't have to choose.

xp

in a year that was less stacked this would be my aoty easy. maybe it is

ok wow this is something else

Oh my actual goodness this is unreal

This is superb. It'll sound daft, but it's making me miss London so much - London at night, black streets in the rain, the blind foreheads of houses, the promise of solace behind every door.

I hesitate to invoke the B word but a lot of the stuff he's doing with claustral atmospheres and the slurring of voices is kinda Burial-adjacent.

I was just thinking that. Album feels like a cross between Drukqs and Burial. And it's fantastic.

this is great, much better than the last mixtape, it feels so singular and uncompromising

Actress is my favourite artist recording name ever, I think. I find it compellingly blank and suggestive at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovr3Zh28ZtQ

This is classic Actress but very much a headphones album (or at least a solitary/nighttime album), I made the mistake of putting it on during morning coffee time while my partner was around and it sounded really dumb in that context. :(

i listened to this over the weekend after first listens of a few other things and 1) i enjoyed it, 2) i was impressed by it, 3) i thought 'this is hipster music that will probably not go over great in a social context'

Haha.

'Gliding Squares' is the least Actress-y track on here but it's lovely.

mornings have been pretty grey here so this record's been suiting them perfectly

the short film works very well imo

though it's a hipster film that will probably not go over great in a social context

thanks for the tip y’all. fall has pushed into my part of the world and the drizzle started about halfway through this new album. perfect for this evening.

So this is simply magnificent. Eine kleine nachtmusik alright, dropping in and out of clubs at night-time but never getting to the dance floor because you're vaguely distressed, slightly melancholy. And you want to get down! Instead of dancing the euphoria mixed with said melancholy in your head. Superb use of volume differences, subtle shifts in tempo, from 4/4 to the loneliness of a Burial runner.

this is fantastic

lbi otm - except there's a lot of straight-up floor music here too that makes me miss dancing to hot/sexy/cool music so gd much

damn lbi nailed it

sorry you don't like me

I love the exchange between nakchivan and missingNO that kicks off this thread!

Incredible album, "Save" has been running through my head all day (or some meager echo of it, memory can't really capture it).

I've been asked to produce the new Lighthouse Family album.

— AZD (@ctress_a) October 8, 2021

The thing about Actress is that his music is always mixed almost entirely in mono.

I realise it's an aesthetic, but I find it really hard to listen to.

I find his music far more challenging than, say, Autechre

Was gonna say that I feel exactly the opposite. I haven’t listened to a lot of Autechre tho, and this thread made me realize I’m only familiar with about half of Actress’ work. I also appreciate the sort of aimless quality of some of his music, which some here seem to regard as a weakness of his style.

wow i got weird on this thread, sorry! i'm still not a huge actress fan but like small doses. generally still think there is more style than substance and i don't find it challenging at all really.

lol i was being unreasonably combative myself, i do like you map <3

hey, thanks brad! i like you too. :)

I love the exchange between nakchivan and missingNO that kicks off this thread!

― the article don, Saturday, 7 November 2020 17:33 (eleven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i didn't love it at all, it was needlessly hectoring on nakchivan's part (which was apparently their thing despite being a beloved poster so more fool me i guess) and caused several days of psychological torment (yeah, i'm a weak one fr). obv my opinion and the way in which i stated it was shit but idk it did feel a little unsafe there for a minute as a neurodiverse person who has faced a lifetime of bullying (yah i know you don't really gaf about us beyond boilerplate please don't kys platitudes lol but still seems relevant) ... anyway i wish i hadn't stumbled upon this thread in the archives and wish i had never ever posted on this website but what are you gonna do (mods, pls do me a favour and delete/ban my account, ty)

probably my favorite musician of the decade. thick smoke always hanging in the air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACxhOLmLyJI

Actress & Mount Kimbie - 'AZD SURF'

Not really into Mount Kimbie but this is very nice

probably my favorite musician of the decade

After working on my ballots for the 2010s poll I think I agree with you

I didn't totally get Karma & Desire at the time and felt like I was missing something after I read the posts here, but it finally clicked while I listened to it while falling asleep last night. I think now that it has its hooks in me it may eventually replace RIP as my favorite, but time will tell. What a strange and unfriendly record this is. Are the people who compared it to Drukqs just talking about all the piano stuff, or the odd, seemingly random approach to sequencing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4Miu5PuZg

Happy he's back. I like this track, though I remain convinced he'll never again reach the heights of R.I.P.

new album... incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crlGL-2hObw

hit that spdiff

This is great, listening to it constantly.

His set performing with Autechre in Sydney was a trip - began very disjointed and accumulated atmosphere and complexity, a lot like that track above. Dude was BUSY.

https://i.imgur.com/LQmxUqZ.jpg

yeah, excellent album. kinda glad it's not as emotionally intense as the last one.

he’s one of the best

the best. sounding great as always. can’t wait to give it a full listen.

Saw him back at the 2013 Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival at really sick venue that is no more. Was by far the best thing I saw there and was this incredible constantly evolving series of beats and atmosphere that had me thinking he was the closest I'd seen to an Autechre set by someone else.

Them playing together would be amazing! So sad I wasn't in Sydney in time for that show.

really makes the lo-fi/hi-fi distinction meaningless. neither annoyingly polished nor carelessly murky. also, unlike autechre, there's a distinct emotional core that unifies the music. it's also politicized without being didactic. what im saying is, it rocks

can't believe it's been almost 15 years since this thread was started. "r&b concrete" is still an alarmingly concise and accurate description.

How is it politicized?

probably my favorite musician of the decade. thick smoke always hanging in the air

― brimstead, Wednesday, 3 November 2021 17:30 (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

one of my faves of the century. new album roolz