New - Dave McDonnell's 5th World - Mammals - LP

Dave McDonnell’s 5th World album Mammals is a robust and groovy dialogue between the digital and the organic. Working with Chicago drummer Quinlan Kirchner (Wild Belle) McDonnell lays down driving, multi layered sequencer patterns and ambient textures, created with a text-based music coding software called RTcmix.

Over these backing tracks Kirchner drums: sometimes repetitive and krautrock, then polyrhythmic and afro-beat inspired, and again with moments of full-on kinetic rock abandon. Once these excursions were edited into song structures, the resulting pieces were finished off with haunting vocal harmonies from Emma-Louise Yohanan (Icy Demons) and bass work from Derek Almstead (Of Montreal).

McDonnell adds his own vocals, along with low, monk like, contra-alto clarinet drones and pulses, heavily processed saxophone and ripping analogue synth leads. The result is a music that owes as much stylistically to the work of electronic pioneer Jon Hassell as it does to Aphex Twin and Holly Herndon.