Kieron aka Charity Queen has been missing from radio – and our general radar (with the exception of the occasional 3rd party ‘Hello’ delivered via Paul) – for the last six years. In fact, I daresay Charity Queen presents A Chronology of Electroacoustic and Electronic Music was one of the last recordings he threw up before the self-imposed hibernation.
It’s also one of my favourite recordings we ever had the pleasure of hosting on Awkward Movements Sessions. Complete with an essay like track listing it’s a brilliant primer for anyone beginning too dig in to the then more obscure moments of electronic music, which you can check out here: https://awkmo.co/awkward-movements-sessions-38-charity/
And while we wait and hope that a sequel will appear one day, for the time being I’m very much satisfied with Charity Queen returning to our ears in aid of the Dead Albatross Music Prize 2017. With The Basics LP on Type nominated for the award there was only too good a reason for him to dig back through Anthoney J Hart’s catalogue of music, both as Basic Rhythm and under his (now retired) Imaginary Forces alias.
90 minute mix of the man’s music below to tune in to. And welcome back Kieron, we’ve missed you.
As Basic Rhythm, Anthoney J Hart deploys a simple sound palette of raw drum machines and clipped vox, brought to life through fiercely complex yet functional programming. The result is a sound that does the absolute minimum required to cut through the dancefloor with laser precision and efficiency. It’s a skeletal take on club music that digests the meat of pirate radio and spits out the bones, fresh and clean.
While the Imaginary Forces material is no longer under development, it provides a fascinating snapshot of Anthoney’s journey toward the Basic Rhythm sound. While Imaginary Forces accentuated rhythms with noise, Basic Rhythm accentuates them with silence: stripping all superfluous detail and leaving the scaffolding on display. Just the basics.