Good morning.

Today we're listening to Forest Swords, the electronic project from English producer Matthew Barnes. Barnes grew up in Liverpool and began to teach himself music software after being laid off from a graphic design job in 2008. His music combines dub rhythms with solmen, xx-like guitar loops and adventurously sourced samples. We’re listening to his albums in reverse chronological order. Compassion is sonically eclectic, and delivers a serious nonverbal message over head-nodding drums. Engravings, his debut LP, is darker and more raw. Dagger Paths EP, Barnes’ first release, consists of distorted inventions that put Forest Swords on the map.

Compassion by Forest Swords (50m, 🗣 occasional vocal samples) Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Google Play / Tidal

Engravings by Forest Swords (50m, 🗣 vocal lines that sound more like instruments) Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Google Play

Dagger Paths EP by Forest Swords (40m, 🗣 some vocal samples) Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Google Play / Tidal

Have a lovely friday and a great weekend.

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