Jakuzi - Toz

Toz is the new single from Istanbul-based dark-wave synth band Jakuzi, ahead of the release of their album Hata Payı on April 5th.

Don't adjust your speakers - the lyrics are in Turkish - but that doesn't stop vocalist Kutay Soyocak from conveying the deep emotion of the track in tones not dissimilar to those of Nick Cave or Future Islands' Sam Herring.

It's no less dark in English - 'Toz' translates as 'Dust' and the lyrics throughout have themes of death and loss that contrast with the fast-paced yet gothic backing track.

Combine all of the elements and it's an intriguing listen, although you'll need to brush up on your Turkish if you want to sing along.

Jakuzi's vocalist, Kutay Soyocak, says singing in his native tongue is important to allow him to express himself - although it limits the opportunities for the band's music, as it's much less likely to appear on English-speaking playlists and the genre 'Turkish DIY dream pop dark wave' is a little niche.


For Soyocak his homeland is more than just the language in which he sings, it is also the inspiration for the dark themes his lyrics touch upon.

"I think my melancholy comes partly from where I live. This can be seen in the lyrics. I sometimes feel dark, lost and lonely as everyone. Here, the economy and politics make me feel hopeless sometimes.

The future seems blurry but we try to keep our hopes high and continuing what we do. The audience is getting bigger every day and they support us and it is just pure love in our gigs."

Toz is the last single from Jakuzi before their album is released on April 5th. 'Hata Payı' translates as 'tolerance' but a more literal translation is 'part of the mistake'. It spans themes of acceptance of other races and sexualities, along with acceptance of yourself and of your own demons.

Preorder Hata Payı on Bandcamp.
Click here for links to other physical/digital platforms.

Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia

Mort Garson's Mother Earth's Plantasia is one of those quirks of history resurrected by the internet - and we're glad it has been rediscovered by a new generation.

Plantasia was originally conceived as an album of music for house plants to listen to (yup) and was given away for free to shoppers when they bought pot plants and other foliage friends from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

Now more than 40 years on from its original 1976 release, Plantasia is being officially reissued for the first time in its history, and that means we can all enjoy Garson's plant-potty compositions on the iconic Moog synthesiser.

In all seriousness, it's a delightful and soothing retro listen that's already available digitally, with a physical release due to follow on June 21st 2019 that we suspect is likely to become a collector's item within a matter of a few years.

Garson's daughter, Day Darmet, says: "My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time. He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then."

So why now? Interestingly enough, it's thanks to the discography database and marketplace Discogs, whose community have expressed growing interest in Mother Earth's Plantasia over the years.

Due to this exceptionally high demand, Discogs and Sacred Bones Records have opted for a formal reissue of the album, making it available both for digital download and in the upcoming physical print run to fill the gap in record collections around the world.

Sacred Bones have made the album available to listen on YouTube, along with all the usual streaming sites, so just hit play above to give it a listen and drift off back to the 1970s.

Digital download and physical preorders are available via Bandcamp.

And album art T-shirts and tote bags can be ordered direct from Sacred Bones!

Jackie Mendoza - Seahorse

Seahorse is the lead single from Jackie Mendoza's upcoming EP LuvHz (pronounced 'Love Hurts', y'see...) and much like the heatwave that's hit the UK in late February, it feels as though summer has come early in 2019.

Drifting vocals and underwater audio FX combine to create a soundscape that's more of a seascape, and perfectly in line with the subject matter of the song. Think Morcheeba in the 'Big Calm' era and you're halfway there.


The politics of Seahorse are firmly 2019 though - inspired by the way the creature shares parental responsibility between the genders, with male seahorses carrying the fertilised eggs while the female is in charge of finding food and shelter.

If that sounds a bit heavy for your morning commute or drive to the beach, don't worry, Seahorse is hugely listenable without thinking too much about the message it's making.

"The song's instrumentation mirrors the sense of being underwater; I imagined myself swimming between colourful coral reefs and seagrass. The sonic textures and theme behind this song are echoed throughout the EP."

- Jackie Mendoza

Listen on headphones to get the full chills-on-your-neck effect of the little cricks and chirrups of bubbling water overlaid throughout the track and reflected in the video by the floating geometric shapes that drift across the frame. Sublime.

About Jackie Mendoza

Jackie Mendoza was born in Chula Vista, California, and combines the cultural influences of her hometown with those of her motherland, Tijuana in Mexico. The result is oceanic, eccentric and rooted in Latin beats. Her tracks include ukulele, experimental electronics, and lyrics in both English and Spanish. The six-track LuvHz is due out on April 26th 2019.