Cloud Sounds #15: with Fat White Family, Tuff Love, Baths and more

On this week's Cloud Sounds, a weekly playlist of new music curated by The Skinny, we feature a couple of Scotland's top up-and-coming indie bands, with tracks from Lost Map's latest signings Tuff Love, and Dundonian kings of suave post-hardcore, Fat Goth. We've got ramshackle indie from Fat White Family; a blistering 3-minute slice of new wave from Sugar and Hüsker Dü founder Bob Mould; moody atmospherics from Hiss Tracts, the new project from David Bryant of Godspeed You! Black Emperor; and some punishing soundscape action from Ben Frost.

On the electronic side of things, there's the stunning new single from Anticon songbird Baths; low-slung broken beat from Jacques Greene; Hieropglyphic Being remixing krautrock pioneer Roedelius; Baths' labelmate Alias showcasing a tougher, colder electronic direction; and a haunting new track from Nottingham's Lone. In addition, we have a new track from experimental songsmith Gazelle Twin; avant garde electronica from To Rococo Rot; and one of the final tracks from Chicago footwork pioneer DJ Rashad, who sadly passed away last week.

We kick off with Fat White Family, playing a live version of their shambolic anthem Bomb Disneyland. The band, who were one of many to publicly celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher last year, did so with a hedonistic shindig at their favourite Brixton watering hole. More recently, the band's Lias Saoudi hit out at Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, following Turner's self-aggrandising speech at the NME Awards. They're no strangers to controversy... as for the title? We recommend you don't follow their instructions. Maybe bomb Disneyland Paris instead (for one thing, the flights will be cheaper).

Next up, the shimmering guitars and undeniably infectious melodies of Glasgow three-piece Tuff Love. Their Junk EP is out on 5 May via Lost Map. The label's head honcho Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail, sent us a very sweet hand-written letter along with the new EP, describing the band as "two girls and a guy who make the most fuzzed-up, blissed-out, heart-wrenchingly beautiful grunge-pop dream-core music." He really means it too, despite admitting: "I just made up dream-core, I've no idea what that is... but look, I really like this band... I'M OBSESSED." The band launch Junk at Glasgow's The Old Hairdressers on 2 May.

Almost the perfect follow-up to Tuff Love's heartfelt tip of the hat to grunge, the next track is the latest track from Bob Mould's Beauty & Ruin. If anyone knows about fuzzed-up, beautiful grunge-pop, it's Bob - and I Don't Know Any More is a perfectly-formed three minute blast of melody and riffage. Similarly short, sweet and excellent to pogo about your living room to is the latest track from Fat Goth's superb One Hundred Percent Suave, which drops on 12 May, with artwork exclusively created for them by David Yow of The Jesus Lizard. Belter!

At this point, we wander into weirder territory with a new track from seminal Berlin experimental electronic trio To Rococo Rot. On the go since the mid-90s and now signed to City Slang, they deliver an urgent, melancholy track with a guest appearance by experimental music veteran Arto Lindsay. The band's new album, instruments, is out on 21 July. Then it's the return of post-dubstep innovator Martyn, who describes himself on Soundcoud as "a triangle player gone rogue." That's a little self-effacing; the man deserves recgnition as one of UK bass music's most forward-thinking producers, as he proves on the Four Tet-assisted Glassbeadgames, taken from forthcoming album The Air Between Words, out 16 June via Ninja Tune, preceded by the Forgiveness EP, out 2 June.

They don't come much more avant garde than Brighton's Gazelle Twin, whose new track Anti Body explores similar territory to EMA's recent album The Future's Void, using techno, processed vocals and claustrophobic synth pad hits to create a fascinating fusion of woman and machine; utterly futuristic and original. Her new album Unflesh is out later this year. After that, Nottingham's Matt Cutler, aka Lone, previews another track from his forthcoming LP Reality Testing, dropping 16 June via R&S. With gorgeous, pitched down piano house chords and a shuffling, syncopated beat, it promises fireworks on the full-length.

One of this week's standout tracks comes from LA-based producer and songwriter Baths, aka Will Wiesenfeld. The first new material to come from him since 2013's stunning Obsidian album, Ocean Death was part of his live set when he toured Europe last year, twinning his layered falsetto vocals with progressive, lush beats and synths. It now becomes the title track for his new EP, dropping 6 May on Anticon. His label-mate Alias, one of the Anticon roster's original players, showcases a cut next from his new album Black Prism, which sees the producer taking on the Native Instruments' Maschine Studio, and coming back with an album of hard-edged, haunting electronic beats. His Black Prism is out now.

We're back in soundscape territory next, with a track from Australia-born, Reykjavik-based Ben Frost. He offers up the imposing, brightly-hued drone and percussion of Nolan, taken from his forthcoming album A U R O R A, out 26 May on Mute. Legendary German experimental musician Roedelius, co-founder of krautrock groups Cluster and Harmonia, gets the remix treatment from Chicago's Hieroglyphic Being next – he brings out the complex rhythmic textures of the track, taken from the Roedelius Remixes EP, out 2 June via All Saints.

Jacques Greene delivers an uplifting, textured track of broken beat next, taken from his EP Phantom Vibrate, released last month. A distantly-heard sample of a choir reverberates in the background as pitch-bent synths and polyrhthmic drums do a shuffling 2-step – it's a summery palette cleanser before the darkness of Hiss Tracts, up next, aka David Bryant of Godspeed, and Kevin Doria, also a member of Growing and Total Life. Drawing heavily on found sounds, processed noise and the subtle architecture of abstract soundscapes, the duo are set to release their debut album Shortwave Nights on 22 May. 

Finally, we come to one of the final tracks to be released by Chicago juke and footwork pioneer DJ Rashad. His passing last week, at the age of 35, was a great tragedy – his Teklife collective, which also features footwork luminaries Spinn, Taso and others, were just starting to gain some international recognition in the last year or so, following Hyperdub's release of his album Double Cup, and a string of high-profile releases on smaller labels, and remixes for the likes of 7 Days of Funk. His talent was just beginning to get the attention it deserved, making his passing even more tragic. We On 1, taken from an EP recently released by Southern Belle, showcases his unique style, with chopped samples, high-tempo drums and thundering bass hits.

Speaking to The Quietus, Hyperdub boss Kode9 offered his thoughts on Rashad's life and work, saying: "I was honoured to release music from Rashad on Hyperdub. I've only known him for around three years, but he had become a good friend and one of my biggest musical influences. He was one of the funniest, most positive people I've ever met and a true innovator. Everyone at the label is devastated by his passing and wish to send our sincere condolences to all his friends and family in Chicago, the Teklife crew and anyone anywhere who was graced by his presence and uplifted by his music. I'll never forget singing a duet with him in a karaoke bar in Tokyo." 

That's it for this week... Hear the whole playlist below, and follow The Skinny on SoundCloud to keep up to date with our favourites.