- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The title track’s warm digital electronics are structured in acontradictory way—rich and eventful but minimal—which gives thetrack a unique spacey sound without making it over complicated anddully abstract. Without filling songs to the brim with clicks,ticks and emissions, Cathode knows when to take the time to explore thebigger melodic themes and counter melodies. A briskly comfortable beataccented with intermittent percussive clangs underlines a memorablespooky and sad mainsynth line while Caroline Thorp’s breathyand brief vocal only takes second fiddle. Rounding things off is adecidedly wonky andlive electric guitar counter melody which lifts the song into a minutefinalebefore fading back into the main theme.
I wish the second track “Economic Growth”lasted twice as long as it does. Just as the song’s swirl ofsound takes hold,it's all over, dropping me off way too soon and demanding furtherplays. It’s definitely to the song’scredit that it doesn’t even feel like four minutes has passed. Startingof with a simple pulsing wave it grows subtly, step by bleep, evolvinginto asimplistic but lush electronic melody remeniscent of theWeatherall-helmed period of One Dove. The track comes to an end softlyafter aperiod of busy building and overlapping tones which never threaten toswallow the core of the song in the ensuing chaos.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
It's hardly a surprise considering Planet Mu's shocking unwillingness toaltogether abandon stagnant styles, this album of material from 1999through 2005 utilizes unimaginative sputtering rhythms and contrastingpastoral melodies. Haven't we heard this ironic musical conflict enoughover the last decade? Can we finally lay to rest the pairing ofabstract DSP fuckery and geektastic dreamscapes that peaked years ago?Apparently not, according to John Wilson aka Frog Procket, who willfully retreads theworn paths already wandered by legions of unwanted clones of the actualpioneers.
His formulaic sound is often bland and occasionallyunbearable, such as on "Vaedre" where irritant beats increasingly clashwith soft strings until the former drowns out the latter beforeliterally grinding to an all-too-expected halt. Similarly, "Carac Cyls"reminds of the frustrating disappointment that was labelmate VenetianSnares' Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding. This is not to saythat the album is completely unlistenable, as the hour-long debutcontains intermittently pleasant moments throughout its duration,particularly with the use of mandolin on such tracks as "Follow ErolRaet" and "Plinty."
While it amazes me that a market for this type ofmusic still exists enough to justify the release of a full lengthalbum, Gonglot will probably appease those who haven't completely tired of its aural cliches like I have.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
FilFla is the one-man project of Tokyo-based musician Keiichi Sugimoto (who also records as Fourcolor.) His latest effort, Frame, occasionally combines the microtonal melodies and whipping, looping guitar plucks with punchy programmed beats that help these otherwise amorphous compositions grow into something more defined and structured. His ability to take sparks of imagination and clips of sound and twirls of synth and noise and pull them together into songs is what gives Frame an edge over so many like-minded records that I’ve heard recently.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Important Records
Like Giffoni’s No Fun festivals Maya Miller provides the artwork hereand the imagery catches the feel of the album’s shifting fluidstructure as these dripping biological virus-born wasting germs seem tohave been caught mid morph, between birth and messy evolution tofluidic crawling abortions.
While many artists specializing in noise, distortion, cutups andimprovisational chaos will delight in the murk of distant analoguefeedback Giffoni relies on purely digital sounds and the crystal clearviolence of the music is initially more than a little startling.The introductory title track bursts forth as a mash of screeching hornsand mutilated arcade games and most of the music here is born of anintensely in your face digital trash aesthetic. His hard drive is achopping board where the soundtrack of electronic mutilation isexpertly carved into four minute pieces of melted compositionalmadness/beauty.
Surface appreciation doesn’t work with Giffoni’s work (as background noise its chaotic harsh speaker abuse) but up closethere are intricacies and moments of subatomic protein restructuring.Debris like “Trode Events” becomes a concerto for loose wires, bleepsand screeches as it barely manages to stay upright and the laser battleof “Expectations” becomes a warm digital bubblebath. The album’struest and most obvious spark of magic lies in the simpler closingstrains of “Departure Time” and its buzzing railway announcement tones.These stabs of tightly bunched notes phase up against one another andfrom this clash a new bell-like soft melody is born of the harshinteraction of these sounds. Then it all ends unpredictably with asplurge of noise like a puff of magician’s smoke.
This is proof, if needed,that Giffoni needs to spend a bit less of his time collaborating and abit more time at his PC desk.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Tract Records
Lead singer Marc Manning’s plaintive whine, which bares more than apassing resemblance to Dean Wareham, hovers over a bed of softly playeddrums and warm guitar tones. On Ghosts are Knocking on Walls, it isn’tthat Everything is Fine make some sort of tragic misstep, it’s thatthey make hardly any steps at all. In playing it safe, the band reduceswhat could have been an above average effort into something, well,average. Opener “1000 Seconds” seems to mine every slowcore trick inthe book from its distant guitar to Manning’s emotional vocals.Lyrically, themes of rain-drenched leaves, late night drives, and othermetaphors for emotional distance seem to run rampant. This isn’t to sayit’s all bad. The acoustic ballad “Long Night” is pretty and austere,successfully fusing Manning’s world weary lyricism to an affectingsong. I’ll even admit that on tracks like the overly long “Today is theDay” the band makes the song work by virtue of its floor tom shuffleand trebly guitar stabs.
While these are definite bright spots, toooften this album seems to be short changing the potential of Everythingis Fine. Sure, they can do a pretty convincing Galaxie 500, butis that all?
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
It would be a crime to overlook the Aphex Twin influence on Knight’swork on Everyone is Beautiful... and as the record gets going it honestlysounds like outtakes from Selected Ambient Works Volume 1for a while. While a lot of people apethe Aphex sound, most try for the sputtering drill n bass of later eramaterial, choosing to skim past the subtle earlier sound. Of courseKnight has his own agenda and his own sound in the record somewhere, itjusttakes a few tracks for the album to actually get there. Once it does,Knight’skeen sense of space takes over and while his melodies tinker aroundwithoutjumping out of the speakers: they are balanced nicely with manipulatedsamplesand a laid-back rhythm section.
For an album released in 2005, Everyone isBeautiful to Someone works with an almost alarming lack of computertrickery and DSP wank-off. It’s actually nice to hear a record in this stylethat isn’t obviously a collection of virtual experiments for the sake of makingthings sound “fucked up.” Knight knows how far to push the envelope of sounddesign without letting the sounds take interest away from the compositions.This is, after all, an emotional journey of sorts and it works by building upand breaking down in predictable ways.
Sometimes the most affecting music isthat which plays strictly by the time-honored rules—they don’t get to berules otherwise—and this record is a lot like that. It’s not an album thatwill set new standards or light up the faces of those looking for a quickbreakcore fix of the late-breaking, just-released-in-beta-yesterday plug-ins,but it’s a nice way to see the softer side of a talented composer whose work isjust starting to speak for itself.
All of my early to mid 1990’s ambient technofeels dated now because I’ve heard those albums dozens if not hundreds oftimes. Stephen James Knight has the antidote to that situation—a record thatsounds like it could have been produced in 1994, but that is absolutely asenjoyable today as it would have been then. As the record closes up with somefrenetically programmed breaks, it leads into a pair of bonus Edgey tracks thatchange everything up and remind me who’s behind the whole thing in the firstplace.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Rebis
Having made hours of eclectically styled recordings in the wake ofBush’s second election win Chris Miller and Jeremy Bushnell havewhittled this outpouring down into this six-track audio essay. Subtlydocumenting their discontent on “Suggestion for a New National Anthem,”they manage to sum up the huge international sigh / ‘how the fuck’ thathappened the morning after. Beginning with a single drone that couldwell be born of the first note of “The Star Spangled Banner” rippedfrom its moorings leads into a sombre piece which speaks volumes aboutsomething lost. The Eno-esque melody of three notes begins to wear awayslowly under the static of some messed up Basinski loops wearing outthe song’s already defeated vibe into an ending of frayed nerves.
The range of music that Number None touch upon here is a lesson tothe majority of the burgeoning noise drone pack and almost as inspiringas the quality of the material. Number None turn their hand to themanipulation of field recordings with “Pacific Metals I” which matchesradio transmissions with power hums and dock loading effects creatingan atmosphere of intense industrial isolation. “Secret Handshake,Hidden hand”s slithering static insinuations give way to thethreatening irradiating percussion of “Compression and Radiation” butit’s the layering of lost whispered secrets on “Dent Magic” that brings“Urmerica” to its peak.
The insomniatic distant vocal line prayer manages to avoid anysentiments of fervency or communion. It just sounds lost. They evenmanage to resurrect the already zombified Throbbing Gristle with theCarter / Christopherson pulse of final track closer “Monster Lobe(Werewolf Corps Victory Theme).” Number None are pushing forwards andoutwards with purpose.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann are the core of Mirror, surrounding them for this performance are David Keenan (author of England's Hidden Reverse), Gavin Laird, and Alex Neilson (seen drumming for The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden and Jandek). Viking Burial for a French Car is Mirror's strangest title yet, a departure from their usually ambivalent or strongly symbolic titles that have always blended very well with their music. The mood on this record, however, betrays the title and, as usual, swirls in a mass of ascending and descending sections. It sounds like a storm of rattles and whines plowing over an old Japanese pavilion, hunting for a lonely and scared man caught inside. The splashes and sudden explosions of metallic and percussive weight can be nothing less than a pounding at the doors of this pavillion, the work of an Oni fulfilling his duty as a hunter of all things evil.
More than any other Mirror album that comes to mind, Viking Burial emulates movement without admitting of any distinct section. There can be no movement in the piece because there is no sudden change, no radical fluctuation except in volume and intensity. No part moves into another, rather every sound seems to evolve from and admit to influence from prior sounds, from the sounds that begin the entire piece. The result is a perfect stasis where pure tonal beauty is captured accurately. All things will age and decay and, in some ways, art is the preservation of beauty or whatever topic is desired by way of freezing the topic in a certain place, in a pleasing location that suits some ideal.
In this case tension and apprehension are frozen beautifully, caught in their hovering, unrevealed power. No monster is ever seen, the Oni never tears down the wall of the pavilion, but the fear of death and the pathetic cries for mercy that must be cried in any severe crisis are bled from every surface Mirror pulls out of their equipment. As feet flop across a tiled floor and the flutes detune into distant sirens there is a distinct impression that the end is waiting just over the horizon. There is a faint red glow slowly expanding through the sky and its progress marks an abhorrent event, but it never reveals itself completely. It is only a threat, an unspeakable flash detailing the brevity of what exists and how nothing frozen in time by humankind's work is ever safe from decay and loss.
samples:
- Viking Burial for a French Car (05:00-06:00)
- Viking Burial for a French Car (14:00-15:00)
- Viking Burial for a French Car (21:00-22:00)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
This is an awful record.There is little in common with Señor Coconut’s own releases apart fromthe tenuous connection in that there is a Latin element to both in thesame way that Gwar and Neurosis are both metal. Fifteen songs (and tworadio jingles) with zero originality or redeeming qualities. Themajority of these songs sound like the demo on a cheapchildren’s keyboard. (In fact I would expect better of keyboard demos.)The songs all seem to sound the same, more like different versions ofone song rather than a collection of tracks by over a dozen artists.“Gira” by Vanessinhaand Alessandra sounds like Peaches with a far more annoying voice andthis is probably the highlight of the album. Tego Calderon’scontribution “Cambumbo” sounds like reggae on its death bed. Maybe thelanguage barrier means I’m missing out on some choice lyrics but Iremain to be convinced of that.The album’s selling point seems to be that this represents the morealternative side of Latin America’s clubland but in reality it soundsmore like a crass compilation of no name dance artists that would befound in a dodgy souvenir shop in Ibiza. I’ve tried hard to findsomething positive about Coconut FMbut from the tacky cover through to the choice of tracks this is a woeful collection. I was expectingsome element of class and quality control based on Coconut’s ownreleases but alas I was let down on all fronts. This is an album for people who comehome from their vacation with a giant novelty sombrero and a stuffeddonkey. Coconut FM is absolutely appalling and should be avoided.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Conjure One is Fulber's latest solo project and enjoying itrequires taking everything I’ve ever known about Fulber and tossing itout the window. In fact, even if I were able to do that, I doubt that Extraordinary Wayswould have more than one track that I would consider dumping into mymp3 player if I just needed to fill it ip.
Fulber has traded in hisindustrial dance and rock cards here and he’s striving for that mostawful of all concoctions: the self-important studio pop record. With ahost of guest vocalists—all female and none as interesting as thepeople he’s managed to rope into working with the barely passableDelerium—the record rolls out a handful of tightly composed andover-produced songs. Every song is so reigned-in that nothing has theemotional resonance or impact that Fulber is no doubt hoping for.Instead, the album offers up a few tracks with passable if notmemorable vocals that will probably be remixed for club play and willprobably go on to be hits with the dancing-not-thinking crowd.
ThatFrontline Assembly or Delerium ever made a splash is a bit confusing tobegin with, as both of those projects were always also-rans to theirmore accomplished, better-known peers. Fulber’s reinvention withConjure One then, might be a more honest reflection of the kind ofmusic he wants to make, but it sounds so manufactured that it eludesany authenticity. The beauty of good pop music is that it’s disposablebut somehow also inescapable. Extraordinary Ways fails to makean impression of any sort and thus becomes the worst kind of popmusic—that which is disposable but also forgettable.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Warp Records
I always found Broadcast to be a bit too derivative of groupslike Stereolab and St. Etienne. Albums like The Noise Made by Peopleseemed long on retro-kitsch and contained a fair share of killer songs,but it never grabbed my attention the way it did for others. Haha Soundwas a decent attempt at filling out the bands sound, but even then itseemed something was off.
These songs have managed to burn themselves into mymind thanks to their strong hooks and understated experimentation. It is aclear indication to the strides made since Haha Sound.“I Found the F” startsthe album on a glacially understated note with trebly guitars matchedby icicle keyboards, light drumming and the distantly evocative vocalsof Trish Keenan. Single “America’s Boy,” a song that seeminglycelebrates and investigates the mystique of American Imperialism,bubbles over an electric drum and a synthesizer that sounds as if itwere recorded in another room. “Tears in the Typing Pool,” the bandpays homage to the psychedelic folk of The United States of America, aband who’ve always played an important part of Broadcast’s sound.
Though theobvious reference point for many will still remain Stereolab, the fact is that thisrelease culls just as much of its sound from 154-era Wire and early '80spost punks like Young Marble Giants. On “Arc of a Journey,” seeminglyrandom blips and beeps sound out behind Keenan’s singing, which is atonce detached and inviting. As the song slowly begins to swell, a bassline is brought in to anchor the seemingly random electric soundscapestaking place. While people may be worried about the state of the bandfollowing the exit of most of its founding members, Tender Buttonsshould alleviate all those concerns. It is a document of a band pullingthemselves together and releasing an album that is playfullyexperimental, minimal, and strikingly heartfelt.
samples:
Read More