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Chicago's Ribbon Effect released their debut album, "Slip", last year,and now this EP of the band's first recordings is one of two debutreleases from False Walls Recordings. The group is a three-piece whosemusic is based largely on group improvisation and a mix of theelectronic and the organic. Keyboards and synthesizers mix with thedrums and accordion to make a truly interesting sound. It sounds oddlylike the soundtrack to robots in factories, welding cars together. Infact, if those robots liked music, I bet they'd like Ribbon Effect. Thesongs have a very simple structure, and move right along with a fewfills and breaks. Over time, it's easy for the listener to loseinterest, though not entirely. It's just that the use of theinstruments is so consistent, so unmoving, that tracks seem to go onfar longer than they should. That and the fact that the music isinstrumental in nature adds up to a good first listen, but noveltydoesn't make you return to the well for more. The first two trackssuffer from this affliction, but the third and fourth tracks, "CastAway" and "Sweet William's Catchfly", are just plain good. Beeps thatecho, harmonics and programmed beats mix and meld, moving towards aclimax at the end of the former that eventually you are begging for.Finally, real drums come in, and the track melds into the latter,building with accordion to the big finish. It was enough to make mewant to hear more from Ribbon Effect and this label, so as an initialrelease it serves its purpose. I, however, hope that Ribbon Effect havelearned some lessons from this first release and have more substance ontheir full-length.
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With the aid of co-producer Mercan Dede and a small cadre of Easternand Western musicians, Peter Murphy has immersed himself within a newsound. 'Dust' picks up where 2000's stripped down "Just For Love" tourleft off by retaining classically trained violinist Hugh Marsh. Thenthe sound is fleshed out with the ancient ones of and near Murphy'sadopted homeland of Turkey - percussion, kanun, ud, cumbus, etc. - plusadditional programming and keyboard and guitar atmospheres. Themajority of the nine songs are sprawled out between seven and nineminutes, thus flowing like molasses and/or indulging in instrumentalpassages. To these Western ears there is a perfectly tasteful balancebetween East and West, old and new, electronic and acoustic, in agenuinely spiritual way. The environment lends itself to the voice andvice versa (certainly far better than the KMFDM backed 'Recall' EP) andthe voice and lyrics are as strong as ever. This is the album thatshould have been entitled 'Deep'. If you're looking for upbeat pop likepast gems "Cuts You Up" and "The Scarlet Thing In You" you won't findanything remotely like that here. You also won't find any obvioussingles as the album is undoubtedly meant for listening to in itsentirety. Murphy's message is poetic but clear, reminding us to "loveanything", that "there is no place like just for love" and "let lovebegin". The midsection of "Just For Love" and "Girlchild Aglow" is theapex. The next couple songs slightly dip in quality but are rescued bythe striking vocal of "My Last Two Weeks" and then 1995's "Subway" isrevisited, extended and successfully 'Dust'-ed off. This is a reallylovely album. By my third listen it all made perfect sense. Murphy iscurrently on tour in North America through June.
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Deviating from their usual medium of on-demand CD-Rs, the Burning Shedonline label debuts their first Red Book disc in a good old fashionedjewel case. Peter Chilvers (Alias Grace) and Tim Bowness (No-Man,Centrozoon) also collaborate in Samuel Smiles and Henry Fool.'California, Norfolk' is a sort of extension of the former's 'World OfBright Futures' album, the title track in particular. Bowness'ruminations on lost love and fading memories are fairly simple, but hisrich tone and breathy delivery brings the inherent sadness and mutedjoys within them to life. The vocals are very forward in the mix butdeftly framed by minor beats, sampled auras and tender piano, keyboard,guitar and bass melodies and textures. It's beautifully stark - partballadry, part ambient, part soundscape - think of Nick Drake's 'PinkMoon' spirit as processed by Brian Eno. It's strange how quickly thisalbum floats by despite its 45 minute running time. And although goodbeginning to end and back again, "Hostage" and "Winter With You" are mypersonal favorites. For the former, sweeping orchestral synth andbackground giggling help tell the short story of "the girl you neverforgot, was never happy with her lot ... walked around a hostage to herfright". And in the latter, the crunch of trodden snow drifts in andout of its 10 plus minutes. Chilvers subtlety steals the limelight bybreaking up an instrumental passage with a delicate piano refrain.'California, Norfolk' is another great addition to the ever growingChilvers and Bowness related pile.
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According to the liner notes, Brombron is "a joint project by extrapooland staalplaat and receives financial support from mondriaanstichting." Quite what all that means, I don't know, but apparently theboys got some studio time to work on this record specifically. And itwas money well spent for their patrons because this is an excellentexposition of the more musical end of microsound-style laptopcomposition, a subgenre put decisively on the map by ChristianFennesz's low-bitrate eye-opener 'Endless Summer.'
As on Mathieu's equally pleasing 'frequencyLib' album, much of thealbum is about processing samples from hinted-at sources and givingthem a new identity, but there's also nice use of a field recording andoutright, er, covers, you might say. Unlike many records in themicrosound genre, no harsh noise pieces are found here. Instead thereare thirteen subtle tracks, starting with the straightfireworks-field-recording-and-organ of "New Years Eve". (Clearly JimO'Rourke didn't exhaust the potential of recorded fireworks on GastrDel Sol's 'Camofleur'.)
Other highlights are the processed warble of "Turkey Song"—a revivalisttake on Peanuts which clearly influenced the soundtrack picks in 'TheRoyal Tenenbaums', and which, along with "Vinnie's Theme", punctuatesthe album with a sense of humour. A further bonus is the special cardpackaging, unique to the Brombron series, which holds the CD in placewithout a spot of plastic, glue, or even one of those annoying Mort AuxVaches fold-out clips. The record's been out the best part of a year,and is apparently limited, so seek out a copy while you can.
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It sounds like a joke for indie music hipsters: what do you get whenyou mix The Melvins, Fantomas and a crowd for a live show? This liverecording from December 31st, 2000 is the best answer, and it's notbad. Despite the fact that all seven musicians from the two bands arecredited, the songs don't often demand that all of them bang away atonce, but when the all of them come down and pound the music out, theydo a really good job of staying out of each other's way and keeping therecording relatively unmuddled. For the most part, Patton does thevocals, although Melvins' Dale Crover and King Buzzo are also creditedwith vocals. A lot of the music sounds -- not surprisingly -- like amelding between the recent Melvins' buzzing sludginess and the moreethereal moments of Fantomas' vignettes. If you've heard the recentofferings from Melvins or fantomas, there's no big surprises here, justmore quality noise. Some pieces are clearly derived from one or theother groups (Fantomas' cover of the themes from the films "The Omen"and "Cape Fear" or "Ol' Black Stooges" an assaulting drum jam whichappears in a much more abbreviated form on the Melvins' new album Hostile Ambient Takeover"as that album's opener.) A few pieces and moments throughout can beisolated to one musician -- like Patton's signature squeals and screamsfrom Fantomas' albums, or Dunn's bass pluckings in "Terpulative Guns& Drugs", but in general, the music and musicians complement eachother well enough that it stops being about one or the other andbecomes an entity in it's own right. Some of the more ambient noisepieces remind me nothing so much as the early noise of Nurse WithWound, and "Skin Horse" features a hysterical Ween-esque vocal linethat's a real treat, but not representative of the rest of the album.So if you're a fan of NWW's older noise pieces or a fan of eitherFantomas or the Melvins' recent output, you shouldn't be disappointedwith this 40 minute set (even if it isn't the full show,) from theMelvins and Fantomas.
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In the course of just over a year's time, Múm has captured theattention of music fans worldwide, through a debut full-length album,two albums of various mixes, and more than a handful of collaborativework and compilation appearances. (Their adorable looks and theirambiguous song titles probably didn't hurt by adding to their appealeither.) Perhaps the most often associated words concerning a sophomorealbum after such a large success are both anticipation and expectation.This album could very well possibly be one of this year's mostanticipated releases, but the amount of expectations it exceeds isunmeasurable. I have to admit that at first, I was rather taken abackwith the amount of vocals on the disc, but there's also a much largerpresence of non-synthetic instruments on the whole, includingaccordion, guitar, bass, strings, horns, melodica, percussion andorganic effects. The quartet use everything wisely, never saturatingany song with an abundance of instruments which would render thesesongs impossible to recreate live. Thomas Brinkmann may have beenplaying his records' inside grooves but not until the sounds of thoselock grooves combined with Múm's signature wistful lullabye sound onthe third track, "We Have a Map of the Piano" do those groove soundsfeel like they have been properly harnessed. Múm's years of experiencewith improvisation and collaboration have undoubtedly given them anecessary unique approach in taking that necessary step to bring morehuman elements back into electronic music. It's probably why they havegained so much recognition by both the electronic music and indie rockcrowds. Fear not the evolution, however, as there are a number ofpretty, instrumental, digital songs which could please any fan of theirprevious work. Any fanatic lucky enough to order their CD-R and otherobscure releases will indeed recognize a few melodies contained herein.They make it seem so damned easy, with the glitchy beats retired to theback of the mix underneath organ, accordion and string counterpoint ontruly jaw-dropping climactic songs like "I Can't Feel My Hand Any More,It's Allright, Sleep Still" just before the masterpiece title track,which could easily be the 'nod' to 'Yesterday Was Dramatic...'. If youdidn't fall in love with the twin girls with their photo on the Belleand Sebastian cover ('Fold Your Hands Child...') their voices on the11-minute album closer, "The Land Between Solar Systems" will mostcertainly win your heart. [Hopefully since their first band was aPixies cover, they'll be enthusiastic about playing Boston. In whichcase, I'd be more than happy being a tour guide for a few days. Howabout it?] Fanatics of the Icelandic language and Múm die-hards shouldnote that there's a super limited edition with the vocal songs inIcelandic available only from Bad Taste.
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- We Have a Map of the Piano
- K/Half Noise
- I Can't Feel My Hand Any More, It's Allright, Sleep Still
- Green Grass Of Tunnel Video
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Occasionally that CD comes along that is almost bizarrely unique, practically defying description due to its out-of-the-ordinary construction and hard to quantify affect on you. The Epidemic is certainly not a band that belongs on decidedly punk Ache Records, but that seems to be the point. The solo side project for Andy Dixon of d.b.s., and he's chosen a peculiar sonic path. "I Am Compltely Oprationa l" is a quirky debut release, combining an indie rock sensibility with vague electronic flashes and jilting experimentation with arrangements.Ache
Tracks start in one direction, abandon it and its tempo, and evolve into something else, usually better, only to flutter and fade over time from that structure to begin a new track. It's very engrossing, slightly confusing, and, ultimately, utterly creative. Vocal harmonies are delicate and slight, but beautiful; guitar lines blend together, playfully, then dissapear; electronic pulses, beeps, whistles, and howls come in, go out, feedback, and otherwise convolute, but never in a distracting way. Dixon's voice sounds like a combination of Blair Shehan (The Jealous Sound, Knapsack) and Ben Folds. It works well for this music, and for these lyrics: 'The West Coast As A Robot,' while featuring the robot-voiced sample that gives the album its title, also features the lines "Vancouver lifts like a cancer recovery" and "You don't have to make a hospital bed/cut her dosage in half." Someone had a horrible time in British Columbia. But still, the music is very sweet in a slightly disturbing way, full of gorgeous melodies and steady rhythms. This is the logical extension of emo: add some electronics, still make the kids sway at the shows, and punish them with lyrics of fury that are understated. Even the playful poke at the band's moniker how it relates to another well known band whose title is the anithesis of theirs, 'Robert Smith Vs. Crosstown Music,' is extremely tongue and cheek with a killer guitar line and synthesizer horns (plus the line "I'd listen to Disintregration if I owned it on vinyl, but the record store never seems to have it in"). It really is quite lovely, even if a bit short, and I look forward to hearing more from The Epidemic.
 
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EMI buys Mute? Robert Rental, Michael Karoli and Frank Tovey die. Didthey fall or were they pushed? Are EMI hitmen knocking off the lesslucrative Mute artists so that back catalog can be hastily deleted withlittle complaint? Did anyone notice when they kidnapped Jon Spencer,entrapped him behind the Green Door and replaced him with Shakin'Stevens, that top 80s Welsh Elvis impersonator? There is some shakin'rock'n'roll going on tonight in this ole house, but these ears are justhearing a lot of mouldy old dough. The fang has little bite but chewson anyway in plastic denim clad daddy-o sideburn style. The only partcomparable in excitement to former Blues Explosion fun is the momentwhen opening track "Sweet 'N' Sour" crunches to a stop and fires upagain. I wish Shaky luck in this new found career and hope he will letJon free without too much brainwashing. No sound files on this one. Letthe corporate-u-lent fill up their own webspace. Genesis P. Orridgewatch your back!
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764 Hero, I feel, have never really received the acclaim and noticesthey deserve. And why? Their contemporaries in Built to Spill andModest Mouse, who 764 Hero even did a split EP with, have gone on fromUp Records to great acclaim and larger audiences. True, they signed tomajor labels to do so. And maybe that's what separated 764 Hero. Theyaren't willing to make sacrifices to move ahead. This, their fourthfull-length on Tiger Style Records, is a breath of fresh air for theband, and it sounds like they had the time of their lives making it. Aslight change of line-up - bass player James Bertram left the band,replacing him is Robin P, who, coincidentally, plays bass for ModestMouse on tour - means a slight change in the name, too, apparently, asthis is the first 764 Hero record without a hyphen in the band's name.It's the little things that count. With Phil Ek at the boards onceagain, the band has a great straightforward rock sound, showcasingtheir strengths in spades, even when they are slowing down the pace abit. John Atkins has always sounded a bit like Doug Martsch from Builtto Spill with his delivery, and on this record he embraces it withgusto, belting out each track as though it were his last attempt, andit's clearer in the mix than ever before. The band is tighter thanever, the songs are more confident and catchy. Atkins' lyrics arequirky, as always, providing fluent descriptions of change. This is thealbum that will get this band the individual notice they deserve. Let'shope so, at least.
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Two of Germany's renowned rhythmists unite. 'Secret Rhythms' is verymuch in line with Burnt Friedman's usual repertoire and Liebezeit'sbeats fit right in. So much so it's difficult to discern who does whatwhere. Not that it matters. Each of the 10 tracks fuses percussion,bass, keys, vibraphones by Copenhagen's Morten Grønvad and strains ofJosef Suchy's electric guitar into a gravity defying sort of ambientelectro jazz. Friedman foregoes samples, such as the many spoken onesfound on last year's 'Plays Love Songs', to keep the mix instrumentaland minimal but also very open and very comfortable. Track four beginsan all too brief dub deviation. "Shades of Soddin Orion" and"Rastafahndung" are stunning examples of what happens when Friedmanapplies his musical physics to, and thus redefines, dub. "Shades.." isthe album highlight, a gorgeous deep space journey of slippery bass andguitar notes and microscopic sound soup. The disc concludes with threeversions of "Obscured by 5" - short, Nonplace (Friedman's label) remixand 13 plus minute extended. The finale is the most satisfying with alengthy stretch of little more than gentle steel drums and the hustleand bustle of an unidentifiable inner city. Perhaps this is the secretrhythm Friedman and Liebezeit have found and wish to expose to the restof the world.
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Jesus, Brick Layer Cake is a strange "band." Todd Trainer's (Shellac,Rifle Sport) one-man project that allows him to step out in front ofthe kit occasionally, hasn't released a record since "Tragedy Tragedy"in 1994. Trainer took the occasion of hs moving to Chicago to recordwith Steve Albini, and he plays every note, every beat, and sings everyline on "Whatchamacallit." And it's just getting weirder, folks. Again,it's the same formula: simple song stuctures, slower tempos, and alldriven by low register growl of contempt. Hell, it's even the same typeof cover photo as the last record. And the only thing that has changedis that apparently Trainer's contempt for most things around him. It'sincreased exponentially. From the first track, 'Stars,' Trainer isshredding people and situations apart. This is the harshest song withthat title EVER. Sample lyric: "One who fucked straight to the fuckingtop and didn't fucking stop fucking/blows everyone off." The musicitself leaves a lot to be desired, as it's often a bit cacaphonous withone crunchy guitar and one wailing guitar clashing. When it comestogether, though, it's pretty good. 'Softie,' for instance is justplain sinister, and would work very well if BLC played a haunted house.The problem is that since Marilyn Manson and others have used Trainer'svocal delivery style in the past few years, it's become very stale. Itdoesn't have the same affect, in fact on repeated listens I skip mosttracks. It all sounds incredibly juvenile, particularly because of thelyrics, specifically the use of the "fuck" word. If you liked BLCbefore, you'll probably like this one. I'm gonna say it was pretty goodthe first listen, pretty boring on repeated ones, and definitely listenbefore you buy.
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