While they have never been especially prolific, Esplendor Geométrico's discography is still a surprisingly daunting and disorienting thing to navigate, due to their many compilations, reissues, disappearing record labels, and stylistic shifts.  Sheikh Aljama, now reissued for the first time since 1994, was originally recorded between 1987 and 1988 and was one of the final albums of the band's crunchy and noisy early era.  It is also unique for incorporating Arabic influences.  I'd be remiss if I didn't say that that particular assimilation was not especially skillful or seamless (especially when compared to Muslimgauze), but the album's hypnotically bludgeoning beats make such flaws seem totally irrelevant.  This is one of Esplendor Geométrico's finest efforts.

Roughly ten years ago, BBC's Radio 4 sent Chris Watson to Mexico to record one of the final continuous cross-country trips for Mexico's passenger rail system.  The resultant album is a narrative collage that uses those recordings to aurally recreate that unique and memorable journey.  I'd definitely say he succeeded quite impressively at that specific technical objective, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a great album.

Matt Waldron has obviously had little to do lately judging by the landslide of irr. app. (ext.) releases that have recently come available. Ranging from very old archival material to more recent compositions (including collaborations with Nurse With Wound and Diana Rogerson), Waldron has unleashed a Pandora’s box of sonic delights on the world. Widely available as downloads from his own site and as limited edition CD-Rs elsewhere, these releases build on an already impressive but far too limited back catalogue.

This latest slice of heaven from Ian William Craig has quite a curious provenance, as it was assembled from orphaned pieces dating all the way back to 2014's landmark A Turn of Breath. As such, it is not exactly the proper follow-up to Centres, yet it is every bit as great as I would expect such an album to be. Notably, Thresholder is far from a collection of disconnected outtakes and middling material, as the pieces are all roughly tied to a commission work relating to quantum physics and space. As befits such an inspiration, Thresholder very much focuses on Craig's more experimental and abstract side, unfolding as a hallucinatory and dreamlike collage of woozily swooning angelic vocals in a crackling sea of distressed tape loops and hiss. If Centres is the album where Craig's gift for songcraft came into full bloom, this is the companion piece that illustrates the full depth of his textural and production brilliance.

Scott Morgan's latest album is quite a surprise, at least by Loscil’s eternally understated standards.  Partially inspired by hearing Philip Glass’s  Koyaanisqatsi score on a worn VHS tape, Monument Builders finds Loscil being a pulled in a number of different directions at once while still being held together by the unifying thread of Morgan's warmly hissing and elegantly blurred production aesthetic.  The result is quite an atypically epic and chameleonic Loscil album, but the material is strong enough to quell most of my misgivings about Morgan's stylistic tourism.

While the title is in reference to the source material (field recordings in Ancient Olympia, Greece), it also serves as an appropriate name for these two monumental artists coming together. Linked only by the use of the same raw materials, both Lopez and Thanasis Kaproulias create very different, yet powerful worlds of sound.

Paring a recently released new work with a digital-only remastered reissue from the label, there is a decade of time elapsed between these two compositions, in which Roden’s evolution as an artist can be heard, particularly in his use of digital processing and composing.

Zola Jesus (effectively Nika Roza Danilova) made a huge artistic leap in 2010, transitioning from the lo-fi, gothic post-punk of The Spoils to the sweeping, synth-driven drama of her twin EP releases, Stridulum and Valusia. The two EPs were a grand step forward for Danilova, upping the drama quotient with two fistfuls of dark, cinematic songs. Conatus continues her winning streak, functioning as a distillation and subtle refinement of the ideas put forward on last year's EPs.

Sebastian Banaszczyk has been strongly refining his craft in "sound recycling," or essentially utilizing limited, conceptually relevant recordings as the only basis for compositions. These two separate albums, for two distinctly different dramatic performances, have some consistencies between them, but each stand on their own as distinct works, as well as representing the next stage in Bionulor's discography.

On their first album in seven years, the multinational power electronics band fronted by US legend Mark Solotroff manage to live up to the hype created from their less than prolific release schedule. Punishing, malicious, and appropriately deranged, Bloodyminded proves they have lost none of their potency.

This EP pretty much picks up exactly where last year's fine Man With Potential left off, once again combining furiously thumping house beats with stuttering, skittering noise.  It is more of a tease than a substantial effort though, as it is basically just an amusing dalliance with the 12" single format, consisting of two versions of the title piece and a superior B-side.  Neither quite stands with the best songs on Potential and there is no evidence of a significant stylistic evolution, but Pro Style is an enjoyable distraction to tide me over while I await Swanson's next major work.

It has been a full decade since Drumm's last solo album on Mego (2002's massive and career-defining Sheer Hellish Miasma) and quite a bit has changed in the noise world since then.  While more modest in scope this time around (Relief is a 37-minute EP), Kevin's latest effort shows that an impressive evolution has occurred over those ten years, as he hits the perfect balance between his characteristic howling noise and his infrequently surfacing ambient side.  That comes as no surprise to me at all, but I was pleasantly taken aback by the sheer ferocity of Relief's noisy side.  Drumm is clearly not mellowing with age.

Like a dirty precursor to a system imploding, D/A A/D offer synth module commotion from Canada. A muddy trench of hand manipulated squelch and roar, the tracks here combine space with a great range of bass sounds as well as absconding treble tones.

 

Angel’s Blood

This collection of non-album and vinyl-only tracks presents Dälek's range and helps to make the case that they are one of the most challenging and essential acts to emerge in the last decade.  It also makes owning some of Dälek's harder-to-find material a whole lot easier.

 

Hydra Head

Antenne is the new solo project of Copenhagen's Kim G. Hansen, formerlyof Danish group Amstrong, for the long-lived Dutch label Korm Plastics.Hansen mixes up electronic and acoustic sounds - analogue synth wash,gentle guitar strums and notes, minimal bass and beats - for thedesired effect, a sort of slow motion, desolate, ambient pop that makesme think of Locust run through molasses. "Here to Go" sets the moodimmediately with a submerged brushed snare groove. The celestial voiceof Marie-Louise Munch, also of Amstrong, closes the sale. Note to self- seek out the EP for this song featuring remixes by Stephan Mathieau,Zammuto, Accelera Deck, Metamatics and Geiom. For the remaining 7tracks on this disc, Munch lends more lovely, light vocals to 4, andthough they're all good, they're also disappointing after track #1. Thenear ten minutes of "Whispering" would be runner-up, a steam bath dirgeobscuring the gorgeous guitar chords and vocals in time. Program thisdisc in reverse to save the best for last and you're set.

 

samples:

• Here to Go
• Moving Slow
• Whispering

Charly McLion's musical career has extended over three decades and manygenres including rock and blues bands, Algerian Rai, commercial workand most recently, electronic. "The Nature of the Universe" is his solodebut and the 2nd release from Aachen, Germany based KingfisherRecords. McLion, born B?hel, composed these eleven 5 to 7 minuteinstrumental tracks with samples, guitars and keyboards. His music isof a Hearts of Space, electronic new age flavor that at times recalls"A Momentary Lapse of Reason"-era Pink Floyd and the solo work offellow German Michael Rother (ex-Kraftwerk, Neu!). Pretty piano andkeyboard melodies, mellow guitar soloing and accompaniment, lightprogrammed bass and beats and dramatic, sweeping waves of synthresonance are the primary modes of relaxation. Everything isintentionally easy on the ears and unobtrusive, just simply happy toslowly soothe. "Eye In The Sky" introduces a bit of EBM funkiness tothe rhythm while "Sunshine" drops a female vocal sample and bit ofSpanish styled acoustic guitar. Nice. With the sometimes staggeringamount of experimental music I listen to, it's good to put on somethingas straightforward yet enjoyable as this every now and then.

 

samples:

• Black Hole
• Eye in the Sky
• Sunshine

'The Lovers' first appeared on LP in 1984, side one was recorded at aconcert earlier that year while side two were all new tracks recordedlive for VPRO Radio in Holland. When the CD was first manufactured in1991, both tracks from the "Curious Guy" 12" single were included.While the disc is often not considered to be a truly bonafide LPDalbum, it contains some of my favorite LPD songs. The four songs fromside one had only ever appeared on compilation cassettes (if anywhereelse). The excitement about the band's current lineup can be observedsimply by the volume of material that surfaced in that year (whichincluded both 'The Tower' and 'Faces in the Fire') and here they wantedto treat the older tunes to a newer live arrangement. Side two startsand ends with the timeless emotional, violin and piano heavy classics"The Lovers" parts one and two. It also features the entertainingclassic, "Flowers for the Silverman" right in the middle. Thefeverishly catchy "Curious Guy" is cute and always a crowd-pleaser andthe disc ends appropriately with the complex 11½ minute opus"Premonition 16". Bonus bits for the new reissue include a restoredcover (which includes all five faces through the flowers), printedlyrics and a thumbnail for the 'Curious Guy' 12" release inside thetray.

samples:

• The Lovers (part one)
• Premonition 16
• Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... (live)

'Island of Jewels' on the other hand is one of my least favorite LPDalbums. Recorded and released in 1986, it was the first full-lengthalbum recorded with Edward living in Holland and the rest of the groupliving in England. Incidentally, the album seems fragmented andunconnected, while the production seems rather sterile and thin. Theband sounds like a group of musicians not paying attention to eachother, all clamoring for attention without letting each other'sinstruments have a life of their own. It's somewhat painful to listento as the songwriting really isn't bad at all. Songs like "The Shock ofContact" and "Jewel in the Crown" would probably have benefitted from acompletely different recording approach. This reissue is probably oneof my favorite improvements on the other hand. The back cover has beenadopted from black and white images from inside the original gatefoldLP issue, photos have been included as well as lyrics—none of whichwere on the original PIAS CD release.

samples:

• The Shock of Contact
• Tower 6
• Jewel in the Crown

This disc is the latest in Atavistic's "Unheard Music Series" of CDreissues of rare and otherwise unavailable improvised music LPs. Itpurports to be a reissue of two LPs from 1980 and 1981, originallypublished on the Y Records label, which was better known for itsrecords by punk/dub groups like the Slits and the Pop Group. Inreality, the disc contains not even a full side of the "DoubleIndemnity" LP (a total of twelve minutes, to be precise), all the musicfrom the "Imitation of Life" LP, and twenty minutes of previouslyunreleased piano and cello duos by Beresford and Honsinger,respectively.
The best stuff on here is the first two duo tracks, quite tasteful iftypical for free improvisation, but I can't say any of it is goodenough to recommend purchasing the disc. The duo's tendency towardssilly clowning overshadows otherwise inventive improvisation and marsmost of the tracks, leaving lots of great moments but no great completepieces. The short tracks taken from "Double Indemnity" are acacaphonous flurry of notes, crashing fists of piano, and dramaticshifts in mood and texture. However, Honsinger's ridiculious speechesabout salad dressing and declarations like "Do you think it's allright?" and "What does it mean, anyway?" seem to be apologetic at timeswhen the music finds an uncomfortable space which would have beenstronger if left alone. Why he makes animal sounds, or referencesmusical styles like film music and military marches, or lapses intojokey yelping right when an improvisation is getting good is beyond me.
Nowhere is this more distracting than on the tracks taken from thequartet LP, which I was excited to hear because of the inclusion ofKondo from before he added that wretched delay-pedal effect to histrumpet. Aside from the sections in which someone (hard to tell who isto blame for this) beats out a galloping 4/4 beat (why??) or when themusicians do the obvious and lazy gimmick of trading a melodic lineback and forth (surely the players are better than that), there areintense sections here that work for minutes at a time. Then someonemakes opaque quacking noises through his fluegelhorn, or plays"Revelie" or scales, or recites film dialogue, and the music becomes sogrounded that it cannot get back up.

 

samples:

• check www.atavistic.com

Bablicon are a Chicago-based trio of curiously monikerd multi-instrumentalists: 'Blue Hawaii', Marta Tennae and 'the diminisher'. This is their 3rd album, apparently conceived as a double album, tracks 1-6 under the "The Cat That Was a Dog" title and tracks 7-15 under "a Flat Inside the Fog". Most songs are rooted in piano composition, which all 3 members play, but vary widely in style and additional tone coloration: voices, various basses and saxes, electronics and all sorts of percussion and other odds and ends like theremin, melodica, 'friendly bird tinkles' and 'electric ghetto duck'.

The title of the seventh cut, "Hassle Free Harmony", serves as anexcellent summation of the album in its entirety. Marc Bianchi returnsunder his HSH moniker with 'Manic Expressive', a release that iselegant, yet mellow and uncomplicated. From the three-minute stringarrangement of the opening track to the sweet and wispy vocals on "TheRinging in My Ears", the album blends an extensive assortment ofmusical sources, both organic and electronic. Melodically, the songsare aural decoupage: it's as if Bianchi gives the listener a sonicslide show, displaying bits and pieces of his favorite tunes by otherartists ("Dear Prudence" immediately springs to mind). The result,however, does not give the impression that these outside sources havebeen plundered, but rather form a charming homage. The juxtaposition ofan orchestral ebb and flow with subtle mechanical beats, hypnoticambient atmospherics and glistening guitar is handled with dexterity.Even when the otherwise humble songs surge with drama, Bianchi neverallows them to run amok. The orchestra pit warm-up that opens the firsttrack signals what is to come: the artistic and stylistic developmentof HSH since the previous effort, 'Home Is Where You Hang Yourself'.Break out the electric blankets; 'Manic Expressive' is perfectlistening for curling up in a warm bed on a snowy morning.

 

samples:

• Lydia
• Polar Opposite
• Hassle Free Harmony