Some drones have a spark—a life between the waves of sound that act as a portal to another dimension—others are merely lazy ways of making an album, flat and dull slabs of sound. This reissue of Ambience belongs to the former group of drones: it glitters and shines like the lightning that graces the artwork. |
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Some drones have a spark—a life between the waves of sound that act as a portal to another dimension—others are merely lazy ways of making an album, flat and dull slabs of sound. This reissue of Ambience belongs to the former group of drones: it glitters and shines like the lightning that graces the artwork.
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Theartwork and title might be all cute nonsense and adolescent fun, butthe music that comes with it could only be born from a demented mind.Todd Drootin's music has been called "beatpunk," whatever that means,and his live shows are said to be fairly insane. In truth, he makessome pretty crazy melodic electronic music layered with snapping beatsand dreams of three headed monsters. It can be catchy as hell, but attimes it also sounds a little too familiar.
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This introductory four track CD-R is the first not-so rotten fruitfrom the newly minted side project from one half of Newcastle uponTyne’s Tears of Abraham. Mein Kinder might freely embrace the tag of‘dark ambient soundscapes’ but the music here is far darker, deeper andbetter than the limitations of that genre suggest.
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Thrones is better known as the work of Joe Preston, the man of a thousand bands (Earth, The Melvins, Sunn O))), High on Fire, etc) and of limited edition releases. This is a (thankfully unlimited) collection of various singles, rarities and unreleased material from about the last ten years on one handy disc. It is one oddball collection to say the least.
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As I write this it has been seven years to the day since the passing ofBryn Jones. Several labels diligently continue to release andpreserve his music but in recent years Soleilmoon is at the forefrontof packaging presentation. From the metal tin of Arrabbox tothe oversized folder of Alms for Iraq to the fur covering of Re-mixsVolume 1 & 2 to the silk pouch of Syrinjia. And now this.
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Without a single weak track, Make has gone down as one of the most fun albums of 2005 that I missed. As GD Luxxe, Gerhard Potuznik offers up everything from sexy, hot beats to pounding, throbbing punk full of blazing guitars and explosive arrangements that blow up in the most intense and lovingly orchestrated ways possible.
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4AD's recent release of this Cocteau Twins retrospective finally does this pioneering band's back catalog justice. From the comprehensive track selection to beautifully-designed v23 art printed on a soft, textured paper with vellum overlay, this is the collection that Cocteau Twins fans have been waiting for.
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After more than a year of lying low following the release of 2004's bewildering They Were Wrong, So We Drowned,Liars return with this provocatively packaged single, a taster fortheir forthcoming full-length. Though I had hoped that Hemphill,Andrew and Gross might have decided to drop some of the abrasive,self-consciously artsy gestures that made their last album such anunsatisfyingly turgid mess, unfortunately It Fit When I Was A Kid shows that the band is travelling even further down the same rabbit hole, apparently intent on alienating everyone.
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This is Ryoji Ikeda's first full-length release of new material since 2002's orchestral Op.,however, it is a return to his original form of rhythmic clicks, sonicbeeps, high pitched squeals, and low buzz. Although the claims comethat this, the first part of the Datamatics series, is built onstructures from data, Ikeda hasn't woven data into something that'sabstract or foreign sounding. The music is rather rhythmic,challenging, and completely enjoyable: something most computer musiciantypes have failed at.
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The second part in Dockstader's series of albums based around recordings of radio waves packs a powerful punch. The atmospheric and cold timbres of the first volume have dissipated and have been replaced with a collection of hot, energetic pieces. The previous album was a subdued and relaxing work but with Aerial #2, Dockstader goes straight for the face.
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This supergroup among the new wave of Italian experimentersput out one of my favorite records of 2004 and returned in late 2005 withanother favorite. Members ValerioTricoli, Claudio Rocchetti, and Stefano Pilia represent some of the mostmystical, lyrical music I’ve heard come out of Italyor anywhere in some time. ¾, theircollaborative group, now with percussionist Tony Arrabito, make brilliantlyinviting and adaptable music mixing melancholy chamber acoustics, ambientimprovised textures, and woven electronic and mechanical effects.
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John Wiese's name is becoming as recognizable as Merzbow's. His output, though not as insane as Masami Akita's, is constant and nearly impossible to keep up with. He has worked with a number of musicians and noise-makers including Sunn 0))), Wolf Eyes, The Haters, Panicsville, and Daniel Menche. Teenage Hallucination: 1992-1999 is an attempt to consolidate much of Wiese's earliest output (some of it recorded at the age of 14) on to one disc and catch everyone up with this prolific destroyer of sound.
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I nearly gave up on this album on first listen, but after learningmore about the context, things fell into place and I quickly became fascinatedby it. Across 11 tracks and in styles that range from dancey techno tocrazed piano, Rehearsing My Choir covers the life of bandmatesand siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger's grandmother, withGrandma herself providing much of the vocals.
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Imagine there's an old abandoned farm house on the edge of town with nothing but the woods to keep it company. Imagine a bunch of high school kids held a party there one night and didn't come back. There wasn't any screaming, no bodies were found, no signs of violence; all the kids simply disappeared and never came back. Davenport braved that farm house and made some recordings there, only when they came back there were sounds on their tape that they didn't record. There were things happening in the background that they couldn't perceive. The contents of this disc are made up of those recordings.
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This four-way split from Die Stadt is a treat. It is a double 7” with a gorgeous sleeve featuring some wonderful experimental and minimalist pieces from four top-notch sound artists. Lucky early birds who get one of the first 300 copies also get a double CD of material from the same artists. Packaged in a lovely textured sleeve, the entire collection both looks and sounds dreamy.
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Community Library is now one year old. Founded in part by Paul Dickow, the label released three 12" singles in 2005 and a CD EP from Sawako. With more on the way, this is a look at the Nudge and Strategy singles released last year. High quality, clear, beautiful vinyl releases were the focus for the label throughout 2005 and it shows. These are dub-touched, rock-scored dance masterpieces of a quality that makes waiting for more a frustrating experience.
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Atsome point, someone is going to have to put an end to all of this. Whenit seems every new band forming is an experimental two piece that runeverything through a phalanx of distortion pedals, I have to step backand take a deep breath. It's not that I don't care for noise-rock orhave no patience for amateurism; in fact, they're two items I greatlyenjoy. But every once in a while, a record comes along that forces meto call my predilection for the two into question. This is,unfortunately, just such a record.
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Thirty seconds into the first track of this CD, I thought I'd beentransported back to about 1985. I'm pretty I heard a song just likethis at the Roll-R-Skate in fifth grade. That '80s feel was a lot more interesting when it was new.
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This is the third album from the wonderfully eclectic Barbez. Mixing mainly eastern European traditional music with cabaret, avant garde and straight up rock Insignificance is both unique sounding yet it sounds utterly familiar. A less than standard instrumentation and an immensely talented singer make for a gem of an album.
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I don't really give a damn about psychedelic free association or extended mind jams. Typically all any of that adds up to is a mess of strange guitar solos and warped sounds bouncing of each other, all in an attempt to sound like a German group from the 70s. Luckily the Finnish employ that nasty word in a completely different manner and, in the case of Lumottu Karkkipurkki, the music is closer to bizarre, alienating sound collages than anything produced in the '70s with a guitar and acid.
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