- Diane Lewis
- Albums and Singles
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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While some people view this record as a destructive fuck-you to spandex rock, I'd prefer to see it as affectionate, but in honesty neither conclusion is easily drawn. The music is more "Fennesz Plays" than V/VM, but unlike the pure tribute of Drop Nineteens' "Ease It Halen" (or the mindless cock-ragga pop mish-mash of Apollo 440's "Ain't Talkin'" cover), VH's rock bloat isn't put to one side, thanks to the soundbites of breakup bitching and egotism, and the hideous sketch of David Lee Roth on the cover. What's certain is that while Steve Albini could click his fingers and make AC/DC cool, this record is simply good clean fun for micro-fans. It isn't going to make Mark Kozelek sing "Hot For Teacher."
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- Steve Smith
- Albums and Singles
Jonathan Coleclough has released several stunning albums of extended drones derived from acoustic sources, and 'Low Ground' is no exception. The sounds on this recording are surprisingly electronic; they're more digitally-veiled and alien than on Coleclough's other records. With five tracks, three of them collaborative and two solo, there's quite a bit of textural variety on this CD.
Coleclough and Potter are joined by Tim Hill on two tracks, including the first, "Beech Flutter," which combines a sharp, slowly breathing drone with little electronic whirs and beeps. They also use some processed whip-like and crashing sounds that, later on in the piece, are echoed and sound almost like the flapping of wings. The sustained tones that dominate this track are soothing despite their edgy brightness, as they are subtly filtered and timestretched, and are as magnificent and detailed as anything else Coleclough has released.
"Sinister Dexter" opens with some very nice, extended horn-like tones that grow dissonant before evolving into a melange of malevolent croaking sounds. These gradually increase in pitch and noisiness before being submerged in effects and then replaced by a really dark sounding mechanical rhythm, almost like a heavily filtered organ. This continues for the duration of the piece while some phased and panned synth-like sounds emerge. Though I don't really care for the unbroken mechanical rhythm Potter uses in this track, the other sounds are quite fascinating. "Shudder" is a shorter piece that combines a rumbling mechanical noise run through the tremolo and reverb effects with some squeaking sounds and volume swells. It ends with some beautiful hazy sounds and a distant rumbling. "Tunnel" contains a wealth of detail, mixing a repetitive synthesizer-like noise with layers of filtered drones and the sound of splashing water. The piece builds up towards the end, as Coleclough employs some squeaking noises and ominous icy tones. "Beech Shadow" starts with subtly modulated low frequency sine waves and some really strange digitally created sounds. The shimmering tones heard in the first track slowly emerge, and the piece takes its time developing into a lush, expansive collection of electronic hissing noises. It's an absolutely wonderful ending, soothing but slightly sinister. 'Low Ground' is definitely another great work in the Coleclough/Potter discography. The sounds used are fascinating, and there isn't a single boring moment on this disc.
 
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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- Steve Smith
- Albums and Singles
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I particularly like the manipulation in which the natural sounds are merged with the artificial—the birds take on a strange resonance, and the buzzing of insects sounds vaguely like the clicking and clanging of metal. The piece grows in intensity during its middle section as the feedback is amplified and digitally timestretched, and it is further embellished by what might be prepared piano and backward cymbals. After building into and persisting for a few moments in a crescendo of metallic tones and insect-like noises, during which the textures exhibit more evidence of digital treatment than in the usual Coleclough composition, things begin to get predictably and progressively calmer. The effect is absolutely hypnotic as the layers of ringing high-pitched tones slowly shift and change; the piece gradually moves back into the lower frequencies in which it began, and the bird calls re-emerge. A few repeating icy feedback tones establish a faint melody, evoking a reflective and somber mood. Just like his other releases, here Coleclough arranges ordinary sounds perfectly to create an environment that is sonically rich and definitely captivating. Due to its range of volume and sonic variety, this disc is probably his easiest listening so far; regardless, it is certainly a rewarding one.
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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'Flussdichte' is the third Tietchens / Myers collaboration. In this case, Myers sent Tietchens some material, and Tietchens went in the studio and built the pieces from this material. The result definitely has Tietchens' stamp on it — you could play it for any Tietchens fan and we'd guess it was his. (That's especially apparent to me when I hear sound that makes me think I'm in a submarine. No, I haven't been in one, but you may know this sound from movies, where the submarine is deep below the surface, and has its own ambient sounds coming from outside.) There are also some lovely melodic bits on the CD, including cut 6 ("T31:M5/10"), which sounds like amusement-park organ music, possibly emanating from an ancient merry-go-round. I won't try to describe any more — you will enjoy your own sound pictures when your allow you mind to drift with this CD playing.
Highly recommended.
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
According to Asmus Tietchens' web site, "Kontakt Der Jünglinge 1" was recorded in the '"Lagerhaus" in Bremen, Germany in 1999. I've witnessed a number of live improvisations with sound and noise in which some unexpected event outside the performance space occurred, such as an ambulance passing by with a loud siren. The performers would typically accept the additional source material and work it into their piece.
In this case it's not a siren, but rather a distant throbbing beat of what must be a band performing or a disco upstairs or next door. I can only guess that the "Lagerhaus" is a nightclub, or adjacent to one, although it's also possible that this sound is a sample brought to the performance by one of the artists. That's part of the charm of listening to a quality recording of a live performance: you don't quite know whether the whole thing was done on a laptop with digitally-stored sounds, or whether the artists were collecting ambient sounds from the performance space, treating them, then releasing them back into the space as part of the performance. This recording definitely sounds like the latter. The deep throb of a distant disco drifts into the piece several times, and sounds so natural. But the beat appears only in small sections, while the overall 45-minute piece is mostly dense with wind and whooshing sounds. If you like your sound a bit more sparse, listen first to Kontakt der Jünglinge 0 (see below).
 
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