Do you ever listen to afull-length album and almost wish it were an EP? Following this year'sincredible release, 'Thermos Explorer,' Vicki Bennett waltzes into theWild West. Here, she samples from only a handful of Old Americana andthreads a home tapestry to hang on the wall. Unfortunately the ideassomewhat get old half-way through. Clicks and scrapes of old recordbecome rather grating on the ears and the humor just isn't up to theenjoyable level of the variety of themes served in the Thermos. Thereare some salvagable funny highlights like the couple times she playswith "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," which is why I said thatthis could have easily been a nice extended-play single.samples:
The second various artist release from Source Research featurescontributions from Andrew Poppy, Leif Elggren, Coil, Cyclobe and COH.The problem with acquiring a lot of music is finding the time and placeto sit back and really absorb an album. Unfortunately a car was neitherthe right place nor the right time for my first listen to this. Carefulattention must be payed to this release, much like the RGB discreviewed earlier this year. At first, each of these collections seemlike a simple gathering of electronic pieces by some of the best in thecommunity. After a short while, patterns begin to emerge and a themecomes into view. Deep listening is much more involved than just readingsome liner notes and throwing on a set of headphones. Whereas RGB was acollaborative musical representation of the full color spectrum, thisrelease is basically the antithesis of that, with a focus on darkness,negative energy and the absence of existence in thematerial/tangible/visible world. Artists seem to have worked in theirown space, with very little collaboration or mixing up of the elementsat the end. It's a very cold and dark place, solemn and quiet. Thisdisc would make a great listening party soundtrack if everybody plansto sit in complete darkness and silence.
For a band known for playing so damned slow, Earth have evolved quickly the past few years. Their visionary work takes yet another step into uncharted waters on this new release. Billed as a continuation of last year's album of the same name, Earth's music takes a turn toward sparse improvisation, with a suite of five songs openly influenced by 
Masaki Batoh, guitarist and leader of the Japanese psych-rock collective Ghost, is a man of many pursuits: music, acupuncture, science and spirituality. His first solo recording since the mid '90s is a result of years of research into bioelectric functions of the human brain, and the national tragedy that struck his home country while working on the album in Tokyo, Japan.
With two brilliant albums recently released (
It has been looking less and less likely that Dirty Three would record any new material. Warren Ellis and Jim White left Mick Turner to his own devices in Australia in order to follow their own paths (Ellis’ ending in Paris and White’s journey is on-going through numerous collaborations with other artists). Even though they were touring over the last few years, no new music made its way into their sets. However, the fates have smiled upon us mere mortals as the group finally entered the studio and have returned with another monster of an album.
Talvihorros is Ben Chatwin, a London-based guitarist that has been quietly releasing some fairly good albums in the abstract soundscape/drone vein over the last few years.  Then he released a truly great one (this one) and it went woefully under-appreciated and overlooked.  If the world were a fair place, Descent Into Delta would have been all over "Best of 2011" lists.
In theory, I should love this project, as it contains members of most of my favorite Bay Area bands (Myrmyr, Barn Owl, Tarentel, etc.).  The reality, however, is a bit complicated: distinctiveness, personality, and ego were all surrendered for the greater glory of these very pure and minimal drones.  This album has some impressive moments, but the participants and their individual talents are almost entirely irrelevant.
Ten years ago, Analog Africa released the landmark African Scream Contest, an album that instantly established the fledgling label as one of the most intriguing and distinctive imprints in the global crate-digging milieu. It was not exactly a perfect album, but it was certainly a perfect and resounding statement of intent, plunging deep into an eclectic vein of forgotten African funk outside the celebrated regions documented by Soundway, Strut, and Ethiopiques. To celebrate that auspicious anniversary, Samy Ben Redjeb has released one hell of a sequel. Sadly, it will not make quite the same impact as its predecessor, as a new label can only burst onto the scene once, but African Scream Contest 2 is actually the superior album in many ways. Admittedly, some people will be disappointed that a bit of the weirdness and rough edges have been sanded away, which is a category that I would normally expect myself to fall into. Redjeb has gotten significantly better at his job over the last decade though and that definitely shows here, as this latest installment is pared down to a wall-to-wall feast of tight grooves and great hooks that never overstays its welcome.
