- Jessica Tibbits
- Albums and Singles
Mistress ofStrands, Ventricle's newest project, is an excellent introduction thatwill hopefully serve to lure in the attention the label deserves. Thisrelease belongs to Ventricle's "silver series," which features CDspackaged with beautifully crafted metallic sleeves. Musically, Mistressof Strands resides in uncharted territory between "ethereal" and"ambient", but can be limited to neither. Group members Tali Braun,Dusty Lee, and Dana Devereaux create atmospheric collages ofcrystalline strings; eerie, yet alluring vocals; and lush, dreamydrones. As with other Ventricle sirens, Tali's haunting voicecompliments rather than dominates its surrounding layers of sound, andthe singer exhibits her versatility by ranging from infinitely delicateechoes to spoken word to outright melody. Dusty's deluge of psychedelicnoise on the mellotron is equally enchanting, and the gauzy distortionleaves the listener pleasantly suspended in a state somewhere betweenwaking and dreaming.
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- Daniel McKernan
- Albums and Singles
They have a beautiful balance: happy upbeat pop music with verytouching lyrics and emotional vocals. The new single is available inthree formats, 7", 12", and CD -- all of which have different querksabout them (which is slightly annoying since this material will not beon the upcoming album). Regardless, "Legal Man," shows a new directionfor the group. It features The Maisonettes, whom I assume providecongos and vocals on the title track. The song is extremely short, onlytwo-and-a-half minutes, but worth the $4. It's predictable Brit-pop,but has a hint of old beach music splashed in - just in time for thesummer. The cutesy female vocals sing, "get out of the city and intothe sunshine - get out of the office and into the springtime!" On the7" this track is backed by "Winter Wooskie," a sad, but upbeat lovesong with very quaint piano work. The 12" doesn't feature this track,but instead features "Judy is a Slap Dick (extended mix)," and the CDsfeatures all three normal versions. A very nice taste of what to lookforward to in their new fourth album, "Fold Your Hands Child, You WalkLike a Peasant," which I can't wait to get my hands on June 6th.samples:
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- Daniel McKernan / Jon Whitney
- Albums and Singles
Oddities is much more diverse and experimental than theirprevious full length releases, as it showcases the bands range of amultitude of styles as opposed to having an album which start tofinish, barely strays from the drum-and-bass lines. This release alsofeatures a spoken word piece from William S. Burroughs, "The Road tothe Western Lands," which has sounds of distant saxophones and, ofcourse, the cut up and layered words of Burroughs. It isn't until trackthree, "Trouble," that sounds of percussion start to arise, and eventhen they are extremely chopped up and form a very disjointed, noiseybeats that morph - stoping/startomg, with odd sounds affects thatresemble either a woman or a bird, I can't tell. This track is 12minutes long, and midway deteriorates into occassional syhntheticnoises which, do unfortunately become slightly tedious. Track four,"Shine a Light," has some very beautiful parts to it - echoing, fadingelectronic sounds and samples, with random beat-esque noise on top. Forthe most part this disc is very quiet and droney, as opposed to theirjazzy influenced, punchy sound. It's a great collection of fans butisn't entirely representative of older works, however.samples:
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- Carter Adams
- Albums and Singles
The statement then goes on to say Jessamineshould not be used as a reference, but as a departing point forFontanelle's sound. Well, after many listens, I probably would havenever have placed the band's self-titled album in any category withJessamine. Instead, the first band that comes to mind after hearing"Picture Start:," the album's opening track, is Isotope 217. Maybe it'sthe analog synths, the bobbing basslines, or the organic funk, but thealbum conjures up images of jazz--funky, homebrewed jazz. While therearen't any horns on the album, it doesn't take much to imagine themthere, and the drum and keyboards help to fill in the bubbling mix witha variety of textures and melodies. "Niagara" begins with a broodingguitars and brushed drum beats, building and building until it subsidesinto quietness and the albums third track, "Reflex vs. Parallax." Aslower, more downbeat track filled with repeated piano chords andwell-crafted guitar work, it serves as the perfect soundtrack to rainynights and hazy visions. The album ends with "Counterweight," abeat-driven number accented by scif-fi guitar effects and bubbling bassnotes. This release, while sometimes a bit slow for me, is just what Ineed to supplement these long summer nights spent reading and writinglong, sentimental letters.samples:
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- Daniel McKernan
- Albums and Singles
I'm sure by now you've heard the hype surrounding this growing legend. He was picked up by David Tibet of Current 93 to be on the Durtro label after Tibet listened to this album. Antony's lyrics and vocals are some of the most soul-clenching and amazingly powerful sounds around today by far. His piano work is splendid. The Johnsons band consists of drums, harp, bass, two violins, cello, flute, two clarinets, sax, and "guitar effects."
- Daniel McKernan
- Albums and Singles
I'm sure by now you've heard the hype surrounding this growing legend. He was picked up by David Tibet of Current 93 to be on the Durtro label after Tibet listened to this album. Antony's lyrics and vocals are some of the most soul-clenching and amazingly powerful sounds around today by far. His piano work is splendid. The Johnsons band consists of drums, harp, bass, two violins, cello, flute, two clarinets, sax, and "guitar effects."
Fans of vocal performers strong enough to slice through your heart and leave your lungs without air should definitely seek this out. The sound is almost reminiscent of old show tunes about broken hearts, but instead with an effeminate male singing. His lyrics tell of pain and can be percieved as melodramatic on the same level that Current 93 can be, but at the same time leave you listening to this disc repeatedly. "Cripple and the Starfish," from the split-single with Current 93 is only one of quite a few stand out tracks on this album. I have yet to see his performance live, but word is that listening to it from a CD is not a tenth of the power felt while experiencing it live. I look forward to seeing his last show in the current New York series on May 30th. For more details, visit the site at: www.antonyandthejohnsons.com.
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- Daniel McKernan / Jon Whitney
- Albums and Singles
Bella Unionpresents the debut Undark release, originally released in 1996 for alimited time direct from the label, but soon being sent to storesworldwide. The usage of different musicians and combinations from trackto track echoes ideas from This Mortal Coil albums from the 80s,differing styles yet remaining linear from start to finish of thealbum. Some songs that have an avant-garde classical feel, with verysubtle mutations of noises in the background and classical instrumentslayed over. Others, though, are very beat driven with fresh soundingnoises, sampled and noodled around with an attention to detail. Thevocal track "How Safe is Deep?", would also appeal most likely to fansof Eyeless in Gaza. For the most part, however, the album is devoid ofsinging, although often touched with voices and scattered fuzzysamples. Much like the last Undark album, guests include Brian Eno,Bill Laswell, Roger Eno, and David Sylvian. And, of course, the sleeveart and design was done by Mills himself, and showcases a newcomputerized direction for him.samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
His output of recent andthe near future is extensive, including 12"s and full lengths onnumerous hip labels: Sigma Editions, Chain Reaction, Max Ernst &Freunde, Phthalo, Force Tracks and here Mille Plateaux. "Entain"combines 4 new tracks with "Kohde" and "Ele" from last year's debut cd"Ele" on Sigma. Each of the tracks, with the exception of 2 briefuntitled segues, are between 15 and 22 minutes in length for nearly 77minutes total of continuous unfolding music. "Kohde" sets the tone witha flow of disjointed micro sounds (bass swells and blips, metallicplucks and pings, minuscule bits of percussion, glitches, pops, clicksand barely discernible human sighs) set against a reverb shroudedambient drone. The sounds gradually slide into a mildly funky rhythm assubconscious melodies also rise up out of the mix. The 22 minutescontinually evolve/devolve, almost inexplicably, and never becometiresome which is remarkable. And it's simply beautiful! "Poiko" and"Notke" are a bit more abrasive, repetitive and structured, the formerfeaturing a glitch loop and the latter a bass throb as centerpieces fortheir duration, while "Ele" is more similar to "Kohde". There is astrong sense/feel of improvisation and controlled chaos within thismusic and it's all purpose suitable to deep, background or REM timelistening. With the glut of artists working within the future musicfields, Vladislav Delay is one to pay attention to. He is trulyextending the boundaries of the electronic frontier with innovative andevocative sounds ...samples:
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- Freida Abtan
- Albums and Singles
South Pacific are Graeme Flemming (drums guitars samples),Joachim Toelke (guitars) and Phil Stewart-Bowes (bass), and if youanswered yes to the above question you really want to hear them play.Constance is South Pacific's first full-length release on TurnbuckleRecords, following their "33" EP - now out of print and increasinglydifficult to find. Full of drifting guitar landscapes and upbeatpercussion, this album is a perfect for days when you would rather havemusic shape the patterns in your head then words. Vocals appear on onlyone track, and even then seem to barely cut through the atmosphere.Almost any of the songs on Constance could have easily fit ontoSlowdive's "Souvlaki" or "Just for a day" because of the driftingquality of the music and the use of similar effects, but South Pacifichave a decidedly different direction to their music. I am finding itvery difficult to put any other albums in my cd player this week.Verdict: Strikingly beautiful music to dream by, don't operate heavymachinery while listening. South Pacific releases can be orderedthrough Turnbuckle at www.turnbuckle.com.Read More
- Jon Whitney / Daniel McKernan
- Albums and Singles
Tarwater return to Mute (US) and Kitty Yo (Europe) with this wonderful 11 part songbook.
Once again, it's a delicate arrangement of beats, electronics and beat poetry influenced spoken/sung words. These post-kraut-rockers step away from the others with their daring choice to sing over the analogue synth-bath. Multitudes of sounds get layered in an almost Arab Strap sounding execution I've been told, but I really can't see it myself. Head bobbing slow cool tunes and pretty melodies litter the entire album, providing a great soundtrack for chilling out or slow dancing. Simple melodies but complex rhythms, percussion, effects and samples. It's lovely, but ends quickly.
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
"Pop" is his 4th full-length release as Gasand judging from the artwork it continues the 'forest' theme of thelast few albums. The near 66 minutes are split up into 7 untitledtracks ranging from 5 to 15 minutes in length. Each track has the samebasic formula: loop and repeat, ad nauseum. Voigt uses a variety ofdense and mildly melodic atmospheres somewhere between gaseous andliquid states. They simply flow on repeat for the duration of the trackwith little to no change. Add a simple techno beat to 2 tracks andthere you have it. "Pop" is relaxing but it's also very tedious, evenas 'background' music, due to it's excessive and pointless repetition.Instead of drawing me in it makes me want to play something else that'smore fully developed and more interesting. And the title? You've got me...samples:
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