Artist: Monoceros
Album: Tales From Late Night Remixes
Label: Imaginary Nonexistent Records
Release date: 1 April 2008
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient Techno
RIYL: Kettel, Xela, Telefon Tel Aviv
Tracklisting:
01. Background Birds [Flotel Remix]
02. Happiness [Betelgeuse Bipolar Remix]
03. Tales For Silent Nights [Macroeconomics Remix]
04. Warm [Maps And Diagrams Remix]
05. Little Pieces [Heezen Remix]
06. Happiness [An On Bast Remix]
07. Northern Lights [Spoweck Shadow Remix]
08. Tales For Silent Nights [Crisopa Remix]
09. Depression And Vortex At Jan Mayen [Soundhacker Remix]
10. Happiness [Flüor Remix]
11. The Day We Become One [Leon Somov Remix]
12. Warm [The Boats Remix]
13. Happiness Edit 2 [DARK.SINUS.WAVE]
Total running time: 73' 00"
[Monoceros - Open MySpace page]
"Monoceros is Joan Malé. He lives in St Martí d’Empúries, a little town in Catalonia, the north of Spain. He has recorded many albums and Ep’s in Expanding Records, Phonobox and recently in his own label Imaginary Nonexistent Records. He also performed in sonar 2005, producing electronic music classified as “IDM” or electronica. He also uses other names, like Salad (sonar 2006), .Exe (with a EP on Dpress Industries) and Lumière (and old project with Xavi Lloses) who released an EP in 2000 and 2 tracks in US label Basiclux." [source]
Sonic: Free releases rarely come as good as this: gathering a host of glitchy electronic artists Monoceros' remix collection not only stands very strong on its own, but provides us with an excellent starting point to discover many of the artists that have helped to make this such a great record. Highlights include Maps and Diagrams' Warm remix, with its glitchy beats and warm synthesisers that recall Xela's "For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights". Crisopa's Tales For Silent Nights' remix, with its up-tempo beat and acid sounds, reminds me of Kettel's "My Dogan". Flüor's Happiness remix manages to pull out the difficult blend of ambient pop with classical piano to great effect. An On Bast's own rendition of Happiness is a much meaner affair, with its saturated beats providing for some good but way too short head-bouncing moments. Recommended.
[Download]
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monoceros "Tales From Late Night Remixes"
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
20:25
36
notes
Genre: Ambient Techno, Glitch
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Telefon Tel Aviv "Map Of What Is Effortless"
Artist: Telefon Tel Aviv
Album: Map Of What Is Effortless
Label: Hefty
Release date: 27 January 2004
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Downtempo/Ambient Techno
RIYL: Apparat, Dntel, Four Tet
Tracklisting:
01. When It Happens It Moves All By Itself
02. I Lied [Feat. Damon Aaron]
03. My Week Beats Your Year [Feat. Lindsay Anderson]
04. Bubble And Spike [Feat. Lindsay Anderson]
05. Map Of What Is Effortless
06. Nothing Is Worth Losing That [Feat. Damon Aaron]
07. What It Is Without The Hand That Wields It
08. What It Was Will Never Again [Feat. Lindsay Anderson]
09. At The Edge Of The World You Will Still Float [Feat. Damon Aaron]
Japanese edition bonus tracks:
10. Jouzu Desu Ne
11. Sound In A Dark Room [Feat. Lindsay Anderson]
Total running time: 45' 15"
[Telefon Tel Aviv - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]
[Telefon Tel Aviv - When It Happens It Moves All By Itself - Unofficial Video Clip]
"The first great album of 2004 has already arrived. From the opening swell of the Loyola University Chamber Orchestra crashing through a giant barbed wire fence of glitched stabs of sliced beats, to the closing wall of found sounds of "At the Edge of the World You Will Still Float", it is plainly obvious. Telefon Tel Aviv has advanced the art of the laptop album to beautifully refined heights with A Map of What is Effortless, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut.
The duo of Joshua Eustis and Charles Cooper has infused this album with so much soul and sweat that it is destined to go down as a classic of the genre. Never resting on a repeating loop or groove, nor filling the LP with a couple of "mood pieces" to accompany the real standouts, Telefon Tel Aviv is the real deal, as special to electronic music as a young Jeff Buckley was to singer/songwriters.
Flawlessly produced and engineered, Map of What is Effortless combines the organic sounds of real pianos and flutes (and chamber orchestras) with some of the best glitch sounds this side of Dntel. An always exciting ebb and flow of the gentle ("When It Happens It Moves All by Itself"), with the humorous ("My Week Beats Your Year"), it is the sheer unpretentious audacity of a young duo on the rise that allows A Map of What is Effortless to sound so... well, effortless.
While most of the tracks feature vocals of some kind (usually distorted, stretched and affected in some magical way), even the instrumental pieces hold their own as standouts, which is often not the case with albums such as this. The LP's first truly heart-wrenching moment comes with the elegantly floating "Bubble and Spike", where an angelic sounding Lindsay Anderson sings among slices and pops of beats and snippets of her own impossibly layered vocals. It brings to mind the best efforts of Everything But the Girl and Sigur Rós and it's especially affecting coming as it does immediately after "My Week Beats Your Year", where Anderson plays the role of a ridiculously arrogant club girl, out to prove in an elegantly-wasted deadpan that her fabulous jet-set life carries the same frequent expectancy as your going to the grocer.
The LP's title track again uses the Loyola University Chamber Orchestra to conjure up a Craig Armstrong-inspired bed of strings that acts as a relaxing intermission to the fried beats of the album's first half, before breaking down into a coral reef of sliced-up abstraction.
"Nothing is Worth Losing That", the album's sixth cut, has the same mastery of momentum that the aforementioned Sigur Rós uses to such effective extremes on their records. Bursting with walls of sound just as the listener expects it all to fade into silence, and then breaking everything down to its simplest parts when the moment seems almost too big to stay intact, it is a masterful display of arrangement, and structure.
"What it Was Will Never Again" is the most Sigur Rós-inspired cut of the entire album, sounding as if it could have come right off of ( ). But Telefon Tel Aviv hold it back, and simply end the cut just as Sigur Rós would have blown the roof off the building with a majestic wall of guitar. I'm not sure it works entirely, as it seems as if there isn't much point in building to such heights only to end it as if it never existed, but nevertheless... It might be the one flaw on an otherwise flawless collection.
Damon Aaron returns to close out the LP with "At the Edge of the World You Will Still Float", which sits somewhere between Seal and the Broadway Project, as all of the album's ideas and sounds come together for a final bow. It's a fitting ending to a record that packs a lot of those ideas in, without ever coming across as anything but cohesive.
Map of What is Effortless may very well be Telefon Tel Aviv's bid for stardom, as the duo takes the sounds and ideas of their 2001 debut, Fahrenheit Fair Enough, and expands them to new heights. Its structure and more mainstream feel may alienate some fans of their early work, but it would be unjustified as it is undoubtedly clear that Telefon Tel Aviv have created something of a minor classic here, one that will no doubt grace quite a few writers' year-end lists, and if there's any justice in the world, the shelves of quite a few record collections as well." [source]
[Download.Download Japanese edition (password:ewang).Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
22:31
1 notes
Genre: Ambient Techno, Downtempo, Glitch
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Anders Ilar "Ludwijka (Extended Visit)"
Artist: Anders Ilar
Album: Ludwijka (Extended Visit)
Label: Shitkatapult
Release date: 16 April 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient/Ambient Techno/Glitch/Dub
RIYL: Monolake, Murcof, Pole, Dettinger
Tracklisting:
01. Ludwijka I
02. Ludwijka II
03. Ludwijka III
04. Ludwijka IV
05. Ludwijka V
06. Ludwijka VI
07. Ludwijka VII
08. Ludwijka VIII
09. Ludwijka IX
Total running time: 57' 03"
"Listening to the non-dance efforts of dance producers is always revealing. Free from the necessary restrictions of 4/4, these projects – as is commonly thought - allow artists to be more experimental, more expressive, and less hemmed in by the restrictions imposed by club formats. The results can go either way though. When Tim Hecker set loose his billowing grey clouds from the regimented beats of his Jetone project, his music grew all the richer. On the other hand, the bouncing tones and naive melodies of Nathan Fake’s 'Drowning in a Sea of Love' drifted off into snoresville; it was bland in the way that only IDM can be.
Swedish artist Anders Ilar has never restricted himself to any one genre, producing acidic minimal techno and less structured electronica, for a host of labels, in equal measure. 'Ludwijka (Extended Visit)' falls into the latter category, and builds upon an earlier vinyl edition formerly released on Merck. Essentially a travelogue around Ilar's hometown of Ludwijka, these tracks are filled with sounds culled from old tapes of a young Ilar singing, playing instruments and making various noises, along with more recent, equally personal recordings, including Ilar's father on trumpet, the meowing family cat and chirping neighbourhood birds. As Ilar states: '...Musically, it's probably inspired by all the music I've listened to over the years. So you see, its a very personal album for me.'
This might lead you to expect a warm, nostalgic journey through resonant patches of sound, but anyone familiar with Ilar's earlier Shitkatapult releases will not be surprised to find something quite different. Filtered through Ilar's laptop, the Ludwijka of his childhood becomes like a David Lynch film: a dark, harrowing nightmare, yet also achingly beautiful. 'Ludwijka I' introduces pads as lush as Ulf Lohmann's, alongside a backdrop teeming with subtle activity, and Casio beats which skip, like Boards of Canada, a notch above ambient music. The same intricate details swarm by, blurred, in 'Ludwijka III', as though viewed from the window of a speeding train, while ticker tape taps scroll past biological moans and groans and morbid, mournful synth pads, all put together like the bleakest electro. 'Ludwijka IV' comes closest to being a pleasant memory, with muffled piano chords shimmering like Budd and Eno, while part VII skips slowly by in 4/4, the drums mere tics, while birds sing and water drips in some dank and horribly lonely place.
Aside from the sounds of birds, the most prevalent theme in 'Ludwijka' is echo, as though Ilar has thrust these memories into a deep cavernous underground. The resultant, reverberant gloom, present in all of these finely constructed tracks, is frequently riveting, and the wealth of detail Ilar has packed in offers much more than misery to the attentive listener." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
V/A "Histeresis"
Artist: V/A
Album: Histéresis
Label: Filtro
Release date: 28 May 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient/Hip Hop/Ambient Techno
RIYL: Murcof, Fax, Xela, Telefon Tel Aviv, Prefuse 73
Tracklisting:
01. El Lazo Invisible "Ella Hablabla En RGB"
02. Meiker "Naranja (That Nostalgic Feeling)"
03. Bifidus "Sinking Downwards In Dire Ruin (F.SS)"
04. Insecto "Miternu"
05. Rivel "Back Again"
06. Subnor "Dodekafucked"
07. Emmerichk "Maquiventa"
08. Absolute Time "Photon"
09. AAM "Bad Japanese Movie"
10. Zofa "Cycles"
11. Manziping "Despues De Usted Señor"
12. Kampión "Dreamy Snapshot"
Total running time: 67' 08"
"We have come to our 20th release in a similar way as in our beginning like a label: establishing a panoramic view of things in minimalist and glitchy electronics produced in an independent context. Histéresis is a drawn trajectory framing intimate and atmospheric set ups to urban beats, flirting in some moments with an alternative dance floor.
Our Release begins with the post digital whisperings from “Ella hablaba en RGB”, of El Lazo Invisible:.."she only speaks RGB, in 3 channels, in front of a screen continuously available.-You have 3 options –she used to tell me, morning is a nice colourful vector".. Like a natural flow, Meiker paints this release with the colours of a warm evening with his track “Naranja (That Nostalgic Feeling)”. We arrive to last thoughts of the day sonic textures with “Sinking downwards in dire ruin (f.ss)” a Bifidus’ track that like his previous work, gives a sound to that state between being awake and being asleep. Insecto from Chile, situate us inside an arena where rhythmic collapses, textures and microscopic melodies clash between themselves.
Rivel, with “Back again” gave us one of his best tracks to date: an undersea dubby garden with paths that bifurcates at unison into his own very logic. "Dodecafuced" by Subnor is a very cinematographic IDM that constructs an imaginary short-film with perfect timing. Emmerichk with "Maquiventa" also forms a narrative with true contemplative thoughts in constant transitions to new forms. AAM with “Bad japanese movie” place us in the middle of a cluster of textures that works as a camouflage to rhythms floating under a dense residual scheme. Zofa in cycles makes display of his ability to leave us in the middle of a field of unsolved tensions that unease the listener. "Photon" by Absolute time is a piece that searches getting away from the minimal as we know it and make us sigh a little bit for the nineties.
Histéresis nearly finishes with Manziping, our friends from Chile. “Después de usted señor” hides within its gentle title a store formed with beats, bass assaults and some problems with catching a radio signal, all of this over an atmosphere which, like some climatic variations, warns us from things to come. Kampión, the man that has changed the FACE of Mexican hip hop forever, closes with “Dreamy Snapshot” an impressive collaboration between MC Domer and digitally corrupted hip hop champion.
Filtro is back!" [source]
[Kudos to Robot for this discovery.]
[Download]
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Telefon Tel Aviv "Remixes Compiled"
Artist: Telefon Tel Aviv
Album: Remixes Compiled
Label: Hefty
Release date: 15 May 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Breakbeat/Downtempo
RIYL: Apparat, Proem, Dntel
Tracklisting:
01. Nine Inch Nails "Even Deeper" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
02. Bebel Gilberto "All Around" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
03. John Hughes "Get Me Lost/Driving In LA" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
04. Apparat "Komponent" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
05. AmmonContact "BBQ Plate" ["Last Supper" Mix By Telefon Tel Aviv]
06. American Analog Set* "The Green Green Grass" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
07. Midwest Product "A Genuine Display" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
08. Oliver Nelson "Stolen Moments" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
09. Phil Ranelin "Time Is Running Out" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
10. Nitrada "Fading Away" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
11. Marc Hellner "Asleep On The Wing" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
12. Slicker "Knock Me Down Girl" [Telefon Tel Aviv Remix]
Total running time: 53' 53"
[Telefon Tel Aviv - What It Is Without The Hand That Weilds It - Unofficial Video Clip]
"From the opening bars of their remix of Nine Inch Nails' 'Even Deeper' (the opening track to this collection) you know you've got an hour or so of the most sumptuous electronica ahead of you. This remix was actually the band's first track together under the Telefon Tel Aviv moniker, dating back to 2000 and all the band's distinctive auditory trademarks were in place even then: the impossibly high fidelity recordings, the vastly complicated rhythmic methodologies and the near superhuman attention to detail. Skip forward to TTV's reworking of Bebel Gilberto's 'All Around' and you're in for another widescreen electronic treat, with all the key elements of the original handled with the utmost delicacy only to be bolstered by a crackling ocean of frazzled electronics. Other standout moments crop up when Apparat's 'Komponent' gets tweaked to futuristic pop perfection and Oliver Nelson's orchestral 'Stolen Moments' gets a subtle circuit bending. A masterclass in electronic production techniques and no mistake." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Lost Tapes #2: Autechre
The complete Autechre discography. Get them while they're hot!
That's right people, the complete discography of one of my favourite electronic artists is here. Please note that you will need close to 2 Gigs of hard disk space if you want to go on a download frenzy. Yes, it's about time you ditch those Dido and Celine Dion records that you secretly love and make room for this mammoth collection. ;)
For those of you who don't know Autechre (how could you not? tsk tsk tsk...) I included a short biography, courtesy of Wikipedia. I would recommend that you start discovering Autechre with their early records, instead of jumping straight to their last few albums. My personal recommendations are marked with an asterisk (*).
For those of you who already know Autechre, you might be surprised to find some rarities you hadn't heard before. BTW, what's your favourite Autechre album? As for me nothing can beat "Incunabula", my favourite electronic record of all time. Have fun!
Bio
"Autechre is an English electronic music group consisting of Rob Brown (born c. 1971) and Sean Booth (born c. 1973), both natives of Rochdale. The group is one of the most prominent acts signed with Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music artists. Some journalists consider Autechre to be a paragon of IDM and one of the driving forces behind its development, though Booth and Brown are ambivalent in relating their sound to established genres.
The two members formed the group in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. They began their career making and trading mixtapes between each other, and gradually moved on to their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR606 drum machine. Since then they have employed a wide variety of electronic instruments to create an evolving style.
Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent (IPA [ɔˈtɛk.ə] — approximately "awe-teh-ker"). However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth explains: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name." They are also commonly referred to by the abbreviation "Ae".
Autechre have also recorded under various pseudonyms. One of the duo's earliest recordings was a 12" under the alias "Lego Feet", released in 1991 on Skam Records. The majority of Gescom releases, most of them on Skam, have been attributed to Booth and Brown, among other artists. Autechre helped initiate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2000, and were responsible for curating the 2003 festival.
Many describe Autechre's music as cold and austere, whereas others perceive a warmth and sentimentality that touches even the most cerebral pieces. Much of Autechre's music has a strong focus on complex rhythm, driving percussion, and meticulous sequencing. Often unusual rhythmic loops repeat and change incrementally, with the music constantly in transition. Sometimes patterns are set against one another, implying several time signatures at once. Later work has been notably experimental and abstract, in contrast to the more club-friendly and conventional early 1990s releases.
Reactions to their music have varied. Many of their tracks contain complex or chaotic rhythms and close harmonies which some hear as random and noisy. Fans of their recent work tend to find the value of their music to lie in its unique fusion of rhythmic and melodic elements, percussive noises being tweaked to sound like they have pitches, and clustered, often inharmonic synthesizer patches implying numerous melodic lines and chord structures simultaneously. A recurring element in Autechre's work is the use of extremely short snippets of sound to create a fragmented, grainy effect.
True to their early techno roots, Autechre use a wide array of analog synths in their production, as well as analog and digital drum machines, mixers, effects units and samplers. They have also made extensive use of a variety of computer based sequencers, softsynths, and other applications as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesized sounds. Autechre have also experimented in depth with development environments such as Max/MSP, SuperCollider and Kyma – amongst others – from 1997 onwards, though it is unclear which are still in use. In 2005, they used the Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine in their live performances.
Autechre have emphasized that their music-making involves using new techniques on old equipment and old techniques on new equipment, and that their sound comes from combinations of tools and techniques, and "creative routing", more than any single magical machine. This has been the case since their early days, when, for example, they used a Boss delay that had a pitch/trigger input, allowing it to be used as a realtime sampler. When the square wave input it received for determining pitch had resonance added, the pitch would drift between notes in a special way. If the output was mixed back in as a control pitch, it could produce unusual fractal patterns, something that cannot be recreated easily with software, or on an embedded system. Other machines that Autechre have repeatedly mentioned in interviews are appreciated for their interface as much as their sound, including the Roland TR-606 and MC-202, and the Nord Lead.
Autechre sometimes use generative techniques, most notably on Confield and EP7. In response to comments about their unique sound, Autechre argue that given the incredible range of tools available to modern composers, especially in the electronic genres, it is incomprehensible that any band should "sound like" any other band." [Wikipedia]
[Note1: For accurate tracklistings and jpegs of all the covers have a look on Discogs.]
[Note2: Whilst some of the albums here are no longer available to buy, for those that are for sale you can find them at Warp.]
01. Autechre "Cavity Job" [EP] (1991)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
02. Autechre "Incunabula" (1993) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
03. Autechre "Amber" (1994) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
04. Autechre "Anti EP" [EP] (1994)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
05. Autechre "Basscad EP" [EP] (1994)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
06. Autechre "Anvil Vapre" [EP] (1995)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
07. Autechre "Garbage" [EP] (1995)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
08. Autechre "Tri Repetae" (1995) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
09. Autechre "Chiastic Slide" (1997)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
10. Autechre "Cichlisuite" [EP] (1997) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
11. Autechre "Envane" [EP] (1997)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
12. Autechre "Radio Mix" (1997) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
13. Autechre "LP5" (1998)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
14. Autechre "EP7" [EP] (1999)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
15. Autechre "Peel Session" [EP] [FLAC] (1999)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
16. Autechre "Peel Session 2" [EP] [FLAC] (2001)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
17. Autechre "Confield" (2001)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
18. Autechre "Gantz Graf" [EP] (2002)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
19. Autechre & The Hafler Trio "æo³ & ³hæ" (2003)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
20. Autechre "Draft 7.30" (2003) (*)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
21. Autechre "Untilted" (2005)
[Link removed at the request of the label.]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
07:42
23
notes
Genre: Experimental, Glitch, Lost Tapes, Techno
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
MHV "EP04"
Artist: MHV
Albums: EP04
Label: Konfort
Release date: June 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Techno/Experimental
RIYL: Autechre, Monolake, Aphex Twin
Tracklisting:
01. Pasaje 0.2 v3
02. Obbservanndddo
03. Finalmente La C De La F
04. Vertebral C. In.
05. Too Fucking Pure
Total running time: 30' 09"
Short Bio
"Unlike Metaculto, MHV (Miguel Herrera Vega) includes fragility; eternal union and isolation, inclusion; present, past and future evolutions; rational facture; deconstruction and specificity; simplicity and complexity. These rhythms bring him closer to pop mixed with experimental tendencies such as drill n’ bass, abstract hip-hop, IDM, glitch, and so on. Miguel Herrera Vega a.k.a Miguel Meta 21 years old from the atypical and abstract project Metaculto show us with his work a clear example of what we could call music without labels, without classification, geometrically irregular but not at all lacking of meaning or force. Simultaneously, he cleverly and without prejudices includes within his own style different elements from so many but at the same time complementary genres. He thus creates a twisted ultra-futurist amalgam with fantastic structures, oneiric textures, multiple atmospheric layers, microscopic sounds, epileptic rhythms, melodic capsules, cold and endless digital processes and an accurate confection of shades that sometimes become polarized creating a sweety sick opposition feeling, almost always against obviousness." [source]
Review
"Alternate project that unlike “Metaculto” brings us with its particular style closer music; where rhythms, its peculiar micro-hacking, sound layers that recall melodies living inside the heart, devastating beats, sharpened frequencies, stained sequences, unbounded syncope, devastating glitch, merciless program and digitalization hours give us a quick look of its fantastic world.
Fiber optic and cables coming out directly from the brain and forming complicated hanks intertwined with the heart, the eyes looking at the monitor, electronic impulse broadcasting devices, scanned images passed straight forward to the synthesizer, silicon everywhere, cables and interfaces, sparks, short circuit, low-energy, blackout, screen showing error, to roll eyes…endless loop, the machine is taking control again." [source]
[Kudos to Robot for this discovery.]
[Download]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
19:21
0
notes
Genre: Experimental, Glitch, Techno
MHV "EP 777"
Artist: MHV
Albums: EP 777
Label: Konfort
Release date: September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Techno/Experimental
RIYL: Autechre, Monolake, Aphex Twin
Tracklisting:
01. 21 Cycles (Ascn)
02. Nothingness
03. Tmp Yr
04. Vrd2
Total running time: 16' 38"
"An old master in the Ancient arts of beatmaking and sound experimentation, MHV strikes back on No Copy Protection with a new EP filled with fierce rhythms and sonic blasts. Percussions fight each other for the listener’s attention. Subliminally interlaced with the challenging rhythm patterns, sweet melodies keep the whole enterprise from spiraling downwards into darkness. A truly remarkable accomplishment, equal parts music and noise, EP 777 packs more novel ideas than your average MENSA mind." [source]
[Kudos to Robot for this discovery.]
[Download]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
19:20
4
notes
Genre: Experimental, Glitch, Techno
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Modeselektor "Happy Birthday!"
Artist: Modeselektor
Album: Happy Birthday!
Label: BPitch Control
Release date: 10 September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Techno/Electro/Hip Hop/Acid/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. Godspeed
02. 2000007 [Feat. TTC]
03. Happy Birthday!
04. Let Your Love Grow [Feat. Paul St. Hilaire]
05. B.M.I.
06. EM Ocean
07. Sucker Pin
08. The First Rebirth
09. The Dark Side Of the Frog [Feat. Puppetmastaz]
10. The Dark Side Of the Sun [Feat. Puppetmastaz]
11. Black Block
12. Edgar
13. Hyper Hyper [Feat. Otto Von Schirach]
14. Late Check-Out
15. The Wedding Toccata Theme
16. The White Flash [Feat. Thom Yorke]
17. Déboutonner [Feat. Siriusmo]
Total running time: 69' 40"
[Modeselektor - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]
"Ellen Allien's BPitch Control is one of Germany's more eclectic dance-music labels, firmly rooted in the dark Deutsche techno sound but constantly stretching beyond. Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary of Modeselektor, arguably the label's most celebrated artists aside from Queen Ellen, mark the arrival of their second album with an even broader range of beats than what was displayed on Hello Mom!, their 2005 debut.
Techno-influenced dubstep, grime, and breaks abound on Happy Birthday! alongside some interesting guest vocalists. Opener "Godspeed" takes a dancehall riddim and adds grimey bass and techie synths, setting the tone for an album's worth of cross-genre juxtapositions. Not too far removed from U.K. grime, entries like "2000007," featuring French hip-hoppers TTC, and "The Dark Side of the Sun," featuring the Puppetmastaz, border on cheese only because of their proximity to hip-hop's often silly British sibling. Still, the Selektors' rhythms keep things interesting, and the slower tempo ends up putting the tunes somewhere between the hyperspeed of the English sound and the jiggy grooves of current U.S. hip-hop.
The album's title track actually sounds like some Balkan gypsy jam from the twenty-fourth century, and a pair of dance-floor destroyers that could sound at home on Ed Banger Records makes sure that all bases are covered. Even the few deeper cuts, including a collaboration with Thom Yorke that sounds like an outtake from Eraser, can't help but break up the beats and keep the album from dipping into straight techno. There's a ton going on in every tune, so you can listen intently for the multitude of hidden bits and bobs or simply rock out to the crunchy breaks. The duo has managed to make an album to please both the blogging music nerds and the hipper club-hopping set.
Their influences are obvious, but Bronsert and Szary never rest in any one style. Although many deejays bring a variety of sounds into a single set, these guys have taken things a big step further and crammed multiple genres into each song. They even make dubstep danceable, and deserve quite a bit of credit for that." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Friday, September 21, 2007
Murcof "Cosmos"
Artist: Murcof
Album: Cosmos
Label: Leaf
Release date: 17 September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient/Modern Classical/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. Cuerpo Celeste
02. Cielo
03. Cosmos I
04. Cometa
05. Cosmos II
06. Oort
Total running time: 56' 12"
[Murcof - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]
[Murcof - Cielo - Live @ EME 06]
"In the five years that separate Murcof’s majestic debut album, Martes, and his most recent offering, Cosmos, Fernando Corona has become one of the most respected electronic musicians around, and a source of inspiration for a whole new generation of musicians, not only in his native Mexico where his success has energised a myriad of new artists and labels, but also across Europe, with artists such as Deaf Center or part of the roster of Erik Skodvin’s Miasmah imprint openly claiming to have been influenced by his visionary take on classical sounds and electronica.
Coming two years after Remembranza, which explored more complex sound and harmonic structures than its predecessor, Cosmos is an altogether much grander and ambitious record than any of his previous releases. While there are still some manifestations of the micro-beats and clicks which formed the main rhythmic support throughout Martes, most prominently on Cielo and Cometa, it is a much leaner sound, stripped of clear electronic influence, that Corona applies here. Working from recordings of original classical instruments as opposed to samples, Corona deploys a much grainier template and develops increasingly vast expanses that allow him to step out of conventional electronic forms and into much less regimented forms. Pieces such as Cosmos I and II are sprawling textural reefs in which minute particle of sound find refuge to proliferate until they occupy much of the aural scope, developing into dense polytonal drones. Yet, these are everything but austere monolithic formations. Corona buries pulsating melodies deep within the layers of sound, like little hearts pumping blood to the most remote extremities of a body. This results in ever changing clouds where noise and melody are consolidated into one to deliver an almighty blow.
Cuerpo Celeste and Oort are more nuanced compositions. The former slowly develops from occasional floating swathes of strings into crashing waves of church organ and choir before dying on a bed of ambient noises, while the latter is a much more purely orchestral piece. If there are still some electronic references found on here, this closing piece takes Cosmos in a completely new direction and throws a probe into the unknown.
While it is clear with Cosmos that the music created by Fernando Corona may not have yet entirely completed its mutation from electronic-based to a much more multi-dimensional and organic medium, four of the six tracks collected here clearly set a very different agenda to the one he defined with Martes. Very much like Ulysses could be seen as a premise to the open forms developed on this album, these orchestral pieces may well be the first manifestation of a very different way for Corona to approach his music. Only Cielo and Cometa provide some grounding into the past and perhaps ensures a smooth transition between two entirely different musical forms. As it stands, Cosmos is a remarkable work which defies classification and challenges the mind beyond expectations." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
16:33
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notes
Genre: Ambient, Glitch, Modern Classical
Monday, September 03, 2007
Valgeir Sigurðsson "Eqvílibríum"
Artist: Valgeir Sigurðsson
Album: Eqvílibríum
Label: Bedroom Community
Release date: 10 September 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient/Modern Classical/Ambient Pop/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. A Symmetry
02. Evolution Of Waters
03. Focal Point
04. Baby Architect
05. After Four
06. Winter Sleep
07. Equilibrium Is Restored
08. Before Nine
09. Kin
10. Lungs, For Merrilee
Total running time: 49' 10"
[Valgeir Sigurðsson - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]
[Valgeir Sigurðsson - Evolution Of Waters - Video Clip]
[Valgeir Sigurðsson - Eqvílibríum Preview Trailer #1]
[Valgeir Sigurðsson - Eqvílibríum Preview Trailer #2]
"Icelandic musician and producer Valgeir Sigurðsson is best known as a regular collaborator with Björk, having contributed to all her records since Selmasongs, and for recent stints with the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy (The Letting Go) and CocoRosie (The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn). He recently set up his own imprint, Bedroom Community, and has published Speaks Volume, the debut album from twenty-four year old American classical composer Nico Muhly and the most recent output from Melbourne’s Ben Frost.
Eqvílibríum, Sigurðsson’s long overdue debut album is an elegant collection of gentle acoustic pieces tainted with orchestral swathes and discreet electronics textures. If the compositions could appear deceptively simple at first, repeat listens reveal complex and intricate formations which explode in colourful ribbons of sounds, textures and emotions to form the backbone of Sigurðsson’s exquisite miniature tales.
Nico Muhly handles the score here and appears in various capacities (piano, synths, celesta, string arrangements), leading an impressive cast, amongst which Guy Sigsworth, another regular Björk contributor, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Faun Fables’ Dawn McCarthy, Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis and Machine Translations’ J. Walker are some of the most high-profile intervenients. Sigurðsson makes good use of this constant afflux of energy. He, who is more often found in the background, guides this exotic ensemble through the meanderings of his imagination.
Although the majority of the compositions collected here are instrumental, vocals occasional materialise and bring an element of human tension into this wonderfully detailed and dense patchwork. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy lends his softly droned torments to Evolution Of Waters and Kin, pushing the two songs into moody corners. Evolution Of Waters especially sounds like a precious stone set against a lush string-laden backdrop of shimmering sub-melodies. There are echoes of Mark Kozelek on Baby Architect as J. Walker weaves surrealist lyrics into Sigurðsson’s wonderful atmospheric pop while Dawn McCarthy brings earthy flavours and emotional grounding to the dramatic Winter Sleep.
As a counterpoint to the rich and vibrant layers of opening track A Symmetry and Focal Points, After Four and even more so Equilibrium Is Restored offer beautiful autumnal textures and melancholic overtones. The latter track is not without recalling some of the ambiences of Ben Frost’s superb Theory Of Machines. The two remaining instrumentals allow for some of the most poignant arrangements and cinematic moments of the record. At just one minute forty, Before Nine serves as an impeccable introduction to the heart-warming Kin, while the intricate shimmering piano and guitar motifs of Lungs, For Merrilee bring this album to a truly inspiring finale.
Despite the many collaborators involved and the ambitious aspect of the project, Eqvílibríum is beautifully understated and subtle and above all deeply poetic. Valgeir Sigurðsson is the most welcoming and thoughtful of hosts and, as he leads his companions through various narratives, he orchestrates one of the most exhilarating and perfect records you’ll hear this year." [source]
[Download[pw:ultimovicio].Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
15:17
4
notes
Genre: Ambient, Ambient Pop, Glitch, Modern Classical
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Bola "Kroungrine"
Artist: Bola
Album: Kroungrine
Label: Skam
Release date: 18 June 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient Techno/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. Zoft Broiled Ed
02. Noop
03. Waknuts
04. Halyloola
05. Urenforpuren
06. Phulcra
07. Rainslaight
08. Diamortem
Total running time: 53' 37"
"Darrell Fitton is an electronic musician from Manchester, England. Most of his work is recorded under recording monikers Bola and Jello, released primarily on Skam Records. Fitton has also contributed to electronic acts D-Breeze, Brahma and Ooblo, and Autechre's Gescom project.
Fitton had his first electronic music release in 1994, on Warp's now infamous Artificial Intelligence II compilation. In 1995 he returned, but with the now more familiar Bola moniker releasing the Bola 1 12" on Skam Records. A rare set of 3 EPs called Shapes was released in 2000, pressed at only 300 copies; in September 2006, it was remastered and reissued in greater numbers by Skam, adding three bonus tracks.
His latest album Kroungrine was released on the 18th of June 2007." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
12:46
0
notes
Genre: Ambient Techno, Glitch
Monday, June 18, 2007
Lusine "Podgelism"
Artist: Lusine
Album: Podgelism
Label: Ghostly
Release date: 20 March 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient Techno/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. Drip [Apparat Remix]
02. Make It Easy [John Tejada Remix]
03. Flat [Lusine Remix]
04. Flat For You [Matthew Dear Remix]
05. Still Frame [Lusine Remix]
06. Auto Pilot [Deru Remix]
07. Flat [Cepia Remix]
08. The Stop [Robag Wruhme Remix]
09. Everything Under The Sun [Lawrence Remix]
10. Flat [Dimbiman Feat. Cabanne Remix]
11. Falling In [Lusine Remix]
Total running time: 61' 40"
[Lusine - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]
"Podgelism, a new collection of remixes, is the latest from Seattle-based Lusine (AKA Jeff McIlwain). It is a many-sided view of the Lusine sound, characterized by highly textured melodies and surgically precise glitch rhythms aligned by floor-shaking kickdrums. Each track is an interpretation by one of a globe-spanning set of producers hand-picked from electronic music’s highest echelon.
Renowned techno producers John Tejada and Robag Wruhme amp up the danceability – of “Make It Easy” and “The Stop,” respectively – to craft club burners of the highest order; fresh from his acclaimed collaboration with Ellen Allien (Orchestra of Bubbles), Apparat weighs in with a top-tier version of “Drip”; and Lusine remixes himself on a stunning version of “Falling In.” While stylistically diverse, Podgelism is unified by the strength of its source material and the like-minded inventiveness of its contributors." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
22:24
0
notes
Genre: Ambient Techno, Glitch
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Proem "A Permanent Solution"
Artist: Proem
Album: A Permanent Solution
Label: n5MD
Release date: 1 May 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient Techno/Ambient
Tracklisting:
01. Blacker The Berry
02. Secret Knots
03. Dual Carrier
04. Newskrewl
05. When Things Fall Apart
06. Sputterfly
07. A Permanent Solution
08. Awake At 4AM
09. Ctimsells
10. Wall Of Knives
11. Wall Of Knives 2
12. Deepmagix
13. Give It Back
14. Social Pirhana
Total running time: 53' 25"
"Richard Bailey posts another bulletin from the cutting edge of IDM with this latest album, "A Permanent Solution". The n5MD label certainly seem to be waging a campaign to keep the ailing genre alive, and there's no denying that an artist of Proem's pedigree and undoubted programming skill is one of the current champions of the scene. Although beats are crisp and detailed, it's significant that the greatest asset in these productions seems to lie with the depth of Bailey's more atmospheric elements. The oceanic layers of synths and liquid ambience are what's key here, and you can hear the richness of these more amorphous elements on 'When Things Fall Apart' and 'Sputterfly'. As a body of work, A Permanent Solution is comparable to late period Arovane or the more cinematically-inclined works of Bola. Regardless of whatever fashion or fad might dictate in electronic music, it's still nice to hear that not everyone's intent on following the pack, and if there is such a thing as a forward thinking IDM record in 2007, this sure sounds like it." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
10:28
0
notes
Genre: Ambient, Ambient Techno, Glitch
Monday, June 04, 2007
Yasume "When Audrey Dances" + "Wakare"
Artist: Yasume
Song: When Audrey Dances
Video: Unofficial Clip [by SilentOkami]
Release Date: 15 January 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient
Download Yasume's non-album track: Wakare [listen]
See also: Yasume "Where We're From The Birds Sing A Pretty Song"
Monday, May 21, 2007
Schneider TM & KPT.Michi.Gan "Binokular"
Artist: Schneider TM & KPT.Michi.Gan
Album: Binokular [EP]
Label: City Slang
Release date: 2000
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro/Glitch/Synth Pop
Tracklisting:
01. Chotto Matte
02. Testton 2
03. Onnanoko
04. Ray Nox
05. Dynamike
06. The Light 3000
Total running time: 24' 16"
[Schneider TM & KPT.Michi.Gan - The Light 3000 - Video Clip]
"This six-song EP finds Germany's Schneider TM teaming with his sometime live collaborator KPT.Michi.Gan to make an album of warm, glitchy electronic pop. In terms of sound, this EP is very closely aligned with German artists like Mouse on Mars, Schlamapeitzer, and others recording for the A-Musik and Sonig labels. The focus here is on shaping organic synthesizer sounds and clicking machine static into a pop structure, and to that end, it succeeds. Layer upon layer of sonic minutiae make instrumental tracks like "Chotto Matte" and "Testton 2" more compelling with each listen, but the real finds here are the two songs with vocals. "Onnanoko" has a catchy new wave melody on top of a thick bed of sampled guitars and nervous drum programming. Even more impressive is "The Light 3000," which actually is a digital update of the Smiths classic "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." Featuring a bright, shimmering electronic backdrop and heavily processed vocals that give the already downcast song an even more downhearted feel, "The Light 3000" is the rare cover song that holds its own against the original. Binokular is a solid EP without a weak track." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Dntel "Dumb Luck"
Artist: Dntel
Album: Dumb Luck
Label: Sub Pop
Release date: 24 April 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient Pop/Electro Pop/Glitch
Tracklisting:
01. Dumb Luck
02. To A Fault [Feat. Grizzly Bear]
03. I'd Like To Know [Feat. Lali Puna]
04. Roll On [Feat. Rilo Kiley]
05. The Distance [Feat. Arthur & Yu]
06. Rock My Boat [Feat. Mia Doi Todd]
07. Natural Resources [Feat. Fog]
08. Breakfast In Bed [Feat. Bright Eyes]
09. Dreams [Feat. Mystic Chords Of Memory]
Total running time: 41' 19"
[Dntel - (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan - Video Clip]
[Jimmy Tamborello - Studio Tour]
"Jimmy Tamborello likes to take his time. Thirteen years after starting to work under the Dntel moniker and almost six years after releasing his last Dntel full-length, Life is Full of Possibilities (Plug Research), he has painstakingly built and birthed Dumb Luck, an album five years in the making.
Thick with Tamborello’s signature electronic washes and genius beat placement, Dumb Luck is an album lyrically as much about human distance as connection. With vocal contributions from friends Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley), Edward Droste (Grizzly Bear), Valerie Trebeljahr and Markus Acher (Lali Puna), Mia Doi Todd, Grant Olsen and Sonya Westcott (Arthur & Yu), Andrew Broder (Fog), Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Christopher and Jennifer Gunst (Mystic Chords of Memory), the organic instrumentation by Chris Hathwell (drummer, Moving Units) and Paul Larson (guitarist, The Minor Canon) is manipulated, chopped and pasted amidst Tamborello’s skittish beats, house clicks, organ washes and dreamily pixelated symphonies. The result is at once understatedly epic, ethereal and concrete.
Like Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (Plug Research), his 2006 release under the name James Figurine, and The Postal Service’s 2003 release Give Up, Tamborello meticulously labored over each element of his bit-crushed compositions in his LA home studio. Fueled by a short attention span, his distaste for working on any one project for extended periods of time meant that this was, like most worthwhile things, a process fraught with redefinition and constant change.
After all, producing, engineering and songwriting initially started out as pre-teen after-school fun for Tamborello, whose early interests were breakdancing music and ‘80s techno pop (and later the sonic tampering of Skinny Puppy and Aphex Twin). In the mid-to-late ‘90s, he played in the post-hardcore band Strictly Ballroom and satisfied his ‘80s techno pop appetite with the (still active) Figurine he also played stints in So-Cal pop groups Further and The Tyde. The myriad of friends Tamborello made along the way informed the collaborative element of Dntel; each vocal is viewed as another instrument in the arsenal, helping to create a warm masterwork that is uniquely his." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
19:05
0
notes
Genre: Ambient Pop, Electro Pop, Glitch
Monday, April 23, 2007
Pole "Steingarten"
Artist: Pole
Album: Steingarten
Label: ~scape
Release date: 16 March 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Dub Techno/Glitch/Ambient
Tracklisting:
01. Warum
02. Winkelstreben
03. Sylvenstein
04. Schöner Land
05. Mädchen
06. Achterbahn
07. Düsseldorf
08. Jungs
09. Pferd
Total running time: 45' 06"
"Living up to one’s legacy as an artist is never an easy prospect, and following his pioneering Pole releases from the late ’90s (1, 2, and 3), Stefan Betke was staring this problem straight between the eyes. The stripped-down, dub-influenced techno he released during that time, alongside like-minded producers from the Basic Channel camp and others, changed the face of electronic music for the following decade—and with no sign of that influence dying down, the change may just be permanent. Which is all well and good for the ego and CV, but where does that leave an artist who has no interest in repeating himself? If his original plan was to break new sonic ground, how could this be achieved without either rehashing things he had already done or totally alienating his strong following?
Fair or not, it’s likely that nothing Betke issues from here on out will make people forget that early output. Betke’s sixth full-length album (and second on his own ~scape imprint) goes a long way toward solving that particular conundrum. After a rather unexpected side trip into hip-hop (including guest appearances from Fat Jon) on his self-titled album from 2003, Betke hasn’t merely licked his wounds and retreated into familiar territory, but fused some lessons learned from his own back catalog to create a shiny new beast, at once identifiable as his work and yet something tangibly different. In a blindfolded test I conducted (with the help of iTunes Party Shuffle function), I named the majority of these tracks as having a Pole-influenced sound, but only once correctly identified a track from this album as Betke’s own work. He hasn’t reinvented the wheel here, but he has pimped his ride a bit, with some fabulous results.
Most of the tracks here are built around short loops, and there are still significant dub and hip-hop influences present, as well as bits of old Pole standbys (noise/clicks/pops as rhythmic tools; deep throbbing bass; languid tempos). But this time out, Betke has mixed things in a different way; it’s still technically “minimal” music, but the layers overlap far more than they did in the past, making for a busier, more melodic landscape of sounds. Everything is richer, more fully realized, and when the bits of melody do float in and out of the mix, they are that much more memorable for having made their way through Betke’s layers. The beats are more varied, from hip-hop and R&B influenced breakbeat-type loops (“Warum,” “Schöner Land”) to funk (“Achterbahn”) to scratching, fuzzed-up Aphexisms (“Mädchen”); the basslines are more melodic, a departure from the heavy dub tracks of yore, more suited to moving asses than inspiring head-nods. When Betke’s trademark crackling, hissing noises appear, they don’t simply hang in the ether and loop themselves for the sake of looping—they’re far more integrated into the grain and structure of the tracks, a building block rather than mere ornamentation. This might not be Betke’s most groundbreaking full-length, nor even the most memorable, but the case can be made that it is his most fully realized.
The cover photo of Schloss Neuschwanstein is an apt visual metaphor for the music found within: ornate, serene, untouched almost to the point of it looking slightly surreal, like it was constructed of Lego as opposed to brick and mortar. It looks bright and inviting, even cozy in places, but is surrounded by desolate, snow-covered mountains, almost too perfect to exist in this reality. The layout is intricate and sprawling, but somehow conveys a sense of simplicity and economy. Just as this castle could easily be a snowblind mirage, Pole’s music exists in its own pocket universe—but one close enough to reality to be easily grasped and related to." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Posted by
Sonic Process
at
16:36
11
notes
Genre: Ambient, Dub Techno, Glitch
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Xela "For Frosty Mornings And Summer Nights"
Artist: Xela
Album: For Frosty Mornings And Summer Nights
Labels: Neo Ouija [re-release: Type Records]
Release dates: 27 January 2003 [re-release: 22 January 2007]
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient
Tracklisting:
01. Afraid Of Monsters
02. Under The Glow Of Streetlights
03. Japanese Whispers
04. Inbetween Two Rooms
05. Impulsive Behaviour
06. An Abandoned Robot
07. The Long Walk Home At Midnight
08. Bobble Hats In Summer
09. Digital Winter
10. Last Breath
11. A Glance [re-release bonus track]
12. Danse Macabre [re-release bonus track]
Total running time: 60' 40"
"Recorded between shifts at his local Halfords, Xela's debut LP 'For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights' was originally released four years ago and heralded John Twells' solo entrance onto the electronic stage through an album of gorgeously realised music that cast a shimmering spell on all those who experienced it. Now getting a welcome re-release through Twells' own Type imprint and boasting two new tracks plus some stunning Matthew Woodson cover art, 'For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights' has withstood the greying ravages of time with considerable aplomb - appearing more sprightly and intimate now than it did first time round... For those who haven't already experienced Xela's work, 'For Frosty Mornings...' acts as a vital starting point - wherein Twells was able to distill his vast musical knowledge into the kind of music which ruptured the cosy IDM world and introduced a raft of unexpected adjuncts and classically informed compositions that sent the album well beyond the genre's increasingly insular boundaries. Outwardly more innocent than the blood red machinations of his later work, 'For Frosty Mornings...' nonetheless instills a subtle malignancy throughout which joyfully pervades the clear-eyed electronics and brings a distinctive bite to proceedings. With maturity well beyond his then bum-fluff years, Xela serves up an early show of strength through the hip-hop braced rhythm of 'Under The Glow Of Streetlights' - wherein a snowfall of effervescent synths and creamy electronic washes are knitted together with breathtaking melancholy. With a classically trained background under his hat, Xela very much understands the value of well thought out compositions that bestow the entire record with the kind of depth and grace which is all too often lacking within electronic music's clinical preoccupations. With an evident highlight being the stunning 'Bobble Hats In Summer', Xela captures that special something which transforms a beat-less cloud of floating melodies into the kind of emotional dart that takes out your senses in one pinpoint maneuver. Bolstered by bonus tracks 'A Glance' and 'Danse Macabre' (recorded shortly after the album sessions), 'For Frosty Mornings And Summer Nights' is the kind of reissue that more than justifies a second coming - brimming as it is with grace, beauty and ye olde vim. Classic." [source]
[Download.Buy]
Monday, December 18, 2006
ISAN "Plans Drawn In Pencil"
Artist: ISAN
Album: Plans Drawn In Pencil
Label: Morr Music
Release date: 13 June 2006
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch/Ambient
Tracklisting:
01. Look And Yes
02. Cinnabar
03. Yttrium
04. Roadrunner
05. Ship
06. Immoral Architecture
07. Amber Button
08. Five To Four, Ten To Eleven
09. Corundum
10. Stickland
11. Seven Mile Marker
12. Working In Dust
13. Ruined Feathers
Total running time: 45' 00"
[ISAN - Cinnabar - Video Clip]
"Announcing their return to the fray through a lambent little 7" of Satie covers, the enduring duo of Antony Ryan and Robin Saville have now finished sketching their long-awaited follow-up to 2004's 'Meet Next Life' - with 'Plans Drawn In Pencil' the charming results. Where Isan were once considered the frothy treat amongst the Morr catalogue, their new album has a considerably darker hue - bringing a piquant bite to the creamy electronica that helped establish their name. Yet for all this talk of malignant undercurrents, 'Plans Drawn In Pencil' is still a a lushly orchestrated treat - with the trademark layered synths and analogue gurgles weaving together to form an undeniably Morrish treat... Opening through the soft-focus murmur of 'Look and Yes', Isan then set about distilling a form of pop-concentrate that's effortlessly filtered through a web of ebbing digitalis - with the likes of 'Road Runner' and 'Five To Four Ten To Eleven' brimming with melodious-hooks and soapy electronics. Describing some of their past work as having fallen into "our trademark one-finger-kiddy-melody sound”, the truly epic 'Working In Dust' provides an obvious highlight (and career juxtaposition) on 'Plans Drawn In Pencil' - wherein the Isan boys ditch the schematic of old in favour of a widescreen flash of Krautrock electronica. Far dustier than their polished past, 'Plans Drawn In Pencil' comes across like a smudged sketch-book - and is all the better for it. Gorgeous." [source]
[Download.Buy]