Follow up album to Solmis'olre Domir'emi by Visuelle Musik (which several folk on here liked).
The general concept of the album is to use the earthbound movement of animals to derive rhythms from and to serve as a source of inspiration what each individual song may be about. ... The tracks are based on and ordered by the number on 'legs' each animal-species uses. For instance the albums first track is called '0' and inspired by the peristaltic movement of worms, the song called '4' is about dogs. The rhythms of the movements are depicted like this: Each 'leg' that hits the ground is one note. The harder the hit, the louder the note. To get an idea how this is done regarding the velocity or pitch of the notes and the time when an individual note 'rings', you could imagine a dog with paws dipped into paint walking over a rolled out wallpaper lying on the floor. The footprints of the dog on this wallpaper then would be used as a kind of piano-roll to transform the footprints into music.
I had recently made Volker Goetze & Ablaye Cissoko's "Sira" one of my jazz picks, not realizing at the time that it had already been on emu (I knew it had changes labels, but no way to confirm it being their previously).
Well, they've got a new album coming out any day now... "Amanke Dionti".
It doesn't appear to be on emu today, but it might not show 'til later in the week. It's on Motema; same label that now carries "Sira". I've begun listening to it. It's good stuff. And good news that the duo has a follow-up release.
Now that is worth stopping my hold at emu, thanks Jonah!! Now they have changed label it probably won't be available in the UK.... Certainly Sira was available previously in UK on emusic, as I have had it several years now
Update - Sira no longer on emu UK, even though the label is there, so I am not expecting the new release. OK, try Amazon and keep the hold on!
Further update - yes it was released yesterday. Amazon UK have it for £23.98 (yes nearly £24 for a single CD) as a CD, no mp3 yet. Not available on itunes, similarly Sira. I'll have to be patient....
Keep in mind that the Motema label is starting to build a bandcamp presence. I don't have any idea what their plans are, but it's something to keep in mind.
The Imagined Villages third album sees a change of personnel and direction. Bending The Dark - a reference to the dha note in the Indian scale - also alludes to the groups need to find strength and confidence in the face of adversity.
Family illness dogged the band throughout recording, and they also had to do without Chris Wood, who took a sabbatical to concentrate on his own writing. Before leaving, Wood had stressed that, if the band was to move on, it should lessen its reliance on Martin Carthys songbook, and so it was agreed - time to get writing. In fact, time to write a new body of songs based on our skills as lyricists and composers embracing contemporary issues as well as reflecting an English musical identity that isnt specifically rooted in the folk tradition, according to Simon Emmerson.
And it certainly sounds different, the group exploring a range of influences. Opener The Guvna is a pulsing, downbeat dub-dance track reminiscent of The Specials Ghost Town. Eliza Carthys tasteful vocal contributes to an eerie start, continued through Jackie Oates, who is introduced via her haunting, typically crystalline rendition of The Captains Apprentice. That leads into another bleak maritime story - New York Trader, which will feel the most familiar to Imagined Village fans; a traditional tale spun sideways with an inventive, complex arrangement, based on the strings of Martin Carthy and Sheema Mukherjee.
Mukherjee is behind the albums ambitious title track, too - more than 12 minutes long, it features a brilliant drum battle between percussive aces Johnny Kalsi and Andy Gangadeen. Rinky-dink piano, swooning cello and Carthys subtle guitar all add to the mix. Another contender to be the albums banger is Get Kalsi, a stomper made manic by Johnnys tabla and dhol.
Elsewhere, Eliza underscores her talent for lyricism on the brassy Fisherman, which concerns the recent occupation of St Pauls Cathedral. Oates is at the forefront on the delightful Wintersinging, which features a blokey chorus courtesy of Jim Causley, Steve Knightley and Mawkin, alongside a dexterous bass solo from Ali Friend.
Sick Old Man updates Raggle Taggle Gypsies, though its drum and bass beat feels a little busy. In contrast, the solemn finale Washing Song bears comparison with Thursday, the superb full stop to Elizas Neptune album.
The album is The Imagined Villages least immediate - shot through with melancholy and the occasional moment of indulgence. And as outrageously talented as Eliza Carthy and Jackie Oates are, its hard not to miss the balance Chris Woods voice provided. But Bending The Dark is also a real grower - every listen uncovers another layer of thoughtful, often dazzling musicianship. Even considering The Imagined Villages reputation for innovation, this is brave, different, fascinating stuff. From here they can do anything.
" ominously modern or modernistically ominous ? ? ? "
The Gowanus Session, a new trio recording by Thollem McDonas (piano), William Parker (acoustic bass), Nels Cline (electric guitar), that explores the density and subtlety of tones with reverberating layers of sounds. Thollem McDonas approaches the piano brilliantly, leading the listener to image abstract and beautiful worlds within themselves. William Parker, with his mastery of the acoustic bass, brings warmth to the recording that is complex, soaring and joyful. Nels Clines innovative and shape shifting guitar runs the range of identifiable guitar to micro-tonal alien transmissions that act as a solid sound foundation. A pinnacle recording from three master improvisers."
- Album dedicated to Stefano Scodanibbio.
- Porter Records.
- "Cosa Brava is about storytelling. I don't think about it too much. It just turned out that way. Some of the stories have words and some don't, but they share a sense of scenes glimpsed in passing. Torn photos, fragments of movies, distant shouts. One of my earliest memories is of a long drive north, as our family moved away from London to start a new life in the Yorkshire dales. I remember the smell of the car, and passing our broken down removals lorry in the middle of night. I was four years old, and sometimes it feels like I've been on the road ever since. I need to travel, and now my life depends on it, so there's never a shortage of stories. The musicians of Cosa Brava are fellow nomads and experienced collaborators, and some of the best storytellers around, so my stories also become their stories. It's been an exhilarating journey, and I still have no idea where we're going. In the end it doesn't seem very important."
- Fred Frith, February 2012, Liner Notes.
- "Cosa Brava is an experimental rock and improvisation quartet formed in March 2008 by multi-instrumentalist and composer Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog). Cosa Brava released in 2010 "Ragged Atlas" (Intakt CD 161) followed by "The Letter" in 2012 (Intakt CD 204)."
- Intakt Records.
- "The alter ego of Murfreesboro, Tennessee's Frank Baugh, Sparkling Wide Pressure has drawn from a seemingly infinite well of sonic inspiration to record at an incredible rate since 2008, having his work appear on labels such as Digitalis, Stunned, Housecraft and Students of Decay.
This transfixing entry into his weighty catalogue pinpoints Baughs increasing fascination with song forms couched within abstract spaces. These mesmeric pieces revolve on a constant teetering between melody and abrasion, sharing kinship with classic post-punk primitivism as much as todays field of synth-wielding trance phasers.
Through layered synth tones that uncoil like long, clear breaths and hypnotic percussion, pivotal to the essence of Sparkling Wide Pressure is Baughs rangy guitar playing. Baugh can execute walls of enveloping ambience to encompass soft, gentle ruminations laced with smoky mood and subterfuge or take a more urgent tone, forging an otherworldly pulse that never loses the visceral thrill and pull that proves the magnetic core of this work.
Thematically, Grandfather Harmonic revolves around Baughs connection to his childhood home deep in the woods of in rural Tennessee and memories of his grandfather, specifically the rich tones of the harmonica he once played. In its own curious, searching way, Grandfather Harmonic is a remembrance of place and time from a truly atypical imagination." http://www.frankbaugh.net/
Seaworthy - Bellows and Breath
- "Seaworthy is the musical guise of Cameron Webb, who for the best part of a decade has developed singular soundscapes scored with guitar-driven ambience, field recording and digital processing. In recent years, Webb has recorded to acclaim for the esteemed 12K label, releasing the 1897 album in 2009 followed by a collaboration with Matt Rosner, Two Lakes. His compositions reflect his deep connection to environment and nature; each piece often feels like a journey through beautiful, untethered terrain. For Bellows and Breath, Webb has explored a different terrain of his own, paring back his trademark guitar to build a work based largely around harmonium, melodica and found sounds. By way of its title, Bellows and Breath is a new side to Webbs sonic meditations on movement, air and its interaction with the environment.
The pure rhythmic hiss and crackle of the harmoniums bellows proved the inspiration for the way Webb played the harmonium itself, becoming an unforced undertow to a set of bowing chords that invoke an open spirit in their composition and measure. Spare and fluid acoustic guitar intermittently reflects off these surfaces, also layered by combinations of melodica, incidental rushes of wind through grass and distant sounds of birds, insects and more. This may be Webb once again in sentiment with nature, however Bellows and Breath represents a bold new step in his special and personal trajectory."
- http://www.preservation.com.au/
- "The tireless, electronic fusioneer, Tom Jenkinson returns with this hyper, effervescent follow-up to the complex electro-funk of 'd'Demonstrator' as Shobaleader One. As much as 'Ufabulum' retains complex, Squarepusher elements, it remains wholly accessible and fun - heightened by sinuous, almost trance-like melody - it's the kind of album that will sit comfortably in your playlist next to Rustie's 'Glass Swords'. Don't be alarmed by the hyper-evolution of his sound on this album, there's still enough high-level acid malformation for you die-hards out there. Essential release"
- Bleep.
Valta, the new album by Finnish ethnicbrasspunkkosherkebabjazz outfit Alamaailman Vasarat. From the samples it sounds like their latest object lesson in how to rock out using a pair of cellos, a brass section, and an utter disregard for genre boundaries. (I just wrote and asked them for a review copy for MiG - it'll get me out of just writing about ambient stuff, and folk need to listen to these guys).
Alejandro Escovedo has a new release due out June 5 called Big Station.
Now I really, really love Alejandro and this description of the new album sounds interesting, but...couldn't he have chosen a better album cover? I'm almost tempted not to buy it because of that cover. I hate it - I'm not particularly prudish but it hits me the wrong way. Just sayin'.
The samples of this 'newgrass' albums sound super-great. I'm probably going to have to download it somewhere since I'm not on emusic anymore. Anybody heard it?
Well, less a release and more a new subscription service. Now-Again records has partnered with Drip.fm to offer a subscription for $15/mo that nets you their releases 2 weeks before they hit the streets. I signed up this morning and my first month landed me 2 albums and a boxed set.
Below Sea Level is the first 12k release from seasoned musician and electronic sound artist Simon Scott. The inspiration behind Below Sea Level, including its music, title, artwork and photography (see accompanying journal) originally derives from Scotts desire to musically explore the desolate and controversial environment of the Fens in East Anglia, UK. The memories Scott has of visiting this area as a child make this a poignant and highly personal project that explores nostalgic familiarity with a desire to capture the musicality of the landscape. For two years Scott ventured into this former wetland with hydrophones and self-built recording devices to explore the land that is cartographically below mean sea level, trace the devastating history of this environment caused by the drainage of the land, and arrange it into conceptual musical and visual project.
Scott has, in the main, eschewed the guitar backbone of his previous releases, preferring instead to capture the timbres and textures of the landscape to form the basis for the seven tracks. His signature reverberated guitar does still surface, the beginning of the album begins with sparse finger picking reminiscent of Laughing Stock-era Talk Talk, but it only adds brief flickers of colour to the central field recordings throughout the album.
Below Sea Level explores the aesthetics of active listening and, via a self-built MaxMSP patch, digitally disects the natural and man-made recordings Scott discovered within the Fens. The juxtaposing of analogue and digital timbres and textures, the man-made and natural world sounds, create epic interwoven soundscapes that blend the recognizable (eg.: birdsong) with undistinguishable sounds, sometimes confusing what is natural and synthetic. Scott presents an abstraction of a place that is arranged and manipulated for aural contemplation outside of the Fens (in alien environments) where the music collaborates with each unique listening environment. For the final stage of Scotts process he played the mixed songs out of portable speakers and re-recorded them in the wide open spaces and natural ambiences of the Fens to capture the collaborative nature of Below Sea Level. Having these field-recorded sounds; the crows, the passing trains and tractors, recorded in real time with the mixes rather than multi-tracked in the studio provides a strong sense of place and immediacy. The enviornment breathes around the songs in a very natural and uncertain way.
wow, thanks elwood! What an amazing find. I can't believe the amount and coolness of stuff I got with the initial offer, and there's more to come! And if I ever get bored (which I guess is not likely) I can try Ghostly International or Stones Throw for a couple months. This is the coolest business model ever. Wow.
New album by Damian Valles on Experimedia - stream a preview at the link.
Nonparallel (In Four Movements), is composed and arranged entirely from samples from the recordings of avant-garde Western classical composers and computer music released by the Nonesuch label in the 60s and 70s. In working with the material, Valles wanted to enter into its very lineage, to forge a dialogue with it, to both extrapolate something essential from it and contribute to its legacy by using it to create an original work some three decades later. Divided into four movements, it is a nuanced album of subtle complexities that took roughly three years to complete. The process started with recording small sections, randomly selected from pieces written and performed by the likes of Elliot Carter, William Bolcom, Charles Ives, Charles Wuorinen, Stefan Wolpe, et al. The source material was then carefully cut up, rearranged, stretched & heavily manipulated. In addition, the decision to sample directly from the original vinyl editions was important in order to capture the crackles and noises generated from the records themselves. In using them to create a backdrop for the new pieces, the intent is for the old sounds to mix with those generated from the newly pressed work to create another aspect to the overall soundscape. A striking departure from Damians previous recorded output, Nonparallel is equal parts anthropology and alchemy, at once documenting the prescience, relevance and richness of his chosen source material and creating something bracingly new from it.
- "Forward Strategy Group present Labour Division, their debut album that follows a string of releases on Perc Trax, their own eponymous label, Stroboscopic Artefacts and Dynamic Reflection. Since their early days releasing on net labels to their current position amongst Europe's most respected techno outfits the Leeds/Edinburgh duo of Al Matthews (Smear) and Patrick Walker have always done things their own way. Drawing on their vast knowledge of electronic music's history Patrick and Al produce music where notable reference points are fused with new ideas to create their own distinctive sound. . . . ."
- "Forward Strategy Groups version of techno comes in the exploratory form, wide expanses of ambience piece together tentative investigations into icy industrialism, noise and fierce minimalist techno. Opening track, Ident eases the listener in with smooth cinematic soundscapes only for the sense of comfort to be exchanged by deep reverberating warehouse severity."
- Bleep.
- "Mystery surrounds this musical extravaganza as the strange disappearance of Brigg three years ago finally becomes clear. It can be revealed that the tormented dreaming of dark, brooding soundscapes and improvisations became too much for Brigg who escaped to the deep south to find solace rearing cattle. As he sat on his porch chewing tobacco one hot, hazy afternoon, he became aware of a dust cloud forming in the distance. As it drew nearer, he realised that this was a travelling carriage of musicians... he knew this was the perfect opportunity to free him of his unhinged imaginations.
Thirsty and desperate for food from a long tour of the barren valley, the Threads Orchestra pulled up to the ranch. The gun-wielding Brigg, it is rumoured, fed and doused the band with whisky in return for an impromptu midnight recording of the scores he had been working on in those eternal, solitary days on the ranch......
This is the culmination of years of cross-pollination from influences such as Delius, Charles Ives and John Taylor and a close relationship with the cutting-edge phenomenon that is... the Threads Orchestra. http://www.threadsorchestra.com
Jonathan Brigg - "Is a Bradford-born composer, pianist and conductor. He studied at the University of Manchester, gaining a First Class degree in music and a Distinction in his Masters degree in Composition. He is now undertaking a PhD in Composition at the University of York where he explores the interface between improvisation and contemporary classical music, and is a recipient of the Sir Jack Lyons Award." . . . . .
- http://www.jonathanbrigg.com/
- Emusic.</div>
- "Moon Ate the Dark is the shadowy moniker of Welsh pianist Anna Rose Carter and Canadian producer Christopher Bailey. Between them, the two London-based transplants make a soundtrack to longing, memory and displacement and inject fresh life into the solo piano subgenre. Anna Rose Carter's prowess has been witnessed before on a slew of releases over the last few years, but her delicate touch gets dragged into deeper, darker crevices thanks to Christopher Bailey's reverberating treatments and smart microphone tricks. Take 'In Fiction' at its core a simple repeated note, and yet the note is dragged into a rhythmic swamp of reverb and creaking sound to emerge on something more akin to Kreng or even Deathprod than any of the duo's solo piano contemporaries. That's not to say that the album isn't incredibly beautiful at times, but the darker moments serve to accentuate a track like 'She/Swimming', which brings to mind the pastoral warmth of Virginia Astley or Peter Broderick with its bright, twinkling optimism.
'Moon Ate the Dark' is an album of depth and complexity; a record which would be equally at home on the shelves of avid early 4AD fans as it would in the ranks of any contemporary classical collection. And with a subtle sense of pacing and space, Bailey and Carter have created a record which echoes through the last thirty years of experimental piano music without necessarily sounding exactly like any of it. This should be something we can all cherish." Sonic Pieces - Soundcloud
- "Mescaliner is a rather reclusive band that plays a mix of post / prog / noise rock, melting styles into songs with unusual, sometimes math-like structures, that can stretch from emotion-laden soundscapes to loud, strong guitar riffs, all within one song." Emusic
Re; Main - yes, thanks, I have a Main album, and I think a Loop album (members of Main's former band), from the Amie days, and I'd been thinking I wanted to listen to them again, but the band name totally slipped my head.
'The Curio Collection' comprises the tag team effort of the up-and-coming super-trio 'Kinder Scout'(Ian Hawgood, Danny Norbury, and Jason Corder) along with the compositional magic of ambient maven 'offthesky'(Jason Corder). Curious to note is that Mr. Corder is connected to both groups. Therefore one must query: is this a hidden bite at humor or did the producer perhaps stumble upon an oddity locked away in an ancient curio that grants the art of cloning?
Upon further investigation of this hauntingly reverent and rhythmic record, quickly revealed are the trappings of offthesky's signature spells: vibraphone, rolling guitar, soft bells, lilting voicals, and the ever evolving landscape. According to the accounts of Mr. Corder, much of the color, inspiration and foundation for the songs therein stemmed from afar out of ian hawgood's personal closet of field recordings, live takes, and processed experiments. Danny Norbury's timeless cello paints several pieces to add a majestic and modern-classic effect. Last but not least Sarah Chung(of Pillow Garden) and Sara Martin's soft singing cameo about, which adds an anti-ephemeral hue sprinkled atop the ever present time-stained aesthetic. Each delicate track has the ability to leave the listener with a sense that they've just steeped in the light of an occultish cabinet glowing full of arcane mysteries.
$7 at bandcamp, and, due to the collaborators, perhaps the most notable of several new offthesky releases there. I'll post another on the free stuff thread.
Kinder Scout unites the esteemed talents of Danny Norbury (UK), Ian Hawgood (Japan), and Jason Corder (USA) in a trans-continental collaboration. The three artists find a common link in Moteer's micro-run magnate, Craig Tattersall and the multifarious Miles Whittaker of Demdike Stare, who contributed artwork and mastering, respectively, to make 'The Writing Life' such a lovely album. It fuses a number of varied disciplines, Danny's rich strings, Ian's guitar, voice and expansive ambient processes, with Jason's fine electronics and organic sense of composition into a detailed tapestry of organically breathing electronics which moves unpredictably but carefully through dense, swelling crests and into sparse valleys of rested tones. There's a sensitive feeling of ecology and economy to their sound, a constant flow between symbiotic layers of naturally occurring melody and drones which find a stability from the gently haphazard arrangement. Beautiful, (Boomkat review)
Comments
Follow up album to Solmis'olre Domir'emi by Visuelle Musik (which several folk on here liked).
Well, they've got a new album coming out any day now... "Amanke Dionti".
It doesn't appear to be on emu today, but it might not show 'til later in the week. It's on Motema; same label that now carries "Sira". I've begun listening to it. It's good stuff. And good news that the duo has a follow-up release.
Cheers.
Update - Sira no longer on emu UK, even though the label is there, so I am not expecting the new release. OK, try Amazon and keep the hold on!
Further update - yes it was released yesterday. Amazon UK have it for £23.98 (yes nearly £24 for a single CD) as a CD, no mp3 yet. Not available on itunes, similarly Sira. I'll have to be patient....
You can hear short extracts here
Cheers.
Sohrab remix album - You Are Not Alone lll
- "The third and last in a series of reworkings of Sohrab material by artists showing solidarity to his cause for legal status in Germany."
Ash International mix content providers:
Maia Urstad - Himmel über Bergen 5:00 | Zerocrop - Susanna (Zerocrop remix) 10:54 | Sarah Nicolls - Orshab 17: 15 | Achim Mohné - Syntactical audio observation of the apparatus 26:18 | BJNilsen - Marg Bar (DUB) 35:15 | Jim O'Rourke - Somebody 44:22
- Touch Music
Source: Bright Young Folk Review
The Gowanus Session, a new trio recording by Thollem McDonas (piano), William Parker (acoustic bass), Nels Cline (electric guitar), that explores the density and subtlety of tones with reverberating layers of sounds. Thollem McDonas approaches the piano brilliantly, leading the listener to image abstract and beautiful worlds within themselves. William Parker, with his mastery of the acoustic bass, brings warmth to the recording that is complex, soaring and joyful. Nels Clines innovative and shape shifting guitar runs the range of identifiable guitar to micro-tonal alien transmissions that act as a solid sound foundation. A pinnacle recording from three master improvisers."
- Album dedicated to Stefano Scodanibbio.
- Porter Records.
Fred Frith guitar, bass, voice
Carla Kihlstedt violin, bass harmonica, voice
Zeena Parkins accordion, keyboards, foley objects, voice
Shahzad Ismaily bass, voice
Matthias Bossi drums, percussion, mayhem, voice
The Norman Conquest sound manipulation
- "Cosa Brava is about storytelling. I don't think about it too much. It just turned out that way. Some of the stories have words and some don't, but they share a sense of scenes glimpsed in passing. Torn photos, fragments of movies, distant shouts. One of my earliest memories is of a long drive north, as our family moved away from London to start a new life in the Yorkshire dales. I remember the smell of the car, and passing our broken down removals lorry in the middle of night. I was four years old, and sometimes it feels like I've been on the road ever since. I need to travel, and now my life depends on it, so there's never a shortage of stories. The musicians of Cosa Brava are fellow nomads and experienced collaborators, and some of the best storytellers around, so my stories also become their stories. It's been an exhilarating journey, and I still have no idea where we're going. In the end it doesn't seem very important."
- Fred Frith, February 2012, Liner Notes.
- "Cosa Brava is an experimental rock and improvisation quartet formed in March 2008 by multi-instrumentalist and composer Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog). Cosa Brava released in 2010 "Ragged Atlas" (Intakt CD 161) followed by "The Letter" in 2012 (Intakt CD 204)."
- Intakt Records.
Sparkling Wide Pressure - Grandfather Harmonic
- "The alter ego of Murfreesboro, Tennessee's Frank Baugh, Sparkling Wide Pressure has drawn from a seemingly infinite well of sonic inspiration to record at an incredible rate since 2008, having his work appear on labels such as Digitalis, Stunned, Housecraft and Students of Decay.
This transfixing entry into his weighty catalogue pinpoints Baughs increasing fascination with song forms couched within abstract spaces. These mesmeric pieces revolve on a constant teetering between melody and abrasion, sharing kinship with classic post-punk primitivism as much as todays field of synth-wielding trance phasers.
Through layered synth tones that uncoil like long, clear breaths and hypnotic percussion, pivotal to the essence of Sparkling Wide Pressure is Baughs rangy guitar playing. Baugh can execute walls of enveloping ambience to encompass soft, gentle ruminations laced with smoky mood and subterfuge or take a more urgent tone, forging an otherworldly pulse that never loses the visceral thrill and pull that proves the magnetic core of this work.
Thematically, Grandfather Harmonic revolves around Baughs connection to his childhood home deep in the woods of in rural Tennessee and memories of his grandfather, specifically the rich tones of the harmonica he once played. In its own curious, searching way, Grandfather Harmonic is a remembrance of place and time from a truly atypical imagination."
http://www.frankbaugh.net/
Seaworthy - Bellows and Breath
- "Seaworthy is the musical guise of Cameron Webb, who for the best part of a decade has developed singular soundscapes scored with guitar-driven ambience, field recording and digital processing. In recent years, Webb has recorded to acclaim for the esteemed 12K label, releasing the 1897 album in 2009 followed by a collaboration with Matt Rosner, Two Lakes. His compositions reflect his deep connection to environment and nature; each piece often feels like a journey through beautiful, untethered terrain. For Bellows and Breath, Webb has explored a different terrain of his own, paring back his trademark guitar to build a work based largely around harmonium, melodica and found sounds. By way of its title, Bellows and Breath is a new side to Webbs sonic meditations on movement, air and its interaction with the environment.
The pure rhythmic hiss and crackle of the harmoniums bellows proved the inspiration for the way Webb played the harmonium itself, becoming an unforced undertow to a set of bowing chords that invoke an open spirit in their composition and measure. Spare and fluid acoustic guitar intermittently reflects off these surfaces, also layered by combinations of melodica, incidental rushes of wind through grass and distant sounds of birds, insects and more. This may be Webb once again in sentiment with nature, however Bellows and Breath represents a bold new step in his special and personal trajectory."
- http://www.preservation.com.au/
Squarepusher - Ufabulum
- "The tireless, electronic fusioneer, Tom Jenkinson returns with this hyper, effervescent follow-up to the complex electro-funk of 'd'Demonstrator' as Shobaleader One. As much as 'Ufabulum' retains complex, Squarepusher elements, it remains wholly accessible and fun - heightened by sinuous, almost trance-like melody - it's the kind of album that will sit comfortably in your playlist next to Rustie's 'Glass Swords'. Don't be alarmed by the hyper-evolution of his sound on this album, there's still enough high-level acid malformation for you die-hards out there. Essential release"
- Bleep.
Valta, the new album by Finnish ethnicbrasspunkkosherkebabjazz outfit Alamaailman Vasarat. From the samples it sounds like their latest object lesson in how to rock out using a pair of cellos, a brass section, and an utter disregard for genre boundaries. (I just wrote and asked them for a review copy for MiG - it'll get me out of just writing about ambient stuff, and folk need to listen to these guys).
Now I really, really love Alejandro and this description of the new album sounds interesting, but...couldn't he have chosen a better album cover? I'm almost tempted not to buy it because of that cover. I hate it - I'm not particularly prudish but it hits me the wrong way. Just sayin'.
Amazon link
Emusic link
The samples of this 'newgrass' albums sound super-great. I'm probably going to have to download it somewhere since I'm not on emusic anymore. Anybody heard it?
Forward Strategy Group - Labour Division
- "Forward Strategy Group present Labour Division, their debut album that follows a string of releases on Perc Trax, their own eponymous label, Stroboscopic Artefacts and Dynamic Reflection. Since their early days releasing on net labels to their current position amongst Europe's most respected techno outfits the Leeds/Edinburgh duo of Al Matthews (Smear) and Patrick Walker have always done things their own way. Drawing on their vast knowledge of electronic music's history Patrick and Al produce music where notable reference points are fused with new ideas to create their own distinctive sound. . . . ."
- "Forward Strategy Groups version of techno comes in the exploratory form, wide expanses of ambience piece together tentative investigations into icy industrialism, noise and fierce minimalist techno. Opening track, Ident eases the listener in with smooth cinematic soundscapes only for the sense of comfort to be exchanged by deep reverberating warehouse severity."
- Bleep.
CHRIS MONTAGUE - GUITAR
JULIAN GREGORY - VIOLIN
RUS PEARSON - BASS
SEMAY WU - CELLO
KIT DOWNES - PIANO
KRISTOFFER WRIGHT - DRUMS
- "Mystery surrounds this musical extravaganza as the strange disappearance of Brigg three years ago finally becomes clear. It can be revealed that the tormented dreaming of dark, brooding soundscapes and improvisations became too much for Brigg who escaped to the deep south to find solace rearing cattle. As he sat on his porch chewing tobacco one hot, hazy afternoon, he became aware of a dust cloud forming in the distance. As it drew nearer, he realised that this was a travelling carriage of musicians... he knew this was the perfect opportunity to free him of his unhinged imaginations.
Thirsty and desperate for food from a long tour of the barren valley, the Threads Orchestra pulled up to the ranch. The gun-wielding Brigg, it is rumoured, fed and doused the band with whisky in return for an impromptu midnight recording of the scores he had been working on in those eternal, solitary days on the ranch......
This is the culmination of years of cross-pollination from influences such as Delius, Charles Ives and John Taylor and a close relationship with the cutting-edge phenomenon that is... the Threads Orchestra.
http://www.threadsorchestra.com
Jonathan Brigg
- "Is a Bradford-born composer, pianist and conductor. He studied at the University of Manchester, gaining a First Class degree in music and a Distinction in his Masters degree in Composition. He is now undertaking a PhD in Composition at the University of York where he explores the interface between improvisation and contemporary classical music, and is a recipient of the Sir Jack Lyons Award." . . . . .
- http://www.jonathanbrigg.com/
- Emusic.</div>
- "Moon Ate the Dark is the shadowy moniker of Welsh pianist Anna Rose Carter and Canadian producer Christopher Bailey. Between them, the two London-based transplants make a soundtrack to longing, memory and displacement and inject fresh life into the solo piano subgenre. Anna Rose Carter's prowess has been witnessed before on a slew of releases over the last few years, but her delicate touch gets dragged into deeper, darker crevices thanks to Christopher Bailey's reverberating treatments and smart microphone tricks. Take 'In Fiction' at its core a simple repeated note, and yet the note is dragged into a rhythmic swamp of reverb and creaking sound to emerge on something more akin to Kreng or even Deathprod than any of the duo's solo piano contemporaries. That's not to say that the album isn't incredibly beautiful at times, but the darker moments serve to accentuate a track like 'She/Swimming', which brings to mind the pastoral warmth of Virginia Astley or Peter Broderick with its bright, twinkling optimism.
'Moon Ate the Dark' is an album of depth and complexity; a record which would be equally at home on the shelves of avid early 4AD fans as it would in the ranks of any contemporary classical collection. And with a subtle sense of pacing and space, Bailey and Carter have created a record which echoes through the last thirty years of experimental piano music without necessarily sounding exactly like any of it. This should be something we can all cherish."
Sonic Pieces - Soundcloud
R
Mescaliner - Willow Spree
- "Mescaliner is a rather reclusive band that plays a mix of post / prog / noise rock, melting styles into songs with unusual, sometimes math-like structures, that can stretch from emotion-laden soundscapes to loud, strong guitar riffs, all within one song."
Emusic
$7 at bandcamp, and, due to the collaborators, perhaps the most notable of several new offthesky releases there. I'll post another on the free stuff thread.
Also on emusic.
For a fleeting moment late last year I had a complete offthesky/Jason Corder collection. Hard to keep up - I'm already several albums behind again.