"It's been five years since the last Belong long player, as the duo works slowly to organize their sound works. Both the time invested, and the wait, have been well rewarded with this return.
Common Era shows extraordinary progression from that first album of dense, scorched earth instrumentals, hints of a new direction having been revealed on the Colorloss Record EP from 2008 which contained covers of four should-have-been classics from the original psychedelic era. The new material has such common pop elements as "songs," vocals and drum machines, but the results could hardly be called conventional and are like little else happening on the current "scene."
The songs themselves are akin to radio transmissions received from another time and place, just as likely to be the future as the past, or even from a contemporary alternate universe. They are both passionate and dispassionate, grey yet technicolor, ghostly and palpable, distant yet immediate, grainy and focused. Upon listening these conceptual contradictions are dismissed with ease, as the recordings reveal that they fit all of these descriptors simultaneously, an extraordinary balancing act."
- Kranky, 2011
Their previous O My Heart received more plays from me than any other recent pop album (and the track "Body" I may have played on repeat more than any other song ever).
I was gonna mention that Dorge's "Peer Gynt", just out and just now on emu, is worthy of a second look. I could see his band and Wayne Horvitz's Gravitas Quartet touring together.
@Jonah,
I've seen NJO live many many times with and without John Tchicai. Much recommended to go to one of their shows.
- A brand new Alvin Lucier album showed up @ eMu today:
"Since the early 1980's I have made a series of works for conventional musical instruments. Before that time I had been mainly occupied with the exploration of such phenomena as echoloca-tion, brain waves, room acoustics and the visual representation of sound. Often these works required special equipment-hand held pulse wave oscillators (Vespers), differential amplifiers (Music for Solo Performer), horseshoe magnets (Music on a Long Thin Wire). Then players began asking me for pieces. Now I needed to find a way of achieving the same poetry with acoustic instruments as I did with electronic means.
"One of the things I discovered was that players could create rhythmic patterns by closely tuning with electronically generated pure waves or with each other, producing audible beats. Often, to get continuous motion, I have one or more voices sweep up or down at various speeds against fixed sustained pitches. As a wave approaches a sustained pitch the audible beating slows down to zero when it reaches unison, then speeds up again as the wave leaves the pitch. Almost New York employs slow sweep pure wave oscillators, Broken Line, flute glissandi. In Twonings two different tuning systems collide and in Coda Variations slight variations in pitch are heard chronologically."
- Alvin Lucier.
Recorded by Charles Curtis, Joseph Kubera, Robert Dick, Danny Tunick, and Robin Hayward - some of the leading new music performers of our era, these works are essential additions to the Alvin Lucier oeuvre, as well as satisfying anyone interested in great experimental music
- Pogus 2011.
In my opinion this certainly falls into the category New and Noteable Releases
The Jason Parker Quartet pays tribute to legendary singer/songwriter Nick Drake by recording his entire debut album, Five Leaves Left, in their own inimitable style!
The JPQ is a jazz band from Seattle, WA. Earshot Magazine called them "the next generation of Seattle jazz". This is their 4th CD.
Joining them on a number of tracks are very special guests Michele Khazak on vocals and Cynthia Mullis on tenor sax and flute. Michele is the perfect singer to tackle these songs, as she's a huge Nick Drake fan and shares a similarly haunting and emotional vocal style. Cynthia has been playing regularly with the JPQ for a couple of years now and recorded on their last CD as well.
New album out from The Seven Mile Journey, a post-rock outfit from Denmark. Can't vouch for it yet (positive review here), but their previous album is one of the best post-rock albums I've heard. It's 5 cents cheaper at Amazon than at emu, or if you want to do an Amazon/emu combo that brings down the price by a dollar and a half.
It looks like eMu got this new Feelies album on the actual release date, and it's pretty good. I'm not sure what these folks have been doing for the past 20 years, but this record sounds much the same as their earlier stuff.
"All Tiny Creatures has soundtracked all of our lives while we were looking the other way. As of today, we can put a name to the sound of melting snow, to the sound of moving forward, to the sound of love, to the sound of machines and everything weve ever made, to the sound of leaves growing just to curl in the breeze: All Tiny Creatures."
- Hometapes, 2011[/url]
It feels like way too long since Weilheim scenesters Tied and Tickled Trio released their last nugget of white-hot jazz on the waiting world. Brothers Markus and Micha Acher might still be best known for their work in The Notwist, but for some of us their finest moments have been attached to their stunning catalogue under the Tied and Tickled moniker. La Place Demon might be their best record to date, and features 70-year-old drumming legend Billy Hart, the famed percussionist and band leader who was a long running member of the Herbie Hancock and Stan Getz bands. So at least you know youre in for some pretty serious breaks then, but thats not all the Tied & Tickled Trio offer up on this epic set. The smoky, cinematic instrumentals here go far beyond what you might expect from a jazz project; jazz is maybe the starting point, but these vignettes bear just as much in common with the sort of sepia tinted lounge and library music you might expect to find on a Finders Keepers or Trunk re-issue. Three Doors Pt.1 even begins with reverberating blips and squeaks straight out of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop welcome book, and when Harts drums criss-cross through the strange and beautiful patterns of Micha and Markus Achers compositions you sense that theyve heard more than their fair share of legendary movie/TV soundtrack pioneer Basil Kirchin. They might have seven albums to their name now, but I cant imagine a better way of getting introduced to the sound of Tied & Tickled Trio than on La Place Demon. Those of you who like your music with a jar of spiced liquor and the smoke thick in the air, youd better realize this is the one youre gonna need.
Huge recommendation.
- Boomkat.
"It's been over five years since we last heard from Melissa Agate aka Sanso-Xtro on her record for Type, "Sentimentalist." In those five years quite a bit has happened. Agate's relocated to her native Australia and the move has treated her well. Fountain Fountain Joyous Mountain takes a lot of the ideas from her first record and dials them in, pushing everything to the next level. This collection of songs is a quiet force, blissfully confident and expertly assembled. Sanso's soundworld is fully immersive environment.
On the opener, "Fountain Fountain," we get a glimpse of everything to come. Slow-moving synthesizer sequences stay in constant motion as the piece slowly builds. Accenting bells and electronics skitter across the aural landscape, everything teasing like it will stop completely before picking back up with even more steam than before. There's this carefully controlled chaos at work that is immediately hypnotizing. Agate sings simple passages toward the end, welcoming listeners into this new world as her voice floats above the fray.
It becomes obvious as the album progresses that Agate is, at heart, a drummer. The staccato rhythms and percussive embellishments bring the album to life. These rapid-fire beats in conjunction with precise, half-speed instrumentation work in perfect harmony. Reminiscent of Blackdance-era Schulze at times, there's an intoxicating dizzyness that is effortlessly present in "The Origin of Birds" and "Wood Owl Wings a Rush Rush." Agate even throws a few nods to free jazz with "Goodnight Thylacine." Her skill as a drummer is matched by her ability as a songwriter, knowing when to push it over the top and when to dial it back. Album closer, "Exit: Joyous Mountain," sounds like a lost Alan Lomax gem with its and melodica/harmonica duet and delicate singing.
"Hello Night Crow" is the literal and figurative center of the album, though. It starts with a ringing synth loop that gives nothing away until the electronic chord changes emerge a minute in. Again it's about the slow-build that raises the tension and anticipation before melting into the sky. It's like when you rub your eyes and get bombarded by geometric shapes swirling on a sea of blackness. The song envelopes you and you're instantly transported until you open your eyes. "You wouldn't recognize that its not there anymore," Agate sings over the bubbling waves of synths. It is beautiful and crushing.
Melissa Agate's second album proves what a force she is to be reckoned with. Everything feels in the right place; the details matter. Fountain Fountain Joyous Mountain is a three-dimensional record. You can hear it. You can see it. But most importantly, you can certainly feel it."
- Digitalis.
It is the sixth release (out of eight) in our catalog devoted to this composer's experimental and electronic works. It also marks the end of the trilogy on the Parabolic works (following the 1972 unreleased recordings and the 2001 collective performance). This time around, we have a piece built through another major Pousseur work: Le
One of the last downloads I made on emu was a track called "Lament" from a 3-track EP by a new (to me) Americana-type group called Mount Moriah. I can't remember if the remaining 2 tracks were also by Moun Moriah - didn't get a chance to go back and check before my access was cut off, but if so I would have picked up the other 2 tracks because this group sounds to me like they have a lot of potential. Their self-titled debut album is due out May 3 (or April 12, depending on which source you rely on). I look forward to checking it out.
Mount Moriah hail from North Carolina. The band mixes a warm folk, Americana and country on their track, Lament, which should sound pretty good to those of you who are fans of music like the Be Good Tanyas. The lead singers voice reminds me of Dolly Parton. Her vocals in combination with tambourine, organ and that steady rhythm makes for a sweet track. Mount Moriah have their debut self-titled EP coming out on May 3 via Holidays For Quince Records. David D. Robbins Jr. (from Wordpress.com)
No Depression has good things to say about them here
UPDATE//
[image=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41nFeNiMz0L._SL500_AA280_.jpg] [/image]
Mount Moriah's new self-titled album is now available on Amazon as a pre-order. The album is due out April 12 and I definitely plan to get it, as this sounds to me like it should be a winner.
Brighternow - thanks for the heads up about Bandcamp (a site I didn't know about, but glad to learn of!). Was surprised to see that the track "Lament" isn't on "The Letting Go" EP, though. Now I remember I downloaded the track free here, then went searching for more from them on emusic but was cut off before I could download anything else.
CD Review:
"Rinde Eckert is like Laurie Anderson with an attitude or Tom Waits with a voice... Framed by a Dresher score that integrates hyper-kinetic, minimalist funk, mysterious atmospheres, gamelan cycles, and some burning electric guitar, Eckert gives a mesmerizing recitation... psychotic in its raw power."
Fanfare:
"An essential piece... One of the most fruitful pieces of new music theater to come out of the US in the last couple of decades."
"In Paul Dresher's "electric opera" Slow Fire with Rinde Eckert, two of America's most dynamic forces in contemporary performance collaborate to create a truly original musical experience that has been described as a "tour de force of intellectual and emotional artistry... a masterpiece" (San Francisco Chronicle). A haunting musical monodrama about a paranoid-delusional man and his search for values in a rapidly changing world, Slow Fire blends the forms of opera, rock, and post-minimalist electronic music, pushing the boundaries of music theatre to a new and breathtaking breakthrough. Slow Fire "makes much celebrated post-modern music theatre seem not just impressionistic, but escapist by comparison" (Village Voice).
Dresher's music has diverse roots, including contemporary classical music, rock 'n' roll, minimalism, and his years of study of the classical musics of India, Africa, and Indonesia. His music creates a rich, expansive sonic experience that "ranges from delicately layered chamber work to throbbing contrapuntal textures that hit with the crash of high-voltage rock" (Newsweek). Writer-singer Rinde Eckert's performances have been described by John Rockwell (New York Times) as "the most striking performance art this writer has encountered since the early days of Laurie Anderson."
Having played to tens of thousands of enthusiastic viewers across the country, Slow Fire is "music/theatre that firmly places Dresher in the forefront of the new breed of American composers" (San Francisco Examiner)."
- Starkland.
Germanprof - I did check out Bandcamp very briefly and will definitely check out more when I get time. So far, I just did a very quick visit, but long enough for me to make a very good find - this album by Travel by the Sea. Just about every track has a really great guitar break in it and I like their overall sound. This one is $9.99 on Bandcamp but a google search shows it's available on emusic, too. (Why didn't I discover this one last month? Will shop around because I'd really like to have this one.
"Nick Maturo and Ryan Connelly exploded out of Montreal last year with no less than 10 tapes of hazy guitar/synth drones. Just a Glimpse finds the duo experimenting with shorter edits and more diverse song-forms than their sidelong tape experiments. Picking a concept out of a jam and distilling it down to its purest part. Making feints and nods towards past heroes like Eno and Shulze but keeping pace with modern masters such as Tim Hecker and Emeralds."
- http://debaclerecords.com/
- Bandcamp.
Not new but Notable - was rummaging around at Amazon and followed a Bear Family thread to discover two series I was not familiar with - Sweet Soul Music which was the follow-up to the earlier R&B series Blowing The Fuse. Both of these have some spectacular songs, but of course being Bear Family, they are expensive $25-$30, and I have yet to find them available as digital downloads. NPR did a feature on the Blowing The Fuse series - link- which made for a nice listen, but I have to warn you it makes me pine for this expensive bit of business because this is music I love. Oh, well.
"Shifts, another pseudonym for Frans de Waard, a co-founder of Beequeen, also renowned for his ongoing experiments for recycling music with Kapotte Muziek.
de Waard likes to treat his various guises with a broad stroke of monochrome paint... each name is something else, something different."
Mount Moriah, a new rootsy Americana group, is releasing their first full-length album (albeit only 8 tracks) in a few days and it is now listed on Amazon as a pre-order. I recently downloaded their single "Lament" (which is included on the new album) and really, really liked it. I definitely plan to get the album as soon as it's released, as this one sounds like a winner to me.
...Mount Moriah is a melting pot of stellar musicians and collaborators poised with an already acclaimed three-song EP, The Letting Go, and an upcoming full-length self-titled LP on May 3rd. Some of the musicians are new to us over here, but others are long-time favorites. Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller (of Bellafea and Horseback, respectively) are the mainstay brains behind the Mount Moriah operation, but both the debut and LP are bringing biblical thunder as far as collaboration folks. Our favorites, Phil and Brad Cook of Megafaun, Will Hackney of Bowerbirds, and Daniel Hart of St. Vincent are regular players in both touring and recording. Being North Carolinians only adds to the southern-gospel inspired and rock infused sound the band's putting together. "Lament" is the first released track of the LP, and McEntire croons with all the sensibility of a soulful dirge but with the infectious homespun warble of, yes, Dolly Parton (try to not hear "Jolene" in her voice). Handshakers, clean acousic electric fingerpicking, pillowy organ fills, and gorgeous multiple part vocal harmonies make this 2 1/2 easily accessible minutes of stunning Americana... (from Citizendick.org)
@kez - it is (img) followed by the website followed by (/img) but use square brackets instead of round brackets [ instead of ( etc. It took me a while!
If you ever find yourself at a loss, say, for how to make flashing blue underlined text, just type bbcode cheat sheet into google and pick one of the top results. This works for most types of arcane knowledge. If you don't believe me try transmute lead into gold cheat sheet.
[blink]Music From Home[/blink] by John Jenkins Smalltown Revival
(@Dr. Mutex - don't have any idea if the flashing blue text worked here, but I gave it a try!)
EDIT/ Well, the flashing text didn't work I see.
EDIT (Dr. Mutex)/ Thank God.
This album was just released this month and is on emusic. I never heard of this Canadian group, but after listening to the entire album at the band's website, I decided it was good enough to spend my remaining emusic credits on it. I have played this one probably 20 times since, and it's a true keeper for me. I would describe it as "urban folk mountain music." Acoustic guitar, bass, foot percussion, keys, violin, harmonica and piano combine with good vocals and songwriting. I give it a solid 4 1/2 stars.
Comments
Belong - Common Era - 1 track @ Soundcloud.
ETA: 1 more track.
- Olufsen Records 2006.
Irene Becker is a Danish composer and pianist, a member of New Jungle Orchestra and married to Pierre Dørge, bandleader and founder of NJO.
http://www.irenebecker.com/
Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra
- The album is a part of a drop in from Olufsen Records
Mother Mother - Eureka
Their previous O My Heart received more plays from me than any other recent pop album (and the track "Body" I may have played on repeat more than any other song ever).
I was gonna mention that Dorge's "Peer Gynt", just out and just now on emu, is worthy of a second look. I could see his band and Wayne Horvitz's Gravitas Quartet touring together.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Pierre-Dorge-New-Jungle-Orchestra-Peer-Gynt-MP3-Download/12444821.html
I've seen NJO live many many times with and without John Tchicai. Much recommended to go to one of their shows.
- A brand new Alvin Lucier album showed up @ eMu today:
In my opinion this certainly falls into the category New and Noteable Releases
NYOP on Bandcamp at http://music.oneworkingmusician.com/album/five-leaves-left-a-tribute-to-nick-drake
New album out from The Seven Mile Journey, a post-rock outfit from Denmark. Can't vouch for it yet (positive review here), but their previous album is one of the best post-rock albums I've heard. It's 5 cents cheaper at Amazon than at emu, or if you want to do an Amazon/emu combo that brings down the price by a dollar and a half.
C. Spencer Yeh - Violin, Vocals
Chris Corsano - Percussion
Bill Horist - Electric Guitar
Info @ Strange Attractors Audio House.
- Morr Music. - Soundcloud
- Except for 1 track, (? ? ?)
A brand new album from Digitalis Recordings:
Sanso-Xtro - Fountain Fountain Joyous Mountain - Soundcloud
Parabolique d'enfer / Parabolic from Hell
No Depression has good things to say about them here
UPDATE//
[image=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41nFeNiMz0L._SL500_AA280_.jpg] [/image]
Mount Moriah's new self-titled album is now available on Amazon as a pre-order. The album is due out April 12 and I definitely plan to get it, as this sounds to me like it should be a winner.
Sound samples can be heard at Amazon here
(P.S. Okay, I thought I had that image thing figured out. Can somebody tell me what I did wrong?)
Just a Glimpse - Fantastic !
Shifts - Pangaea - (Korm Plastics 2011 / Elsie & Jack Recordings 1998)
Mount Moriah, a new rootsy Americana group, is releasing their first full-length album (albeit only 8 tracks) in a few days and it is now listed on Amazon as a pre-order. I recently downloaded their single "Lament" (which is included on the new album) and really, really liked it. I definitely plan to get the album as soon as it's released, as this one sounds like a winner to me.
Listen to sound samples at Amazon here .
(P.S. Okay, I thought I had that image thing figured out. Can somebody tell me what I did wrong?)
It's (img) url (/img) (with square brackets)
Edit: Heh !
edit - OK brighternow was quicker!!
[blink]Music From Home[/blink] by John Jenkins Smalltown Revival
(@Dr. Mutex - don't have any idea if the flashing blue text worked here, but I gave it a try!)
EDIT/ Well, the flashing text didn't work I see.
EDIT (Dr. Mutex)/ Thank God.
This album was just released this month and is on emusic. I never heard of this Canadian group, but after listening to the entire album at the band's website, I decided it was good enough to spend my remaining emusic credits on it. I have played this one probably 20 times since, and it's a true keeper for me. I would describe it as "urban folk mountain music." Acoustic guitar, bass, foot percussion, keys, violin, harmonica and piano combine with good vocals and songwriting. I give it a solid 4 1/2 stars.
Listen to the entire album here.
Review of the album here.