Lost by Somniaferum
Guitar-based instrumental rock/post-rock with some occasional keyboards, ranging from acoustic passages to heavier parts. NYOP (no minimum), 3-track EP; there is also an earlier album for free download. I would say that while the earlier, free one does sound a bit like a brave first effort to my ear - not bad but perhaps not completely there yet - the EP coheres better, has a fuller sound, and has some really nice stretches and good energy and progression overall. Cool drum outro on track 2. Worth a listen; in fact I think I might cast a Euro or two its way. This one's from Bochum, Germany. [edit] Friendly email from the artist upon purchase :-).
Spacemen 3 guitars, organs and swells with some laconic, Catherine Wheel changes. Lots of religion-as-drug references. OK, it's very Spacemen 3, even down to the typeface used in the logo.
Aidan Baker - Concretion
Released 01 January 2003
Aidan Baker - electric guitar, voice
"3 long tracks of experimental/ambient guitar and voice...originally released on now-defunct DTA Records way back when...track 2 based on "The Huron Carol" (or "Jesous Ahatonhia" in the original Wendat), purportedly Canada's oldest Christmas carol..."
Strange Attractor is Niels van Hoorn and Richard van Kruysdijk
- Track 2 is featuring the wonderful wonderful violinist from Tuxedomoon, Blaine L Reininger on vocals and violin.
- Nils van Hoorn is a brilliant sax player, played up until recently with The Legendary Pink Dots.
Philip Sulidae is a sound artist from Sydney, Australia who is steadily increasing his profile within the scene, thanks to his magnificent sound design.
His compositions typically comprise of densely layered dark drones, punctuated by an array of field recordings.
He has previously released music on Audiotalaia, Ripples Recordings, Dontcaresulidae and now with 'Hidden and Tied', he provides us with 15 minutes of free music here on Audio Gourmet. . . . .
- (Name your price) - Released 13 April 2006
Strange Attractor:
Niels van Hoorn
Richard van Kruysdijk
With:
Marie-Claudine (Sonar Lodge) Edward Ka-Spel (The Legendary Pink Dots)
Richard Sinclair (Hatfield a/t North)
Jeroen van Vliet (Gatecrash)
Edward Capel
""Disney characters with 4 eyes, squirrels without a nose and purple owls with a yellow mohawk are siked to announce this Daniel Padden LP. Daniel Padden is a multi-instrumentalist and a full time member of the UK-based goof troupe, Volcano The Bear. For this LP he used piano, harmonium, cello, amplifier, zither, tape recorder, concertina, banjo, thumb piano, viola, organ etc.. to create a beautiful fictional soundtrack for a cartoon film that had to be made in the '50s, but could have been made during yesterday's hurricane too. Or; a free dude going folk while trying to play chamber music and pouring a disgusting concr
Okay, the artist is Rebecca Peake, and the album title is "Fuchsia" (NYOP).
Sure looks like it's going to be one of those quietly introspective female singer-songwriter affairs, with a waifish voice, and acoustic guitar or two, and maybe a piano or a violin or something for "texture" = in other words, totally boring, right? But NOOOOOOOO, it sounds like some sort of experimental-shoegaze supergroup consisting of Julee Cruise, Snakefinger, and about half the members of All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors.
Offthesky and Pillow Garden - A Dream In A Dream - (Audio Gourmet - 24 May 2011)
"The Audio Gourmet first birthday festivities continue and we're the ones offering the presents...and what a treat it is too!
Ever since the birth of the label last year, we've been talking to Jason Corder about the possibility of releasing an Offthesky EP on Audio Gourmet. Now a year on, it is a reality - he has teamed up again with Pillow Garden for this short excursion ahead of a stunning solo debut for Hibernate, due out this summer.
"A Dream In A Dream" is the debut EP from Offthesky and Pillow Garden. For many Offthesky will need little introduction, having graced several of the finest labels and netlabels such as Home Normal, Resting Bell and Zymogen. This prolific artist has been operating in this field for about a decade and has become a firm favourite with many. His project alongside Pillow Garden began with several live performances and first surfaced as the opening track to Audio Gourmet's Hidden Landscapes compilation album released in January 2011.
Pillow Garden is experimental new media artist and educator Sarah Chung. She uses a variety of field recordings, orphaned instruments and curious objects to create collages of layered compositions. Sarah especially enjoys the process of revealing hidden sounds that are secretly embedded in any ordinary or extraordinary object; pine cones, books, bird cages, chairs, forks and glasses are just some of the items that may be found/heard. Pillow garden invites the listener to lie back and contemplate the various sounds that have been stretched, cultivated and sown like seeds to grow in the lush multifarious garden of your imagination.
A Dream In A Dream carefully fuses the artists' respective backgrounds together in a dense wash of detail that never quite reaches a crescendo. Heavily treated recordings of instruments, gently mutated vocals, field recordings, subtle chimes and snippets of tape-deck effects make for an otherworldly listening experience that gives off a warm glow from start to finish.
Conceptually, the EP maps out dreams within dreams; several unconscious experiences that are half thought and collapsing in on one another. Always encouraging the wandering of thoughts and offering a gentle push into the daydream, this two piece set will have you spinning out into the fantastical in no time
A Deep Forest Creek is a 19 hour 36 minute continuous audio recording taken in 2 stereo channels near Mamori Lake in Amazonas, Brasil. The recording is housed and played back from a wooden box (a memento), with outputs for headphone listening or connection to loudspeakers. Playback begins when the box is turned on, and ends with the completion of the recording, or when the box is turned off. The exact duration of the recording reflects an attempt at capturing a full 24 hours of the sound environment, limited by the logistical factors of deployment and retrieval as well as the weather.
While the events recorded at the creek were overwhelmingly public (though without human audience), the presentation as a memento suggests to a listener that the experience of A Deep Forest Creek is a private one. This is perhaps true of all mementos. There are two outputs for headphones so that the memento can be shared, but only so much. Each output contains the stereo field of a separate set of microphones. Many of the events happen simultaneously in both headphones, but the stereo fields are are different.
A Deep Forest Creek reflects two forms of memory devices. The recording is a device in the technological sense, fixing and playing back events from an electromagnetic memory, in this case a CompactFlash EEPROM. The embodiment of the recording suggests a memento, which is a memory device in the sense that "device" refers to a technique - a memory helper. While traditionally mementos evoke memories of past experience, here the memento itself contains the entire experience. A tiny world captured in a box.
If you're after environmental field recordings I could hook you up a lot cheaper. I've got about an hour of sound on a winter night, then IIRC I have about 20 minutes of tree frogs. The original artists (or their descendants) are available for longer recordings. In fact, I'm listening to them now. I'm sure I can find a cigar box around here somewhere.
RE:Deep Forest Creek - I wonder if this sort of thing ever really sells.I suppose there I rich people who collect weird stuff, but as Dr Mutex has demonstrated, anyone can come up with a recording and "artistically" present it in an collectable "artifact". This thing strikes me as The Emperor's New Clothes.
Yeah, and what's that thing holding the lid up, a pencil? If they're going to the trouble of using dovetail joinery, brass hinges/locks, and a full coat of varnish on that thing, you'd think they could spring for a proper lid stay from The Hardware Hut.
I think the box would normally be used closed, just as most folks don't run their electronics with the covers off, present company excluded. I guess they wanted to show what was inside the box, otherwise it looks like $399 for a box.
Here's another expensive box. If you open the lid slightly and hold it to your ear you can hear the ocean (any small enclosure works):
I've enjoyed a number of Bluetech's releases (though not quite all of them). He has a new one out that is a benefit recording for a charity that tries to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. Can't vouch for the charity - I only know what's on their website. The album sounds good, though - especially if crisply done downtempo with a world music inflection sounds appealing to you. Don't be put off by the first track which is atypical - track 2 is where it gets going.
$12, with 100% of proceeds going to the Critical Beats charity.
Some of you might remember The Juliets, whose debut album was (and still is) considered by me to be one of the best things you can find on Bandcamp. Their new EP (taken from a forthcoming full-length) is not quite as good, at least at first listen, but it's free for an e-mail address.
I have to admit, I've kinda got the hots for the cellist...
The Caretaker, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, as reviewed on Pitchfork today, 5 UK Lbs.
The Caretaker, Persistent Repetition of Phrases, a Tiny Mix Tapes Eureka pick for 2008, which I've been trying to find since then, is also 5 UK Lbs.
v/vm, White Death:
A release based around the account of Valerian Albanov and his crew of sailors who aboard the Saint Anna were left trapped in pack ice. It's a tail of survival in the extremes.
The same guy as The Caretaker; free for an email.
I love this guy; he used to have a lot of free stuff available from his website, but he's gone all minimal now. I'm very excited to find this stuff at reasonable prices at bandcamp.
Here's one of those bands that would be really great if they had a better singer, and maybe a better approach to vocals in general. Still, not bad, and this EP is free (no e-mail address required). They're from Glasgow, and in the same general shoegaze/lad-rock vein as something like Chapterhouse or Ride, maybe.
Comments
Lost by Somniaferum
Guitar-based instrumental rock/post-rock with some occasional keyboards, ranging from acoustic passages to heavier parts. NYOP (no minimum), 3-track EP; there is also an earlier album for free download. I would say that while the earlier, free one does sound a bit like a brave first effort to my ear - not bad but perhaps not completely there yet - the EP coheres better, has a fuller sound, and has some really nice stretches and good energy and progression overall. Cool drum outro on track 2. Worth a listen; in fact I think I might cast a Euro or two its way. This one's from Bochum, Germany. [edit] Friendly email from the artist upon purchase :-).
Set and Setting by Lead Stones -- $2 or more
Spacemen 3 guitars, organs and swells with some laconic, Catherine Wheel changes. Lots of religion-as-drug references. OK, it's very Spacemen 3, even down to the typeface used in the logo.
Definitely recommended for the Amanda Palmer fans. Free/NYOP
Aidan Baker - Concretion
Released 01 January 2003
Aidan Baker - electric guitar, voice
"3 long tracks of experimental/ambient guitar and voice...originally released on now-defunct DTA Records way back when...track 2 based on "The Huron Carol" (or "Jesous Ahatonhia" in the original Wendat), purportedly Canada's oldest Christmas carol..."
- Free.
Strange Attractor is Niels van Hoorn and Richard van Kruysdijk
- Track 2 is featuring the wonderful wonderful violinist from Tuxedomoon, Blaine L Reininger on vocals and violin.
- Nils van Hoorn is a brilliant sax player, played up until recently with The Legendary Pink Dots.
Much recommended - and free !
- 0,50 GBP and free @ The Archive
- Released 13 April 2006
Strange Attractor:
Niels van Hoorn
Richard van Kruysdijk
With:
Marie-Claudine (Sonar Lodge)
Edward Ka-Spel (The Legendary Pink Dots)
Richard Sinclair (Hatfield a/t North)
Jeroen van Vliet (Gatecrash)
Edward Capel
Daniel Padden - The Isaac Storm
""Disney characters with 4 eyes, squirrels without a nose and purple owls with a yellow mohawk are siked to announce this Daniel Padden LP. Daniel Padden is a multi-instrumentalist and a full time member of the UK-based goof troupe, Volcano The Bear. For this LP he used piano, harmonium, cello, amplifier, zither, tape recorder, concertina, banjo, thumb piano, viola, organ etc.. to create a beautiful fictional soundtrack for a cartoon film that had to be made in the '50s, but could have been made during yesterday's hurricane too. Or; a free dude going folk while trying to play chamber music and pouring a disgusting concr
Sure looks like it's going to be one of those quietly introspective female singer-songwriter affairs, with a waifish voice, and acoustic guitar or two, and maybe a piano or a violin or something for "texture" = in other words, totally boring, right? But NOOOOOOOO, it sounds like some sort of experimental-shoegaze supergroup consisting of Julee Cruise, Snakefinger, and about half the members of All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors.
Not for everyone obviously, but I really like it!
Free. A little ambient, a little pop, and a bit of shoegaze.
Everyone on this board needs this album. Seriously.
Craig
SomeOthaShip by Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime
Free this week.
Craig
Offthesky and Pillow Garden - A Dream In A Dream - (Audio Gourmet - 24 May 2011)
"The Audio Gourmet first birthday festivities continue and we're the ones offering the presents...and what a treat it is too!
Ever since the birth of the label last year, we've been talking to Jason Corder about the possibility of releasing an Offthesky EP on Audio Gourmet. Now a year on, it is a reality - he has teamed up again with Pillow Garden for this short excursion ahead of a stunning solo debut for Hibernate, due out this summer.
"A Dream In A Dream" is the debut EP from Offthesky and Pillow Garden. For many Offthesky will need little introduction, having graced several of the finest labels and netlabels such as Home Normal, Resting Bell and Zymogen. This prolific artist has been operating in this field for about a decade and has become a firm favourite with many. His project alongside Pillow Garden began with several live performances and first surfaced as the opening track to Audio Gourmet's Hidden Landscapes compilation album released in January 2011.
Pillow Garden is experimental new media artist and educator Sarah Chung. She uses a variety of field recordings, orphaned instruments and curious objects to create collages of layered compositions. Sarah especially enjoys the process of revealing hidden sounds that are secretly embedded in any ordinary or extraordinary object; pine cones, books, bird cages, chairs, forks and glasses are just some of the items that may be found/heard. Pillow garden invites the listener to lie back and contemplate the various sounds that have been stretched, cultivated and sown like seeds to grow in the lush multifarious garden of your imagination.
A Dream In A Dream carefully fuses the artists' respective backgrounds together in a dense wash of detail that never quite reaches a crescendo. Heavily treated recordings of instruments, gently mutated vocals, field recordings, subtle chimes and snippets of tape-deck effects make for an otherworldly listening experience that gives off a warm glow from start to finish.
Conceptually, the EP maps out dreams within dreams; several unconscious experiences that are half thought and collapsing in on one another. Always encouraging the wandering of thoughts and offering a gentle push into the daydream, this two piece set will have you spinning out into the fantastical in no time
A Deep Forest Creek is a 19 hour 36 minute continuous audio recording taken in 2 stereo channels near Mamori Lake in Amazonas, Brasil. The recording is housed and played back from a wooden box (a memento), with outputs for headphone listening or connection to loudspeakers. Playback begins when the box is turned on, and ends with the completion of the recording, or when the box is turned off. The exact duration of the recording reflects an attempt at capturing a full 24 hours of the sound environment, limited by the logistical factors of deployment and retrieval as well as the weather.
While the events recorded at the creek were overwhelmingly public (though without human audience), the presentation as a memento suggests to a listener that the experience of A Deep Forest Creek is a private one. This is perhaps true of all mementos. There are two outputs for headphones so that the memento can be shared, but only so much. Each output contains the stereo field of a separate set of microphones. Many of the events happen simultaneously in both headphones, but the stereo fields are are different.
A Deep Forest Creek reflects two forms of memory devices. The recording is a device in the technological sense, fixing and playing back events from an electromagnetic memory, in this case a CompactFlash EEPROM. The embodiment of the recording suggests a memento, which is a memory device in the sense that "device" refers to a technique - a memory helper. While traditionally mementos evoke memories of past experience, here the memento itself contains the entire experience. A tiny world captured in a box.
All for only $399!
If you're after environmental field recordings I could hook you up a lot cheaper. I've got about an hour of sound on a winter night, then IIRC I have about 20 minutes of tree frogs. The original artists (or their descendants) are available for longer recordings. In fact, I'm listening to them now. I'm sure I can find a cigar box around here somewhere.
In all seriousness, I think it's a neat idea but the execution is overly pretentious (and overly expensive).
Cassette recorder - $19.57
Here's another expensive box. If you open the lid slightly and hold it to your ear you can hear the ocean (any small enclosure works):
$12, with 100% of proceeds going to the Critical Beats charity.
I have to admit, I've kinda got the hots for the cellist...
A forty track indie compilation avaialble at http://makedoandmendrecords.bandcamp.com/album/indietracks-compilation-2011
NYOP
The Caretaker, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, as reviewed on Pitchfork today, 5 UK Lbs.
The Caretaker, Persistent Repetition of Phrases, a Tiny Mix Tapes Eureka pick for 2008, which I've been trying to find since then, is also 5 UK Lbs.
v/vm, White Death:
The same guy as The Caretaker; free for an email.
I love this guy; he used to have a lot of free stuff available from his website, but he's gone all minimal now. I'm very excited to find this stuff at reasonable prices at bandcamp.
In the vernacular of my grandparents this is "hippity hop". It is smooth, tasty and also free.