Local label Time Released Sound keeps cranking them out, so much so that we can barely keep up. But it's well worth trying, as pretty much everything they put out ends up being fantastic, the music most certainly, but also the extremely elaborate, lovingly packaged handmade deluxe editions (more on that in a second). By now, TRS obsessives no doubt realize there is definitely a Time Released 'sound'. Lush, electronic flecked soundscapes that fuse organic instruments with less organic filigree, strings, pianos, draped over synths and computers, all woven into sprawling soundworlds that manage to be both pastoral and dreamlike, hushed and cinematic. Unsettled Beings is no different, the third album by Swedish musician Mikael Lind, who now lives and works in Iceland, and the Iceland vibe is huge throughout, with much of the record sounding like it would definitely not be out of place on a Sigur Ros record (and there IS a Sigur Ros connection by the way!).
Pointillist piano, drifting ethereal female vocals, crooned softly reverbed male vocals, swaths of processed electronics, swirling strings, dreamlike swells, hushed and hunting, but warm glowing and sun dappled, violins drifting in soft focus clouds around melancholic piano melodies, all blurred and smeared into something more dreamily psychedelic and abstract, a swirling smoldering dream-folk fused to woozy atmospheric ambience, the tracks drifting easily from proper songcraft, to free for soundscapery and back again, fans of previous TRS releases will definitely not be disappointed, and even folks new to the label, Land's Unsettled Beings is a gem, and just might be the most polished and well produced release we've heard from TRS, the sound alternatingly epic and majestic, minimal and melancholy. So fantastic. And we say this every time, but the label has outdone themselves with the packaging, which is once again totally over the top. And as always, is available in two versions, a standard version, packaged in a digipak, limited to 200 copies, and a deluxe version, which this time means a handsewn 12 page book of photos, bound in an antique book cover, each of the pages hand burnt, so the page before or after is partially visible, all of the art by Icelandic illustrator Sigga Bjorg Sigurdardottir, with some of the art 'fingerprinted' with volcanic ash, there's an original Polaroid print in a translucent envelope, filled with dried flowers and leaves, a printed insert, antique Icelandic stamps, and a tiny hourglass vial full of Icelandic poppy seeds! Wow!!
Local label Time Released Sound keeps cranking them out, so much so that we can barely keep up. But it's well worth trying, as pretty much everything they put out ends up being fantastic, the music most certainly, but also the extremely elaborate, lovingly packaged handmade deluxe editions (more on that in a second). By now, TRS obsessives no doubt realize there is definitely a Time Released 'sound'. Lush, electronic flecked soundscapes that fuse organic instruments with less organic filigree, strings, pianos, draped over synths and computers, all woven into sprawling soundworlds that manage to be both pastoral and dreamlike, hushed and cinematic. Unsettled Beings is no different, the third album by Swedish musician Mikael Lind, who now lives and works in Iceland, and the Iceland vibe is huge throughout, with much of the record sounding like it would definitely not be out of place on a Sigur Ros record (and there IS a Sigur Ros connection by the way!).
Pointillist piano, drifting ethereal female vocals, crooned softly reverbed male vocals, swaths of processed electronics, swirling strings, dreamlike swells, hushed and hunting, but warm glowing and sun dappled, violins drifting in soft focus clouds around melancholic piano melodies, all blurred and smeared into something more dreamily psychedelic and abstract, a swirling smoldering dream-folk fused to woozy atmospheric ambience, the tracks drifting easily from proper songcraft, to free for soundscapery and back again, fans of previous TRS releases will definitely not be disappointed, and even folks new to the label, Land's Unsettled Beings is a gem, and just might be the most polished and well produced release we've heard from TRS, the sound alternatingly epic and majestic, minimal and melancholy. So fantastic. And we say this every time, but the label has outdone themselves with the packaging, which is once again totally over the top. And as always, is available in two versions, a standard version, packaged in a digipak, limited to 200 copies, and a deluxe version, which this time means a handsewn 12 page book of photos, bound in an antique book cover, each of the pages hand burnt, so the page before or after is partially visible, all of the art by Icelandic illustrator Sigga Bjorg Sigurdardottir, with some of the art 'fingerprinted' with volcanic ash, there's an original Polaroid print in a translucent envelope, filled with dried flowers and leaves, a printed insert, antique Icelandic stamps, and a tiny hourglass vial full of Icelandic poppy seeds! Wow!!
Nobody makes us move quite like Hans-Peter Lindstrom. His full length collection of singles It's A Feedelity Affair a year or so back quickly became an AQ favorite, with its spacey dance floor gems equally inspired by Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley, Italo Disco and Loft-era party mixes. While we aren't usually the biggest fans of ep's with just a single and various remixes, this one is totally essential! Contemporary Fix is a new and way-beyond-infectious track from Lindstrom, and the folks he got to remix it are a testament to his superb taste and wide reaching vision. EYE from The Boredoms works some tribal psychedelic magic on his remix making the song burst with frenetic energy and drip with every color you could imagine. We have the feeling Black Dice would want to listen to this track in the studio for a shot of inspiration. The closing remix from Bjorn Torske is the perfect way to end this half hour party. Like Lindstrom, Torske is from Norway and is one of the innovators of the great Norwegian disco/house scene. Who says dance music can't be as engaging as it is pleasing? Recommended!
Beardo Disco? That's a term we have heard bandied about lately when referring to the new wave of mutated house/electroclash/indie dance-rock sounds of acts like Ratatat, Justice, and Norwegian duo Lindstrom and Prins Thomas. Whatever it means, we've been digging it a lot lately. Here Hans-Peter Lindstrom has parted ways with his former collaborator and given us a compilation of solo 12" singles from the Feedelity label released between 2003 and 2006. Arranging with maximal effect without overdoing it, Lindstrom takes cues from Italo Disco, Morodor electro, and Loft-era party mixes to give us a set that will keep us bopping through the holidays. Recommended!
It's been a few years since we've had a proper solo outing from Lindstrom. While he's kept busy collaborating with folks like Prins Thomas, and Christabelle, we've been anxious to see what his new batch of songs would sound like. And we have to say we were psyched to discover him pushing his sound into some exciting new directions. While he was at the forefront of the whole 'beardo-disco' revival a few years back, it's refreshing to see that he isn't just making the same record over and over. In fact Six Cups Of Rebel is by far his most varied, ambitious, eclectic, and unique recording to date. We're reminded of a remix that Eye from The Boredoms did for Lindstrom a few years back and how possibly that may have informed some of the aesthetic of this album, as there is a newfound hyper-galactic-electro-prog sound going on in Six Cups Of Rebel that we are digging tons.
While it seems like all his colleagues have been studying up on the sound of classic Goblin recordings, we think Lindstrom may have also been digging deep into the world of Magma. It's the first Lindstrom record where it feels like he's finally let loose, ending up crafting a more fractured cosmic sound, reminding us of all those early Warp records by folks like Plaid, Mira Calix, LFO, Aphex Twin, etc. And then a track like "De Javu" which sounds like David Byrne, Holger Czukay, and 808 State jamming on an extended B-side of some white label 12".
Lindstrom mastered the space disco sound and it would have been so easy for him to make a really pleasing but static sounding cosmic disco record again, but instead he's pushing himself as an artist and taking risks that we think are pretty exciting.
It would be difficult to say that Lindstrom has finally come into his own, but it's really not his fault. Given the retro-modern angle of his entire project, it's not really even a good or bad thing. The sounds, the composition, the melodic structures, they're all questionably '80s. Not '80s like Giorgio Moroder or Daniele Baldelli - as most commonly referenced, but more like a blend of Jan Hammer, Rick Astley, and, like, Paul Lekakis? Sure, a little John Carpenter even. If you can overlook all the kitsch, the bizarre nostalgia for music that may or may not have really been necessary, then Lindstrom is your guy. This particular release shows him both more minimal and more maximal, restrained and indulgent. Each of the three tracks unfold slowly, releasing one arpeggiation after another, deftly resting upon various analog drum sounds and sampled percussive devices. The production is great as usual, and no doubt the guy must have an impressive collection of vintage synths, etc. So far as songwriting, it's suspiciously absent. As with the majority of his releases, the focus is on process, development, and a definite amount of abandon as a listener. Just sitting back and seeing where he wants to take you, which is more often than not just some '80s soundtrack. Sure, "I Feel Space" was a great track, and undoubtedly helped to spark the fairly recent explosion of space disco and gave people a strange justification to somehow openly talk about Todd Rundgren as a musical hero, or something. However, the promise of that single has largely fallen flat. Truth be told, this release is a better than his usual fare, but not really essential for anyone other than completists or huge fans.
This is a bonus deluxe reissue of Lindstrom's debut full length, which comes with an extra disc of re-edits of all the tracks from Lindstrom's beardo-disco partner in crime, Prins Thomas. We don't think this is entirely worth re-purchasing if you have already bought it once, but for those of you haven't already, you get an extra treat!
Here is what we said about the original:
It would be difficult to say that Lindstrom has finally come into his own, but it's really not his fault. Given the retro-modern angle of his entire project, it's not really even a good or bad thing. The sounds, the composition, the melodic structures, they're all questionably '80s. Not '80s like Giorgio Moroder or Daniele Baldelli - as most commonly referenced, but more like a blend of Jan Hammer, Rick Astley, and, like, Paul Lekakis? Sure, a little John Carpenter even. If you can overlook all the kitsch, the bizarre nostalgia for music that may or may not have really been necessary, then Lindstrom is your guy. This particular release shows him both more minimal and more maximal, restrained and indulgent. Each of the three tracks unfold slowly, releasing one arpeggiation after another, deftly resting upon various analog drum sounds and sampled percussive devices. The production is great as usual, and no doubt the guy must have an impressive collection of vintage synths, etc. So far as songwriting, it's suspiciously absent. As with the majority of his releases, the focus is on process, development, and a definite amount of abandon as a listener. Just sitting back and seeing where he wants to take you, which is more often than not just some '80s soundtrack. Sure, "I Feel Space" was a great track, and undoubtedly helped to spark the fairly recent explosion of space disco and gave people a strange justification to somehow openly talk about Todd Rundgren as a musical hero, or something. However, the promise of that single has largely fallen flat. Truth be told, this release is a better than his usual fare, but not really essential for anyone other than completists or huge fans.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Lindstrom has been a major player in the last several years, offering up and ushering in a movement of modern disco inspired space-surfing jams. He's proven to be unafraid of switching things up, working in different settings and collaborating, as he has with folks like Prins Thomas and even The Boredoms. For his latest outing he's teamed up with a vocalist called Christabelle who has shown up from time to time on some of his earlier recordings, but this time the record centered around her vocals and the two have created an album of ten distinct songs that owe as much to disco queens like Grace Jones and Donna Summer as they do to soul/funk icons like Prince and Vanity 6, not to mention a big healthy does of vintage Italo-disco.
This is one of those records that when played has most folks assuming it's some amazing obscure early 80's disco-treasure. It's got that vintage cloudy and sequined sound yet it doesn't come off like some cheap and easy throwback. One of Lindstrom's greatest strengths is his ability to create such infectious grooves, and we tend to be more drawn to his tighter song based productions than his grandiose epic waves of sound like much of Where You Go I Go Too.
Christabelle and Lindstrom sound so perfect and perfectly balanced together. One never seems to dominate the other. The songs allow for passages that are total trademark Lindstrom, yet Christabelle's vocals lend a lightness and breeze that allows these songs to travel with an ease and freeness that past Lindstrom records were not quite able to reach. Sonically similar to what the folks in the Italians Do It Better/Johnny Jewel camp (Glass Candy, Desire, Chromatics, etc.) have been doing, yet somehow this comes off as a bit less self conscious and flows so smoothly and easily...
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas have become the go-to guys for modern cosmic disco journeys in sound. On their latest collaboration it sounds like they've been listening to a whole lot of Michael Rother's '70s solo records as II really taps into that airy, lightly spaced out and oh-so-breezy vibe. The cascading rhythms and stretched out breeziness also reminds us a lot of the great Sorcerer album from a couple years ago. While it might make for a perfect coming down record the morning after a night full of debauchery in Ibiza, truth is, this is a record that will definitely appeal to many folks who don't usually think of themselves as dance music minded, as these two Norwegians understand how to craft such lush and pleasing sounds with a surprisingly wide range of musical appeal. New age disco? A cosmic beach party? Rolling so smoothly and going down so nice, we don't care what it's called, the fact is it's damn good.
That Lindstrom singles album we reviewed a few list backs has been a consistent hit around here for those seeking some organic and engaging italo-disco inflected dance bliss. But what put Lindstrom on the dance radar was his earlier collaboration with fellow Beardo Disco Swede, Prins Thomas, who tempered Lindstrom's earthy Moroder-esque roboticisms with his love for seventies European cosmic space disco-rock a la Germany's Boney M. and France's Space Art and Cerrone. We never carried that early collaboration, but the two have recently gotten back together to remix a few of their early tracks into nine extended dancefloor burners, and extended is the key word as some tracks roll past the ten minute mark and one in particular is over 20 minutes. Good for parties where you want to keep a crowd nice and sweaty. But the nice thing about this is that the pair make a dance album that is great for casual listening too. It's not just all 4 to the floor beats. The reverbed piano, atmospheric guitars, ecstatic synths, and the subtle hints of vocals that comprise the bulk of the rhythm's melodic topping create an engaging and catchy listen as well.
One of the rare contemporary bands to be released on the ever exceptional Dark Entries label, typically known for reissues of classic and / or obscure minimal wave and post-punk electronics from the late '70s to mid '80s. But this is an album that's firmly grafted to the aesthetic that Dark Entries has honed through their fine curatorial ear; so much so that if we were told that Linea Aspera were some rare Sheffield band from 1981 featuring an undiscovered Anne Clark on vocals, we wouldn't be surprised one bit. The sequenced electronics, drum machines, and minimalist melodies are ice cold in their production thanks to the engineering prowess of Ryan Ambridge, who taps into the darker synth wrangling of Chris & Cosey, Psyche, Soft Cell, Human League, and even the Eurythmics in an experimental mood. That Eurythmics reference is furthered along by the full-throated vocals of Allison Lewis, whose poetics of despair and sexual miserablism are couched in the industrialist appropriation of neuroscience and various medical pathologies. There's a considerable amount of dark tension between the cold electronics and Lewis' vocals that really makes this record quite special and worthy of being included in the hallowed Dark Entries pantheon. To be completely honest, this is really what Xeno & Oaklander *want* to sound like if either of those Anglophiles could really rise above their well crafted electronic starkness. Kudos, once again to Dark Entries for introducing us to another great minimal wave find!
This gem appears thanks to the folks at Minimal Wave, the label that has been digging deep, very deep into the realms of post-punk and new wave to uncover many a release that might have been lost. For those who have procured plenty of terminal obscurities from such blogspots as Mutant Sounds, No Longer Forgotten Music, or Systems of Romance, some of the reissues on Minimal Wave may be familiar. But these are no grey area reissues. Minimal Wave has assured us that they have taken great care to procure the rights for each of these recordings!
Linear Movement was a short-lived project by Peter Bonne that ran from 1982 and 1984, paralleling his work in the bands Autumn and Twilight Ritual. While neither of these projects mean much to us, his later project A Split Second was one we are quite familiar with, as one of the seminal Electronic Body Music projects alongside Front 242, Neon Judgement, and everything on Antler-Subway circa 1988. But given the earlier time frame, Linear Movement is a much more primitive affair, melding electro-pop to bits of post-punk disco grooves, amidst punchy synth stabs and occasional detours towards darker, somber arppegiations. Altogether, Linear Movement falls somewhere near the Bippp compilation that Ed Banger resurrected, Vince Clarke era Depeche Mode, and yes, early Front 242. Lieve Van Steerteghem is the female vocalist who pops up on perhaps the best tracks on the album.
Robert Lippok may be better known for his throbbing pseudo post-rock / electronica excursions with Tarwater and To Rococo Rot, but here he has turned to the laptop and the minidisc to construct his first release for Raster/Noton. At first, this has all of the
Depending on which side of the fence you're sitting in the cd-r debate, one of the pluses or pitfalls of self-recorded and released cd-rs is that the artists may continue to expand or alter a work that they've already "released" - potentially resulting in some amount of confusion and/or disgruntlement on the part of the consumer. However, it may also be argued that another plus is the usually low price tag for some pretty great sounds.
That said, SF's Liquid Cop has released a full length cd-r hot on the heels of his Clear Album EP. Yes, it does include the tracks from that EP, however it isn't simply tacked onto the end "w/ bonus ep" style. No, the older tracks have all been interspersed among the new ones, making for an altogether new sequence of LC aural scenes. Fluidly integrating shades of playful exotica, glitch-y electronics, and soundscapes like a more minimal Milk Cult, Liquid Cop has composed twenty delightful collages from samples, field recordings, guitar, vocals and digital gleeps 'n' meeps. Very nice!
An all too brief seven tracks of delightfully collaged samples, guitar, vocals and digital gleeps 'n' meeps from this SF gentleman. Light and playful, they alternately take a sip of lounge-iness, dip their toes in glitch-y, down tempo electronics, and venture gently into other soundscape terrain. A wee detail I found a bit disappointing was the disc's abrupt end, the final cut just stops. It was like being jarred out of a 12 minute daydream. Nonetheless, this is a very very warm and pleasing introduction to Liquid Cop!
Uwe Schmidt, a.k.a. Atom Heart, returns with the third outing in his Lisa Carbon persona. Like the previous Carbon release, "Standards" is a tweaked exploration of Brazilian Tropicalia and Bossanova from the unique Schmidt perspective. Not as skittery and irreverent as the Midisport release on Rather Interesting two years back, "Standards" is still plenty of fun -- and possibly a little more likely to subvert its way into your next cocktail party. It definitely has that ability to fuck with people's heads. It takes a little while, but eventually people dancing lightly in the store will suddenly stop, their soma smiles fading from their lips to be replaced by scrunched up their faces before asking: "what the hell is this?" As the CD progresses it seems to get a little further demented, starting with a little ditty in the middle that almost sounds like a lost outtake from Raymond Scott's "Soothing Sounds for Baby" project, a lounge midi-fied send up of David Bowie's "Space Oddity", and an excellent ersatz Perrey & Kingsley track.
Y'know those cans of pressurized air that you use to clean out the dust and crud that accumulates in your computer keyboard and other electronic devices? Well, Lithops latest album is sorta the musical equivalent... complete with that distinct fleetingly chilly fizz, mysterious chunks and gritty particles. Each track churns out slabs of glutinous squidge and igneous electronics cut with a dull blade.
Psst, in case you didn't know Lithops just happens to be another musical persona of one Mr. Jan St. Werner of Microstoria and Mouse On Mars fame. Maybe he shoulda called himself Mithops... just kidding!
Lithops is the alter ego of Jan St. Werner, best known for his main outfit, Mouse On Mars. It's been a few years since he's made a Lithops record and it's actually sounds quite refreshing to our ears. There was a period of time a few years ago that it seemed like one couldn't walk down the block without being bombarded by IDM records from every direction. But hearing one of the most talented fellas of said genre doing what he's always done best is kind of hitting the spot right now. Songs that slowly weave in and out of themselves, orbiting in a lucid space that drifts and wanders so nicely. While other times building up to actual beats and rhythmic moments, with some of his trademark undertones that have made his work in Mouse On Mars so memorable. One of our favorite electronic releases in quite some time!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Lithops is the solo project from Jan St. Werner (the mastermind behind Mouse On Mars), although he never lets anyone know that on any of the Lithops' releases. Constantly shifting abstract electronica that is much darker and less accessible than the relatively happy releases by Mouse On Mars. Comes with nice hand stamped (potato stamps?) covers!
Originally only on German vinyl, Uni Umit was conjured by Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars and it sounds a lot like them too, if a little less beat-oriented. Lovely, painterly electronica squiggles. Released on Jim O'Rourke's Moikai label. Highly recommended.
We have been hearing about Little Dragon for quite a while now as lots of folks around here had seen them live and been blown away and kept urging us to check out their stuff and to see what an amazing presence their Swedish-Japanese singer has. Unfortunately, most of LD's releases where hard-to-track-down imports up 'til now, but luckily with the release of this newest album Machine Dreams we get to hear why all our friends were so excited about Little Dragon.
Machine Dreams is completely refreshing, bright and colorful electro-pop that eschews all the detached and cold cliches that so many in the scene rely on, opting instead for elements of soul, house, downtempo, and an overall warmth and sincerity of sound that really makes LD stick out.
Imagine a more uptempo and cheery Fever Ray, or if Lali Puna stopped navel gazing and reached their hands and hearts to the sky, or if Matthew Herbert got to produce a record for Gwen Guthrie! We hear wonderful hints of LD's influences too, everything from Massive Attack to Pizzicato Five, yet they manage to really shine with their own identity, displaying a really great range, from uptempo catchy dancefloor moments to more drowsy, sultry bittwersweet slow burners. We are feeling this so much!
Without a doubt one of the most creative and pleasurable groups making electronic tinged dance pop these days. What sets Little Dragon so far ahead of the crowd is that they are such innovative music makers as well as having the amazing talents of lead singer Yukimi Nagano, who really does have one of the most soulful and seductive voices around. Ritual Union is one of the most perfect electro pop albums of the year. The songs and sounds on the record let you go deep into you body. But it's not just a surface high that makes you shake it for a moment, but instead something you feel dig into you deeper and actually grab a hold of your spirit and soul. Like some of the best work that Herbert & Dani Siciliano made together, or if Prince in his prime teamed up with Lykke Li to make a record smart enough to want to spend intimate time with, yet fun enough to want to blast so loud when your friends are around. Colors, shapes and melody all swirling together into something so intoxicating, and so totally good for you. This is becoming our absolute summer jam!
We loved the Public Guilt label, who brought us so many amazing releases - from the occult rock of Aluk Todolo, to the glacial avant doom of Habsyll; from the noise-jazz of Zu, to the spaced out dronescapery of Destructo Swarmbots; from the experimental turntablism of Strotter Inst, to the alchemical folk of Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, and so much more. We were bummed when Public Guilt decided to call it a day, but were super excited to discover that PG mastermind JR was back with a new label, one that maybe surprisingly is focused entirely on underground / outsider hip hop and club music, all 45rpm 7"s, and all pretty goddamn great.
The second release comes from a duo called Little Flowers, which has a seriously strange pedigree, one part former director for avant grade choreographer Merce Cunnigham, one part LA indie noise prog weirdos Upsilon Acrux, which really gives you NO clue as to what it might sound like, but then why should it, cuz even listening, it's hard to parse exactly what's going on - it's a noisy, wildly chaotic, buzzing swirl of progged out electro, with vocodered vox buried beneath thick throbbing synths, and what sounds like real acoustic drumming, and percussion, all draped in a psychedelic murk, the production super tripped out and experimental. The first side a dark, swirling collage of sound, the second more a sort of post hip hop groover, but both totally, and geniusly twisted, funky enough for the dance music crowd, but seriously freaked out and fucked up enough for everybody else. So good! And JR's new label two for two. Can't wait to hear more!
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!!
San Francisco's fantastic live improv hiphop/jazz/turntablism trio, featuring the skills of DJ Quest of the Space Travellers/Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters, as well drum kit and double bass. Everybody loved their FatCat/Hip Hop Slam record "Monostereosis", and this is more of the same. Kinda like a more advanced version of the instrumental tracks on the last few Beastie Boys records, actually. Good stuff.
Live Human's previous albums never really did it for me, so this great album is a revelation. Here the groundbreaking trio of standup bass, drums, and turntables is *live*, recorded right here in their hometown of San Francisco at the Great American Music
Live Human mixes warmly organic bass lines that are funky but not overly so, with percussion that is as breakbeat "funky drummer" style as it is carefully shuffling, staccato and delicate. The third equal element is hiphop DJ Quest's visionary turntablist style. While he does his fair share of athletic, textural scratching here (he even plays with the tense sound of a skipping cd, of all things), it isn't overdone, nor boring, nor predictable. He brings in just enough outside elements like women's voices, snippets of old hip hop classics, James Brown's "heuh!", etc., to prevent the "jazz" from imploding self-indulgently into itself, yet not so much that it becomes a sample-heavy smorgasbord. It is incredible how perfect Quest's instincts are for what is too much and/or not enough. I have to say that the turntablist skills demonstrated here are so seamlessly integrated with the bass and the drums that I can't help but think this is one of THE FINEST examples of turntablism I have ever heard -- he knows that the way to us listeners' hearts is not to showboat his virtuosic skills, but instead to bow to the demands of the music itself.
This is an awesome record that is completely worth your money. As if that wasn't enough, it is purposely being sold directly from the label to retailers for the express purpose of keeping the price down and, according to the liner notes, "cutting out many of the redundant music-industry middle-men that traditionally add nothing to the art but are happy to pocket more than their fair share of the profit (biiiiaaaatch!)."
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
These popular local artists' album was previously only available as an import, now finally it's available as a domestic release! What we had to say about the import still applies: San Franciscans Kushin, Mathias, and Quest (DJ that is) come up with a kick ass 'new jazz'/turntablism/hip hop hybrid for their debut album. A couple of the tracks from their previous singles on Fat Cat pop up on the album which is loaded with wykked scratching, sikk beats, and phhat bass. Excellent!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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The second single on Fat Cat from Live Human, a San Francisco trio with turntablist DJ Quest scratching over a mellow funk of skittering jazzy percussion and stand up bass. A really good American version of Red Snapper!
Two disc set. One of the discs is atmospheric layers of electronica of the not-quite-noisy noise flavor, as we have loved Locust for in the past. This is a cool soundin' disc, but it's meant to be played simultaneously with an accompanying CD wherein Locust's
We always wanted to like those Locust records that came out in the '90s, with their alluring 4AD-inspired visual aesthetics and matching moody atmospherics, the sound a darkly silken electronica. Even though Locust's principal technician Mark Van Hoen had worked on the best Seefeel albums (and the underappreciated side project Scala), his work in Locust never really hit the mark. The baroqueness of it all seemed a bit too contrived. The female vocals that he was so fond of seemed superfluous as well. So when Van Hoen resurrected his career last year with a record under his own name on Editions Mego, we approached it with some skepticism, but thankfully that skepticism was unfounded as he finally delivered an album of what we always hoped for. The strengths of that album - the spooky atmospheres, the hypnotic sequencing, and those breakbeats which align so nicely next to the best from Boards of Canada - are reprised here on You'll Be Safe Forever, the first Locust album in nearly 12 years.
A somber tranquility eases through You'll Be Safe Forever, with its heavily reliance on swelling ambient synths, languid samples, dark-eyed kosmische vibes, and deconstructed pop motifs. Even when Van Hoen revs up things up on a track like "Strobes," the punchiness of crunched rhythms and taut arpeggiation dissolve within the hypnotic patterning from his female vocal samples and bleary-eyed drones. "The Washer Woman" with its painterly sequencing, skittering rhythm track and tone-bent melodies has all of the tropes of a great Biosphere track. By the end of the record especially on "The Flower Lady" and "Subie", Van Hoen hits those blunted notes of low-slung basslines and slow-motion grooves that would have been right at home on Mo' Wax back in the day. One of the finest electronica records of 2013 for sure.
Finally on cd! Originally released as a double 12": one record containing less than a minute's worth of the trademark sonic pummelling by San Diego's The Locust plus an ultra stunning etched b-side, and the other record filled with the same song getting all remixed and electronically fucked up by a variety of their friends, from Christoph De Babalon (a 109-second carnivorous nightmare) to Kid 606 (much more Kid than Locust) to Bastard Noise (a truncated 47-second splatter) to I Am Spoonbender (abducting us on an epic 6-minute Locust adventure), and others. The only disappointment with this cd version would have to be the packaging. Let's face it, visually the military green camo cd is no match for the twin toxic lime, etched vinyl attack, but if you need some good morning music...so much better than an alarm clock.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Two of the leading lights in the dubstep underground team up for this killer slab of modern digital dubbed out bliss. Unlike the spastic over the top manic energy of grime, dubstep is way more laid back, spare and sparse, like a modern more junglized version of African Head Charge or Twilight Circus. The same sort of synth sounds and digital production, lots of King Tubby echo, but more sleek and space aged.
Digital Mystikz spit out a super abstract, stripped down blown out shuffle, with weird distant keening siren-like high end, and fuzzy low end squelches that sort of rumble and wobble dizzily.
Loefah counters with some super druggy modern dub, a dubstep steeped in the sounds of classic old skool dub, but given a glitchy stuttery makeover. A super minimal, ultra hypnotic rhythm, swirling synths drenched in reverb and echo-ed into oblivion. Huge loping grooves drenched in thick clouds of outer space bong smoke. Awesome.
Cold Mission is the debut full length from UK producer Logos, who has some connection to aQ faves Dusk & Blackdown, and traffics in a similar strain of post dubstep electronica. But unlike the cinematic ambience of D&B, Logos' sound seems to fall closer to the slow-mo soul of folks like Vessel and oOoOO, equal parts jungle, dubstep and grime, but given a druggy, drowsy makeover. Logos unfurls sprawling swirls of synthscapery wrapped around fractured beats, and gouts of rib cage rattling bass, but like much of this stuff, Cold Mission doesn't sound destined for the dancefloor, instead, the vibe is abstract and avant, more of a wasted late night chill out sort of feel, skittery rhythms drift amidst softly billowing clouds of chordal thrum, peppered with muted synth pads, and reverbed vocal fragments, many of the tracks almost sound like the intros to dubstep jams, stretched way out into proper songs, slow building and tense, as if some huge drop was just around the corner, but the drop never comes, instead, the sound just billows outward, like a time lapse film of a slowly expanding universe transformed into sound. There are also lots of field recordings woven into the mix, chirping birds, chittering insects, crickets, making the music sound strangely pastoral, even at its most sinister, it's not hard to imagine chilling out on some grassy knoll, the stars glimmering in a black sky, these sounds washing over you. The third track, "Surface Area" is where it first comes all together, weird metallic percussive clatter, peppering swirling cascades of arpeggiated synths, super kosmische and ethereal, all underpinned by thick waves of bass rumble, crickets off in the distance, total blissed out ambient dub weirdness, that might be our favorite jam here, but that's a tough call, cuz throughout, Logos conjures up all sorts of abstract trippiness, his post dubstep about as 'post' as it can get, check out "Swarming", another sprawling swath of crystalline shimmer, this one laced with minor key melodies, haunting FX, thick rumbling bass, DJ style rewinds, again, all blurred into something spacey and nearly psychedelic.
Even the more beat heavy tracks are pretty out there: "Seawolf" is all rubbery synth buzz, fragmented stutter beats, there's the cock of a shotgun in there too, as well as some video game 8-bit sound FX, the first few minutes sounding like an intro, again until you realize, there is no intro, the beat lurching and lumbering through fields of glitch and squelch and buzz. The one track featuring Dusk & Blackdown is actually the most straight ahead jam here, but that's not saying much, it's still super dubbed out and abstract, this time laced with voices, strange synth blurts, more rewinds, like most of the tracks here, never fully reaching terminal velocity, every time it sounds like the beats gonna kick in proper, the song fractures and morphs into a twisted tangle, although in the case of this track, the sound suddenly shifts into something synthy and spacey and unlike almost anything else on the record. From there on out, it's more of the same, which is to say, not the same at all. A lurching stuttery synth wreathed beatscape, bleeds directly into the gorgeously cinematic title track, all gristly glitch, swoonsome synth, and crumbling distorted bass, which leads directly into a strange bit of almost tropical sounding ambience, like the Field via the Orb via James Ferraro? Trippy, dreamy stuff for sure.
The record finishes off with a killer one two punch. First, "Wut It Do", where Logos lets his jungle freak flag fly, the closest to a proper jungle jam for sure, but even then, the song is constantly shifting, the various loops and samples, maddeningly repeated, footstep style, but ultimately, has us wondering what a slightly less abstract Logos record might sound like, pretty goddamn great we're guessing. But before we can think about that too much, the sound slips right back into the Cold Mission avant-dubstep / post jungle dreaminess, sounding a bit like a dubbed out jungle new age, all swirling synths, chirping crickets, tinkling chimes, some vocals and a little bass buzz, as well as some spaced out stuttery beats, those beats eventually dropping out, leaving the last few minutes to unwind as a super trippy, super dynamic new age / dubstep mashup!
Much like his contributions to Kompakt's aptly titled compilation "Pop Ambient," Ulf Lohmann's "Because Before" teeters dangerously close to the corny aspects of electronic ambient music, but manages to infuse enough interesting and puzzling sounds
The "Before" LP is the vinyl companion disc to Ulf Lohmann's "Because Before," with the a-side of the album presenting edited versions of the filmic ambient loopings found on the CD. The b-side has a huge unrelenting Mike Ink techno stomp that is nothing like the Pop Ambient sounds from the a-side or the CD version. To quote Kompakt, this untitled piece is a
Lolita Storm as the actualization of Alec Empire's sexual fantasies? Or the DHR equivalent of Fuzzbox? Maybe. This all-girl quartet is constantly barking out pogo-punk semi-melodic recitations like "I want a meat injection" or "just give me hot lips, wet pants." Not really the most subtle of sexual innuendos, but explosive Amen / drum & bass breaks and squalid noise bursts do bury the lyrical inadequacies deep underneath the trademark electronic-punk hostility we have grown to love about DHR.
Killer new record on the resurgent Belgian electronic imprint R&S, here we have the latest from Matt Cutler, better known as Lone. "Galaxy Garden" Is a hyper-colored blast of glistening funky as hell UK two-steppin bass muzik! Some real frenetic, overly radiated glow in the dark, brain-melting recontextualized 'ardkore, ravebrained madness!!! Kinda like the sugar addicted, hyper active step brother of Burial (the one you chain up in the basement for fear that he might dance a hole into the kitchen floor).
Cutler's jams have always been very unique, and always super colorful and tripped out ("Coreshine Voodoo" is the quintessential example that comes to mind, released on the "Echolocations" ep in 2011 on R&S), but with "Galaxy Garden" the vision is complete. The songs are all meticulously layered affairs. Pristine synth sounds meld with shuffle steppin riddims, all dreamy and hypnotic, reverberated into the ether and catchy as hell. One of the elements that separates Cutler's music from other bass music makers is his intensely rhythmic and incredibly ear-wormy melodies. As heard throughout "Galaxy Garden", the melodic phrases extend and develop over the rhythmic tumult, floating above and carrying the sound further into a heavenly futuristic zone. Take for instance, the 4th cut "Lying In The Reeds", starting with a warmly analogue synthetic hypno-arpeggio outlining the progression, multilayered melodies weave into the song's fabric, building layer upon layer of blissed out texture and hooky melodies till about 1:40 in the drums drop out and a MOST beautifully enveloping pad swaddles your earholes and swirls about your mind, rippling sonic teardrops ping ponging from left to right, then the beat and bass kick back in just in time to bring you back to the groove. A space-bound jam for certain. Another standout track is "Crystal Caverns 1991", which also happens to be the lead single. Running at a frantic 140 bpm pace, this cut is an absolute brain melter! A torrent of hand percussion, aquatic synth squelch and psychotic RAVE stabs come together in a 5 minute flurry of future FUNK! All held together by Cutler's incredible melodic knack, and propelled by seriously HEAVY bass. This is the kinda music we imagine hearing piped through the subway system of some utopian city of the future! The perfect soundtrack for bullet train commuting. Or like a way more far out and bass heavy soundtrack to F-Zero, you remember? For SNES! A wondrous, glowing sound to cruise with through the twists and turns of some gleaming digital autobahn! �
The rest of "Galaxy Garden" follows suit. All the sounds melting and dripping and incredibly melodic, and the bass and drums heavy and propulsive. Lone's jams are like Oneohtrix Point Never on dancefloor steroids, or James Ferraro if it was more about function and less about concept (not that we really mind concept)... this is just beautiful, comic underworld SYNTH MAGIC! Trancey, warm and enveloping, fiercely rhythmic, and about as far out as any modern day New Ager so-and-so can claim to be. Lone just happens to aim his psychedelic, utopian-glow transcendence at the dance floor... and we love him for it! Double LP version includes a cd of the album! RECOMMENDED!!!!�
You can certainly tell that the multi-faceted man behind Lone Pigeon had a hefty hand in the formative years of Scotland's Beta Band (FYI: L.P. mainman Gordon Anderson was one of the founding members of B.B. who originally went by the moniker The Pigeons). Much like his former band, Lone Pigeon's witty crafty pop is capable of both lifting your spirits and bringing you down (in the best possible way!). It also mines the gamut of musical styles ('60s pop, psych, folk), but the actual execution of the songs can also be more shamblingly lo-fi than the much more grand endeavors of B.B. As if controlled completely by whim, songs will trail off or stop abruptly, instruments will jump in loudly and then meander. Vocals tumble into (we assume unintentional) haphazard distortion. Anderson's voice often affects a sleepy, tousled John Lennon-ish-ness, and there's definitely more evidence than of the degree of Beatles admiration that's going on here. A side note: We searched high and low for the titles to the sixteen tunes on the cd, but to no avail. Maybe they forgot?! You'll just have to go online and do a little sleuthing for yourself (as we did!). If you do, you'll discover that the name of the album's highlight (in our opinion) is the breezy, sentimental "Sallyzimmerman". You'll also find out that these songs were recorded prior to those on his last full length Concubine Rice.
It definitely seems like things have gotten somewhat darker and a bit weightier in the Looper camp by the sounds of the slowly swaying late night grooves emanating from this new album. No sweet electronic pop here. No playful percolating beats. This is much more heavily soul influenced, very sultry. Former Belle And Sebastianite Stuart David affects a dusky talk-sing much like that of Daniel Ash (Love And Rockets) or for that matter the dude from Fischerspooner. And as a result, any minute we expect the diva to appear, but no! Luckily we are spared by the gentle introduction of Karn David's lovely voice. Take the vocals away, and this could very well be the rough backing tracks for Destiny's Child... well, maybe not quite. Overall, it's a haunting, noirish affair and quite a smooth shift in musical mood for Looper. Also features recent Belle And Sebastian departee Isobel Campbell on cello and brass-blowing man about town Mick Cooke on flugelhorn (he's also performed with the Mojave 3, Snow Patrol and Gentle Waves).
On the most recent Pop Ambient collection, we singled out the track by Loops Of Your Heart as one of the standouts, not even realizing then that LOYH was in fact an alter ego of aQ fave The Field, but once we discovered that, it made perfect sense. That track rife with the same sort of wistful emotion, and melodic sensibility that made us love The Field so much in the first place. The big difference seemingly less of a reliance on loops. Even with the loop-centric name. Where as The Field offered up dizzying collages of densely layered melodies and textures, that somehow become so much more that its constituent parts, Loops seems to be focused on a sound that's more organic, even a little bit more poppy, the sort of thing you might expect to hear on Morr music, a new strain of indie electronica, the sort of twee pop sensibilities applied to beats and yeah, loops, all woven into warm, melodic grooves, and cool synthy sci-fi atmospheres. Opener "Little You, You Should Develop" lays down a throbbing synth bass, beneath swirls of ethereal melody and wisps of glitch and crackle, before slipping into the 10+ minute "Broken Bow", which is downright dark in comparison, beginning with a strange detuned doomy sounding drift, again rife with synth swirls, and woozy shimmer, the main melodic component a strange disembodied guitar chord, wreathed in effects, which does in fact make this, at least briefly, sound like some weird electro-doom. Soon that slo-mo creep is joined by pulsing synths, reminiscent of Zombi or Majeure, that sort of retro-futuristic soundtrack sound, but it's not until halfway through that the doomy element fades away, leaving something more melodic, and darkly (and dreamily) driving, the sound transformed into a sort of late night, autobahn style driving music. From there on out, the record continues to meld a subtly darker soundtracky element, to swooshes of synth squelch, cool layered electronics, warm echo drenched sun dappled drift, hazy, seventies soundtrack sounding atmospheres, bouncy minimal synth grooves, and washed out celestial filmstrip future wave that sounds like something James Ferraro would flip over. Our favorite track though might have to be the record's centerpiece, the 11 minute "Cries", a sprawling bit of Pop Ambient style atmospherics, laced with all manner of dark energy, abstract percussion, slow shifting textures, deep low end melodies, tranquil and meditative, but also super cosmic and dreamlike, and another one of those songs that could have filled up the whole record and we would have been plenty happy.
For those of you who gobbled up the wistful, pretty pop stylings on Loquat's recent Penny Drop cdep, here's another similarly tuneful offering. Four mellow songs in all (including an alternate version and a remix of "Swingset Chain" from the ep) that come in the form of a 10" record that's part of a Bay Area artists series from the Dreams By Degrees label. Rounding out the other three seasons are Colophon (spring), Sappington (summer), and Coastal (winter).
Ah, the second release from the Mimaroglu Music Sale sponsored "No Label" which probably will stick as a name, when it really was meant to be a private imprint with the absence of a label name. No matter, though as this split LP from Mark Lord (the pseudonym of Christopher Forgues) and Morgan Egg (who we know next to nothing about). Forgues has previous work under the Whitehouse inspired project Kites with blistering pierced noise surrounded by shock-horror tactics; and that sensibility has been tempered under the Mark Lord moniker. The only semblance of that former self appears in an appropriated dialogue of a '70s porn, buttressed by some fantastic retro-garde / minimal wave electronics. These looping synth modulations arppegiate and expand along linear pulsations dappled by circuit bent twiddle and scrags of cheap noise. Sort of like a more progressive take on the Units without so much of the punk overdrive. The final cut "Warpath" tops the drum machine propulsion with an almost charmingly playful melody to the counter the insistent synth bass pulse. Really great stuff!
Morgan Egg's snarled drone tempests declares their influences from the classic Italian industrial work by Maurizio Bianchi and Giancarlo Toniutti. Washes of grey static and revolving chunks of leaden distortion meld into the grim atmospheres that Egg laces with oscillating electronics and curiously languid bell tones. Quite a departure from the Mark Lord side, but just as incredible.
This small pressing is less than 300 copies, of which we have less than a dozen. Who knows if more will be in our future.
