Rufen
Rufen is the second installment in a trilogy of Qluster music, following on from the Fragen (BB 076CD/LP) studio album. In four impressive live recordings, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Onnen Bock unfold aural panoramas which can only be described, in the truest sense of the word, as fantastic. Had Claude Debussy not already composed 'Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun,' then Qluster would have been ideally placed to do so, their transparency and polymorphism so reminiscent of his high Impression…
Emergency Room
"A few new developments for electronic production duo Games. The pair comprised of Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin and Tiger City's Joel Ford are no longer calling themselves Games -- instead, they now go by the very Italo disco-sounding Ford & Lopatin. First order of business for F&L: running a new offshoot of Brooklyn label Mexican Summer, appropriately titled Software." -- Cribbing from Pitchfork."To precede the release of Channel Pressure, Ford & Lopatin will be releasing an Emergency…
Anahata (1984-86)
Subtitled: Primordial Vibration / Sound ceremonial with a contemplative character. Composed in 1983-1986. Sound ceremonial with a contemplative character for two voices of Japanese Buddhist monks (traditional Shômyô techniques - traditional temple chanting - in a larger, modern and creative form), three Japanese Gagaku instrumentalists (traditional court music in a modern and creative form), one percussionist (with a percussion instrument orchestra) and electro-acoustic (fixed interactive sounds…
Terrestreality
RESTOCKED Hans Dens second vinyl offering on Aguirre with more synthcrapings and zonked adventures in lo-fi music. Following up his 7 inch on NNA tapes and an LP on Release The Bats Hans continues to search and destroy. Loads of damaged audio and otherworldy synth bubblles spread over 11 tracks. No need to look at your watch, time has become infinitive.
Port Out Starboard Home
Some bands produce a CD every week; by now it seems 'normal' to have three year gaps in releasing records for Beequeen, which is a fresh antidote to the music business of more = more. For Beequeen, like good wine, things mature given more time. Whereas 'Sandancing' (2008) featured Olga Wallis a guest singer, on this new album she's a fully fledged bandmember, adding her beautiful voice to Beequeen's off beat songs. 'Port Out Starboard Home' features surreal dream-pop, but always with that unique…
Split LP
Limited edition split album from two of Earth’s avant-garde super powers: Asmus Tietchens and Kouhei Matsunaga. Last summer Important released some highly praised records with Kouhei Matsunaga including a collaborative CD with Sean Booth (Autechre) and Mika Vainio (Pan Sonic), a split LP with Mika Vainio and a full length CD of his own solo work. The breath and quality of Kouhei's work was apparent across these three releases and his compositions for this split LP serve to create connections be…
Bestiario vol.2
Here’s a new 7″ from the ‘Bestiario’ series by Italian percussionist Enrico Malatesta. Bestiario is a series of short compositions for solo acoustic percussion, recorded live with no overdubs or editing. Using extremely dense micro-structures, broken rhythms and fast tempi on a very reduced percussion set, those pieces are meant to explore a multi-directional sonic dimension, while keeping a high level of tension.
7″ record, black vinyl (cut at dubplates & mastering, berlin), printed labels …
Hearing metal 3'
In contrast to the melange of its ‘successor,’ Hearing Metal 3 has moments of separation wherein Stuart and Pisaro can be discretely heard. For this piece, Stuart revisits the textures of ricefall (2), delicately and not-so-delicately pouring grains onto surfaces. When combined with Pisaro’s tones, the resonances explore a full territory uncharted by ricefall (2). However, there are still moments of Pisaro/Stuart mixing, like when Stuart’s “sixteen suspended cymbals” bow against Pisaro’s s…
Avventure Lontane
Mostly known for his intense drone performances and as bass/guitarplayer for the ultrasonic noise trio MIR, Papiro seems to slip into a different persona when left unattended with a bunch of old Synthesizers and the privilege of overdub. The nine tracks show Papiro’s affinity for melodies and complex arrangements and will please followers of early seventies electronica like Walter Carlos (A Clockwork Orange), Cluster or Bruce Haack. The LP comes in a silkscreened glow-in-the-dark cover.
Ictus Ensemble
A sensational LP... That's it! A A creative collaboration between italian composer Riccardo Nova and belgian Ictus Ensemble: Riccardo Nova concentrated on the art of the ‘drone’, on the dividing line between certain works of contemporary music (such as those of the composer Giacinto Scelsi) and trance rock, a hypnotic music consisting of long, sustained compact chords with an expressive incantatory power. At that time, Nova systematically combined parts for acoustic instruments with a ‘mirror-im…
The Way Things Go
** 515 copies ** Here, finally, is the gorgeous presentation that astronomy domine Rick Reed's music so richly deserves: Two black vinyl LPs, pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl, with full-color labels, inside black poly-lined sleeves, housed in a matte-finish full-color gatefold jacket adorned with Reed's vibrant and fantastically evocative paintings. Included with each copy of this set is a full-color download card featuring access to high-quality MP3s of the complete contents of the vinyl record…
Ponytail, Ponytales
Tommaso Clerico and Luca Sigurta' mixed noise, ambient, fake hip hop and weird techno: the new frontier of melanchofreak or if you prefer a ride on deformed flying horses. Second album full of guest stars, from the legend of American noise To Live and Shave in L.A. to the giants of no(w)wave Zeek Sheck and MC Trachiotomy, plus some incredible Italian artists such as Bologna Violenta, Madame P, IOIOI and Trashsound.
Get Lost
And yet another killer album from the ever-productive Mark McGuire (Emeralds). It just keeps getting better, as he delivers another fine set of tunes in his perfected style. A few more electronic elements than usual and even some voices, but still the unique blend of feel-good riffs, electric and acoustic loops and melodies that just stick in the head. This album is chockablock with short hits and one long jam of blissed-out McGuire ambience. Awesome. Electric and acoustic guitar, vocals,…
The state we are in
The first thing this CD reminded me of was Tape...then I checked out the press release and it turns out that Tape's Johan Berthling (also very recently sighted on that Fire! with Jim O'Rourke record) is in fact one-third of this band, the other two being Andreas Soderstrom (Ass) and Per Eklund on drums. It is, as you would expect, gently paced instrumental stuff, slightly pastoral-sounding, with intertwining guitars and a some subtle Hammond organ and trumpet bits. This is a mightily rel…
Maria Minerva's Cabaret Cixous
Over the course of a 12", cassette, and a stream of ace youtube vids, Maria Minerva has emerged as one of the most interesting artistes to come into leftfield-pop focus over the last 12 months. 'Cabaret Cixous' is her debut album, a coruscating water-bed of mottled '90s dance-pop memes writhing under blankets of slyly sexy new age synths while her dreamy vocals whisper and croon seductively suggestive lyrics. It's not quite aural soft porn, but there's an inescapably lascivious element to …
Transamorem - Transmortem
Transamorem - Transmortem was premiered on March 9, 1974 at The Kitchen in NYC, where the music programmer at the time was Rhys Chatham - this was right before his guitar phase. During this period, 'Transamorem - Transmortem' was presented along with other compositions by Eliane Radigue in a linear mode of listening, although the piece had originally been conceived, during its composition, as a sound installation. Of course, both modes of listening are possible, and each works marvelously in its…
Emeralds
Emeralds is the new album by guitarist/songwriter, producer and sound architect Robin Guthrie. Another uncompromising step along the path that is his vision, enveloping the listener with the aesthetic enchantment which has become his trademark. From the opening notes of ‘Digging for Gold’ to the last echoes of ‘The Little Light Fades’, Emeralds takes us on a voyage which moves our emotions, stimulates our senses and leaves us feeling that the world must be a better place seen throug…
Uffuff
12” with 1 new Quehenberger orginal (Uffuff) and a trio of near remixes from his lastest album Hazard (released as LATON 047 in 2009). Patrick Pulsinger tackles New Beat, in his unique future funk sound. A welcome return of Elin (who hasn’t been on a Mego record since 1995, check MEGO 003). He slurps out a version of Hey Gert, making it into an slamming slowed down twister of a track.This leaves the pumping exccess of Altroys (Minimal Soul) Keep Talking remix.
Heartland's Suite
More cosmic psychedelia on Aguirre now, this time from Stellar Om Source, which is the project of Dutch visionary Christelle Gualdi, who also designed the album's crazy neo-psych nightmare of a sleeve. Tripped out stuff. As for the record itself, we're in synth central here, drinking a synth and coke and sucking on a syntharette. The first side is largely based around motorik drone workouts with simple melodies and immersive textures. There's no percussion and the whole experience is quit…
Lunar
Secret Colors offers up his latest, a bubbling album called ‘Lunar’. Homespun ambient soundscapes taking you on a space trek without any sort of cliche spacey noise. Glitchy without being abrasive, hollowed out yet wholly satisfying. You’ll find a new jungle planet with this as the soundtrack. Its about to get humid. (Leftist Nautical Antiques)