20 years ago these songs began to surface on various compilation recordings. By the end of the 1980s, Senior Stapleton began collecting tracks together on 'Automating' collections volume one and two. Finally, the first volume is available on CD for the first time. The tracks here span the years from 1981 through 1984, a pivotal phase in the the NWW timeline as the music became less improvisational noise-based and more compositional in nature. All of the original tracks are here from the LP release plus one bonus, "Automating (Again)" from the 1984 French compilation 'Born Out of Dreams', which has never appeared on a NWW release. Listening with the LP and CD back to back, the differences are few but prominent: there's nearly one minute missing (a squealing intro) from the first track, "Duelling Banjos", plus the end of "I Was No Longer His Dominant" has a repeated loop of the last spoken phrase cross-fading into "Ciconia." One thing I can't decide on is whether all the sounds have actually been enhanced or if my vinyl version of this is just old with the grooves worn thin! That aside, the sound quality and mastering job are very pleasing to the ears. It also helps that are also some of my favorite NWW songs, with the downright silliness of "Duelling Banjos" (a different version than on 'The Ladies Home Tickler') through the spacious atmospheric "Fashioned to a Device Behind a Tree" and the severe annoyance of the looped girl singing "Na Na Na Na, Kiss Him Goodbye" in "Nana or a Thing of Uncommon Nonsense." Couple things to note: consult the website for a tracklisting as it's unlisted and excuse the catalogue number (as it shares the same number with Santoor Lena Bicycle!)
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Alva Noto is digitalsound and visual artist Carsten Nicolai, aka Noto, head of the Notonhalf of Germany's Raster-Noton cooperative label now known simply asRaster Music. This disc is brought to us by fellow German electroniclabel Mille Plateaux and is referred to by them as being of the'digital processing' style. The 10 untitled tracks are a continuoussuite of minimalist compositions constructed of the familiar soundsthat seem to naturally emanate from everyone and everywhere in Germanythese days. For nearly 18 minutes Nicolai precisely codes structured,layered loops of clicks, pops, artifacts, 'beats', waves, tones,pulses, static, silence and noise into pleasant and listenablemini(mal) symphonies. The active evolution of each piece is both on amacro and micro level and the stereo field is fully explored ...attentive headphone listening ensures the full effect. And though thesounds are similar throughout, there's plenty of variation in how theyare presented within each track and from track to track, this alongwith sharp composition skills are the keys to maintaining my interest.Nicolai is simply one of the most talented in the field. The titleliterally means 'an original model on which something is patterned' soI can only assume that these prototypes will spawn more in the nearfuture.
Kilowatthours' debutalbum is a solid set that should please rock fans of all persuasions.Something like emo-pop that dabbles in post-rock, theirs is a stream ofsound with a gentle drift, deliberately channeled so that even at theirnoisiest, the songs are still melodic and sensitive. Tracks like"Kayla," "Run Home," and "Elipses" follow the tradition of dark pop ala Bob Mould: energetic rock with a sparkling sharp edge. Other songsvary in their inclination. Opening the album, "That You All Played"starts off with orchestral ambience soon brightened by a repeated lickand then a surge of warm guitars. Even when the song really starts tochurn, the grind is flavored by a mellow sweetness. "Strain of PositiveThinking" begins like a more hopeful Red House Painters with hushed,overlapping vocals, and bursts into a thundering wave of guitars andcymbals. A paradoxically playful and hopeless cover of "Candy Says"stays fairly faithful to the original version, though it turns theringing guitar arpeggios of the first into a twisting music box tinkle.Guitarist Chris Renn's dissonant off-key vocals are an affectionateparody of Doug Yule's ever sharpening pitch on the Velvet Undergroundrecording. Though the overall production is clear, it can sometimesseem a little flat, with vocals frequently buried in the background.Another complaint is that the Kilowatthours' carefully constructedsongs can sometimes seem a little restrained. Still, more intricaciesbecome audible with every listen, and it's hard not to admire theamount of conscious control with which Kilowatthours has apparentlyshaped its songs.
Emptylight and Hed Nod/Hushush gather 15 exclusive 'dark hop' cuts for this 75 minute compilation. Artists include several names I was already familiar with - Mick Harris, Ocosi, Su8m3rg3d, NOS, Dijislov and Not Breathing - and others that are new to me: The Dustmite, Zero ID, Shinitaika, Olivier Moreau, Silk Saw, I-drik, Montagnn, Larvae, Turn and Alien Radio Station. Most all of them do relatively the same thing, here at least, with beefy Scorn styled head nodders.
Two brand new CD-Rs arenow available from Terminal Kaleidescope in the EEC and Beta-LactamRings Records in the North America. First up is the third installmentof needles from Edward Ka-Spel. The disc includes more songs from oldvinyl releases "Dance China Doll" and "Perhaps We'll See Another ThinBlue Line" left off of 'Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles'volumes one and two. Also included here are rare tracks like "TheColour Xhine" from 1993's 'Tape a Break' cassette-only release, "Fuse,"the B-side from 'The Man who Never Was' and some previously unreleasedcuts "Charlotte! Stop Climbing the Curtains" and "Mosquito Munch FullGlory" (an alternate mix of from 'The Blue Room'). While it's great tohave these classic songs available on CD finally, the various sourcestossed together in this CD-R makes for an unclear listening only arabid fan would really love. I'm also somewhat disturbed by the choiceof throwing transition music between a couple of the tracks on here, asa purist of sorts, I'd rather re-assemble the albums in their originalrunning orders. Due to destroyed masters and various other problemsthis wasn't possible however.
Nextup is a gathering of stuff hinted to for years, 'Kollabris' featuresten songs from friends and family of Legendary Pink Dots, including thegorgeous acoustic gem "Bring the Rain" from the 'Artwork' album, thehaunting "Pretty Something" from Lydia Tomkiw as well as a few TearGarden outtakes and unreleased LPD jams. Once again the die-hard fanswould find these songs excellent to have like the alternate versions ofTear Garden's "Bump" and "Georgie" as well as the amusingly titledshort but sweet album closer, "The Bomb Bomb Loopa Tribe Go to Swansea(and eat it)" or the 14+ minute extract from the Empathy session.Similar to the other collection, the artwork is simple and inexpensivewhile the price is rather steep. The rewards are high as a largepercentage of these songs have never been available to the public. Withthe help of BLRR in the USA, these two along with the first three TeKaCD-R releases are now much more easily available for those who don'thave access to Eurocheques and would rather not pay pricey shippingcosts. In the end, the cost works out rather even, so if you were gonnabuy them, you would have bought them anyhow.
The debut album of ex-Blue Airplanes member Hazel Winter is a blues-tinged, distortion-wracked set of ruminations on bad times and uncomfortable intentions. Winter's voice shifts from cracked whisper to murderous wail, evoking Portishead's Beth Gibbons and PJ Harvey. Coincidentally, perhaps, Put Away the Sharp Knives features the contributions of Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley and Harvey producer and collaborator John Parish.
It's been nearly threeyears since the last full-length album from the Michigan-based Windy& Carl, but the duo have hardly been inactive in the meantime.Along with the album released in 1999 as 5 Way Mirror with GregGasiorowski and various performances including every year's Terrastock,the couple have also been operating their own Stormy Records musicstore full-time. Thankfully a new album manages to surface capturingtheir signature sound of drifting guitar effects, drones and occasionallow-volume mix vocalizations from Windy. I'm almost left wonderingwhere the missing album is as their evolution from 1998's 'Depths' isan incredible leap. 'Consciousness' begins simply with a beautifulswirling glistening guitar melody from the opener "The Sun." The albumcontinues on with a mesmerising "Balance," a sligthly altered versionof "Trembling" which appeared first on 'Brain in The Wire Disc A.'Here, the almost indescribable shaking hum combined with warmundertones conjures images in my mind of traveling on a train throughautumn foliage with the sun strongly blaring in my eyes. I'm nearlyfloored by the almost real string sounds both in that song and thealbum closer, "Resolution", that once again I regret not being intoillegal substances! The rest of the songs show an impressive display ofspace and composition, molding the sound into a serene daze, buildingthem up and then letting them fade at the perfect time. Songs like "TheLlama's Dream" are almost too gorgeous for words to even describe, withan intense wash of sound blanketing the warm bass tune driving the songforward. 'Consciousness' might be one of those albums which could beused as ambience for many low-intensity activities, but the duo'smastery of subtleties results in a blissful experience from listeningat loud volumes in dark rooms.
Colin Potter works as astudio engineer at IC Studios in Preston, UK and is probably best knownfor his work with Nurse With Wound and Current 93. "And Then" is hisfirst solo CD with 5 tracks cleverly titled "before", "...", "next","and", "finally". The disc itself reveals the full message: "before itwas inside, ... but now it is outside, next will come examination, andall will be revealed, finally however nothing is certain, and then?"Drones and curious percussive sounds dominate and are panned across thestereo field. "before" and "next", 11 and 20 minutes long respectively,feature contemplative ambient/noise drone work on par with NWW's"Soliloquy for Lilith". The former opens with a wind swept barrage thenmoves into a deep surging presence while the latter remains relativelyquiet but churns with mechanical undercurrents. "..." begins with abouncy spring like sound which is soon overwhelmed with drab beats andlater dressed up a bit with twinkly bell tones and a preset effectswash I've heard far too many times prior to this. This track strikes meas brutish, amateur and just plain out of place. "and" is a clankymilitary march that slowly builds into a cacophonous climax andrelease. "finally" returns to ambiance with natural environment soundsand a constant surge underneath later giving way to strange metallicwire pings and pluckings. It's really a shame that the tedious 15minutes of "..." are a permanent fixture of this otherwise fine disc.Hooray for the skip button! Potter will likely be involved with theslew of upcoming NWW and c93 releases due out later this year.
Ce groupe associé avecle collectif fameux québecois godspeed you black emperor! formula undisque des sons divers et rhythmes exotiques. Oh, to hell with a Frenchreview, as the sound on this release hits on a more global level. Thetitle, which translates as "Sedative in frequencies and grooves" prettyaptly describes the album's atmosphere. Although only a short thirtyminutes, the three songs on the album seem to coast effortlesslybetween cantering basslines and minimal electronic interludes. >Fromthe beginning of "De cercle en cercle..." you are bombarded with whatseems to be a simple jumping bassline and drum beat on which shards ofguitar feedback, electronic glitches, and metallic drones are laid. Itseems that these guys love their dichotomies, becuase they effortlesslyfly from this form of noise-pop to beatless ambient atmospheres andexperimental noise. They seem to take this formula and run with it,applying it to their second song, "éfférant/afférant" and then steppingback to view the album from a macroscopic level and ending it with"micro sillons," a four-minute noise work that slowly fades the albumout into sonic oblivion. While the formula can be a little boring attimes, the result is an album that shifts between various moods andatmospheres that produces cerebral visions of diverse grandeur.
Troum are a Bremen, Germany based duo formerly of the 'ambient-industrial' band Maeror Tri. Tjukurrpa is their third full length CD, follow-up to a Mort Aux Vaches and first on member Stefan Knappe's Transgredient Records. It is also the first in a trilogy under the name (meaning "dreamtime"), this one concentrating on 'harmonies' and the next two on 'drones' and 'pulsations'. And that is Troum's objective: to put the listener into a dream-like state of unconscious exploration.
While the lightning andthunder originate at the same time, we see the flash first — it'sbright and immediately grabs our attention, from the intensity we canmake a good guess as to the thunder's magnitude. This EP preceeds alarge milestone in Matmos' musical career and the flash is indeed quiteintense. Following last year's tour with dates in Europe and shows inthe USA with the Rachel's, Matmos soon are forking over an incrediblealbum cleverly based on and constructed from uncountable sounds ofvarious surgical gear and practices. The "California Rhinoplasty" EPintroduces us to a stunning 10 minute 'cut' from the album in itsoriginal form and then follows it up with an honorable cover tune ofCoil's "Disco Hospital" and two remixes of the title cut. Not only willthe following full-lengther "A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure" betheir first release on Matador worldwide, but they're currently in NewYork finishing up the production on an album from a young relativelyunknown up-and-coming female singer from Iceland who goes by only onename (hint: her name almost rhymes with New Yörk). The original versionon this EP grooves pleasurably with a flawless, clean precision, whilethe remixes could almost be given completely different names due totheir bold retoolings of the original. Get this thing now before Matmosput everybody else out of business.
The follow-up toL'altra's 1999 self-titled EP comes on strong with sweet and somberpop, chilling with an intensity that well exceeds its slow and simplearrangements. Whether or not you're looking for music to languish to,Music of a Sinking Occasion is itself good enough reason to let thestereo blare while you lie in bed all day. Opening track "Music of aSinking Occasion" is hardly ideal cocooning music, but once you getpast its jazz jangle, there's nearly an hour of solid tunes that aresimply to sigh for. "Little Chair" layers mellow strings and guitarover rolling bass and drums that evoke a duskier Sea & Cake. Shortand glowing "Slow as Cake" and "Handwashing for Good Health" featurelayers of keyboardist Lindsay Anderson's vocals, which on most tracksintertwine with those of guitarist Joseph Costra. Towards the middle ofthe album, "Lips Move On Top of Quiet" starts as a quiet sway thatswells into an icy swirl of piano and strings. Each song evokes adistinct shade of introspective longing that blends into the next for awhole set of uninterrupted atmosphere. The album also features RobMazurek (Isotope 217, Chicago Underground Trio) on trumpet and FredLonberg-Holm (Flying Luttenbachers, Pillow) on cello. L'altra'sEuropean tour, kicking off in April in Brussels with Tortoise and theSea & Cake, will finish up with a single stop in the States atChicago's Schubas, May 11th. In the meantime, it's hard not to resistlearning all of Music by heart, with plenty of blankets nearby. - Diane Lewis
The first surprise comesbefore you've even played the second Silo album - Swim have launchedtheir first illuminated 'digipack'. I have well over half the CD'sColin Newman and Malka Spigel have released on their label since theyrealised back in the early 90's that they could do a better job ofgetting Malka's 'Rosh Ballata' album to the ears of those who wanted tolisten than anyone else, and this is the first 'digipack' I've seen. Imuch prefer them to brittle 'jewel cases' and the cover photo of rowsof glowing light bulbs resting on green grass is well served bycardboard.
Ae trainspotters aroundthe world are aware that it's been some time since new material hassurfaced from Sean Booth and Rob Brown. In mid-1999 they released thedifficult, confusing "EP7," which left quite a few people nonplused,others either irritated or delighted. Consequently, rabid Autechre fans(such as myself) are very curious about this new release: a second setof Peel Sessions to complement the first set recorded in 1995.
Perhaps inspired bySpringsteen's "Nebraska," "Bring On The Snakes" finds Crooked Fingers(Eric Bachmann of Archers Of Loaf fame, who recorded a track for SubPop's "Nebraska" tribute "Badlands") recording a largely scaled downaffair. Quite a contrast from last year's self-titled debut, thisrelease features Bachmann on acoustic guitar and vocals on all tracks,accompanied by various atmospheric sounds and noises. This may causesome to call the release bland, or comment that all of its songs "soundthe same." If the same was said of "Nebraska" upon its release 20 yearsago, few say it now. The songs are more mature while sparse, and thelyrics complement Bachmann's half-Springsteen/half-Tom Waits growl. Thealbum reaches its apex on "Doctors Of Deliverance," where a poundingHouse-like electronic beat drives the track as Bachmann sings of losthopes and dreams and cheated/defeated love. Crooked Fingers may havechanged from the last release, but the song remains somewhat the same.Thank goodness. Bachmann is proving to be one of the great bards of ourtime, deserving of your ear. Listen: you won't be disappointed.
Robin Storey, a foundingand former member of Zoviet France, has endeavored for nearly a decadeas Rapoon. With "Cold War" he explores new means of expression whilereflecting upon the burgeoning war induced technology in the otherwise'beautifully stark' British countryside of his youth. The drum n bassportion of the title is somewhat misleading ... Storey has indeedembraced and implemented drums and bass as rhythmic elements but only afew tracks are as frantic as the d 'n b of, say, Squarepusher, Plug orold Photek. And judging from the few other Rapoon CDs (of which thereare dozens) I currently own, this is still very much signature Rapoon.21 tracks ranging from less than 1 to nearly 12 minutes are spread over2 discs. A thick and entrancing mix of ethereal/ghostly atmospheres,voices, samples and brief radio transmissions are melded well with thedrum loops. In most tracks the ambiance enshrouds the rhythm (ordispatches of it completely - always a plus for Rapoon) while in someothers the opposite is true. The results are positive save for 2particular tracks that sound too 'canned' and/or tedious for my liking.A copy of Sonic Foundry's ACID 2.0 for Windoze comes on disc 2 so youcan remix to your heart's delight. The next slated release from Rapoonis a re-issue of the 1997 album "Messianic Ghosts" on KlanggalerieRecords.
Typically, a 'DJ Mix'record will be a selection of other people's cuts strung together byone semi-popular artist in a continuous mix, sometimes the DJ will beusing their own remixes to somehow give the impression that their nameon the record makes it rather personal, in this case however, JackDangers has spun together a multitude of material that has beenswimming around on Tino Corp releases, all of which include productionin various capacities by Jack Dangers. Old collectors and new fanswould each find great things in this collection. Clocking in at over 61minutes, this collection pulls together not only some exclusive Tinobreaks, Meat Beat Manifesto songs, Loop Finder General tracks, remixesand other appearances, but the exclusive video "Tino's Factory"directed by Ben Stokes (DHS) adds the finishing touch. Also unlike tonsof other DJ mixes, many songs are included in somewhat close to theircomplete form with a refreshing varied tempo. For those who own theTino vinyl, this makes a perfect compact collection for bringing aroundon the walkman or for long drives. Others who have not yet heard theTino Corp records, a disc like this provides a great introduction tothe breakbeat experiments, collecting great dub, latin and tropicalbreaks along that have a flavor distinctly Jack Dangers. 
Fans of Pere Ubu willdefinitely want to check out the latest from Panopoly Academy ofEngineers. Complete with David Thomas-esque shrieks and squeaks,Panopoly Academy's third full-length release paints (or splatters) anoff-kilter post-punk soundscape. Pounding basslines and grindingguitars divert into watery, wandering interludes before lurching backinto jittery assault. The album's nine songs are grouped into threes,each its own suite, so that one track and the next often collide.However, each song definitely has an unpredictable arc of its own. "TskTsk" begins with a ticking twisting together of drums (Ryan Hicks),chewy bass (Pete Schreiner), and guitars (Marty Sprowles) that unravelsas soon as Darin Glenn's vocals intervene, "Your culture co-opt,contain." After only a brief return to the tension of its openingstrains, the track explodes into a funky twitch that subsides intosilence before winding up for a final handful of crashing chords and anunsettling chorus of chirpy, layered vocals. The entire album is densewith twists, jerks, and unexpected directions, every musical spasmproducing its own bizarre pleasure. Mm, battering rhythms...bleatingguitars... Depending on your usual musical inclinations, this sort ofthing can also be exhausting. While it's possible that such jaggedterrain could use some more developed passages, it's more likely theband's frenetic style just takes a little getting used to. Check itout. Previous Panopoly Academy releases can also be found underPanopoly Academy Glee Club, and an upcoming album will sport the namePanopoly Academy Legionnaires. Schizophrenia by any other name.
Following the AC/DC kickstarted with his EP, "Rock 'n Roll Singer," Red House Painters' frontman, Mark Kozelek has completely re-rearranged an entire album's worthof tracks for solo voice and acoustic guitar. Once again his choice ofAC/DC cuts come from the old Bon Scott-era, including reinterpretationsof tracks that appeared on last year's EP. The tracks are original inthe sense that any fan of Kozelek's knows he has a knack of completelyrewriting the music while keeping the lyrics intact, a trend going wayback to Red House Painters' eponymous third album from '93. While thisalbum is a homage, and shows a side of him even softer and moresensitive than the frequent distortion-filled guitar solo-stretchedlabel-dropping songs from RHP, I'm really aching for a new trick. Tohis credit, he has essentially made these songs his, as the convictionis resounding true from his voice. His talents as an acoustic guitaristand arranger are shining bright, as these hard-edge rock and rollclassics have almost become endearing love songs. One of my complaintsis that these ten songs, which total exactly 30 minute, could haveeasily been released on the same disc as last year's EP. Other thanthat, longtime fans shouldn't feel let down, 'Old Ramon' is scheduledsometime very shortly.
