According to the label, this band was formed by writer/film-maker Philip Mullarkey to create music for and perform live with his art/film project Box. The artists, who have collaborated with the likes of Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Fantomas, Melt Banana and Kronos Quartet, among others, met without any planning or preparation and simply improvised together over the span of two days. They must have been a natural fit with one another, because the tracks presented here come together as a well composed suite of out there space rock/free jazz tracks rather than the live-to-tape improvisation that they truly are. |
|
According to the label, this band was formed by writer/film-maker Philip Mullarkey to create music for and perform live with his art/film project Box. The artists, who have collaborated with the likes of Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Fantomas, Melt Banana and Kronos Quartet, among others, met without any planning or preparation and simply improvised together over the span of two days. They must have been a natural fit with one another, because the tracks presented here come together as a well composed suite of out there space rock/free jazz tracks rather than the live-to-tape improvisation that they truly are.
9107 Hits
It would be fine by me if Belong were to repeat the lush distortion of their debut October Language forever. Instead, on Colorloss Record they turn down the bass a little and add lots of vocals that they process just shy of oblivion. All of which creates a feeling similar to listening to A Hard Day’s Night through your teeth.
11525 Hits
With their pop game sharpened to a fine point, Guessmen are still exploring the noir-cartoon world of vocalist Alan Edge's head making them an appealingly dark-and-day-glo experience. The A side of this 7" single, "Black Balloons," forms like a murder of clouds stamped with an indelible paperclip-and-biro tattooed hook, the thick synth melody coming on like tar flavored honey.
8752 Hits
Burial Hex and Zodiac Mountain main man Clay Ruby drops the first part of a three volume trip into analogue synth research (an early '70s PAIA 4700 modular synth kit for the trainspotters out there). Somewhere between a key to a parallel neighborhood of headspace and dissident meditative headphone music, this 45 minute piece is more like being transported to a physical place rather than an aural journey.
10446 Hits
Santiago, Chile's Un Festin Sagital weave electro-acoustic sounds with rock instruments and voices to create this unpredictable but compelling album. Harrowing background noises share space with patient guitar motifs for songs that are constantly churning and shifting into different modes and styles. Hints of progressive rock and traditional music serve to heighten and confound expectations, making this album a deliriously engaging experience.
19670 Hits
Tuvan throat singer Soriah gets some help on analog synthesizer from Lana Guerra of Power Circus for this recording that leads the deceased back to the world of the living. Translated as "Offerings of Light to the Dead," it is a mesmeric beacon that creates an atmosphere all its own.
10822 Hits
This limited edition album explores the fine details of unidentifiable field recordings; each manipulated and tinkered with until all that is left is the ambient character of those sounds. As with all good concrete inspired works, the music here is far removed from reality but it is still almost tangible in a physical, solid sense. I just want to run my fingers along the music, strange as that sounds.
7525 Hits
Solo vocal performances are a naked musical form by definition, but this Richard Youngs vinyl re-release (from a limited CD-R run in 2004) appears that little bit more exposed than most even without the need for conventional lyricism.
12524 Hits
Looking at it objectively this collaboration between the veteran American 'industrial-tribal' percussionist Z'EV and the German ritual dark ambient duo of Frank Merten and Henry Emich, aka Herbst9, seems a perfect recipe for a successful collaboration. The idea of H9's deeply harmonic and ritual dronescapes supported by Z'EV's richly rhythmic and complex percussion is something of a mouth-watering prospect for me.
12232 Hits
This two disc set explores the music of 1970s Nigeria in the period after the Biafran war. It demonstrates a fresh national confidence and a variety beyond the juju music that most Westerners associate with the country. It also reveals Celestine Ukwu, a dazzling star who would die too soon.
8998 Hits
If countries and regions were to be judged solely on the kind of music emanating from within its borders then Scandinavia would be deemed something of a bleak and minimalist place what with all the dark ambient acts it harbors. This disc, from Sweden's Diskrepant, adds further disquietude to the country's musical reputation with a foray into a strange, exotic but sparsely inhabited and twilit world rarely trodden upon by human feet.
4864 Hits
As Sub Rosa's venerable series of anthologies continues at a rapid pace they still continue to both cite important classic artists in the field as well as draw attention to those who may have been overlooked by the ravages of time. It takes a brave curator to put the likes of Claude Ballif and Charlemagne Palestine alongside Sutcliffe Jugend and Masonna, but the tradition of excellence continues.
8213 Hits
The clown prince of avant drone pays tribute to his namesake for the 1000 year celebration of the original historical Charlemagne in Germany. Consisting entirely of his minimalist piano work, and remixing and processing by Christoph Heemann, this hymn to the apocalypse is a compelling one.
11548 Hits
These 12 solo piano pieces have been infused from the core out with FX and reverb, expanding the sound of the ivory sounds into swollen tones of filament and filigree. It is unclear whether the title inspired the music or the music inspired the title, but it is the perfect metaphor for this collaborative release.
14119 Hits
The one and only album from Denmark's Terje, Jesper & Joachim is issued on CD for the first time. Recorded in 1970, its heavy guitars, frenetic drums, and improvised jams are steeped in the psych traditions of the day. While it shies away from the baggage of that style, it also doesn't do much to transcend it.
12683 Hits
With some of their high profile release sailing to close to the perilous rocks of country-rock and general rocking, things have been a little rocky for MV & EE this last year or so. This live recording might not be as liberated as their journeys off the map free folk, but as a smattering of excursions through their back catalogue it is a fine listen.
12980 Hits
Low Point's first vinyl release once again sees Hardwick trounce his unfortunate flipside ally. Although his side of the release is played on lap steel, Hardwick makes "Lost in the Memory" more reminiscent of '70s synth waves than the actual instrument.
9339 Hits
The latest from Austin, Texas' Canartic is a collage of down-tempo dub, spacey electronics, processed guitar, and samples. Unfortunately the group doesn't do much innovation with these elements, instead making music which is all too ordinary.
9429 Hits
The improvisational, instrumental noise/rock trio known as Grey Daturas, hailing from Melbourne, Australia, have been kicking around making as much noise as is humanly possible since 2001, starting out by improvising live soundtracks to 16mm film projections and then over the years notching up many live shows, supporting such acts as Sunn O))), d. Yellow Swans, Dismember, and Isis. Dead in the Woods is actually a re-release of their second album, originally appearing on the Crashing Jets label in 2004.
7244 Hits
The second full length from these American black metallers lives up to their feral and deadly-sounding name; each of the four songs on this disc stalk like the canine predator of the band's name. The group refine the techniques they developed on their first album; the mixture of classic black metal with other, gentler influences comes together wonderfully this time.
7367 Hits
