Reviews

06 September 2008

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Albums and Singles

The music on this third volume owes a debt to Liebezeit’s heritage, recalling as it does such outfits as Can itself, Pierre Moerlen’s Gong and Neu, as well musicians like Manuel Göttsching (Ashra/Ashra Tempel). Fluidity and cyclicity are the two main themes present, with a seamless weaving together of rhythm and sound, a space where neither dominates but both intersect and interact in surprising and sparklingly magical ways.

Non-place

The word ‘secret’ in this context is not meant to signify hidden, rather it is meant to highlight less common, as well as new and emergent, rhythms. Indeed, these species of rhythms inhabit the digital grooves of this CD in abundance. Here on Secret Rhythms 3 the emphasis is placed on creating a tapestry of exotic panoramas, from jazz and dub to calypso and late night ambience. While doing so, the musicians play off each other, sparking off new ideas and elaborating new textures continuously. Rhythms shift and swirl endlessly, appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing, only to reappear in some mutated form later on. Instrumentation encompasses both the acoustic and the electronic forms, as well as the electric. Sounds melt in and out of vision, sliding in to take their turn and then once more receding when others demand their time in the spotlight. What results is pure liquid musicianship, a scintillating marriage of percussion and sound, a blend of the exotic, the colourful, the laidback, and the urgent.

“Morning has Broken” exemplifies the combination of almost shapeless melodies draped over a solid rhythmic framework so typical of the pieces on this album. Liebezeit’s drumwork, while not overly complex in nature, nevertheless pins the wings of this exotic creature to the canvas, so to speak, imparting a kind of amorphous structure to what would otherwise be a somewhat elusive beast. A constant and languorous Latin-style beat, aided and abetted by a syncopated guitar rhythm, creates a girder framework around which e-bowed guitar flies and swoops gracefully. “Gegenwart” follows a similar path, where a deceptively simple drumbeat masks a startling complexity augmented by saxophone running in quicksilver manner and set against more of that fluid background. While separately they appear to be just random elements, together they form a complex network of sonic threads and in turn helping to delineate a detailed picture.

“Trittbrettfahrer” ups the ante and the urgency with a funk/calypso number, even going so far as to include faux steel-drum tones dancing around the clipped guitar funk-rhythm. Even though its heartbeat originated in the Caribbean, this treatment rips it out and transplants it into a European context. Keeping with the funkiness, “Entsafter” pulls us back onto the dance-floor before having a chance to sit down. Chopped acoustic six-string motors behind some over-driven wah-wahed guitar, the pulse just tempting, nay driving, the whole body to move in sympathy. It’s infectious, seeping into and affecting every part of the human frame, until it is nigh on impossible to deny.

One of the most satisfying aspects about this for me was the breadth of atmospheres and moods portrayed. Just like an old master painting, satisfaction derives from observing the mastery with which the artist has created his vision and the way he marshals his media and tools to that end. Both Friedman and Liebezeit combined have a huge palette from which to work and on this outing they set about creating the right textures and hues to capture those moods and atmospheres. With a sureness and a deft touch born of long involvement with, and immersion in, music, it is immediately apparent that with just a few light strokes here and some broad strokes there they manage to conjure up the most magical of musical vistas.

Samples:

06 September 2008

Albums and Singles

On the follow-up to 2005's Bass Jihad, producer Dub Gabriel paves a clear road for the contributions of vocalists like Yo Majesty, Jah Dan, and, strangely enough, Michael Stipe. For the most part, the arrangements are relatively uncluttered and self-contained, playing to the strengths of his guests. The strategy works marvels, making for a solid album with occasional peaks of greatness.

06 September 2008

Administrator

Albums and Singles

On the follow-up to 2005's Bass Jihad, producer Dub Gabriel paves a clear road for the contributions of vocalists like Yo Majesty, Jah Dan, and, strangely enough, Michael Stipe. For the most part, the arrangements are relatively uncluttered and self-contained, playing to the strengths of his guests. The strategy works marvels, making for a solid album with occasional peaks of greatness.

Destroy All Concepts

The album works so well because the memorable contributions far outweigh the forgettable ones. Jah Dan leads things off with the dark and appropriately bass-heavy "Chasing the Paper," decrying materialism and greed. Similarly, No Surrender aims for justice on "Run Down." Yet not every song is about social protest. Yo Majesty's unabashed lust is evident on the glorious "Pony Girl," while Karen Gibson Roc talks about God as a woman and springing from Her chest on "Spirit Made Flesh."

One of the odder tracks is "La Vie Senvolet," which features Judith Juileratt speaking French over an airy, percolating background. With rhythms but no real beats, it is a mostly atmospheric track with little development. It's not bad, but feels a little out of place compared to the other songs because of its lightness and soft vocal delivery.

Yet even more bizarre is the cover of Suicide's "Cheree" featuring Michael Stipe. To his credit, Stipe does an admirable job at interpreting the lyrics. The strangest part is actually the arrangement, which features various strings, harp, and even a glockenspiel. To be fair, the song sounds great, but the huge orchestration is at odds with all of the tracks preceding it.

Despite a couple of minor missteps, good beats and a variety of strong performances keep the album afloat. Its deep guest list coupled with its strong production make Anarchy & Alchemy a compelling listen.

samples:

04 September 2008

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Albums and Singles

artist: Jonas Reinhardt
title: Jonas Reinhardt
catalog#: krank119
formats available: CD
release date: november 10, 2008

content: Drawing from traditions of 20th century instrumental synthesizer music, Jonas Reinhardt represents a love affair between analog electronics, sweeping atmospherics, and driving motorik beats. Combined together, these elements bring the album’s 13 pieces into focus as the soundtrack for an inner-eyelid space epic that never was.

Inspired in equal measure by the natural beauty of his California coastal surroundings, continental European art-rock experimentation, and the freewheeling punk aesthetic of contemporary home studio recording, Jonas Reinhardt’s music transcends it’s influences to bring into being a work that’s wholly new while referencing a celebrated aesthetic of the past.

Armed with a battery of analog synthesizers and vintage drum machines, Jonas writes music that is at times stark and spare and at others lush and all-encompassing; all the while keeping an underlying rhythmic pulse just beneath the surface.

Jonas describes his technique as ‘a spirited conversation between man, machines, and the ecstatic truth of the chaotic unknown.‘ With this album, Jonas carefully constructs melodies and rhythmic foundations then pushes the limits of recording to the sonic fringes and beyond. The effect is a warm, hauntingly familiar sound bounded by unpredictability.

context: Jonas Reinhardt hails from San Francisco, CA. He has been writing, recording and performing music with analog synthesizers for more than a decade both as a solo artist and in groups. He was initially inspired to use synthesizers during a summer sabbatical in Houston’s museum district and, in the late ‘90s, studied music synthesis at the Harvard Electronic Music Center.

track listing: 1. Lyre of David 2. Modern by Nature's Reward 3. Lord Sleep Monmouth
4. How to Adjust People 5. Fast Blot Declining 6. Tentshow 7. Every Terminal Evening
8. Worm Preach the Struggling Fire 9. Tandem Suns 10. Blue Cutaway/Tore Earth Clinker
11. An Upright Fortune 12. Crept Idea For A Mom 13. Lucian Lift

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31 August 2008

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Albums and Singles

This lovely snapshot in LTM's Auteur Labels series focuses on the cult label which, despite sprouting out of Brussels, released such artists as Durutti Column, Anna Domino, Bill Nelson, Michael Nyman, Tuxedomoon, and (former Skids vocalist) Richard Jobson.

LTM

LTM are doing a bang up job with their Auteur Labels compilation reissues. New Hormones 1977-1982 has everything from the neurotic energy of Buzzcocks, and the mysteriously unworldly clang and wail of Ludus, to the clunky disfunk of Diagram Brothers, and the outer dub jazz of the brilliantly named Eric Random. Factory Benelux 1980 – 1985 depicts a sort of musical channel tunnel shipping “spare” tracks from Factory Records artists to be stamped with the exotica of mainland Europe, in Brussels. Those doubters among you have never tasted Belgian beer, chocolate or sausage. However, of the three releases in the Auteur series thus far, my favorite is Les Disques de Crepusules.

If we disallow mistakenly overlapping packaging (for example A Certain Ratio’s "Shack Up" was issued by Factory Benelux/Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1980) then Crepuscule’s first musical release was the cassette From Brussels With Love. There’s nothing from that tape here, though, and the disc opens instead with their first vinyl issue, Michael Nyman’s “Mozart,” from early 1981. The piece is rather thin sounding but the repetition and dry rhythms echo several other tracks from this compilation. Elsewhere, Thick Pigeon’s “Subway” has a charming nocturnal sensibility and lyrics concerning male public urination and three piece suits provide a perfect contrast to blips and robotic female vocals. The jittery punk-funk of Josef K’s “Sorry for Laughing” needs no introduction, surely?

Antena’s “Camina del Sol” is a beguiling electro-samba with simple synth waves splashing, exotic (coconut shell?) rhythms knocking, and Isabelle Powaga’s voice flickering between celebration and regret. Talk about wish you were here; back in 1982 Antena toured with Cabaret Voltaire and 23 Skidoo. Anna Domino’s “Land of My Dreams” has always been a dreamy favorite of mine and time has done little to diminish its blissful narcotic thud and roll. “Party” by Durutti Column is as good an example of Vini Reilly’s guitar oeuvre as I’ve heard and the squalid romance and heartbreaking ordinariness of the lyrics are still affecting. Tuxedomoon’s contribution, “Ninotchka,” is as we have come to expect, rather unexpected.

The package depicts a bygone era of enduring relevance. Consequently, the allure of the Plan K venue, for example, leaps from the booklet text and my jealous regret at the thought of lucky patrons hearing Bernthøler play their legendary “My Suitor” in the Interferences café (Crepescule’s answer to the Hacienda and an intimate setting for performers and audience alike) is again aroused. The recent Joy Division films will hopefully stir an interest in other music from the period such as Les Disques du Crepuscule. As with all LTM releases, this one comes with a superb booklet rich in historical detail, photographs and artwork: unsurprising, of course, since the Auteur Labels are chosen for their elements of distinct sound and singular design.

samples

Antena - Camino Del Sol
Durutti Column - Party
Richard Jobson - Autumn

31 August 2008

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Albums and Singles

In the mid-1920s, The Gramophone Company sent representatives into Iraq to investigate the indigenous music found in its record stores and performance halls. Their research laid the foundation for sessions that produced almost 1,000 recordings. The selections on this disc, restored from their original 78s, present a compelling multicultural portrait of Iraq that is all but forgotten today.

Honest Jon's

Rural Arab folk singers, Kurdish violinists, professional Jewish musicians, and prostitutes share equal billing. Various ethnicities, faiths, and dialects intermingle in a delicate balance that seems impossible by today's standards. This disc reveals a different side of Iraq from the more festive Choubi Choubi! released by Sublime Frequencies a few years back, one perhaps more somber but also more poignant.

Even without the album's title, the intense, passionate yearning for love or at least some sort of comfort comes through in this music, whether in the pained vocals of Hdhairy Abou Aziz's "Wenini" or the Kemani Noubar's lonesome violin on "Taqsim." Although the historical value of this collection is important, the virtuosity of the musicians is the real highlight. Blazing runs and hypnotic drones form the background of Badria Anwar's "Lega Taresh Habibi" while polyrhythmic hand drums work with pleading vocals to entrance the ear on Said El Kurdi's "Aman Aman Zakko." Sayed Abbood's voice in "Shlon Aslak" encompasses a vast emotional and aural landscape, commanding attention with every breath.

Not understanding the languages in which these songs are sung has its drawbacks at times, slowing some of the album's flow and tiring the ear in places, but that's almost to be expected on a collection of this breadth and length. The bulk of the material is an exciting hybrid of cultures that blends styles and beliefs in expressions of emotional crises and longing.

samples:

Khedayer Bin Kessab - Taqsim
Siddiqa El Mullaya - Ma Tehenn Alayya
Sayed Abbood - Shlon Aslak

31 August 2008

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Albums and Singles

The man behind the Room 40 label makes his debut on Touch with this remarkable album. Blurring sound sources (both regular instruments and field recordings) with a variety of studio techniques, this Australian has created a swirling and amorphous group of compositions. Every moment on this album is captivating. Each piece is an exercise in sound sculpting perfection and yet is not just textbook examples of audio manipulation; the music is completely aesthetically pleasing.

Touch

The album’s title is Japanese for “sound of fog” and, listening to the music herein, it is easy to see why English used this phrase. The sounds here are dense and pervasive but at the same time they are ethereal, never coagulating into a solid force. It is up to the listener to orientate themselves in this vapour as English deploys a number of post-production techniques (analogue filtering, divergent mixing and distortion) to smear his original source sounds into this auditory fog. He leaves no landmarks and there is no trail of breadcrumbs to fall back on. However, the result of this is not a terrifying solitude in limbo but a feeling of travelling through a cloud without the aid of machinery; floating in isolation in an almost amniotic environment.

From time to time, sounds make it through English’s fog (an organ here and natural sound there) which pulls me back down to reality (or could be phantom artefacts generated by English’s production technique). The sound of the sea on “White Spray” is as close as it gets to a tangible reality before fading off into the distance. Alien atmospherics on “Allay” give the feeling of being far, far from home. It would be no surprise if those strangely fluid mechanical sounds were the utterings of some benevolent being resting in the periphery of this auditory pea souper.

What makes Kiri No Oto work so spectacularly well (and it is a spectacular album) is that no matter what situation I’ve listened to it in and no matter what sort of sound system I use, it still sounds phenomenal. Not that it sounds hi-fi on all formats but everything from my stereo system at home, my car stereo and right down to an iPod broadcasting into a nearby mono radio channels the music in a unique way. It surpasses the usual idea of ambient music (i.e. that which becomes part of the surroundings and is ignorable) as it subverts the ambience of a room (or car) and redefines the sonic space thereof. Instead of fitting the room, the room is made to fit it which fits in perfectly with English’s approach to designing these pieces, namely filtration and mixing.

As this is supposed to be the first in a number of experiments using these techniques, I am eagerly awaiting the follow ups to this wonderful album. It is a rare thing to hear an album that is so engaging and stimulating; that it is just the beginning of an ongoing work is joyous news indeed. I sincerely hope that all of the subsequent releases live up to the standard set by English with Kiri No Oto but even if they pale in comparison, the fact that this exists is more than enough.

samples:

31 August 2008

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Albums and Singles

The second full-length from Finland's Paavoharju contains songs of astonishing variety composed out of voices, traditional instruments, field recordings, and electronics. Rather than evoking the pastoral qualities of its cover or the album's English translation, "A Song About Flowers of the Valley," the music within is more reminiscent of a dusty drawing room in an old house, forgotten by time but still home to its previous occupants.

Fonal

Music sounding much like a forlorn music box lost in shadows opens the album and remains a recurring theme throughout, giving the impression of someone lost in nostalgic memories. This is further enhanced by the way the group uses various audio fidelity qualities in their music, with vinyl crackling alongside modern beats suggesting the past merging with the present. Perhaps the album's intentions would be clearer if I understood a word of Finnish, yet not knowing the meaning of the lyrics or titles didn't dampen my enjoyment.

The textural variety is a definite highlight, but the album's most important quality is the songs themselves. "Kevätrumpu" is far from the quiet, introspective mood that opens the album. It contains some of the same qualities but uses them to serve a catchy dance song instead. Similarly, both "Uskallan" and "Ursulan Uni" use modern beats as their backbone. There are some tracks that don't rely so much on contemporary technology to get their point across, like the chamber music of "Tuosku Tarttuu Meihin" or the album's sole traditional folk song, "Italialaisella Laivalla." What makes Laulu Laakson Kukista so enjoyable is how the band naturally weaves these disparate elements together.

At a little over a half an hour, the album barely qualifies as full-length. Usually that may not be such a big issue in and of itself, but it's a little problematic here because the album has some padding. While the eerie atmospherics tie the music together and make for a consistent mood, the constant revisiting of this theme, especially on the album's last three out of four tracks, detracts somewhat from the album's overall power. Fewer interludes and more songs would have been nice.

Even so, the album's structured material is captivating enough to override the languid intermissions. The album may be brief, but its haunting beauty is hard to forget.

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31 August 2008

Administrator

Albums and Singles

It is not too often that a band's entire discography can end up being compiled into a single, 36-minute album, but such is the case with The Loved. Originally a five song EP released 10 years ago, here it is reissued and expanded with five more tracks intended for a full album which never materialized. What remains is a disc of unpretentious pop-inspired alternative rock, which sadly points to what could have been.

Temporary Residence

Without knowing that background, this feels like a cohesive record: the tracks that were intended for the full length fit in nicely with the material from that debut EP. The only noticeable difference is a slightly rawer edge, perhaps it was a change in overall sound, or perhaps it was something that was not ironed out from the demo stages, but it’s so subtle that it is a non-issue. At the time, and even today, there was just very little ego to the work. Not as an intentional move to seem dark or mysterious, but to let the music be the focus, not the attitude or the image.

The songs are rather simple, uncluttered affairs. The title track and “Nadine” are rather slow, calm tracks with plaintive guitar and slow, sparse drums. There’s a great deal of spaciousness here: unlike bands that feel the need to multitrack or layer as much as possible, here they’re happy to simply let there be some space in the mix. “House Painter” and “Lydia/Spinning” are a bit edgier, more distortion on the former, and the latter hinges on a heavier bass melody. Yes, the second half is a cover of Loop’s “Spinning”, which even with the heavily flanged sound stays much more stripped down than the original, which allows the basics of the song to shine through.

The bonus tracks have, as I said, a slightly rougher sheen to them that, while not dramatic, is noticeable. “It’s Sooo Sad” and “Winter Comes and Goes” have a rawer sound, with a bit more aggression and distortion when compared to the prior tracks, but still stays close to the pop sensibilities that the entire album has. The closing “Her Tiny Little Heart” channels early U2 (during their mulleted days) in a good way with the effected drums and guitar playing.

It is kind of sad to hear this because there was a lot of potential for The Loved. The ten tracks that made it to tape show a trio that already had a good handle on their sound and what they wanted to do, but it just never “happened.” Thankfully the good people at Temporary Residence happened to have heard and loved the original EP enough to give it a wider release that it deserves.

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