With a pair of new discs for Soleilmoon Recordings, both limited to 500copies, British sound artist Nick Parkin explores and simulates theprocesses of decay, geological and chemical, upon cities andlandscapes. Feeding field recordings, samples and instruments(percussion, flute, keyboards) into a Macintosh for additionalprocessing, he creates about 2 hours worth of slow moving, butgenerally busy, textured sound glaciers. It has become difficult for meto get really excited about these sort of works, having heard so manyof them in recent years, but together the two discs offer up muchworthwhile ambiance. When Parkin takes the tried and true 'less ismore' approach on the "Entropolis" disc, he strikes gold. Strip-miningaway the extraneous sound debris leaves tracks such as "Pulvial","Residues of Night" and "Eurus" with more ambient breathing space,making for moving pieces. 
But it's the sounds of nature that permeate the "Geomorphic" disc thatare more interesting, giving it a distinctly comforting and earthlyfeel. The elements shape the land throughout, "Talus" and "Moraine" inparticular being a fascinating jumble of water and ice soaked pebblesand boulders. Nicely done mate .
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I love ambient guitar music. I am a sucker for it. If a band has guitarchords being played at a respectable volume, with all sorts of soundsswirling in and out, surrounding it, and playfully caressing the guitarline throughout, it's a relatively sure thing that I'll love it (evenif it seems to go on for an extraordinarily long time). Drone music, asit is often called, is amazing to me for this very reason. Thosefamiliar with the works of both of these bands will find lots to likeon this release, available now via mail order through The MusicFellowship (see 
From the Connecticut-based label Sonic Syrup comes an 8-song EP ofmaterial recorded between 1993 and 1997 by Scott Cortez, theinstrumentalist behind Lovesliescrushing. With Astrobrite, Cortezespouses much of the same blissfully noisy guitar layers as he has withhis other project; however, '8 Candy' takes a contrastingly morepop-driven approach, reflected in the sugary-sweet titles of trackssuch as "Sucker", "Jawbreaker", and "Sweettart". Comparisons to MyBloody Valentine's classic album 'Loveless' are inevitable, althoughAstrobrite descends a step or two further down the lo-fi ladder, beinga touch more texturally abrasive. The liner notes themselves tout "thebest in lo-fi four track aural pleasure -- listen at extreme volumes".Despite its pretty, uncomplicated song structures, topped off byCortez's winsome vocals and indecipherable lyrics, Astrobrite lacks theinnovative edge and sonic diversity of Lovesliescrushing (whoseforthcoming album on Sonic Syrup is eagerly anticipated). This releasewill, in all likelihood, still appeal to fans of MBV, unless they areslightly put-off by its uncanny resemblance to the latter.
Though this release came out back in June of 2001, I thought it deserved some mentioning here. And although Susumu's last album, "Sakura," gained him amazingly good press, including "Best Electronica Album of the Year" from The Wire magazine, this newer album struck me as being more progressive and subtle than his previous recordings: pure electronic bliss when at its best moments. Other times it can fade into the background but such is the nature of much ambient music. This album has apparently gained him "genuis" status amongst many of his contemporary artists and critics alike, comparing him to other such electro-luminaries as Aphex Twin and the legendary Brian Eno. The airy layers here can be truly beautiful, branching to anywhere from an oddly jazzy improv feel with fuzzy, minimalistic piano melodies, down to droney samples, trip-hop-esque beats and spacey (yet quite homely) instrumentation. The emotions here tend to leave me a bit on the bland side, but it seems more about the production and sound quality with this release - and it certainly is precise. This album was released on 
Sometimes a piece of music enters your life and has a tough time leaving your CD player. The debut full-lengther from this New Orleans-based duo happens to be one of the most addictive albums I have heard in months. I have said this before and I'll say it again: great organic musicians make for great electronic musicians, and we have heard hints of what this duo could do earlier this year with their contributions to the Scarlet Diva soundtrack as well as some remix they allegedly did for Nine Inch Nails.
Rotoscope are a 6 piece group that share a producer and members withthe acclaimed Norwegian jazz collective Jaga Jazzist. Theirinstrumentation includes electronics, keyboards, saxophones, clarinets,guitar, bass, drums, percussion and vibraphone, but it's the productionthat may very well be the most important component. Original recordingshave obviously been obliterated, mangled or enhanced by cut and pasteediting, the end result being 10 tracks that balance jazz, pop andelectronica in widely varying degrees. "Press Stop", "The Bogota Sub"and "Noiserok Orkesterissa" contain the most manic juxtapositions andjams of spliced audio/vocal bits and jazzy drum 'n bass rhythms. Buteven within these 3 there are melodic counterpoints or moments of calmto be found and, often, vice versa within the other tracks. ChristineSantorv's girlish, somewhat intentionally strained vocals (in English)help give about half of the disc a soft and sweet feminine quality."All That You Owned (Remix)" places her words amidst seemingly randomglitch crackles, piano notes and bass surges. "Pink Soda", "CarpetIllusions" and "Traveller" are pleasant and perhaps the most 'pop' dueto the vocals and subdued acoustic guitar, wind and keyboard melodies."Watercooler" and "Divide And Dissolve" are experimentally mindedsoundscapes while "Cooks Whip, Music Goes On" is a nice stroll throughthe park as solo saxophone, vibes and bass glide over an electronicallytreated beat. "Great Curves" is a rather schizophrenic album but itreally works. There's something for everyone. Up next is 3 new vocalsongs to be released as the "Exclusively For Everyone EP No. 1" onJester ...
Origami Galaktika are the most active 'unit' of several dozen under theOrigami Republika umbrella, an "open cultural network with 170+ agentsoperating in 18 countries on 4 continents" with origins in Norway (seehttp://kunst.no/origami/ for further information). This double CDremasters and reissues 2 of their ambient/loop albums from 1994 and1996. Six vivid paintings in the insert by Cicille RisÎsen complete thepackage. "Stjernevandring" is 2 tracks at about half an hour apiece.The lapping ocean waves and cold, dark and dense droning undertow ofthe title track become fully immersive within a few minutes. I amliterally sitting on a sound in Norway in the dead of winter and middleof the night watching a relatively calm sea break upon the moorings.Nautical bells appear and by mid track the waves disappear - but theyalways remain subconsciously - then reappear during a simple but spooky8 note melody loop. None of the other tracks has such a distinctaudible tie to nature but each evokes a certain feeling (which is all Ihave to go on really since I'm unable to translate the Norwegian andEstonian titles). "MÎnedans" is next and the feeling is one ofascension and reflection. We steadily climb upwards through the clouds,a constant soft drone being the guiding light. By the 14th minuteelectronics swirl in then settle into their own respective glide path.A few lone notes near the very end seem to deliver a favorable finaljudgment. Beautiful. Disc 2 is "Eesti Lilled Silmad SÙda" and it has 4tracks in the 10 to 17 minute range. It's just as good if not betterwith another palette of relaxing sounds: graceful, emotive drones andfaint hums, scrapes and rattles, sample loops of what sounds like atrain over tracks, a woman reciting text in a foreign tongue, the quietpitter patter of hand drums, rain stick and some ritualistic vocalmoaning. There is no hurry to get anywhere and that's fine by me. Infact, every one of these tracks could be the length of an entire disc,no problem. These albums are quickly becoming some of my favoriterecent ambient works, along with Stars of the Lid "Gravitational Pullvs. the Desire for an Aquatic Life" and Zammuto "Solutiore of Stareau".
Taking a stopgap between full-length albums, Pram deliver a nine-trackEP featuring some new stuff, an old tune and some mixing going on. Thedisc opens with the insanely frisky "Mother of Pearl," which ironicallywas my fave pic from last year's 'Museum of Imaginary Animals'long-player. The three new songs which follow are notably moreadventurous than the cuts on the album, incorporating much more of aimprovisational feel, even with the pop song "Monkey Puzzle" and thesurrealistic dreamery of "Clock Without Hands" which could easily echosome of Legendary Pink Dots' most carnival-esque moments. The EP isrounded out with five remixes, thankfully all of different songs and bydifferent remixers. Hint to groups: do stuff like this if you can - tenremixes of the same song on one single gets embarassingly dull. Guestknob-twiddlers include Plone (whose remixes always sound awesomedespite their albums sounding like bad 14-yr old musicians demos), AndyVotel, Sam Jones, Terry:Funken, and Sir Real. While I have admired Pramfor years, I have to confess that I can't always make it through acomplete album, but with the mix-up of styles presented here by thevarious DJs and friends I'm quite satisfied. Old fans might scoff atremixes but I'm confident these are tasteful enough to avoid pissingoff the purists and inviting enough to attract new friends.
The first Bows album, "Blush" surfaced in 1999 — a collective ofmusicians and singers helmed by former Long Fin Killiemulti-instrumentalist Luke Sutherland. This year's swirly, well-craftedfollow-up once again showcases a diverse ensemble of talented musiciansand singers, resulting in a lush, oneiric symphony. Sutherland, who hasjust completed his second novel, is as masterful as ever with hisunabashedly poetic lyrics, beautifully worded even when the imagery isat its most violent. "Cuban Welterweight Rumbles Hidden Hitmen" is aperfect example: stripped down to nothing more than a gauzy guitar andDanish singer Signe HÀirup Wille-JÀrgensen's airy vocals while thelyrics honey-coat a melancholy tale of a boxer's run-in with a gang ofthugs. Ruth Emond's voice on other songs like, "Wonderland," provides aremarkable contrast as her style is deep, dark and breathy. Sutherlandis doubtless at his most versatile on Cassidy. His own delicate vocalsfeature prominently on several tracks, as does his guitar, piano andviolin playing (which also received some exposure recently on his stinttouring with fellow countrymen Mogwai). Credits on the songs "Uniroyal"and "Luftsang" list Sutherland's instruments among others as "gizmo"and "machines." In constrast to Bows' previous effort, 'Cassidy'abounds with more live instrumentation, but lacks much of the drum 'n'bass hooks of 'Blush' (and their presence is somewhat bemoaned by thisreviewer). Sutherland has truly demonstrated maturity and progression,a graduation from the realm of 90s trip hop.
There are two types of people that will buy this 2-disc set: those who have every single release Godflesh has ever thought about putting out and those who don't have any Godflesh at all. The first disc, subtitled 'flesh of god', is a best-of collection (not my personal favorites, but hey, what can you do?) the 'Slavestate' and 'Pure' album tracks are remastered by Justin Broadrick, but otherwise the first disc's tracks are just selected album tracks from their first album (1988's "Godflesh") to their most recent (2000's "Us & Them").
