It’s an odd combination, Soccer Committee’s delicate folk recordings handled by electronic composer Machinefabriek’s digital treatments would usually make for a questionable work, but instead the electronic elements are subtle, and rather than detracting from the fragile vocals and guitar instead give it a different, unnatural edge.
Hotter than July. This week's episode has plenty of fresh new music by Marie Davidson, Kim Gordon, Mabe Fratti, Guided By Voices, Holy Tongue meets Shackleton, Softcult, Terence Fixmer, Alan Licht, pigbaby, and Eiko Ishibashi, plus some vault goodies from Bombay S Jayashri and Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin. Solstice moon in West Midlands, UK photo by James. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
|
On his debut, this one-man electronic project from Norway seems to be wearing his influences on his sleeve and I would say he's coming from a similar background as me. Throughout this release there are a lot of elements pretty consistent with mid to late 1980s industrial, along with some more techno and electronic inspired rhythms. Rather than feeling overly nostalgic or dated though, these tracks filter the classic elements through a more modernized lens.
His third full length release this year, this disc compliments the odd electronic elements of Koryak Mistress Stakes Golden Sky and the Tibetan chanting of Samadhi by focing more on the stringed instruments and less on the effects or electronic stuff, though it is still there. It is a bit of a scatter-shot approach, but here it works, mixing a variety of elements, electronic and acoustic, into an absurdly brilliant mix of styles.
In the late '70s and early '80s, German-based art collective Head Resonance Company used throbbing electronics, bass guitar, and metal percussion as a major component of its multifaceted endeavors, which included multimedia installations, performance art, graphics, and concerts. This CD/DVD set collects tracks that were originally released only on vinyl a few years back and documents the group's wide-ranging activities throughout the various stages of their fascinating history.
For their second Strange Attractor album, Niels van Hoorn and Richard van Krusdijk enlist an array of guest voices, including those of David J, Graham Lewis of Wire, Tuxedomoon's Winston Tong, and Peter Christopherson's Threshold Houseboys Choir. This venerable cast of characters makes music that lingers in the shadows, like something overheard spilling from an unmarked speakeasy in a darkened alley.
Re-master of the 1984 album, a more muscular production than Seven Songs and a pull back from the sonic tribal barrage of The Culling is Coming. Urban Gamelan comes with 12" singles “Coup” and “Language” (and their dub mix b-sides) as well as a beautiful and copious booklet.
Technically, Susanna and her accomplices have once again brilliantly reinvented a handful of internationally popular songs with a minimal amount of instruments, finely treated: piano and organ, guitar and pedal steel, and subtle drums all make way for her uncomfortably direct vocals, executed with perfect precision. Emotionally, however, this is perhaps one of the most painful releases of the year to listen to. Susanna sings with so much weight and conviction that I find myself nearly in tears, horrified during every second of these 14 songs (...and I love it).
This is the third live album from Will Oldham in as many years and out of the three, this one is the best. An excellent recording care of the BBC, Oldham and his backing band for the small tour are on fire. The original radio broadcast made its way to the Internet a while ago but like most downloads on my hard drive it remains unlistened to. I am sorry I did not listen to it as this CD has proven to be astounding in its beauty and perfection.
23 Skidoo's debut has been given another chance with this much deserved reissue. Their sinister ethno-funk industrial-dub blueprint remains an essential listen and their suspicion of commercial success seems both quaint and prophetic.
A reissue of a reissue, this newest version of the band’s original singles collection couples most of the tracks from the original vinyl issue, as well as the separate Just Like Everybody Part Two from the late 1980s to create a definitive anthology of material. Along with the two other reissues by LTM, this not only presents the classic material, but also most of the tracks from the previous The Gospel Comes to New Guinea compilation (the remainder of witch are scattered on the other releases). Such a sprawling track list is good in some ways, but in others feels a bit too long.
