Surely having a higher concept than just to perform public domain songs that they wouldn't have to pay royalties on, Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Christian Kiefer take a run through at some infamous and not so famous pieces of classic American folk that occasionally remain faithful directly to the mood and sound of the early 20th century, and at other times diverge wildly and brilliantly.
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!
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With their debut album following up the wildly successful A Place to Bury Strangers self-titled on Killer Pimp, All the Saints have a rather large pair of shoes to fill here. This trio travels on similar roads as the their label mates, but with a different stylistic approach. The love of noise and psychedelic feedback is here, but somewhat tempered by a slightly less aggressive, more accessible sound that is no less enjoyable and shows the same attention to "songs" as opposed to just "noise."
Troy Southgate possesses something of an impeccable musical pedigree, contributing his unique vocals to H.E.R.R. and Horologium, plus guesting on albums by Von Thronstahl, Survival Unit, Sagittarius, Erich Zahn, Sistrenatus, and many others, in addition to being a writer and political commentator. Now the South Londoner conspires with Kammer Sieben's Butow Maler and Herr Twiggs (plus contributions from Maria Southgate [Troy's daughter], as well as Horologium's Eustacia Vye) to add yet another name to the ever-growing list: the Anglo-German Seelenlicht ('Soul Light'); and this, Gods and Devils, is the debut album resulting from that union.
Every so often, something wafts my way, lands on my desk, and takes me completely by surprise. Such is the case with Brisbane's The Rational Academy and their debut CD A Heart Against Your Own, their eclectic mix of pop melodies, noise, and avant-pop sensibilities sweeping over me in a tsunami of warm fluffiness and bright sunshine. My natural constituency is normally nowhere near this kind of bright melodic pop-tunefulness, but it won me over with its naturally sunny disposition tempered with a bittersweetness and a noisiness that would, on paper at least, appear to be a recipe for disaster.
Detached from the goofy Renaissance Faire quality themes of post-industrial neo-classical music, the prolific producer marks a drastic, though lackluster, departure from his typically rhythmic past. Devoid of danceability, its transuding caliginosity faux-menaces like a murky slime creeping towards an unsuspecting idyll at sundown.
Western Europe has arguably had great influence over electronic music these last few years, with rebellious artists like Justice and Boys Noize legitimizing gritty, harsher sonics in stark contrast to the overexposed slickness of meathead-friendly dance. That trend makes this Spanish duo's latest all the more maddening and highlights the stultifying insulation of the current generation of industrial musicians.
Faust's Jean-Herve Peron joins Andrew Liles for an album full of childlike joy. From the electric colours of the sleeve to the electric performances on the disc, this is a wonderful way to spend three quarters of an hour. Both artists sound like they are having fun and the cheer definitely filters through.
While it almost seems more of an experiment than a true composition at times, this 140 minute work shows the clown prince of minimalist drone working on live improvisations using a unique instrument, a double piano. And while sounding purely experimental at times, the work transcends the academics and is just as enjoyable to listen to as a work of art as it is a study of an instrument.
It comes as no surprise at all that this collaboration between Sunn O))) and Goatsnake's Greg Anderson and Gentry Densley from Iceburn is black and metallic. I think anyone would be completely floored if it were to be too insane of a departure from either artist's day jobs, and the influence of their main projects definitely shows through. But, aided and abetted by a slew of collaborators, Ascend has a style and character all its own, even with the obvious lineage from the participants, it is a very interesting work that stands on its own.
Our new, semi-regular feature of notable new dance singles continues with reviews of The Juan Maclean, Audion, Kelley Polar, Low Motion Disco, Goldfrapp and Ricardo Villalobos.
