A strange voyeristic look into the world of electro-acoustic music, this album is composed of a single 40 minute composition. It lacks some important qualities, but has some interesting moments, nonetheless. Dogs in English Porcelain mixes instruments with animal sounds to create a flow of sound-energy which ultimately does little to entertain due to its emphasis on aesthetics rather than substance.
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A 47-minute elegy to his daughter, who passed away two years before work began on the record, this disc offers a slow and meditative take on electronic composition. Combining field recordings with metallic vibrations, static hum and pure noise elements, Kahn is able to do a lot with what appears to be very little, conducting his own orchestra of sound in a piece whose emotional impact is garnered from its barren makeup.
I can't tell if Aidan Baker is releasing old material and calling it new or producing muddy sounding music on purpose. Much of Gathering Blue has a basement tapes quality to it, but the reissued material that composes the second LP of this two-LP set is mostly stunning, as is the packaging that accompanies it. Baker might be in need of some quality control when it comes to his latest work, but his back catalog continues to impress me.
The unfortunate victim of a knife attack three months before the release of this album, Wolfgang Riechmann's credentials extend far beyond this, his only solo record, which is finally getting the reissue treatment. An early collaborator with Neu!'s Michael Rother and Kraftwerk's Wolfgang Fluhr, Riechmann introduced himself as an individual voice within the broad boundaries of '70s German electronic music with a focused minimalism and clear pop sensibility.
After listening to the last few Jack Rose records religiously, it's something of a shock to hear vocals on a Rose-related record. But that's just what you get as this self-titled disc starts up: a cover of "Little Sadie" rambling and swinging hard like the rock 'n' roll cornerstone it is. Colored with shades of bluegrass, blues, and country music, this self-titled record takes American roots music and strips it until all that's left is its energy and attitude.
It's no secret that Jandek is the oxymoronic title holder for most prominent musical recluse. With over 18 albums to his name in about 30 years of work, the musician has been as prolific as he has hidden. Only recently did he reveal himself to live audiences, beginning a welcome tour schedule that nevertheless has done little to diminish the mysteries buried beneath a quarter century under wraps. This, a reissue of his second album from 1981, presents for the first time since its initial pressing a vinyl copy of the album, which finds Jandek further refining his distinctly unrefined take on blues drift.
While the previously released (and reviewed) 
Mostly the solo project of guitarist Michael Bjella, this dark and violent (yet somehow atmospheric and ambient) album drunkenly stammers across genre lines in its three long tracks, combining drone, black metal, ambience, and raw noise that, while not necessarily novel in its approach, does wonderful things in its actual execution.
While unlikely to be as earth-shaking as the creative partnership of Brian Eno and the Talking Heads, the second union between these Brisbane indie rockers and electronic composer Lawrence English has nevertheless yielded some memorable and subtly warped pop gems. Fans of their excellent 2008 debut (even Brainwashed loved it) may miss the presence of departed vocalist/songwriter Meredith McHugh though.
One of the goals of Buddhism is the obliteration of the intellectual construct of ego. For or better or worse, Greg Davis has musically achieved that with Mutually Arising: the entity that once was once Greg Davis is now merely a vessel through which minimalist drone passes. I, for one, will miss him.
