Robert Millis and Richard Bishop ventured to the Isan region of northern Thailand in June of 2004 to document its annual psychedelic ghost festival. They let the cameras run with little interference, immersing viewers in endless processions of outlandish costumes and spontaneous, hypnotic music.
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This overlooked album by Serge Gainsbourg collaborator Jean-Claude Vannier is as close as composing gets to stream of consciousness. Seemingly dipolar pieces of music have been sandwiched together with deft skill and grace to make an album so rich in sound that ears everywhere will feel like they’ve just had their last meal care of a Michelin star restaurant. It’s rare that the kitchen sink approach to writing music works but Vannier pulls it off in style.
In the face of diminishing returns from his midtempo/ downtempo releases for Warp, Ninja Tune, and Planet Mu, Luke Vibert's latest for Rephlex showcases his boldest material this century, suggesting that there may yet be some more good ideas up this maturing musician's rumpled sleeve.
These two albums by Isabelle Antena show how easy it is for an artist to lose everything that makes them interesting. On a Warm Summer Night (Tous mes Caprices) is an artifact from a time best forgotten while L’Alphabet du Plaisir, the 'best of' compilation, also contains a lot of stinkers but also enough good pieces that show that Antena wasn’t always crap.
Robert Pollard’s second solo album of 2006 is a mixed bag of pop gems and forgettable tunes that betray an inconsistency of effort. While it’s the sort of thing I expect from one of his numerous side projects, that one of his so-called major releases is so scattershot can only be considered a disappointment.
Gearheads can be counted on to make a fantastic sounding record, however, unfortunately it is commonly difficult for gearheads to compose compelling enough songs to turn a good album into something fantastic enough to match the production.
Armed with dissonant guitars and disheveled rhythms, Glasgow’s Park Attack stagger from the murk to spread discord at every opportunity on this incendiary album.
