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Aurora Borealis image from California by Steve

Look up

Music for gazing upwards brought to you by Meat Beat Manifesto & scott crow, +/-, Aurora Borealis, The Veldt, Not Waving & Romance, W.A.T., The Handover, Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri, Mulatu Astatke, Paul St. Hilaire & René Löwe, Songs: Ohia, and Shellac.

Aurora Borealis image from California by Steve.

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KALIMA, "NIGHT TIME SHADOWS"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

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Kalima used to be Swamp Children, a Mancunian post-punk funk ensemblesigned to Factory Records. A few of the band members did double duty aspart of A Certain Ratio. Despite releasing two well-received singlesand an LP, the Swamp Children could not rise above the C-list ofFactory artists, perhaps because there was nothing particularlygroundbreaking or unique about their sound.

Black Mountain, "Black Mountain"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

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Starting with the Lou Reed influenced "Modern Music," Black Mountainbegins its trek through the first of many musical allusions. The songbegins with a flatulent saxophone squawk. Then the rock music enters.Drums sticks count off and the guitars ring in while Stephen McBean'sreedy vocals count off "One two three another pop explosion; four fivesix another hit recording."

Food, "Last Supper"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Food is one of my favorite Rune Grammofon groups and this is their bestrecord yet. Though less experimental in nature than the majority ofRune artists, and lacking in the sense of high concept that makes manyof the label's releases so attractive, Food is more fun without seemingoutwardly less complex.

"THE FURTHER SOMNILOQUIES OF DION MCGREGOR"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Dion McGregor was a down-on-his-luck Broadway songwriter living in NewYork City in 1960, sleeping on the couch of his friend and partnerMichael Barr, when Barr first noticed McGregor's unique propensity forspeaking his dreams aloud

Black Forest/Black Sea, "Radiant Symmetry"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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This set sounds amazingly cohesive for a collection of tracks recordedat various live venues with many tracks featuring different guests.Jeffrey Alexander and Miriam Goldberg, Black Forest/Black Sea's twopermanent members, are noble for sharing so much of the spotlight oftheir own project with others.

MINIMAL MAN, "THE SHROUD OF"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Minimal Man was founded in 1979, in San Francisco by avant-gardepainter and filmmaker Patrick Miller, and the band included a revolvingcast of musicians from fellow SF art punks Tuxedomoon and futuremembers of Factrix. Minimal Man have been historically marginalized ina fertile underground music scene that included many other influentialartists (including Z'ev, Flipper and Nervous Gender), and they are nodoubt unfavorably compared to stylistically similar artists such asSuicide, Chrome or even NON.

STEVEN BROWN, "HALF OUT"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Not to minimize the great work that the LTM label has done dusting offthe extensive back catalogs of labels like Factory and Les Disques duCrepuscule, but when I hear something like this Steven Brown album, itmakes me wonder if their time and energy might be better spent on moreworthwhile archival projects.

Skates, "Lord of the Rinks"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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People who can't rap shouldn't and programmers with some degree of ability shouldn't bother enlisting those tired vocalists when they aren't needed. Point in case: Todd Drootin of Books on Tape makes some mildly entertaining, low-end electronic fuzz dependent on bass and drums and then decides that it must be too boring to stand alone.

Reuter/Boddy, "Pure"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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There won't always be room for new, instrumental, and rhythmicelectronic music. Albums like this one suggest that only so many synthpads and sampled instruments can be combined in an entertaining andquality way. At first Pureis a pretty album—sliding like a slow mass of ice over the surface of astill body of water.

maximilian hecker, "lady sleep"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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On his third full-length album, Maximilian Hecker has truly establishedhimself as a fantastic pianist, composer, and arranger. Lady Sleepopens with the climactic piano melody of "Birch." It sets the scenemuch like a tragic love story: patient and powerful, set against lushstrings and underscoring Hecker's frail voice.