In its fourth iteration (including the Gristleism special edition), the duo of Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian have once again created a small box of rudimentary loops that, in its increased technological capacity, has somewhat diminishing returns.
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With each project providing a side of the album (or half of a CD), the whole is a series of dark compositions that are as complex as they are intimidating. The best part, however, is how these nuanced pieces sound like no one else.
Over the past few albums, Jean Hervé-Peron and Zappi Diermaier’s version of Faust have been getting more and more into the rock side of their krautrock. On this latest release, they have fully embraced rock and roll to the point where rock has become pulverised and the roll is in free-fall. Hints of classic rock (as in 1950s rock, not ‘70s dad rock) are smashed into atoms and reconstituted as something new, something loud and Something Dirty.
Ghostly International presents SMM: Context as a vaguely philosophical release centered around the qualities that film soundtracks, classical music, and ambient music share, but I think its lack of pretense is part of what makes it great. On one level, SMM: Context is just a collection of eleven songs from eleven electronic artists, including Leyland James Kirby, Jacaszek, Aidan Baker, and Kyle Bobby Dunn. On another level, it's a very coherent and fluid record filled with beautiful songs and sustained by a shared vision.
For their third LP for Sublime Frequencies, the group has put together a stunning collection of trance-inducing works. Yet, there are two things that set Beatte Harab apart from Group Doueh’s previous albums. The recording quality is a step above the others: granted the overall quality is not high fidelity but gone is the murk so all the instruments and singers can be heard distinctly. Secondly, Doueh himself has moved more into the background. His deft touch of the fretboard is undiminished but he confines himself to the back of the mix, his playing developing the overall shape of the music without dominating the other performers.
The latest opus from these prolific and chameleonic Swedes finds them in full-on primal rock mode, unearthing another batch of jagged, bludgeoning, and repetition-obsessed songs and reminding me that rock music can still be a bit dangerous and scary. There's a big twist this time around, however, as the Defekts have added a very noteworthy fifth member: the rather singular Daniel Higgs, formerly of Dischord art-punk stalwarts Lungfish. The addition proves to be an inspired move, as Higgs' intense, somewhat unsettling persona serves to highlight the darker, weirder side of the band.
A sensitive and spacious work, To R.S. utilizes a variety of traditional instruments (guitars, pianos, natural sounds, etc) in a completely different context, dissolving the known sounds into sparse, pure tones and subtle variations. As a work dedicated to composer Robert Schumann, it’s quite an accomplished slice of minimalism in its own right.
