Germany's Analog Africa unleashes yet another amazing collection of long-lost African funk recordings. This, the follow-up to last year's uniformly beloved African Scream Contest, focuses entirely on Benin's staggeringly prolific (and largely unheard) Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou.
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Ever since his breakthrough Endless Summer album, Christian Fennesz has been well regarded as an artist and composer in the world outside of the beard stroking listeners that labels like Touch and Mego cater to (myself included). On this album, it's not hard to see how this crossover happened: even with all of the odder and less decipherable digital elements, there is a core of melody that is beautiful and undeniable.
On his second full-length release, this young Greek composer continues refining his technique of meshing abrasive electronic noises, pure digital drones, and field recordings into small audio ethnographies that are more than happy to make jarring, unexpected transitions.
While the debut album from Loop stuck with a traditional use of psychedelia, by their second disc they had refined their own take on the subgenre. Rather than using just the traditional wah and tremolo guitar effects, they created their own direction in space rock via brittle guitars, abstract studio effects and more avant garde instrumentation. However, through all of this they still managed to make powerful, speaker damaging rock that demands to be played loudly, and Fade Out is perhaps their most fully realized work.
Criminally out of print for over a decade, Loop/Main leader Robert Hampson has finally spearheaded the reissues of the entire Loop backcatalogue, remastered and with the now requisite bonus tracks. The most obvious things these reissues show is just how much of a force Loop were, how they stood out from the era's so-called "shoegaze" bands, and how they laid a blueprint for New York's loudest bands today—moreso than numerous other citations.
Some CDs beg to be played over and over again. This is one of those times when the disc absolutely refuses to go back into its case and demands to go back in the player. Normally I cannot listen to an album more than once a day but Larkin Grimm's third album makes for a rare exception. It is perfectly performed and the recording itself is flawless, this is one of those rare albums that impresses from every conceivable angle.
The original Buddha Machine caused quite a stir when it first appeared a couple of years ago and the emergence of a second generation machine begs the question of whether such a device has a lifespan beyond that of a novelty toy? Having spent some time with both devices, my gut answer is yes, it is far more than a trinket. New loops, new colors and a new feature (control of playback speed) have breathed new life into an already spunky little gadget.
This duo of the classically and modern compositionally inclined Simon James Phillips and The Necks' less formal but equally brilliant Chris Abrahams have created quite an intriguing collection of improvisations. Every piece is a piano duet and the album crosses a wide spread of styles and quality; moving from cold, modernist works to pieces with a bit more swing and heat to them, Pedal are inconsistent in ways that both help and hinder their music. While there are a couple of less than stellar moments on this self-titled album, they are more than counterbalanced by the mesmerising and evocative pieces that make up the bulk of the music.
Matt and Erica Hinton spent seven years making their essential documentary about Sacred Harp hymn singing. This companion set comprises the soundtrack of gloriously raw a cappela music from the film, with a second disc of interpretations by artists such as Doc Watson, The Innocence Mission, Richard Buckner, Woven Hand, and John Paul Jones. It is a win-win situation.
Operating within and between the rather loose conventions that dominate electronic and rock music, Skye Klein continues to map out a musical style capable of putting equal emphasis on every genre it employs.
