Plenty of new music to be had this week from Laetitia Sadier and Storefront Church, Six Organs of Admittance, Able Noise, Yui Onodera, SML, Clinic Stars, Austyn Wohlers, Build Buildings, Zelienople, and Lea Thomas, plus some older tunes by Farah, Guy Blakeslee, Jessica Bailiff, and Richard H. Kirk.
Lake in Girdwood, Alaska by Johnny.
Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
For their first vinyl release, Rafael Femiano (guitars and electronics) and Felipe Pavon (drums and percussion) pulled out all of the stops on the most recent Oikos release. In this case, that metaphor may be a bit of a misnomer, since most of The Great Upheaval is much more about mood and ambience than full bore explosions of sound, although those feature here as well. The tasteful balance of the two, and the impeccable compositional structures, results in an album that is gripping in its intentional bleakness.
Admittedly, it is hard to listen to the opening moments of "Ravaged, Burned" without being reminded of Earth’s 21st century output.Oikos does a similarly excellent job at capturing that desolate Western expanse, like a Morricone soundtrack stripped to its barest essentials.However, it is really only the one part of atmosphere where the two seem similar.Oikos instead works more in change and variation, adding more dissonant and varied sounds to the mix in comparison, creating an effect akin to a camera shot widening to show the windswept dustbowl is not in the past, but a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the near future.
As the aforementioned "Ravaged, Burned" slowly expands with cymbal washes and clean guitar tones, the transition into the slow burning darkness of "Menace and Portent" (with David Cordero on additional guitar and synthesizer and Raul Perez on bass) strengthens both pieces.The previously clean tones take on more of a dissonant, vibrating quality, with an underlying sense of menace growing by the minute.The piece finally erupts with a satisfying distorted guitar chug and heavy, pounding drums that beautifully contrast the uneasy peace that preceded it.  The somewhat brief interlude "Joik" makes for a nice transition.The resonating and echoing guitar is blended with an all too brief passage of snappy rhythm (by High Aura’d’s John Kolodij), hinting at a more noise rock sound that never comes.Instead, the rhythms just as quickly fade out, a fleeting bit of uptempo sounds that instead fall back to the ambient desolation that is its own unique form of beautiful, with additional voices by Maria Gil.
This blends nicely into the other side's 10 minute "Marrow of Prayer," at first a lush sea of guitar tone that nicely expands with time.Even with its slightly sinister mood, there is a pleasant and beautiful sound to it.As the piece goes on, the light begins to fade and the mood turns bleaker, with the band adding in more dissonant layers of guitar (with additional contributions by Juan G. Acosta).What at first sounds like simple guitar drone reveals itself to be something much more complex; a contrast that becomes the piece’s strongest facet.The transition into the concluding "Arch" has Oikos continuing the same mood and space, but the subtle addition of drums is an exceptional touch.The rhythms are slid in carefully, and never do they upset the mood generated by the guitars.Finally, after the swell of bowed contrabass sounds (by Marco Serrato), the album ends on a weird dying motor type noise, a fitting conclusion for a sound that is so balanced between natural and man-made destruction and decay.
One of the greatest assets of The Great Upheaval is its mood and variation.Femiano, Pavon, and the guest artists do an amazing job at capturing the bleak emptiness of a wasteland and the decay surrounding it.But there is more to here than just mood, of course.Memorable melodies and rhythms appear all throughout, making for a strong musical counterpoint to the imaginary landscapes Oikos creates via their sound.The palpable desolation just makes for an additional layer to an already exceptional album.
His last major release, Samoobrona (with Lukáš Jiřička) may have had Piotrowicz trying something rather different by scoring a radio play, but Walser is a step back into the conventional album format, even if it was originally intended as a score for the film of the same title. However, that motivation to try new things as far as instrumentation and composition goes (something that has been a distinct facet of his recent works) is not lost here. Electric and acoustic instruments blend together, making for perhaps his most diverse and complex work to date.
The dense synthesizer opening on "Oleh Rami Pohon" is appropriately dramatic, with a heavy arrangement that then is mixed perfectly with bowed double bass strings.Robert layers the electronics expertly, and with the addition of some rhythmic bits, makes for a complex piece of music that nicely vacillates between harsh darkness and pastoral spaces.The drama does not relent into the subsequent "Tingal," with its introduction of booming war drums and complex synthesizer passages.The unrelenting martial beat does not relent, while Piotrowicz takes the electronics into chaotic, at times frightening passages of sound.
The forceful rhythms reappear on "Utara," with additional percussive bits thrown in.The pounding drums, buzzing strings, and other bits come together very well, resulting in a piece of music that is more of an emphasis on the strings and percussion when compared to the electronics.Overall though, there is a nice creepy moodiness (or moody creepiness) that pervades the piece.The brief "Elok Pada Masa" is more of a transitional passage:the ominous hums are offset by lighter sounds, each of which slide in and out to keep things dynamic.
Things are not quite as dark for the entire record though."Automatu" opens with lighter, shimmering wind chime ambience that gives a more pleasant mood overall.However, the foundation of churning electronics low in the mix and the subtle addition of what sounds like heavily treated human voice keep a distinct creepiness to the sound overall.The concluding "Dimana" is more open and spacious, keeping the dark elements via a low frequency drone with abrupt swells and drops.The dynamic is less sustained and more erratic, with the occasional outburst of piano keeping this weird.The piano sound itself becomes stranger and less conventional sounding as it goes on, ending the record on a strong, if idiosyncratic note.
While I will always associate Robert Piotrowicz's output with his work for modular synthesizers, Walser is yet another step away from that and instead into more varied and complex composition.One of his darkest releases to date, however, his ear for diversity in sound ensures that it never becomes too mundane, and is yet another impressive entry in his already impressive body of work.Considering it was initially created in 5.1 surround, however, I wish there would have been an opportunity to hear it in that format though.
Part of the impetus of this three cassette compilation (by Wren Turco, who also contributes one of the tapes) was to showcase experimental electronic work by female artists that, not only often marginalized because of their gender, are also relatively new on the scene. With her, Gambletron, and NaEE RobERts, a wide spectrum of electronic art is presented, from Gambletron's more discordant abstraction, to Turco’s stripped down deconstructed techno, into NaEE RoBErts' more conventional song structures. All three tapes stand strongly on their own, but also compliment each other exceptionally well, making for a very strong compilation.
Montreal's Lisa Gamble (as Gambletron, and also a member of Clues and Hrsta)'s contribution is two lengthy pieces on a tape entitled We Can't See Past the Cliff.The first, "Guelph Ontario" drifts beautifully between dissonance and melody.At times passages of lush electronics and peaceful expanses, and others she transitions into harsher and aggressive territories, the 11 minute piece stays constantly compelling.When Gamble brings in the heavy beats and dubby processing, I started feeling nostalgic for those late 1990s ambient dub days of Scorn and Techno Animal.With the rhythms becoming erratic later on, and a tasteful lo-fi sheen overall, the sound is entirely unique, however.The other half, "AM Theremin Radio Drone" is exactly what the title would indicate, but its massive sub bass and occasional blasts of pure noise keep it from becoming too stagnant.
Turco's Artesian Pressures is a bit more grounded in the conventional elements of electronic music by comparison.Melodic sequences and rhythmic elements stay prominent throughout."Visual" is a nice pairing of heavy pulsating electronics, but paired with a great sense of melody, with excellent development and dissolution of the piece’s structure, rhythmic but without any actual drum sounds to be heard."Neon Noir", on the other hand, is a brain-jarringly low bit of bass synthesizer sound that eventually develops into something resembling a distorted electronic bassline amplified intensively. The simple "Infinita" closes her tape with a repetitive melodic synth sequence, covered in just the right amount of audio grime.
NaEE RoBErts (Norwegian multimedia artist Sandra Mujinga)’s lengthy contribution to this set, Summer Care is clearly the most conventional.Rich synthesizers and stiff drum machine beats define most of these 16 songs.Opener "Jaws, Eyes and Mouth", for example, is a basic electronic backing to Mujinga's vocals with only a bit of processing to them.On "Residents", she pushes things into darker spaces, with backward string passages and an appropriately gloomy vocal contribution that contrasts the metronome-like snappy beat behind it.Many of these pieces have a stripped down, bedroom demo quality that I always find to be an asset, but "I Have Been Useful" seems larger and more ambitious in scope.Opening with dramatic synth flourishes, the vocals are up front and clean, and the piece evolves strongly to close on a calm note.The instrumental pieces on Summer Care are no less effective."The Birds" is massive kick drum and hardcore bass leads, eventually solidifying as some bizarre take on 1990s rave anthems, while "Diligence" is a more contemporary work, with sharp drums cutting through the idiosyncratic synth passages very well.The beat opening "The Fishes" sounds straight out of a late 1970s Cabaret Voltaire record, but the full piece is more modern with its noisy snaps and varying rhythms.
Given that one of the goals of Transparens was to increase the profile and awareness of these artists, I would say Wren Turco and the Idle Chatter label have been extremely successful in this goal.Very soon after listening to these tapes I hit Discogs to see what else was out there from Turco, NaEE RoBErts, and Gambletron, and sadly did not find much.I am not sure if that is due to the three being relatively new artists or the unfortunately byproduct of obscurity, but I hope this changes soon.There is a lot of fresh, enjoyable, and at times challenging music in this beautifully packaged set, and I found it an excellent compilation of diverse, yet complimentary sounds.
The rumors are true: 17 years after his last official album release as GAS, Kompakt pioneer Wolfgang Voigt returns to one of his most beloved monickers and will release a brand-new GAS album called Narkopop, due April 21st 2017.
Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) and Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (Merzbow) bask in their mutual love for the EMS Synthi, a British synthesizer from the early '70s notorious for its patch matrix, portability and distinct tone.
Astonishingly, these two disparate artists meld into a single sound as they flex the analog circuitry of the EMS Synthi in new ways; giving this classic synth a modern workout and proving that, in capable hands, a 40 year old analog synthesizer is a tool for the ages.
Patterns Of Consciousness is the powerful second full length album from analog synth composer Caterina Barbieri. Gorgeous high resolution analog textures and algorithmic melodies unfold under Barbieri's careful control, exploring the basic nature of sound and consciousness. These pieces are minimal in arrangement but maximal in presence asserting Barbieri as a unique voice in contemporary electronic music composition. Highly recommended to fans of Alessandro Cortini and Eleh.
Palto Flats & WRWTFWW Records are ecstatic to announce the highly-anticipated reissue of Japanese percussionist Midori Takada's sought after and timeless ambient / minimal album Through The Looking Glass, originally released in 1983 by RCA Japan.
Considered a Holy Grail of Japanese music by many, Through The Looking Glass is Midori Takada’s first solo endeavor, a captivating four-song suite capturing her deep quests into traditional African and Asian percussive language and exploring contemplative ambient sounds with an admirably precise use of marimba. The result is alternatively ethereal and vibrant, always precise and mesmerizing, and makes for an atmospheric masterpiece and an unparalleled sonic and spiritual experience.
The fully licensed reissue is available as a single 33rpm LP and a limited 45rpm DLP, both cut directly from the original studio reels (AAA), at Emil Berliner (formerly the in-house recording department of renowned classical record label Deutsche Grammophon) for the 45rpm DLP, and at the equally famous Frankfurter SST Studio for the LP. It is also available in CD format for the first time. All versions come with extensive liner notes.
Joshua's debut album Terminus Drift explores humans' relationship with environment and space, and how this experience is augmenting us as we further embrace a digital age. Our structures of communication, exploration, and discovery are mediated by technological shifts and we exist in simultaneity between our physical environment and emerging cyberspaces with a blended perception of embodiment and orientation within both.
Sirens reverberating through station tunnels, fluctuating harmonics of subway engines, echoing tannoy systems, piercing screams of electromagnetic fields.
The sonic material of this album is composed exclusively of field-recordings captured in transit through Kyoto, Tokyo, and Berlin, in addition to electromagnetic field recordings captured in Glasgow and Edinburgh. By interrogating the sonic properties of our physical environment, Terminus Drift imagines the sonic landscapes of these dualistically navigable 'cyberspaces' we transiently create and move through interacting with our world.
...are piano pieces recorded over the period of two years. The tracks are a collection of many hours of rehearsing and improvising alone in front of the piano. These sessions were recorded using a field recorder and then later processed and re-worked in the studio. It´s based largely around deceptively repetitive piano movements. Some of the tracks are very stripped down to their essential elements while others have been given a re-brush, adding new sounds beneath, such as cello and different instruments where it seemed fit. The use of various filters and pedals have been used occasionally to manipulate certain parts of the melodies. The idea behind the album was to let go of all kinds of emotions and just try to create an open minded album that could be both warm and melancholic but at the same time dramatic and dark. The album consists of 14 tracks.
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is a collection of new compositions from New York City-based sound artist, performer, and composer Lea Bertucci. As a performer, Bertucci has worked primarily with amplified woodwind instruments, creating enigmatic electro-acoustic interventions of the bass clarinet and saxophone in conjunction with tape collage and electronics. Her latest release on NNA, however, explores her work as a composer, which investigates extended acoustic resonance on classical instruments and their potential to powerfully occupy physical space. The two sides of this cassette contain two different pieces that exist around a common concept – the live performance of extended technique on stringed instruments, and the otherworldly way that the resulting sound exists in the space in which it is created.
Composed and recorded over a year between his home in New York City, and on residency in Stockholm, Tangier and Venice. Jeff Burch’s followup to 2015’s S/T, summons a once familiar spirit; one caught inside the single note and the endless reverberations of the Fluxus streets. He sounds out endless violin and cello wail and draws long interstellar synthesizer vowels, pushing them up against a clangor of bells, dizzying organ-fed Leslie, glassy bows of cymbal and gong. With the push of the capitalist hour, it is a series of works which unfurls against the weight and sound of our nefarious empires and the toil and sweat of our vast cities… one made with an ear pointed sharply toward the east.
In four parts; for electronics, organ, percussion, strings and woodwind. Cover artwork by Carol Bove, mastered by Chris Griffin (Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, La Monte Young).
"The vestigial spirits of Tony Conrad and Alice Coltrane seem to ooze from the music’s percolating pores. Gong-like reverberations punctuate an endlessly roiling cauldron of strings, electronics, and percussion… a fine follow-up to his debut.” – Textura