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.
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Pinkcourtesyphone reaches out and touches someone… in this case an international call with Dutch harpist extraordinaire, Gwyneth Wentink.
Wentink weaves her magic on the triple harp, a replica of a harp from around 1600 made of 3 rows of strings instead of the more common single row. The effect is a multi-timbral coalescence of mood, a conversation between layers.
Pinkcourtesyphone thoughtfully folds, manipulates, and merges the gossamer resonances of the strolling fingers of Wentink under and over a hazy sonic shroud of worn romance and phobophobia.
This spiralling composition is created for endless heavy rotation/background consumption for an anxious and medicated society prone to ambivalence.
Two Variations marks the return to Umor Rex of the Los Angeles based musician & producer M. Geddes Gengras, following his two volumes of "Collected Works" from 2013 and 2014. The two pieces here are the result of Gengras' continuous exercises and obsession with his modular synthesizer, yet (technique aside) Two Variations is a new statement, the reinforcement of MGG's prowess in this area, and how through these machines, he is able to build harmonic music pieces, contours between the electronic collage and concrete music.
'The first side of this tape is an edit of the first two run-throughs of a patch that I had been conceptualizing for a while before I majorly rearranged my system to accommodate this obsession. Four voltage-controlled oscillators (Make Noise Music STOs) are controlled by the output of a four-stage shift register (synthtech e102) which takes a single sequence of voltages and distributes them (in the style of a round) across the four voices. The e102 is being fed a long sequence from an Antimatter Audio Brainseed. A single clock controls the sequence speed, the shift register's 'action', and a gate sequencer (Noise Engineering Zularic Repetitor operating in a probability mode) which in turn activates four AD envelopes (Intellijel Quadra) to open the four channels of a Make Noise Quad Multi-Mode Gates module which is mixing the four voices of the VCOs. The 'delay' in the shift register (essentially how many clock pulses it takes for a note to advance to the next output) is modulated by random voltage from a Make Noise Wogglebug. The end result is two pairs of marimba mallets attached to a pair of dice. The b-side is a soundboard recording of a performance utilizing this patch, among others, from the same period.'
Bremen return with a new double-LP of glacial electronics, strung-out drone-punk and smouldering space-rock minimalism.
Following the release of their self-titled debut on Skrammel in 2013, the Swedish duo of Jonas Tiljander (Brainbombs) and Lanchy Orre (Brainbombs, Totalitär) joined the Blackest Ever Black fold with last year’s Second Launch. If the mood of that record was brooding and stygian, its monochord intensity unfaltering, then Eclipsed, their equally sprawling new set, could be construed as a warmer, more dynamic and variegated offering. Perhaps. There are still passages that are heavier than a death in the family. Still a staunch obsession with the consciousness-altering power of repetition.
The band’s points of departure are specific: a particular organ sound from J.A. Seazer 1970s' recordings, the squalid alien guitar tone of Chrome, the cranked, psychic roar-out riffage of Hawkwind, the melancholic mode of Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson, minimalism from La Monte Young to Eleh, "cold eighties electronic sound," and sloppy, lo-fi psychedelic rock from the likes of Pärson Sound and Träd Gräs och Stenar. Tiljander’s icily poised synth/organ drones and the grieving cosmic howl of Lanchy’s guitar dominate the landscape, but their instrumental palette has also expanded to include various percussion treatments, saxophone, strings, dissolved vocal fragments. Their exploratory jamming, overdubbing and dub-savvy mixing yields a music of unbelievable eloquence and physicality.
Eclipsed is another masterpiece of black hole psychedelia from one of the greatest underground rock’n’roll units on the planet. No serious void-worshipper’s collection is right without it.
This is a joint release with Steven Wilson's (Bass Communion / No Man / Porcupine Tree) own Headphone Dust label. He's a big fan of Fovea Hex and was very keen help releasing the new material. There'll be a special pre-order only version available through Steven's website, which will also include a 20 min. bonus CD feat. a remix by Steven of one of the tracks from the ep. This will only be available through his website until the end of February.
Here's some more info from Headphone Dust:
FOVEA HEX – The Salt Garden I (10inch vinyl + CD + limited bonus CD) on Headphone Dust (HDFH1021 + HDFHCD25) &
Die Stadt (DS116 + DS116A)
Track listing: 1. The Golden Sun Rises Upon The World Again / 2. No Bright Avenue / 3. The Undone Mother / 4. Solace
Product Description
The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN is the first ever non-SW release on the Headphone Dust label, a testament to the unprecedented quality of the work. Steven has long been a fan of Fovea Hex, and in 2008 he invited singer / songwriter Clodagh Simonds to guest on his first solo record Insurgentes. Fovea Hex also counts the likes of David Lynch, Brian Eno and Underworld amongst its fans.
You may also recognise Clodagh’s name from her vocals on early Mike Oldfield albums Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn, and from her early 70s folk rock group Mellow Candle, which she formed in Ireland while still a teenager. She then dropped off the musical radar for decades, before returning in 2005 with the remarkable Fovea Hex project. The songs are dominated by a voice that’s too steely to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace is languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Fovea Hex's closest cousins would perhaps be 4AD artists such as Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil, but really this music is completely unique and exceptional, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from instruments ranging from state-of-art to ancient and arcane.
The Salt Garden 1 is the first in a series of 3 EPs released in conjunction with German label Die Stadt, and contains 4 brand new tracks. Issued as a beautifully packaged limited edition 10 inch vinyl, that also includes a CD copy of the EP.
Once again thanks to everybody who participated in the 18th Annual Brainwashed Readers Poll. It's an honor to be able to do this every year and we appreciate everyone who contributed to the nominations and voted.
All the best wishes for 2016.
Album of the Year
Carter Tutti Void, "f(x)" (Industrial)
I liked this album, but it is an odd choice for album of the year. Is everyone belatedly trying to make amends for not liking Transverse enough back in 2012? - Anthony D'Amico
Not the typical album of the year winner, however nobody could disagree that they enjoyed this album... a lot! Myself included. - Jon Whitney
Sunn O))), "Kannon" (Southern Lord)
I think in many ways Sunn O))) became a victim of their own hype back when Monoliths & Dimensions came out, so people were quick to disregard this stripped down, back to their roots record. The fact of the matter is Kannon is a much deeper record than it may seem on the surface, and with its excellent production, comes together as one of their strongest offerings overall. - Creaig Dunton
This was such a massive regression. I honestly don't know how anyone can love Kannon after hearing Monoliths & Dimensions. I suppose I could probably convince myself that this is an expertly crafted plunge into an amorphous black void if I wanted to, but it mostly just sounds like a couple of guys in cloaks playing a bunch of interchangeable power chords for half an hour. - Anthony D'Amico
Regression isn't necessarily a bad thing. Kannon is the closest thing yet to the live sound of Sunn O))) (more so than any of their live albums) and felt like a return home after their excursions with Ulver and Scott Walker. - John Kealy
Still wrestling with this one. I don't know that regression is the right word. Some other bands have stripped their sound back and won people over because they sounded "rawer" or "more focused." This is just one of the sounds Sunn O))) can make. Maybe not as florid as Soused or Monoliths and Dimensions, but then why would going backwards be any better than burrowing inwards? - Lucas Schleicher
Drew McDowall, "Collapse" (Dais)
After years of various projects such as Screwtape and Captain Sons and Daughters, McDowall finally has presented the album everybody has been impatiently awaiting, and the results are well worth the wait. With the surfacing of a cassette-only release this year and numerous live dates, let's keep our fingers crossed with hope that the productivity continues to flourish. - Jon Whitney
Swans, "The Gate" (Young God)
I look forward to these Swans live/demo albums almost as much as the "proper" studio albums. As great as the finished products are, hearing the group whittling the pieces down (or extending them to the stars) is a thrilling experience. There is a bittersweet feeling to this knowing that this iteration of Swans is coming to a close but I'm delighted that not only did I get to experience this work live but that there are such great documents of their live sound to cherish. - John Kealy
Benoit Pioulard, "Sonnet" (Kranky)
This was the album that finally made me a Thomas Meluch fan in a big way (especially the last several songs). Some of my happiest memories of the last year are of wandering around cities alone at night listening to this or one of the similarly fine Stanza albums. - Anthony D'Amico
Christina Vantzou, "No. 3" (Kranky)
A brilliant mix of the big and the small, the epic and the intimate. Vantzou's melding of synthesizer textures and lush, orchestral arrangements blends together seamlessly into a powerful, yet delicate ambient record that stands out as extremely unique. - Creaig Dunton
I'm pleased and pleasantly surprised this scored this high with Brainwashed's readers, given the album has not received the wide-scale recognition it deserves. However, it is at the top of my personal list for albums of 2015. - Jon Whitney
William Basinski, "Cascade" (2062)
I am delighted that so many other people preferred this to Deluge as well. Both are great, but the loop here is truly so wonderful that Basinski didn't need to do anything else to it. I suspect that he released the more composed Deluge solely because he felt bad that it had been so effortless for him to make a perfect album. - Anthony D'Amico
Thighpaulsandra, "The Golden Communion" (Editions Mego)
This should be at number one and for me as it is the definitive album of the year. Considering it has been worked on for so long, it is amazing that it still sounds as forward-thinking and mind-bendingly current as it does. Like his earlier albums and EPs, there is so much going on here that it will keep me guessing and listening carefully for years. - John Kealy
This record should come as no surprise to anyone following his solo career beginning with I, Thighpaulsandra. The album plays like a film composed of a variety of scenes depicting the various stages of the life of Mr. Lewis, all which take the form of songs which pay tribute to a number of his favorite genres while maintaining a solid forward momentum. It can be thick at times but it is very rewarding. - Jon Whitney
Definitely the most ambitious record of the year. - Anthony D'Amico
William Basinski, "The Deluge" (Temporary Residence)
Prurient, "Frozen Niagara Falls" (Profound Lore)
Yeah, yeah, Tony D'Amico and I are probably the only Fernow apologists left, but I thought this was a well done, if bloated record. It didn't rock my world by any means, but I enjoyed much of it. - Creaig Dunton
I guess now is as good a time as any to ask for that reissue of Pleasure Ground. It's become an annual event. Never could get into Fernow's synth-pop-noise thing and this just seems like more of the same. - Lucas Schleicher
Wolf Eyes, "I Am A Problem: Mind in Pieces" (Third Man)
Beach House, "Depression Cherry" (Sub Pop)
Jim O'Rourke, "Simple Songs" (Drag City)
I couldn’t wait for this album to come out, but was never able to fully warm to it when it finally did. It sounds weirdly like a Jim O’Rourke album that was focus-grouped, then punched-up to have more mass appeal. Too muscular and purposeful? I don’t know. Something is off. The songs are good, but the magic is just not there. - Anthony D’Amico
I like about half of this record. The coldness of the whole thing, the pretense of "simple songs," the stylistic jumps, it all feels like an O'Rourke rock record with the subtext turned up to 11. Unfortunately, the pretense and jumpiness work against it too. Cut it in half and put a little space between the songs and most of the spottiness washes away. - Lucas Schleicher
Low, "Ones and Sixes" (Sub Pop)
With every new Low album it feels like most people dismiss it as not being as good as their peak but no one can agree what their peak is. Like any of their albums in the past decade, Ones and Sixes initially feels lighter and less adventurous than the ones before but with every listen, I fall further and further under its spell. It's disarmingly beautiful and they continue to be one of my favorite bands. - John Kealy
Another one where about half the record worked for me and the other half didn't. Low is one of my favorite bands though, so hearing the bits that don't work is just as interesting to me. Ones and Sixes opens with three gorgeous songs, then floats off aimlessly in an uncharacteristically uninteresting Mimi track (is "Congregation" her first meh production? I love the instrumentation but could do without the chorus). And then there's "No End," which sounds like it belongs on a new Low Christmas record. Things kind of go nutty from there, with a mish-mash of solid, familiar songs and weird, not quite polished experiments. Maybe that's why people didn't like this one as much as Trust or whatever they claim the best Low album is: the band is still screwing around with what they can do instead of getting complacent. And for the record, Mimi is still one of my favorite vocalists, whether she wrote "Congregation" or not. - Lucas Schleicher
This is another slow builder from Low. I wasn't crazy about it at first but it keeps drawing me back. My only complaint is a technical one: with the resurgence of vinyl, can you please not force us to flip the record after only 3 songs? Jeebuz make the 4th side blank or something if the album's not long enough! - Jon Whitney
Chelsea Wolfe, "Abyss" (Sargent House)
Alva Noto, "Xerrox Vol. 3" (Raster-Noton)
Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld, "Never Were the Way She Was" (Constellation)
Disappears, "Irreal" (Kranky)
Easily my favorite cover artwork of the year. - Jon Whitney
Disappears are on a serious hot streak the last few years. -Anthony D'Amico
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, "Asunder, Sweet and Other" (Constellation)
This material definitely worked better live but they don't slack in the studio either. It's not as immediate as Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! or as deep as their classic albums but they still pack a punch. It would be great to hear them explore new grounds rather than just go for the anvil and hammer approach but I'll take what I get. - John Kealy
I still haven't heard this one. I want to feel energized by a Godspeed record, but I can't make myself put this on over basically anything of theirs recorded before 2012. - Lucas Schleicher
Lightning Bolt, "Fantasy Empire" (Thrill Jockey)
Nurse With Wound/Graham Bowers, "Mutation ...The Lunatics Are Running The Asylum..." (Red Wharf)
It was immensely sad to lose Graham Bowers this year to motor neuron disease. Mutation was a fitting finish to his career, uncompromising and utterly wonderful. His run of collaborations with Nurse With Wound are by far and away some of the most exciting music I have heard in recent years, giving me the same sense of surprise and joy that I got from the first time I heard many of my favourite artists. - John Kealy
Rafael Anton Irisarri, "A Fragile Geography" (Room40)
Wire, "Wire" (Pink Flag)
Wire sans Bruce Gilbert is unlikely to reach the same highs they did for me in their original quartet line-up, but this self titled record edged closer to their peak moments than most of theirs have in recent years. - Creaig Dunton
To label this a synth or drone album is an insult. Davachi has created an incredibly robust soundtrack full of textures and melodies by modern and classical instrumentation which move, breathe, and are full of life. - Jon Whitney
Robert A. A. Lowe & Ariel Kalma, "(We Know Each Other Somehow" (rvng intl.)
The Necks, "Vertigo" (ReR Megacorp/Northern Spy)
Boduf Songs, "Stench of Exist" (The Flenser)
"Modern Orbita" and "My Continuing Battle with Material Reality" are easily two of the best songs that anyone released this year. -Anthony D'Amico
Vainio & Vigroux, "Peau Froide, Leger Soliel" (Cosmo Rhythmatic)
Evan Caminiti, "Meridian" (Thrill Jockey)
Locrian, "Infinite Dissolution" (Relapse)
Return to Annihilation was not an easy record to top, coming together at the time as the fullest realization of the trio's career to date, but this one ups the ante even more, a progressive suite of songs that conveys their influences but retains their own distinct identity. - Creaig Dunton
Natural Snow Buildings, "Terror's Horns" (Ba Da Bing!)
This was quite a bold reinvention of Mehdi & Solange's aesthetic, resembling Alejandro Jodorowsky and Ennio Morricone collaborating on a Western soundtrack while besieged by a series of relentless, vibrant nightmares. I loved it. –Anthony D’Amico
Norman Westberg, "13" (Room40)
Surprised 13 isn't higher on the list. Anyone who voted for William Basinski or Christina Vantzou (or Swans) would love this record. Granted, top 50 isn't exactly a poor turn out, but Norman's work is beautiful and unsettling and a nice step away from the sounds with which he is usually associated. - Lucas Schleicher
Stephen O'Malley, "Éternelle Idole" (Shelter Press)
The Legendary Pink Dots, "Five Days" (self-released)
Anna Von Hausswolff, "The Miraculous" (City Slang)
Ramleh, "Circular Time" (Crucial Blast)
The return of "rock" Ramleh was an event I was extremely excited for, yet still held a bit of skepticism that they could truly capture that era almost two decades later. Thankfully my cynicism was unnecessary, as Circular Time was a sprawling, yet gripping two hours of the blackened psychedelic sound that only they (and in a similar way, Skullflower) can do. - Creaig Dunton
Stephen O'Malley, "Gruidés" (DDS)
This was much, much better than the Sunn O))) album. -Anthony D'Amico
William Basinski + Richard Chartier, "Aurora Liminalis" (Line)
William Basinski + Richard Chartier, "Divertissement" (Important)
Both of these records albums do an exceptional job at showcasing Basinski's ear for unconventional sonic beauty, with Chartier's nuanced, clinically precise electronics complementing brilliantly. - Creaig Dunton
Container, "LP (3)" (Editions Mego)
I love the punishing, no-frills single-mindedness of this project. -Anthony D'Amico
Daniel Menche and Mamiffer, "Crater" (Sige)
Menche has turned down the loudness in recent years, but his well developed ear for natural field recordings shines through here, and with production and musical assistance by Faith Coloccia and Aaron Turner of Mamiffer, the results are exquisite. - Creaig Dunton
Esmerine, "Lost Voices" (Constellation)
Follakzoid, "III" (Sacred Bones)
Nils Frahm, "Solo" (Erased Tapes)
Philip Jeck, "Cardinal" (Touch)
Pye Corner Audio, "Prowler" (More Than Human)
23 Skidoo, "Beyond Time" (Les Disques Du Crepuscule)
Alessandro Cortini, "Forse 3" (Important)
Four Tet, "Morning/Evening" (Text)
Hox, "Duke of York" (Editions Mego)
Extending from his solo albums from last year, Graham Lewis again does his experimental, off-kilter electronic pop thing with Andreas Karperyd with amazing results. Few people can put together such unconventional and bizarre noises, yet make them catchy, earworm laden songs, and for that Lewis deserves eternal respect. - Creaig Dunton
John Carpenter, "Lost Themes" (Sacred Bones)
Land, "Anoxia" (Important)
This was such a radical and unexpected evolution from Night Within. I love viscerally pummeling surprises. This should have placed much higher. –Anthony D’Amico
This is in my top list of albums of the year. It's an magnificent record. - Jon Whitney
Oren Ambarchi, "Live Knots" (Pan)
Tom Carter, "Long Time Underground" (Three Lobed Recordings)
A Place To Bury Strangers, "Transfixiation" (Dead Oceans)
"Supermaster" and "Now It's Over" are seriously bad-ass songs. -Anthony D'Amico
Beach House, "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (Sub Pop)
Bill Fay, "Who Is The Sender?" (Dead Oceans)
Death & Vanilla, "To Where the Wild Things Are" (Fire)
The Inward Circles, "Belated Movements for an Unsanctioned Exhumation August 1st 1984" (Corbel Stone Press)
Ekoplekz, "Reflekzionz" (Planet Mu) There's scarcely any room left in electronic music nowadays for a record like this, save of course for those who were around and integral to IDM's glory days. Yet here Ekoplekz managed to nudge forward a once forward-thinking sound that had otherwise grown ironically stagnant. Sometimes a nudge is all it takes. - Gary Suarez
Julia Holter, "Have You in My Wilderness" (Domino)
Panda Bear, "Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper" (Domino)
Shit and Shine, "54 Synth-Brass, 38 Metal Guitar, 65 Cathedral" (Rocket Recordings)
Steve Hauschildt, "Where All Is Fled" (Kranky)
The Body & Thou, "You, Whom I Have Always Hated" (Thrill Jockey)
The Legendary Pink Dots, "Five Days Instrumentals" (self-released)
This is here on name-recognition alone. You guys should feel deeply ashamed of yourselves for liking inessential LPD outtakes so goddamn much. This is why democracy does not work. - Anthony D'Amico
Viet Cong, "Viet Cong" (Jagjaguwar)
Concern trolling and armchair outrage over the name aside, the main thing I took from this record was how a bit of controversy can still trick people into liking middling indie rock. - Gary Suarez
As a grizzled fan of the old confrontational days of Whitehouse, it's a relief that Phil Best continues William Bennett's nasty work in his absence. Admittedly, this isn't quite as strong as some prior Consumer Electronics releases, it does the job nobody else cares to do nowadays. - Gary Suarez
Felicia Atkinson, "A Readymade Ceremony" (Shelter Press)
In Gowan Ring, "The Serpent and the Dove" (Les Disques du 7eme Ciel)
Richard Chartier has been more active on this side project than the work under his own name, and likely because of that Pinkcourtesyphone's sound has evolved rather quickly. No one else does a sonic Valium and wine cocktail with the same gripping ennui as he can. - Creaig Dunton
Wrekmeister Harmonies, "Night of Your Ascension" (Thrill Jockey)
I can always rely on J.R. Robinson to compose fascinating, macabre, thoughtful, complex, and ambitious albums, but it is starting to seem like it is also always a variation of the same thing. This the least of his three Thrill Jockey releases. -Anthony D'Amico
*AR, "Memorious Earth" (Corbel Stone Press)
This is a goddamn masterpiece that absolutely belongs in the top ten. -Anthony D'Amico
Anthony Child, "Electronic Recordings From Maui Jungle Vol 1" (Editions Mego)
Celer, "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life" (Two Acorns)
Christopher Bissonnette, "Pitch, Paper & Foil" (Kranky)
Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, "The Day 1982 Contaminated 1971" (Helen Scarsdale)
Johann Johannsson with Hildur Gudnadottir & Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, "End of Summer" (Sonic Pieces)
Kid606, "Recollected Ambient Works Vol. 1: Bored Of Excitement" (Tigerbeat6)
Robert Haigh, "The Silence Of Ghosts" (Siren)
Stunning as always. - Jon Whitney
Shit and Shine, "Everybody's a Fuckin' Expert" (Editions Mego)
Six Organs of Admittance, "Hexadic" (Drag City)
I pre-ordered this one based on the merits of the prior Six Organs album from 2012, which took the band into groovy psych rock. This one was rougher around the edges, and not quite as enjoyable. - Gary Suarez
I definitely prefer older Six Organs albums as well, but Hexadic was still quite a cool experiment. It was a delight to hear Chasny totally ripping it up on "Wax Chance." -Anthony D'Amico
Strategy, "Noise Tape Self" (Further)
Valet, "Nature" (Kranky)
One of the best albums on this list turns up at the bottom. I was totally blown away by Nature, in part because I assumed Valet was done for and in part because I had no idea they would sound like this if they ever decided to record again. This one got play all year long, pretty much any time I wanted to hear a good song and was sick of playing the United Bible Studies or Low albums. The Miracles Club was a fun excursion, but I sure would be happy if Valet just kept working at what they do, whether it's psychedelic or sunny or shoegazy or whatever strikes their fancy next. - Lucas Schleicher
I don't have anything to say about Valet, but I would like to note that we have reached the end of the list and Heather Leigh and Jasmine Guffond are not on it. That makes me want to scream. -Anthony D'Amico
Single of the Year
Tropic Of Cancer, "Stop Suffering" (Blackest Ever Black)
Loop, "Array 1" (ATP)
Loop in 2015 sounded exactly like I hoped they would. Even though Robert Hampson amassed a new band, they came together on these four songs in a way that is remarkably consistent with where they left off with A Gilded Eternity. - Creaig Dunton
*AR, "Diagrams for the Summoning of Wolves" (Corbel Stone Press)
A solid, but unexceptional addition to Richard Skelton's oft-brilliant oeuvre. I'd like it a lot more if it at least summoned wolves. -Anthony D'Amico
Recalling ANOHNI's early connections with apocalypse folkster David Tibet, this global warming culture jam fuses the personal with the political in a rather jarring way. Much of that has to do with the bombastic maximalism of its producers Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke, though the lyrics are distressing and bold. I've got it on repeat. - Gary Suarez
Loscil, "For Greta" (self-released)
Loscil does no wrong. Ever. - Lucas Schleicher
Meat Beat Manifesto, "Kasm02" (Skam)
Not nearly enough fuss was made over Jack Dangers' return to the dancefloor. Even less fanfare went to Skam itself, for putting out several very interesting records in 2015 and starting the Kasm series. - Gary Suarez
The Legendary Pink Dots, "Christmas Special 2015" (self-released)
Pye Corner Audio, "Stars Shine Like Eyes" (Death Waltz Originals)
When Syro dropped in 2014 my biggest gripe with it was its reliance on old rave notions and dated dance forms. This one somehow made me miss Syro. - Gary Suarez
Ulaan Passerine, "Light in Dust" (Worstward)
Steven R. Smith also does no wrong. I listened to a ton of his music this year thanks to the Worstward Bandcamp site and was blown away by how consistent he's always been (I sort of half-knew this based on the albums of his I already had, but now I can confirm it with even more more material). I managed to snag a copy of Salt just before the year ended, but somehow missed Light in Dust. Looks like I will have to correct that immediately. - Lucas Schleicher
Edward Ka-Spel, "The Space Station Chapel" (self-released)
Boduf Songs, "The Witch Cradle" (The Flenser)
Emptyset, "Signal" (Subtext)
Errorsmith & Mark Fell, "Protogravity" (Pan)
Colder, "Turn Your Back" (Bataille)
Colder's return is a lot more subtle than where Marc left off. I was hoping for something a bit more bombastic but I was still quite pleased. - Jon Whitney
The Inward Circles, "I Have Heard a Music and It Is Delirious" (Corbel Stone Press)
Youth Code, "Anagnorisis" (Dais)
Black Zone Myth Chant, "Mane Thecel Phares" (Editions Gravats)
Cavern of Anti-Matter, "Other Voices 06" (Ghost Box)
Jane Weaver / Suzanne Ciani / Andy Votel / Sean Canty, "Neotantrik Globes" (Self-Released)
Josh Mason, "Alone in the Kingdom" (Sunshine Ltd.)
Laetitia Sadier, "Dry Fruit" (Drag City)
This one packed so much into its engrossing two minutes. May it keep Stereolab fans content for at least twice as long. - Gary Suarez
Laurel Halo, "In Situ" (Honest Jon's Records)
Personable, "New Lines" (Peak Oii)
Pye Corner Audio, "Other Voices 05" (Ghost Box)
Vault/Reissue of the Year
Carter Tutti, "Plays Chris & Cosey" (Conspiracy International)
Nurse With Wound, "The Sylvie and Babs Hi-Fi Companion (with bonus bits)" (United Dirter)
Long overdue, it is disappointing that this didn't get the vinyl treatment but it was great to get the second disc of extra material even if most of it is available elsewhere. - John Kealy
This launched me on an epic Bourbonese Qualk bender this year and for that I am thankful. Most of their best work came after the period that this compilation covers, but this is certainly an enjoyable overview. -Anthony D'Amico
Medical Records absolutely killed it this year with reissues. I am amazed that Laika and Bal Paré are absent from this list. -Anthony D'Amico
Steven Stapleton & Christoph Heemann, "Painting with Priests" (Robot)
Understated and cavernous, just as I expected it would be. Not the highlight of either artist's career but a satisfying meeting of minds. - John Kealy
William S. Burroughs, "Nothing Here Now But the Recordings" (Dais)
One of the highlights of 2015 was my trip to Lawrence, Kansas, where I made it a point to see William S. Burroughs' house. It sits on a quaintly pretty albeit unremarkable street and it doesn't look like the sort of place befitting the man who conjured up Interzone and its shady subhuman denizens. But the experience sent me back into the various audio reissues of his work, including these mesmeric tape experiments. - Gary Suarez
Aine O'Dwyer, "Music for Church Cleaners Vol. I & II" (MIE Music)
I had no idea who Aine O'Dwyer was before October, but now I can't get enough of her music. Music for Church Cleaners is superb and her performances on The Ale's What Cures Ye are also beautiful. She's someone I'll be anxious to hear more from in 2016. - Lucas Schleicher
This is currently #1 on my personal "Albums That I Stupidly Slept On and Need to Get Immediately" list. -Anthony D'Amico
Etant Donnes, "Aurore" (Penultimate Press)
Rose McDowall, "Cut With The Cake Knife" (Sacred Bones)
There's something amazing in the purity of these recordings. It's probably for the better these songs weren't recorded with a bloated synth production and have remained untouched. - Jon Whitney
Muslimgauze, "Izlamaphobia" (Staalplaat)
One of the few truly essential Muslimgauze releases. -Anthony D'Amico
Nature And Organisation, "Snow Leopard Messiah" (Trisol)
I miss Michael Cashmore. That guy really needs to start making albums again.- Anthony D'Amico
Severed Heads, "Since The Accident" (Medical Records)
Giancarlo Toniutti, "La mutazione" (Black Truffle)
Vatican Shadow, "Death Is Unity With God" (Modern Love)
My opinion of Frozen Niagara Falls pretty much applies here too. There were moments where Fernow regressed nicely back to the rawer elements that he began with as Vatican Shadow as opposed to the overly techno Garageband loops, but at around three hours it definitely dragged at times. - Creaig Dunton
I bet I'd like this if I someday heard it, but I could never make it past that first 25-minute song. I've tried several times and it seems highly unlikely that I will ever succeed. - Anthony D'Amico
Arthur Russell, "Corn" (Audika)
Although I had expected more out of this release, I accept that the best parts of the original scrapped Corn album made up Calling Out of Context. Perhaps the title is a misnomer. - Jon Whitney
"Keeping Up" is great. I could easily do without the rest though. -Anthony D'Amico
Peter Christophersson, "Live at L' Etrange Festival 2004: The Art of Mirrors (Homage to Derek Jarman)" (Black Mass Rising)
This live recording bridges the gaps between Sleazy's work in Coil (as evidenced by the use of the same source material in some sections) and where he would go later with The Threshold HouseBoys Choir and SoiSong. It's more interesting than a lot of his post-Balance Coil releases even if it lacks the stylistic experimentation of his subsequent work. - John Kealy
Tom Ellard, "80s Cheesecake" (Dark Entries)
Current 93, "This Ain't the Summer of Love" (The Spheres)
Regis, "Manbait" (Blackest Ever Black)
Six Organs of Admittance, "Dust and Chimes" (Holy Mountain)
Egisto Macchi, "Il Deserto" (Cinedelic)
Muslimgauze, "Zilver/Feel The Hiss" (Staalplaat)
I liked this album a lot, but I am dismayed that I have to start paying attention to Muslimgauze vault releases again. I was enjoying the blissful indifference of thinking that there was no longer anything particularly good lying around unreleased in Bryn Jones' back catalog. -Anthony D'Amico
Renaldo & The Loaf, "Arabic Yodelling / Grain by Grain (For Accuracy)" (Klanggalerie)
The Legendary Pink Dots, "The Wednesday Mass" (self-released)
Various Artist Collection of the Year
"In a Moment... Ghost Box" (Ghost Box)
"My Heart's In My Hand, And My Hand Is Pierced, And My Hand's In The Bag, And The Bag Is Shut, And My Heart Is Caught." (Nero Collins)
"Bollywood Bloodbath: The B-Music of the Indian Horror Film Industry" (Finders Keepers)
"Cease and Desist: DIY Cult Classics From the Post-Punk Era 1978-82" (Optimo)
Optimo did some truly stellar digging for this compilation, finding lots of wonderful and deep obscurities that are probably familiar to absolutely no one. Tesco Bomber's "Break the Ice at Parties" is my new anthem. -Anthony D'Amico
"Wandering II Compilation" (Silent Season)
"Strategies Against The Body: A Contemporary Survey" (DKA)
Other than current EBM darlings High-Functioning Flesh, many of the artists on this compilation have a relatively low profile, yet any one of them have the potential to be the next big thing. The DKA label has done an exceptional job in their small catalog with curating amazing work from current industrial and synth pop artists, and this is yet another testament to that. - Creaig Dunton
"Hanoi Masters: War is a Wound, Peace is a Scar" (Glitterbeat)
"Songs of the Humpback Whale" (Important)
"Calendar Customs Vol. III: Mid-Winter Rites and Revelries" (Folklore Tapes)
"La Musique Dans Le Film D'Alain Resnais" (Doxy Cinematic)
"The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears Re-Score" (Death Waltz Originals)
"This Record Belongs To ________" (Light in the Attic)
How is this NOT #1? It came with a record player! - Jon Whitney
"Disco 2 (A Further Fine Selection Of Independent Disco, Modern Soul & Boogie 1976-80)" (Soul Jazz)
"Radio Vietnam" (Sublime Frequencies)
Boxed Set of the Year
Swans, "White Light/Love of Life" (Young God)
These two records have held an odd place in Swans' discography ever since their release, yet some twenty-plus years later, a major portion of the sound Michael Gira and crew have been working with in recent years can be heard here in its embryonic form. While the bonus disc may be lacking for the longer-term Swans fan, having these two albums in their original forms after all these years is what's most important. - Creaig Dunton
Even if I already own most of the music included in this set, this reissue was worth it alone for restoring the magnificent cover art by Deryk Thomas to its former glory. - John Kealy
More bunnies! Seriously, guys, couldn't you have just included Omniscience as a bonus with all that bunny artwork and left the Skin stuff to the Skin albums? - Jon Whitney
Harmonia, "Complete Works" (Grönland)
Nurse With Wound/Blind Cave Salamander, "Cabbalism I, II, & III" (ICR)
This has been one of my favourite NWW-related releases ever, so to see a 3CD expansion of it so soon after its initial release is fantastic. While the material on all three discs covers very similar ground, instead of becoming tedious it becomes even more immersive. - John Kealy
Volcano the Bear, "Commencing" (Miasmah)
A massive set, meticulously assembled, lovingly packaged. This is truly what boxed set dreams are made of. - Jon Whitney
This totally made me a Volcano The Bear fan. The perfect summation of a singularly prickly, unhinged, brilliant, and uncategorizable band. -Anthony D'Amico
Eleh, "Homage" (Important)
Goblin, "Profondo Russo/Deep Red Original Soundtrack" (Rustblade)
Red House Painters, "Red House Painters" (4AD)
I did not buy this because I already have all of these albums and have been playing them to death for roughly twenty years now. -Anthony D'Amico
Lush, "Chorus" (4AD)
The major criticism of this set is one that I echo, namely that the sizable bonus material appended to the band's three albums and two compilations seems to have been haphazardly applied simply to maximize the amount of material per disc, making for awkward listening. However, the improved mastering and aforementioned additional songs outshine this limitation by far. - Creaig Dunton
Surgeon, "Tresor 97-99" (Tresor)
I owned most of this material back when Tresor was still a prevailing techno imprint alongside Force Inc. and a few others of note. It's great to see these records get reissue treatment given how influential Surgeon turned out to be. - Gary Suarez
With few exceptions, this could be the exact same list as we had 15 years ago, in more or less the same order. It's actually pretty distressing that this list fixates primarily on artists with decades of experience under their belts. Have Brainwashed reader tastes stagnated, or are younger artists not delivering what these geezers did? I suspect the former. - Gary Suarez
I suspect there will eventually be a year where Steven Stapleton does not release anything new at all and still manages to win this category from the comfort of his couch. - Anthony D'Amico
There are so many artists who could and probably should be here instead. I doubt it's worth getting into, and yes, Steven Stapleton makes some cool music, but I suspect people's tastes freeze after a time and they just vote for what's familiar. Greg Stuart had just an unbelievable year in 2015, as did Joseph Clayton Mills, Jason Lescalleet, Kevin Drumm, Steven R. Smith, Ryoko Akama, Michael Pisaro, Coppice, Graham Lambkin, Olivia Block... the list goes on. Now I'm just a cranky old man I guess, but how did these names not pop up at all? - Lucas Schleicher
To answer your question, it's just a matter of numbers and points awarded by the amount of reader votes. - Jon Whitney
Swans
Ditto for Michael Gira, obviously. -Anthony D'Amico
Carter Tutti
William Basinski
The Legendary Pink Dots
Benoit Pioulard
Sunn O)))
Drew McDowall
Severed Heads
I suspect that Tom Ellard would be hugely amused to learn that he was one of the hottest artists of 2015. - Anthony D'Amico
Current 93
Label of the Year
Important
And to think the massive Harry Bertoia box didn't even surface in 2015 yet. - Jon Whitney
Kranky
Editions Mego
Incredibly, Mego's endurance as an experimental imprint transcends its pre-2006 incarnation, with a new generation of avant garde types both listening to and recording for it. Chalk that up to great partnerships and a willingness to explore a wide range of innovative sonics. - Gary Suarez
Young God
Room40
Sacred Bones
Dais
I am hugely impressed with number of fringe niches that Dais manage to find crucial releases in. The Burroughs and Drew McDowall albums by themselves would make this a great year, but there are at least four other albums that I still need to check out. -Anthony D'Amico
Thrill Jockey
This was a banner year for Thrill Jockey. Dommengang, Golden Void, Dave Heumann, Holy Sons, and Wreckmeister Harmonies released some of the best albums of 2015. That Gagakiriseye record was aces too. - Gary Suarez
Drag City
Pan
Pan is probably the label that best succeeds in making me feel uncool, as roughly half of everything Bill Kouligas puts out is both well worth hearing and totally new to me. -Anthony D'Amico
New Artist of the Year
Sarah Davachi
Despite being under 30, Vancouver's Sarah Davachi has the musical pedigree of someone twice her age, as she has a master's degree in electronic music from the famed Mills College, a history of residencies all over the world, and a successful career as an archivist and music researcher. Of course, none of that would matter much if her music was not good, but Davachi's full-length debut on Students of Decay expertly and assuredly blends her love of vintage modular synthesizers with a host of organic instruments (cello, harmonium, oboe, etc.) to forge something quite timeless and distinctive. - Anthony D'Amico
In the span of only a limited amount of recordings, she has created a distinct identity. Threading the organic with the synthetic isn't revolutionary, however Davachi's academic discipline and achievements in composition and sound creation is apparent. This is the high quality stuff. Both of this year's releases are dedicated and focused but they are also vibrant and thematic. She has managed to make serious music enjoyable. - Jon Whitney
Lifetime Achievement Recognition
Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti
They have already got a (virtual) gong from their service to music with Throbbing Gristle but they truly deserve recognition separately from their early work. Either together as Chris & Cosey/Carter Tutti or solo, they continue to create new soundworlds and new experiences for listeners. Re-visiting their older material could have been the sign that they were through with new ideas but the end result proved otherwise as they persist in challenging conventions. - John Kealy
33 Chris & Cosey albums + 16 CTI albums + 6 Carter Tutti albums (without counting singles, collaborations, collections, live albums, solo records, etc) = a massive contribution to music (even without including TG!). For four decades, the duo has not taken a break from recording and performing, all the while evolving, destroying expectations and establishments, and transcending trends gracefully. 2015 was another active year for the duo with multiple releases and live shows, and with the re-invention of Industrial Records, there is no sign of slowing down yet. - Jon Whitney
Chris & Cosey started out as pioneers and ended up as living legends. That they're still making gripping new music sets them apart from all the new wave goons still riding the '80s wave on the retro circuit. Fortunately the majority of their discography is currently available digitally, which means there's no excuse for anyone to overlook their catalog at this stage. - Gary Suarez
Worst Album of the Year
Slayer, "Repentless" (Nuclear Blast)
Say what you will, but no one is more fiercely loyal to Dave Lombardo and the late Jeff Hanneman than the Brainwashed electorate. – Anthony D’Amico
Arca, "Mutant" (Mute)
Dear Arca, please go back to making albums with FKA Twigs. God, I love that album so much and there was nothing in 2015 that even came close to hitting those notes. - Lucas Schleicher
Father John Misty, "I Love You Honeybear" (Sub Pop)
Not Liking Father John Misty is the new Liking Father John Misty. - Gary Suarez
Was there an "Oh oh oh, oh oh oh" chorus on this one too? - Lucas Schleicher
Future Brown, "Future Brown" (Warp)
Hot Chip, "Why Make Sense?" (Domino)
I keep trying to like an album of theirs from start to finish and I can't. There's always 1 great song surrounded by tons of forgettable filler. - Jon Whitney
Purity Ring, "another eternity" (4AD)
Sleater-Kinney, "No Cities to Love" (Sub Pop)
Hudson Mohawke, "Lantern" (Warp)
I fiercely disagree with those whose snobbery and inability to enjoy themselves landed this highly entertaining record on this list. The only people who should have found Lantern polarizing are rap fans expecting more Kanye West and Pusha T bangers. - Gary Suarez
Jam City, "Dream A Garden" (Night Slugs)
James Blackshaw, "Summoning Suns" (Important)
Wow-I never expected to see James Blackshaw on this list. This album was a bit of a mess, but I still think the good songs outweighed the bad. – Anthony D’Amico
Thanks. I will always remember this as the year that James Blackshaw ended up in the "worst" bucket, but somehow Fernow and Beach House broke the top 20. I am officially as out of touch as I have ever been. - Lucas Schleicher
This is a completely new version of the track “4beat” included in “Nad Spiro vs. Enemigos de Helix” (Geometrik Records, 2000) with words from "THE FUNCTION OF THE ORGASM" (Wilhelm Reich)
Music by Rosa Arruti aka Nad Spiro : guitar drone, digital sequences, voice
Underground musician Rosa Arruti has worked for many years under the
anonymous alias NAD SPIRO, a solo venture where guitar explorations
are built into a world of electronic textures and sound fictions. Her recordings have been released on the pioneering Spanish experimental label GEOMETRIK RECORDS.
Member of some of Barcelona's cult underground bands (MohoChemie,
Tendre Tembles...) she has collaborated with other experimentalists like My Cat is an Alien or Kim Cascone.
The culmination of two years of work and employing synthesizers, other electronics, and a 15 piece classical ensemble; N°3 is an ambitious and expansive work that is completely congruent with Vantzou’s aspirations. Lush and complex, the bulk of these pieces lie between epic drama and quiet intimacy, but are never anything but beautiful and compelling.
Throughout much of N°3, Vantzou employs a hybrid of both classical and electronic elements blended together into gliding, rich tones.Occasionally, some of the specific instrumentation comes to the forefront, most notably the bowed strings of a cello and the twinkling notes of a piano (or synthetically derived equivalent), but for the most part neither dominate the mix but instead are weaved together by Vantzou into a glistening tapestry of sound and tones.
On pieces such as the opening "Valley Drone" and "Entanglements," she places the orchestral elements more significantly in the spotlight.On the former, the bowed strings are utilized to create both gentle drones and dissonant, rattling and doomy passages of sound, intertwined with one another.The lighter ambient space that is generated by the electronics is contrasted by the infrequent but effective heavy drum thuds, resulting in an odd yet exceptionally strong balance.
The back-to-back sequenced "Moon Drone" and "Shadow Sun" both complement each other, unsurprising given their thematically linked titles.On both she places emphasis on piano sounds, combined with lush and gorgeous electronics.The former has an appropriately darker, colder quality to its structure, with electronics echoing from a dark cavern, while the latter has a more open, airy mix and glassy, music box like notes resonating outward.
Most of N°3 is consistent with Vantzou's previous compositional strategy of working from largely improvised and unstructured material, creating beautiful order from what could otherwise be chaos.The three "Pillar" pieces, however, mark a new development in which she composes based on more rigid, mathematically based structures.Even with the more specific structural underpinning, the songs fit in brilliantly with the remainder of the album.That is not to say they are indistinguishable from the other songs, exemplified by the mysterious, varied textures throughout "Pillar 3," and the more commanding, creaky strings-heavy "Pillar 1."
These moments are very much isolated incidents amongst the 14 compositions that make up N°3.On the whole, it is a beautiful record that draws from orchestral and electronic worlds and features Christina Vantzou adeptly borrowing from these differing sounds and threading them together seamlessly.This is such a multifaceted record, one that features such beautiful natural and treated instrumentation to excellent effect, and despite a few odd moments, one that does not drags during its 71 minute duration.
After seeing it performed by Phillip Bush, Greg Stuart, and Joe Panzner at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater in downtown Los Angeles, the complexity in Michael Pisaro’s A Mist Is a Collection of Points cracked open. Scored for piano, percussion, and sine tones, the recorded version of A Mist presents itself transparently as a three-part composition with clear melodies and sharp edges. The piano is prominent, the sine tones thin and exact, the cymbals and crotales metallic, concentrated, centered. Their sounds are, in some ways, measured and containable, the opposite of a mist, which slips past the senses and confuses them. But watching Greg Stuart bow his crotales in the first section, seeing him react to Phillip Bush’s playing in the third, and searching for the places where the sine tones began and the acoustic resonance ended—that displaced and de-centered the entire piece. It turned its apparently fixed points into movable objects and transformed the music into a suspension of atoms and waves, detectable, though masked, in the superbly recorded and mastered document released by New World Records.
Attendance of a live performance isn’t a prerequisite for enjoying A Mist, but visualizing it doesn’t hurt. The November 18th Los Angeles debut looked like this: Phillip Bush sat stage right and away from the audience, his grand piano open for inside manipulation. At stage left was a vibraphone, also set back from the audience. Front and center were four cymbals placed on the ground atop newspapers, a set of crotales, one of which hung from a string, and a pair of music stands laid flat to hold two containers of rice.
Stuart started the concert there, seated with a bow that he used to tease the crotales. Judging by the recording alone, the sine waves might as well have come from the stage too. They are omnipresent and omni-directional, originating from nowhere in particular and cutting across every aspect of the piece. Live, they were generated by Joe Panzner (who mastered this album) and projected from speakers throughout the theater. He was seated behind the audience, emphasizing the ubiquity and anonymity of the resonance that is one of the works’ central features.
As the music begins and Bush strikes the piano’s keys and strings, a series of high-pitched sine tones arise. Stuart selects a crotale and bows it. When he does, the sine waves wobble in the air. It seems obvious that Greg is affecting their sound, playing a tone very close to the one generated by the computer off stage. Yet, as he returns the crotale back to the table, further interference undulates throughout the room. Greg selects another, larger crotale. He bows that one, the sine waves change again, and again he stops only to reveal that the sine waves are still teetering between frequencies, beating and becoming more unstable. Are the sine waves changing and multiplying of their own accord, or is Stuart responsible for their instability?
During this interplay, Bush is steadily building a drone, holding the sustain pedal down and playing one melody after another. The attack of the hammers on the strings are definite and strong, the ensuing hum a layer of rhythm pulsing against the pronounced percussive character of the piano. These two streams bleed together and the two central points on the stage, Phillip and Greg, slowly lose their place. As in a mist, where locations and details become fuzzy, the musicians themselves lose their locality.
From time to time during the show, Stuart appeared to bow his instruments without creating a sound. His actions were subsumed into the points of harmony and reflection shimmering around him. These interactions are there on the recording too, clear as can be once one knows to look for them. The difficulty in recognizing them has more to do with the identity of the instruments, with their construction, than anything else. The piano has a sharp attack throughout. The crotale splashes at the end of the first section are clear-cut, as are the voices of the vibraphones and cymbals in the second and third sections. None of them are placed in one channel or the other, nor should they be, but the visual sense of position helps to recalibrate the ears for the effects they produce together. With Joe missing, with Greg getting lost in the exchange of what Jennie Gottschalk’s excellent liner notes call shadow tones, and with Phillip’s subtle distortion of time and space at the keyboard, orientation and confusion slowly gain significance, replacing that feeling of solidity and definiteness.
The second and third parts emphasize that turbulence in different ways, with lyrical phrases, instrumental mirroring, and with a dramatic finale that sees Greg dropping rice onto cymbals, first in heavy streams, then in slow, uneven bursts, until one by one, the piano, sine waves, and percussion take shape, just on the edge of silence. They haven’t exactly disentangled, it’s more like the music offers a brief image of them before they float away with the mist. The forces that hold A Mist together inhere the decisions the performers make, not necessarily in the score, which only suggests the possibility of coherence. There is a symmetry in the way the audience responds as well. Making sense of the confusion necessitates careful listening and navigating the piece’s many collisions as they drift, drawing patterns and disorder into the same space.
Originally released in 1987 and first reissued in the mid 1990s on CD, Ecobondage is one of Merzbow’s seminal works, and also one of my earliest experiences with his vast discography. Presented as a double LP reissue (with included CD), the album feels like an appropriately deluxe edition that captures a high point of Masami Akita's too often overlooked, but superior junk noise era.
As I have surely mentioned in previous reviews of his albums, my first exposure to Akita's work was Venereology.Like many a suburban teenager, my curiosity was piqued by the claim of it being "the most extreme album you’ll ever own" that Relapse used for marketing purposes.I was underwhelmed once I heard it, however, and while I have developed more of an appreciation for the album now, it still pales compared to others.But not long after that first exposure, I found a copy of Ecobondage on the shelves of a record store and gave Merzbow a second chance.Revisiting the album nearly 20 years after first hearing it (and a more sizable chunk of his catalog), it still makes for a high water mark of his work.
The two 30 minute-plus pieces are split in half for the vinyl portion of the release, and presented as unbroken compositions on the CD.The points in which they are split are rather insignificant, as both parts are dynamic, ever shifting collages.A mix offound sounds, junk rhythms, and tape manipulations jump around rapidly from minute to minute, making any discernible divisions a moot point.Even now, I am not exactly sure where Part 1's "Ecobondage" ends and "Prison of Takaou" begins, nor do I feel that I really need to.
The first part (including "Ecobondage," "Prison of Takaou," and "Blow Up") immediately encapsulates what Masami Akita circa 1987 sounded like.Opening with scraping sheets of metal and rumbling, heavy electronics (possibly the credited contributions of then-frequent collaborator Kiyoshi Mizutani), the mix soon has Akita introducing recordings of dogs barking and clattering, junky tape loops.The piece heavily features lo-fi treated found sounds, taped and manipulated music, and other elements that are even more difficult to pin down.During its duration, it becomes a wall of cavernous metal banging and crunchy undulating patterns, transitioning from chaos to pseudo-rhythmic structures and back again.
The second portion (made up of "Ha Ha Ho Bari (Mari)," "Balloon," "Contraction," and "Ending")follows a similar blueprint:a dizzying array of what seems to be randomness but is anything but.At first it is comparably more abrasive:squeaking, shrill noises, covered in reverb and laser-gun like synthesizer passages.Even with this harshness, the variation and depth of the sounds employed by Akita keep it from becoming too dull or unpleasant.As it continues, undulating heavy bass slips into tumbling metallic chaos, like a rampant bull in a metal factory.The closing moments become more percussive and rhythmic, constructed from what resembles an improvised gamelan and random metal objects.
The presentation of Ecobondage is worth noting, too.While I am not usually one to unnecessarily extol the virtues of analog over digital presentations, the sound benefits from the vinyl presentation, which captures the warmth of the original analog source material better than the CD, which sometimes becomes a bit too sharp and harsh.Similarly, the record's visual presentation is strong as well:not only does it revert back to the original LP artwork (which was not included on the original CD reissue), the sleeve is stuffed with inserts (some reproduced from the first version of the record) and flyers that hearken back to those early noise releases that I am rather fond of.But no matter how it looks, the familiar yet unrecognizable noises captivate in their complexity and variation, culminating in a record that has an undeniable depth and breadth, and is just as great as I remember it from 20 years ago.
Illinois trio Oakeater has been active for the past decade, but Aquarius is only their second full length release, with most of their other work being splits, collaborations, and mini-album releases. This diverse array of release have allowed them to hone a distinctively dark, yet diverse array of sounds that draw from most of the expected places (metal, noise, dark ambient, etc.), work those elements in their own way to create a unique, if bleak, suite of songs.
The band, consisting of Alex Barnett, Jeremiah Fisher, and Seth Sher, are all rather well known for their other projects:Barnett as a solo artist and frequent collaborator with Faith Coloccia, Fisher as part of Panicsville, and Sher as a member of Coughs.Their work together as Oakeater stands entirely on its own, however, and is decidedly different as a sum of its parts.
Opener "Wishful Beginnings" presents the project’s influences rather clearly.The distant unsettling rhythms and slowly shuffling malignance instantly calls to mind the more ambient moments of SPK’s Leichenschrei with a bit of TG's "Hamburger Lady" to ensure the creep factor is off the charts.The short "Hatchet" sounds like it is built around a rhythm created from clattering aluminum cans, but with an exceptionally dark cello-like bass drone to increase tension.
"Maps" is another piece of dark, creaking ambience and low, lurking rumbles that would not be out of place on a horror film score.Expanding synthesizer passages and occasional outbursts of heavily processed voice flesh out the piece, coming together with an undeniable, but hard to pin down sense of eeriness."All that is Sacred" would be the closest the trio comes to pure noise on Aquarius.Sweeping layers of electronics and subtle percussion are mixed with shimmering cymbals and odd found sounds.With the inhuman voices added in, the trio pushes the piece brilliantly between space and dense dissonance.
The album closes on a strong pairing of songs, ones that capture the Oakeater sound exceptionally well."Aquarius" immediately stands out with its oddly treated, multifaceted rhythm that propels the piece throughout.Swells of darkness are weaved in and out by the trio, as screamed, almost black metal styled vocals cut through like a dull, rusty knife.The song builds tension brilliantly, with the band adding more percussion and soaring guitar towards its dramatic conclusion."Respite", however, ends the album on a restrained, yet menacing note.Bizarre percussion and distant metallic bashing pierce through the funeral synthesizers.Eventually the synthetic rhythms become more aggressive and rapid-fire, leading to an abrupt and jarring end to the record.
Composed as part of a 2012 installation at a former East German prison, it should come as no surprise that Isolation is at times an intentionally off-putting, disturbing, and unpleasant piece of music. The prison, housing political prisoners and using more than questionable methods of interrogation, was in operation from 1956 to 1989, and stands as a testament to the darkness that pervaded Eastern Germany during the Cold War. Bretschneider’s work is an attempt to capture the sense of isolation and disorientation caused by the prison in audio form, and it is a resounding success.
Bretschneider utilizes a variety of compositional techniques in these five pieces to symbolize the multitude of experiences that lengthy incarceration and state sponsored "enhanced interrogations" could generate.On the opening to "White Light," he does this via extreme frequencies and their associated psycho-acoustic properties.The first few minutes are a tinnitus-like buzz that could induce migraines at a loud enough volume, and mixed with a low frequency rumble that gives just the right amount of uncomfortable physical vibration.
"Cycle/Circle" also features extreme sub bass that, on a loudspeaker set-up are more easily felt than heard, and via headphones lead to an odd sensation that is almost akin to dizziness.But I should be clear that, even though Bretschneider is using these heavy frequencies to convey physical sensations, these are still pieces that bear the mark of a true composer.Even though "Cycle/Circle" is all heavy vibrations and physical sensations, he weaves in understated tones and sounds that add a distinctly cold and austere sense of beauty.
Another technique he utilizes to great effect is passages of silence or near silence that enhance the titular sense of isolation, such as the hushed first half of "Neon Night" that, while not empty, it is extremely sparse.The 11-minute "Vertical Time" conjures the timeless monotony of incarceration via subtle hums and mechanical drones that result in an intentionally mundane, yet complex bit of repeated tones and vibrations.The concluding "Oscillation/Feedback" is completely descriptive in its title, with the first half being shimmering oscillations of high-pitched noise similar to that of "White Light".The concluding minute and a half, however, is a blast of pure digital noise that sputters apart brilliantly, akin to the final moments of insanity that could precede this sort of solitude.
Frank Bretschneider's Isolation is intended to be a disquieting, at times disturbing, piece of sonic art, and he accomplishes this wonderfully.Not in the sense of being a harsh noise endurance test, but something far more conceptual and composed.When listening (as recommended) via headphones, the work does an exceptional job at conveying the unpleasant experiences of a lengthy incarceration via repetition and unpleasant frequencies, at least as well as a CD possibly could.