- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
With "Ampday", the now canyon-sized fissures that were once tiny cracks in Kiln's parched-earth facade show more than mud and stone. Where in the past, Kiln releases provided the smallest bit of info possible, with only artwork and titles to satisfy eager minds - now, no longer must we wonder about our once-faceless Gaian scientists, and what arcane incantations were used in the creation of such wonderful sounds. Messr's Marrison, Rehberg, and Hayes, still playfully obtuse (what sound did the "levitating catslide" make?), seamlessly blend their twisting, ethereal instrumental pop with soundscapes that imitate the sounds of spreading rust or moss.
Thalassa
"Tinsunshine" is acoustic-driven and electrified at the same time, like a drum circle in a thunderstorm, with intermittent breaks of ear-tickling static and strummed guitar harmonics that mimic what must be the sound of angels crying; out of the itchy sound of pencil scratching paper on "Learning To Draw" grows an urgent ambulance siren/dopplered guitar, which gives way to calm meanderings of the trio, conjuring images of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to "Paris, Texas" redone by The Cocteau Twins. The attempts to integrate the group interactions with their penchant for earthy atmospheric wanderings are more apparent on "Ampday" than on previous releases, and it's done a deft touch. With each album, Kiln consistently shatter the Platonic Ideal of beauty and grace in music, only to rebuild it to a height out of reach of anyone but themselves.
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles

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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles

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- Jason Olariu
- Albums and Singles

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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
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- Jason Olariu
- Albums and Singles

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- Alan Ezust and Julie Geanakakis
- Albums and Singles

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- Chris Hill
- Albums and Singles

Mumma pioneered what he called "cybersonic" technique, wheretraditional acoustic instruments interact with electronics throughMumma's home-built circuitry. There are some examples of this techniqueon the CD, including Pontpoint, where the archaic bandoneon and bowed psaltery converse with hyper-modern electronic bleeps and bloops.
Until this CD came around, if you wanted to hear anything by GordonMumma, you had to search out his few vinyl releases. This CD collectssix of Mumma's electronic compositions from the late 18's through theearly 80's. Conspicuously absent from this collection is Megaton for Wm. Burroughs, which is reportedly forthcoming on another CD release. That and more experimental artists from the label, Lovely Music.
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
This album celebrates EN's 20th year of operation with a marked improvement in production values. The focused and streamlined sound finds equal space for pulsing, naked bass guitar, trimmed-down sound effects, low-end percussion, and strings. Not least of all, the punchy production brings EN's often-personal lyrics and intense delivery to the forefront--to double-edged effect.
The pregnant pause on the title track makes for very, very uneasy listening, but the chanting at the end is downright pathetic. On the whole, though, "Silence is Sexy" is as its title suggests--a very quiet release with sporadic outbursts of violent noise. "Zampono" is one of my favorite selections, sounding as though EN just shanghaied the Blue Man Group into banging on hollow plastic pipes. I can almost see the BMG bouncing about. One of my beefs, however, is that there's a bit too much repetition on many of these songs. Again, it's a technique that has its pluses and minuses. Fragments such as "I wish this would be your color . . ." haunt your head long after the CD leaves the player, but the approach just as often recalls last year's obnoxious "all I really really really really really really really really want to see is a total eclipse of the sun" refrain. Another personal peeve is the German vs. English issue. After experiencing his attempts at the latter, I most certainly prefer to hear Blixa singing in German. Maybe something was lost in the translation. And, (un?)fortunately, his version of "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" didn't make it onto the album.
The UK edition of Silence is out right now, presented in a deluxe package with a second CD featuring 18 minutes of bonus material. Unsurprisingly enough, this amounts to a very repetitious song that stubbornly refuses to end. But it's truly noisier than the rest of the record, and I can recommend grabbing this edition (while you still can) if repetitious noise is your bag. A US ediition will be released sometime in May (I believe) but without the bonus disc. Should EN tour for this release, don't miss it. Live EN dwarfs any of the group's recent albums.
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- Carter Adams
- Albums and Singles

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