Aquilina & VenturiA month not as good as the last one in terms of new releases, and it's also getting unbearably hot... But these can help you cool off for just a little while longer:
ALBUMS
// Badun - Badun
Rump Recordings
Listen to this if you like: Dub Tractor, Fridge
What's interesting about these Danish guys is that the music they make touches many styles and genres, going back and forth between jazz, electronica and indie; although it can't be said that it's hard to classify. This piece of easy listening fails to impress a great deal and there are no tracks that really stand out, but generally it's a good album to listen to late at night.
www.badun.dk
// Fennesz & Sakamoto - Cendre
Touch
Listen to this if you like: Susumu Yokota, Tim Hecker
If you already know and like both of these artists then you know what to expect, and there isn't much left for me to say. The dreamy drones of Fennesz meets the heart warming piano of Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the result is is an album of wandering compositions that take you to so many different places. The mild electronics added as a layer on top of everything here and there moderately are helpful in creating an avant garde aura. You just can not afford to miss the collaboration of these two masterminds.
www.fennesz.com
www.ryuichi-sakamoto.com
// Kalabrese - Rumpelzirkus
Muve Recordings
Listen to this if you like: Dimlite, Jamie Lidell
It's not every day that I come across an album containing a track that starts with the words "I've got pain in my ass" and like it. Kalabrese's music is immediately funky and energetic; although it's defined as house almost everywhere, I think that the house-y feeling is not so dominant here on each track (at times it's actually almost folk). Rumpelzirkus is an album you can listen to when you wake up to start the day very positively; and I believe the best effort Kalabrese could come up with after his "cool" EP's.
www.myspace.com/kalaspatz
// Le Dust Sucker - Two
Plong!
Listen to this if you like: Alter Ego, The Go! Team
The second helping from the Berlin duo Le Dust Sucker is a guitar-driven funky house album that has a retro style but also feels very contemporary. The energetic beats on this album echo in your ears and make you hungry for a pseudo revolution. Certain tracks such as Haunted House stand out from the lot, but all of them are pretty good. Rock out to this before you leave home!
www.myspace.com/ledustsucker
// Mikhail - Orphica
Quatermass
Listen to this if you like: Björk, Nico Muhly
This one's a serious love/hate situation. Now, anyone who knows me well knows me well enough to know that I hate Björk, so to be writing a recommendation and saying it sounds like Björk is most awkward. But Mikhail Karikis's (having previously remixed Björk too) vocal style is very similar to Björk, minus the artificial and phony qualities. This debut is one in which Mikhail puts together orchestral pieces relying on strings and shifts between English and Greek vocals; at times also uttering animal-like noises from his throat (and actually sounding quite good too!). The twelve tracks on the album stand on the edge of insanity and the overall feeling is not so peaceful, but regardless of whether you love him or hate him, Mikhail deserves to be appreciated.
www.mikhailmusic.com
// Porn Sword Tobacco - New Exclusive Olympic Heights
City Centre Offices
Listen to this if you like: Dictaphone, Fennesz
I hadn't really been a great fan of Porn Sword Tobacco with his first two efforts, but it must be said that his new album is a great achievement. I don't think this is an album from which you can select a track and enjoy immensely on its own (perhaps with the exception of the 6th track, Cubical Fever, which is insanely good!), the tracks following each other so well and making the 14 tracks a fascinating whole. Some might say that it's all too depressing but I would disagree, because there are uplifting melodies sprinkled here and there that make the overall atmosphere uplifting. It's also intriguing how at times New Exclusive Olympic Heights manages to sound very Eastern; but quite like an interpretation of Eastern music rather than a direct example of it. All available thumbs up Porn Sword Tobacco - this album was definitely the best of the month.
www.city-centre-offices.de/cco/php/artist.php?id=26
// Robert Babicz - A Cheerful Temper
Systematic
Listen to this if you like: Holden, Trentemøller
Robert Babicz of Cologne with his plethora of aliases is a master of minimal techno. Making "cheap" music without sounding cheap is a praiseworthy talent, and Babicz does this just as well as Trentemøller does. A Cheerful Temper is an album that boosts its harsh bass lines: something you can only dance to with a proper sound system but also great to listen to at home.
www.robertbabicz.de
// Thomas Fehlmann - Honigpumpe
Kompakt
Listen to this if you like: Gas, Yagya
The title of the album may be hilarious, the album itself certainly isn't. Fehlmann has been releasing music under his own name since 1982, and is once again releasing an album from the widely acclaimed Kompakt label. This album is more like the pop ambient releases of Kompakt, that is ambient with a very subtle layer of techno. One to be listened to late at night.
www.flowing.de
// Vladislav Delay - Whistleblower
Huume
Listen to this if you like: Deadbeat, Mokira
Though it may seem hard to keep up with Sasu Ripatti's prolific portfolio, my personal favourite would definitely be Vladislav Delay (especially with the release of this album). Delay's earlier releases from Huume, Mille Plateaux, Chain Reaction and Staubgold were perhaps not as easy to listen to as this one. Whistleblower is a subtle electronic album that uses subtle bass and glitches as its arteries, reaching out to many different genres including dub and jazz. This monniker of Ripatti is a true pioneer of electronic music and Whistleblower is his best to date.
www.vladislavdelay.com
// World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
Human Highway
Listen to this if you like: Arovane, Jaga Jazzist
Japanese Katsuhiko Maeda leaves you asking yourself, is this contemporary classical, is this post rock or is this idm? It's an excellent blend of all three, but what's unfortunate about it is that it relies too heavily on catchy melodies that you could have heard on a tv commercial. There is also a lack of complete coherence on the album, but all of the tracks being judged separately are well pulled off. The overall atmosphere is an epic and sentimental one similar to that of Susumu Yokota, but there is no comparison to be drawn with any Japanese identity.
www.myspace.com/worldsendgirlfriend
EP'S
// Aquilina & Venturi - 3 Hours
Trapez
Listen to this if you like: Slg, Wighnomy Brothers
// Exercise One - Dark Star
Mobilee
Listen to this if you like: Gabriel Ananda, Magda
// Heinrichs & Hirtenfellner - Violet Rain
Karateklub
Listen to this if you like: Gui Boratto, Richard Davis
// Minilogue - Inca EP
Wir
Listen to this if you like: Alex Smoke, Stephan Bodzin
// The Vulva String Quartett - Cranberry Song
Combination Records
Listen to this if you like: Farben, Gui Boratto
ALBUMS
// Badun - Badun
Rump Recordings
Listen to this if you like: Dub Tractor, Fridge
What's interesting about these Danish guys is that the music they make touches many styles and genres, going back and forth between jazz, electronica and indie; although it can't be said that it's hard to classify. This piece of easy listening fails to impress a great deal and there are no tracks that really stand out, but generally it's a good album to listen to late at night.
www.badun.dk
// Fennesz & Sakamoto - Cendre
Touch
Listen to this if you like: Susumu Yokota, Tim Hecker
If you already know and like both of these artists then you know what to expect, and there isn't much left for me to say. The dreamy drones of Fennesz meets the heart warming piano of Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the result is is an album of wandering compositions that take you to so many different places. The mild electronics added as a layer on top of everything here and there moderately are helpful in creating an avant garde aura. You just can not afford to miss the collaboration of these two masterminds.
www.fennesz.com
www.ryuichi-sakamoto.com
// Kalabrese - Rumpelzirkus
Muve Recordings
Listen to this if you like: Dimlite, Jamie Lidell
It's not every day that I come across an album containing a track that starts with the words "I've got pain in my ass" and like it. Kalabrese's music is immediately funky and energetic; although it's defined as house almost everywhere, I think that the house-y feeling is not so dominant here on each track (at times it's actually almost folk). Rumpelzirkus is an album you can listen to when you wake up to start the day very positively; and I believe the best effort Kalabrese could come up with after his "cool" EP's.
www.myspace.com/kalaspatz
// Le Dust Sucker - Two
Plong!
Listen to this if you like: Alter Ego, The Go! Team
The second helping from the Berlin duo Le Dust Sucker is a guitar-driven funky house album that has a retro style but also feels very contemporary. The energetic beats on this album echo in your ears and make you hungry for a pseudo revolution. Certain tracks such as Haunted House stand out from the lot, but all of them are pretty good. Rock out to this before you leave home!
www.myspace.com/ledustsucker
// Mikhail - Orphica
Quatermass
Listen to this if you like: Björk, Nico Muhly
This one's a serious love/hate situation. Now, anyone who knows me well knows me well enough to know that I hate Björk, so to be writing a recommendation and saying it sounds like Björk is most awkward. But Mikhail Karikis's (having previously remixed Björk too) vocal style is very similar to Björk, minus the artificial and phony qualities. This debut is one in which Mikhail puts together orchestral pieces relying on strings and shifts between English and Greek vocals; at times also uttering animal-like noises from his throat (and actually sounding quite good too!). The twelve tracks on the album stand on the edge of insanity and the overall feeling is not so peaceful, but regardless of whether you love him or hate him, Mikhail deserves to be appreciated.
www.mikhailmusic.com
// Porn Sword Tobacco - New Exclusive Olympic Heights
City Centre Offices
Listen to this if you like: Dictaphone, Fennesz
I hadn't really been a great fan of Porn Sword Tobacco with his first two efforts, but it must be said that his new album is a great achievement. I don't think this is an album from which you can select a track and enjoy immensely on its own (perhaps with the exception of the 6th track, Cubical Fever, which is insanely good!), the tracks following each other so well and making the 14 tracks a fascinating whole. Some might say that it's all too depressing but I would disagree, because there are uplifting melodies sprinkled here and there that make the overall atmosphere uplifting. It's also intriguing how at times New Exclusive Olympic Heights manages to sound very Eastern; but quite like an interpretation of Eastern music rather than a direct example of it. All available thumbs up Porn Sword Tobacco - this album was definitely the best of the month.
www.city-centre-offices.de/cco/php/artist.php?id=26
// Robert Babicz - A Cheerful Temper
Systematic
Listen to this if you like: Holden, Trentemøller
Robert Babicz of Cologne with his plethora of aliases is a master of minimal techno. Making "cheap" music without sounding cheap is a praiseworthy talent, and Babicz does this just as well as Trentemøller does. A Cheerful Temper is an album that boosts its harsh bass lines: something you can only dance to with a proper sound system but also great to listen to at home.
www.robertbabicz.de
// Thomas Fehlmann - Honigpumpe
Kompakt
Listen to this if you like: Gas, Yagya
The title of the album may be hilarious, the album itself certainly isn't. Fehlmann has been releasing music under his own name since 1982, and is once again releasing an album from the widely acclaimed Kompakt label. This album is more like the pop ambient releases of Kompakt, that is ambient with a very subtle layer of techno. One to be listened to late at night.
www.flowing.de
// Vladislav Delay - Whistleblower
Huume
Listen to this if you like: Deadbeat, Mokira
Though it may seem hard to keep up with Sasu Ripatti's prolific portfolio, my personal favourite would definitely be Vladislav Delay (especially with the release of this album). Delay's earlier releases from Huume, Mille Plateaux, Chain Reaction and Staubgold were perhaps not as easy to listen to as this one. Whistleblower is a subtle electronic album that uses subtle bass and glitches as its arteries, reaching out to many different genres including dub and jazz. This monniker of Ripatti is a true pioneer of electronic music and Whistleblower is his best to date.
www.vladislavdelay.com
// World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
Human Highway
Listen to this if you like: Arovane, Jaga Jazzist
Japanese Katsuhiko Maeda leaves you asking yourself, is this contemporary classical, is this post rock or is this idm? It's an excellent blend of all three, but what's unfortunate about it is that it relies too heavily on catchy melodies that you could have heard on a tv commercial. There is also a lack of complete coherence on the album, but all of the tracks being judged separately are well pulled off. The overall atmosphere is an epic and sentimental one similar to that of Susumu Yokota, but there is no comparison to be drawn with any Japanese identity.
www.myspace.com/worldsendgirlfriend
EP'S
// Aquilina & Venturi - 3 Hours
Trapez
Listen to this if you like: Slg, Wighnomy Brothers
// Exercise One - Dark Star
Mobilee
Listen to this if you like: Gabriel Ananda, Magda
// Heinrichs & Hirtenfellner - Violet Rain
Karateklub
Listen to this if you like: Gui Boratto, Richard Davis
// Minilogue - Inca EP
Wir
Listen to this if you like: Alex Smoke, Stephan Bodzin
// The Vulva String Quartett - Cranberry Song
Combination Records
Listen to this if you like: Farben, Gui Boratto
