Blog

It's been some time since I've posted on last.fm. But that doesn't mean that I've slowed down in listening or reviewing some of my favorite music. Meanwhile a few things have happened. First of all, we have three new mixes posted on the site. The ever popular Modern Classical mix has some of your favorite artists - just see that tracklist! Then there is the Favorite Ambient tracks from Arrhythmia Sound and our farewall to Chicago. See all of these and more on our Mixes section on Headphone Commute. And here's a nice installment of 19 reviews for you! Don't forget to check out Two and a Half Questions with the artists! And we've got some good ones! Check out our mini-interviews with Scanner, Plastik Joy, Carsten Nicolai, Proem, Christopher Willits, Brock Van Wey, Lights Out Asia, Intrusion, Boxcutter, Celer, Richard Skelton, Murcof, and man more!!! As usual, I would appreciate a comment or two, and recommend that you Subscribe to RSS Feed.

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Solo Andata - Solo Andata (12k)

Close the doors and turn up the sound. This is ambiance that needs to be really heard. Quietly chirping submerged engines are silenced by waves of bowed cello. The sound of rippling water seeps through the drones of strings. This is the organic world of Solo Andata - an Australian duo comprised of Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin. Having previously released their debut, Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006), the duo got picked up by 12k, and contributed a recording to Live In Melbourne (12k, 2008), appearing among tracks by Seaworthy, and label owner, Taylor Deupree. Solo Andata is their highly anticipated release for the New York minimal and ambient label. The album is mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and is accompanied by a mini booklet of 8-piece photography by Deupree himself. This is a warm album, covering you with a blanket of organic materials, natural field recordings, and swells of ambient soundscapes. The restraint and delicate touch within this production stops time, thought, and all of the pain. Solo Andata is the sensual reflexology for the mind. The concept behind the album, reveals "a theme of travel from cold to warm, water to earth, fluidity to stasis, conceptually representing a thread between water and land." The meditative nature of these pieces focuses the inner ear on within, while the outer contemplates without. At the epicenter lies the focus of the album, Look For Me Here. This is the place that you reach after descending through the laid out paths of an early morning forest, quiet nights, and misty caves. This beautiful track is also available from the label as a single, with remixes by the above mentioned Giuseppe Ielasi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Make sure to grab that one. And by the time Loom comes out with a crying cello by Louise McKay, you're truly in love. Fans of Hildur Guðnadóttir will melt within. The duo uses barely any electronic instruments. Most of the heard sounds are resonating from strings, voices, guitar and a piano. The sourced material has been painstakingly captured, post-processed, and folded back into the pieces, often reflecting the origin within the titles. For example, “Woods Flesh Bone” actually records wood, flesh (from a dead chicken) and bones. “Canal Rocks” contains a recording of wind through the rocks in a small alcove in southwestern Australia called Canal Rocks. “Hydraulic Fluctuations” is a recording of the fluid fluctuations inside a large pump, “Ablation” is ice and wind. Highly recommended for all wonders of 12k, above mentioned artists, plus Richard Skelton, Lawrence English, and Christopher Bissonnette. Bravo, 12k! Well done! This is a great catch, hold onto this one. And I'll be more than eager to follow this group along its intricately formed path, even if their way is only one way, the solo andata.

Two and a Half Questions with Solo Andata

http://www.myspace.com/soloandata | http://www.solo-andata.com
http://www.myspace.com/12kline | http://www.12k.com

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Scanner - Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges (BineMusic)

Robin Rimbaud spent his life listening to others. In his early works, Rimbaud tuned into the airwaves to pluck out pieces of radio, mobile phone conversations and police broadcasts. These were intricately edited and folded back into his compositions, producing an experimental genre of his own, often gathering international admiration from the likes of Aphex Twin and even Stockhausen. This is yet another one of Rimbaud's albums as Scanner, adding to his e-n-d-l-e-s-s discography (seriously huge), spawning collaborations with DJ Spooky, Alva Noto, Kim Cascone, and Vitiello among many others. And Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges does not disappoint. The album starts off with vocal samples, strums of guitar and Rimbaud's own gentle singing. That is until the kick drops and bounces away. The distorted bits and pieces of voices continue to dominate the background of Scanner's recordings. We are, after all, eavesdropping. This mixture of acoustic instrumentation and electronic treatments evolves, introducing a full on string ensemble conducted in the rhythm of solid beat and bitcrushed percussion. And by the time I arrive at track three, titled Anna Livia Plurabelle, which is full of classical operetta vocals by the acclaimed soprano Patricia Rozario, crying in angst, I realize the grandiose accomplishment of Scanner's work, painting a cinematic masterpiece from lost and found fragments. The rest is just as beautiful. Speckles of found voices, radar transmissions, and environmental recordings are hardly intrusive in this purely musical piece. "The ghostly presence of William Burroughs and philosopher Bertrand Russell weave their way through some of the pieces, opening into the dark heart of "Yellow Plains Under White Hot Blue Sky", an epic, almost menacing work, with corrosive voices, noises and abstract shapes over a primordial electronic beat, that continues to build and ignite with bowed strings into a picturesque precise explosion." Although I can't say that I've heard every album by Rimbaud, I can definitely agree with the critics that this is his most mature and personal album to date. A soundtrack to a voyeur's life finally turned inwards. This is organic, this is digital, this is modern classical at its best. Completely unexpected and highly recommended for fans of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Pick up your copy from the Essen (Germany) based BineMusic, while I scratch this winner onto my upcoming Best of 09. Need I say more? See more of Rimbaud's current and upcoming work in my Two and a Half Questions with Scanner.

Two and a Half Questions with Scanner

http://www.myspace.com/scanner | http://www.scannerdot.com
http://www.myspace.com/binemusicgermany | http://www.binemusic.com

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KiloWatts - Undercurrent (Somnia)

In terms of technique, Jamie Watts, the man behind KiloWatts, is an extremely accomplished producer; he knows how to make music that sounds great. His last full-length album, Ground State, released on Evan Bartholomew's Native State Records, stood out for its fresh and chunky sound. It featured a rolling mid-tempo groove, using mostly an acoustic drum sample set, to go with dynamic and full-bodied synths that displayed Watt's taste for thick, growling lead sounds in the lower register. At times, the bass took center stage and propelled the music forward, like on the excellent track Dub Serious. Watts has tried his hand at a variety of genres. His last few releases have ranged from the mid-tempo IDM grooves of Ground State to the tech house of the Snakewinds and Love on Saturn EPs, both released on Noah Pred's minimal techno and house offshoot of Native State, Thoughtless Music. Now, with Undercurrent, he's followed Evan over to his new Somnia label for a stab at downtempo/ambient. “With this album, I wanted to focus on the essence of melody and expose it in a raw form through the electronic medium," says Watts. "The source of the main melodies came from repetitive hooks I found myself sporadically singing or humming during day to day business. Think of the joyful tunes whistled during a walk. These melodic mantras seem to pop up out of nowhere and go on repeating forever... From a larger perspective, I felt that the search for these melodies was similar to unearthing subconscious archetypes that drive reality. the process was like discovering an ever-flowing undercurrent of reality that can be translated directly into melody." The funny thing is that taken as a whole, the album is not defined by the strength of the melodies. There are a couple of standouts - Rode Falls and Ayandan - that are blessed with the kind of riffs that seem to have been around forever. They're like old friends you haven't seen for a while. The Undercurrent Is Love is also hummable if not as memorable. But more often than not the album is defined by the mood it evokes. Most of the tracks are based on short repeated motifs that ebb and flow with the undulating tide or the movement of the current. Opener Cascade Serenade flows by effortlessly, but most of the album is tinged with a darker hue. As if gray clouds are gathering and the waves are beginning to swell. There's an ominous undercurrent to Couette and Seed is vaguely sinister, like a snake slithering along just underneath the water's surface. On Nightshade, the crickets and other creatures of the night come out to play. The album culminates in the 12-minute The Moment Just Before Dawn, with a single phrase repeated over and over again like a persistent mantra, slowly building toward a majestic crescendo. The sonic landscape of Undercurrent is compact, with clearly defined boundaries. The sounds mostly seem to originate from the same source, as if Watts decided to stick with one trusted synth and one electric piano throughout the making of the album. Most significantly, he has largely - though thankfully not completely - done away with the beats that have been such a defining feature of his music until now. It has to be said that while there are moments of beauty on Undercurrent and the album as a whole grows on you, the tracks that make the biggest impression are the ones that have a pulse. Watts is most in his element when he's working with a beat, or at least a strong rhythmic element, such as on Rode Falls, Seed and Nightshade. The percussion, although further in the background than is usual for him, gives the songs a much more vivid presence and sense of development. Nevertheless, it's clear that Undercurrent has served to expand KiloWatts' horizons, even if the addition of one more genre to his discography risks confusing some of his audience. Be sure to check out Watt's digital releases on Thoughtless Music, Harmonious Discord, as well as his own outlet, KiloWatts Music (see Six Silicates EP). Also, looks like Jamie finally re-released his collaboration with Peter Van Ewijk as KiloWatts & Vanek titled Focus and Flow (Dependent, 2009).

Two and a Half Questions with KiloWatts

http://www.myspace.com/kilowatts | http://www.kilowattsmusic.com
http://www.somniasound.com

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Plastik Joy - 3:03 (n5MD)

Plastik Joy is an intriguing duo, if only for the fact that one of them, Cristiano Nicolini, is from Italy and the other, Fannar Ásgrímsson, is Icelandic. You can’t get any closer to “fire and ice” than that. The two met while studying audio engineering in Barcelona and began working together on a couple of songs at the end of 2007. Little did they know what a fortuitous decision it would be when they decided to establish a Myspace page shortly thereafter, in January 2008. First, Myspace led them to Swedish singer Sarah K. Hellström, who ended up writing the lyrics and melody and recording the vocals for their first tune, Hands. She didn’t actually meet Cristiano and Fannar in person until months after the song was completed. But more amazingly, in June 2008, they received a message on Myspace from Mike Cadoo, owner of renowned electronic music label n5MD, who had heard their songs on the site and wanted to discuss a record deal! One short month later, Plastik Joy had signed with the label. And now, 3:03, the debut album from the Myspace poster boys is here for all to hear. At first, if you're not in the right frame of mind, the dreamy, downtempo vibe of 3:03 may strike you as a bit too laid back - like the heat from the fire has melted the ice. But the simple, unassuming melodies grow on you. It’s an album that rewards – in fact, demands – repeated listening and immersion. You’ll come to love the undeniably warm, feel-good glow of Sleepy Quest for Coffee and Hands, the opening tracks of the album, which also happen to be the first two songs that the pair wrote together. From there, the rest of the album opens up like a budding flower. The subtle electronics and acoustic instrumentation, with mellow guitar in a prominent role, make for an addictive concoction. Although Plastik Joy employ several singers on the album, it comes across very much as an instrumental album. Rather than leading the way, the vocals more often than not serve like any other instrument, adding one more color to the bittersweet vibe. On Hands, for example, Hellström’s breathy vocals, which hint slightly at Nina Persson of The Cardigans, blend completely into the sonic landscape. There are one or two brief moments on 3:03 where the surface calm is broken by an outburst of noise, like an involuntary release of pent up energy, but in general, subtlety is the name of the game. It takes a great deal of skill and sensitivity to sustain an atmosphere of such refined delicacy throughout a whole album but Fannar and Cristiano carry it off with aplomb. Considering that this is just their first album, it whets the appetite for what's to come. 3:03 gets its name from the time of morning at which recording sessions usually ended and n5MD touts the album's "nocturnal vibe". There's definitely something to that. 63 (she was trying to sleep, I was trying to breathe), for example, is a pure lullaby. But the first half of the album conjures up images of late afternoons lounging on the beach with a cool drink in hand. If you're looking for something to relax to poolside, it'll most certainly do the trick. Just watch out you don't fall asleep in the sun.

Two and a Half Questions with Plastik Joy

http://www.myspace.com/plastikjoymusic | http://www.plastikjoy.com
http://www.myspace.com/n5mafia | http://www.n5md.com

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Grischa Lichtenberger - ~Treibgut (Raster-Noton)

~Treibgut fits snuggly into the sonic world of Raster-Noton. For this EP, his first release for the label, Grischa Lichtenberger's primary sources are found sounds from the world around him, including the sound of a sliding tabletop, the noise of a radiator and the humming of a broken device. Apparently, the music reflects Lichtenberger's reflections on the landscape of the river Rhein. Which, frankly, comes as something of a surprise since nature is just about the last thing that the music evokes. The atmosphere is extremely industrial and manufactured. Like the music of label primus motor Alva Noto, Lichtenberger's work is all percussive. He takes his sound sources and manipulates and processes them, cuts them up and rearranges them into rhythmic structures. But while Noto's music is often quite refined and minimal, ~Treibgut is like a jackhammer and power drill got together and decided to form a band. Opening track, 0406_01_RS!, is like the cacophony of a factory – metal on metal, pistons pumping rhythmically, distorted bursts of steam, flying sparks from a welder’s blowtorch. With one exception, the tracks all bear similar names, rows of numbers and letters, like numbered incidents in a long line of laboratory experiments. Or products on an assembly line. There are no melodies in the conventional sense of the word or other discernible instruments at play. The drill effect that users of the Ableton Live's Beat Repeat are so familiar with is the defining sound throughout. It’s a mechanical world. The one exception is calipso, which appears to refer to the CALIPSO environmental satellite launched jointly in 2006 by NASA and CNES, the U.S. and French space programs, and which measures aerosols and clouds 24 hours a day. Appropriately, it features a slightly lighter touch and an unusual sounding guitar providing the sole instance of melodic content on the EP. But the power tools are back in full force on the closing track, 0106_13_lv_3 sand ausheben, which translates as "excavate sand" - an indication that there is more heavy lifting to come. The title ~Treibgut refers to the German proverbial Treibholz, describing a piece of wood floating in a river or the sea. "In this sense it expresses a relation to things: between the observer and the floating thing, which has obliterated its functionality, there is no immediate connection – there is a lack of unifying meaning. Of it, the observer always only sees aspects, while the thing, without him on its mind, drifts by." It'll probably take you a while to grasp the meaning of the concept. Meanwhile, it is best to let the power tools do their work... Recommended for all Raster-Noton fan, as well as Pan Sonic, SND, Hecker, and Atom™

http://www.myspace.com/grischalichtenberger | http://www.raster-noton.de

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Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto with Ensemble Modern - utp_ (Raster-Noton)

Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto are unquestionably among the masters of modern experimental music. Noto has crafted a musical language all his own based on the most elemental of sound sources - electricity, static, white noise - and helped to raise laptop production to new heights. Sakamoto has such a varied an brilliant career, ranging from his days in the pioneering Yellow Magic Orchestra and his Neo Geo Japanese pop, to bossa nova, classical works and majestic film scores - including the unforgettable theme from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, in which he also starred opposite David Bowie. And, of course, his explorations in electronic music where his collaborations with artists like Fennesz and Noto stand as milestones. The release of a major new work from the duo is noteworthy to say the least. Utp_, the third collaboration between Noto and Sakamoto, opens with a sustained electronic tone that is gradually joined by a cello note to form an electro-acoustic drone. On top, a series of angular jabs from the Ensemble Modern string section combine with rhythmic bursts of white noise from Noto. Sakamoto's muted piano is introduced on track 2, "grains", but is much less prominent throughout than in the duo's previous collaborations. The piano is only out front on a couple of tracks - "grains" and "broken line" 1 and 2 - which also happen to be the most melodic and easily approachable tracks on the disc, bubbling along to Noto's delicate microbeats. Like the previous collaborations, utp_ blends together electronic and acoustic sounds to hair-raising effect. The contribution of Ensemble Modern, one of the world's leading ensembles of 'new music', adds dynamism and breadth to the sound pallet but the tone is not so far removed from the intimacy and melancholy of Insen, the duo's last full-length release from 2005. The most striking difference is that while the previous outing centred on Noto's laptop treatment of Sakamoto's piano, here it is the Ensemble - particularly the string section - that is most prominent. There's a sombre intensity to the music, which blends modern classical with experimental electronic music in a way that bridges the divide between past and the present. The piece was commissioned on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the city of Mannheim in Germany and at times the deep and vibrant cello tones seem to be calling from that distant past. But most of the time the Ensembles' instruments are employed to produce sounds that are far removed from the 'classical' conception of music, melding seamlessly with the bleeps and glitches of the present in a way that feels completely organic. On tracks like "silence" and "particle" 1 and 2, the result is a blanket of ambient sound while on "plateaux" 1 and 2 the electro-acoustic drone is all encompassing. The title of the piece, utp_, is derived from the word "utopia" and the concept that Sakamoto and Noto developed for it is derived from the rasterized structure of Mannheim, which was conceived as the "ideal city" in the 17th century. This and more is explained in the documentary film on the development of the piece, which is included along with the utp_ concert movie on a DVD that accompanies the CD. So far I've only had a chance to listen to the music but it looks like the DVD provides a lot of insight into the development of the piece and the way Noto and Sakamoto work. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Also included in the impressive package, which is indeed worthy of the music, is a full colour booklet and the score. Utp_ is another feather in the cap of these two masters of modern experimental music and one can only hope that there is more to come.

Two and a Half Questions with Carsten Nicolai

http://www.alvanoto.com | http://www.sitesakamoto.com
http://www.raster-noton.de

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Rival Consoles - IO (Erased Tapes Records)

Rival Consoles' debut album, IO, comes as quite a surprise after the 'modern classical vs. breakcore' vibe of his last EP, Helvetica. Instead of the rather unique mix of piano and strings on top of drill 'n bass, IO offers up a heap of crunchy analogue synths and straight ahead techno beats. Once you've gotten over the surprise, what really makes IO stand out is Rival Console's "lust for catchy music", as Ryan Lee West - the man behind the music - put it himself in an Interview with Headphone Commute back in March. He really hit that one on the head. You couldn't ask for a more anthemic start than the troika of Milo, IO and 1985 that kicks off the album. The first few times I listened to the album, I couldn't make it past these three because I found myself going right back to the beginning to hear them again! The other defining feature of IO is the down and dirty sound. There's nothing fancy or refined about it. It's old school synth action - just your basic waveforms in all their gritty and distorted glory. Rival Consoles doesn't try to wow us with complexity, studio trickery or a smorgasbord of effects. IO stands and falls with the tunes. OK, admittedly track 7, PVAR, does feature some heavenly strings that pop up at just the right moment to sprinkle a pinch of pixie dust over the proceedings. But on the whole, the sound is uniformly bold and direct. It's not all "wave your hands in the air" on IO though. Midway through, the vibe gets weightier and boxier for a few tracks but picks up steam again as the end approaches. The penultimate track, Agenda, is the only one where West reverts back to the rapid skittering beats of the Helvetica EP. But then it's quickly on to rousing closer ARP, another techno barnstormer that quickly gets lodged in your brain and has you reaching for the "repeat" button. It may come as a surprise to find Rival Consoles' music sharing a home with Ólafur Arnalds and Peter Broderick on Erased Tapes Records. But the London-based label focuses on what it calls "Cinematic Pop Music" featuring a wide variety of genres and styles, ranging from neo-classical to post-rock. IO is obviously a very welcome addition to the mix.

Two and a Half Questions with Rival Consoles

http://www.myspace.com/rivalconsoles | http://www.erasedtapes.com

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Proem - Till There's No Breath (Nonresponse)

Proem doesn’t waste any time in setting the scene on Till There’s No Breath. On opening track These Are Demands, it’s as if there is a massive space ship descending from the sky, metal screeching and thrusters on full blast as it lands right in front of you. There are echoes of distorted alien-sounding voices mixed into the grating wall of metallic noise. The atmosphere is filled with foreboding. And it doesn’t let up on A Skin That Crawls, with its huge thumping footsteps echoing off the walls of what could be an underground sewer or cavern. If these words sound over the top, I defy you to listen to this music without having your imagination run rampant. And the rather disturbing track titles -- A Skin That Burns, Faceeater, Deadplate, Dull Throbbing – will inevitably nudge you in a particular direction. This is a dark place and death hangs in the air. But it’s not the kind of malevolence that hits you over the head with a hammer. It’s a quiet menace. An ambient nightmare. Like when the fellowship in the Lord of the Rings entered the Mines of Moria, you know that evil lurks deep within. Or at least an amoral consciousness. The title track Till There’s No Breath evokes a sensation of paralysis. Like being unable to move and helpless to escape the unthinkable. The man behind these disquieting soundscapes and the Proem moniker, is Houston, Texas resident Richard Bailey. He has been releasing music since 1999 on labels like Merck, n5MD, and Hydrant, and Till There’s No Breath is his seventh full-length album, his first for the recently resurrected Nonresponse imprint. It’s quite a departure for Bailey. His previous releases have been of the classic IDM variety and he has been seen as one of the early members of the US-based IDM scene that started around 2000. Till There’s No Breath, on the other hand, is pure dark ambient. Save for one or two tracks, Proem does away completely with the beats. The sound design and textures are the thing... and they are impressive. Thankfully, Proem’s world is not a bottomless pit of doom. After the detachment of Faceeater, the mood lightens with Coil In Small Field. It’s as if there’s a break in the clouds, if only temporarily. Bright pads suggest that something positive is happening, although the deep rumble in the background refuses to give way. Alas, in the end, after the brighter tones have evaporated, the sense of unease remains. Nevertheless, the second half of the album is calmer and less oppressive. The subtle glitchy beat of Alt Enter The Busket will even get your toe tapping and head nodding. And Dull Throbbing is more soothing than anything that precedes it. The metallic grating, distorted rumbles and alien noises of the first half of the album have completely given way to gentler synth washes that sound at times like a church organ in the distance. All in all, it’s an immersive piece of work from Bailey. He paints a vivid picture, although it may not be one that you’ll want to look at for too long at a time. The release includes a free digital EP, the code to which is hidden in the physical artwork. If you own a digital copy, send Proem a screen shot of your receipt and he'll furnish the login details. The artwork on the album is made up of seven separate watercolor paintings that Bailey made and then stitched together in Photoshop. The full poster is available for viewing and purchase on the Proem's site in the merchandise section. Recommended if you like the dark soundscapes of Murcof, Hecq, Lustmord and The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation.

Two and a Half Questions with Proem

http://www.proemland.com | http://www.placeguntohead.com
http://www.myspace.com/nonresponse | http://www.nonresponse.com

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Christopher Willits - Live On Earth - Vol. 1 (self)

Fans of Christopher Willits rejoice! The San Francisco based musician has something special just for you! If you were one of the lucky 1111 fans to first join the Christopher Willits Fans page on Facebook, this special digital release of live performance recordings is yours! The seven tracks on this self released exclusive album, include live performances from venues around the world over the last few years. Here are some gems from Berlin, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Bangkok, Chicago, Kyoto and Foshan (China). And yes, this release is limited, exactly to the first 1111 people! The album begins with an Improvisation piece, featuring lush layers of smooth ambient pads flowing from Willits' guitar into his custom-designed software. Soon, the waves begin to glitch, triggering themselves at various positions to create unique phrases and textures. On Passage, recorded live in Philadelphia, the patterns of effectuated harmony get backed by a pulsing bass that sends the main melody in a tremolo-like twitching. These are all trademark Willits techniques, which he explores throughout his works, and occasionally shares through his lessons on XLR8R TV, via his multi-part feature, What You Talkin' Bout, Willits? For those not familiar with Christopher's unique sound, you have a whole journey ahead of you! With numerous albums and collaborations, his discography includes releases on Australian Room40 label, Japanese minimal Plop imprint, and Ghostly International. Fans no doubt treasure his collaboration with Taylor Deupree on Listening Garden (Line, 2007) as well as the critically acclaimed work with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Ocean Fire (12k, 2008). I witnessed Christopher perform live this past Spring in Los Angeles. His shows add a whole other dimension to live electronic music. Especially if you think about ambient and experimental textures being performed in front of an audience. For most of the acts, I would close my eyes and absorb the frequency waves emanating from the surround sound system, occasionally waking up, in that red-eye-flight-trance, to see the artist's face illuminated by the laptop. But with Willits I kept my eyes open. After all, he had an instrument - a guitar - which he would play and feed back through DSP hardware. You see the hand strumming, your ear holds on to bits of familiar sounds, and then the rest is like a puzzle, struggling to come together in your mind. This creative process is perfectly captured on the forty-five minutes of Live On Earth. It is especially evident on Orange Lit Space during which the sounds morph into a rhythmic structure, over which the guitar leaps into a soaring solo. This is a treasured acquisition for every Willits fan and a taste of things to come, if there will be more releases as the subtitle Volume 1 suggests. Recommended for fans of the above mentioned artists, as well as Fennesz, Tim Hecker, Stephan Mathieu, Philip Jeck and Christopher Bissonnette.

Conversations with Christopher Willits

http://www.myspace.com/christopherwillits | http://www.christopherwillits.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.willits.fans

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Brock Van Wey - White Clouds Drift On And On (echospace [detroit])

On his first full-length album, White Clouds Drift On And On, Brock Van Wey (better known as Bvdub) abandons dub techno conventions and returns to his West Coast chill-out room roots. It’s a step in the right direction, making for some of his most emotional music to date. The opening track, “Too Little Too Late” is gentle and ambient with voices drifting in and out of the mix. “I Knew Happiness Once” features fuller vocal samples that sound Eastern in origin. “Forever a Stranger” is beautiful and relaxing, with slow washes of textured sound. Repetitive choral pulses guide “A Gentle Hand to Hold.” I’m reminded of Philip Glass’ soundtrack for Koyaanisqatsi (in a good way). “A Chance to Start Over” seems to ask a question. Its ascending three-note pattern is joined by plucked strings and echoey vocals. The title piece is awash in long drifting chords. All six pieces are airy and beat-less with little bass. They are perfect for summer’s late twilight. I’m sure lazy afternoon or late-night post-party listening sessions would work equally well. Van Wey and Stephen Hitchell both played live at a LWE loft party in Chicago over the winter. They must have kept in touch, because not only did Hitchell publish this album, he also contributed a full disc of interpretations. These versions will undoubtedly please dub techno fans. The “Intrusion Shape” of the title track gradually reveals itself with full, deep bass and lingering chord caresses. It turns the uplifting original on its head, adding elements that are dark yet sensuous. At over twenty-four minutes, it’s no lightweight. The Intrusion version of “A Chance to Start Over (Intrusion Shape III)” bears little resemblance to the original, but is pretty in its own right, with contemplative analogue synthesizers and wonderful surface noise that gives way to downtempo percussion. “A Gentle Hand to Hold” gently sways to congas like a pop song de-constructed. There is an entire world built into its subtle changes. “I Knew Happiness Once (Intrusion Shape V)” reminds me of The Orb, but for being serious (and more sparse). On “Too Little Too Late (Intrusion Shape VI)” metal shivers and beats tick while piano notes glisten. This double CD is an amazing two-and-a-half hours of quality electronic music. Listening to it straight through, I’m reminded of the good old days when synthesizers offered glimpses of an alien world, when bedroom producers created whole atmospheres in space and time. Sometimes you need to look back to move forward. It’s a revival.

Conversations with Brock Van Wey

http://www.myspace.com/bvdubtechnology | http://www.bvdub.org
http://www.myspace.com/echospacedetroit | http://www.echospacedetroit.com

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Lights Out Asia - Eyes Like Brontide (n5MD)

If it looks like I am desperately trying to catch up on some amazing albums, and tell you about them since they first came out, it's because I am. There is just way too much music for me to go through these days. And let's face it, complaining about too much good music is a sin. Yet the fact that I have already listed Eyes Like Brontide on my Best of 2008 List last year should tell you something about my excitement for Lights Out Asia. Never mind the lack of time on my part to give it a thorough review. So I give you no apologies. But I give you these words. The third full length album by the Wisconsin based band opens up with atmospheric swells and echoes of commentary on music, until the drum machine patterns merge into acoustic percussion along the shoegazing, reverb drenched guitars and then... and then we are in the familiar territory of Lights Out Asia's staple sound, with epic harmony and Chris Schafer's desperate vocals. What continues to impress me throughout the works by LOA is the group's ability to effortlessly maneuver their song structures and production between acoustic and electronic, no doubt only belonging to one of my favorite labels, n5MD. I first came upon Lights Out Asia when they released their sophomore album, Tanks and Recognizers (n5MD, 2008). Since then I've been a follower and a fan. The formula behind their work seems simple, yet the emotion evoking execution is flawless. The sound of LOA falls between lush post-rock, organic ambient, crunchy IDM and ethereal cinematic soundscapes. If just that description gets you drooling, then of course, this album is for you, synthetic strings and all... To hear where it all started, pick up the group's debut album, Garmonia (Sun Sea Sky Productions, 2003). Lights Out Asia even made it on Tympanik's compilation, Emerging Organisms Vol.2, as well as ??record Compilation (Zankyo, 2008) [yes, those are Japanese characters in the album title you're seeing], where they shared the spot among Manual, 65daysofstatic, Bitcrush, Helios, I'm Not A Gun, Do Make Say Think, and many others. This album is seriously recommended for the above mentioned artist names, as well as Hammock, Port-Royal, July Skies, and Jatun. Pick up your copy directly from n5MD's mailorder.

Two and a Half Questions with Lights Out Asia

http://www.myspace.com/lightsoutasia | http://www.lightsoutasia.com
http://www.myspace.com/n5mafia | http://www.n5md.com

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The Archivist – The Keeper Of The Library (Lacies)

Out of a small label in the UK, run by fabulous Miss Alice and Andrew Hargreaves, comes a beautifully crafted release from The Archivist. This is only the second release for the label, but OK, it's got my attention! At first, I was a bit surprised at the intricate production behind the album, The Keeper Of The Library, but once I realized who was behind it, I had that sigh of relief that comes with familiarity of the sound. The Archivist is none other than Craig Tattersall, whose name should be already familiar if you have ever subscribed to his releases as a member of The Boats, The Sea, Famous Boyfriend and of course, The Remote Viewer. As the alias and the title hints, the recordings on the album are compiled from an extensive archive of Tattersall's unreleased material. Some pieces have been scraped from crackling hard drives and hissing cassette tapes, accumulating to over 45 minutes in length. The first lucky 150 collectors were able to secure an additional 3" CDr that came within the handmade package. And the music... well, it speaks for itself. Tattersall uses lo-fi processed scratches and airy filtered percussion which he turns into beats with sparse melodies. Simplicity and elegance are at the core of this recording bringing lightweight electronica back to the home listening experience. Relying on repetition, the tracks roll over in beat with my morning train, glitching on chords, micro programmed rhythms and gentle strums of guitars. Using a coarse brush, the sounds are blotted around the audio canvas with plenty of space in between, leaving just enough room for the mind to rest, and fill in the gaps. This destitute pattern creates music full of fragile memories, elaborate design, and delicate beauty. If you're a fan, make sure to grab Tattersall's release as The Humble Bee, A Miscellany For The Quiet Hours (Cotton Goods, 2009) made from cassette tape-loops, as well as his offshoots and collaborations appearing on the Moteer label. See for example his collaboration with Andrew Hargreaves, where the duo take on the aliases Kibbee Theodore and Bernd Hamblin, to deliver The Scientific Contrast (Moteer, 2007). I also recommend you pick up Lacies' third release by Danny Norbury, Light In August. This album is highly recommended if you enjoy Pole, Arovane, and Yasume.

http://www.myspace.com/moteer | http://www.myspace.com/bepputheboats
http://www.myspace.com/welovelaciesrecords | http://www.alicesurlalune.com

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Phylum Sinter - From Unity to Segmentation (En:peg Digital)

When Phylum Sinter sent me a promotional copy of his digital release on En:peg Digital, little did he know that I was already a fan. And how could I not be, when his music tickles my spine with triggered percussion jittering across beautiful harmonic atmospherics and refined melodies. Like in Telefon Tel Aviv's Fahrenheit Fair Enough (Hefty, 2001), Christopher Todd uses a light IDM touch and driven bass lines around effected synth lines to slap the confidence back into those solid rhythms. In some places on From Unity to Segmentation, dirty chopped analog acid lines cut through the muddled thick oscillating pads, while the seemingly random drums glitch throughout the frequency space. This is quality electronica, perfectly fitting on n5MD's digital-only offshoot label. Detroit based Todd, has been producing for a while now, getting picked up by net labels like PostUnder and [ai]D['mju:zik] (I have an excellent release from this label by Ed7). He even contributed an outstanding remix to Hecq's 0000 (Hymen, 2007), and it looks like Mr. Ben Lukas Boysen returned the favor by remixing Sedna Demik on the album. Meanwhile, the name Phylum Sinter, may be already familiar to you, if you own a few compilations by Tympanik Audio, IVDT, and Xynthetic Netlabel. I've seen Todd perform before, and I must agree with n5MD's affirmation - he is definitely one of the overlooked and underrated artists. I guess that gives him a little edge. Especially when compared by the latter to µ-ziq, Proem, and even Funckarma. Thanks again to the folks at n5MD for finally giving this artist the proper attention he deserves. For fans of glitchy melodic IDM by artists like SubtractiveLAD, Keef Baker, and Lackluster. If you follow the Kahvi, Monotonik and Sutemos releases, then this release is for you. If not... Well, it's time to check it out! Also, be sure to stop by the above mentioned digital division of n5MD, enpeg.com for the latest FLAC releases from Ruxpin, Fell, Anklebiter, and Todeyoshi.

Two and a Half Questions with Phylum Sinter

http://www.myspace.com/phylumsinter | http://www.phylumsinter.matterwave.net
http://www.myspace.com/enpeg | http://www.enpeg.com

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Intrusion - The Seduction Of Silence (Echospace [detroit])

The dub sound of Intrusion is like an early stroll along the empty beach. Waves of white noise and minor chords splash and bounce against the glistening, polished, and rolling bass. The rhythm is measured, natural and hypnotic. The background four-four beat creates a trance-like experience. And the overall emotion is indeed seductive. Although the formula behind the production builds up on the previous successful sound of Echospace, the warmer side of the duo perfects the minimalism by injecting a fusion of Jamaican and South African dub. And it works. I could listen to this album over and over, like a head cleaner, after dense days, heavy nights and exhausting people. The minimal dub techno sound of Intrusion no doubt belongs to none other than Stephen Hitchell, one half of the above mentioned Echospace, who along with Rod Modell froze our hearts with The Coldest Season (Modern Love, 2007). Where as the latter critically acclaimed album captured the lower spectrum of the virtual thermometer with swishes of wind and falling snow, The Seduction Of Silence is more than a few degrees warmer. This is indeed a lovely twilight stroll under the ocean. The album is the first full length solo release for Hitchell, inadvertently compiling previously released EPs and 12-inchers. This may, perhaps, be an answer to a solo release by Modell, Incense and Black Light (Plop, 2007), with Hitchell taking his turn to demonstrate his individuality. The album welcomes an appearance by Paul St. Hilaire (Tikiman), where the Dominican artist contributed reggae vocals. The tracks morph into one another with swells of white noise, sometimes clocking in at over 11 minutes long. Tswana Dub is perhaps one of my favorites, having previously appeared as a limited 12" on Intrusion's sub-label of Echospace. Recommended if you appreciate the sound of minimal dub from Modern Love and Basic Channel, as well as Yagya, Gas, and of course, DeepChord Presents Echospace. Last minute edit: be sure to pickup the latest release on Echospace [detroit] by Brock Van Wey (aka bvdub) titled White Clouds Drift On And On. This is a double disk release with the second part full of Hitchell's interpretations of Wey's original works. Truly sublime. Back to back!

Two and a Half Questions with Intrusion

http://www.myspace.com/echospacedetroit | http://www.echospacedetroit.com

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Boxcutter - Arecibo Message (Planet Mu)

As I queue up the latest release from Planet Mu, the long awaited Variance by Jega, I realize that I never got the chance to tell you about one of my favorite albums of the year so far, Arecibo Message by none other than Barry Lynn. Meanwhile, I've spun these glitch influenced, dirty, acid, and deep dubstep beats over a dozen times. This Northern Ireland musician continues to impress me with his advanced production skills, unlimited bag of tricks, and intelligent tracks that retain their value throughout the years. I say that, because Oneiric (Planet Mu, 2006) and Glyphic (Planet Mu, 2007) still show up in my rotations on a regular basis. For his third full length album under Boxcutter, Lynn takes his production even further. Although still relying on dubstep structure, the elements of acid house, jazz, garage, and of course, IDM, are incorporated deeper into the music. Even vocals made it on to the album with a slightly poppy track, A Familiar Sound. The bass is always in the spotlight, sounding more analogue than before, living in its own frequency space around the painstakingly effected beats and individual elements prickling the neurons of your constantly wandering mind. The album title, Arecibo Message, refers to a message beamed into outer space via FM radio waves during a ceremony celebrating a remodeling of the radio telescope, located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. This signal was transmitted only once. And I'm not sure what Lynn is referring to with this reference, but the same titled track has been already played over and over on these speakers. This is a must have for those a bit tired by the constant dubstep grind, and want to add a little spice into their daily muddled wobble. Good to know someone keeps the genre on the edge of experimental electronica. If you like your dubstep with a zing, then Boxcutter is for you! Besides the above mentioned albums there are more goodies from Lynn. Last year, he delivered a collection of previously unreleased material produced in his earlier years, Balancing Lakes (Planet Mu, 2008). Although the tracks had a few dated components (namely because they were written between 2002 and 2005), they still made an impact on me, and the album rose to the top of my favorites for 2008. So make sure to grab that if you can. Recommended for fans of Vex'd, iTAL tEK, 2562 and Autechre.

Two and a Half Questions with Boxcutter

http://www.myspace.com/barrylynnmusic | http://www.planet-mu.com/artists/Boxcutter
http://www.myspace.com/childrenofmu | http://www.planet-mu.com

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Celer - Engaged Touches (Home Normal)

On Enaged Touches the husband and wife duo digitally stretch the loops of field recordings and analog samples of ambient strings and minimal distant pads. The creative use of delays blending into almost metallic reverb resonates the sound beyond its cycling waves. As the beatless drony chords morph into deep vibrations of bass, swelling in dynamics along with my emotions, the sound rolls over my head towards my chest and then slips through the cracks in between the walls. At times, there is silence which is followed by an onslaught of frequencies reminiscent of chemicals flooding your brain. Recordings of passing trains bridge the creatively named passages by Danielle that touch the tear glands, and jerk the nerves with titles such as "A Once And Meaningful Life". Or the lengthy leaps of imagination with a title like "Hanging Herself On The Lonely Fifth Column (Gramophones That Remind Us Of What Sounds Once Were)". Yes, the latter in the double quotes is a single titling of a section within the two tracks of the album. The first at twenty-six minutes, and the last at fourty-and-a-half. The album cover features photography by Danielle during her journey through India. Will and Dani started writing music for each other. Sharing their love first through letters, and then through little gifts of sound, they self released over twenty five recordings, some digital only, some beautifully crafted in hand painted packaging. In 2008, Celer collaborated with Mathieu Ruhlmann on Mesoscaphe that got picked up by the Japanese minimal experimental label, Spekk. 2009 saw the duo release work on Dragon's Eye, Smallfish, and Digitalis Limited. Engaged Touches got picked up by Home Normal, a label specializing in minimal and organic sound. Started in 2009, the label has already released recordings by Library Tapes, The Boats, and Christopher Hipgrave. On July 8th, 2009, Danielle Baquet-Long passed away from heart failure. At only 26 years of age, Danielle has released numerous works under her solo moniker, Chubby Wolf. She is known for her poetry and writing, and of course as one half of Celer. A few months ago, in March 2009, I got to meet and interview the duo at the Los Angeles Resonant Forms festival. The audio interview has finally been transcribed and posted here, on Headphone Commute. The overall album is a true masterpiece. Among the many albums that I heard, Celer's Engaged Touches is the most emotional. Highly recommended if you appreciate works by like Taylor Deupree, William Basinski, and Richard Chartier. Be sure to pick up a free release by Chubby Wolf, titled Meandering Pupa available as a free download from bandcamp (click here). As well as the latest album by Celer, Breeze Of Roses out on Dragon's Eye. Spekk is yet to release another album by Celer, which is still in the queue...

Conversations With Celer

http://www.myspace.com/celersite | http://www.artificialcolors.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/homenormal | http://www.homenormal.com

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Richard Skelton – Marking Time (Type / Preservation)

In the past few years I have become a bigger fan of simple and elegant works, sometimes consisting of a single instrument, sometimes of a single theme. I wonder if it is perhaps related to the process of aging and a calming mind. Ambient music begins to make more sense. The silence in between is just as important as the sound around it. On Marking Time, Richard Skelton uses a limited palette of organic instruments to reveal an elementary artistic craftsmanship through slowly drawn out, bowed and scratched strings, plucked guitars, and light touches of piano keys. In the spotlight of dark themes stands a lonely cello, sometimes agonizing over long lost hours of silence, sometimes sad for settled dust. Surrounded by echoing instruments it cries in monotonic notes, sans any swings in harmony, repeating the oscillating frequencies assigned to each fret of a string. It is like a pendulum on a grandfather's clock that the musicians on Marking Time bow the strings back and forth, back and forth, in a tireless rhythm, while something scratches in the attic, perhaps to gain an entrance, but most likely to escape. It is this tone that tells a story. A story that is neither sad nor happy, neither good nor bad, but is simply just there. Like changing weather. Like cycling seasons. And like life and death. Marking Time is Skelton's first release under his real name. His previous works were put out under a number of monikers including Clouwbeck, Heidika, Carousell and A Broken Consort. This is also the first album that came out on a label other than his own, Sustain-Release. The latter, is a private press operation full of works by Skelton himself, dedicated to his wife, Louise, who died in 2004. This loss continues to seep through Skelton's works in a sound of sorrow. After Marking Time got picked up by Australian label, Preservation, in 2008, it was well received by the critics. And earlier this year, John Twells of Type Records had put out a beautiful, limited edition, remastered vinyl pressing of the album, featuring Skelton's own photographs on the cover. Recommended for all of your modern classical and soul resting needs. Fans of Lawrence English, Elegi, Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, Svarte Greiner, Rudi Arapahoe and of course, Hildur Guðnadóttir, will be delighted.

Two and a Half Questions with Richard Skelton

http://www.myspace.com/landingsdiary | http://richardskelton.wordpress.com
http://www.typerecords.com | http://www.preservation.com.au

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Murcof - The Versailles Sessions (Leaf)

I am way overdue to give this album a proper review. I first heard The Versailles Sessions back at the end of 2008, when this Leaf release immediately made it on to my Best of 2008 list. Then, as time flew by, I was expecting to cover the upcoming release, Océano. The latter is expected to be a fourth installment in a five part album series, that spells out Fernando Corona's shortened Murcof alias with the initial letters of the titles (Martes, Ulysses, Remembranza, Cosmos, Océano, F___?). Alas, Océano is still in post-production. Meanwhile, The Versailles Sessions still haunts me at night. During the 50-minute experience, the instruments howl, screech, and cry in a tormented industrial prison of sound. Intense heartburn of horror rises through the pulled and scratched strings until it spills over into the bile of harmony. Rhythmic structure ignores the background beating of sacrificial drums, as the violins tune up into the unison of terror. Darkness surrounds all, as the melodies creep up the underground stairs towards the purity of light. In The Versailles Sessions, Murcof creates one of the most dramatic, suspenseful and cinematic soundtracks to date. The imaginary film consists of the images from the annual festival of sound, light and water at the Chateaue de Versailles. The score is composed entirely out of 17th century instruments, such as harpsichord, flute, violin and viola de gamba, and is performed by a troupe of professional baroque musicians. This commissioned release for the festival's Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, is unlike any of Fernando's previous albums. In 2002, Martes hit the scene to overwhelming critical acclaim, juxtaposing samples of Arvo Pärt and Morton Feldman over deep rolling bass and micro programmed beats. The Mexican producer followed up his debut with an even more elegant and mature production. With Cosmos, you simply fly away (a must, in any serious connoisseur's library). But The Versailles Sessions stands out completely in its own spectrum of compositions. The dark ambient and modern classical passages haunt the listener into a corner of eerie memories and distant fears, evoking an unnatural response of increased blood pressure and cold sweat. Highly recommended for the likes of Deaf Center, Julien Neto, releases by Alva Noto + Ryuchi Sakamoto, Kangding Ray, Dictaphone and Arovane. If you're digging around to complete your Murcof discography, pick up Corona's release as Terrestre, Secondary Inspection (Static Discos, 2004), and Terrestre vs. Plankton Man (Nimboestatic, 2004) as well as his collaboration with H.Amézquita, C.I.D.I. (AR) (Statis Discos, 2004), and his latest work with Erik Truffaz, titled Mexico (Blue Note, 2008). Best of 2008 for sure!

Two and a Half Questions with Murcof

http://www.myspace.com/murcof | http://www.murcof.com
http://www.myspace.com/theleaflabel | http://www.theleaflabel.com

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The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Mutations EP (Ad Noiseam)

Coming in with slow jazzy percussion, deep rumbling bass, and all acoustic instrumentation, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble enters from the shadows of ghostly vocals and crackling dust. Violins, trombones, and jazz trumpets howl and growl, along digitally effected beats and bit-crushed atmospheres of decay. Darker than future jazz, yet lighter than doom jazz, the purveyors of sound composed of both digital and electro acoustic, are no strangers to the scene. The seven member ensemble includes Jason Köhnen, who has already added his trademark sound to our collections with numerous releases as Bong-Ra on Planet Mu, Ad Noiseam, and Sublight Records. Plus, the entire troup has already put out their live improv recordings as The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation with two full length albums, Doomjazz Future Corpses! (Ad Noiseam, 2007) and the recently released Succubus (Ad Noiseam, 2009). A few words from the label's site: A bridge between their first album on Planet Mu and the forthcoming second one on Ad Noiseam, the "Mutations EP" is The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble's coming of age. Profound and organic but dark and impressive, it is a perfect rendition of the ensemble's live shows and the proof that there is still something fresh to be done at the meeting point of post-rock, jazz and drones. A deeply emotional and original trip. At only 40 minutes long, the eight-track EP is a profoundly mature collection of abstract and experimental jazz riffs that get the heart pumping with anticipation of buildups that break into cinematic soundscapes of beauty. Like an abandoned farmer's house in a post-war eastern european silent film, the evoked environment of sounds is a little eerie and at the same time melancholic. I'm especially impressed with the jazz drumming by Gideon Kiers that lightly gets processed through FX. The above mentioned Jason Köhnen strums the fretless and the double bass, while the beautiful Nina Hitz works the cello. This is a serious record worth being promoted to an LP. With Succubus just hitting the streets in June 2009, the upcoming Here Be Dragons album is currently being mastered, and is due to be released sometime in September 2009. I'm glad that the ensemble's live performances could be rendered on a recording for a headphone experience - I only wish that I could catch them live next time they're in town. Don't forget to grab that Succubus! Recommended if you like Jacaszek, Blackfilm, Deaf Center, Triosk, Bersarin Quartett, Skalpel, and Kashiwa Daisuke. Other noir-jazz and experimental jazz groups to check out: Bohren & der Club of Gore, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones, and Contemporary Noise Quintet.

Two and a Half Questions with The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

http://www.myspace.com/tkde | http://www.tkde.net
http://www.myspace.com/adnoiseam | http://www.adnoiseam.net

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last.fm artist and label cloud mentioned in the above post: Solo Andata, Seaworthy, Taylor Deupree, Giuseppe Ielasi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Richard Skelton, Lawrence English, Christopher Bissonnette, Scanner, Aphex Twin, DJ Spooky, Alva Noto, Kim Cascone, Vitiello, Patricia Rozario, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, KiloWatts, Evan Bartholomew, KiloWatts & Vanek, Plastik Joy, Mike Cadoo, Grischa Lichtenberger, Pan Sonic, SND, Hecker, Atom™, Lusine, Hecq, Deru, Yasume, Trentemøller, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Fennesz, Rival Consoles, Ólafur Arnalds, Peter Broderick, Proem, Murcof, Hecq, Lustmord, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, Christopher Willits, Tim Hecker, Stephan Mathieu, Philip Jeck, Bvdub, Brock Van Wey, Stephen Hitchell, Intrusion, The Orb, Lights Out Asia, Manual, 65daysofstatic, Bitcrush, Helios, I'm Not a Gun, Do Make Say Think, Hammock, port-royal, July Skies, Jatun, The Remote Viewer, The Archivist, The Boats, The Sea, Famous Boyfriend, Pole, Arovane, Phylum Sinter, Telefon Tel Aviv, Ed7, Funckarma, SubtractiveLAD, Keef Baker, Lackluster, Ruxpin, Fell, Anklebiter, Todeyoshi, Echospace, Rod Modell, Yagya, Gas, Deepchord Presents Echospace, Jega, Boxcutter, Vex'd, iTAL tEK, 2562, Autechre, Celer, Chubby Wolf, Library Tapes, The Boats, Christopher Hipgrave, Mathieu Ruhlmann, Richard Skelton, Clouwbeck, Heidika, Carousell, A Broken Consort, Lawrence English, Elegi, Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, Svarte Greiner, Rudi Arapahoe, Murcof, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Jacaszek, Blackfilm, Deaf Center, Triosk, Bersarin Quartett, Skalpel, Kashiwa Daisuke, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones, Contemporary Noise Quintet ... 12K, Bine Music, Somnia, Native State Records, Thoughtless Music, n5MD, raster-noton, Erased Tapes, merck, HydraNT, ROOM40, Kabouter Plop, Ghostly International, Echospace, Tympanik Audio, en:peg digital, kahvi, monotonik, Sutemos, Modern Love, Basic Channel, Planet Mu, Spekk, Dragon's Eye, Smallfish, Digitalis, Type, Preservation, Leaf, Ad Noiseam, Sublight Records

Het festival biedt een staalkaart voor waar wij als stichting voor staan. Dit jaar hebben we een thuisbasis gekregen in Theater Kikker. Drie dagen is de grote zaal het decor van het festival, waarbij zoals elk jaar diversiteit en experiment hoogtij vieren. Wij zetten de deur naar de toekomstop een kiertje, zonder het verleden te vergeten:

---> thursday 8 oktober - Ambient night
Live: Gas
Theater Kikker, Utrecht
doors 20:30, Eur 15,-

---> friday 9 oktober - Drone night
Live: N, 78rpm, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, Troum
Theater Kikker, Utrecht
doors 20:30, Eur 12,-

---> saturday 10 october - Dubstep a Gogo
Dj's: Shackleton, T++, Untold, SIGHA, Chillum, dj+
Theater Kikker, Utrecht
doors 23:00, Eur 12,-

>>>>> add this event on last.fm!!
more info: http://www.eatthismedia.org/front_content.php?idcat=283

Red ribbon streams of dust crackles emerge in flotsam dreams of a pure wondering nationalistic heart love for the motherland and it's bountiful children all birthed from rose golden fertility at night wrapped in fever dreams of fervour a heart beat married to marred by layers of a leaf hue crimson density marching deeper deeper to the coruscating sheen

more than anything I find Mr. Voight appreciates that true beauty isn't something inherently aesthetically pleasing but something utterly terrifying

THIS ISN'T YOUR GRAMMYS RECORDINGS OF WAGNER, THIS IS SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT

10/10 recommended

Gas
Zauberberg

British energy producer BP on Wednesday reported a "giant" oil Discovery in the gulf of mexico that's likely to spur more excitement about the region's potential.

The well, 250 miles southeast of Houston, was discovered after BP drilled one of the world's deepest exploration wells. It went down 35,000 feet, a distance on par with the cruising altitude of many domestic flights.

BP hasn't released specifics on the size of the field. But if it turns out to be truly "Giant," it'll contain more than 500 million barrels of recoverable oil, according to definitions by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The last giant discovered in the Deepwater gulf of mexico was Thunder Horse in 1999. It's also operated by BP.

The new find which will produce for the domestic U.S. market is among 18 oil discoveries since 2000 in ultra-deep water off the coast of Texas and Louisiana, says Leta Smith, a director of IHS cambridge energy research associates.

One of those included another massive find nearby by BP in the so-called Kaskida field in 2006. That two big fields were discovered in the same region, along with others, signals the potential for more in the deep water. Development of the new find will be closely watched by others "to see how it plays out," Smith says.

The new discoveries will also drive an increase in domestic oil production for the first time in decades, she says. BP won't say when its new finds will start producing oil. Thunder Horse took nine years to come online.

While a big find, the field's potential production won't constitute more than a "drop in the bucket" when it comes to U.S. oil Consumption, says Perry Fischer, editor of trade journal World Oil in Houston. The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels of oil a day.

Shares of bp, the biggest oil and Gas producer in the gulf of mexico and the fifth-largest publicly traded oil producer in the world, rose 4% to $52.53 Wednesday.

The next step for BP is to Dig more wells to ascertain the potential size of the find, says BP spokesman Daren Beaudo. That alone is likely to take several years. Technical challenges to Extract the Oil will be Huge, says analyst Smith. Those include managing the depth of the well and temperatures and pressure.

By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2009-09-02-bp-giant-oil-discovery-in-gulf-of-mexico_N.htm nofollow=yes[/quote]

San Francisco --

Got Milk? If you do, take a moment to ponder the true oddness of being able to drink milk after you're a Baby.

no other species but humans can. And most humans can't either.

The long lists of food allergies some people claim to have can make it seem as if they're just finicky Eaters trying to rationalize likes and dislikes. Not so. Eggs, Peanuts, tree nuts, Fish, shellfish soy and Gluten all can Wreak Havoc on the Immune system of allergic individuals, even causing a deadly reaction called Anaphylaxis.

But those Allergic Reactions are relatively rare, affecting an estimated 4% of adults.

Milk's different.

First off, it's not actually an Allergy in that there's not an immune response.

People who are lactose intolerant can't digest the main Sugar lactose found in milk. In normal humans, the Enzyme that does so lactase stops being produced when the person is between two and five years old. The undigested Sugars end up in the Colon, where they begin to Ferment, producing Gas that can cause cramping, bloating, Nausea, Flatulence and Diarrhea.

If you're American or european it's hard to realize this, but being able to digest milk as an adult is one weird genetic adaptation.

It's not normal. Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest Lactose after Childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of native americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of african and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world's highest percentages of lactase tolerant people.

Being able to Digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn't really call Lactose Intolerance a Disease, because that presumes it's Abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase Persistence, indicating what's really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.

There's been a lot of research over the past decade looking at the genetic mutation that allows this subset of humanity to stay milk drinkers into Adulthood.

A long-held theory was that the mutation showed up first in Northern Europe, where people got less Vitamin D from The Sun and therefore did better if they could also get the crucial hormone (it's not really a vitamin at all) from Milk.

But now a group at University College London has shown that the mutation actually appeared about 7,500 years ago in dairy farmers who lived in a region between the central Balkans and central Europe, in what was known as the funnel beaker culture.

The paper was published this week in PLoS Computational Biology.

The researchers used a computer to model the spread of lactase persistence, dairy farming, other Food gathering practices and Genes in Europe.

Today, the highest proportion of people with lactase persistence live in Northwest Europe, especially the Netherlands, Ireland and SCANDINAVIA. But the computer model suggests that Dairy Farmers carrying this gene variant probably originated in central Europe and then spread more widely and rapidly than non-dairying groups.

Author Mark Thomas of University College London's dept of genetics, Evolution and Environment says: "In Europe, a single genetic change...is strongly associated with lactase persistence and appears to have given people with it a big survival advantage."

the european mutation is different from several lactase persistence Genes associated with small populations of african peoples who historically have been cattle herders.

Researchers at the University of Maryland identified one such mutation among nilo-saharan-speaking peoples in Kenya and Tanzania. That Mutation seems to have arisen between 2,700 to 6,800 years ago. Two other Mutations have been found among the Beja people of northeastern Sudan and tribes of the same language family in northern Kenya.By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

http://m.usatoday.com/Tech/686848/full/;jsessionid=BCB14A047820AEEBEBA8A34F5873D7F1.wap2

Looks like I've been falling behind even further. Something is happening, and I'm wondering if it's just me, or is the time really slipping away between the snow and the sprouted greens and the steaming asphalt and the fallen leaves. All I have between now and then are these words, and between the words is always the music. Meanwhile, I was able to squeeze out a free mix for your enjoyment, compiled of some of my favorite Intelligent Breakcore tracks. So point your clickers here for a free download. Besides that, I am also super excited to present you with not just one, but two label profiles covering some of my favorite music. There is the n5MD and the forever beautiful Merck. Click the banners below for a full label profile and interviews available only on reviews.headphonecommute.com. As usual, I would appreciate a comment or two, and recommend that you Subscribe to RSS Feed.





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VA - 14 tracks re-wiring UK Garage (Boomkat)

Boomkat is not exactly a record label. And it's not really known for its compilations. But it is a famous online music store for all of your underground musical flavors, from dubstep to hip-hop to IDM and modern classical. Towards the end of 2008, Boomkat launched a sister site : 14tracks.com. Every week, 14tracks presents you with an installment of "hand-picked selections united by theme or genre, bound by a particular style, or with some kind of common narrative in mind." Each compilation is available as a digital download (DRM free, 320 Kbps MP3s) priced at 99p per track or for £6.86 (approx. $11.25 in USD). I initially jumped on the site when Boomkat presented their Best of 2008 releases in three installments of 14 tracks. Ever since, I've been getting weekly newsletter updates, and checking out some off hand selections that may be outside of my usual interests. On more than one occasion, I would discover an artist that way, and end up grabbing full albums. It's been an excellent resource for opening up my horizons across the entire musical spectrum. Some noteworthy past selections that I want to point out include "14 tracks: experimenting with bowed strings", "14 tracks in the shadow of film noir", "14 tracks of early electronic music", "14 tracks of dark ambient", and "14 tracks that make you wish you played the piano". The latter collection, for example, features some of my favorite artists like Hauschka, Pan American, Harold Budd, Ólafur Arnalds, Erik Satie, Peter Broderick, Jacaszek, Goldmund, and many others. This week, I again fall prey to the outstanding marketing ploy of Boomkat and add into my digital cart a compilation titled "14 tracks re-wiring UK Garage". The selection of tracks includes some new material as well as rarities from Sully, Narcossist, Falty DL, Brackles, Groovechronicles, Millie & Andrea, TRG, Spatial and Peverelist. Representing labels from Planet Mu to Tectonic to Tempa and Infrasonics, this is an excellent collection of... well... UK's finest funky garage. Here's more from the description: With dubstep increasingly split between bombastic rave/wobble workouts and far more feminine (and, for our money, interesting) variants, the line is getting harder to define between one sub-classification and another. Further up the chain, UK Garage itself incorporates a number of different bass cultures, flowing in and out of Jungle, hip hop and R&B and generating mongrel sounds from Grime to Dubstep, Funky and beyond. All of this is to say that the bass scene always has and continues to evolve at a rate that's producing new sounds and splinters faster than anyone can even name them, despite the perceived malaise... So forgive me for covering an unconventional medium today, but as the 2-step beat rides along the wobbly bass in my speakers, I feel compelled to share this great find. If you're a fan of Burial's ghost-like vocals and light syncopated beats, then this is definitely a must for you. Also greatly recommended if you are not familiar with this genre. Point your browsers to 14tracks.com and enjoy.

http://www.14tracks.com/selections/66-14_tracks_re_wiring_uk_garage

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VA - 88 Tapes (Keshhhhhh)

Keshhhhhh Recordings is based in Cambridge (England) and is run by Simon Scott (you should know him as the ex-drummer from the shoegaze band, Slowdive). I'm not exactly sure what Simon has in mind for the future of his label, but I must say, he's off to a pretty good start. First of all, he's got Taylor Deupree to master the entire compilation in his 12k studio. That alone should give you a pretty good idea about the intent here. And the roster of artists also tends to speak for itself. The eighteen track collection of ambient vignettes and sound explorations all revolve around a central theme. This theme less of a melodic structure, but rather a concept around a particular selection of recordings recorded by Simon Scott on an audio cassette back in 1988. On the liner notes of the release, Scott elaborates: "In 1988 on another rainy Saturday afternoon, whilst looking for sonic inspiration, I decided to take apart and re-assemble my stereo that had a quarter inch input socket as well as a turntable and tape player/recorder. The result was a fantastic malfunctioning, stuttering and glitching piece of equipment that suddenly realized my ideas of creating new sound. I promptly pressed the record button and let rip on my electric guitar and promised myself to write a song from the results one day. In 2008 the tape was rediscovered purely by chance in a house move and the rediscovery of this TDK inspired me to contact a group of artists and composers who I feel are talented and relevant today. There was just a simple single track sent off via email to inspire them to compose a piece of work for this compilation if they had the urge. They did and I am forever grateful to everyone involved in deconstructing the tape track and creating this album." And what a spectacular group of artists it is! The compilation opens up with an sound sparkling interpretation by Yasuhiko Fukuzono as Aus flowing right into a beautiful vocals of Sanae Yamasaki, [aka Moskitoo - see her excellent album, Drape (12k, 2007)]. We then move into noisy guitar feedback and lo-fi acoustic glitch by Mark Templeton (see his numerous releases and appearances on Anticipate Recordings). The 12k roster continues to propagate this selection with contributions by Keiichi Sugimoto as Fourcolor, Sawako, and one of my favorites, Lawrence English. Besides above mentioned aus, a few more artists from the Japanese label, flau, show up later, like Orla Wren and John McCaffrey as Part Timer. Chicago based Kranky Records enters the circle of Scott's friends with a beautiful heavily reverberated breathy piece by Christopher Bissonnette. Further on a release we see his labelmate, Thomas Meluch contribute a track as Benoît Pioulard. We also see an appearance by Akira Kosemura, who previously secured a spot on Airport Symphony - Virtual Terminal, a free deigital companion edition to the Airport Symphony, compiled by the above mentioned prolific Lawrence English and released on Room40 in 2007. A third through the release, Simon Scott finally appears with his own interpretation. A sound artist and a label owner of and/OAR, Dale Lloyd contributes a sonic carpet of luscious frequencies, followed by a ghost-like echoes of gated guitar and vocals by Matt Robson recording as Random Number. Additional appearances include tracks by Greg Davis, Adam Pacione, Ateleia, and Hannu. An excellent roster, don't you think? Meanwhile, Simon Scott prepares for his upcoming solo debut, titled Navigare on none other than Miasmah recordings.

http://www.myspace.com/KESHHHHHH | http://www.keshhhhhh.com

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Trentemøller / VA - Harbour Boat Trips : Copenhagen (HFN Music)

Danish electronic producer, Anders Trentemøller, sets aside his studio equipment used to make some of the finest raw and tight minimal house grooves, to put together a compilation of some of his favorite downtempo tracks from Copenhagen. Harbour Boat Trips is a commissioned selection of folksy, ambient and electronic tracks, sprinkled with beautiful vocals, beats, and live instrumentation. This is the music you'd expect Trentemøller to listen to on early lazy Sunday mornings as he's waking up to a cup of coffee. In the liner notes, Trentemøller confirms: "Dear Listener, within this compliation I have basically chosen some of the many songs I use in my own most intimate hours, coming down after gigs, cleaning my apartment, waiting for friends to arrive or simply daydreaming with my twenty-first century walkman through the city of Copenhagen. [...] All the artists on this compliation which include names from nearly four decades have, to me, created different aspects of beauty." Opening up with Grouper and diving into Gravenhurst, you're immediately set for a selection of songs traversing moods and genres. There are many pleasant surprises along the way from previously unknown (to me) artists. For example, I've heard before music by Emiliana Torrini with releases on FatCat, but after hearing her lovely voice on a track "Lifesaver", I add her acoustic album, Fisherman's Woman (Rough Trade, 2004) to my collection. A track by The Hypothetical Prophets (Proroky) with Russian overdubbed lyrics take me out of their experimental neo-industrial chemical dub-house into the late 70s synth-pop track by Suicide titled Cheree. Moving through new wave beats by David Garcet. Following a haunting glitchy house track by Rennie Foster, in floats a Four Tet remix of Caribou's Melody Day, full of acoustic guitars and confident muffled four-four kick. With that we move into Trentemøller's edit of The Raveonettes cover of Joy Division's She's Lost Control. Before the compilation ends, Trentemøller finally appears with his own track, Vamp, followed by Two Lone Swordsmen and a fitting closure by Soft Cell's Tainted Love. This compilation is the very first release from Hamburg based hfn ['ha:f?n] music, which opens up on its site with the following statement: "Harbours are open doors to the world, and so is hfn, and to all spectrums of music." There is not much information that is available about the label on its site or elsewhere, but I expect we'd see a few more installments in this series in the future. In closing, I'd describe this release as a personal mixtape shared by Trentemøller especially for you. Enjoy!

http://www.hfn-music.com | http://www.anderstrentemoller.com

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Hecq - Steeltongued (Hymen)

Hecq... Have you heard? If you haven't, it's time to jump on board. And by the way, you're missing out! After all, this is Hecq's sixth full length release (fifth on Hymen Records). Dare I say it the following way : with Steeltongued, Hecq surpasses the leaders in electronic experimentation, Autechre, leaving them in the dust to scratch their heads in awe of this twenty-seven year old Berlin based musician. Like a villain of traumatized sonic disintegration, Ben Lukas Boysen unwinds the tight coils of sound into distinct entities of material forms and packs them away into carefully allotted spacial frequency shelves. I did not bring up Autechre for mere name dropping. I clearly remember the very first time I heard the decomposition of sound in the Booth & Brown's track Vose In on LP5, (Warp, 1998). I will never forget. Not one release in the last decade has stopped my breath with the penetrating thought of "what the hell was that?". In the last years, steps have been taken to evolve the sound and build upon the solid foundation, with only Autechre occasionally in the lead, piercing the darkness of uncharted territory. They are always allowed. Because, frankly, they are Autechre, right? The one falling in their footsteps is always behind. Apprentice to a skilled magician. Then... BOOM! ... Hecq. I don't know how Lappersdorf (Germany) based Hymen Records had discovered Boysen [that surely deserves an interview question], but when they did, they have struck gold. Quickly demonstrating his abilities with Scatterheart (Hymen, 2004) and Bad Karma (Hymen, 2005), Boysen has landed a coveted spot on a limited Hymen boxset, Travel Sickness (Hymen, 2006), with a mini-EP along with the releases by Lusine Icl, Solar X, Lowfish, Venetian Snares, Psi Spy, Snog, The Manhattan Gimp Project and Mad EP. Mmmm. My copy still smells like cedar... Delicious. Boysen's fourth album, 0000 (Hymen, 2007) made my Best of 2007 list, and in 2008... well... I have lost the words with Night Falls (see my previous review). So what to expect with Steeltongued? Twisted rhythms swirling around your brain like an inhaled sip of wine and a gulped breath of smoke. Divine soundscapes crawling beneath the barbed wire of the restraining acoustic prison, begging to rather be shot in the back then remain draining their minimalism onto the cold surface of tears and blood. I will survive, bounces the reverse reverbed voice of Nongenetic, Late for my funeral, rather be buried alive... Then destruction and mayhem... Then silence... Frost... and the Hypnos trilogy of tracks. Well, that's just gorgeous... This double disk release features twelve remixes of Steeltongued from an eclectic group of friends and collaborators, including Spyweirdos, Si Begg, Black Film, and Team Doyobi among the many. Words are too limited and gentle to describe the range of emotions evoked by Steeltongued. The album is a trip and an unforgettable experience. That one memento that will stay with you for years to come. That one beautiful moment of "what the hell was that?"

Two and a Half Questions With Hecq

http://www.myspace.com/hecq | http://www.hecq.de
http://www.myspace.com/hymenrecords | http://www.hymen-records.com

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Mokira – Persona (Type)

The gentle swells of lo-fi loops and and breathing atmospherics set the tone for Mokira's eighth full-length album. After previous releases on a roster of labels, a Stockholm-based Swedish sound sculptor, Andreas Tilliander returns to Type Records with Persona. Tilliander introduced us to his Mokira moniker with his debut, Cliphop, on Raster-Noton. His glitchy hip-hop sound has landed him on Mille Plateaux, where Tilliander continued to contribute towards the 'clicks & cuts' genre. But for Type, Tilliander has been stripping away the beats [but not the rhythmic structure], and focusing more on ambient textures that let the music flow organically through analog and digitally processed layers. Starting from the first track, the disintegrating repetitions of drony re-sampled pads instantly remind me of works by William Basinski, tape hiss and all, while the gentle onslaught of incoming harmonic frequencies are reminiscent of works by Tim Hecker and Vladislav Delay. The dull, murky, and thick reverberations bridging acoustic and electronic elements will also satisfy the fans of Gas and Fennesz alike. But comparisons to others are futile, since Tilliander has already made a name for himself, ranging from his dub and tech-house releases under his real name on his own label, Repeatle, to abstract electronica and glitchy IDM on Komplott under a Komp alias, and even a minimal dub 12" on Echocord under his Lowfour moniker, among the many. Across a wide spectrum of tracks, I hear the same main theme, which is explored upon through various experimental approaches. Tilliander's proficiency in electronic music and control of its branches clearly shows throughout Mokira. This is especially evident when ambient progressions are interrupted by a growing 303-like-gliding-bass-line that is at once unexpected and yet feels very appropriate. Throughout the album, a noticeable amount of true analog equipment dominates the presence, as only accented by a track, appropriately named Oscillations And Tremolo. Towards the end of the album, a single loop is re-sampled and re-assembled. And once the tape hiss comes in, the path is obvious - it leads back to the beginning of the album where the music continues to decay and disintegrate. Persona is truly listening music. Preferrably with your eyes closed. And it is upon multiple listens that you will begin to discern and peel off its layers, to reveal the true genius behind this latest installment from Mokira. It's no wonder, that after numerous contributions towards the evolution of electronic music, Tilliander was awarded a Swedish Grammy music award in 2005. Thus, I am immediately propelled to dig up and revisit his earlier releases. During your parallel search, it's worth picking up an acid tech-house 12" under Tilliander's real name, titled, Stay Down (Repeatle, 2007) featuring a remix by The Field. Also recommended Tilliander's debut on Mille Plateaux, Ljud, and his very latest Show (Adrian, 2009).

http://www.myspace.com/andreastilliander | http://www.repeatle.com
http://www.myspace.com/typerecordings | http://www.typerecords.com

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H.U.V.A. Network - Ephemeris (Ultimae)

Humans Under Visual Atmospheres (H.U.V.A. Network) is back with a long awaited sophomore release on Lyon (France) based Ultimae Records. Before I cover the album, it's worth it to pause and deconstruct this group. H.U.V.A is a duo comprised of Magnus Birgersson and Vincent Villuis. Birgersson is none other than Solar Fields, a regular on Ultimae, with six full length albums. If that alias sounds familiar, it's probably because you were blown away by his recent music score for the Electronic Arts game Mirror's Edge. That's right, that's Birgersson. And Monsieur Villuis is none other than Aes Dana, an alumni member of Asura (as of 2001) and part owner of Ultimae with Sandrine Gryson (Mahiane). With such a solid and talented combination, you'd be right to get excited about this next installment in psybient evolution. The purveyors of "oneiric trip-hop", downtempo, and "ambient geometries" will be absolutely delighted with the psychedelic melodies, etherial sound design, and impeccably crisp production. Seekers of sonic voyages will be enveloped by limitless soundscapes, spreading over slow punctuated beats that eventually lift off into an outer journey. The mid portion of the album picks up in tempo, and evolves into a light morning trance, keeping with the rhythm of a four-to-the-floor kick drum. But at the end of Ephemeris, the beat slows down once again, to bring you back down to Earth, after your brief meditative trip. The album was composed between two studios, Villuis' Ultimae Studio in Lyon, France and Birgersson's Studio Jupiter in Göteborg, Sweden. The deluxe edition of the digipack release contains a sixteen page booklet with photographic works by Gingerine, BeneA, Concoon, Goulden, 1100, and Matzchen. Here is a quote from the album defining its title: An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from the Greek word ephemeros "daily") is a table of values that gives the positions of objects in the sky at a given time or times. The position is given in a spherical polar coordinate system of right ascension and declination or in logitude along the zodiacal ecliptic, and sometimes declination. The ephemeris paramaters relate to eclipses, apparent retrogradation/planetary stations, planetary ingresses, sidereal time, positions & the phases of the Moon, Cartesian coordinates, picnic on Mars, breakfast on Jupiter and disturbing jetlags. While filling your cart on Ultimae's web shop, be sure to add the duo's first collaboration, Distances (Ultimae, 2004), as well as Solar Field's recently released Movements (Ultimae, 2009) and Aes Dana's Season 5 (Ultimae, 2005). I am also a big fan of the Ultimae's Fahrehnheit Project compilation series, with its last installment being Part 6 as of 2006. Favorite track on the album: Orientations Part 1

http://www.myspace.com/solarfields | http://www.myspace.com/aesdana
http://www.myspace.com/panoramicmusic | http://www.ultimae.com

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Bluetech - The Divine Invasion (Aleph Zero)

Evan Bartholomew drops another album for our hungry ears. This time, his groovy downtempo sonic treatments are released under his renowned moniker, Bluetech. For The Divine Invasion, Bartholomew puts aside his ambient and modern classical work under his real name, and returns to his tight IDM , digital funk, and tech-dub beats with a touch of masterfully produced atmospheres and spacey psychedelia. Here's Bluetech with his staple sound of micro-programmed clicks and stereo bouncing bleeps. Here's the never-ending echo of the the minor dubbed-out chords. Here's everything we have grown to love from one of the pioneers of PsyDM sound. Listening music meets dance floor meets contemplative far away places where dreams recursively collide. Aleph Zero is an Israeli label putting out downtempo and psychill records, as spearheaded by its co-owner, Yaniv Shulman (one half of Shulman). Bartholomew has found a home on Aleph Zero for Bluetech releases since Elementary Particles in 2004. This is Bluetech's fourth full length release, including the quietly slipped in Phoenix Rising, released on his own, mostly minimal, modern classical, and ambient focused label, Somnia, just a few months prior. Did you catch that one? On The Divine Invasion we hear Steve Hillage (Mirror System) return for a contribution of his guitar sweeps, after a very successful collaboration last year with Bartholomew, under his dub techno slotted moniker, Evan Marc, on Dreamtime Submersible (Somnia, 2008). We are also treated to a track of collaborative work between Bluetech and Eitan Reiter, who has made numerous appearances in the past on Aleph Zero, Dooflex and Iboga. The Divine Invasion is at once more mature and playful. Following Bartholomew through his ambient and techno releases, I can hear the both sides converge on the Bluetech sound that steers clear of stylistic constraints and genre defining elements. This is not a futuristic science fiction space odyssey, where the newly technological advances can be disproved by today's early adopters. This is a mysterious world of dreams and psychedelic visions. And in such alternate realities, unfathomed by our limited senses, anything goes. This surreal music of no limits and boundaries is the perfect candy for your reality smothered mind. With numerous appearances on a roster of respectable labels, Interchill, Yellow Sunshine Explosion, Platipus, and his own Native State Records, this is one of Bluetech's finest contributions towards the evolution of psychedelic sound. For an ambient exploration in sound, pick up Bartholomew's releases on Somnia. Make sure you also check out Bluetech's Sines and Singularities (Aleph Zero, 2005). Recommended if you get down with Plaid, Jon Hopkins, Kilowatts and Ott.

Two and a Half Questions with Bluetech

http://www.myspace.com/iambluetech | http://www.bluetechonline.com
http://www.myspace.com/alephzerorecords | http://www.aleph-zero.info

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Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself (Bpitch Control)

[Editors Note: I tried writing about it. Multiple times. I tried avoiding it. I felt obliged. I tried not to listen. But listened anyway. At the end, I found these words by Sarah Badr.]

What follows below is a review for an album whose title has been rendered regretfully apt. The sudden passing of Telefon Tel Aviv’s Charlie Cooper only two days after the group released their long-awaited third full-length studio record is a coincidence suggestive of a sacrifice: an untimely departure at the arrival of something so great, yet so final. The well-deserved reception of Immolate Yourself, made public on 20th January, has since seen TTA fans buzzing with excitement across music forums worldwide. Based in Chicago and originally from New Orleans, the duo comprised of Cooper and Joshua Eustis had opted to join Berlin’s BPitch Control community shortly after their successful release of Remixes Compiled (including Apparat’s ‘Komponent’) provided clear indication as to why such a marrying of talent would be ideal. Previously signed on with Hefty Records, their earlier albums Fahrenheit Fair Enough (2001) and Map of What Is Effortless (2004) had been emotive masterpieces in their own rites. Early introduction into the world of TTA meant listening to tracks such as the first’s title number, ‘Introductory Nomenclature’, and ‘Nothing Is Worth Losing That’, with an awe reserved to the contemporary electronic greats who so masterfully balance the timbre of their glitches, the time-delays on snare and the synthetic chorus in reverb that unfailingly elevates the entire listening experience. Telefon Tel Aviv have always presented something so beautifully understated with their music’s philosophical allusions as evidently inspired by science and literature (’What’s The Use Of Feet If We Haven’t Got Legs?’). But beneath that, their unique chameleon metamorphosis integrating sounds across genres (most notable R&B and ambient) into a quasi-minimal techno has never ceased to impress. And Immolate Yourself takes that even further, bringing in some New Wave inspiration (’Helen of Troy’, ‘M’) with all the heavy 80s synth necessary for nostalgia to boot. Yet, somehow it still manages to sound very much like TTA, culminating halfway through on the hauntingly poignant ‘Mostly Translucent’ so worthy of replay and reminiscent of that driving force behind the fifth on their second LP. But all of this is beside the point. Because it is in this nature of TTA’s sound that Charlie Cooper will be remembered. Joshua Eustis, in a eulogy on MySpace for both his groupmate and close friend since high school, wrote: ‘We have been so fortunate to tour the world together, while at the same time having a massive amount of laughs at one another’s expense… His musicianship was surpassed only by his greater gift to the world — his warmth, his generosity, his unquenchable humor, and his undying loyalty to those whom he loved. Aside from Charlie’s singular genius and musical gifts, I can tell you that he was a total sweetheart of a guy, and a loving friend and confidant to people everywhere.’ At the age of thirty-one and earlier having been set to tour North America with Matthew Dear, Cooper is survived by his parents, sister, nephew and ‘more adoring friends than the Universe has dark matter.’

Charles Wesley Cooper III
12 April, 1977 – 22 January, 2009

Original review posted by Sarah Badr on pieces-at-random.com
Republished with permission of the author.

http://www.myspace.com/telefontelaviv | http://www.telefontelaviv.com
http://www.myspace.com/bpitchcontrol | http://www.bpitchcontrol.com

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Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix (12k)

A few steps in an empty gym, an organ chord, some pouring water, and we're off... Aix is a slight departure from the Italian artist's, Giuseppe Ielasi, previous release on 12k, August. The latter is a work of restraint ambiance with electronically treated acoustic instrumentation, which was a perfect fit for Taylor Deupree's minimal label. While the former album, the one we're concerned with in this review, produced in Aix-En-Provence (a city in southern France), is a juxtaposition of found confetti of sound, glitched trite and stitched tight into rhythmical structures and repetitive patterns. Like a winter coat glued and sewn together from ripped pieces of fabric, the sporadic collection of sounds seems obscure, that is until you get closer, and you realize that it's warm and fuzzy, even if the colors don't match. The selection of tracks on this "grid" album are groovy, funky and jazzy, drawing an imagery of street performers playing on buckets, rubber bands, zippers, aerosol cans and an array of homemade percussion. In fact, this album strangely reminds me of a recent intarwebs video I saw, Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers. Yet this concotion of dusty sounds does not feel muddy or loose. In fact, it is light and bouncy, leaving plenty of room for each sound to evolve and breathe in its own sound spectrum. Ielasi becomes a master chef, walking into your abandoned kitchen and while opening a rusty refrigerator door, mumbling to himself, "Now what do we have here?" While folding the samples of micro textures and handfuls of semi-random rhythm into a boiling pot of bouncing echoes and stirred grooves, Ielasi delivers an exquisite course of contemporary musique concrète, best served warm, while the melody's still lingering... Overall, this is an interesting sidestep for Ielasi and 12k as well. Don't expect the warm Fennesz like layers and washes reminiscent of August. Enter with an open mind, and Aix will surely leave an imprint and beg you to return again. Besides releasing albums on 12k, Sedimental, and Häpna, Ielasi is also a founder of Fringes Recordings [now defunct] and a co-founder of Schoolmap Records. Be sure to pick up his one-track 30-minute masterpiece, Plans (Sedimental, 2003), as well as above mentioned August (12k, 2007).

http://www.myspace.com/giuseppeielasi | http://www.ielasi.com
http://www.myspace.com/12kline | http://www.12k.com

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Arovane - Tides (City Centre Offices)

With only five albums and a handful of EPs and even some 7-inchers, Berlin-based Uwe Zahn, signed off from producing music altogether, with the last track on Lilies (City Centre Offices, 2004), titled Good Bye Forever. But Arovane's music doesn't age. In fact, it is one of those rare occurrences where it gets better and better as time passes. Today, as part of my Nostalgic Flashbacks series, I wish to revisit Zahn's sophomore album on City Centre Offices, released in the summer of 2000, titled Tides. As the title of the album may suggest, in Tides, Zahn is exploring the incoming waves and their outflow, perhaps in relation to music, perhaps in relation to life. The ambient sounds are accompanied by intricately produced beats, re-sampled guitars, Arovane's staple-sound harpsichords, and organically layered developments. And those melodies... The melodies are simple, delicate and elegant. The sound is melancholic and contemplative. The downtempo slowed down hip-hop beats have lost their bouncy aggressiveness, and instead become loungy, laid back stretches of yawning morning rhythms. The arsenal of elements is limited, yet immediately effective. At only a little under forty minutes long, the album remains one of Arovane's timeless compositions. I remember being overwhelmed by the sound then, and returning to Tides now, I can confirm that Zahn was ahead of his game, and one of the dominant pioneers of sound in the genre. But his journey towards this position was not rapid. Beginning his music experiments since he was 15, Zahn worked with acoustic instruments (clarinet), microphones, synthesizers and turntables, and in the early 90s began producing d'n'b influenced tracks and breakbeat. During his work at a Berlin radio station, Zahn was discovered by Torsten Pröfrock and his label, DIN. Arovane released his first 12", I.O. on DIN in 1998. This EP was soon followed by Icol Diston (DIN, 1998) and a limited 7", Occer / Silicad on City Centre Offices in January of 1999. The year 2000 finally yielded not one, but two full-length albums from Arovane. DIN released Atol Scrap in January, and as noted earlier, Tides came on the scene only six months later from City Centre Offices. The stage was set for Zahn to shine, and so he did. Gaining quick recognition among notable international labels like Lux Nigra [under his Nedjev moniker], and Morr Music [remixes of Accelera Deck]; collaborating with Vertical Form, Phonem, Christian Kleine, Jake Mandell, and Markus Schwill [in a duo group Research Garden]; and touring across the world, Zahn established himself as a one of the top producers behind intellectually melodic, and rhythmic ambient sound. Zahn's short biography on City Centre Offices signs off with stating that "he is currently very much into motorbikes and might start recording a new album pretty soon." Please... Let's hope as much... The world needs more beautiful music. Until then, enjoy Tides and my all time favorite, Lilies.

http://www.myspace.com/arovane | http://www.arovane.de
http://www.myspace.com/citycentreoffices | http://www.city-centre-offices.de

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Robert Logan - Inscape (Slowfoot)

This morning I'm a little bit on edge. In part because of continuous wet and cold weather that makes my bones and muscles ache. In part because of Robert Logan and his new release on Slowfoot titled Inscape. As I commute to music on my way to work, disturbing images flicker behind my eyelids: abandoned places, dark hallways, churning factories of the unknown. The industrial percussion grinds away in a moldy basement of an old asylum, where dreams become reality and nightmares turn to life. Somewhere deep within this dark flashback, a kitten walks up the piano keys, all skin and bone. The instrumentation on Inscape is comprised of sharp metallic needles, poking at the delicate tissue of your brain, reversing, glitching, and dancing in a distorted fury of lust for artificial coupling. The material is raw and synthetic, coming to life with a jolt of electricity and toxic chemical reactions. And that's just the first few tracks... Logan's previous release, Grinder EP (Slowfoot, 2008), has already been previously hailed by yours truly with the following observation: "The sound of the four pieces [on Grinder] is a continuously developing crunchy groove with a touch of big beat, infusion of hip-hop, and a base of dark ambient texture swishing at the bottom of this poisonous cocktail." With Inscape, Logan stayed true to his formula and continued the embrace of digital darkness and sinister soundscapes. As I prepare the write up for this album, I discover that Logan's inspiration behind Inscape was indeed an abandoned factory in Hungary which was being swallowed back by the engulfing forest. Well, now... I guess he did his homework right. As a testament from my comments above, I've witnessed these images through his music with no prior knowledge on the background. There are other notable albums that revolve around the concept of nature taking over man-made structures, like The Refractor's All Colors Run EP (self released, 2008) and Jóhann Jóhannsson's Fordlandia (4AD, 2008), but Logan does it with a much threatening vigor. There is no sadness in Inscape. It is rather a ruthless take back of what was rightfully owned. I should also perhaps mention that Logan is only 21, and has already opened for Grace Jones at Massive Attack's Meltdown. But Logan's music is strong enough to standout on its own. Inscape is Logan's sophomore release, following his debut, Cognessence (Slowfoot, 2007). Recommended if you like Hymen artists such as Hecq, Architect, and Ginormous as well as music from Tympanik Audio by Totakeke, Stendeck, and Autoclav1.1.

Two and a Half Questions with Robert Logan

http://www.myspace.com/robertlogan
http://www.myspace.com/slowfootrecords | http://www.slowfoot.co.uk

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Ametsub - The Nothings Of The North (Progressive Form)

On some level, I'm a little surprised that no one is talking about Ametsub as much as I am. And I'm not just hyping up this Tokyo-based Japanese artist. Even Ryuchi Sakamoto has allegedly proclaimed, "I love this album. I have become a fan". Meanwhile, I've been listening to Ametsub's music since his debut release three years ago, Linear Cryptics (Progressive Form, 2006). For me, the discovery of this artist was totally accidental, and to this day I don't know the original source that incited me to pick up the album. But here I am, raving about his second solo release on Progressive Form, titled The Nothings Of The North. And here's what I love about it. Ametsub's music masterfully incorporates precision glitch into modern classical and future jazz. An accompaniment of tight bass lines and micro programmed rhythm is dominated by Ametsub's beautiful piano playing. The gorgeous and melancholic melodies have been in turn re-sampled, re-looped, and re-triggered to create frantic digital errors that skip across my dazzled memory. The light grooves incorporate elements from trip-hop, dub and abstract idm. The predominant cuts and clips are also extended to vocals, eventually morphing them from words to instruments to choppy bits of percussion. This should keep your cranium busy. Ametsub has already performed alongside respected artists such as Vladislav Delay, Bichi, Numb, and Takemura Nobukaza. His second release to date was actually a collaboration with Jimanica titled, Surge (Mao, 2007). I recommend you pick that up as well, and seriously, get your hands on Linear Cryptics! I guess the single reason why Ametsub has not been completely recognized is the lack of distribution in North America and Europe. It is difficult to get your hands on a physical copy of the album unless you actually order it to be shipped from Japan [I got Linear Cryptics by contacting Ametsub on myspazz]. Digital copies of both albums could be found on iTunes and Beatport. This album is highly recommended for fans of Arovane, Plaid, Murcof and Lusine.

http://www.myspace.com/ametsub3110 | http://www.drizzlecat.org
http://www.myspace.com/progressiveform | http://www.dropcontrol.com/~p_form

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Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (Warp)

When Mark Pritchard first released EP1 (Warp, 2008) under his newly refreshed moniker, Harmonic 313, I got extremely excited about his comeback. After all, I'm a huge fan of his output under a number of aliases, the most favorite being Harmonic 33 and Global Communication. The EP stepped up in bass, and dropped down to 8-bit sound, falling somewhere between abstep (abstract dubstep), electro and Detroit-style experimental hip-hop (313 being its area code). And that was just a teaser. His return with When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (Warp, 2009), picks up right where the EP left off, and slams it back into our faces. It takes a few listens to truly appreciate the genius behind this album. Mostly because your ears are not accustomed to such rubber morphing of the genres. Falling somewhere along the lines of experimental hip-hop by Prefuse 73, Flying Lotus , and J Dilla, the tracks on Machines Exceed Human Intelligence are strangely unique in its own domain. The bass on the tracks is raw, grinding, and wobbly, accompanied by broken syncopated beats, sci-fi chords, and arcade game laser melodies. This flight through a 2D acid flahsback is at the same time an evil and fun experience. Think Nintendo's Spy vs. Spy [hmm, that link was a total Google accident] clashing in the fight between black and white. It is, as if machines not only exceed our intelligence in the future, but actually came back to play with our own favorite toys. The interlude titled, Cyclotron C64 SID, is a testament to Pritchard's tribute to everything retro. After listening to the album half a dozen times, and getting the melodies stuck in my head, I must recognize Pritchard as a continuous pioneer of styles. From ambient, to trip-hop, to experimental hip-hop with elements of dubstep, Pritchard is able to keep up with the trends, adapt to the endless evolution of sound and even invent a few of his own genres along the way - I call it bleep-hop. Glad to see him back on Warp. If you already own the album and the EP, pick up Global Communication's Fabric 26 mix (Fabric, 2005), as well as my all time favorite, Extraordinary People (Alphabet Zoo, 2002) by Harmonic 33. Recommended if you like the above mentioned names, as well as Moderat, Headhunter, 2562, and Lukid.

http://www.myspace.com/officialmarkpritchard | http://www.harmonic313.com
http://www.myspace.com/warprecords | http://www.warprecords.com

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Windy & Carl - Songs For The Broken Hearted (Kranky)

Windy Weber & Carl Hultgren have been releasing minimal ambient and experimental post-rock music since the late 90's. The catalog of this Michigan based husband-and-wife duo spans an eclectic selection of notable labels such as Icon, Ochre, Darla, Brainwashed, and of course, Chicago-based Kranky Records. Songs For The Broken Hearted is Windy & Carl's fourth release on Kranky (being signed to the label for over a decade now), where it perfectly fits among the works by their fellow label-mates, Stars of the Lid, Pan•American, Tim Hecker, and Brian McBride. The tracks on Songs For The Broken Hearted continue to build on the duo's style of beatless shoegaze layers of Carl & Windy's guitar work, using EBow and a variety of time-based delays, with the occasional soft vocals by Windy. Both play equal amounts of guitar on the record, and Windy tells me that "each track (with the exception of Rhodes) was created spontaneously with us both playing guitar, and then carl added a few extra layers after and i added the vocals". The sound of this album is still drony, but a lot more harmonic, as if a heavy pillow was left on the Rhodes, pressing on all the right keys. The cover art of the album pictures a forest with breaking light. A parallel could be drawn between this image and the dense stratum of sonic frequencies evoked by the guitar, with an occasional breakthrough of clearly EQed voice, which almost whispers the songs that lullaby the sad, and indeed the brokenhearted. To understand the depth of feelings behind this work, it helps to bypass my interpretations, and instead quote Windy talking about the album on the band's web site: "this is an album about love. everyone has known love, and everyone has known loss. love is not just about warm fuzzy feelings, although that would be the part people say they like the best. and in any span of time, love changes and means different things to different people. [...] songs for the broken hearted is an album full of honesty, both musically and lyrically. it is for anyone who has felt love - you can hear it in the sounds and the words, both spoken and unspoken. the album i never thought would be is finished." For an extensive selection of Windy & Carl's tracks, check out their triple disk release, Introspection (Blue Flea, 2002). A few other great recommendations from the duo include Depths (Kranky, 1998), Consiousness (Kranky, 2001), and a compilation of two EPs, The Dreamhouse / Dedications to Flea (Kranky, 2005) - the latter being a sad elegy dedicated to their departed dog, Flea. Recommended for the above mentioned Kranky roster. Windy & Carl are currently preparing for their spring tour along with Benoît Pioulard with some special treats from Lambs Laughter (Windy and Thomas Meluch). For tour tour dates and details check their website or myspazz.

Two and a Half Questions for Windy & Carl

http://www.myspace.com/windyandcarl | http://www.brainwashed.com/wc
http://www.myspace.com/krankyltd | http://www.kranky.net

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VA - Intelligent Toys 5 (Sutemos)

The Sutemos collective is a Lithuanian net label which has been releasing free EPs and compilations since January 2004. Intelligent Toys is one of their best series, in which the label collects works from a roster of eclectic electronic musicians across the globe. And this fifth installment is one of my absolute favorites. First of all, even before I go into listing all of the appearances, let me tell you that this selection of tracks spans three logical disks (well, if it was to be printed, it would fit on three physical disks). There are a total of 39 tracks spanning over three hours of music, a nice batch of digital artwork, and an amazing hand-drawn stop-animation video by no_joy covering the track by Sleepy Town Manufacture. Walkman, the founder of Sutemos, managed to outdo himself this time around with "the biggest number of highly acclaimed artists that aren't collaborating with any of the net labels and who thought that giving their music away for free is stupid. Until now." And now I must finally break down and list all of the appearances. After an opening track by AGF/Delay (Antye Greie-Fuchs and Vladislav Delay) we dive right into Praveen (Praveen Sharma with releases on Merck, Ai Records and Neo Ouija), Gultskra Artikler (Alexey Devyanin, with releases on Autoplate, Other Electricities and Miasmah), and Deer (yep, this is Martin Hirsch, currently running Neo Ouija records). And I'm only through the first four tracks... Skip ahead and we fall upon the lovely and delightful tracks by Swod (a.k.a. Dictaphone on City Centre Offices), Miwon (Hendrik Kröz on CCO) and a beautiful glitched out track by a newcomer by the name of NGC 1365 (who is this?). And here comes Yagya (Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson with releases on Force Inc. and Sending Orbs), Maps & Diagrams (Tim Martin on Smallfish and Cactus Island) and... what's this? Ulrich Schnauss is in the house. And if that's not enough, there's more! Few Nodler (Linas Strockis on Planet Mu), IJO (Audrius Vaitiekunas on Plain), and Jvox (Joel Tallent on n5MD and Ad Noiseam). The Funcken brothers contribute a track by Funckarma (their seven aliases and albums on Sublight, n5MD, Ad Noiseam, and Symbolic Interaction are just too many to cover), RJ Valeo (Type Records), Kero (Sohail Azad on Shitkatapult, Bpitch Control and Neo Ouija), and SubtractiveLAD (Stephen Hummel on n5MD). More! There is Sense (Adam M. Raisbeck with releases on Merck, Monotonik, Neo Ouija, Miasmah and Kahvi), MINT (Murray Fisher on Kahvi, Boltfish and U-Cover), Ruxpin (Jónas Thor Gudmundsson on Mikrolux), and Monoceros (Joan Malé on Expanding). Irealize that in some ways this writeup is nothing but a three-paragraph-exercise in detailed discography of a tightly coupled selection of talent. But how else am I supposed to convey this much music in one release? Look at the names... ponder at the labels... listen to the music... and you'll be back for more! Be sure to pick up the first four Intelligent Toys volumes from Sutemos, as well as any of their previous twenty-two releases. And yes... all of this is free, so how can you go wrong?

http://www.myspace.com/sutemos | http://www.sutemos.net

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Hildur Guðnadóttir - Without Sinking (Touch)

It is dark, dense, and brooding. The sky is gray. Winter is refusing to leave. Wind becomes the rhythm; dissonance - the melody. In the delicate hands of the Berlin-based (but Icelandic by birth) Hildur Guðnadóttir, the cello whispers and moans. Perhaps it's grieving for an uncertain future, perhaps accepting a buried past. The voice of sorrow seeps through the trembling fingers and saturates everything around it with something invisible, but wet and salty. Then, a heavy, thick and warm knot builds up inside my chest. And when I sigh, it escapes in a condensed vapor, ascends past the naked tree tops and joins a dark cloud in a stubborn winter sky. Finally the rain falls. And I cringe at all the pain. Hildur Guðnadóttir is not a newcomer to the scene. As a classically trained cellist, she has previously performed with and contributed to works by her Icelandic contemporary artists such as múm, Valgeir Sigurðsson, and Ben Frost, as well as Hafler Trio, Nico Muhly, and even Pan Sonic. For Without Sinking she was able to round up a talented group of friends, like Skúli Sverrisson, the prolific Jóhann Jóhannsson, and her father, Guðni Franzson. Dropping all of the above names should give you a brief idea of the circle that Guðnadóttir revolves in. I guess it's not surprising, since she is an active member in the neu-Iceland collective, Kitchen Motors. This is _the_ Reykjavík music scene think tank, owned and operated by Jóhann Jóhannsson, Kira Kira, and Hilmar Jensson. Without any exaggerations, this is indeed an acoustic modern classical marvel. Absolutely a must for this year! Add Without Sinking and Guðnadóttir's previous works to your collection. The debut album Mount A (12 Tónar, 2006) was originally released under the moniker Lost in the Hildurness. Her recent one-track complimentary release to the album, Iridescence (Touch, 2009), is only available as a digital download, as part of a new series of digital singles launched by Touch on April 1st. On May 16th, 2009, Hildur Guðnadóttir is scheduled to perform for Short Circuit, A Festival of Electronica, during a Touch showcase along with BJ Nilsen, Philip Jeck and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble, and [back on the road!] Biosphere!!! If you're anywhere around The Roundhouse in London, please go... For me...

Two and a Half Questions with Hildur Guðnadóttir

http://www.myspace.com/hildurness | http://www.hildurness.com
http://www.touchmusic.org.uk

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last.fm artist and label cloud mentioned in the above post: Hildur Guðnadóttir, múm, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Ben Frost, Hafler Trio, Nico Muhly, Pan Sonic, Skúli Sverrisson, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Guðni Franzson, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Kira Kira, Hilmar Jensson, BJ Nilsen, Philip Jeck, Gavin Bryars Ensemble, Biosphere, Monoceros, Ruxpin, Mint, Sense, SubtractiveLAD, Kero, RJ Valeo, Funckarma, Jvox, FEW NOLDER, IJO, Ulrich Schnauss, Maps & Diagrams, Yagya, Miwon, Swod, Dictaphone, Deer, Gultskra Artikler, Praveen, AGF/Delay, Antye Greie-Fuchs, Vladislav Delay, Sleepy Town Manufacture, Benoît Pioulard, Lambs Laughter, Stars of the Lid, Pan•American, Tim Hecker, Brian McBride, Windy & Carl, Moderat, Headhunter, 2562, Lukid, Prefuse 73, Flying Lotus, J Dilla, Harmonic 33, Global Communication, Harmonic 313, Mark Pritchard, Arovane, Plaid, Murcof, Lusine, Vladislav Delay, bichi, Numb, Jimanica, Ametsub, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Totakeke, Stendeck, autoclav1.1, Hecq, Architect, Ginormous, Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Refractors, Robert Logan, Lux Nigra, Accelera Deck, Vertical Form, Phonem, Christian Kleine, Jake Mandell, Markus Schwill, Fennesz, Giuseppe Ielasi, Taylor Deupree, Apparat, Telefon Tel Aviv, Plaid, Jon Hopkins, KiloWatts, Ott, Bluetech, Shulman, Evan Marc, Evan Bartholomew, Aes Dana, Mahiane, Asura, Solar Fields, H.U.V.A. Network, The Field, Echocord, LOWFOUR, Tim Hecker, William Basinski, Gas, Mokira, Andreas Tilliander, Spyweirdos, Si Begg, Black Film, Team Doyobi, nongenetic, Lusine ICL, Solar X, Lowfish, Venetian Snares, Psi Spy, Snog, The Manhattan Gimp Project, Mad EP, Hecq, Autechre, Grouper, Two Lone Swordsmen, Gravenhurst, Anders Trentemøller, Trentemøller, Greg Davis, Adam Pacione, Ateleia, Hannu, Simon Scott, Christopher Bissonnette, Benoît Pioulard, Akira Kosemura, Part Timer, Orla Wren, Fourcolor, Sawako, Lawrence English, Aus, Mark Templeton, moskitoo, Slowdive, Burial, Sully, Narcossist, Falty DL, Brackles, Groovechronicles, Millie & Andrea, TRG, Spatial, Peverelist, Hauschka, Pan American, Harold Budd, Ólafur Arnalds, Erik Satie, Peter Broderick, Jacaszek, Goldmund, Touch, Sutemos, Planet Mu, n5MD, Ad Noiseam, Mikrolux, Neo Ouija, Miasmah, kahvi, Type, Bpitch Control, Shitkatapult, Sublight, symbolic interaction, Sending Orbs, City Centre Offices, Force Inc., Smallfish, Autoplate, Other Electricities, Ai Records, Kranky, Icon, Ochre, Darla, Brainwashed, Warp, PROGRESSIVE FOrM, Tympanik Audio, Hymen, Slowfoot Records, Morr Music, Din, 12K, Häpna, Schoolmap, Hefty Records, interchill, Yellow Sunshine Explosion, Platipus, Native State Records, Aleph Zero, IBOGA, Somnia, Ultimae Records, Repeatle, Mille Plateaux, raster-noton, FATCAT, Rough Trade, ROOM40, Anticipate Recordings, KESH, Planet Mu, Tempa, Infrasonics

Yet again I've decided to waste my time- and maybe even yours- with another list of my favorite albums. This time, I've compiled a list of my 30 favorite albums from each year of the 2000s. Recommendations are greatly appreciated.


2009 so far

1. Isis- Wavering Radiant
2. Fen- The Malediction Fields
3. Wolves in the Throne Room- Black Cascade
4. maudlin of the Well- Part the Second
5. The Field- Yesterday and Today
6. Dereleech- Servant of Entropy
7. Blut aus Nord- Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars
8. Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion
9. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest
10. Steve Roach- Dynamic Stillness
11. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.- Lord of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixir
12. Telefon Tel Aviv- Immolate Yourself
13. Drudkh- Microcosmos
14. Tim Hecker- An Imaginary Country
15. Funebrarum- The Sleep of Morbid Dreams
16. disappearer- The Clearing
17. Squarepusher- Numbers Lucent EP
18. The Prophecy- Into the Light
19. Mono- Hymn to the Immortal Wind
20. Pelican- Ephemeral EP
21. Boxcutter- Arecibo Message
22. Wolves in the Throne Room- Malevolent Grain EP
23. Phillip Wilkerson- Constant 23
24. Mountains- Choral
25. Great Lake Swimmers- Lost Channels
26. Cobalt- Gin
27. Amorphis- Skyforger
28. Absu- Absu
29. Devin Townsend- Ki
30. Fleshgod Apocalypse- Oracles

2008

1. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Fordlândia
2. Sun Kil Moon- April
3. ColdWorld- Melancholie²
4. Dereleech- Downstream
5. Deepspace- The Glittering Domain
6. Agalloch- The White EP
7. Esoteric- The Maniacal Vale
8. Have a Nice Life- Deathconsciousness
9. Nadja- The Bungled & the Botched
10. M83- Saturdays = Youth
11. Darkspace- Dark Space III
12. Deerhunter- Microcastle / Weird Era Continued
13. Genghis Tron- Board Up the House
14. Ihsahn- angL
15. Virgin Black- Requiem - Fortissimo
16. This Will Destroy You- This Will Destroy You
17. All India Radio- These Winter Dreams
18. Deathspell Omega- Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon
19. Steve Roach- Landmass
20. Aeveron- Existential Dead End
21. Portishead- Third
22. Moonsorrow- Tulimyrsky EP
23. Flying Lotus- Los Angeles
24. I Shalt Become- Requiem
25. Lifelover- Konkurs
26. Atmosphere- When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
27. Leviathan- Massive Conspiracy Against All Life
28. Manual- Confluence
29. Ólafur Arnalds- Variations of Static EP
30. Enslaved- Vertebrae

2007

1. Wolves in the Throne Room- Two Hunters
2. Eluvium- Copia
3. Walknut- Graveforests and Their Shadows
4. Primordial- To The Nameless Dead
5. Lunar Aurora- Andacht
6. Blonde Redhead- 23
7. dälek- Abandoned Language
8. Deepspace- The Barometric Sea
9. The Marcia Blaine School for Girls- Halfway Into the Woods
10. Nadja- Thaumogenesis
11. Stars of the Lid- And Their Refinement of the Decline
12. Burial- Untrue
13. Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd- Before the Day Breaks
14. Drudkh- Estrangement
15. Alcest- Souvenirs d'un autre monde
16. Amon Tobin- Foley Room
17. Radiohead- In Rainbows
18. Moonsorrow- V: Hävitetty
19. Boxcutter- Glyphic
20. Krohm- The Haunting Presence
21. Explosions in the Sky- All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
22. Electric Wizard- Witchcult Today
23. El-P- I'll Sleep When You're Dead
24. Rosetta- Wake/Lift
25. Legiac- Means Feaner
26. Nine Inch Nails- Year Zero
27. Dungen- Tio Bitar
28. The Angelic Process- Weighing Souls With Sand
29. Darkestrah- Epos
30. Christ.- Blue Shift Emissions

2006

1. Warning- Watching From a Distance
2. Wolves in the Throne Room- Diadem of 12 Stars
3. Agalloch- Ashes Against the Grain
4. Drudkh- Blood In Our Wells
5. Jesu- Silver EP
6. AFX- Chosen Lords
7. Tool- 10,000 Days
8. Mono- You Are There
9. Jóhann Jóhannsson- IBM 1401, A User's Manual
10. Nachtmystium- Instinct: Decay
11. God Is an Astronaut- A Moment of Stillness
12. Amesoeurs- Ruines humaines EP
13. Yndi Halda- Enjoy Eternal Bliss
14. Ahab- The Call of the Wretched Sea
15. Mahogany- Connectivity!
16. Insomnium- Above the Weeping World
17. Cult of Luna- Somewhere Along the Highway
18. Steve Roach- Storm Surge: Live at NEARfest
19. Geïst- Kainsmal
20. Robin Guthrie- Everlasting
21. Tenhi- Maaäet
22. The Knife- Silent Shout
23. Katharsis- VVorldVVithoutEnd
24. The Roots- Game Theory
25. Amon Amarth- With Oden on Our Side
26. Above & Beyond- Tri-State
27. Enslaved- Ruun
28. The Black Angels- Passover
29. Deftones- Saturday Night Wrist
30. Mastodon- Blood Mountain

2005

1. Steve Roach- New Life Dreaming
2. Boards of Canada- The Campfire Headphase
3. Jesu- Jesu
4. Boris- Pink
5. Oöphoi- Hymns to a Silent Sky
6. Rosetta- The Galilean Satellites
7. !T.O.O.H.!- Řád a Trest
8. Earth- Hex; or Printing in the Infernal Method
9. Darkspace- Dark Space II
10. Venetian Snares- Rossz csillag alatt született
11. Lurker of Chalice- Lurker of Chalice
12. Sigur Rós- Takk...
13. Robert Rich- Echo of Small Things
14. Deathspell Omega- Kénôse EP
15. Meshuggah- Catch 33
16. Akercocke- Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
17. Kraftwerk- Minimum-Maximum
18. Gojira- From Mars to Sirius
19. Ulver- Blood Inside
20. Draconian- Arcane Rain Fell
21. Candlemass- Candlemass
22. CunninLynguist- A Piece of Strange
23. Biosphere- Dropsonde
24. dälek- Absence
25. William Basinski- Melancholia
26. Kriegsmaschine- Altered States of Divinity
27. Autechre- Untitled
28. Nadja- Truth Becomes Death
29. 65daysofstatic- One Time for All Time
30. Opeth- Ghost Reveries

2004

1. Drudkh- Autumn Aurora
2. Squarepusher- Ultravisitor
3. Enslaved- Isa
4. Deathspell Omega- Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
5. Wintersun- Wintersun
6. Lunar Aurora- Elixir of Sorrow
7. Isis- Panopticon
8. Augury- Concealed
9. Meshuggah- I EP
10. Deinonychus- Insomnia
11. Proem- Socially Inept
12. Helios- Unomia
13. Sear Bliss- Glory and Perdition
14. Madvillain- Madvilliany
15. Iron & Wine- Our Endless Numbered Days
16. Leviathan- Tentacles of Whorror
17. Jonn Serrie- The Stargazer's Journey
18. Orphaned Land- Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven
19. Cult of Luna- Salvation
20. Robert Rich- Calling Down the Sky
21. The Flashbulb- Red Extensions of Me
22. Loscil- First Narrows
23. Vàli- Forlatt
24. Jesu- Heart Ache EP
25. Velvet Cacoon- Genevieve
26. The Dead Texan- The Dead Texan
27. Rotting Christ- Sanctus Diavolos
28. Aura Noir- The Merciless
29. Arcade Fire- Funeral
30. Fennesz- Venice

2003

1. Steve Roach- Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces
2. Drudkh- Forgotten Legends
3. Enslaved- Below the Lights
4. Boris- Feedbacker
5. Sun Kil Moon- Ghosts of the Great Highway
6. Explosions in the Sky- The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
7. Gridlock- Formless
8. Autechre- Draft 7.30
9. Prefuse 73- One Word Extinguisher
10. Opeth- Damnation
11. Blut aus Nord- The Work Which Transforms God
12. Hala Strana- Fielding
13. Forgotten Tomb- Springtime Depression
14. Ulver- A Quick Fix of Melancholy EP
15. The Gathering- Souvenirs
16. Kid606- Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
17. Ulrich Schnauss- A Strangely Isolated Place
18. Steve Roach- Texture Maps: The Lost Pieces Vol. 3
19. Alias- Muted
20. Falkenbach- Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty
21. System 7- Live Transmissions
22. M83- Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
23. William Basinski- The Disintegration Loops IV
24. Pan•American- The River Made No Sound
25. Virus- Carheart
26. The Angelic Process- Coma Waering
27. Madlib- Shades of Blue
28. Devin Townsend- Accelerated Evolution
29. Edge of Sanity- Crimson II
30. Solefald- In Harmonia Universali

2002

1. Agalloch- The Mantle
2. Boards of Canada- Geogaddi
3. Isis- Oceanic
4. Sigur Rós- ( )
5. Opeth- Deliverance
6. Arcturus- The Sham Mirrors
7. Nine Inch Nails- And All That Could Have Been/Still EP
8. Shining- III - Angst - Självdestruktivitetens Emissarie
9. The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
10. múm- Finally We Are No One
11. Porcupine Tree- In Absentia
12. El-P- Fantastic Damage
13. Nile- In Their Darkened Shrines
14. Empyrium- Weiland
15. In Gowan Ring- Hazel Steps Through a Weathered Home
16. Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
17. Biosphere- Shenzhou
18. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead- Source Tags & Codes
19. Six Organs of Admittance- Dark Noontide
20. Judas Iscariot- To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding
21. Murcof- Martes
22. Immortal- Sons of Northern Darkness
23. Dark Tranquillity- Damage Done
24. Steve Roach- Streams & Currents
25. Diary of Dreams- Freak Perfume
26. !T.O.O.H.!- Pod vládou biče
27. Beck- Sea Change
28. dredg- El Cielo
29. Lustmord- Zeotrope
30. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Englabörn

2001

1. maudlin of the Well- Leaving Your Body Map (Also: Bath)
2. Aphex Twin- Drukqs
3. Tool- Lateralus
4. Opeth- Blackwater Park
5. Björk- Vespertine
6. Cannibal Ox- The Cold Vein
7. Autechre- Confield
8. Ulrich Schnauss- Far Away Trains Passing By
9. Devin Townsend- Terria
10. Emperor- Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise
11. Aesop Rock- Labor Days
12. Tim Hecker- Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again
13. J-Live- The Best Part
14. My Dying Bride- The Dreadful Hours
15. Daft Punk- Discovery
16. Pete Namlook- Silence V
17. Absu- Tara
18. Plaid- Double Figure
19. Evoken- Quietus
20. Cult of Luna- Cult of Luna
21. Dolorian- Dolorian
22. Gorguts- From Wisdom to Hate
23. Neurosis- A Sun That Never Sets
24. DJ Tiësto- Magik, vol. 7: Live in Los Angeles
25. Liquid Morphine- GrijsGebied
26. Squarepusher- Go Plastic
27. Sigh- Imaginary Sonicscape
28. The Shins- Oh, Inverted World
29. André Estermann- Balloon
30. Therion- Secret of the Runes

2000

1. Weakling- Dead as Dreams
2. Radiohead- Kid A
3. Boards of Canada- In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP
4. Boris- Flood
5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
6. Lykathea Aflame- Elvenefris
7. DJ Tiësto- Magik, vol. 6: Live in Amsterdam
8. Harold Budd- The Room
9. Robert Rich- Humidity
10. Ulver- Perdition City
11. Jedi Mind Tricks- Violent by Design
12. The Gathering- If_Then_Else
13. Aesop Rock- Float
14. Reflection Eternal- Train of Thought
15. Sol Invictus- Trieste
16. Gas- Pop
17. Shape of Despair- Shades of...
18. Garden of Shadows- Oracle Moon
19. Deltron 3030- Deltron 3030
20. A Silver Mt. Zion- He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms...
21. Hypocrisy- Into the Abyss
22. Primordial- Spirit the Earth Aflame
23. Bloodbath- Breeding Death EP
24. Amon Tobin- Supermodified
25. Immolation- Close to a World Below
26. A Perfect Circle- Mer de Noms
27. Morbid Angel- Gateways to Annihilation
28. Deftones- White Pony
29. Modest Mouse- The Moon & Antarctica
30. Behemoth- Thelema.6

Guest Programmer
Kptmichigan (Hillentrup, Germany)
http://mirrorworldmusic.com/artists/kptmichigan

Michael Beckett is kptmichigan, a musician and producer who loves guitars, totally dislikes programming and finds the term experimental somewhat dodgy. As kptmichigan, he has released 4 albums, the newest being the experimental 10 Self-Modulating Loops Made Whilst Fasting, released on the label MirrorWorldMusic that he and friend Schneider TM run.

About the podcast: This podcast features a bunch of stuff from friends to people that time has forgotten…The weird and the wonderful. I allowed myself to add random stuff to and between some of the tracks, even creating new music especially for this podcast.

Listen loud / Listen deep.

http://mirrorworldmusic.com

Playlist
1. Moondog / Invocation [The Viking of Sixth Avenue / Honest Jon`s]
2. Blasphemy / Winds Of The Black Godz [Fenriz Presents The Best Of Old School Black Metal / Peaceville]
3. Unknown / Gong Station/Chimes [The Conet Project / Irdial]
4. Angel / Holding Loose [Hedonism / Editions Mego/MirrorWorldMusic]
5. Else Marie Pade / Faust [Et Glasperlespil / Dacapo]
6. Köhn / Willen=Köhnen [Köhn 2 / Kraak]
7. Der Golem / Unknown [Zmet / Grief Records]
8. Unknown / Unknown [Cambodian Cassette Archives / Sublime Frequencies]
9. Kptmichigan / Ignatz/Bo Diddley Re-Work [Ignatz/The Complete Chess Years / Kraak/Chess]
10. Motorpsycho / Nathan Daniel`s Tune From Hawaii [Blissard / Stickman]
11. Oval / Catchy DAAD [Systemisch / Mille Plateux]
12. Kptmichigan / Delma Lachney and Blind Uncle Gaspard/Notwist Re-Work [Harry Smith`s Anthology Of American Folk Music/Nook / Smithsonian Folkways/Big Store]
13. To Rococo Rot / Allover Dezent [Veiculo / City Slang]
14. SND/Gas / Circa 1509 / Königsforst 4 [Clicks `n Cuts/Königsforst / Mille Plateux]
15. Kraftwerk / Kling Klang [Kraftwerk 2 / Philips]
16. Kptmichigan / Kling Klang (The Lost Chapter) [None / MirrorWorldMusic]
17. The Velvet Underground / After Hours [The Velvet Underground / Verve]

Listen to the podcast:
http://www.plumindustries.org/2009/05/28/eleveneleven-18-kptmichigan/