Johan - 4 [2009]
In 1996, I went from New Amsterdam to the real Amsterdam, a Manhattan music journalist drawn by tales about a new wave of Dutch indie-rock in the wake of stateside success for Bettie Seveert’s album “Palomine.” The idea that there were more bands playing guitar-charged, English-language pop songs in the Netherlands — a distinct shift from the club tunes and Euro ballads that dominated the continent — was enough for Billboard magazine to send a writer in search of the sounds.
It’s a cliché to fall in love with Amsterdam at first sight, but it wasn’t just the bar lights reflecting off the canals at night that got me. There was also a kind of romance in the soundtrack I happened upon. One single, Johan’s “Everybody Knows,” stuck in my head from the second Ferry Roseboom played it for me. The label manager of Excelsior Recordings sussed out our kindred-spirit love of power-pop on the way to an Excelsior show in Utrecht (featuring Johan’s brethren, the excellent, Americana-laced Daryll-Ann and punk-pop Caesar). Ferry bet I’d love the song, and I did. “Everybody Knows” hit me as a small marvel of melody and melancholy, delivered with the edge of fresh emotion in ‘60s-meets-‘90s style.
And there was more where that came from. Spinning Johan’s eponymous debut over and again, I found it had tunes for days: the great, propulsive “Not Funny Anymore (It’s)” became a new favorite, then “He’s Not There,” “Easy (It’s)” and “Porneaux.” There was range to the album, too, in the soaring, original Bowie homage “Life on Mars” and the keening guitar groove that caps “Brown Mice.” Unsung in the wider culture it may be, but “Johan” remains a power-pop classic, as addictive in 2008 as it was in 1996. And if I had good news to report in the pages of Billboard back then, this boxed set — the band’s first three albums remastered, plus a DVD of videoclips — points out something better: that Johan has managed to develop artistically despite the vicissitudes of the music business, building on its debut with 2001’s “Pergola” and 2006’s “THX JHN.”
But back to the start: The soul of Johan — singer-guitarist and songwriter Jacob de Greeuw — hails from Hoorn, about 30 miles outside Amsterdam. He and his initial mates formed a band in reaction to “all the crap” that had been passing for their nation’s popular music in years previous, naming their foursome after Dutch soccer star Johan Cruijff. Inspired by groups from the Beatles and Kinks to Guided by Voices and the Posies, they applied lessons learned with the alacrity of youth. De Greeuw had a gift for haunting melodies and words of commensurate feeling, his clear, open voice making him sound like someone you know. The band’s dynamic drums and wires were also captured by a sympathetic producer-engineer. Excelsior’s Frans Hagenaars, who helmed glory-era discs by Bettie Seveert and Daryll-Ann, has always framed the sound of a rock combo with the ear of a pop classicist.
The initial Johan lineup fractured in the late ‘90s, but with a little help from new friends, De Greeuw recorded “Pergola.” The album’s highpoints outdo Crowded House at its own game. The pensive verses of single “Tumble and Fall” are countered by an irresistibly arching chorus. Even better, “Tomorrow” balances malaise and uplift like a kind of magic trick. De Greeuw sings about how the world was “fucked up long ago,” the words of the chorus — “tomorrow will come to cancel the future/ tomorrow’s a gun, loaded confusion” — grim enough to suck the air out of a day. But that chorus surges with such melodic sublimity that it is exactly the sort of thing that makes life worth living. Similarly, “Day Is Done” is a song about overcoming depression that manages to mix an inner ache with a sense of beauty and playfulness — a combination that Neil Finn or Ray Davies would recognize as an uncommon feat.
A new, stable Johan lineup — De Greeuw plus guitarist Maarten Kooijman, bassist Diets Dijkstra and ex-Daryll-Ann drummer Jeroen Kleijn — cohered for “THX JHN,” its title a shorthand thank you to fans who stayed devoted in the five years separating each of the band’s albums. Opener “Coming in from the Cold” heralds a sunnier outlook (“took a long way to get here . . . but not going to give in”), as well as a lush refinement of the Johan sound. De Greeuw remains a poet of capturing the big hurts in small moments; even the romantic devotional “Oceans” carries a bittersweet undertow. But he has also broadened his lyrical outlook: “Reader Takes a Stand” casts a gimlet eye at the mindlessness often infecting 21st-century media exchange. De Greeuw’s musical subtlety has deepened, too, with “Walking Away” brimming with shimmering hooks and “When I’m on My Own” boasting a bridge that ups the emotional ante.
“12.5 years, 3 albums, 36 songs” is a summing up, yet it’s not the end of the story. Another Johan album is being mixed as I write these notes, so a new record will be coming only three years after the previous one (more progress). The world needs pop-art poems as much as it ever has, and this is a band that keeps delivering them. That is something to celebrate.
Bradley Bambarger
New York, December 2008
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - Here And Now [bar-none, 2009]
tracklist:
1. My Friend the Sun
2. Santa Monica
3. Here and Now
4. Early In the Morning
5. Widescreen World
6. Broken Records
7. Ukulele
8. Begin Again
9. Bird On the Wing
10. Some of the Parts
11. Song For Johnny Cash
12. Long Time Coming
13. To Be Loved
14. Tape Op Blues
15. From A Window To A Screen (Bonus Acoustic Version)
16. Today Could Be The Day (Bonus Acoustic Version)
17. Happenstance (Bonus Acoustic Version)
17 YEARS LATER, PETER HOLSAPPLE & CHRIS STAMEY FOLLOW MAVERICKS WITH NEW DUO ALBUM, hERE aND nOW, DUE OUT ON BAR/NONE RECORDS ON JUNE 9
dB’s songwriters enlist special guest Branford Marsalis and longtime bandmates Gene Holder, Will Rigby
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — hERE aND nOW is the first new collaboration in almost two decades by Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, the acclaimed songwriters of the dB’s. Scheduled for release June 9 on Bar/None Records, the album features legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis on two tracks: the single “Early in the Morning” and Peter’s ode to New Orleans, “Begin Again.”
Drum aces Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Son Volt, the Mountain Goats) and Logan Matheny (Roman Candle, The Rosebuds) and percussionist Gary Greene (Hootie and the Blowfish, Big Head Todd) bring power to tracks such as “Some of the Parts” and “Widescreen World,” and the dB’s’ rhythm section Gene Holder (bass) and Will Rigby (drums) join in on the atmospheric “Santa Monica.”
The acoustic side of the duo, reminiscent of their 1992 Rhino/RNA album Mavericks, comes to the fore on tracks such as “Long Time Coming,” one of several that feature Greg Readling (Chatham County Line, Tift Merritt) on pedal steel. The lead track, “My Friend the Sun,” is a cover of a classic from the legendary British prog-pop band Family.
Holsapple and Stamey grew up together in Winston-Salem, NC, and started playing music together in middle school — and have really never stopped. Through countless bands along the way — including Rittenhouse Square, Little Diesel, Sneakers, the H-Bombs, the dB’s, Continental Drifters, and the Golden Palominos — and recording sessions and sideman stints with the likes of R.E.M., Bob Mould and Hootie, the two have maintained a deep musical connection. Having relocated to Durham, NC, from New Orleans in 2006, Peter is writing songs and blogging as well as playing locally and afar, while Chris produces and records at Modern Recording, his home base in Chapel Hill, NC, where this record was made.
According to Holsapple, “The first duo record we did in 1992 (Mavericks) was recorded and mixed in one fell swoop; this one took a couple years and a hurricane to complete. We had a few days to get some rhythm tracks completed and then spent the rest of the studio time getting the vocals and overdubs to sit correctly with the songs.”
“Peter and I think of this as a band without a name but still with its own distinct style and sensibility,” says Stamey. “We tried to pick songs that would not seem out of place with the vibe of Mavericks, that could sit alongside the uncynical exuberance and unblinkered romanticism of the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers. We kept the recording process as natural as we could, without click tracks or engineers, just friends playing in a room together . . . We shared with Big Star a teenage Anglophilia: Family’s ‘My Friend the Sun’ was a hit in our world, although pretty much unknown to the greater U.S.”
Commenting on his songs on the album, Stamey adds, “At a rehearsal with the dB’s, I showed the newly-penned ‘Santa Monica’ — and that initial one-take ‘reading’ is the same basic track that was used here; sometimes the first take is the best. In spring 2005, we huddled together and pored over lyrics in a little writing room at Piety Street Studios in New Orleans, covering the floor with multiple revisions of ‘Widescreen World.’ We were in the process of returning there for sessions when Katrina rewrote our plans.”
Holsapple says his song “Begin Again” is about “watching the news reports about New Orleans flooding from far away, and the kind of reconciling one has to do when one’s life is forced to change dramatically because of the destruction of a hurricane. It’s hard to walk away from a city that embraced me for thirteen years, but that’s what I did physically, moving back to North Carolina where Chris and I are from. Spiritually and mentally, I don’t think you can ever really leave New Orleans after you’ve lived there for any length of time; the lessons I learned about myself and how I fit into the world at large are ones I learned there and are deeply rooted in me forever.”
Holsapple, Stamey, Holder and Rigby are continuing their work on an eventual dB’s album. This year, however, Holsapple and Stamey are focusing their attentions on what is hERE aND nOW.
jóhann jóhannsson - and in the endless pause there came the sound of bees [Mute Song, 2009]
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tracklist:
1 Theme (3:22)
2 City Building (2:53)
3 Entering The City (0:54)
4 The Flat (3:27)
5 Rainwater (2:10)
6 Pods (3:14)
7 The Gift (2:46)
8 Dying City (3:42)
9 Escape (5:44)
10 Inside The Pods (1:51)
11 End (Snowing) (6:39)
Jóhann Jóhannsson is a composer from Iceland with a background in a variety of different genres of music and an impressive series of works to his name. His first two solo records, Englabörn, written for string quartet and electronics (2002) and Virthulegu forsetar, for 11 brass players, percussion, organ and piano (2004) were released on the respected British label Touch and received glowing reviews in the international music media; Virthulegu forsetar found its way onto many critics’ end of year lists. In 2006, 4AD released his album IBM 1401, a User´s Manual, written for a string orchestra and electronics, to a wider audience as well as critical acclaim.
Jóhann’s many side-projects include the analog keyboard dominated rock group Apparat Organ Quartet, hailed by Neil Strauss in the New York Times as being “as innovative and meticulous as Sigur Ros, but who sound nothing like it”. He is also a member of the electronic music collective Evil Madness and one of the founders of the art organization Kitchen Motors.
He has collaborated with many internationally renowned artists including Marc Almond, Barry Adamson and Pan Sonic, The Hafler Trio, Laetitia Sadier and Jaki Liebezeit to name a few.
Jóhann’s music has been featured in several films, including Wicker Park (Paul McGuigan 2004), Ashes and Snow (Gregory Colbert 2006) Opium, Diary of a Madwoman (Janos Szasz 2007) and Voleurs De Cheveaux (Micha Wald 2007).
Jóhann has written 6 feature film scores, as well as music for many documentaries, short films, 10 theatre productions and several contemporary dance works.
Iris Leu - Hushaboo [2009]
Hushaboo is a collection of 10 radio-ready tracks that strikes a distinctly modernist chord in the piano pop genre. The album draws from a range of stylistic influences from 80’s experimentalist group Talk Talk’s synth pop to Impressionist composer Debussy’s watery palate. The songs are inspired by the stories of many including the late musician Carter Albrecht, Showtime’s vigilante serial killer Dexter, and Paris Hilton and her lamentable aspirations. Crafted in the constraints of pop song structure and minimally dressed in lush, distorted atmosphere, the result is a thoughtful album with an eminent edge.
The album was recorded from Feb - Sept 2008 at Bass Propulsion Laboratories with producers Todd Pipes (Deep Blue Something, Calhoun, The Hourly Radio) and Nolan Thies (Little Black Dress) and features some of the Dallas music scene’s most integral musicians: Earl Darling, Cooper Heffley, and Taylor Tatsch.
bio
Pop music is in its most glorious hour: studio splicing and the quick production of catchy tunes, one-click downloading towards a maxed-out iPhone, diva tantrums on the TV during the dinner hour. Okay, maybe not. In its evolution towards convenient electronic turnaround, something’s gone missing. Simply, it’s the 2am tune during a lonely highway coasting, the get-up song after a rough day. And what’s been lost is what listeners crave most: that human connection. This still matters, right?
Back to basics: listeners need a song crafted by a songwriter who can speak to their intelligence and a performer who sings to break a heart, loosen a tear. And if you can find one who can fill both roles, you’ll want to lean in closely.
Iris Leu brings listeners back to the heart of the craft, skillfully merging significance and attention in 4-minute song intervals. Though a fairly newcomer to the music scene, there has already been recognition from the International Songwriting Contest, Unisong, and Dallas Songwriters Association, and invitations to perform at numerous college campuses and festivals throughout the South and the Northeast.
Her introductory EP permanent transient (2007) sold-out its initial run in the year of release after an extensive 2-months, 5,000 miles cross-country tour. The conversations on the road with pastors, prostitutes, and those morally in-between provided the backbone to the writing sessions in early winter 2008 which produced 40 songs. After months of effort and collaboration in the studio, 10 stand-out tracks absorbed into hushaboo.
On February 24, 2009, hushaboo will be released to fans across the country who can expect to fall in love once again with the beauty of a resonating melody and the voice of a familiar reminder that the joy of music is found in a priceless place- that of the human stories common between us.
Elfin Saddle - Ringing For The Begin Again [2009]
Ringing for the Begin Again begins like any other Constellation album, delicate and mournful strings on “The Bringer” by the label’s resident violinist Jessica Moss and gently hammered xylophone combine to make a beautiful and moving introduction to the album. McKenzie’s vocals sound like a lived-in version of Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, lilting in the rhythm of Moss’s bowing. His lyrics on this piece and elsewhere on Ringing for the Begin Again have a poetic quality that fits like a glove with the dreamy music. “The Living Light” is easily one of the best songs of the year; the driving rhythm combined with McKenzie’s almost religious singing makes a huge impression with each play through the album.
An entire album like this would be epic but Elfin Saddle have other, equally wonderful things to offer. Honda is the second vocalist in the group and sings exclusively in Japanese. Her songs have a very different tone to them compared to those sung by McKenzie, the music taking on a different beat to match the delivery of her carefully placed syllables. “Sakura” and “The Procession” have a delicate music box quality (although the presence of tuba on the latter track certainly beefs it up), Honda’s voice haunting the melodies. Honda’s crowning achievement however comes with “The Ocean” which complements the tone of “The Bringer” and bookends the album nicely.
It is hard to get these songs out of my head after listening to Ringing for the Begin Again, even the songs in Japanese stick in my brain for hours. Elfin Saddle combine incredibly infectious songwriting with a real passion that sets them apart from other quirky indie acts. Being based in Canada and with the huge list of instruments used on the album (guitar, ukulele, saw, drums, accordion, banjo, xylophone, tuba, violin, etc.) they could easily mistaken as a Broken Social Scene “everything including the kitchen sink” kind of band but they have a simplicity and humanity to them that the likes of Broken Social Scene lack.
The Gentle Lurch - The Beat Of The Heart Is The Beat Of The Boss [2009]
Dresden’s answer to Wilco?
The Gentle Lurch’s second album, ‘The Beat of the Heart is the Beat of the Boss’ is a sprawling, experimental epic consisting of 14 songs split over two discs. This time round, the band is loath to include anything less than 5 minutes in length. Also, their sonic palette has grown to encompass jazz and orchestral chamber music.
On first listen, it is clear that this is an album that is not going to give up its charms easily. Lars Hillers, heavily accented, half spoken drawl is a barrier that prevents any immediacy being discovered in the sound. Much more pleasant is Cornelia Mothes bluesy vocals on ‘Owl’ and ‘Kept Woman’.
However, tenacity pays when listening to The Gentle Lurch, and eventually the myriad of charms contained in these sprawling arrangements start to present themselves. At times the band sounds almost discordant, at other times, the sound is so lovely that it sounds completely out of place (the backing vocals on ‘The Magic Ingredient to Flames’ being a prime example.
Ultimately, ‘The Beat of the Heart…….’ is not going to be to everyone’s tastes. However, if ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’-era Wilco is one of your key texts, give The Gentle Lurch a spin. Patience is a virtue after all.
Date review added: Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Reviewer: Dan Wilkinson
La Strada - La Strada (ep) [2009]
Not to be confused with a reunion of the defunct 1980s new wave Serbian band, New York indie band La Strada is similar to the Zachary Francis Condon-led Beirut but with a more rustic folk mentality.
I can’t imagine either the stress or the fun involved in collaborating with so many musicians to make such pleasant music. With seven members (James Craft - accordion, guitar, vocals; Devon Press - gass, buitar, and accordion; Ted Lattis - guitar; Brady Miller - drums; Maria Jeffers - cello; Daniel Baer - violin; and Corrina Albright - viola), La Strada feels more like an orchestra than a band, joining the likes of Arcade Fire and Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s as similar indie pop darlings.
What makes La Strada different is their use of pop melody to harmonize their sound rather than carry it forward. Every member lends their vocal talents to the music and the collective ooh’s and aah’s are used to tell part of the story as well. There are no lyrics in “Flying” but the title can point you to direction the song takes given the band’s pleasing, almost relaxed demeanor.
The group vocals depict not only the joy they want to project in the song, but also the joy they seemingly had and have in performing the song. With that in mind, it’s hard not to identify with the music (respect to tastes notwithstanding). The ode to mothers in “Mama” is heartfelt, especially with the collective choral chants that help convey compassion and empathy.
The opening “Orphan” has the utmost charm (with nudges from Craft singing “wake up you silly / shake your sleepy head”), encompassing unyielding love filled with pageantry ambiance by the lovely strings.
The opus “Starling” showcases what a full seven-piece outfit can do with strings, percussion, and a couple of accordions in telling the story of a little bird in a big world: “Welcome to your new world / you’re looking through the eyes / of a child again / the waves are crashing to the ground.” Unfortunately, La Strada’s eponymous debut EP is six tracks long, albeit fuller and more complete than most hour-long sets dream to be.
palov & mishkin - think twice [cast-a-blast, 2009]
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tracklist:
01. Blunts, Parachutes, Headphones & Beats (ft. Bnc)
02. Never Forget
03. A Case Of Amnesia
04. Rude Mamba Pt.1
05. China Man
06. Halo Halo
07. Et De Clarinete
08. Theme From Backslam
09. Fast Train Humming
10. Rude Mamba Pt.2
11. Oiust Atou
12. Block Rock (ft. Bnc)
13. De Mi Careta
14. Jack The Nose
15. Nude
16. Pai-Voi Dub
17. Basking In The Ambience
18. Crush Test
19. Basking In The Ambience (TM Juke Remix)
Palov & Mishkin: The Infamous duo and re edit extraordinaire are bombing the soul out of you with their first album release on Cast-a-blast, following a highly acclaimed compilation “ Backslam Extravaganza” and a series of E.P’s for labels like Gamm, Resence, Scribble, Rebtuz and remixes for The Hot 8 brass band and Lovemonk’s Mas Achili funk.
“Think Twice” selectively combines heavy guitar funk, north American flavors, block breaks and exotic soul with tropicalismo in a playful mash down of styles and genres that characterize the Palov & Mishkin sound.
This album is made for the selective and open minded music heads and dj’s.
All tracks been tested by the Cast-a-blast crew in order to bring to you those perfect dancefloor breaks you need plus a bonus remix from TM Juke at the end can even make your aunt shake.
Palov & Mishkin experiment with past elements constantly adding them to the future
and most tunes are embracing a‘60s and ‘70s atmosphere and a vintage feeling.
As Palov explains: “…this album is an example of how interesting it can be to bring about the worlds and personal aesthetics in things.”
…and Mishkin agrees.
Mother’s Auxillary - Spring (ep) [2009]
Mother’s Auxillary
A new bedroom-born folktronica act from London, blending folk with programmed beats made from everyday objects (tables, coca cola cans, keys), uses dual male-female vocals alongside a wide range of instruments to create a sound similar to Múm and Tunng. Currently half way through an ongoing project to make an EP for each season of the year. The Winter EP has already been released by french label MonsterK7.
Duke Garwood - The Sand That Falls [2009]
Duke Garwood has always been a wanderer. His early musical life was spent learning his chops in the then seedy beach bars of My Lai, Thailand. Returning to the UK in the ‘90s Garwood played around and about in squat parties and blues clubs, before releasing his first album, Holy Week in 2005. This was followed by Emerald Palace in 2007, an album recorded in a lonely hut up on the North Downs . You might also have encountered Garwood adding screeds of brass to Archie Bronson Outfit’s live shows, or playing in The Woodsmen – all part of the nomadic wanderings of a musician and artist who’s perfectly content to exist and create on his own terms. Now Garwood returns with his first album for Fire records. Recorded in a vast, deserted house that was as much building site as abode, it’s soon apparent that The Sand That Falls is aptly named. For as Garwood picks his blues and murmurs his songs, time vanishes as he transports you to a world soundtracked by sparse plucking, gentle percussion and his deep, thoughtful vocal. Though steeped in the blues and deeply influenced by his hero Thelonious Monk, Garwood never becomes distracted into reverential homage. There’s a fractured, lo-fi feel to what he does, an unconcern with rigid adherence to tradition. In the scattered sounds and meditative feel, the space in which The Sand That Falls was recorded almost becomes audible in the music. On final, title track, made up of hums and the anxious, repeated banging of a drum, Garwood intones “leave no trace… leave no trace…” So Duke Garwood leaves us, yet again wandering forth in search of musical pastures new.
Sylvain Chauveau - Touching down lightly [CreativeSources, 2009]
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tracklist:
01. Touching Down Lightly
Sylvain Chauveau’s newest release is in the form of a single forty-seven minute piano track. The result is a much softer and stripped back album than his previous, and great, soundtrack Nuage. With plenty of long pauses and an ambient feel, it’s quite easy listening. It makes good background for working or doing something menial. Little pieces of melody are spaced out with seconds between each note, or played only for a few second before falling silent once more. The recording is noticabley sharp, with the dying rings of the longer notes crystal clear. The actual music doesn’t seem to try to hook you in, rather create an atmosphere of something calm and gentle. It succeeds very well at this, I can’t give this music 100% of my attention but I can let it play in the background and find it very enjoyable and mellow. Criticisms? Well when it arrived in the mail some of the teeth that hold the CD in place were broken. That’s pretty much the only negative thing I have to say. If you know what to expect with this album, then you won’t be disappointed. green-gravy
Tunng meets Soy Un Caballo - Robin [no need no water, 2009]
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Need No Water Records
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tracklist:
1. Robin - Tunng version
2. Robin - Soy un Caballo version
Soy Un Caballo? Who???? you may enquire? Tunng’s mates from Belglie, that’s who and where. They’ve a collaborative tour together I believe, and to celebrate this pan-European collection of future folk minds, there’s a highly limited split 7″ featuring Tunng covering ‘Robin’ by this duo, pairing it with the original on side ‘B’. With Tunng, you know their delicate melodic acoustic plucking, sing-song vocal harmonies & delightfully organic percussion is gonna slay you every bloody time, always gently glazed with a mind-altering coating of fascinating electronics and effects. A lullaby so loveable, it could be their very own! The original is like a modern twist on the 60s euro-psych pop sound, a mellow, swirling groover with beautiful dreamy boy/girl vocals sung in that smooth sexy Gallic way that sends little shivers up your spine and makes you feel a bit sexy, even if you’re at a funeral on a really horrid, stormy day and you’ve just thrown up down your suit. No ice!
Onna - Onna [Holy Mountain, 2009]
Underground cartoonist and leader of the group Onna, Keizo Miyanishi left behind one of the greatest documents from the 1980s. Self-released on his own Cupid & Psyche label, the single contains two songs, “Cortigiana dal velo” and “Mune o tutunde,” which pair guitars and bass over some of the most tripped-out drum programming of all time. This psychedelic masterpiece ranks alongside the first White Stains 7-inch as one of the all-time greatest from the era. There is an outtake from these sessions, “Haha nareba koso,” which is just as amazing, and the three songs would fit in a Terminal Boredom discussion about acid punk classics from Crawling Chaos to Chrome.
In addition to the studio material from the 7-inch, this CD includes two outtakes from Katawa, a solo piece from an obscure cassette release, and four live tracks from 1983 featuring a young Michio Kurihara [White Heaven, Ghost, Boris] on second guitar. These are the first Kurihara recordings and come from a long-deleted double live Onna CD released in the early 1990s.
Original EP was released on Cupid & Psyche records in 1983 with Keizou Miyanishi on vocal & guitar, Mafuyu Hiroki on guitar and bass, produced by Michirou Endou & Onna.
Great Japanese “psych/punk” 7″ from 1983 reissued by Holy Mountain.
Luke Vibert - Rhythm [soundofspeed, 2009]
tracklist:
01. Wow! It’s Now!
02. Registrarse
03. Sparky Is A Retard
04. A Fine Line
05. My Style
06. Keep Calm And Carry On
07. Eleventy One
08. Rhythm
09. Concertina Turner
10. James Bond In A Jimmy Hat
11. Harmonica Sellers
Press Release :
Luke Vibert goes back to his hip hop roots with his fantastic new CD for Tokyo based label, Sound Of Speed. With many classic releases on such seminal labels as Ninja Tune, Warp, Rephlex, Rising High, Mo Wax and others under an array of alias..s (Wagon Christ, Kerrier District, Plug), there is no need to introduce the man!
On his latest album “Rhythm” Luke explores wonky instrumental hip hop beats perfect for all beat junkies, head nodders and of course straight-up Vibert fans. With the current trend for all things beat science, Luke..s latest production should hit the spot.
A pretty sweet set from the man of many names, club groove beat legend Luke Vibert! Rhythm has a lot of spacey soul jazz inspired sounds in the mix, and beats the roll from a laidback hip hop style more of sparse groove — kind of a slow rolling groove rather than a fill the club floor sound — a sample based, borderline hip hop instrumentals style set — and it’s working well for our ears!
Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore - Mitleid Lady [LATITUDES, 2009]
tracklist:
1. Mitleid Lady (10:27)
Strictly limited edition of just 100 copies for the UK - each individually numbered* Doom-jazz mongers Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore are the latest in a long line of interpid darkside explorers to be invited onto the essential Latitudes series. We’re not short on almost hysterical love for this band in the boomkat office; they’ve soundtracked many a long evening and slow afternoon in our damp Manchester climes. If you’ve not checked them before, imagine Angelo Badalementi scoring the bleakest David Lynch scene with help from Dylan Carlson and Jhonn Balance and you’re in the right headspace. While ‘Mitleid Lady’ is all too brief in it’s 10:27 lifespan, the statement is made all that more clear without any unneccessary adornments or aimless rambling. Recorded at Southern’s studios towards the end of 2006, the track displays the group at a sumptuously solemn and sublime low, comparable to anything from their stunning ‘Sunset Mission’ or ‘Black Earth’ albums and designed to inertly alter the atmosphere of any space it’s used in. We can’t recommend this highly enough - act fast if you want a copy!
VA - Cocoon Compilation I [Cocoon, 2009]
tracklist:
1. EMT - Extra Lunch (6:07)
2. Lauhaus - Back To Ipanema (6:00)
3. Secret Cinema - Kurzweil (6:04)
4. Gaiser - Am I (6:45)
5. Tim Green & Emerson Todd - Exercise (5:57)
6. Radio Slave - Na Und! (8:39)
7. Timo Maas - Jetstream (6:33)
8. Chymera - Fierenix (6:02)
9. Johnny D - Brasil (6:17)
10.Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Night in Køge (6:23)
11.Kabuto & Koji - Drunken Slumber (6:41)
12.Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Dead Room (6:09)
The label was founded in 2000 as a part of the Cocoon Music Event GmbH. The company’s other branches are Cocoon Booking (for Sven Väth, Ricardo Villalobos, Josh Wink, James Holden etc.) and Cocoon Clubbing, which organises club events as well as outdoor events and tours. Since July 2004, Cocoon also runs its own Club, located in Frankfurt, and being one of the most innovative club locations worldwide.
For further information please visit. cocoonclub
Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Vertical Ascent [Honest Jon's, 2009]
tracklist:
1. Pattern 1 (14:05)
2. Pattern 2 (12:46)
3. Pattern 3 (9:59)
4. Pattern 4 (7:33)
Moritz Von Oswald is a name that needs little introduction to anyone who has followed Techno, Dub or any kind of electronic music over the last 15 years. Since the early 90’s he’s tirelessly applied his discipline to a range of styles and genres with seminal work as part of Maurizio, Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound and his own name besides a mind blowing number of side projects, mastering jobs and engineering work. His most recent project has attempted to consolidate the studio processes which have defined the majority of his output with a live or improvisational element as part of his “trio” including the capable skills of sound designers Vladislav Delay aka Sasu Ripatti and Max Loderbauer of Sun electric and more recently NSI fame. The trio have performed some dozen live shows over the last two years, featuring Ripatti at the drummers stool, Loderbauer contributing synths and live electronics, and Moritz in control of live mixing effects and organ. ‘Vertical Ascent’ is essentially the best parts of these live improv sessions, edited, tweaked and mixed to perfection by mixmaster Moritz (we hope this name doesn’t catch on!) and the result is at once a clean departure from and a reinforcement of the sound you’d normally associate with each of the performers. Live performance and in-the-moment moods lend the set a fluid quality and the lengthy track times, between eight and fourteen minutes, allow the group to develop their ideas around groove based structures definitely informd by African percussive styles. It’s no coincidence that Moritz is heavily involved with the ressiue schemes of African music from Honest Jon’s. ‘Pattern 1′ initiates the ceremony with a slow heave of bass and tangled polyrhythms from Ripatti before blooming to reveal a menagerie of strange and unusual synth sounds with one ear on their Krautrock forefathers. ‘Pattern 2′ bobs into motion on a rich bed of subbass, providing a cushion for scratchy strings and metallic synth scrapes lending an uneasy and ominous feel, but also exploring the spaces in between with ultra-subtle mixing techniques and cleansing the space ready for elevation to the next level. ‘Pattern 3′ reintroduces more discernable and tangible rhythmic patterns, like the gaseous forms of ‘2′ have coalesced into a gentle tropical downpour, with steel drums panned to the peripheries of auditory perception before a current of slow and delicate chords wash into view. The effect is sublimely lush and truly psychedelic. The final ‘Pattern 4′ is the closest you’ll come to any Reggae influences (bar the dub mixing techniques), resting upon a bulbous swell of subliminal bass shapes the group delve deep into their machines to eak out atonal organ motifs and head-swimming reverberations designed to resonate in your mind long after the CD has finished. Much like any project Moritz is involved in, the sounds will live up to intense scrutiny for years to come, with each listen revealing layers of minutiae created by his intricate mixing desk manipulations. I’m on my 10th listen and i’m still coming back for more.
Water Lilly - Passage Secret [mentalgroove, 2009]
tracklist:
01. Sooishi - Panther
02. Arwan - Taxi
03. Plastique de Rêve - Dance on
04. POL - Fool
05. Sauer Walker - Total BD
06. Fortuna (Kid Chocolat & The Knack) - Rada Rada Hey
07. Nanou (Water Lilly & Love Motel) - Dernière cigarette
08. Love Motel - Après l’enfer
09. Place Neuve - Apothéose
10. Plastique de Rêve - What’s a Girl to Do?
11. MPC - Overboard Disco
12. Water Lilly - Misfit Fuzz by: Sinner DC in Geneva
13. Ghava - OM
14. Water Lilly - DAWaves
Without much fanfare, Geneva-based label Mental Groove recently celebrated ten years of existence. Although you’d be hard-pressed to name any era-defining releases, the imprint has had its share of inspired moments, from early, refined Luciano and the rather creepy “Rather Be” by Crowdpleaser & St. Plomb to more immediate offerings from the likes of contemporary nü-rave hopefuls Brodinski, Don Rimini, Radioclit and Jokers of the Scene.
That said, Mental Groove has largely been an outlet for Swiss electronic songstress Water Lilly, whose 2005’s Sputnika long player and EPs such as Dissidance, Invisible Ink and The Sleepwalker come across like a more playful and less cerebral version of Chloé. Water Lilly’s most recent offering is Passage secret, a 45-minute mix CD that showcases her latest productions and collaborations as well as a bunch of label exclusives commissioned from fellow locals such as Plastique de Rêve and Pol and more obscure electronica players like Arwan, Love Motel and Place Neuve.
What is striking after a few listens is how coherent the album sounds, considering the different people involved. There is an overall unity in tone, even though each collaborator initially had carte blanche regarding the style of their input. Album opener “Panther” by Sooishi sets the mood with a subtle guitar motif intertwined with ascending synths. It quickly gives place to Arwan’s more straightforward Disko B-type electro, with a crisp bassline and the mandatory vocoder vocals. Plastique de Rêve’s two cuts are immediately memorable, “Dance On” being built on ethereal pads and intricate percussive details while “What’s a Girl to Do” evokes the same kind of B-boy sass the producer displayed on last year’s “Lost in the City/Resist” 12-inch for Smalltown Supersound.
The album’s sophisticated French nodal point is composed of “Dernière Cigarette,” “Après l’enfer” and “Apothéose,” all of which, it seems, Lilly had something to do with before leaving room for a surprising coda composed of Ghava’s “OM” and Lilly’s “DAWaves,” two tracks that take care of the Charlatans-esque indie-dance spectrum (”OM”) and the beatless, Jean Michel Jarre-recalling electronica area (”DAWaves”). They’re as fitting as they are surprising.
Take Passage Secret as the creepy little relative of Chloé’s recent Live at Robert Johnson mix: in both cases, you get sinister electro boogie mixed by moody French-speaking ladies with impeccable taste. Coming in a black Ziploc-like bag and strictly limited to 500 copies, you can only order from the Metal Groove website, which makes it destined to remain a precious oddity only heard by a few devotees. But that’s OK: Some treasures are better kept hard to find. residentadvisor
VA. Songs For A Child - Tribute to Pier Paolo Pasolini [2009]
tracklist:
1. Ostia - Coil
2. Childawn - Bahntier
3. My Erotic Sacrifice - Spiritual Front
4. Les Mille Et Une Nuits - Ah Cama-Sotz
5. Splendido Struggente - Alio Die
6. Ppppetrolio - Teatro Satanico
7. Never Closed My Eyes - In Slaughter Natives
8. Sotto Un Cielo Di Fango E Sangue - Condanna
9. Supplica - Black Sun Productions
10. Dresden (At4 Version) - Nueva Germania
11. Citywards (Istrumetal) - The Frozen Autumn
12. Memories - Sandblasting
13. 30.09.1949 - Wertham
14. The Spirit Of Love - Catholic Boys In Heavy
Amazing box-set, limited numbered edition including CD, postcard, Book and an exclusive magic pendant!
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian director, screen writer, essayist, poet, critic and novelist. Pasolini was best known outside Italy for his films, many of which were based on literary sources - The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom. He often used shocking juxtapositions of imagery to expose what he saw as the vapidity of values in modern society. This compilation is a musical tribute to one of most influential and respected Italian artists of the 20th century, including unreleased and rare songs from artists such as :
COIL, BAHNTIER, SPIRITUAL FRONT, AH CAMA SOTZ, IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES, BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS, ALIO DIE, TEATRO SATANICO, THE FROZEN AUTUMN AND MANY OTHERS
ARTWORK BY SATURNO BUTTO’
Ambient Intelligent Application - Physical Moments [ajana, 2009]
try
listen
ajana
Support the artists & tell a friend about the A.I.A. - Physical Moments cd.
tracklist: (just 1 file)
01. Silent Moments 03:36
02. Violent Thought 07:25
03. Virtual Walks 06:15
04. A new Epoch 04:09
05. Waves & Fields 03:53
06. Reconfigurability 06:47
07. Orientation View 09:26
08. Low Wind Chill 04:01
09. Affine Transformations 08:58
10. Ambient Light 07:21
11. Special Class 05:14
Ambient Intelligent Application (A.I.A.) is an upcoming ambient-electronic group exploring new atmospheric paths. With many influences from various kinds of music and other groups (chill out, dub, ambient, downtempo, IDM, electronic, triphop, trance, techno, ebm, industrial, goth, psychedelic rock…), travelling around the world and enjoying many open-air festivals A.IA. started producing music. The ‘‘Physical Moments’’ album is half live composed and recorded. Inserting in a world of digital/analog, virtual and hardware situations, this album descripes these moments…
The A.I.A group is the project of two brothers (writing, producing, djing,…) which started from collecting music. Being in festivals around the world, they found themselves writing & producing music. Understanding the music theory through systems & signals, music informatics, waves & fields helped them to see musical theory as a part and as a whole of sound. Also their studies guided them to know functions of the main algorithms which are used in nowadays music programs & synthesizers, important for creating music. From this link between theory and practice A.i.A. (ambient intelligent application) was born.
VA - The Jazz Influence House Of Jazz Special Edition [irecordings, 2009]
tracklist: (just 1 file)
01.Love J - Front Man (NY Steel remix) 5:38
02.James Westin Group - So Many Sounds (Brilliant D remix) 4:49
03.K Street Collective - Go Go Go (Black Fuse remix) 5:58
04.Three B - Gotta Get It Out (Novak remix) 4:56
05.Euphonic 7 - Duck Sauce (Diaz Grey remix) 4:36
06.Adagio - Full Of Grace (Yost & Monk remix) 4:46
07.Kevin Yost - Enjoy The Night 5:11
08.Sonny Jones - Discipline (Dream System remix) 5:35
09.Luke Hampton - Jazz Music (Loose Goose remix) 4:31
10.Black Fuse - Mission At Hand (James Ten remix) 5:46
11.The Square Playa - Square Playa (Dafoe remix) 6:30
12.Ray Clark Quartet - Emotional Groove (RCQ remix) 6:21
13.Kevin Yost - Jazz Is (feat Brooke Harper - Nivek Tsoy remix) 7:02
The deep house crew brings you once again a high quality release of
soulful dance music.. music with emotion that deserves the promotion
For 2009 I Recordings re-invents its pioneering Jazz Influence series and
now proudly presents the culmination of the first three CD s. The Jazz
Influence-House of Jazz Edition is were it has all been heading since
2006 , says Kevin Yost the musical guru behind this series. A mixture
of what these recordings are in their essence and what they can be for
the new generation of listeners, this is the ultimate development of the
jazz house-electronic fusion . I Records and Yost directed this newest
album with two distinct requirements. First to capture the purists who
religiously loved the first CD s and second to develop a record that
merges the jazz sound further into the electronic world than any of the
other releases. To produce such a result, Yost enlisted a bevy of t
alented musicians, producers and remixers to re-work some of the
previously featured Jazz Influence recordings. The result is now being
hailed as a ground breaking amalgamation of sound and possibly the best
release in the series.
Huck Notari - Very Long Dream [2009]
tracklist:
1. Save The Day (3:41)
2. I Want To Win (4:01)
3. Nora’s Song (4:19)
4. Who Could Let You Go? (4:27)
5. Falling Too Hard (3:57)
6. Wall Around Your Heart (3:31)
7. Undone (4:03)
8. Very Long Dream (4:52)
9. Play Them All (3:37)
10. Dark And Dreary Day (3:04)
11. He Rode Off (5:03)
From time to time, my friend James (you may recognize him as BEP’s Bazmazh) likes to tease me for some of the music I listen to. He generally doesn’t have any real merit to his insults or mudslinging, he just likes to annoy me. One of the things he makes fun of are the names of some of the dudes I listen to. These dudes are usually folk singers and he usually has some wise cracks about song content and whatnot..but hey, I’m used to it and I deal. Point is, both this guy’s name and the album art aren’t really gonna help my case when it comes to him. Oh well, it’s a chance I have to take. If there’s a come out of nowhere surprise hit so far this year for me, it’s this record. To put it quite bluntly, ‘Very Long Dream’ is a lo-fi folky/americana masterpiece of a cd. Recorded live with his buddies up in his hometown of Portland, I think this record is the audio equivalent to an older, faded pair of jeans with holes in the knees. I really find it to be super comfortable and welcoming music that has the sound of something much older than it is. It’s folk done right; honest and unassuming, full of heart and devoid of any trace of self importance. A wonderful listen if I do say so myself. bearseatpeople
Coax - The Third Mobius [Med-Rec, 2009]
tracklist:
1 Waves (1:26)
2 Blue Racer (5:15)
3 Abyss (3:37)
4 Glenk Jakomo (5:30)
5 Reincarnation (5:53)
6 Combine (3:24)
7 Sil (5:01)
8 Infected Sector (3:32)
9 Hive Mind (7:59)
10 Xenolith (1:48)
11 A Clockwork Malfunction (2:53)
12 Ffunc (4:29)
13 Vole Vost (4:01)
14 Quiet Minds (3:35)
Coax est un norvégien bien trop peu connu si ce n’est par les aficionados d’IDM underground.
Il a déjà réalisé bon nombre de disques, parus sur des net-labels ou sur des labels indépendants à la diffusion confidentielle. Il lui arrive également de produire de jolies orchestrations néo-classiques mêlées d’électronique pour un résultat digne du cinéma. Des videos existents pour qui sait chercher un tent soit peu.Celà fait déjà quelques semaines que je n’ai pas tari d’éloges à propos d’un superbe album d’IDM.
Celui-ci fera plus que l’affaire.
Tout comme le français Aes Dana, le norvégien Coax exerce dans l’ombre.
Dark-ambient et très expérimental, The Third Mobius est un album extrêmement captivant.
Un macabre et glacial mariage de plus entre synthétiseurs et machines ?
Bien plus que ça.
Assez complexes, le rythme ainsi que les collages résultent d’un travail minutieux, digne d’un rat de laboratoire sonore.
Pas d’instruments à l’horizon et pourtant, les atmosphères décrites par Coax semblent palpables.
On se perd volontiers dans les méandres torturés du cortex de ce norvégien.
Les titres des morceaux sont assez imagés, tout comme la splendide pochette de l’opus.
Amas de sonorités pneumatiques et métalliques, lamentations qu’on croirait provenir d’un droide, basses calées sur le rythme cardiaque, rythme frénétique explosé… ce savant mélange est la recette parfaite pour une odyssée électronique de grande cuvée.
L’écoute des Glenk Jakomo, Infected Sector, Ffunc mais surtout Sil, justifie à elle seule l’achat immédiat du disque.
De plus, le site officiel de l’artiste est très complet et recèle des téléchargements ainsi que des clichés exceptionnels. Un artiste qui gagne à être connu on vous dit… chroniques-electroniques
Mew - No More Stories EP [2009]
tracklist:
1. Introducing Palace Players
2. Repeater Beater
3. Owl
4. Start
5. Swimmer’s Chant
No More Stories’ stretches the bounds of Mew with glitchy experimentalism while the pop foundation of proper verses choruses act as the line that reel the two sides of Mew back together. NMS’s gives more validation to Bo Madsen’s theory that Mew is “the world’s only indie stadium band”. ‘Introducing Palace Players’ and ‘RepeaterBeater’ have hints of an air that make them feel as though Mew’s recording would only be properly listened to live in the largest of stadiums backed by a light show of equal proportion. Just as you feel that your listening to a record of epic proportions Mew brings the show back to the lonely hearts club status with ‘Start’. Solo piano leads the way for Jonas Bjerre signature high vocals to evoke less emotion than he attempts. Though you’ll feel that Mew is toying with you, waiting for the right moment to bring the stadium status chord progression and chorus in, it never happens.
Coming in at 5 Tracks ‘No More Stories’ is as equally split amongst the pop and shoegaze lines that Mew itself seems to be split by. Each side of Mew’s creative personality is bursting at the seams while at the same time ripping the band in two different directions. Though it may be too late for Mew to reach Coldplay levels of stardom, if they never do it wasn’t for lack of talent. The band is able to churn out repeatably listenable studio performances that most bands only dream of. If they were to decide that they wanted to engage the pop side of their creativity fully they could be the worlds first indie stadium band but until they do we can stay burning with anticipation for the next creative crumb of Mew. buzzafied
Florence & the Machine - A Lot of Love A Lot of Blood [2009]
tracklist:
1. Dog Days Are Over
2. Kiss with a Fist
3. You’ve Got the Love
4. Hospital Beds
5. Dog Days Are Over (an Optimo (Espacio) mix)
I think I’m officially in love with Florence Welch’s voice. It has all of Dolores O’Riordan’s (from the Cranberries) springy cathartic yelps and is anchored by a rooted, penetrating intensity reminiscent of Heartless Bastards’ Erika Wennerstrom. In 2008, Flourence and the Machine enthralled music lovers everywhere with their debut single, “Kiss With A Fist”: a fast and loose chase of tongue-in-cheek lines which dives into a all-out indie-garage roll; the feeling is like driving a car blindfolded, with an unfastened seat belt and a foot on the accelerator pedal.
Writing songs that tell “stories with consequences and weird morality issues”, Welch’s inclination for metaphorical song crafting is evident even sonically in A Lot of Love, A Lot of Blood; the most promising of the lot is “Dog Days Are Over” - the juxtaposing interplay of heavy, pounding drumbeats against light, twinkling pluck-work is dabbled with brushstrokes of Welch’s kinetic treble. This spills over to “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, enjoying more of that mystical harp work and pulling in the some loose pop reins from “You’ve Got the Love”, it serves as the perfect intermediary for the next track.
“You’ve Got the Love”, one of two singles released this year, is a standard pop number that does something in a non-standard fashion - it isn’t afraid of looking at its simplistic melodic hooks and accepting it with a touch of lyrical honesty and contemplative imprint.
Their attempt at the Cold War Kid’s cover, “Hospital Beds”, exemplifies acoustic bar/pub goodness: one that fully underscores the strength of Welch’s pipes which gashes through the lo-fi mist of minimal orchestration and the effect is intimate and inescapable. You can almost picture her singing in an acoustic session, surrounded by a flood of light in room filled with dusky cigarette-mist and all you need is a few shots of liquor and a bowl of chips.
Armed with two newly released singles, “You’ve Got the Love” and “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, and an EP A Lot of Love, A Lot of Blood, Flourence and the Machine are gearing up for their upcoming full-length album entitled Lungs out on 6th July. I’m counting down the days already! hangout.altsounds
