Wednesday, April 11, 2012

[SP 011] No UFO's – Soft Coast LP (Album) 2011

No UFO's – Soft Coast
Label: Spectrum Spools – SP011
Format: Vinyl, LP, Reissue, White
Country: Austria
Released: 15 Dec 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Noise, Experimental
Mastered By – Helmut Erler
Originally released as Nice Up Int'l NU001, April 2010
Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, August 2011.
First press on white vinyl, with subsequent ones on black vinyl.

Tracklist:
A1 Evidence / Century Park
A2 Vertigo (K. Alexi)
A3 Punx On The Promenade
A4 Broken Glass
A5 Freeze • Drift
A6 Untitled I
B1 Cajmere Dreams
B2 Archer Heights
B3 00/00/2010
B4 Duck Egg
B5 Fog In The Pavilion
B6 Soon Come Happy
B7 Why Be Something You're Not?

http://boomkat.com/vinyl/478176-no-ufo-s-soft-coast
Following that fine side for the UK's Public Information label, Konrad Jandavs No UFO's decamps to Spectrum Spools for a new vinyl edition of his debut cassette, 2010's Soft Coast. Though it has a clear and central debt to 1970s German electronic music, Jandavs pulls on various other influences - minimal synth, new age ambient, Detroit techno - to craft his hypnotic, pulsating synth-scapes. The weirdest tracks are the most rewarding: the beatless, almost Autechre-style techno of 'Cajmere Dreams' and the sly guitar drones of '00_00_2010', which makes us think of The Velvet Underground if they'd formed in '91 under the influence of E. For dedicated fans of reconfigured kraut and kosmische tropes, Soft Coast is beyond essential, but is singular and strange enough to deserve attention from the rest of you too.

Monday, March 19, 2012

[ERATP 033 CD] Nils Frahm – Felt CD (Album) 2011

Nils Frahm – Felt
Label: Erased Tapes Records – ERATP033CD
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 07 Oct 2011
Genre: Classical, Electronic
Style: Neo-Classical

Tracklist:
1         Keep     3:27    
2         Less     5:33    
3         Familiar     3:30    
4         Unter     2:37    
5         Old Thought     5:49    
6         Snippet     4:26    
7         Kind     3:23    
8         Pause     5:36    
9         More     8:56    

http://boomkat.com/cds/448727-nils-frahm-felt
There's a very literal reason for the title of Nils Frahm's new album, Felt. He wanted to play the piano during the dead of night, without disturbing his neighbours, so he layed thick felt in front of its strings to muffle the sound. Rather than being frustrated, he unexpectedly found himself enchanted by this dampened sound, and it opened up new compositional as well as playing possibilities for his inquisitive mind. The resulting work is varied in style but it all has a close, confessional, nocturnal quality that's beautifully wrought and expertly recorded: from the Reich-a-like layered arpeggios of 'Keep' and 'More', to the wistful, jazz-tinted Glassisms of 'Familiar', there are plenty of grand harmonic gestures, but these are nicely
interspersed with, and balanced by, eerie ambiences like 'Pause' and 'Less'. Really lovely music for the arriving Autumn days, and recommended for fans of Machinefabriek, Isan and other masters of subtly romantic electro-acoustic sonorities.


[HAFTW 010] Leyland Kirby – Eager To Tear Apart The Stars CD (Album) 2011


Leyland Kirby – Eager To Tear Apart The Stars
Label: History Always Favours The Winners – HAFTW010
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: Sep 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract, Ambient

Mastered At – Dubplates & Mastering
Artwork – Ivan Seal
Mastered By – Lupo*
Recorded By, Other [Constructed By] – Leyland Kirby


Tracklist:
1 The Arrow Of Time 3:12
2 This Is The Story Of Paradise Lost 9:43
3 To Reject The World 1:28
4 No Longer Distance Than Death 7:53
5 They Are All Dead, There Are No Skip At All 10:25
6 My Dream Contained A Star 10:13

http://boomkat.com/cds/445819-leyland-kirby-eager-to-tear-apart-the-stars
*CD version - in a beautiful digipak with original artwork by Ivan Seal.* James Leyland Kirby is a prolific artist with a remarkably long and varied career working inside, outside and beyond the electronic underground. From his roots as renowned audio prankster and sonic agitator V/VM to his critically acclaimed work as The Caretaker and, most recently, Leyland Kirby - he's always attracted the attention of an often bewildered audience, although his stature and position as serious auteur has somehow grown exponentially with every year that has gone by since his beginnings in rainy Edgeley back in the mid 90's. Following on from 2009's now-classic 'Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was' and the inauguration of new series "Intrigue & Stuff" earlier this year, he now returns with a new album - and it's pretty clear that he's just in the form of his life. These tracks are arrestingly clear-headed and sombre, with the requisite amount of emotional un-ease and a beguilling sense of ambiguity thanks to those perception-altering layers of fuzz and filtered detritus on the lens keeping things firmly hyperreal. How you decipher the meanings of these moods and atmospheres is where the beauty and longevity of these tracks lie, as patience and repeated listens will reveal new views of the landscape as the seasons change. Imagine if Roedelius had grown up in Stockport in the midst of a rave-o-lution, couple that with a sardonic yet discerning post-everything attitude 10 years before everyone else, and then wonder what that experience may result in - and you just might be quite close to imagining the treats this album holds in store for you...

[TO:42V] Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma - The Signal Man's Mix Vinyl 2011

Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma - The Signal Man's Mix
Label: Touch – TO:42V
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 09 Nov 2011
Genre: Non-Music
Style: Field Recording

Tracklist:
A         El Divisadero - The Telegraph        
B         Veracruz - The Tunnel   

http://boomkat.com/vinyl/466770-chris-watson-el-tren-fantasma-the-signal-man-s-mix
Holy crap - Chris Watson on vinyl? Is it true? Well yeah, Touch are really treating us with this one, and veteran field recordist Watson has pulled out all the stops for this very special release. Whereas usually Watson's recordings are 'pure' representations of the subject matter, here we are presented with two 'mixes' of audio collected as he recorded for a BBC documentary. The difference in approach can be heard almost instantly as the train's engine forms rhythmic pulses beneath what sounds like manipulations of the train horn itself. This collision of drone and environmental sound is nothing new, but Watson does it with such skill that it's hard not to be totally taken aback by the sheer quality of the sounds. On the flipside, the harmonic elements are almost removed entirely to allow the crushing engine noise to take centre stage, bellowing and wheezing like the Wolf Eyes record you never heard. Sterling stuff as always from Watson then, and all the better for being on vinyl! Highly recommended.   

[TO:42] Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma CD (Album) 2011

Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma
Label: Touch – TO:42
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: 09 Nov 2011
Genre: Electronic, Non-Music
Style: Field Recording, Experimental

Tracklist:
1         La Anunciante     4:00    
2         Los Mochis     6:29    
3         Sierra Tarahumara     5:24    
4         El Divisadero     5:34    
5         Crucero La Joya     4:58    
6         Chihuahua     4:34    
7         Aguascalientes     3:26    
8         Mexico D.F.     9:14    
9         El Tajin     10:16    
10         Veracruz     3:11

http://boomkat.com/cds/449402-chris-watson-el-tren-fantasma
A stunning tapestry of field recordings from the master, Chris Watson, with his fourth album appearance on Touch, and his first since 2003's acclaimed Weather Report. Originally aired in a BBC Radio 4 broadcast last year, the sounds that constitute El Tren Fantasma (The Ghost Train) replicate the cross-country, coast to coast, Pacific to Atlantic FNM train route from Los Mochis to Veracruz. This line, a high watermark of Mexican engineering, no longer exists as a passenger route, but Watson beautifully recreates and evokes it using archive recordings. Watson spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel the route, when he was working as a sound recordist on the BBC TV series Great Railway Journeys. Watson fans will know what to expect: an aural adventure of great beauty, poignancy, humour and vivacity.

Monday, February 27, 2012

[mosz 023] Rdeča Raketa – Old Girl, Old Boy Cassette 2010


Rdeča Raketa – Old Girl, Old Boy
Label: Mosz – mosz023
Format: Cassette, Album
Country: Austria
Released: 15 Apr 2010
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract, Contemporary
Artwork By [Painting] – Buba Čvorić
Composed By – Rdeča Raketa
Design [Cover] – re-p.org
Mastered By – Martin Siewert, Matija Schellander
Mixed By – Peter Venus
Rerformer [Bass Paetzold Recorder, Cassette Recorders], Toy, Bass [E-bass], Electronics [Electronic Devices] – Maja Osojnik, Matija Schellander
Recorded By – Marufura Fufunjiru
Comes with free download code.

Tracklist:
1 Old Girl, Old Boy 37:39

http://www.discogs.com/Rde%C4%8Da-Raketa-Old-Girl-Old-Boy/release/2246071
http://boomkat.com/cassettes/298805-rdeca-raketa-old-girl-old-boy

Highly limited copies of this cassette release from Austria's Rdeca Raketa. The pairing of Maja Osojnik and Matija Schellander makes an enigmatic blend of delicately abstract digital sound using improvised compositional techniques and a free, exploratory attitude. Through these methods and an array of instruments including sub-bass recorder and E-Bass they deftly manoeuvre themselves through unpredictable and alien soundscapes comparable to Phillip Jeck, or at times, Keith Fullerton Whitman's more intuitive arrangements. 'Old Girl, Old Boy' plays through as one track from start to finish (albeit with a pause to turn the tape), meshing ethereal drones with fragments of avant-classical strings, indecipherable digital textures and blustery white noises. Much of the intimacy and intrigue of their sound comes from the organic sequencing of their sound, summoning vague but detailed sonic imagery from the barest of elements and crafting it into something more interesting with a naturally instinctive finesse. There's shades of Roedelius at his most spectral, or even Wolf Eyes when the pair go more abrasive.

[LR 004] Ras G – El-Aylien Part 1 Cassette 2010

Ras G – El-Aylien Part 1
Label: Leaving Records – LR004
Format: Cassette, Limited Edition
Country: US
Released: 27 Apr 2010
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch, Abstract, Experimental
Artwork By – Kristian Henson
Limited to 200 copies.
Each copy includes 1 of 4 trading cards.
Track B is an exclusive track for cassette only.

Tracklist:
A1 Discipline09-1
A2 Discipline09-2
A3 Discipline09-3
A4 Discipline09-4
A5 Dak Leaver Remix
A6 Discipline09-2 (GB Remix)
    Remix – GB
B Discipline09-4 (MD Ragamix)
    Remix – MD 

http://www.discogs.com/Ras-G-El-Aylien-Part-1/release/2267441
http://boomkat.com/downloads/298218-ras-g-el-aylien-part-1
Ras returns from planet X with a six track EP of abstract dub-hop head pressure. With 'El Alyien Part 1' it soon becomes obvious that we've caught Ras at his most esoteric. The first four tracks are a bong-eyed blend of rich field recordings and crackly samples knitted togther with a bed of psychoactively charged subbass. There's almost no telling where each track starts and stops if you weren't looking at the screen, lending an intuitive and expressionist collage feel to the set. GB's remix brings up the rear with a spherical rerub of the second track, sounding a little like the Delia Derbyshire just smoked a blunt with Dilla. Recommended!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

[BS 040] Cherly KaCherly – Misadventure of a Meaty Machine (Album) CDr 2012

Cherly KaCherly – Misadventure of a Meaty Machine
Label: Birdsong Netlabel – BS040
Format: CD, Limited Edition, Board game limited 100 of addition
File, MP3, 320kbs
Country: Israel
Released: 17 Feb 2012
Genre: Electronic
Style: Freestyle, Experimental
Music By – Nir Matarasso

Tracklist:
1 Hell Dog From Outer Space or From Hell at Least 1:28 2 Skull, Folds, Thought 3:15
3 The Skeleton in the Corner 2:03
4 SChnitzel Polka 2:52
5 The Torture Disco Chamber: Death by Disco 1:06
6 The Data Junction 1:35
7 The Hungry Garden 2:16
8 Off to the Island of Bad Advice (and back) 3:41
9 The Glass Main System Hub 2:41
10 Home Through the Swamp 1:45
11 Tomorrow is Another Day 0:55


Misadventure of a Meaty Machine is Cherly Kacherly's third release following "Drop a 4 Note Soundtrack" and the self titled debut EP.
like its predecessors it was also recorded at home, using a reluctant microphone and a text to speech software that was put in charge of the vocal parts.
Surprisingly, the album is also available in a silkscreen printed board game deluxe edition, immune to future Internet catastrophes and could technically survive a nuclear holocaust if kept in the right conditions.


FREE Download
Buy CD Or FREE Download HQ from Bandcamp Page   

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

[VFSL101] Cut Hands – Afro Noise I CD (Album) 2011


Cut Hands – Afro Noise I
Label: Very Friendly – VFSL101, Susan Lawly – VFSL101
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: 23 May 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract, Experimental, African
Copyright (c) – Susan Lawly
Manufactured By – Cargo (2)
Distributed By – Cargo (2)
Artwork [Vévé Art], Liner Notes – Mimsy DeBlois
Mastered By – Denis Blackham
Producer, Written-By, Liner Notes – William Bennett
Instruments: Djembes, Doundouns, Ksings, Acoustic Drums, Microphones, Brass, Eko M-20, Alesis Airsynth, Alesis AirFX, Yamaha G10, Roland Juno-106, Roland Jupiter 8.
Recorded from 2003 to 2011 in Edinburgh, London, New York.
Released with a 16pp booklet with "special texts" (liner notes) and vévé artwork.

Tracklist:
1 Welcome To The Feast Of Trumpets 2:03
2 Stabbers Conspiracy 5:58
3 Rain Washes Over Chaff 4:12
4 Nzambi Ia Lufua 2:39
5 Who No Know Go Knows 4:08
6 ++++ (Four Crosses) 3:00
7 Backlash 1:54
8 Shut Up And Bleed 4:29
9 Munkisi Munkondi 5:01
10 Impassion 3:01
11 Ezili Freda 3:42
12 Bia Mintatu 6:51
13 Rain Washes Away Every Thing 2:38

http://www.cargorecords.co.uk/release/15759
http://boomkat.com/search?q=Cut+Hands&fields[]=&commit=
Whitehouse's William Bennett indulges his passion for Congolese and Ghanaian percussion on a brilliant debut as Cut Hands. 'Afro Noise' is (surprisingly) relatively short on Noise, but heavy on the African rhythms which form the core of the majority of tracks. The drums are largely suffused and rendered with spacious, industrial-sounding reverbs but played with a polyrhythmic, African sleight of groove which has completely got our attention, while the noise element is well tempered and ranges from atmospheric texturing to immersive drones and even more symphonic electronics. We've not had a chance to spend long with this but it's genuinely impressive from initial listens. Make sure to check the samples! TIP!

[ABX 050] Haxan Cloak, The – The Haxan Cloak CD (Album) 2011

Haxan Cloak, The – The Haxan Cloak
Label: Aurora Borealis – ABX050
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Noise, Avantgarde

Tracklist:
1 Raven's Lament
2 An Archaic Device
3 Burning Torches Of Despair
4 Disorder
5 The Fall
6 The Growing
7 In Memoriam
8 Parting Chant

http://www.aurora-b.com/shop_EU_AB.php
*Thick card gatefold jacket* Beguiling, unsettling and deeply mysterious, The Haxan Cloak's eponymous debut album is a riveting experience. In case Demdike Stare hadn't inspired you to read up on the pre-1900 occult, the term "Häxan" is an old German word for witchcraft, a theme shared by the two artists besides their northern English latitude (which would technically intersect with northern Germany, geography geeks!). But for that, and the monotone artwork aside, The Haxan Cloak takes a very different approach to his craft, one rooted in his studies in sound art and more concerned with "the very real potential and power of the actual physical properties of sound" he can elicit from treated strings and primal percussion, and the space between them. His unrevealed, alchemical processes summon an immersive spectrum of ethereal drones and often shocking sounds, from the nerve-jangling, near-infrasonic subbass fluctuations of 'Fall', to the stereo-dynamic fata morgana of 'The Growing'. Occuring at the apex of the album, this astonishing track is a work of pure black magic sorcery, transporting us through a digital wormhole into shuddering, hallucinatory electro-acoustics and heart-quaking subs to a climax of percussion recalling both Zoviet*France and Scorn. Equally, when focussed on strings the effect is vividly arresting, like with the petrified drones of 'In Memoriam' or the sustained dissonance of 'Parting Chant', both achieving something more than just an evocative cinematic appeal. There's a more hallucinatory and abstract narrative to these compositions, which may be dissipated with leaden concrete imagery. The finely rendered mixing and dynamics create an illusory space all of their own, much akin to Raime's breathtaking gothic architectures, but probably more connected with the likes of KTL and Sunn 0))) overlord, Stephen O'Malley. A massive recommendation.

Monday, January 16, 2012

[SCH 079, DUCD02] Phoenecia – Demissions CD (Album) 2011


Phoenecia – Demissions
Label: Schematic – SCH079, Detroit Underground – DUCD02
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 14 Jun 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Dub, IDM, Experimental, Ambient

Copyright (c) – Schematic Music Company
Published By – Light Of Man
Design – Josh Kay*
Mastered By [Uncredited] – Dietrich Schoeneman*
Recorded By – Josh Kay*, Romulo Del Castillo

Tracklist:
1 Two-Part Invention For Bodhran & Computer 12:29
2 Nostrum Remedium 8:51
3 Frendano  4:49
    Tabla, Vocals – Fernando Subirats  
4 Seba 5:48
5 Dogness 5:11
6 Aunt Alice 6:11
7 Gesundheit 8:54
8 IV Port 4:31
9 Mushroom Cloud Over Miami 5:54
10 Livelihoods 10:31

http://phoenecia.bandcamp.com/album/demissions
*The long-awaited return of Warp luminaries and intricate electronic pioneers - Phoenecia.* Phoenicia, or Joshua Kay and Romulo Del Castillo (fka Soul Oddity) present their long-awaited new album with the hollowed, abstract electro-acoustic rhythm architecture of 'Demissions'. The complexities of 'Two-Part Invention For Bodhran & Computer' open proceedings with dynamic manipulations of classic gaelic percussion acrobatically twisting for over 12 minutes like some extended Autechre exercise in hyperspace. Further in they work with percussionist Fernando Subirats on 'Frendano', a moodier piece working on down-stroked polyrhythms and sheer, angular electronics like one of Burnt Friedman's secret rhythms from the future. They're equally adept at the beatless stuff, too. 'Gesundheit' displays a darkly emotive feel for symphonic arrangement, as does their re-interpretation of Kettel's 'Dogan', called 'Dogness', but their malleable approach to beat processing is their best attribute, from the elasticated electrons of 'IV Port' and the bombastic Hip Hop movement of 'Mushroom Cloud Over Miami' to the intricate, frenetic syncopation of 'Livlihoods', destined to leave the most demanding beat freaks twitching in their computer chair. Good to have them back.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

[eMEGO 136] Mark Van Hoen – The Revenant Diary CD (Album) 2012




Mark Van Hoen – The Revenant Diary
Label: Editions Mego – eMEGO 136
Format: CD, Album
Country: Austria
Released: Jan 2012
Genre: Electronic
Style: Downtempo, Experimental, Ambient
Composed By, Instruments, Other [Processed By] – Mark Van Hoen
Design – Stephen O'Malley
Vocals [Additional Vocals] – Georgia Belmont

Tracklist:
1 Look Into My Eyes 4:22
2 Garabndl x 3:56
3 Don't Look Back 4:16
4 I Remember 5:50
5 No Distance (Except The One Between You And Me) 3:37
6 37/3d 6:20
7 Where Were You 4:40
8 Why Hide From Me 2:49
9 Unknown Host 4:16
10 Laughing Stars At Night 4:36
11 Holy Me 9:36

http://boomkat.com/cds/484810-mark-van-hoen-the-revenant-diary
A very welcome return for Mark Van Hoen, the Seefeel founder member best known his ambient techno work as Locust and under his own name on Apollo and R&S in the mid-90s. The Revenant Diary, his first release on Peter Rehberg's Editions Mego, follows last year's fine City Centre Offices set Where Is The Truth, and explores similarly deep electronic sound-worlds, but it's less obviously song-based, and has different origin: while remastering some of his earliest recordings, Van Hoen was struck by the simplicity of a recording he made in 1982, a reel-to-reel experiment that, through serendipity as much as anything else, achieved a truly spooky, spellbinding result. Freshly inspired and reconnected to his young music-making self, he resolved to make his new record on 4-track using a minimal set-up. The resulting album is recognisable Van Hoen - all decaying drones, star-gazing synths, hypnotic rhythm and richly layered crackle - but there's a directness and an honesty to it that is palpable and refreshing even out of context. It's truly haunting music, with memory as its central theme - particularly powerful is the swirling 'Don't Look Back', and the epic closer 'Holy Me', a layered collage of voices reminiscent of Peter Christopherson's work in Coil and with CoH. Amazing cover art from Stephen O'Malley too.

mark van hoen - the revenant diary (album preview) by experimedia

[GEpH 005 CDM] Moon Wiring Club – Clutch It Like A Gonk + Gonk Edition CD (Album+ Mini-Album) 2011

Moon Wiring Club – Clutch It Like A Gonk: Gonk Edition
Label: Gecophonic Audio Systems – GEpH005CDM
Format: CD, Album+  Mini-Album
Country: UK
Released: 09 Dec 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Experimental

There is no tracklist on the covers or CD itself
"Keep your wits about you."

Clutch It Like A Gonk (Album)
Tracklist:

1 Tricky Transmission 2:13
2 Elizabethan Automata 4:35
3 Infernal Devices 1:56
4 Gonk Operetta 3:23
5 Terrible Nuptials 1:07
6 Special Nougat 3:10
7 Churchyard Style 3:56
8 Garden Get-Together 1:33
9 Spellcasting Summat 4:19
10 Always A Party 2:18
11 Sentiant Topiary 1:51
12 Tudorbethan Jobbernowl 1:55
13 Dress To Decorate Summer Evenings 3:59
14 Darling Homunculus 3:49
15 Get There By Bus 3:53
16 Return To Ghost Area 2:49
17 On The Rooftops 3:41
18 You Dreamt Me Up 2:47
19 Strangewood Fair 4:24
20 That Foggy Feeling 3:17
21 A Trifle Sinister 1:36
22 Celestial Wolf Bounce 5:08


3" CD Bundle (Mini-Album)
Tracklist:
1 Untitled 1:01
2 Untitled 1:06
3 Untitled 1:00
4 Untitled 1:03
5 Untitled 0:55
6 Untitled 0:58
7 Untitled 1:02
8 Untitled 0:59
9 Untitled 0:57
10 Untitled 0:50
11 Untitled 0:45
12 Untitled 1:07
13 Untitled 1:07
14 Untitled 0:55
15 Untitled 0:44
16 Untitled 0:58
17 Untitled 0:47
18 Untitled 0:55
19 Untitled 0:52
20 Untitled 0:50
21 Untitled 0:56
22 Untitled 1:01

http://boomkat.com/cds/473501-moon-wiring-club-clutch-it-like-a-gonk-cd-3-cd-bundle
Ian Hodgson returns with a brand new Moon Wiring Club album, bundled with a 3" cd of additional, beatless, hugely engrossing material. Despite using more or less the same setup (a Playstation 2 running "Music") - the production values have seen a big bump on "Clutch It Like A Gonk". There's still a nostalgic trace-echo permeating through the pores of these tracks (that is the essence of Hauntology, is it not?), but the tempo has been nudged, the percussion has become much more heavy-hitting and the whole thing is covered with a modern sheen (despite the typical, brilliantly unhinged retro-manic artwork) that's previously only been hinted at on MWC releases. "Churchyard Style" situates itself positively in between a halfstep bass drop and Araabmuzik style syncopation, with a cascading melody keeping everything properly unbalanced. "Spellcasting Summat" takes on a UKG template before rolling in with some dislodged vocal snippets and tripped-out effects, while "Get There By Bus" almost sounds like Shackleton on a Radiophonic jaunt. The real star of the show, however, is the 3" CD of miniatures that's included in this bundle. It's already been described as "sounding a bit like Boards Of Canada's short, beatless intervals" - and although there's certainly a similarly de-tuned and spectral quality to these pieces (there are 22 of them, clocking in at about a minute each) - there's a more unsettling essence to these tracks, reminding us of Position Normal and SAWII (especially on Track 8) - without really sounding like either. Of course, the package looks just sublime, with more of that intricate and super-distinctive MWC artwork, and although the whole project seems to have a kind of cultural pastiche at its core, we reckon that Ian Hodgson might really be onto something a bit new here - and as such we reckon this is easily his best set of tracks to date. Highly recommended!

[home n024] Marihiko Hara – Credo CD (Album) 2011


Marihiko Hara – Credo
Label: Home Normal – home n024
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: 16 Jun 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Glitch, Experimental
Design – Jeremy Bible
Mastered By – Ian Hawgood*
Photography By – Ian Hawgood*
Written-By, Mixed By – Marihiko Hara
500 copies.

Tracklist:
1 Mirage 3:21
2 Credo I 3:32
3 Credo II 3:41
4 Credo III 5:34
5 Terra Incognita 2:16
6 Trio 4:06
7 Credo IV 3:48
8 Credo V 4:50
9 Credo VI 6:02
10 Alter Ego 4:30

http://store.homenormal.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=409
"I first came across Marihiko Hara’s work in 2007, with his ‘Cesura’ release on the excellent Italian net-label – Zymogen. It really drew me in more than most other work that was doing the rounds at the same time. It had the sort of organic details and attention to beautiful subtle developments that I had only really heard in offthesky and Nicolas Bernier before (both label mates on Zymogen I should add). It became my soundtrack to that year and an album I returned to almost daily during the winter months. After this I followed Marihiko’s work carefully, from his rather fantastic 2009 ‘Icon’ release on Cotton Goods to his recent ‘Prosa’ collaboration with Tomas Phillips on Tench Records.
I’m not entirely sure when we first got in touch or who instigated it, but its been a few years now and seeing Marihiko’s evolution and careful development has been a joy to behold. He then completely flummoxed me when askingif I would consider releasing a heavily beat-led record. My only prerequisite was that the beats were made organically, not just some obvious drum machine or sample. Marihiko’s request came at a time when both Ben and myself really wanted Home Normal to push on from its comfortable surroundings that so many labels, artists and possibly listeners for that matter, wish to reside – and keep things evolving, changing and as such more meaningful for us. After averaging 10 or so drone demos a day at the time, the initial mixes for Credo were sent. I was in England in this period with Ben, tieing up the latest Home Normal work. I recall that we were actually driving to pick up packing materials and decided to make it a demo listening time and that we would do ‘blind’ listens. At some point in the journey, Credo was put on and the car journey ended up being far longer as we wanted to do repeat listens. Amongst excited expressions over just how much we loved the record, was a mutual agreement that this was exactly the kind of music we wanted to put out, and exactly the kind of music which needed to be heard by one of the most talented young producers around today."

marhiko hara - credo (album preview) by experimedia

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Secret Thirteen Mix 005 – Anduin

Secret Thirteen Mix 005 – Anduin
http://secretthirteen.org/secret-thirteen-mix-005-anduin/

Secret Thirteen Mix 005” is a one hour diverse musical compilation consisting of forthcoming and released works of the last twenty years that were composed by notable innovative and intellectual musicians.

The author of the mix is Richmond, VA (United States) based musician and installation artist Jonathan Lee, better known as Anduin. He also owns a record label “SMTG Limited” and participates in “Souvenir’s Young America” band as keyboardist and sound programmer. Anduin has worked with Jasper TX, James Plotkin, Svarte Greiner (Erik K. Skodvin), Stephen Vitiello and after releasing five quality based ambient, experimental and electronic style albums, he definitely carries now a considerable baggage of musical knowledge.

“Secret Thirteen Mix 005” is a volatile musical selection which explores numerous individual styles. With constantly shifting sounding and timbre an artist lets us hear a colorful palette of unique musicians such as Autechre, Lawrence English, Tom Waits or John Zorn in a different way. Capricious music is blended into graceful entirety by subtle retaining practically full-length works and mixing shortly but carefully. This selection contains everything what could be needed – from delaying guitars, world instruments, glitched sound effects and piano melodies to floating atmospheres and volatile rhythmic. Starting with the jazzy mood track Jonathan instantly turns listener to expect unexpected. Progressively increased musical tension in the first quarter is suddenly changed into waving atmospheres, resilient melodies. While ghostly rhythmic structures and abyss vocals take the whole third quarter, sweeping pad textures evolve into dramatic cinematographic ending with viscous piano drops. It is mellow and mature music where quality is a guaranty.

“Secret Thirteen Mix 005” is like surreal journey through chaotic maze of subconsciousness in the Andes’ cloud forest.

Anduin’s Stolen Years (LP/CD/Prints) new album is coming on March 2012.


https://www.facebook.com/anduinrva
http://soundcloud.com/anduin


Tracklist:
1. John Zorn – In The Temple Of Hadjarim [Tzadik, 1999]
2. Nemeth – Field [Thrill Jockey, 2008]
3. Autechre – Second Peng [Warp, 1995]
4. Lawrence English + Stephen Vitiello – Christening The Blackbird [Cronica, 2011]
5. Anduin – I Come From Mockingbird States [SMTG, 2012]
6. Oren Ambarchi – Remedios The Beauty [Touch, 2004]
7. So Percussion – Work Slow Life [Cantaloupe, 2006]
8. Tom Waits – The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me [Island, 1992]
9. Grails – Erosion Blues [Important, 2006]
10. Slow News Day In The Vampire World – Untitled Two [Unreleased]
11. Slow News Day In The Vampire World – Untitled Eleven [Unreleased]
12. Anduin – The Number Twenty Seven [SMTG, 2011]
13. Roll The Dice – Dark Thirty [Leaf, 2011]

[LVS 001] Various – Leaving Eleven 2011

Various – Leaving Eleven
Label: Leaves (2) – LVS001
Format: 17 × File, MP3
Country: Lithuania
Released: 30 Dec 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Dub Techno, Dub, Glitch, Drone, Experimental, Ambient, IDM, Downtempo, Minimal
Artwork By, Management – Tomas Toleikis
Compiled By – Egidijus Kausylas (Egg)
Mastered By – Emery

Tracklist:
1 Pleq – Someone Like Comes Into Your Life (feat. Fraqsea)
    Featuring – Fraqsea
2 Sonmi451 – Tohoku
3 Sense – Mysoul Transition
4 Krill.Minima – Sonnenbad
5 Ninestein – Papa November
6 Yvat – Equant Mirror
7 New Honey Shade, The – Human Energy
8 Maps And Diagrams – We Are Not Here To Protect You
9 Joel Tammik – Maa Lugu
10 Mind Over Midi – What On Earth
11 Pawn (3) – Discolored Photograph Out-Take
12 Green Kingdom, The – The Largest Creature (Dub)
13 Digitonal – Polaris
14 Sraunus – Begales
15 Sleepy Town Manufacture – Pinqwyj
16 IJO – 3001 Feets Under
17 Hobo Cubes – Systems Expired

Leaves is a new net.label. from Lithuania which consist of artists from many places on this earth, our ways crossed on purpose. We believe in diversity and the strength of art and we work towards crossing borders and connecting people... If you have any further questions or concerns contact us!  

http://leaves.lt/leaving-eleven-lvs001/
Our dears, New Year is one of the most important and most beautiful holidays with lots of joy, belief and sincerity. Therefore on this occasion we have prepared you a gift – our first release: LEAVING ELEVEN (LVS001), various artists compilation of 17 great quality IDM, Ambient, Drone, Glitch, Electronic tracks, is out now!

Seventeen different artists with different visions on electronics from all over the world: Digitonal, Hobo Cubes, IJO, Joel Tammik, Krill.Minima, Maps And Diagrams, Mind Over Midi, Ninestein, Pawn, Pleq, Sense, Sleppy Town Manufacture, Sonmi451, Sraunus, The Green Kingdom, The New Honey Shade, Yvat. We would like to thank all the artists involved in this release for their good work, and all the people who support us.

Download: MP3 | FLAC
LEAVING ELEVEN by Tomas Toleikis

Monday, January 2, 2012

[ABX 031] Grumbling Fur – Furrier CD (Album) 2011



Grumbling Fur – Furrier
Label: Aurora Borealis – ABX031
Format: CD
Country: UK
Released: 15 Aug 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental
Bass, Vibrations – Eetu Henttonen
Drums, Percussion – David J. Smith*
Guitar, Bass, Voice – Jussi Lehtisalo
Guitar, Mandolin, Voice, Electronics – Alexander Tucker
Guitars, Rhodes, Voice, Percussion, Flute, Keyboards, Electronics – Daniel O'Sullivan
Illustrations – Alexander Tucker
Layout – Andrew Hartwell
Post-production And Arrangements – Antti Uusimaki, Daniel O'Sullivan
Rhodes, Modular Synth, Audio Treatments, Electronics – Antti Uusimaki
Daniel O'Sullivan: Guitars, Rhodes, Voice, Percussion, Flute, Keyboards, Electronics. Alexander Tucker: Guitar, Mandolin, Voice, Electronics. Antti Uusimaki: Rhodes, Modular Synth, Audio Treatments, Electronics. Jussi Lehtisalo: Guitar, Bass, Voice. David J. Smith: Drums, Percussion. Eetu Henttonen: Bass, Vibrations.
Illustrations by Alexander Tucker. Layout Andrew Hartwell. Recorded using a pair of Beyer m160 ribbon microphones in deep dark south London. Overdubs at Anti-establishment by Danial O'Sullivan, Alexander Tucker & Antti Uusimaki. Post -production and arrangements by Daniel O'Sullivan & Antti Uusimaki.

Tracklist:
1 Furfather
2 A Little Cloud
3 Under Fur Moon
4 Curing Hides
5 Green Garden Fur
6 Sommaren Är Här
7 Orb Of The Woods
8 Talvi On Tulossa
9 Bears Wandering Into Milky Chapel
10 The Blessing
11 Eye Of The Bovine Sunset
12 Nomadic Mirage
13 Siberian Priest
14 Furfather's Lament

http://www.aurora-b.com/shop_EU_AB.php
http://boomkat.com/vinyl/478580-grumbling-fur-furrier
**Now available on vinyl - includes MP3 download code redeemable from the label** Grumbling Fur is a pysch-folk supergroup of sorts comprising Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Guapo, Mothlite), Alexander Tucker, Antti Uusimaki (Mothlite, Panic DHH), Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharoah Overlord), and David Smith (Guapo, The Stargazers Assistant). 'Furrier' is the result of a one day improv session conducted in deep dark south London, and features the group converging within a whirlpool of ideas touching on krautrock mantras, primal rhythmic patterning and smoked-out psych blooms. The results of the session were combed through by O'Sullivan and Uusimaki at a later date after they'd been left to ferment, and what appears on this album would appear to be those most fertile bits which sprouted strange fungi and emitted the most hypnotic appeal. The dual vocals of O'Sullivan and Tucker are a defining feature, but the masterful, metamorphosing fluidity of their instrumental play is just staggeringly attuned and requires your attention at the nearest possible opportunity if you're into anything from Barn Owl to Æthenor or The Haxan Cloak. Recommended!

Grumbling Fur - Under Fur Moon by Fluid Radio

[SFT 010] Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica CD (Album) 2011

Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
Label: Software Records – SFT 010
Format: CD, Album, Digisleeve
Country: US
Released: 11 Nov 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Leftfield, Abstract, IDM

Engineer, Mixed By – Al Carlson
Illustration [Back Cover Skull] – DL*, HFF
Illustration [Front Cover Illustration By - 1936] – Virgil Finlay
Layout – Jesper Eklow, Theres Wegmann
Mastered By – Joe Lambert
Music By [All Music By] – Daniel Lopatin
Producer – Al Carlson, DL*, Joel Ford

Tracklist:
1 Andro 3:56
2 Power Of Persuasion 3:30
3 Sleep Dealer 3:10
4 Remember 3:19
5 Replica 4:36
6 Nassau 4:43
7 Submersible 3:49
8 Up 3:57
9 Child Soldier 3:12
10 Explain 6:45

http://www.pointnever.com/
http://boomkat.com/cds/442973-oneohtrix-point-never-replica
Arriving like some blockbuster sequel to 'Returnal', Oneohtrix Point Never's eagerly anticipated 'Replica' sucks us deep into a simulated 4.1 world fantasia. Most strikingly, his sonic palette is far broader than before, adding piano keys, Techno beats and somersaulting glitch edits with a fancier, hi-tech studio-honed sound design, articulating a more kinetic, progressive vision of timeless electronica. There's a palpable sense that he's excitedly exploring every option afforded him by the Mexican Summer studios, immersing himself and us in a vivid off-planet adventure every bit as sincerely lush and awe-inspiring as previous solo outings, but moving out of the shadows of his over-referenced influences and into the light of a stranger, alien sun. There are still obvious reminders of David Byrne & Brian Eno's 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts' or Eno and Jon Hassell's 'Possible Musics' and moments of Sakamoto-esque sublime, but there's also traces of Nicholas Collins' stutter-circuits and the digital dreams of mid-eighties Chris Carter. To be honest, we've not had a chance to spend much time with 'Replica' (sort it out promo people!), but we can guarantee it's going to be getting much closer inspection. From initial impressions it's hugely promising!

Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica by Mexican Summer

[WHITEBOX 011] Richard A Ingram – Happy Hour CD (Album) 2011

Richard A Ingram – Happy Hour
Label: White Box – WHITEBOX 011
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: 01 Jun 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Drone, Experimental

Tracklist:
Agile Drone 
Truncheon Tree 
Chaos Fortifier 
Retro Morph

http://raingram.wordpress.com/
if you would like a copy please email at mail@richardaingram.co.uk
http://www.discogs.com/Richard-A-Ingram-Happy-Hour/release/2972119
http://boomkat.com/cds/416505-richard-a-ingram-happy-hour
Richard A.Ingram returns with an engrossing, desolate and cinematic suite of recordings that expand his vision of mildewed and mottled doom ambience after last years excellent debut album 'Consolamentum'. Like its predecessor, the machinations of Ingram's underworld are left to the imagination; there's no clear origin to his sounds, everything is obfuscated in a murk, creating that palpable feeling of fear one might find when waking up in the middle of the night, before your eyes adjust to the darkness. The first instance of 'Agile Drone' slowly rises through murky tape noise to pass through unseen acousmatics and filtered piano until a booming bass shocks us into a sort of paralysis, the fear intensified by immobility while uncontrollable apparitions swirl at the peripheries. Next 'Truncheon Tree' slightly dissipates the unease with an ethereal passage of almost Rhythm & Sound-like dub delays and piano peering out of misty atmospheres, the expert mastering from Taylor Deupree evidently enhancing the parameters of this illusory space. The final tracks, entitled 'Chaos Fortifier' and 'Retro Morph', venture into realms of aural perversity akin to the compelling yet disturbing visuals of Gaspar Noe ('Enter The Void' and 'Irreversible'), also recalling the soundtrack by Jean-Claude Eloy or BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa with chilling precision. There's so much of this sort of doomed ambience around these days - but Ingram really does slot into the top tier. Recommended.

WHITEBOX011 - Richard A Ingram 'Happy Hour' CD Sampler by whitebox

[GBX 015 LP] The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies LP (Album) 2011


Advisory Circle, The – As The Crow Flies
Label: Ghost Box – GBX015 LP
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 08 Jul 2011
Genre: Electronic
Style: Leftfield, Musique Concrète, Experimental, Ambient

Phonographic Copyright (p) – Belbury Music – 2011
Phonographic Copyright (p) – State51 Conspiracy, The – 2011
Copyright (c) – Ghost Box – 2011
Composed By, Mastered By – Jon Brooks
Cover [Design] – Julian House
Liner Notes – Ronald Hutton
Realised at New YattSounds.
"The Patchwork Explains" is dedicated to the memory of Trish Keenan.
Orders from the official web store come with a downloadable zip file including the full album in VBR MP3 or FLAC format (with the two extra tracks available on CD) plus the artwork in pdf.
Durations are taken from files.

Tracklist:
A1 Logotone I - Decisions 0:15
A2 Now Ends The Beginning 3:28
A3 Here! In The Wychwoods 3:10
A4 The Patchwork Explains 2:54
A5 Everyday Hazards 2:50
A6 Ceridwen 1:16
A7 As The Crow Flies 4:27
A8 Innocence Elsewhere 1:31
A9 Logotone II - The New Traffic Signs 0:06
B1 Modern Through Movement 2:39
B2 Learning Owl Reappears 3:54
B3 Further Starry Wisdom 2:35
B4 We Cleanse This Space 2:37
B5 Beyond The Wychelm 4:35
B6 Logotone III - Eyes Inside You 0:09
B7 Route Along 18 Corners 2:52
B8 Wheel Of The Year 5:03

The Advisory Circle's 2008 album Other Channels is one of the best things Ghost Box have ever released, and having kept himself busy since then with various releases on his own Cafe Kaput label, Jon Brooks is now back in AC mode to drop the eagerly awaited follow-up, As The Crow Flies - and what a fiendishly good record it is. As ever with this project, the primary inspiration is the sinister undertones of public information films and wyrd 70s TV broadcasting in general, but As The Crow Flies charts less obviously sample-based territory than its predecessor; this outing is a little less about those hauntological ambiences and paternal monologues (though they're still very much attendant), more about composition and songcraft, with elaborate synthesizer arrangements and elegant folky inflections aplenty. An agreeable psychedelic whimsy characterises the record, but it's not all library music twee; you never know when there's going to be a handbrake-turn into darkness, dissoluton and abstraction: see 'Modern Through Movement', which is proto-techno by way of Berlin school kosmische, and especially 'We Cleanse This Space', a truly eerie, inspired concoction of reverbed children's choir and limpid afro-dub percussion. Hell, closing number 'Lonely Signalman' is nothing short of vocodered pop. This is perhaps As The Crow Flies' greatest achievement: that it manages to adhere to the very specific rules and requirements of the Ghost Box universe while also representing a hefty artistic leap forward for its maker. Terrific stuff.

The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies (Clips) by Ghost Box