Here's what happens when you go looking in a section from a band you've recently fallen in love with but know very little about.
As the title says, this 7" release was available at the recent Kid 606 dates throughout Europe. Again, a split release from 555 Recordings of LeedsUK, the Kid's side consists of three tracks - all very short,especially at 45rpm on a 7". "Start/over" is a droney melodic piece, asis the last track, "Relive yr unhappy childhood." However, the middletrack, "attn:vat!" is very statically beat-driven, with subtle odditiesgoing on through the background. Fun stuff. Side AA is Lesser, with twotracks: "epic act" and "awful way to go." It starts out with Lesser'sshout out to Kid 606 and "those that don't like it, eat a bowl of dicks- those that do, blast these kicks." At which point the butchery ofFaith No More's "Epic" blasts through with extreme, V/VM-styled beatsand morphs of the original. The latter track is mostly noise andmachine-gun-styled drumbeats. A very fun and release, as most 606releases are.
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The 606 side is a niceblend of noise and hard, fast electronic beats, although the noiseseems to flow more melodically in the music than with Kid 606's usualwork. It keeps around the same pace throughout thetrack, though at the end a few different noises and effects are addedto make it extra tasty. It clocks in at a little under five minutes.The Remote Viewer side is a bit softer, with a unique, low-tempoelectro-beat overlaying droney distant keyboard work. The track dropsoff after a bit, then picks up - then repeats this again. This is on apicture disc 7", with much Japanese writing and nice anime girls withguns and such. It's out on the 555 Recordings of Leeds UK label.
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This is the firstinstallment of Hushush Records' "Threesome" subscription seriesfeaturing collaborations between Mark Spybey (Dead Voices On Air,Download), Mick Harris (Scorn) and Ambre (John N Sellekaers, C-drik andOlivier Moreau of Snog, Imminent Starvation, etc).
Ambre and Spybeycollaborated via mail late last year, the latter sending the formertapes which they then used in the 2 week recording sessions. Sfumato isa painting technique of blurring or softening sharp outlines by subtleand gradual blending of one tone into another to create a vague senseof movement. A perfect title for this album. The bulk of the 14 Frenchtitled tracks are composed of deep drones, found sound samples andambient atmospheres. The music is primarily minimal, but not tediouslyso, melodic with gradual introductions and shifting of sounds. A fewtracks add subtle bass programming while a few others are simply brief,bizarre sample collages meant to break up the flow. Spybey's patentedreverb drenched environments are clearly evident on at least half thetracks. Although the album is best listened to start to finish, the 2lengthiest tracks are standouts. "L'horloge de Calcutta" ("The Clock ofCalcutta") is a mesmerizing pulsation that slowly builds up an intensetension for what seems like an eternity but is really only 9 minutes."Le Printemps des Abîmes" ("The Spring of the Abysses") is amasterpiece of deep drone that dissolves into a beautiful melody cloudin the final few of it's 8 and 1/2 minutes, bringing the album to agentle finale. Altogether, "Sfumato" is a very pleasant surprise sinceI had no idea what to expect from Ambre. They did a fantastic job ofusing Spybey's sounds with their own. Next up is Spybey & Harris"Bad Roads, Young Drivers" in July then Ambre & Harris in latesummer. As of May 31st there were 15 of the 100 subscriptions stillavailable, so if you're interested go to hushush.com immediately beforethey're gone ...
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Ambre and Spybeycollaborated via mail late last year, the latter sending the formertapes which they then used in the 2 week recording sessions. Sfumato isa painting technique of blurring or softening sharp outlines by subtleand gradual blending of one tone into another to create a vague senseof movement. A perfect title for this album. The bulk of the 14 Frenchtitled tracks are composed of deep drones, found sound samples andambient atmospheres. The music is primarily minimal, but not tediouslyso, melodic with gradual introductions and shifting of sounds. A fewtracks add subtle bass programming while a few others are simply brief,bizarre sample collages meant to break up the flow. Spybey's patentedreverb drenched environments are clearly evident on at least half thetracks. Although the album is best listened to start to finish, the 2lengthiest tracks are standouts. "L'horloge de Calcutta" ("The Clock ofCalcutta") is a mesmerizing pulsation that slowly builds up an intensetension for what seems like an eternity but is really only 9 minutes."Le Printemps des Abîmes" ("The Spring of the Abysses") is amasterpiece of deep drone that dissolves into a beautiful melody cloudin the final few of it's 8 and 1/2 minutes, bringing the album to agentle finale. Altogether, "Sfumato" is a very pleasant surprise sinceI had no idea what to expect from Ambre. They did a fantastic job ofusing Spybey's sounds with their own. Next up is Spybey & Harris"Bad Roads, Young Drivers" in July then Ambre & Harris in latesummer. As of May 31st there were 15 of the 100 subscriptions stillavailable, so if you're interested go to hushush.com immediately beforethey're gone ...samples:
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Brian Herman and DonnaDragotta have returned to NYC (from Florida) to launch the Diskosquidlabel and release their first CD as Kalma, a somewhat mysteriouscollective project recorded together with a bunch of other friends. Stunned at the professionalism and splendor of this debutrelease, there is most definitely promise for this new group and thelabel itself. The album's design and layout, first of all, are uniquemirror-image minimalist photos of sandy and icy tree scenes. The musicrivals old school Autechre with complex beat structures along withAphex Twin's home-grown sound ideas. The opening track, "FoamSpraying," is a nice intro into the disc - droney foamy noises thatbuild. The rest of the disc is a whole array of electronic reaches:beat-driven head-spinners, crackly soundscapes, and walls of curiousliquidy noises. One flaw is that the does disc seems to go on for a bittoo long, perhaps because there are thirteen different tracks, and afew clock in at around ten minutes, but it truly doesn't interfere withthe quality of the album overall. If this sounds like your cup of tea,definitely support this release, though, and keep your eye on the DiskoSquid label in the future. www.diskosquid.net
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The second installment ofthe Dark series has finally been shipped to the first subscribers,after a wait of more than six months in some cases.
And in every waypossible, it was well worth the wait.
A return to the almost-structured style of the first Musick is veryevident, but there's less of the languid, poppy touches which clutteredits predecessor (namely the synthesizer wank of "Red Birds Will Fly OutOf The East And Destroy Paris In A Night" and the overly-pleasant "TheDreamer Is Still Asleep") and an even deeper sense of space andstructure within their mixes. The entire disc flows from beginning toend - starting slowly with "Something" and a what appears to be apartially cannabalized version of the aforementioned "Red Birds," nowcalled "Tiny Golden Books."
Coil (credited this time around as John Balance, Peter Christophersonand Thighpaulsandra, along with guest vocals by Rose McDowall) bringsomething very special to the plate when they step up with a worthyrelease, and this stands as one of their best. No matter what one'spersonal opinion of their occultish interests and thematics are, theymake it work in a way that even the most grounded and dispassionatematerialist can appreciate. Beautiful melodies and lyrics emerge fromfractured beginnings - "Ether" begins with chopped-up noises, but whatemerges is a shining, piano-laden tribute to intangible forces,something Coil seem to surround everything they produce with.Similarly, the haunting twang of a detuned guitar or jews harp threadsits way through "Where Are You?" as the entire track unfolds and thencollapses back upon itself.
"Paranoid Inlay" and the album's closer "Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)" areworth the import price by themselves. Both feature Balance's excellentvocals heavily; his voice is both gripping and disturbing, but he'scapable of producing such a beautiful sense of mystery and wonder whenthe mood calls for it. "Paranoid Inlay" is an ode to the renunciationof both indulgence and abstinence, as Balance asks himself "what do Ineed to give up?/crystaline ladders/shiny things/mirror balls," while atheramin sings to scattered drum machine glitches and organ stabs inthe background.
"Batwings" may very well be one the best thing Coil has ever producedin their long history. More synthesizers glitches and screeches openthe track, but a sombre organ piece emerges to gel the entire tracktogether. Balance's vocals become poetry behind an alien soundscape,and the entire track ends with a multi-language soup of achinglybeautiful chanting. Otherworldly doesn't begin to describe it.
The first 500 subscribers also received CD copies of the liveperformance Coil did as Time Machines back in April as part of theCornucopia Festival in London. While it's sure to become a sacrifice toEbay, our modern god of greed, it's a great treat for fans who probablyweren't able to make the long journey to the UK. Hopefully, half-rumorsof more live performances in America will eventually come true.
In the meantime, "Musick To Play In The Dark Volume 2" is more than enough to tide us over.
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And in every waypossible, it was well worth the wait.A return to the almost-structured style of the first Musick is veryevident, but there's less of the languid, poppy touches which clutteredits predecessor (namely the synthesizer wank of "Red Birds Will Fly OutOf The East And Destroy Paris In A Night" and the overly-pleasant "TheDreamer Is Still Asleep") and an even deeper sense of space andstructure within their mixes. The entire disc flows from beginning toend - starting slowly with "Something" and a what appears to be apartially cannabalized version of the aforementioned "Red Birds," nowcalled "Tiny Golden Books."
Coil (credited this time around as John Balance, Peter Christophersonand Thighpaulsandra, along with guest vocals by Rose McDowall) bringsomething very special to the plate when they step up with a worthyrelease, and this stands as one of their best. No matter what one'spersonal opinion of their occultish interests and thematics are, theymake it work in a way that even the most grounded and dispassionatematerialist can appreciate. Beautiful melodies and lyrics emerge fromfractured beginnings - "Ether" begins with chopped-up noises, but whatemerges is a shining, piano-laden tribute to intangible forces,something Coil seem to surround everything they produce with.Similarly, the haunting twang of a detuned guitar or jews harp threadsits way through "Where Are You?" as the entire track unfolds and thencollapses back upon itself.
"Paranoid Inlay" and the album's closer "Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)" areworth the import price by themselves. Both feature Balance's excellentvocals heavily; his voice is both gripping and disturbing, but he'scapable of producing such a beautiful sense of mystery and wonder whenthe mood calls for it. "Paranoid Inlay" is an ode to the renunciationof both indulgence and abstinence, as Balance asks himself "what do Ineed to give up?/crystaline ladders/shiny things/mirror balls," while atheramin sings to scattered drum machine glitches and organ stabs inthe background.
"Batwings" may very well be one the best thing Coil has ever producedin their long history. More synthesizers glitches and screeches openthe track, but a sombre organ piece emerges to gel the entire tracktogether. Balance's vocals become poetry behind an alien soundscape,and the entire track ends with a multi-language soup of achinglybeautiful chanting. Otherworldly doesn't begin to describe it.
The first 500 subscribers also received CD copies of the liveperformance Coil did as Time Machines back in April as part of theCornucopia Festival in London. While it's sure to become a sacrifice toEbay, our modern god of greed, it's a great treat for fans who probablyweren't able to make the long journey to the UK. Hopefully, half-rumorsof more live performances in America will eventually come true.
In the meantime, "Musick To Play In The Dark Volume 2" is more than enough to tide us over.
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For those of you who havethe opportunity to see the tour for this new album, take it, andexperience the unique space rock jam sessions that focus on this newmaterial.
Their new direction is improvisation andall-out jamming, and the music on this disc is some of a very joyousand new nature to the Pink Dots. The lyrics are wonderful, of course,sticking to Edward’s excellent story-telling style, but most of themhave a more rhyme-schemed, verse, chorus, verse style that is very outof the ordinary for him. Niels van Hoornblower’s winds are throughoutthe disc, as well as Ryan Moore’s distinct dub style and TheSilverman’s wonderfully eerie and spacey keyboards and effects. Martijnde Kleer mostly plays guitar, it seems, but also adds in superb violinson such tracks as "Skeltzer Spletzer." The CD really brings you back tothe show, with a spellbinding and uplifting feeling - upbeat and moresolemn tracks alike. As Edward said in a recent interview, a lot of themusic on this disc "could never, in fact, be repeated."
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Their new direction is improvisation andall-out jamming, and the music on this disc is some of a very joyousand new nature to the Pink Dots. The lyrics are wonderful, of course,sticking to Edward’s excellent story-telling style, but most of themhave a more rhyme-schemed, verse, chorus, verse style that is very outof the ordinary for him. Niels van Hoornblower’s winds are throughoutthe disc, as well as Ryan Moore’s distinct dub style and TheSilverman’s wonderfully eerie and spacey keyboards and effects. Martijnde Kleer mostly plays guitar, it seems, but also adds in superb violinson such tracks as "Skeltzer Spletzer." The CD really brings you back tothe show, with a spellbinding and uplifting feeling - upbeat and moresolemn tracks alike. As Edward said in a recent interview, a lot of themusic on this disc "could never, in fact, be repeated."
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This is the short and sweet solo debut from the guitarist of the Legendary Pink Dots.
It's very simple, but beautiful, and at times reminds me ofif the late Nick Drake would have had a slightly more country feel tohim. Throughout the disc, Martijn plays acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo,and handdrums. He also sings very simple lyrics that have a warm flowto them, about the road, birds, and the reflection of the moon in hislover's eyes. His solo style is very different from how he plays withthe Dots, as I did not expect such a blend of acoustic rock, folk, andcountry. The result is surprising, but ultimately good and filled witha very down and out emotion. This CD-R was "recorded at home with 2microphones & tapedeck, March 2000." It is limited to 100 copies,which are only available on their current tour.
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It's very simple, but beautiful, and at times reminds me ofif the late Nick Drake would have had a slightly more country feel tohim. Throughout the disc, Martijn plays acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo,and handdrums. He also sings very simple lyrics that have a warm flowto them, about the road, birds, and the reflection of the moon in hislover's eyes. His solo style is very different from how he plays withthe Dots, as I did not expect such a blend of acoustic rock, folk, andcountry. The result is surprising, but ultimately good and filled witha very down and out emotion. This CD-R was "recorded at home with 2microphones & tapedeck, March 2000." It is limited to 100 copies,which are only available on their current tour.
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This disc on the King Mob label couples two spoken word lectures written by Cave: "The Secret Life of the Love Song" and "The Flesh Made Word", the former originally for the 1998 Vienna Poetry Festival and the latter for a 1996 BBC Radio broadcast.
"The Secret Life.." is 48 and 1/2 minutes of Cave casually explaining the inspirations and minutiae of his proudest achievement: the love song. Cave deftly describes how the void left by the death of his father and the influence of the Bible drive him to write his love songs ... "my gloomy, violent, dark-eyed children. They sit grimly on their own and they do not play with the other songs." For Cave the love song is by definition sad, has a life of it's own and is ultimately a search for God: "the love song exists to fill, with language, the silence between ourselves and God."To help illustrate his points, music is interspersed with the spoken passages: the brief new song "West Country Girl" and beautifully sparse (vocal/piano/violin/bass/drums) new recordings of "People Ain't No Good", "Sad Waters", "Love Letter" and "Far From Me" with Susan Stenger of Band of Susans and Warren Ellis and Jim White, both of Dirty Three. The entire piece is indexed as 1 track. "The Flesh Made Word" is 17 minutes of just spoken word. Here Cave goes into great detail about his relationships with the Bible and his father and his growth as a writer and as a person. The disc comes packaged in a cd sized hardback book that contains 6 in studio b/w pictures and printed excerpts from the lectures. Nick Cave is a truly learned and brilliant artist ... this is a very interesting and insightful work that bears repeated listenings. It is absolutely essential for Cave fans and anyone else interested in passionate songwriting and the genius behind it.
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"The Secret Life.." is 48 and 1/2 minutes of Cave casually explaining the inspirations and minutiae of his proudest achievement: the love song. Cave deftly describes how the void left by the death of his father and the influence of the Bible drive him to write his love songs ... "my gloomy, violent, dark-eyed children. They sit grimly on their own and they do not play with the other songs." For Cave the love song is by definition sad, has a life of it's own and is ultimately a search for God: "the love song exists to fill, with language, the silence between ourselves and God."To help illustrate his points, music is interspersed with the spoken passages: the brief new song "West Country Girl" and beautifully sparse (vocal/piano/violin/bass/drums) new recordings of "People Ain't No Good", "Sad Waters", "Love Letter" and "Far From Me" with Susan Stenger of Band of Susans and Warren Ellis and Jim White, both of Dirty Three. The entire piece is indexed as 1 track. "The Flesh Made Word" is 17 minutes of just spoken word. Here Cave goes into great detail about his relationships with the Bible and his father and his growth as a writer and as a person. The disc comes packaged in a cd sized hardback book that contains 6 in studio b/w pictures and printed excerpts from the lectures. Nick Cave is a truly learned and brilliant artist ... this is a very interesting and insightful work that bears repeated listenings. It is absolutely essential for Cave fans and anyone else interested in passionate songwriting and the genius behind it.
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When is Lars Pedersen, longtime solo artist and former member of '80s experimental/industrial pioneers Holy Toy.
Pedersen began recording as When in 1983 and to date has a back catalog of 7 albums. "WriterCakebox" is a 2 disc retrospective of those albums as well as a collection of numerous soundtrack, compilation and/or previously unreleased tracks. There's a lot to explore here with over 148 minutes of music spanning 15 years and numerous projects. I first became aware of When via the bizarre collage and pop of 1999's "Psychedelic Wunderbaum", also on Norway's Jester Records. When's previous work is in the same sort of surrealist sample vein, minus the psychedelic pop aspect. Anything and everything is a source for sound: orchestras (sampled and 'real'), drones, whistles, bells,rain, footsteps, music boxes, typewriters, animals, acoustic guitar, choirs,dialogue, chants, noise ... the list is practically endless. Pedersen's talent really shines on the soundtrack minded collage/soundscape pieces. He skillfully pieces together cohesive and dynamic tracks, some dark and ominous, some subtle and beautiful, others cartoon like or just plain weird. The songs from the '80s (ten of which have English vocals) are hit and miss and most sound dated now due to the gear used. I prefer the more recent 'pop' oriented songs like those found on "Psychedelic Wunderbaum". The packaging for this set is very sharp, as is all Jester product, with a 10 page insert with full color collage artwork and brief comments on many of the tracks. Altogether, "WriterCakebox" is a fascinating journey through an artist's repertoire, an artist you've most likely never heard and should. When's past only makes me more curious as to what When's future has instore.
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Pedersen began recording as When in 1983 and to date has a back catalog of 7 albums. "WriterCakebox" is a 2 disc retrospective of those albums as well as a collection of numerous soundtrack, compilation and/or previously unreleased tracks. There's a lot to explore here with over 148 minutes of music spanning 15 years and numerous projects. I first became aware of When via the bizarre collage and pop of 1999's "Psychedelic Wunderbaum", also on Norway's Jester Records. When's previous work is in the same sort of surrealist sample vein, minus the psychedelic pop aspect. Anything and everything is a source for sound: orchestras (sampled and 'real'), drones, whistles, bells,rain, footsteps, music boxes, typewriters, animals, acoustic guitar, choirs,dialogue, chants, noise ... the list is practically endless. Pedersen's talent really shines on the soundtrack minded collage/soundscape pieces. He skillfully pieces together cohesive and dynamic tracks, some dark and ominous, some subtle and beautiful, others cartoon like or just plain weird. The songs from the '80s (ten of which have English vocals) are hit and miss and most sound dated now due to the gear used. I prefer the more recent 'pop' oriented songs like those found on "Psychedelic Wunderbaum". The packaging for this set is very sharp, as is all Jester product, with a 10 page insert with full color collage artwork and brief comments on many of the tracks. Altogether, "WriterCakebox" is a fascinating journey through an artist's repertoire, an artist you've most likely never heard and should. When's past only makes me more curious as to what When's future has instore.
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Montreal's scratchmasterKid Koala brings this tasty treat of 14 new tracks of groovingmelodies, peculiar samples, breakbeats and scratches.
It'sentertaining, varied and linear from start to finish, featuring twotracks by Bullfrog, a rhythmic band in which Kid Koala fronts at theturntables. It seems like it would music to just chill out to, but theodd clips and effects thrown in add a lot of humor to the mood. Most ofthe tracks have tons of samples throughout, rewound and sped up andscratched about to mix right in with the groove of the back beats. Onetrack even samples a man imitating a chicken, and somehow combines itwith It falls short of 40 minutes however, but is good enough to keepgoing. Also included is a cute comic book starring Kid Koala and someNinja Tunes.
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It'sentertaining, varied and linear from start to finish, featuring twotracks by Bullfrog, a rhythmic band in which Kid Koala fronts at theturntables. It seems like it would music to just chill out to, but theodd clips and effects thrown in add a lot of humor to the mood. Most ofthe tracks have tons of samples throughout, rewound and sped up andscratched about to mix right in with the groove of the back beats. Onetrack even samples a man imitating a chicken, and somehow combines itwith It falls short of 40 minutes however, but is good enough to keepgoing. Also included is a cute comic book starring Kid Koala and someNinja Tunes.
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