Category Archives: The Quiet Sounds
The Quiet Sounds – Episode 28
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
The eerie and whimsical sound of aged and ageless BBC electronic music and television, now with a decidedly modern (and twisted) twist by today’s strangest artists, plus one orgy. An uninterrupted mix.
Tracklist:
1. “In Your Own Time” by Moon Wiring Club from <em>Shoes Off and Chairs Away</em> (<a href=”http://www.blankworkshop.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Gecophonic</a>)
2. “Main Titles” by John Gale from <i>Dr. Phibes Rises Again!</i> soundtrack (<a href=”http://www.perseverancerecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Perseverance</a>)
3. “Rosy Retrospection” by The Caretaker from <em>Persistent Repetition of Phrases</em> (<a href=”http://www.installsound.net/” target=”_blank”>Install</a>)
4. “Melancholia VIII” by William Basinski from <em>Melancholia</em> (<a href=”http://www.mmlxii.com/” target=”_blank”>2062</a>)
5. “Grey Water” by Tor Lundvall from <em>Empty City</em> (<a href=”http://strangefortune.com/” target=”_blank”>Strange Fortune</a>)
6. “Amoeba” by Woob from <em>Woob</em> (<a href=”http://www.emit.cc/” target=”_blank”>Em:t</a>)
7. “Hotel Freund” by Black to Comm from <em>Alphabet 1968</em> (<a href=”http://www.typerecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Type</a>)
8. “Warp/Warpable” by Deathprod from <em>Nordheim Transformed</em> (<a href=”http://www.runegrammofon.com/” target=”_blank”>Rune Grammofon</a>)
9. “Ten Years or Twenty” by Moon Wiring Club from <em>Shoes Off and Chairs Away</em> (<a href=”http://www.blankworkshop.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Gecophonic</a>)
10. “The Willows” by Belbury Poly from <em>The Willows</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
11. “The New Mobility” by Belbury Poly from <em>The Owl’s Map</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
12. “Dead Eyes Opened” by Severed Heads from <em>ComMerz</em> (<a href=”http://www.ltmrecordings.com/” target=”_blank”>LTM</a>)
13. “The Devil Is in the Details” by Boards of Canada from <em>Geogaddi</em> (<a href=”http://www.warprecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Warp</a>)
14. “New Trumpets of Time” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti from <em>Lover Boy</em> (<a href=”http://www.ballbearingspinatas.com/” target=”_blank”>Ballbearings Pinatas</a>)
15. “Secret Admirer” by Freescha from <em>Head Warlock Double Stare</em> (<a href=”http://www.attacknine.com/” target=”_blank”>Attack 9</a>)
16. “My Game of Loving” by White Noise from <em>An Electric Storm</em> (Island)
17. “Salty Sun Tales” by The Focus Group from <em>We Are All Pan’s People</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
18. “They Are in the Room with Us Right Now” by Roj from <em>The Transactional Dharma of Roj</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
19. “Man” by Edward Williams from Life on Earth (<a href=”http://www.trunkrecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Trunk</a>)
… and various clippings from the BBC Sound Effects Library (Volumes 8, 15, 19), released by Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Princeton NJ.
The Quiet Sounds – Episode 27
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (63.4MB)
Here is part two of my best-of selection for 2009. This segment goes a little further afield into music that flirts with indie rock, techno, among other styles, but it’s still so quiet …
Tracklist:
1. “Add Infinity” by Mountains from Choral (Thrill Jockey)
Mountains have been quietly releasing albums for the last several years that sit between lovely Takoma style guitar passages and granular synth ambience that wouldn’t be out of place on 12K or Raster-Noton. Lately their stuff has become even more bucolic in nature, culminating in this year’s fine Choral album, which is as good a naturalist ambient drone record as you are likely to hear anywhere. Also worth looking out for are the fine works of fifty percent of Mountains: Koen Holtkamp.
2. “Maginot” by Benoit Pioulard from “Flocks” 7″ (Blue Flea)
I was lucky enough to see Thomas Meluch (Pioulard himself) live this year at the local Wordless Music Concert Series here in New York, where he supported bliss-out veterans Windy and Carl. Meluch himself straddles the line between atmospheric dream pop and straight ambient, and does it very well. This confection from his latest 7″ on Windy and Carl’s own label is a great example of having feet both on the ground and way out in the aether.
3. “Dopplerton” by Bibio from Vignetting the Compost (Mush)
Bibio got bad press for years as a kind of Boards of Canada copycat. This is unfair, not because it’s untrue, but because he was probably the best BoC copycat out there. Recently he’s moved in a different direction for his association with Warp Records, but not before he released this fine ambient folk record. It’s sunny and gorgeous, and, in my opinion, sounds as though he’d shorn himself of any BoC association well before Warp came knocking.
4. “Part 2″ by Grouper from live recording from All Tomorrow’s Parties (Free Music Archive)
I heard this song when Grouper played live a few months ago and wondered what the song title was. Thankfully, Free Music Archive released the entire set from another show from around the same time so I can at least possess the track, if not the title. Check out FMA for more unreleased Grouper, as well as free music by a staggering number of excellent artists.
5. “From An Ancient Star” by Belbury Poly from From an Ancient Star (Ghost Box)
Doing electronic music as if it’s 1979 is a “thing” right now, and I love it. Belbury Poly were there before a lot of other artists, with their 2004 debut, The Willows (especially notable for what appears to be a Dalek singing—and I’m talking OG Doctor Who, here). The latest might serve as a great soundtrack to Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, but it also serves to remind of dusty Penguin paperbacks, Arthur Machen, Beaver and Krause, and strange field recordings from an old BBC nature documentary. These guys are mining the late 20th century nerd subconscious.
6. “Fields Are Breathing” by Black Moth Super Rainbow from Eating Us (Graveface)
I completely forgot to mention that I played this in the podcast, and for that I apologize. I love BMSR, who mix completely bonkers psych-rock with In Search Of … electro sensibilities. Like playing Belbury Poly on angel dust while watching a Sid and Marty Krofft broadcast? I’m running out of descriptors for this stuff, I can’t help it. Anyway, this disc came in a hairy case, and I’m a sucker for anything sung on a vocoder; so sue me.
7. “Spring” by Ducktails from Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee)
I used to live one NJ town over from the artist known as Ducktails, but that was likely before he was born. At the same time, I kind of get the Jersey Shore vibe he’s going for, even if he might not have been old enough to remember it as it was in the late 80s (and, according to MTV, still today). This track will likely appeal to those who enjoy Animal Collective and the like, but the rest of the record oscillates between this sort of thing and bizarro synth patterns. Chillwave? Glo-fi? C’mon.
8. “The Void” by Papercuts from You Can Have What You Want (Gnomonsong)
I have to admit I’m normally skeptical of “indie rock,” but there’s a supremely chilled-out variety going around right now (until the next temporary trend appears), and I’m really grooving on it. I watched the video for another track on this and it had all the right moves: post-apocalyptic hermits, warm and echoey organs (with help from a Beach House member, apparently), and some truly nice harmonies. Here’s the video, and the whole record is a gem, too.
9. “Quicksand” by Lotus Plaza from The Floodlight Collective (Kranky)
Speaking of indie rock, here’s the dream pop side-project of the guitarist from hipster faves Deerhunter. I like the main band, too, and the solo recordings prove this is a group of very talented guys. In my opinion, none of the music would be out of place on 4AD back in the grand old days of the label, and, coming from me, that is very high praise indeed. The Phil Spector drums are a nice touch, too.
10. “Long Way” by Parks from Hidden (Infraction)
Parks made it onto my best-of from last year with his fine Umber album, so it’s no surprise to see him here again, though I doubt it’ll be making my top-fifteen of ’09 (to come on ZapTown soon). This one is a bit different, sometimes reminding me of the euro-techno of Peter Benisch, with that distinct (and very slick) ambient sound noted on his earlier work. Vocals make their way into the mix here and there, something I normally eschew in this type of music, but they seem to work pretty well, and are not excessive or distracting. I’ll be keeping my eyes on future works from Parks—one of the distinctly interesting new “scene” of Russian ambient musicians.
11. “Lest You Forget” by BVdub from We Were the Sun (Quietus)
Brock Van Wey made a big splash with listeners this year with his sprawling White Clouds Drift On and On. While I enjoyed that album, it didn’t have the punch I was expecting, considering all the positive press I continue to hear. My initial feeling was that it was impressive only if you hadn’t heard a lot of ambient lately, and many of the tracks were far too long for their weight, not to mention terribly sweet and “emotional” with a capital E. Still nice stuff, (especially the Intrusion remix disc), but nothing earth-crumbling, especially when compared with recent work by The Sight Below and Markus Guentner, for instance. Still, the limited CDR on Quietus (sounds like outtakes from White Clouds to me), really struck me as something special, despite its similarity to the other album. This is the sweet and pretty final track from the record, and it makes a good segue to what I hope will be a sweet and pretty 2010.
Happy holidays everyone!
The Quiet Sounds – Episode 26
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (58.3MB)
58.3MB – one hour, three minutes, thirty-nine seconds
Welcome to the twenty-sixth episode of The Quiet Sounds. In this segment, I’ll be exploring my favorite music of the year 2009. There was a lot of great ambient and electronic music this year (not to mention other styles), and I felt that only two episodes could cover my favorites completely. So please stay tuned for the next episode coming within the month.
Tracklist:
1. “100 Years Ago” by Tim Hecker from An Imaginary Country (Kranky)
I played a portion of the terrific new Tim Hecker album last episode, but it’s worth exploring a little more. I think Hecker is producing some of the most interesting and oddly symphonic ambient noise around, and his style seems to become more refined with each release.
2. “We Might Just Have What You Need” by The Fun Years from Split 10″ w/.cut (Three:Four)
The Fun Years are a relatively new project, one guy on guitar, one guy on turntables. There’s a power to the overlapping sounds that builds in intensity over each of their tracks. I highly recommend their two albums on the Barge label, which give their sound a chance to stretch out in longer lengths, but you get an idea of what they can do with this brief track from a recent split 10″ on the Three:Four label out of Switzerland.
3. “The ACC” by Simon Scott from Navigare (Miasmah)
All you 90s era indie-kids probably remember Slowdive from your years of digging through record crates looking for albums as good as what My Bloody Valentine were doing at the time. Scott, Slowdive’s former drummer, has returned as label owner and artist in his own right, releasing this excellent drone record (with distinct rock moments) on Erik K. Skodvin’s (Svarte Greiner, Deaf Center) label, Miasmah. It’s loud and vast, yet still peaceful, and I find it a hell of a lot more engaging than Mojave 3 ever were.
4. “Sunday After the War” by Harold Budd & Clive Wright from Candylion (Darla)
One day in the future, Harold Budd will be regarded as a unique American treasure. Until that time, we’ll have to sate ourselves with his unabashedly pretty and elegant records. Candylion is much more to my liking than his previous work with Wright, and reminds me of Budd’s other great work from this century, the painfully beautiful Avalon Sutra.
5. “Gaited Florets” by Celer from Mane Blooms (Low Point)
It seems unfair that the year Celer produced their most mature and exciting records was also the year the project was forced to end due to the untimely and tragic death of founding member Dani Baquet-Long. Nevertheless, musically, the duo have left some staggering works this year to remember her by, including this fine 7″ on Low Point, as well as the truly remarkable works on labels like Home Normal, Sentient Recognition Archive, Slow Flow, and others.
6. “Canal Rocks” by Solo Andata from Solo Andata (12K)
This Australian act caught my ear this year with an engaging set of naturalistic ambience that recalls latter period Biosphere and Italian ritual-ambient master Alio Die. While I find myself tired of the recent spate of neo-classical passages in a lot of current electronic music, here the instruments are used tastefully and for dramatic color, not as a stab at schmalzy “imaginary film soundtracks.”
7. “Xerrox Sora” by Alva Noto from Xerrox, Vol. 2 (Raster Noton)
This is my first experience with Alva Noto, who I’d previously thought only made albums of difficult computer noise. I’m glad I found out otherwise because this is a truly fine record slewing back and forth between Basinski-esque orchestral mashings and digital detritus. Apparently this is part two in a projected six-part series and I’m curious to watch its development over the coming releases.
8. “Ships Without Meaning” by Oneohtrix Point Never from Rifts (Not Not Fun)
Oneohtrix Point Never hit me by surprise this year, with a mammoth collection of the majority of his recorded work on various labels. Fans of early-80s synth masterpieces by Vangelis, Jarre, and Tangerine Dream who were put off by these artists’ decision to head down the path of electro-cheese will die for Point Never’s incredible synth arpeggio armada. My wife thinks it sounds like the music for L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics commercials from the 80s, but that’s the point, right?
9. “Lord, Am I Going Down?” by Mokira from Persona (Type)
Andreas Tilliander revives his Mokira project for this absolutely staggering album, ostensibly a tribute to heroin-stewed space-rockers Spacemen 3, but really a paean to the heartfelt things software can do in the right hands. This one takes a little work to fully get into, but the payoff is evident as Tilliander manages to thread together Spacemen 3 phase-rock, Inoue-style ambient, William Basinski tape loops, Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle,” and Tilliander’s own clip-hop beginnings into a futuristic ur-music.
10. “Blooming Woods” by Sleepy Town Manufacture & Unit 21 from No Traces (Infraction)
The burgeoning Russian ambient music scene has produced a lot of excellent music, not much of which has met with Western ears as of yet. This record (as well as STM’s side-project Beautumn and the incredible work of Parks) makes a fine introduction. Sleepy Town adds the oddly nostalgic and yet still modern electronic sound of Pete Namlook (or Biosphere, for that matter) to the warm crackle of Unit 21′s LP collection plunderings. It’s a beautiful and foreign experience to hear old spoken-word story-records from Russia amidst haunting forest ambience and the hooting of a distant owl. Applause to Infraction Records for shedding light on these woefully obscure projects with domestic releases.
The Quiet Sounds – Episode 25
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (60.4MB)
60.4MB – one hour, five minutes, fifty-seven seconds
Welcome to the twenty-fifth episode of my ambient music podcast, The Quiet Sounds. Since 2005, with frustrating irregularity, I’ve posted sprawling collections of the relaxing, lulling, bizarre, unexpected, experimental, soft, womb-like, quiet sounds of ambient music with the hope that it will make a difficult genre more user-friendly while exposing the work of new and classic artists to a wider audience.
In this episode, I focus on some more recent records to catch my fancy, as well as some forthcoming ambient and electronic works via the always interesting Kranky label. There is a small amount of commentary included on the cast, but I have also written some extended words below regarding each of the tracks to provide further information and thoughts.
Thank you very much for listening and I hope you enjoy The Quiet Sounds!
Tracklist:
1. “Major Spillage” (edit) by White Rainbow from New Clouds (Kranky) (start time: 1:17)
This is an edited track from the forthcoming album by Portland artist Adam Forkner, recording as White Rainbow. His first for Kranky, Prism of Eternal Now was a trance guitar epic, worthy of Ashra’s Manuel Göttsching. The follow-up is a more spaced out affair, with extended passages of pillowy synth and Steve Hillage guitar.
2. “Seagull’s Flight” by Ducktails from Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee) (8:03)
New Jersey native Matthew Mondanile records as Ducktails, making Durutti-Column-in-the-sack-with-Terry-Riley soundscapes that will appeal to fans of Animal Collective as much as it will elder ambient heads. New LP Landscapes is his most developed and diverse set so far, and likely one of my favorite records of 2009.
3. “Cloudbank” by Julianna Barwick from Florine (Julianna Barwick Productions) (19:07)
I had the pleasure of seeing Barwick in concert a few weeks ago as part of the Wordless Music Series here in New York City. Her live-looped vocal harmonies are cunningly constructed, and it was interesting to see her take risks with her voice in the hope that unusual tones might somehow take flight. Her EP Florine is a good taster of what she’s capable of, but it will be a pleasure to continue to monitor her development.
4. “False Horizon” by Grouper from split 7″ w/City Center (self-released—please note I referred to this as released by Soft Abuse in the ‘cast, which is incorrect info!) (23:18)
Liz Harris has made something of a splash in the last two years, bursting out of obscurity with a very fine record on Type called Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. The hype is 100 percent justified to my ears, as her completely bombed, benzo-bucolic sound is likely to inspire a whole generation of home recording artists of the future. This track is culled from a split seven-inch with fellow Type artist City Center, and perfectly exemplifies her melancholic dream-pop soundscapes.
5. “Paragon Point” by Tim Hecker from An Imaginary Country (Kranky) (27:18)
Hecker’s latest is yet another monumental slab of noisy ambient blissout. I had the pleasure of hearing this record in concert before it was released last year and he pretty much blew out the back of the room. The best part: Overhearing twenty-year-old avant-classical student composer-douche at a restaurant before the show stating to his friend that (and I paraphrase), “Today’s audiences just accept whatever’s fed to them—they just don’t have the knowledge to understand truly good music.” And later seeing the same student composer-douche with his hands over his ears and a sublime look of total discomfort on his face as Hecker wrecked the place in the dark.
6. “Diotima” by Emeralds from Emeralds (Wagon/Gneiss Things) (31:42)
Here’s a track from the latest by Cleveland trio Emeralds, who are shaping up to be the next Monsters of Electronic Music. While much of their stuff appeared initially on cassette, the last few have been on both CD and LP and showcase a band unafraid to channel Tangerine Dream of the early seventies while also indulging a noisier side Froese and Co. would never have imagined. And it works.
7. “Seaside” by Ethernet from 144 Pulsations of Light (Kranky) (45:39)
Ethernet is new artist Tim Gray’s first foray into the world of ambient electronic music for Kranky and it’s a crisp and clean affair, sure to appeal to fans of both techno and more traditional synth ambient. While I would have liked a little more grit here and there, it’s a very pleasant and engaging listen, if a little similar in tone along the length of the album. Fans of Loscil will really dig this, and I did too.
8. “Wind Blown Guitar” (edit) by David Tagg from Wind Blown Guitar (Second Sun Recordings) (50:45)
David Tagg’s prolific output can make it a little hard to decide which releases to buy (good luck collecting his associate Brian Grainger’s material, while you’re at it). His recent work on 3″ CDR has been without a doubt some of the best guitar-drift ambient ever recorded. While I felt as though it would be unfair to include an entire track from one of those fine releases, I have taken an edit from his latest CDR on Second Sun called Wind Blown Guitar. It sounds exactly how you’d think from a title like that, and gets nicely noisy and intense toward the end. A fine record, in lush packaging, as always from Tagg.
9. “A Darker Light” by Steve Roach from Dynamic Stillness (Projekt) (58:23)
Steve Roach is arguably the most well-known ambient musician beyond Brian Eno and his monumental work of the last thirty years proves he’s nowhere near stopping. While it can be difficult to choose from his many releases, you can always expect a deep, affecting, well-produced collection of ambient no matter what you pick. Because he’s released no fewer than six(!) full length albums in the last year, I decided to select a track from his recent mammoth set of deep ambient pieces called Dynamic Stillness. While it is not his most intense work (by nature), I felt it fit the more introspective tone of the Tagg piece and makes a relaxing closer. Enjoy!
