Tag Archives: kranky
Disappears – Lux (Music Review)
Disappears
Lux
kranky
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Link: http://www.kranky.net/
Sometime back in the ‘80s, I stumbled upon a cassette of Television’s Marquee Moon. It was hotter than hell that summer, and I was nestled outdoors sipping on a double espresso and lemon rind somewhere on Ohio Street, dressed in black. You could feel the breeze shoot out from a sunset temporarily providing relief to what was another scorching day. Digging into my Walkman, Television’s sound blew me away so much that I can still remember the moment when I first heard this album. Same goes for Magazine’s The Correct Use Of Soap, the dark and intricate yet simplistically fuzzy sounds made time stand still.
A decade later, and I’m at Radio Radio catching a glimpse at 90 Day Men perform. As soon as they take stage the band erupts into something that can only be considered an exorcism. Prolonged instrumentals lead into howling vocals lead into more prolonged instrumentals. 20 minutes or two hours, who the hell cared once you were trapped in that surrealistic tesseract. Once again time stood at a standstill and left me with a moment I will never forget.
A decade further into time, we bring ourselves to the Present, and I put on Disappears’ Lux. Comprised of 90 Day Men’s Brian Case (along with Boas member Graeme Gibson and Jonathon Van Herik as well as Damon Carruesco) anything could be possible with a line up like that. But reality and the first notes sank in, and the simplistic intensity is shockingly radiant.
If bands like Magazine and Television gave us the scent of black leather, Neu! shoved us into the heat of a stellerator and pinpointed the force of energy in a feedback mass of repetition, the same mass that controls songs like “Marigold” and serve as a homage on the band’s album cover, mimicking Neu!’s simplistic one word diagonal design.
Some of my favorite bands are the ones whose raw drive pushes us forward beyond the initial conception of what music is made of. Add the Disappears to this list.
Ken Camden – Lethargy & Repercussion (Music Review)
Ken Camden
Lethargy & Repercussion
kranky
Rating: 3.7 out of 5
Links:
Ken Camden: http://www.myspace.com/kencamden
kranky: http://www.kranky.net/
Chicago experimentalist Ken Camden has been assigned roles with the Implodes Sound Quartet and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tamburo; the latter, acting as guitar contributor to the supertemporal Universal Orchestra of Pituitary Knowledge album Ghosts of Marumbey.
Now acting as bellwether to his own flagship for modern classical and experimental ambient music, he recorded and re-recorded several one-take pieces and carefully selected the top qualifiers for the new Kranky release Lethargy & Repercussion.
This is not music for study. This is an engaging exploration, yet you will want to remain recumbent to digest it. The six tracks unfurl as follows.
In naïve jubilation, the fluttering arpeggios spray about on the opening tessellation “Birthday”. Every trill permeating deep within the eardrums, Lethargy is a headphone enjoyment through and through. The second exercise, “Raagani Robot”, begins down a passageway to the otherworldly featuring swells in modulation from left to right in static delay. As the track culminates, the hypnotic dance shifts the playfulness of the intro to something more convoluted before petering out. Think DOPO without vocals. The trend goes: everything is to play out before seven or eight minutes expire.
The metallic cicada-song of “In Your Ears” bounces channels with just enough basal communication to resonate an uncannily warm feeling of microcosmic isolation before invoking the Eastern spirits of “Raga”. The adaptive bourdon of the tanpura (used in several of these compositions) bolsters the midrange of the equalization in these mixes. More pedal-work through guitar mutterings persist as “New Space” opens up and ultimately sublimates.
Final vision “Jupiter” (the only inclusion to benefit from overdubbing) drones and wavers in illuminating epiphany. The sound of blinding light, God, paranoia, space travel, the afterlife; whatever the intent—Camden’s expressions are limitless. The melodic modes are still seventy-five hundred miles east, but the intended destination is extraterrestrial.
A Look Back At 2009′s Best Ambient and Electronic Releases
It’s February 2010, and I’ve already got a month of the latest ambient and electronic releases of the year at hand, despite having little time to make my 2009 list. To that end, I now finally get around to displaying my fifteen favorite releases of last year (in all musical genres). These were the releases I listened to most in 2009. In no order:
Alva Noto—Xerrox, Vol. 2 (Raster-Noton)
An incredibly immersive album sure to appeal to fans of what we used to call glitch or microsound in olden times as well as folks who like their ambient music with meat and volume. Raster-Noton also released Atom™’s fine Kraftwerk homage, Leidgut, which almost made this list.
Papercuts—You Can Have What You Want (Gnomonsong)
I guess you could call this indie rock, but what does that even mean any more? It’s kind of similar to what Beach House are doing, though a little more on the hypnotic drone side of things. Spaced themes, plenty of reverb, and a faded-out sixties vibe. I played this one incessantly.
The Church—Untitled #23 (Second Motion)
They’re my favorite band, sure, but I wouldn’t put them on the list if I didn’t like the music (example: the execrable Shriek soundtrack they did last year). See my full review here.
Ducktails—Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee)
This LP-only release was a breath of fresh air to me this summer. I can’t say I’m convinced that “glo-fi” or “chillwave” is the next big thing in trendy indie music (if it is, I hope they give it a new name)—it’s just too hypnotic, and that never sells records to the kiddies, in my experience. Anyway, this had some great post-punk guitar tracks amidst Tang-Dream mandala sequencing and even some Ariel Pink inspired goodies.
Oneohtrix Point Never—Rifts (No Fun Productions)
The Russian Mind LP would have been on my list had it not been contained inside this mammoth double-CD compilation of most of the rest of the Point Never catalog. I love the new “classic” electronic music coming out right now. We who’ve been into it for years think it’s about time Schulze and Göttsching and Hoenig started getting some credit for making brain busting space drones years and years before many of us were born. Now if Steve Roach and Michael Stearns began getting some press, we’d really be going places….
Mokira—Persona (Type)
I found this album length paean to Spacemen 3 wholly bewitching. It runs the gamut from classic Fax Records style ambient, to William Basinski/Wolfgang Voigt classical loop echoes, to full-on Sonic Boom guitar phasing. This record is a classic from start to finish.
Animal Collective—Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
I know, I know, this one was everywhere, and it doesn’t need me adding to the hype. Look, I’m thirty-three years old and I was the oldest guy at their local concert last year. I did not belong amidst the robo-tripping teens and the afrobeat text-dancing. I had no idea about any of this. But I sure played the latest Animal Collective CD a lot in 2009, even if it did make me a little more “NPR” inside. I’m not positive how much real longevity this record will have, but it would have been disingenuous for me not to include it on this list.
Sleepy Town Manufacture & Unit 21—No Traces (Infraction)
This one dwells in the hinterlands of ambient, all spooky samples and Biosphere-esque imaginary landscapes for films that never were (you can also insert your own overused stock description for ambient music here). Infraction is the ambient label to watch—classic material reissued, acclaimed artists supported, new and wonderful music unearthed. They deserve your support.
Celer—Engaged Touches (Home Normal)
Celer just got better and better last year with a string of memorable ambient releases on a variety of new and interesting labels. While several of their works were great in 2009, this was undoubtedly my favorite, two thick slabs of ambient classical vignettes, sad and haunting and eternal. Unfortunately, this CD went out of print, but those who are curious to know the unique sound of Celer are directed to their other fine 2009 albums on Low Point, Slow Flow, and Sentient Recognition Archive.
Tim Hecker—An Imaginary Country (Kranky)
Tim Hecker is probably the best way to get your wayward friends into listening to ambient and electronic music. His records have a backbone and it’s a great taster for those who can’t seem to initially find interest in the harmonic tone float background music of a lot of other material. While An Imaginary Country doesn’t represent the great stylistic leap forward of Hecker’s previous album, it still proves that he’s one of today’s best in “the field”—this one’s a titanic swath of cleansing distortion that suggests impressive alien vistas.
The B12 Records Archive; (7 volume, 14 CD set on B12 Records)
I used to dream about getting this music when it was all rare 12″ vinyl back in the grand old days of Warp. Who could afford the £200 price tags on that crap? The generous B12 guys come through with a vast set of everything they ever released on the label. All fourteen CDs are essential purchases for those who love Warp’s Artificial Intelligence series, GPR, the A.R.T. stable, and the sound of Detroit techno …
Belbury Poly—From an Ancient Star (Ghost Box)
The hauntology “genre” seems to be a bit hard to pin down, though the Ghost Box label is determined as the core source for the scattered sounds of library music, Ron Grainer, 70s supernatural TV programming, original Doctor Who or The Tomorrow People, and BBC logotones. Belbury Poly are my favorite Ghost Box act and this album is perhaps their best—a zippy and fun collection of themes to British shows about psychic detectives that never were. If you grew up in the seventies and early eighties, and were a total nerd, you’ll know just want I’m talking about within a few minutes of putting From and Ancient Star on the player. You can almost see Jon Pertwee board his hovercraft …
Black Moth Super Rainbow—Eating Us (Graveface)
BMSR are hard to pigeonhole and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy their stuff so much. Too poppy to be experimental, too weird to be indie rock … it’s a little of both and not really either. There’s a decidedly Electric Company PBS vibe about what they’re doing—maybe it’s all the vocoders and patently false hippy lyrics. I think they’re a love-it or hate-it affair. Check out my last podcast and see what you think.
Adam Pacione—2009 “Still Life” 3″ series
I think the most incredible ambient music of 2009 came out of Adam Pacione’s archives this year, in the form of his fourteen volume Still Life series of 3″ CDRs. Every last one of them was good, and some were downright transcendent, like “Ending Titles.” This guy has my full attention, and if you like traditional ambient, he should have yours too.
White Rainbow—New Clouds (Kranky)
Adam Forkner was on a fake “shit list” in the back of my mind for talking a slight amount of trash about Steve Roach on his shareblog. Kids have some nerve dropping a deuce on the masters of a genre of music they owe total allegiance to, is the way I see it. It’s like those new age vs. ambient wonks going around the internet a few years back. That kind of discussion is just preposterous. Nevertheless, this latest album of four solid White Rainbow tracks is quite excellent, if perhaps a bit too indebted to Ashra here and there. It’s still a mighty fine listen, and way more new age than ambient, in a good way.
Atlas Sound – Logos (Music Review)
Atlas Sound
Logos
kranky
Rating: 2 out of 5
Links:
Atlas Sound on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/atlassound
kranky: http://www.kranky.net/
Atlas Sound starts out like an even more tormented Smog that’s been bent out of shape. Emerging with space bleeps that dominate the forefront with acoustic dribblings “The Light That Failed” is a clear demonstration of a disjointed figure as Bradford Cox sings out of tune. Whether on purpose or a lack of vocal skill, these twinkling sci-fi meanderings unwillingly take a seat in the background as Cox steps forward, breaking free from the introverted style that left us with Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel.
It’s a less than appealing beginning to Logos but things get a little better with the Spaceman 3-like guitar interchange on “An Orchid” and the spaced-out orbiting samples that flow in and out of “Kid Klimax,” as well as the title track.
Cox collaborates with various people, including Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. That alone would make anyone want to pick up the album with curiosity, and each song is equally observant in the context of the whole, but I am only talking about a small sample of the album.
The rest is conducted with bedside manner and stretched into lo-fi quantities. Normally that would be a great thing, but Cox tries to incorporate the three-minute pop concept into his ethereal acoustic serenades like “Sheila” and “My Halo” but in the end, it feels like he cannot even pull himself up off the floor and make promising recordings. It would be better if he just went off the deep end with his music, but, alas, bending the fabric of pop culture wins. When it comes down to it, stick to instrumentals and save yourself the humility.
Felix – You Are The One I Pick (Music Review)
Felix
You Are The One I Pick
kranky
Rating 3.5 out of 5
Links:
http://www.myspace.com/mybeautifulfelix
Look up the word Felix in All Music Guide and you will find an expansive list of bands and musicians who have assumed this mantra. House, rock, cajun, latin, you name it, the usage of Felix is a broad spectrum in the music world.
This Felix, however, teeters the line between soft bouquets of delicate instrumentation and coffee shop composure. Pianist, cellist and vocalist Lucinda Chau’s soft Irish accent stands out as being a more poignantly tale-weaver version of Beth Orton or Mia Doi Todd while Chris Summerlin’s guitar work beacons the gentleness of an early Geoff Farina or Songs: Ohia.
“Death To Everyone But Us” seems normal, almost too normal for a kranky imprint. The rush of piano notes floating along builds a subtle rebellion accented by beautiful melodic realizations despite Chau’s revolutionary spirit.
But for You Are The One I Pick, the revolution is short-lived and a more contemplative essence luminates from these song groupings. And what this album lacks is not within the music, nor is it within the lyrics as both encapsulates exactly what you would want from a band like this. What Felix lacks is the present. When you listen to Chau paint a picture through her words, you experience the idea of the present through visions of a past experience. “Ode To The Marlboro Man” and “What I Learned From TV” demonstrate this best.
And the album ends just as simple as when it began. You Are The One I Pick has no frills and no mystery behind the songs. And that is the way it should be, chamber pop that is elegant and enchanting. What it does is leave you with an impression of great prose and interesting textures.
