Archive for August, 2006

MARSHALL WATSON: Math And Other Word Problems (Highpoint Lowlife Records)

themilkman on Aug 30th 2006 10:59 pm

Marshall Watson: Math And Other Word Problems

MARSHALL WATSON
Math And Other Word Problems
HPLL019
Highpoint Lowlife Records 2006
09 Tracks. 47mins52secs

Seattle-based Marshall Watson returns to the Highpoint Lowlife shore with a second collection of brushed electronic tones and chilled moods. Follow up to The Time Was Later Than He Expected, released almost two years ago, Math And Other Word Problems sees Watson dive deeper into warm melodic electronica to explore a much wider range of soundscapes and atmospheres. While he was at times showing a certain lack of maturity on his debut, this sophomore effort is much more cohesive and mature.

Wrapped in gentle dub, crisp minimal techno and lush electronica, Watson’s compositions become wonderfully fluid and evocative as he punctuates this album with cinematic moments and intricate sequences. All the way through, he alternates between expressive layered soundscapes and more intimate minimal structures to finely balance the general atmospheric tone of the record. Continue Reading »

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CLARK: Body Riddle (Warp Records)

themilkman on Aug 29th 2006 11:16 pm

Clark: Body Riddle

CLARK
Body Riddle
WARPCD149
Warp Records 2006
11 Tracks. 42mins21secs

It’s been three years since Chris Clark unleashed his Empty The Bones Of You box of delights and promptly reaffirmed his position as one of Warp’s most promising talents. This sophomore effort wasn’t so much revisiting his early musical escapades, as heard on Clarence Park, as totally reinventing his sound, turning it upside down to strip it out of its puppy fat and refocus. Having since lost his first name so people wouldn’t ‘wasted oxygen on “Chris”’, Clark returns with Body Riddle and once again goes right back to the roots and settles new scores. Continue Reading »

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SUSANNA AND THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA: Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)

themilkman on Aug 29th 2006 01:06 pm

Susanna & The Magical Orchestra: Melody Mountain

SUSANNA AND THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA
Melody Mountain
RCD2057
Rune Grammofon 2006
10 Tracks. 42mins35secs

Two years on from their wonderful debut, List Of Lights And Buoys, Susanna Wallumrød and Morten Qvenild return with this sophomore effort, once again produced by Deathprod. While their debut featured mostly tracks written by themselves, with the exception of the two opening tracks, Leonard Bernstein’s Who Am I and Dolly Parton’s Jolene, Melody Mountain sees the pair applying their delicately textured sound onto a variety of classic songs taken from the repertoires or artists as far apart as Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Prince, AC/DC, Scott Walker or Fairport Convention to name but a few. Continue Reading »

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BROADCAST: The Future Crayon (Warp Records)

themilkman on Aug 19th 2006 01:13 pm

Broadcast: The Future Crayon

BROADCAST
The Future Crayon
WARPCD146
Warp Records 2006
18 Tracks. 69mins31secs

Transmitting from Birmingham, Broadcast have, in the ten years they have been around, progressively crafted a very unique place for themsleves on the British music scene. While their first EPs, originally released on Wurlitzer Jukebox and Duophonic and later collected on Work And Non Work for Warp, showed similar inspirations to those of long-term friends Stereolab, from the DIY avant-garde of the seminal BBC Radiophonic Workshop to the psychedelic of The United States Of America or the Silver Apples and the sweeping cinematic beauty of Ennio Morricone, Broadcast have progressively developed and refined their very own blend of experimental pop, which they have deployed over three albums and countless EPs.
Continue Reading »

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HUMCRUSH: Hornswoggle (Rune Grammofon)

themilkman on Aug 17th 2006 07:23 pm

Humcrush: Hornswoggle

HUMCRUSH
Hornswoggle
RCD2055
Rune Grammofon 2006
08 Tracks. 42mins45secs

When they recorded their debut album together, one time Food drummer Thomas Strønen and Supersilent keyboard player Stâle Storløkken still operated under their own name, but by the time the album came out, they had adopted its title, Humcrush, as their nom de guerre. This, at the time, caused some confusion to who was what, yet, the album was leaving no doubt to the two men’s chosen direction. Humcrush (the album) confronted Strønen’s and Storløkken’s parallel sonic worlds in very playful fashion as the pair developed a series of improvised pieces. While the music challenged the mind, it proved impossible to resist the sheer energy and joy that exulted from this debut collaboration. Continue Reading »

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: Touch 25 (Touch)

themilkman on Aug 9th 2006 07:29 pm

Various Artists: Touch 25

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Touch 25
TONE25
Touch 2006
25 Tracks. 79mins43secs

With a solid twenty-five years at the forefront of contemporary music, releasing music by artists as diverse as The Hafler Trio, Sweet Exorcist, Sandoz, Oren Ambarchi, Chris Watson, Scala, Philip Jeck, Mika Vainio, Biosphere, Christian Fennesz, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ryoji Ikeda or BJ Nilsen to name but a fraction, Touch have collected one of the most impressive and inspired catalogues around, encompassing a wide array of genres, from noise to post-modern classical, ambient and electronic.

To celebrate this massive slab of work, the label, founded in 1982 by Jon Wozencroft Mike Harding, Nevelle Brody and Andrew McKenzie, of Hafler Trio fame, have put together a collection of twenty-five exclusive tracks from the likes of Biosphere, Fennesz, Pan Sonic, Chris Watson, Mark Van Hoen, Rafael Toral, Mother Tongue, BJ Nilsen, Philip Jeck and many more. Touch 25 doesn’t intend to document the label’s history, and only seems to give a vague and short insight into the various musical grounds covered by these artists, yet it is true to the label’s ethic in every way, from the instantly recognisable cover artwork, by Wozencroft to the depth and reach of each one of the tracks featured. Continue Reading »

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GRIZZLY BEAR: Yellow House (Warp Records)

themilkman on Aug 6th 2006 09:11 pm

Grizzly Bear: Yellow House

GRIZZLY BEAR
Yellow House
WARPCD147
Warp Records 2006
10 Tracks. 49mins49secs

The urban Brooklyn continues to spill oddball folksters onto the world, one of the latest additions being the magnificent Grizzly Bear. Originally the solo project of singer songwriter Edward Droste, the project has since grown to a full band with the addition of multi-instrumentists Christopher Bear and Chris Taylor and singer Daniel Rossen.

Droste began shaping up Grizzly Bear at home, recording songs inspired by a then-recent break-up in his Brooklyn apartment. Christopher Bear came in late to add some more textures before the songs were collected into an album, Horn Of Plenty, originally released in 2004. Harking back to a bygone era when melodies and how they were interpreted were the most important things on a record, the fourteen songs hinted at delicate psychedelic folk structures and melancholy-drenched melodies. Continue Reading »

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