Archive for July, 2007

AARON MARTIN & MACHINEFABRIEK: Cello Recycling/Cello Drowning (Type Recordings)

Max Schaefer on Jul 30th 2007 01:31 pm

Aaron Martin & Machinefabriek: Cello Recycling/Cello Drowning

AARON MARTIN & MACHINEFABRIEK
Cello Recycling/Cello Drowning
TYPE029
Type Recordings 2007
02 Tracks. 21mins. 54secs

Cello Recycling incarcerates the listener in Netherland’s Rutger Zuydervelt and American multi-instrumentalist Aaron Martin’s penchant for staccato, pointillist constructions, layered together into quaking masses that positively purr with energy. The opening twelve minute composition unfolds like a rolling cloud of harmonics shot through with querulous whines and whimpers. In an almost obsessive manner, it constantly grates against itself, picking at its own scabs, trying to break free of its moorings, to lose its depth of field, and float in a space free of resistance. Continue Reading »

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NEED MORE SOURCES: Shed (Moteer)

Max Schaefer on Jul 30th 2007 12:56 pm

Shed

Need More Sources
Shed
MOTEER012
Moteer 2007
10 Tracks. 54mins29secs

Chris Stewart strokes sounds from piano, guitar and a string quartet, and sows them into ambitiously lengthy pieces and dense multitracked constructions. Lyrical passages of violin batter at a sepulchral fog like a moth at a bulb, acting as the driving force behind most compositions. This core is dressed in simple yet largely effective abstract color patterns, making for bruised instrumentals marked by moments of atmospheric aural illusion.

Album opener, Morning takes place within a crystalline, combustible horizon, against which scenes of fidgety strings and one-note piano lines stand out, occasionally resulting in syncretic peaks, but more often than not simply waiting for the interaction to reach its natural endpoint before weaving in new elements. Continue Reading »

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PORN SWORD TOBACCO: New Exclusive Olympic Heights (City Centre Offices)

themilkman on Jul 25th 2007 01:21 pm

Porn Sword Tobacco: New Exclusive Olympic Heights

PORN SWORD TOBACCO
New Exclusive Olympic Heights
TOWERBLOCK039CD
City Centre Offices 2007
14 Tracks. 35mins29secs

Named after an isolated shop somewhere in his native Sweden, near the studio where he records, Porn Sword Tobacco is the musical project of Henrik Jonsson, a musician hailing from the town of Gothenburg in Southern Sweden. His eponymous debut album, delivered on German imprint City Centre Offices in 2004, introduced his delicate blend of electronic soundscapes and beautiful melodies, and its follow up, Explains Freedom, published a year later, only served to reassert his sound.

With his third album, New Exclusive Olympic Heights, Jonsson assembles his most cinematic and accessible collection of music yet, at times developing sumptuous pieces over just a minute or two, at others stretching narratives a bit longer. Continue Reading »

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HANS APPELQVIST: Sinfantin Och Morkret (Häpna)

Max Schaefer on Jul 24th 2007 01:26 pm

Sinfantin Och Morkret

HANS APPELQVIST
Sinfantin Och Morkret
H35
Häpna 2007
12 Tracks. 25mins00secs

Sweden’s Hans Appelqvist shows concern for that deep and incommensurable element of animal nature that cannot be made to work. A vertiginous warmth spreads slowly across most tracks. On Tank Att Himlens Alla Stjarnor, breathy, diffident vocals drift alongside a patient frenzy of field recordings, riven by the sparkling interplay of acoustic guitar and piano. In its wistful chord changes and modest yet sophisticated arrangement, the piece conveys a desire to get at continuity without crossing any barriers. Were it otherwise, and the need for an overwhelming wrench of violence was not left wanting, the rush of joy would be all the more stronger. Things being what they are, most pieces settle for the prosaic; for lusciously crisp, spacey harmonics, roving melodic guitar lines and percolating analogue beats. Continue Reading »

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COPPE': Fi-lamenté (Mango & Sweet Rice)

themilkman on Jul 20th 2007 10:52 pm

Coppé: Fi-lamenté

COPPE’
Fi-lamente
MSR011
Mango & Sweet Rice 2007
19 Tracks. 77mins06secs

Coppe’ has been delivering her finely tuned miniature epics with astonishing regularity since her debut self-titled album was released in the late nineties, working with an ever increasing circle of friends and collaborators along the way. After spending a few years in Arizona and Hawaii, Coppe’ returned to Japan in 2002 following the death of her father and has since established her Mango & Sweet Rice imprint in Tokyo, where she has also been seen regularly performing live.

Following last year’s double anniversary album 9+10, which collected rare tracks and remixes as well as new tracks, Coppe’ could have opted for a well-deserved rest, but instead, she got straight back in the studio to work on her eleventh album. Continue Reading »

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: One Point Two: More Digital Listening Music From Rednetic (Rednetic Recordings)

themilkman on Jul 14th 2007 09:32 pm

Various Artists: One Point Two - More Digital Listening Music From Rednetic

VARIOUS ARTISTS
One Point Two: More Digital Listening Music From Rednetic
RN012
Rednetic Recordings 2007
14 Tracks. 72mins58secs

In the last five years, London-based imprint Rednetic have delivered a steady stream of elegant electronic records. While the label’s scope has considerably expanded over the years, the focus has largely remained on classic electronica. The label was set up in 2002 by Mark Streatfield and Joseph Auer, and the first release was Streatfield’s debut album as Zainetica, Escaping Dust. Since, Auer, who had then moved from London to Tokyo, released the Kyoto Tokyo 2001 EP, and further releases by Utility Player, The Vizier Of Damascus, Inigo Kennedy, Tommy Bass and Boltfish co-founders Will ‘Cheju’ Bolton and Murray ‘Mint’ Fisher, amongst others, have firmly established the label as one of London’s best imprints. Continue Reading »

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RETINA.IT: Semeion (Hefty Records)

themilkman on Jul 10th 2007 09:20 pm

Retina.IT: Semeion

RETINA.IT
Semeion
HEFTY063CD
Hefty Records 2007
13 Tracks. 69mins21secs

Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono first met in the mid nineties while they were both DJs in a club in Naples, Italy. They began making music as the Qmen, before turning to more experimental musical forms as Retina.IT. This resulted in a first series of EPs and an album, Volcano Waves 1-8, for Chicago imprint Hefty, all published in 2001. Since, there have been sporadic releases, including a few compilation appearances, a handful of remixes, an album released under the Resina moniker, and a second, self-titled album, released in 2003 and 2004 respectively, on their own Mousike Lab imprint. Continue Reading »

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SPACEHEADS AND MAX EASTLEY: A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else (Bip-Hop)

themilkman on Jul 6th 2007 01:44 pm

Spaceheads & Max Eastley: A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else

SPACEHEADS AND MAX EASTLEY
A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else
BLEEP35
Bip Hop 2007
08 Tracks. 57mins21secs

The first collaboration between British sound artist Max Eastley and experimental duo Spaceheads dates back to 2001, with the album The Time Of The Ancient Astronaut, released on the ever-excellent French imprint Bip-Hop. Six years on, they reconvene for this second instalment of dense experimental music.

Eastley began to experiment with sound and machines in the late sixties, focusing particularly on natural elements such as wind and water, with great importance given to chance and accidents in his work. Continue Reading »

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