Archive for August, 2007

AKIRA KOSEMURA: It’s On Everything (Someone Good)

Max Schaefer on Aug 30th 2007 12:43 pm

Akira Kosemura: It’s On Everything

AKIRA KOSEMURA
It’s On Everything
RMSG002
Someone Good 2007
12Tracks. 53mins49secs

Yet another testament to the fact that each event receives its signification retroactively, the debut full-length effort from musician and Schole label manager Akira Kosemura ruminates with poetic reverie on the tender emotions and cheerful obsequious humor of summer’s past. Music of the hushed type, the compositions are fuzzy at the edges, yet abound in detail and incidents that are newly burnished.

The title-track, for one, is a slow build up of steady minimalist piano strokes, dabbed carefully with children’s voices and traces of paranormal emissions while the atmospheric sonics, emitting a laconic light, continue in their legato course. Continue Reading »

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MURCOF: Cosmos (The Leaf Label)

themilkman on Aug 22nd 2007 01:06 pm

Murcof: Cosmos

MURCOF
Cosmos
BAY59CD
The Leaf Label 2007
06 Tracks. 56mins12secs

In the five years that separate Murcof’s majestic debut album, Martes, and his most recent offering, Cosmos, Fernando Corona has become one of the most respected electronic musicians around, and a source of inspiration for a whole new generation of musicians, not only in his native Mexico where his success has energised a myriad of new artists and labels, but also across Europe, with artists such as Deaf Center or part of the roster of Erik Skodvin’s Miasmah imprint openly claiming to have been influenced by his visionary take on classical sounds and electronica.

Coming two years after Remembranza, which explored more complex sound and harmonic structures than its predecessor, Cosmos is an altogether much grander and ambitious record than any of his previous releases. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: MURCOF Space-time Continuum

themilkman on Aug 20th 2007 10:41 pm

INTERVIEW: MURCOF Spacetime Continuum

With just a handful of releases under his belt, Mexican electronic musician Fernando Corona, AKA Murcof, has established a very unique sound and is already named as a major influence by some. Five years after his seminal debut album, Martes, was released, he is back with his magnificent third album, Cosmos, on Leaf. For this latest effort, Corona pretty much ditches the micro beats and samples that have informed previous releases to work from recordings of real classical instruments. The result is a superb tapestry of sounds, drones and melodies which Corona will take on the road for a planetarium tour in the autumn. Here, Fernando Corona talks to the themilkman from his home in Barcelona, where he currently resides, about the new album, his soundtrack work and the rise of the Mexican electronic scene.

Header: line Continue Reading »

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VLADISLAV DELAY – Multila (Huume Recordings)

Max Schaefer on Aug 17th 2007 01:03 pm

Vladislav Delay: Multila

VLADISLAV DELAY
Multila
HUUME09
Huume Recordings 2007
07 Tracks. 71mins87secs

For over ten some odd years now, Vladislav Delay has been exploiting a simple collection of elements – dub, techno, ambient – and the different sets one can form out of them. In so doing, paradoxes and inconsistencies set in – on no seldom occasion, they were coddled, understood, and integrated, but at yet others, they remained an antagonistic challenge, representing a crisis and critique that sustained, on Sasu Ripatti’s part, an endless sliding from one motif to another. Continue Reading »

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CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA: Ma Fleur (Ninja Tune)

David Abravanel on Aug 15th 2007 01:11 pm

Cinematic Orchestra: Ma Fleur

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA
Ma Fleur
ZENCD122
Ninja Tune 2007
10 Tracks. 49mins08secs

The mid-late 90s produced a boom of acts deriving their sound from what could be called “jazz”. There were jazzy breaks, trip hop, nu-jazz, acid jazz. Swimming in this melee (and anchored on Ninja Tune, arguably the most quality label for this downtempo fix) were J. Swinscoe’s Cinematic Orchestra. After a minor splash with their debut, Motion, and an interesting fore into composing a new soundtrack for Dziga Vertov’s classic film, Man With A Movie Camera, the Orchestra released a bona-fide stunner with 2002’s Every Day. Featuring some truly soul-jarring vocals from the legendary Fontella Bass, in addition to what is possibly Roots Manuva’s finest performance to date on the introspective-without-getting-corny-or-preachy All Things To All Men, it was a direct hit to all those who claimed that such nu-jazz genres were derivative nostalgia with nowhere left to go. Continue Reading »

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THROBBING GRISTLE: Part Two – The Endless Not (Industrial)

David Abravanel on Aug 15th 2007 12:55 pm

Throbbing Gristle: Part Two - The Endless Not

THROBBING GRISTLE
Part Two – The Endless Not
TGCD16
Industrial Records 2007
10 Tracks. 67mins21secs

For a group so notorious for the bombast of its artistic statements, Throbbing Gristle’s breakup was a low-key and unexpected end. In 1981, TG announced its disbandment with a simply phrased postcard reading, “Throbbing Gristle: The Mission Is Terminated.” At the cusp of new wave and synthpop, TG were beginning to enjoy commercial success, bringing an illogical and abrupt end to a dense, wild, and frequently shocking trip.

It should, perhaps, not have been a surprise that, as sublimely as they broke up, Throbbing Gristle reunited some two decades later. Shortly following the reunion was the issue of the TG Now EP, and, now, the appropriately titled full length, Part Two. Continue Reading »

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VS0807 – Virtual Soundtrack August 2007

themilkman on Aug 15th 2007 12:33 pm

This is the first in an ongoing series of playlists which will be available as iMixes from iTunes. These will randomly feature new and recent tracks mixed with classic tracks from, er…, yesteryear.

Virtual Soundtrack Vol. 1

VS0807 – Virtual Soundtrack August 2007 (launches iTunes)

Murcof: Mir
Martes, LP, The Leaf Label

Taxi Taxi!: Heart
Taxi Taxi!, EP, Rumracket

Porn Sword Tobacco: Cubical Fever
New Exclusive Olympic Height, LP, City Center Offices

Coppé: I Turn
Fi-lamenté, LP, Mango & Sweet Rice

Rusuden: Snogon
Fe IX/X 171 A, LP, Soho Six Records

The Black Dog: lt-Return-Dash-Kill (Derailleur Remix)
Remixes 2, EP, Dust Science Recordings

Rubens: Breaking Into Smile
Carnivalesque
, LP, Herb Recordings

The Future Sound Of London: Egypt
ISDN, LP, Virgin Records

Battles: Atlas
Mirrored, LP, Warp Records

Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid: Our Time
Tongues, LP, Domino Recording Co.

Efterklang: Towards the Bare Hill
Under Giant Trees, Mini LP, The Leaf Label

Colleen: Blue Sands
Les Ondes Silencieuses, LP, The Leaf Label

Retina.it: Apeiron
Semeion, LP, Hefty Recordings

A Hawk and a Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble: Serbian Cocek
A Hawk and a Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble, Mini LP, The Leaf Label

Dextro: Hearts And Minds (Alias Remix)
Hearts And Mind, EP, Gronland Records

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SUSANNA: Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos (Rune Grammofon)

themilkman on Aug 9th 2007 01:28 pm

Susanna: Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos

SUSANNA
Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos
RCD2066
Rune Grammofon 2007
12 Tracks. 48mins10secs

Three years ago, Susanna Wallumrrød, sister of jazz pianist Christian Wallumrrød, and In The Country pianist Morten Qvenild teamed up on the superb Maps Of Lights And Buoys, their debut album as Susanna And The Magical Orchestra. Their impeccably restrained and pure pop, with Wallumrrød’s crystalline voice set against a stark backdrop of soft electric piano. Two years on, the pair returned with Melody Mountain, an entire album of covers on which they applied their highly sensitive atmospheres to songs by artists as diverse as AC/DC, Prince, Depeche Mode and Scott Walker.

Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos is Susanna’s solo debut. If the mood doesn’t immediately seem to depart or differ greatly from previous recordings, the soundscapes applied behind the voice are discreetly more elaborate and ornate. Continue Reading »

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VALGEIR SIGURĐSSON: Eqvílibríum (Bedroom Community)

themilkman on Aug 3rd 2007 12:45 pm

Valgeir Sigurðsson: Eqvílibríum

VALGEIR SIGURĐSSON
Eqvílibríum
HVALUR3CD/LP
Bedroom Community 2007
10 Tracks. 49mins10secs

Icelandic musician and producer Valgeir Sigurðsson is best known as a regular collaborator with Björk, having contributed to all her records since Selmasongs, and for recent stints with the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy (The Letting Go) and CocoRosie (The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn). He recently set up his own imprint, Bedroom Community, and has published Speaks Volume, the debut album from twenty-four year old American classical composer Nico Muhly and the most recent output from Melbourne’s Ben Frost.

Eqvílibríum, Sigurðsson’s long overdue debut album is an elegant collection of gentle acoustic pieces tainted with orchestral swathes and discreet electronics textures. Continue Reading »

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ASCOLTARE: B.E.A.M. (Tripel Records)

themilkman on Aug 2nd 2007 12:51 pm

Ascoltare: B.E.A.M.

ASCOLTARE
B.E.A.M.
TRIPELLP005
Tripel Records 2007
05 Tracks. 34mins56secs

From complex glitched up electronica with occasional orchestral tendencies to digital hip-hop and sample-heavy collages, Cambridge-based Dave Henson continues to evolve on the fringe of the electronic scene, applying his own unpredictable vision at will. This is an ethic that is also applied to Tripel Records, the imprint he co-founded with fellow Cambridge residents and musicians Andrew Coleman, better known as Animals On Wheels, and UM’s Peter Gregory.

For his latest project, Henson ditches the rich soundscapes of Visceral Vendor and the sample-heavy textures of Fatty Parts For A Good Match and Mutiny In Stereo for minimal techno formations in the tradition of Basic Channel or Sähkö. Continue Reading »

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ULTRALYD – Conditions For A Piece Of Music (Rune Grammofon)

Max Schaefer on Aug 1st 2007 09:56 pm

Conditions For A Piece Of Music

ULTRALYD
Conditions For A Piece Of Music
RCD2065
Rune Grammofon 2007
12 Tracks. 54mins20secs

The third full-length effort from Norway’s Ultralyd rings true as an allergic reaction to the present-day obligation to see, to the impossibility of not seeing. To the extent that the quartet compresses their frenetic energy – displayed with some extravagance on previous efforts – producing tightly wound compositions that exploit extremes of pitch and dynamics, they cling to a certain disheveled denial of words, and a conscientious objection to the transparent object. Album opener Saprochord seeks to demobilize itself, the players nailing themselves down to sharp-honed, muted tone and harmonic contour and a bubbling rhythm section. Continue Reading »

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