Archive for June, 2009

RIVAL CONSOLES: IO (Erased Tapes)

themilkman on Jun 30th 2009 01:01 am

Rival Consoles: IO

RIVAL CONSOLES
IO
ERATP16
Erased Tapes 2009
11 Tracks. 46mins05secs

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Behind Rival Consoles is Ryan Lee West, a relative new comer hailing from Leicester, who, in the space of just three EPs for London-based Erased Tapes, has confidently established himself as one of the most exciting new British talents. While his first two EPs, The Decadent, released two years ago, and Helvetica, which appeared earlier this year, showed West in a variety of moods, placing him loosely between Aphex Twin and μ-ziq, his latest delivery, coming as a split EP with Icelandic classical composer Ólafur Arnalds, operating under his techno alter ego Kiasmos, showcased a much more focused, sharp and dance floor orientated sound.

IO continues on the tone of the EP by collecting all three tracks featured on it plus another eight cuts of a similar calibre. Continue Reading »

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CLARK: Totems Flare (Warp Records)

themilkman on Jun 29th 2009 12:53 am

Clark: Tottems Flare

CLARK
Totems Flare
WARP185
Warp Records 2009
11 Tracks. 44mins53secs

Icon: arrow Buy: CD | LP

It is almost hard to believe that Clark only released his first album eight years ago so much has he become, in that time, one of the strongest, most consistent and emblematic artists on Warp, to the point of challenging the might of heavy weights like Aphex Twin or Squarepusher. His constant deliveries, started with Clarence Park, have since considerably grown in confidence and vision, and his unashamed use of heavily electronic sounds, at a time when others seemed to move away from those, has made him one of the finest purveyors of the genre.

With Totems Flare, Clark’s follow up to last year’s Turning Dragon and his fifth full length, he continues to create strong and gritty electronic music, and he wastes no time showing off his latest dirty grooves with album opener Outside Plume and Growls Garden, the leading track to his recent EP. Continue Reading »

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SANTIAGO LATORRE: Órbita (Accretions Records)

themilkman on Jun 26th 2009 01:05 am

Santiago Latorre: Órbita

SANTIAGO LATORRE
Órbita
ALP047
Accretions Records 2009
09 Tracks. 46mins14secs

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Barcelona born and bred Santiago Latorre began playing the saxophone at eleven, but it is not until he developed an interest for electronic music, some years later, that he became involved in sonic experimentation. Since, he has composed music for various dance, theatre, fashion and videos projects. In 2005, Latorre also began working on his own solo project, which is collected on his debut album, Órbita, released on San Diego, CA, based imprint Accretions Records.

Using both saxophone and electronics as a basis for his compositions, upon which he also adds accordion, piano, and, occasionally, voice, to create delicately layered pieces, Latorre has created with his debut album a highly personal work. Continue Reading »

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LEGION OF TWO: Riffs (Planet Mu)

themilkman on Jun 25th 2009 12:47 am

Legion Of Two: Riffs

LEGION OF TWO
Riffs
ZIQ234
Planet Mu 2009
09 Tracks. 65mins23secs

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On one side is Alan O’Boyle, a Dubliner best known on these shores as Decal, under which name he has released music on Planet Mu, Trama Industries, Leaf, Ultramack and his own Decal-Artifact imprint. On the other is David Lacey, a Dublin-based drummer and percussionist with over twenty years experience. Together, they are Legion Of Two, an unlikely combination of dark brooding electronics and live drums who have found in the currently hyper-active Planet Mu a home for their debut album, Riffs.

Finding their natural playground somewhere at the confine of industrial and death metal, Legion Of Two play with various shades of dark and doom throughout and fuel their music with seismic moments of tension, which radiate into heavy discharges of distortion and noise. Continue Reading »

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JONO EL GRANDE: Neo Dada (Rune Grammofon)

themilkman on Jun 23rd 2009 11:54 pm

Jono El Grande: Neo Dada

JONO EL GRANDE
Neo Dada
RCD2084
Rune Grammofon 2009
07 Tracks. 42mins21secs

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Jono El Grande is something of an oddball. Jon Andreas HÃ¥tun as he is known to his parents landed on Rune Grammofon six years ago with Fevergreen, a rather strange album which appears to fearlessly blend prog rock, pop, orchestral film music and jazz into one hell of a melting pot. Heading a formation of nine musicians, Jono El Grande brought down boundaries that no-one, with the exception of a rare few, ever considered could even exist.

With Neo Dada, HÃ¥tun and his colourful big band revive their shambolic fanfare and progress further into prog-jazz-watnot land, relentlessly kicking the ghost of Zappa out of the way to make way for their own exotic vision. Continue Reading »

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THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA: I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again (Highpoint Lowlife)

themilkman on Jun 23rd 2009 12:18 am

The Village Orchestra: I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again

THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA
I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again
HPLL037
Highpoint Lowlife 2009
01 Track. 58mins36secs

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Scotland has long been a fertile ground for electronic music, and one of the country’s best exports is undoubtedly the Marcia Blaine School For Girls collective, whose three members, Bryan Kerr, David Donnolly and Ruaridh Law, have released music on labels such as Benbecula, Unlabel, Static Caravan or Metal-On-Metal, either collectively or individually, for over ten years. It is however on London-based Highpoint Lowlife that the trio have found their natural home, first producing the excellent Some Paths Lead Back Again project four years ago, then their album Halfway Into The Woods two years ago. It is also on Highpoint Lowlife that Ruaridh Law’s seminal solo effort Et In Arcadia Ego, as The Village Orchestra, was published, again in 2005. Continue Reading »

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KIKI: Kaiku (BPitch Control)

themilkman on Jun 18th 2009 01:03 am

Kiki: Kaiky

KIKI
Kaiku
BPC196
BPitch Control 2009
11 Tracks. 63mins10secs

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It’s been nearly five years since Kiki’s debut album, Run With Me, was issued on BPitch Control, and eight years since Berlin-based Finnish musician Joakim Ijäs first landed on the label, but while this may seem like a long time between releases, the man was far from idle in the interim, distilling EPs, remixes and the occasional MP3-only release with insistent regularity in the last four years.

Kaiku, Ijäs’s second album, marks a giant step forward from the pretty generic warehouse dance of Run With Me into much more subtle and elegant techno. Continue Reading »

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SINNER DC: Crystallized (Ai Records)

themilkman on Jun 17th 2009 01:15 am

Sinner DC: Crystallized

SINNER DC
Crystallized
AI026CD
Ai Records 2009
09 Tracks. 41mins55secs

 Buy: CD | iTunes

From their humble beginnings as a middle-of-the-road indie rock band, Swiss trio Sinner DC, formed of Steve Mamey, Julien Amey, and Manuel Bravo, have retained virtually nothing, ditching it all for the much more elegant and nuanced Krautrock-infused sound which first began to take shape on their 2005 Arkle Sparkle Avenue album (Tritone), but really only truly developed on its follow up, the lush and rich Mount Age, the band’s first foray on London-based Ai Records, in 2006.

Almost three years on, the trio are back in action with their sixth album, their second for Ai. More than a progression, Crystallized denotes a reinforcement of the themes developed on Mount Age, both sonically and aesthetically. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: DEXTRO The Wind Of Change

themilkman on Jun 16th 2009 12:42 am

Interview: Dextro: The Wind Of Change

Ewan Mackenzie first appeared in 2004 with a first EP released on Border Community. Followed another one that same year on Jumblefunk, and his debut album, Consequence Music, was issued two years later, initially on his own imprint, 16K, then on Grönland a few months later. With a second album, Winded, now under his belt, we caught up with the man to talk about making the transition from band to solo act, how his live persona differs from his studio one, and how releasing his own music ensure he can release it exactly as he wants it to be heard. Continue Reading »

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SND: Atavism (Raster-Noton)

David Abravanel on Jun 15th 2009 05:27 pm

SND: Atavism

SND
Atavism
R-N 107
Raster-Noton 2009
16 Tracks. 62mins10secs

Icon: arrow SND | Raster-Noton
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Citing a dictionary definition is perhaps the most clichéd way to begin any kind of persuasive piece, but here I am and all I can think of are the reasons why SND have titled this record Atavism. So, here it goes: atavism: the reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations.

Keeping in mind that such a title suggests a musical continuum, it’s initially puzzling to hear that this music is as polished and, there being no better descriptor, sanitary as it comes. There’s minimalism, and then there’s minimal techno/microhouse – frequently breaking its own rules for blasts of funk – and then there’s this, the Lysol-coated showroom countertop. By comparison, Monolake sounds like big band jazz. It’s not just that tracks repeat the same themes with small, gradually unfolding variation, nor that that any ostensibly tonal material tends to hit only at the same time as a percussive counterpart. Atavism retreats even further into its own system by using the same general palette of strictly-digital sounds across the entire record. Continue Reading »

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FEW NOLDER: New Folder (Planet Mu)

themilkman on Jun 10th 2009 12:14 am

Few Nolder: New Folder

FEW NOLDER
New Folder
ZIQ238
Planet Mu 2009
09 Tracks. 71mins33secs

Icon: arrow Buy: CD

While most record labels are getting hesitant when it comes to releasing CDs, Planet Mu are currently dishing them out at light speed, with old and new acts sharing this bolt of energy. Enters Linas Strockis, a musician hailing from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, who, until last year, had only released a handful of tracks on Lithuanian imprint Partyzanai. In 2008, Strockis, who records under the dyslexic-tinged moniker of Few Nodler, released an EP on Mike Paradinas’s Planet Mu, and it is now time for him to dispatch his debut album.

A somehow rather ambitious and thoroughly eclectic collection, New Folder (get it?) brings together elements of minimal techno, fluid house and lush electro and combines them into very effective compositions. Continue Reading »

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Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Coronet Theatre, Elephant & Castle, London, 5/06/2009

themilkman on Jun 9th 2009 12:49 am

Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Coronet Theatre, Elephant & Castle, London, 5/06/2009

On Friday night, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums took part in A Ritual For Elephant & Castle, an event held at the Coronet Theatre, in the heart of Elephant & Castle, which also featured sets by Septic Heart and Chrome Hoof. For the occasion, Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin invited amateur percussionists and drummers to join them for a one-off performance.

In just two albums, the brilliant debut Heatcore and its follow up, The Snake, published in as many years, vocalist Mariam Wallentin and drummer and percussionist Andreas Werliin, who are also a couple, have established their particular blend of primeval avant-pop based on Wallentin’s wonderfully warm and colourful vocal tones and Werliin’s omnipresent drumming, occasionally reminiscent of The Creatures. Their live sets have long gathered praises all over Europe, not only on the traditional rock circuit, but also in jazz circles. Continue Reading »

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