Archive for September, 2009

BEN FROST: By The Throat (Bedroom Community)

themilkman on Sep 25th 2009 01:05 am

Ben Frost: By The Throat

BEN FROST
By The Throat
HVALUR6
Bedroom Community 2009
11 Tracks. 45mins53secs

It is really a case of Frost by name, Frost(y) by nature when it comes to Australian-born musician Ben Frost. Currently living in Reykjavik, Iceland, Frost has been spilling his chilling blend of decaying electronica and processed electric guitars since 2001 and has released music on Room40, Dreamland Recordings and Architecture. In 2006, he joined the ranks of Valgeir Sigurðsson’s excellent Bedroom Community and released his third album, Theory Of Machines, an icy collection of battered metal heavily processed through razor-sharp electronics and field recordings.

Three years on, By The Throat throws this broken world on its head and plunges into a dense, dark and threatening network of subterranean galleries, almost permanently subjected to destructive quakes. Continue Reading »

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ISAMBARD KHROUSTALIOV: Ohka (Not Applicable)

themilkman on Sep 23rd 2009 12:26 am

Isambard Khroustaliov: Ohka

ISAMBARD KHROUSTALIOV
Ohka
NO011
Not Applicable 2009
05 Tracks. 55mins18secs

With Icarus, British musicians Ollie Bown and Sam Britton have, in the twelve years since their first release, progressively moved from relatively conventional electronic music to much more challenging work. Their more recent records, I Tweet The Birdy Electric (Leaf, 2004), Carnivalesque (Not Applicable, 2005) and Sylt (Rump Recordings, 2007) have investigated the confines of experimental electronica and electro-acoustic. With his own project, Britton pushes much further into electro-acoustic territories to produce music that is, in essence, much more orchestral. Having studied architecture, Britton then went on to complete a Masters course in electronic music and composition at the IRCAM in Paris. Recording under the name Isambard Khroustaliov, Britton has collaborated with Italian-born percussionist Maurizio Ravalico and Dutch saxophonist Lothar Ohlmeier on two separate electro-acoustic projects (Five Loose Plans, 2006 and Nowhere, 2008), both released on Not Applicable, has contributed soundtracks to a handful of short films and done remixes for Icarus and Four Tet. Continue Reading »

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KREIDLER: Mosaik 2014 (Italic)

themilkman on Sep 20th 2009 06:35 pm

Kreidler: Mosaik 2014

KREIDLER
Mosaik 2014
ITA086CD
Italic 2009
10 Tracks. 51mins20secs

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In the fifteen years since they first appeared, Kreidler have, alongside To Rococo Rot and Tarwater, redefined Krautrock for the twenty first century, working influences ranging from early Kraftwerk, Neu!, Faust or Can into more contemporary structures. Founded by To Rococo member Stefan Schneider, with Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse and Detlef Weinrich, Kreidler released a first album, Riva, in 1994, followed by a string of EPs and singles leading to Weekend, an album released two years later. Schneider left the band following the 1998 Appearance And The Park album to focus on other projects, but the rest of the band carried on ploughing the same furrow with their next records, mixing live instrumentation, electronics and occasional vocals. Continue Reading »

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VARIOUS ARTISTS: Warp20 (Box Set) / Warp20 (Recreated) / Warp20 (Chosen) (Warp Records)

themilkman on Sep 17th 2009 07:20 pm

Various Artists: Warp20 (Box Set) Various Artists: Warp20 (Recreated) Various Artists: Warp20 (Chosen)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Warp20 (Box Set) / Warp20 (Recreated) / Warp20 (Chosen)
WARP20.0 / WARP201 / WARP 202
Warp Records 2009
– / 21 Tracks / 24 Tracks. – / 99mins13secs / 127mins18secs

Warp20 (Box Set)
Icon: arrow Boomkat: BX

Warp20 (Recreated)
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Warp20 (Chosen)
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LFO. Three metallic blue letters, straddled by a ghostly shape, set on a black background. Three letters that changed things forever. The year was 1991, I was browsing through the new arrivals in my local records store, and the Designers Republic artwork of LFO’s Frequencies was standing out from the blur, calling out for my attention. An hour or so later, I was left baffled by a record which I was struggling to understand. On one side, the lush flow and shattering bass of LFO or Simon From Sydney irresistibly titillated my appetite for crisp evocative electronics, on the other, I had never experienced anything quite as bare as Mentok 1 or We Are Back. This album bore its influences on its sleeve, literally, and it took a few listens to ‘get it’. But ‘get it’ I did. More than I could have ever wished for. I was hooked. Not only on LFO, but also on Warp.

The brainchild of Steve Beckett and the late Rob Mitchell, who founded the label twenty years ago in the former metallurgic city of Sheffield, Warp found itself at a crossroad between the dying acid scene and the nascent UK techno/electronica movements Continue Reading »

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The Orb, Arch 635, Clapham, London, 10/09/2009

themilkman on Sep 15th 2009 01:10 am

The Orb, Arch 635, Clapham, London, 10/09/2009

Alex Paterson and co are used to huge venues and festivals, playing in front of thousands of people, but it is in the intimist settings of Arch 635 in Clapham, south London, that they chose to introduce their latest effort, Baghdad Batteries, to the world, in front of a crowd of just 250. The dress code du hour was uniformist to say the least: white overalls for all, with strict instruction that they should be worn during the band’s performance, making the place look like an over-busy crime scene of Silent Witness. Support was provided by Maliscious Damage’s Able & Cane and She Is Danger, the latter sounding something like Beth Gibbons submitted to electic shocks.While not really providing anything particularly new or fresh, the girls delivered a pretty sharp electro set. Continue Reading »

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DERU: Say Goodbye To Useless (Mush)

themilkman on Sep 11th 2009 01:24 am

Deru: Say Goodbye To Useless

DERU
Say Goodbye To Useless
MH268
Mush 2009
11 Tracks. 46mins08secs

Deru is the solo project of Los Angeles-based artist and sound designer Benjamin Wynn. Dealing largely with decaying electronic textures, fuelled by crisp hip-hop beats, his music is characterised by haunting melodies and a dense cinematic feel. His first missive, Pushing Air, came out on Neo Ouija six years ago, and was quickly followed by an EP and a second album, Trying To Remember (Merck), a year later. Since, despite a handful of remixes and compilation appearances, there has been pretty little coming out of Wynn’s den. It has to be said thought that he has been busy with the day job, which consist, amongst other things, in making music, including for animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons. Continue Reading »

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BERNARD FEVRE: Black Devil Disco Club Presents The Strange New World Of… Bernard Fevre (Lo Recordings)

themilkman on Sep 9th 2009 01:03 am

Bernard Fevre: Black Devil Disco Club Presents The Strange New World Of... Bernard Fevre

BERNARD FEVRE
Black Devil Disco Club Presents The Strange New World Of… Bernard Fevre
LCD078
Lo Recordings 2009
14 Tracks. 43mins50secs

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Bernard Fevre may not be a household name, yet this pioneering French musician became known as Black Devil in the late seventies when he released Disco Club, a now legendary and extremely rare slice of electronic-fuelled disco which led, some years later, to be sampled by the Chemical Brothers, featured on Luke Vibert’s Further Nuggets, and, under the Black Devil Disco Club, to a string of albums published on Lo Recordings. Three years prior to Disco Club, in 1975, Fevre published a visionary collection of strange sounds organised in chirpy little sonic vignettes, entitled The Strange World Of Bernard Fevre. Thirty five years on, Fevre has unearthed this long forgotten opus, dusted it off, possibly added to it, and repackaged it into The Strange New World Of Bernard Fevre, delivered now once again via Lo Recordings.

This album, like its original version, has very little in common with the afro funky disco Fevre dispenses nowadays. Instead, the fourteen tracks collected here are representative of the futuristic sound that was being developed in the early to mid seventies. Continue Reading »

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GUSGUS: 24/7 (Kompakt)

themilkman on Sep 8th 2009 01:04 am

GusGus: 24/7

GUSGUS
24/7
KOM197
Kompakt 2009
06 Tracks. 52mins20secs

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Icelandic pop collective GusGus have gone through many changes over the years, with members coming and going and a progressive shift from the resolutely angular pop of their early records, Polydistorition (1997) and This Is Normal (1999) to their more dance-orientated projects of recent years, Attention (2002) and Forever (2007). This trend shows no sign of waning with their latest offering. Having joined the ranks of one of the coolest labels around, Kompakt, GusGus have, with 24/7, pushed deeper into club territory and have almost entirely dropped the pop angle of their songs, which are now developed into long progressive instrumentals upon hang a few relics of lyrics.

GusGus 2009 vintage sees the return of original vocalist Daníel Ágúst to the fore for the whole album for the first time in ten years. Continue Reading »

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TYONDAI BRAXTON: Central Market (Warp Records)

themilkman on Sep 4th 2009 01:13 am

Tyondai Braxton: Central Market

TYONDAI BRAXTON
Central Market
WARP184
Warp Records 2009
07 Tracks. 42mins47secs

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Best known as the guitarist, multi-instrumentist and vocalist of experimental super group Battles and as the son of celebrated jazz composer and musician Anthony Braxton, Tyondai Braxton first started to get noticed in the mid-nineties with electrifying live guitar improvisations. His first album, History That Has No Effect, attempted to concentrate the energy and drive of his live incarnation. Since, he has featured on a split LP with hardcore/noise outfit Parts & Labor, has also featured on a number of records, by Prefuse 73 notably, and has been seen performing live alongside people as diverse as Jim O’Rourke, Thurston Moore, Black Dice or TV On The Radio.

With Central Market, his second solo album, Tyondai Braxton has taken a major leap forward, combining the angular rock of Battles and of his own experiments, with electronics and vast orchestral élans. Continue Reading »

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MORITZ VON OSWALD TRIO: Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon’s Records)

themilkman on Sep 3rd 2009 12:38 am

Moritz Von Oswald Trio: Vertical Ascent

MORITZ VON OSWALD TRIO
Vertical Ascent
HJRCD45
Honest Jon’s Records 2009
04 Tracks. 44mins23secs

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With a past as rich as his, and a musical footprint counting the legendary Basic Channel imprint and Rhythm & Sound no less, two projects he spearheaded with Mark Ernestus, techno/dub legend  Moritz Von Oswald needs no introduction. His latest project, answering to the seriously cool moniker of Moritz Von Oswald Trio, is just the latest in a long string of high profile dub-based work. Having enlisted the unquestionable talents of Max Loderbauer, of Sun Electric and NSI fame, and Sasu Ripatti, who splits his life between his Vladislav Delay, Luomo and Uusitalo guises, here on percussions duty, Moritz Von Oswald leads here one hell of a project. Continue Reading »

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ÓLAFUR ARNALDS: Found Songs (Erased Tapes)

themilkman on Sep 2nd 2009 12:59 am

Ólafur Arnalds: Found Songs

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS
Found Songs
ERATP17
Erased Tapes 2009
07 Tracks. 20mins26secs

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In the last year, Twitter has become the hottest social network phenomenon around, and it was only a matter of time before someone used its format as part of a specific project. This someone is Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds who, in the space of seven days last April, composed and recorded seven original tracks, which were then made available, one at a time, on a special page on the Erased Tapes website, for free. Each day, the public was invited to post pictures on Flickr that they felt related to the day’s track. Some of these have now been compiled in a booklet accompanying this remastered version, now made available as a limited edition CD and 10” mini album. Continue Reading »

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