Archive for October, 2009

VARIOUS ARTISTS: 2 | Favourite Places (Audiobulb Records)

themilkman on Oct 28th 2009 02:07 am

Various Artists: 2 | Favourite Places

VARIOUS ARTISTS
2 | Favourite Places
AB026
Audiobulb Records 2009
10 Tracks. 56mins30secs

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The concept is pretty simple: take a number of contemporary musicians with a taste for moods and atmospheres, task them with recording sounds from their favourite places in the world and use them in a composition. This is exactly what David Newman, head of Audiobulb, did two years ago, and the result was compiled in the first instalment of Favourite Places, with contributions from Biosphere, Taylor Deupree, Claudio, Leafcutter John and John Kannenberg amongst others. The second volume in the collection brings together musicians from the UK (Michael Santos, Icarus, Autistici, Calika), Australia (Lawrence English), Belgium (Yannick Franck), Japan (Sawako), USA (Jeremy Bible, He Can Jog) and Canada (Michael Trommer), giving them each a chance to introduce their very own favourite place. The booklet accompanying this CD contains photographs and a description of these spots, providing concrete complements to the recordings. Continue Reading »

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SIMON SCOTT: Navigare (Miasmah Recordings)

themilkman on Oct 27th 2009 02:13 am

Simon Scott: Navigare

SIMON SCOTT
Navigare
MIACD011
Miasmah Recordings 2009
10 Tracks. 47mins59secs

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Once a member of early nineties daydream shoegazers Slowdive, for whom his manned the drums for four years, Simon Scott has since worked on a variety of projects, including, in recent years, atmospheric pop/electronic outfit Televise, and, more recently, Seavault, a collaboration with ISAN’s Antony Ryan. He is also at the helm of experimental imprint Keshhhhhh Recordings, which he runs from his native Cambridge.

For his first release under his own name, Scott couldn’t have found a label more adapted to the vast atmospheric stretches of Navigare than Erik Skodvin’s bleak house of Miasmah. Continue Reading »

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Max Richter, Union Chapel, Islington, London, 23/10/2009

themilkman on Oct 26th 2009 12:00 am

Max Richter, Union Chapel, Islington, London, 23/10/2009

Hosted at the Union Chapel in Islington and organised by the good people over at Arctic Circle, this week saw a series of performances collected under the Marginalised banner, in support of the Margins Project, an charity operating from the back of the Union Chapel for people who are homeless or in crisis in London, with performances by Gavin Bryars and Max Richter and events focusing on the music of Vernon Elliot and Michael Nyman. Before the performance took place, an introduction to the charity was presented to the audience in the form of a short film, highlighting the need for such an organisation in the area, the relentless work of voluntaries and the major drop in donations resulting of the current economic climate. Marginalised, in its second year, gives a chance to put on a program of events and generate some revenue for Margins. Continue Reading »

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HARUKI: To Humble A Nest (The Land Of)

themilkman on Oct 22nd 2009 12:46 am

Haruki: To Humble Nest

HARUKI
To Humble A Nest
LND008
The Land Of 2009
09 Tracks. 40mins15secs

‘All music by Haruki. Sounds from everywhere and nowhere’. This is the introduction to To Humble A Nest, the latest record to be released by relatively new imprint The Land Of, a small label with a particular interest for music made from, or incorporating, all sorts of field recordings. Splashed out all over the cover, these few words sum up the music collected inside. Haruki is Boris Snauwaert, a musician hailing from Gent, Belgium who has, over the last few years, released a number of CDR and MP3 albums and contributed remixes for My Brightest Diamond, Au Revoir Simone and Machinefabriek amongst others.

With To Humble A Nest, Snauwaert creates a somewhat complex and intriguing piece where field recordings and acoustic and electronic instruments are articulated into often pretty bare experimental compositions. Continue Reading »

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MOUNTAINS: Etching (Thrill Jockey)

themilkman on Oct 21st 2009 01:04 am

Mountains: Etching

MOUNTAINS
Etching
THRILL226
Thrill Jockey 2009
01 Tracks. 38mins14secs

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The project of New York-based Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp, Mountains have, in the four years since they first appeared, gained much critical acclaim for their impressionist sound formations. While their first two albums were published on their own imprint, Apestaartje, their third opus proper, Choral, materialised on Chicago’s Thrill Jockey. In early 2009, Mountains recorded a long improvisation in Anderegg’s studio, in live condition. The resulting piece, Etching, was then sold, as a CDR, during the tour coinciding with the release of Choral. This recording aiming to document the band in a similar setting to that of the tour, is now made available once again through Thrill Jockey as a very limited LP-only release. Continue Reading »

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EFTERKLANG & THE DANISH NATIONAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: Performing Parades (The Leaf Label)

themilkman on Oct 20th 2009 12:52 am

EFTERKLANG & THE DANISH NATIONAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: Performing Parades

EFTERKLANG & THE DANISH NATIONAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Performing Parades
BAY69
The Leaf Label 2009
11 Tracks. 56mins31secs

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When they released their second album, Parades, back in October 2007, Danish formation Efterklang probably had very little idea that they would literally live on it for two years. Right from the onset, Efterklang have truly come to life performing live, and this was undoubtedly key in their moving from the largely electronic textures of their early releases toward much more acoustic and instrument-based. Their 2007 mini album Under Giant Trees, recorded while the band were on tour, established the blueprint for Parades, released a few months later. A much more ambitious effort than its predecessor, Tripper, published in 2004, the album was recorded with a number of additional contributors, including Peter Broderick and Our Broken Garden’s Anna Brønsted, together with a variety of formations and choirs. Continue Reading »

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BROADCAST & THE FOCUS GROUP: Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age (Warp Records)

themilkman on Oct 15th 2009 01:01 am

Broadcast & The Focus Group: Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age

BROADCAST & THE FOCUS GROUP
Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age
WARP189
Warp Records 2009
24 Tracks. 48mins36secs

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There are few collaborations seeming more fitting than that of retro-futurist popsters Broadcast and library music collagist The Focus Group. Julian House, who heads the latter, and instigator of the Ghost Box imprint, is a graphic designer by trade, and has been responsible for every Broadcast record cover to date. His work is so much part of Broadcast that they described him as ‘like another member of the band’ when we interviewed them six years ago.

While Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age is officially labelled as a mini-album, its twenty-three tracks and near-fifty minutes allow for a fully extended narrative Continue Reading »

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PETER BRODERICK: 4 Track Songs (Type Recordings)

themilkman on Oct 13th 2009 12:52 am

Peter Broderick: 4 Track Songs

PETER BRODERICK
4 Track Songs
TYPE044
Type Recordings 2009
25 Tracks. 52mins41secs

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It’s just over two years since Peter Broderick’s debut mini album, Docile, was released on Kning Disk. Since, this prolific musician has released music on Bella Union, Erased Tapes, Secret Furry Hole and Digitalis. His most recent outputs, Music From Falling Trees and Five Film Score Outtakes, showcased his wonderfully airy and fluid classical work, but he is equally at ease with folk and pop songs. As the title suggests, this latest output, once again on Type, consists exclusively of songs recorded on tape, captured as and when they took shape, when Broderick was still pretty unknown, originally collected on two CDRs which were then sent to Type in the hope of getting him noticed. Continue Reading »

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AUTISTICI: Complex Tone Test (Keshhhhhh Recordings)

themilkman on Oct 9th 2009 12:28 am

Autistici: Complex Tone Test

AUTISTICI
Complex Tone Test
KESH12
Keshhhhhh Recordings 2009
09 Tracks. 48mins37secs

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Autistici is the solo project of Sheffield-based David Newman, who also runs the excellent Audiobulb imprint. His first major release, Volume Objects, appeared on Taylor Deupree’s 12K last year, but, prior to this, Newman had released a handful of EPs on small labels, and his music had also been featured on a number of compilations. On his debut album, Newman crafted his soundscapes, built from both treated acoustic sound sources and purely electronic components, with delicate impressionist touches, weaving them into beautiful evocative pieces.

With Complex Tone Test, released on Cambridge-based Keshhhhhh Recordings, Newman manipulates electro-acoustic textures once again, weaving them into vast ethereal formations which often appear pretty static and monolithic, yet constantly morph and evolve, their course altered ever so slightly over their lifespan. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: TYONDAI BRAXTON Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day

themilkman on Oct 6th 2009 11:37 pm

INTERVIEW: TYONDAI BRAXTON Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

Tyondai Braxton is a member of supergroup Battles, one of the most celebrated bands of recent years. Their debut album, Mirrored, saw them join Warp on the back of two EPs and a single released in a matter of months throughout 2004. The son of legendary experimental jazz composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, Tyondai follows his debut solo album, released in 2002, with an extremely ambitious second record, Central Market on Warp, which combines experimental rock, electronics and full orchestral sections. We caught up with the man via email ahead of his performance, as part of Battles, for the Warp20 celebrations in New York to talk about how he made the transition from his earlier work to the vast expanses of Central Market and how he wants to take this even further. Continue Reading »

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