Archive for June, 2011

RICHARD A. INGRAM: Happy Hour (White Box Recordings)

themilkman on Jun 30th 2011 01:23 am

Richard A. Ingram: Happy Hour

RICHARD A. INGRAM
Happy Hour
WHITEBOX011
White Box Recordings 2011
04 Tracks. 52mins30secs

Boomkat: CD

A year on from the release of his impressive solo debut, Consolamentum, Manchester-based musician Richard A. Ingram returns with another slab of implacably sombre cinematic electronic music. Released once again on the excellent White Box, Happy Hour is a particularly bleak and oppressive affair, with which Ingram continues to explore intricate textural soundscapes and arrange them into a powerful soundtrack.

Articulated around four lengthy tracks, ranging from ten-and-a-half to fifteen minutes, each with their own intense tone and mood, Happy Hour is at once extremely disturbing and deeply haunting. Continue Reading »

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BRIGID BURKE & OLLIE BOWN: Erase (Not Applicable)

themilkman on Jun 29th 2011 01:31 am

Brigid Burke & Ollie Brown: Erase

BRIGID BURKE & OLLIE BOWN
Erase
NOT018
Not Applicable 2011
06 Tracks. 29mins07secs

Chance encounters can be fruitful accidents. British musician and sound artist Ollie Bown, who splits his time between his activities as one half of experimental duo Icarus and various side projects, met Australian musician and visual artist Brigid Burke after temporarily moving to Melbourne. A classically trained musician and composer, Burke is a solo clarinetist whose work often involves integrating improvised music and visual media forms. She has released a number of solo records, and also regularly performs as part of a wide array of ensembles.

Her collaboration with Bown, himself a seasoned musician and improv artist, was recorded during a short series of live improvisations in Melbourne two years ago, Burke on bass clarinet, clarinet, whistles, midi sax and sound processing, and Bown on electronics and processing. Continue Reading »

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DADAVISTIC ORCHESTRA: Dokument.02 (Dust Science Recordings)

themilkman on Jun 28th 2011 01:17 am

Dadavistic Orchestra: Dokument.02

DADAVISTIC ORCHESTRA
Dokument.02
FORM003
Dust Science 2011
06 Tracks. 65mins35secs

Amazon UK: CD US: CD Boomkat: CD | DLD

The meeting of two legendary techno acts, who have contributed to shape the European techno scene of the last twenty years, Dadavistic Orchestra has everything of a heavyweight entity, with on one side Sheffield-based The Black Dog and on the other three former members of Dutch outfit Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia. While their respective techno credentials have been widely documented, both formations have always balanced this with extensive incursions into much more ambient territories, and this is very much the angle they have adopted for this common project.

Six months on from their debut release, Dokument.02 investigates once again sprawling ambient soundscapes, from the Machinefabriek-infused progressive granular guitar drones  of opening piece Deep Old Mu, to the heavy textures of Teh Meh, Teh Meh and De Neerstorting Van De Mening Van De Kathderaal or the much more delicate dreamy sequences of Unconcerned, But Not Indifferent. Continue Reading »

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GIOVANNI DI DOMENICO/ARVE HENRIKSEN/TATSUHISA YAMAMOTO: Clinamen (Off/Rat Records)

themilkman on Jun 23rd 2011 01:22 am

Giovanni Di Domenico/Arve Henriksen/Tatsuhisa Yamamoto: Clinamen

GIOVANNI DI DOMENICO/ARVE HENRIKSEN/TATSUHISA YAMAMOTO
Clinamen
ORT002
Off/Rat Records 2011
10 Tracks. 52mins15secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD iTunes: DLD

Assembled and led by Italian-born pianist and keyboard player Giovanni Di Domenico, and counting trumpeter extraordinaire Arve Henriksen and drummer and percussionist Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, this is a trio with a very uncompromising experimental outlook. The wealth of experience brought under this project is staggering. Perhaps the best known of the three, Henriksen needs no introduction, his solo work and his involvement, past and present, with Supersilent, Christian Wallumrød’s various formations, Food or the Trygve Seim Ensemble have contributed to make him one of the most prominent musicians of the contemporary Scandinavian jazz scene. Almost ten years his junior, Di Domenico is also an well established instrumentalist with an impressive number of collaborations under his belt, while Yamamoto regularly performs with Jim O’Rourke and has, in the past, worked with members of AcidMotherTemple and Boredoms amongst others. Continue Reading »

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FABIO ORSI: Wo Ist Behle? (Boring Machines)

themilkman on Jun 22nd 2011 01:43 am

Fabio Orsi: Wo Ist Behle?

FABIO ORSI
Wo Ist Behle?
BM029
Boring Machines 2011
05 Tracks. 45mins26secs

Hailing from the coastal city of Taranto in southern Italy, Fabio Orsi has, in the space of barely six years, collated a considerable body of work, scattered on various labels (A Silent Place, Ruralfaune, Low Point, Priviledged To Fail…). Beside a number of solo releases, he has collaborated with the likes of My Cat Is An Alien, Mamuthones, Seaworthy or Valerio Cosi to name but a few. Finding inspiration in the pre-war recordings of Alan Lomax, Orsi’s work, often based on field recordings which he processes into evocative soundscapes, attempts to document his surroundings.

Having recently moved to Berlin, where he found himself in the midst of the German capital’s harsh and cold winter, this is very much what he does here. Continue Reading »

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BIOTRON SHELF: Cloud Bands And Arabesques (Boltfish Recordings)

themilkman on Jun 21st 2011 01:25 am

Biotron Shelf: Cloud Bands And Arabesques

BIOTRON SELF
Cloud Bands And Arabesques
BOLTLP012
Boltfish Recordings 2011
10 Tracks. 39mins25secs

Amazon UK: DLD US: DLD

If Biotron Shelf may sound like a rather enigmatic word combination, a simple re-ordering of the letters reveal the names of Wil Bolton and Murray Fisher, two sound artists and musicians who are perhaps best known for their respective solo projects, Cheju and Mint. Their first collaborative effort under the Biotron Shelf banner dates back to 2006 and their album 33 Minutes North, published on U-Cover, which was followed a couple of years later by an EP, Transmissions (Smallfish). Three years on, the pair are back with an EP, Corrugations, and a second album, both released on their very own Boltfish Recordings imprint, a label they set up back in 2004 and which has since delivered a number of fine electronic records by the likes of Infinite Scale, Skytree, Zainetica, Yvat or Polestar to name but a few.

With Cloud Bands And Arabesques, the pair continue to develop the lush electronic soundscapes, crisp beats and evocative melodies that characterized their debut release, which also occasionally incorporates elements of acoustic instrumentation. Continue Reading »

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Splashgirl, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London, 8/06/2011

themilkman on Jun 10th 2011 01:10 am

Splashgirl Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London, 8/06/2011

Formed in 2003 by Andreas Løwe (piano, electronics), Jo Myhre (double bass, zither, electronics)  and Andreas Knudsrød (drums, percussions, electronics), Splashgirl released their first album, Door. Keys. five years on, and followed it with a second, Arbor two years later. The album was also the debut release of Norwegian imprint Hubro Music, a label which has since been going from strength to strength. With a new album due out in August, Splashgirl visited London’s Pizza Express Jazz Club, a venue hidden below street level with a stage shoehorned between tables and a bar, just big enough for a Steinway baby grand piano, a drum kit and a double bass.

In the short Q&A that preceded the set, Løwe explained that the music Splashgirl play is not jazz. Continue Reading »

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RICARDO VILLALOBOS/MAX LODERBAUER: Re: ECM (ECM Records)

themilkman on Jun 8th 2011 01:48 am

Ricardo Villalobos/Max Loderbauer: Re: ECM

RICARDO VILLALOBOS/MAX LODERBAUER
Re: ECM
2758681
EMC Records 2011
17 Tracks. 134mins27secs

Amazon UK: CD US: CD

Convincing ECM mastermind Manfred Eicher of the validity of letting Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer, known primarily for their involvement with linear minimal techno, loose in the ECM catalogue, one of the most aesthetically consistent catalogues there is, was probably never going to be a given, but the pair got his support early on after he visited them in their Berlin studio as they were just beginning working on the project.

What the pair propose here are not so much remixes as entirely new contextualisations of sonic spaces. Each of the pieces presented is based on segments of a particular work lifted from the vast ECM catalogue, but Villalobos and Loderbauer essentially create new compositions out of the raw material at their disposition. Continue Reading »

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SLUMGUM: Quarboard Flavoured Fiber (Accretions Records)

themilkman on Jun 7th 2011 01:20 am

Slumgum: Quardboard Flavored Fibre

SLUMGUM
Quardboard Flavored Fibre
ALP052CD
Accretions Records 2011
11 Tracks. 56mins25secs

Amazon UK: DLD US: DLD iTunes: DLD

Los Angeles-based quartet Slumgum, which comprises Jon Armstrong (tenor sax, clarinet), Rory Cowal (piano, Rhodes), Dave Tranchina (bass, clothespins) and Trevor Anderies (drums), first appeared over three years ago with a self-titled album, published on their own imprint, but the band had been honing their style by performing live for some time prior to this, seamlessly blending composed and improvised work. While their primary concern is as a jazz formation, Slumgum’s music also finds some roots in classical music, especially through Cowal’s fluid and elegant piano playing, and on occasions, world music. Continue Reading »

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HUNTSVILLE: For Flowers, Cars And Merry Wars (Hubro Music)

themilkman on Jun 6th 2011 01:25 am

Huntsville: For Flowers, Cars And Merry Wars

HUNTSVILLE
For Flowers, Cars And Merry Wars
HUBROLP2505
Hubro Music 2011
04 Tracks. 36mins49secs

Amazon UK: LP | DLD US: LP | DLD iTunes: DLD

Huntsville, the trio formed of Ivar Grydeland (guitars), Tonny Kluften (bass) and Ingar Zach (drums and percussions), exist somewhere between jazz and rock, and is fueled by a shared taste for experimentation and improvisation. Over the course of two albums for Rune Grammofon, they have established a style which has led critics to link them to anything from drone to Americana, often in the same breath. With For Flowers, Cars And Merry Wars, the trio move the goal post slightly, but it remains as difficult to pin down as its predecessors.

The trio have collaborated with a number of musicians over the years, from Norwegian jazz singer Sidsel Endresen to Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. For this new album, they have teamed up with another Norwegian vocalist, Hanne Hukkelberg, who contributes vocals to the nineteen-minute opening title track. Continue Reading »

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RIVAL CONSOLES: Kid Velo (Erased Tapes)

themilkman on Jun 2nd 2011 08:46 am

 

Rival Consoles: Kid Velo

RIVAL CONSOLES
Kid Velo
ERATP031
Erased Tapes 2011
11 Tracks. 47mins18secs

Kid Velo is like Daft Punk getting deep down and dirty with Clark. If the first Rival Consoles album, IO, released two years ago, was like a rollercoaster ride through the last twenty years of techno, acid, electronica and house, it appears that it was nowhere near enough to satisfy mastermind Ryan Lee West’s seemingly insatiable appetite for fun. For with Kid Velo, he turns the dance floor into a vibrant battleground where his heavy artillery fire glitter balls for the entire duration.

Right from the onset of the title track, which opens the festivities, the tone for the rest of the album is set. Continue Reading »

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PECHENGA: Helt Borte / DISKJOKKE: Sagara (Smalltown Supersound)

themilkman on Jun 1st 2011 11:24 pm

Pechenga: Helt Borte DiskJokke: Sagara

PECHENGA
Helt Borte
STS202
Smalltown Supersound 2011
10 Tracks. 34mins34secs

DISKJOKKE
Sagara
STS204
Smalltown Supersound 2011
06 Tracks. 35mins43secs

Helt Borte
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: DLD iTunes: DLD
Sagara
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD

Originally independently released back in 2007 in Norway, Helt Borte went on to sell just fifty-nine copies and could have continued to go almost totally unnoticed, wouldn’t it be for the keen ear of Smalltown Supersound head Joakim Haugland, who happened to stumble upon it and declared it one of his favourite albums of the last few years.

Named after a part of Siberia visible from their native island, Pechenga is the project of Rune Lindbæk and Cato Farstad. Both originating from the small fishing island of Vardø, situated in the far northeast of Norway, they have opted for very different life paths, Farstad remaining in his birth place for most of his life while Lindbæk moved away, first to Tromsø, then Oslo and Berlin. In 2007, they developed an appreciation of each other’s work and decided to collaborated on a common project. The resulting collection, which was recorded on their native land in just a few days, was then self-released. Continue Reading »

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