OREN AMBARCHI
Audience Of One
TO83
Touch 2012
04 Tracks. 53mins54secs

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Looking back at Oren Ambarchi’s extraordinarily vast and varied body of work, it seems almost impossible to believe that he only began releasing music fourteen years ago. The list of his collaborations alone is impressive, counting the likes of Sunn O))), Fennesz, Jim O’Rourke, Keith Rowe or Keiji Haino amongst many others, and his own solo outputs, published primarily on Touch, constitutes a truly singular collection of experimental music even amongst his peers.

Released almost five years on from his last solo outing, In The Pendulum’s Embrace, Audience Of One may initially prove something of an intriguing release for the usually poised Australian as he lines up vocals and drum beats, and appears to almost do away with guitars altogether in parts of the record. Continue Reading »

FRANCISCO LÓPEZ
Untitled (2009)
KARU20
Baskaru 2011
14 Tracks. 121mins24secs

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There are few stranger ways to open a double album of sonic experimentations than by a display of hearty snores, but it is exactly the approach adopted by Francisco López for his latest album, Untitled (2009), with opening piece Untitled #220. Furthermore, he emphasises the effect later on with Untitled #239, during which he plays with his sound source to give it even more prominence. As always with López though, whether these are indeed snores surreptitiously captured, processed field recordings or playful electronics is left to the listener’s imagination.

Over the years, Spanish born Francisco López has built a considerable catalogue of material, released on numerous labels, and he has produced a number of sound installations which have allowed him to expand on his sonic experimentations further and interact with his audience in a more proactive way. Continue Reading »

MATTHEW BOURNE
Montauk Variations
BAY77
The Leaf Label 2012
17 Tracks. 56mins32secs

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Matthew Bourne has spent the last ten years working on many different projects and touching on quite a wide array of genres, but he has, until now, never released any solo record. Inaugurating what is announced as an on-going collaboration with The Leaf Label, with additional projects announced for the next eighteen months, this is exactly what he is doing with Montauk Variations, an album which began its gestation during a short visit to Montauk, NY a couple of years ago, and a subsequent realisation that all he needed to do was strip his music back down to its bare essential: him and a piano.

The album was recorded during three two-day sessions between May and June of last year in Dartington in Devon, Manchester and Wharfedale in North Yorkshire, and features sixteen piano improvisations, for the most part fragile romantic pieces, sometimes so scarce that they at times seem like in suspension. Continue Reading »

VVV
Across The Sea
ELIMLP001
Fortified Audio 2011
12 Tracks. 47mins42secs

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VVV is the project of Shawhin Izaddoost, an Iranian-born musician who currently resides in Austin, Texas, yet sounds like a regular of the London club scene. His foray into garage and house dates back almost ten years, yet he only released his first EP, The Projects, quickly followed by a second, Vertigo & Flames (Tube 10), barely two years ago, and held out until the tail end of 2011 to unveil his debut album, Across The Sea.

Although the Burial-esque Jade Mountain, with its haunting cut-up vocals, woody percussions and pulsating bass line, would instantly place this album firmly in the dubstep ranks, Izaddoost pushes into much more varied and colourful terrains with consequent tracks, blending various strands of garage, 2step, dancehall or techno together throughout. Continue Reading »