themilkman on Jul 13th 2012 01:27 am
MORITZ VON OSWALD TRIO
Fetch
HJR67
Honest Jon’s Records 2012
04 Tracks. 50mins43secs
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP | DLD iTunes: DLD
Moritz Von Oswald, Max Loderbauer and Sasu Ripatti reconvene for a third time, and once again, the mood is subdued and quietly hypnotic, carried by elegant stripped down grooves and vast and airy sonic landscapes. Like its predecessors, Fetch is split into four tracks clocking at anything from seven to seventeen and a half minutes. The basis for this album was recorded at the end of the summer last year during a four hour improv session which saw the core trio joined by Mark Muellbauer (bass) and Tobias Freund ((live electronics and effects). The recordings were later processed by Von Oswald who added contributions from Jonas Shoen (flute, clarinet and saxophone) and Sebastian Studnitzky (trumpet).
More so than its predecessors, Fetch is an intriguing record, which appear to draw on darker tones as it progresses. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 12th 2012 01:38 am
ESPEN ERIKSEN TRIO
What Took You So Long
RCD2129
Rune Grammofon 2012
10 Tracks. 42mins21secs
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD UK: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD
Espen Eriksen Trio’s debut, You Had Me At Goodbye, published two years ago on Rune Grammofon, was a thing of great beauty, its lush piano-led jazz, fluid and melodic, developed over the course of the whole record in a variety of delicate hues. On their second opus, What Took You So Long, the Scandinavian trio pick up where they left off two years ago with eight new compositions and two somewhat unexpected cover versions. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 11th 2012 01:40 am
OBERMAN KNOCKS
Beatcroff Slabs
AP004
Aperture Records 2012
16 Tracks. 68mins40secs
Amazon UK: CD US: CD Boomkat: CD
Oberman Knocks is the project of London-based musician Nigel Truswell. Although he relocated to London in the late eighties, Truswell’s work as Oberman Knocks owes much to the rich musical heritage of his birthplace, Sheffield, home of Cabaret Voltaire, Human League, Heaven 17, ABC to Pulp, Warp or The Black Dog, who still operate from there today, to name but a few. Following a chance encounter with Andrea Parker via Mira Calix’s Chantal Passamonte, Truswell released his debut album, 13th Smallest, on Parker’s burgeoning new imprint, Aperture, three years ago. Dark, intricate and post industrial, the album was an incredibly intense journey through dystopian landscapes.
Three years on, the intensity has increased drastically. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 10th 2012 01:21 am
KONX-OM-PAX
Regional Surrealism
ZIQ323
Planet Mu 2012
14 Tracks. 46mins30secs
Amazon UK: CD | LP US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP
Glaswegian Tom Scholefield is pretty well acquainted with the music industry, having, in recent years, directed videos for Martyn, Kuedo, Lone and fellow Scotts Hudson Mohawke, Rustie or Mogwai, and produced artwork for Oneothrix Point Never or King Midas Sound. A side of his creative mind that’s so far remained under wrap is his music production, but this is about to change with the release of his debut album on Planet Mu. Regional Surrealism follows a handful of EPs published on Scholefield’s own imprint, Display Copy, in the last couple of years.
Scholefield’s music is somewhat odd, wonderful and highly individual. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 5th 2012 01:44 am
PJUSK
Tele
GM013
Glacial Movements 2012
09 Tracks. 50mins50secs
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD
After two releases for 12K, Norwegian ambient duo Pjusk have moved to Italian isolationist imprint Glacial Movements for their latest sonic excursion. Steered by Rune Sagevik and Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik, both hailing from a small village on the West coast of Norway, Pjusk find the inspiration for their work in the long and harsh Nordic winters and in the nature that surrounds them. The pair are said to work in isolation, using a cabin high up in the mountains to record, a far cry from their earlier incarnation as techno artists. The pair met in the early nineties and have been involved with a number of projects since, together or separately, with releases on labels such as Beatservice or Origo Sound amongst others.
Pjusk’s fascination for the vast landscapes and wild nature of their native country often transpires through their work by the use of field recordings, although it never represents the bulk of their compositions by any means. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 4th 2012 10:32 pm
Three years ago, the first album on Andrea Parker’s new venture, Aperture Records was published. The work of Sheffield-born Nigel Truswell, released under the enigmatic name of Oberman Knocks, 13th Smallest was a particularly dense and abstract electronic record, sounding somewhat like a malfunctioning machine. With his second album ready to be released, once again on Aperture, we caught up with the man to talk about his formative years, rubbing shoulders with Autechre, Mira Calix and Andrea Parker, learning to get to grip about the technology he uses and the prospects of a collaboration which may take him onto a very different path. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 4th 2012 01:40 am
WIL BOLTON
A Name That Hides Her
HB41
Hibernate Recordings 2012
06 Tracks. 37mins23secs
Amazon UK: DLD US: DLD Boomkat: LP | DLD iTunes: DLD
Wil Bolton is one half of the team behind the excellent Boltfish Recordings, but he is perhaps best known as Cheju, his solo project, which has seen him release music on Percussion Lab, U-Cover, Smallfish, Static Caravan or Boltfish. He has also an ongoing music project with Murray Fisher, the other half of Boltfish, as Biotron Shelf, and has published an album with Mark Streatfield (Zainetica) under the name Anzio Green back in 2008 on now defunct Japanese imprint Symbolic Interaction. Moving away from the crisp electronics and beats of Cheju and venturing into more atmospheric and ethereal territories, Bolton has, in the last two years, published a number of records under his own name on Hibernate, Time Released Sound and Cathedral Transmission. Continue Reading »
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themilkman on Jul 3rd 2012 01:36 am
DELTA FUNKTIONEN
Traces
93DSR
Delsin Records 2012
09 Tracks. 60mins06secs
 Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: LP | DLD iTunes: DLD
Music like it used to be back in the day. This could be the subtitle of this slice of classic techno from Dutchman Niels Luinenburg, who has been recording as Delta Funktionen since 1998. Following a string of EPs for Delsin’s sister label Ann Aimee, Luinenburg now delivers his debut album for Amsterdam-based Delsin, and it is a pretty polished affair.
Concentrated slices of hypnotic minimal techno, Luinenburg’s EPs, released over the course of the last four years, have resolutely been aimed at clubs, but with Traces, the Dutchman broadens his scope quite considerably as he steps back from the dance floor to investigate more subtle electronic genres. Continue Reading »
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