BIRD SHOW BAND
Bird Show Band
AMI041
Amish Records 2010
07 Tracks. 36mins17secs

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

For over ten years, Brooklyn-based Ben Vida has been spotted in a variety of bands (Town & Country, Singer, Pillow), and has, with his solo project, Bird Show, released three albums for Kranky, the most recent one, published in 2008, seeing him collaborate with Greg Davis, Robert AA Lowe, Michael Zerang and brother Adam. For his latest incarnation, he is joined by bass player Josh Abrams, drummers John Herndon and Dan Bitney and Jim Baker on vintage ARP 2600. Operating at the confine of experimental improvised jazz, avant-rock and noise, Bird Show Band continuously build on a convincing mix of organic energy and outwardly sonic explorations to create a refined collection of experimental pieces.

Recorded over a two day session in Chicago in 2008, BSB is at once angular and vibrant, and progresses through a series of seismic pulses which are at times reminiscent of Supersilent. Continue Reading »

CLARA MOTO
Polyamour
IF1008
InFiné 2010
11 Tracks. 54mins54secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD

In the four years since its inception, Franco-German imprint In-Finé has made a tangible mark somewhere between dance-floor and lounge, with excellent releases from Francisco Tristano, Rone, Apparat or Aufgang demonstrating the eclectic yet focussed vision of label head Sebastien Devaud. Perfect embodiment of this ethic is Austrian artist Clara ‘Moto’ Prettenhofer, whose debut album swerves elegantly between the two, often blending fluid grooves and celestial atmospherics into infinite combinations, some leaning towards minimal tech-house, brightened up with pretty strong melodies and a hefty dose of human emotions, others resolutely more haunting and, occasionally ambient. This is no insipid coffee-table tosh though. All throughout the record, Clara creates stunning little electronic vignettes which, while often very different, undeniably stem from a singular clear vision. Continue Reading »

JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON
And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees
TYPE64
Type Recordings 2010
13 Tracks. 40mins17secs

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

Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson might be best known for the records he has been delivering since he made his debut on Touch almost ten years ago with the superb Englabörn, but the cinematic nature of his work has also led him to work on countless soundtracks for feature films, short films and documentaries. Originally released as a limited vinyl edition at the end of last year, And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees is Jóhann Jóhannsson’s soundtrack to the beautiful animated short film Varmints, created by Studio AKA member Marc Craste, based on the book of the same name published over two years ago by children’s author Helen Ward, which Craste also illustrated. Continue Reading »

CELER
Pockets Of Wheat
SOUND002
Soundscaping Records 2010
01 Track. 59mins10secs

With the untimely death of multi-instrumentist Danielle Baquet-Long in July 2009, Celer, the duo she and husband Will Long formed in 2006, came to an abrupt end. Yet, in the space of three years, the pair have recorded a considerable amount of music, and beside a number of self-releases, part of their work surfaced on a wide variety of labels, including Spekk, And/OAR, Digitalis, Smallfish and Home Normal, and releases continue to filter out.

One such new release is Pockets Of Wheat, published on Burgeoning Norwegian imprint Soundscaping, following on from last year’s excellent Air Resort by Christophe Bailleau. Continue Reading »

TO ROCOCO ROT
Speculation
WIG234
Domino Recording Co. 2010
10 Tracks. 44mins55secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP

To Rococo Rot was formed over fifteen years ago by brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok and friend Stefan Schneider. Building on the rich heritage of the German experimental scene of the seventies and confronting it with contemporary electronica, the trio have, over the course of six studio albums and countless EPs and singles, created a very consistent body of work. Even more so than with Kreidler (Schneider was once a member), or Tarwater, another of Ronald’s projects, one can easily trace TRR’s electronic instrumentals back to pioneering bands such as Cluster or Harmonia, yet the trio have always favoured a more down-to-earth sound and format. Continue Reading »

SAM AMIDON
I See The Sign
HVALUR9
Bedroom Community 2010
10 Tracks. 42mins23secs

Amazon: UK: CD | LP US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD

Hailing from a small provincial town in south Vermont, Sam Amidon grew up in a family of traditional folk musicians who have made a life out of performing a wide range of music from the American folklore and teaching old New England stories and songs. Having left his native state and moved to New York, Sam took his musical roots with him, performing old songs, bringing them up to date by creating modern acoustic arrangements. He eventually released his first album, But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted, in 2007. After joining the ranks of the ever excellent Bedroom Community, Sam recorded All Is Well, his second album, with a number of Icelandic musicians, including Valgeir Sigurðsson. The album also saw contributions from Bedroom Community regulars Ben Frost and Nico Muhly, while Sam’s younger brother Stefan played drums on a couple of tracks. Since, Sam has contributed to his fellow label mates’ releases, especially Nico Muhly’s Mothertongue album, for which he provided vocals and played banjo and guitar on The Only Tune, a piece adapted from a disturbing folk song about two sisters that Muhly’s parents used to sing to him as a child.  Continue Reading »

SLACKER
Start A New Life
GAEA014
GodLike & Electric 2010
11 Tracks. 51mins49secs

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

We’ve now reached the point that should make anyone over the age of twenty one feel old – the nineties are being cannibalized for nostalgic purposes. Tape labels, Orbital and Pavement reuniting; these a but a few of the signs that that decade is are ancient history now, enough to be retro, and cherished as a memory of how good things were way back when.

Clearly, Shem McCauley is one such person. The story behind his comeback album under the Slacker moniker, Start A New Life, even reads like something from the nineties: tired of his shallow surroundings as a successful progressive house DJ (also producing as Head Honcho, and as part of the Ramp project with Simon Rogers), it was time for a soul-cleansing move to Thailand, where McCauley still resides and (no joke) teaches yoga. Continue Reading »

ROTHKAMM
Alt
KARU15
Baskaru 2009
10 Tracks. 39mins35secs

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

Despite a body of work that spans over twenty solo releases, spread over twenty five years, German-born musician and conceptual artist Frank Rothkamm has remained a fairly enigmatic figure for most. Beside his own music, Rothkamm, who currently lives in Los Angeles, has provided music and sound design for big international corporations (Levi Strauss, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Ford, Warner Bros…), and has worked with a wide range of artists, including the likes of Lesa Carlson, Wolfgang Muthspiel or DJ Spooky.

Released on the excellent Baskaru, ALT sequences ten fairly minimal pieces, all named using seemingly random collections of three letters, some ordered in familiar patterns (SUN, RED, LOW, CON, GUI) others in more mysterious strings (AAA, RND, OOO, DEC). The music appears to focus on the introspective experimentations of granular electronic sounds and tones, often taking the appearance of slow evolutive drones and textures, which are not without evoking some of Tangerine Dream’s early experiments. Continue Reading »

CLUSTER
Qua
KLANGBAD045CD
Klangbad 2010
17 Tracks. 54mins40secs

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

Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius need no introduction, so strong and defining has the pair’s mark been on the Krautrock and Kosmische scene, either as Cluster, Harmonia or through their respective solo projects and collaborations. While their core body of work dates back to the seventies, with a string of seminal albums, including recordings with Brian Eno, they have regularly recorded and toured as Cluster through the eighties and nineties, and continued to experiment with electronic sounds to this day.

Originally published in the US last year, and finally seeing a European release, Qua is the first Cluster album of entirely new material since One Hour, back in 1995, and appears to coincide with a resurgence of interest in the Krautrock/Kosmische scene of the seventies, which has been marked by a number of TV documentaries, books and articles on both movements, notably a comprehensive Primer in the Wire at the end of last year. Continue Reading »

JOANNA NEWSOM
Have One On Me
DC390
Drag City 2010
18 Tracks. 124mins01secs

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

Joanna Newsom could only follow the sheer brilliance of the majestic Ys, released three and a half ago already, by rising up to a challenge of a different kind. Have One On Me is a daunting affair by any standards. Eighteen songs spread over three discs and two hours, this is epic in every possible way, but there is here very little left of the expensive orchestrations devised by Van Dyke Parks. Instead, Ys Street Band leader Ryan Francesconi brings Newsom’s songs to life in much more subtle ways, drafting in banjos, acoustic and electric guitars, Bulgarian tambura, kaval, mandolin, Hammond organ, strings, brass and woodwinds, while Newsom alternates between the harp and the piano, her style as assertive with the latter as it is light and sharp with the former.

The songs, while still often developing over several minutes, are in general more contained, but there is no such a thing as traditional song forms in Miss Newsom’s work. Continue Reading »