BENOIT HONORE PIOULARD
Plays Thelma
PATHWAY003
Desire Path Recordings 2011
06 Tracks. 22mins54secs

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The universe created by Benoît Pioulard for his three albums, published on Kranky between 2006 and 2010, exists somewhere between dreams and reality. An elaborate sonic concoction which relies partly on hazy electronic soundscapes and field recordings, and partly on dreamy folk songs, his records have increasingly become poetic songbooks built around beautiful pastoral themes.

A former press officer for Ghostly International, Thomas Meluch adopted his French sounding alias for his musical ventures in the early 2000s, which first began to take shape with Enge, a single released on Moodgadget in 2005 Continue Reading »

KYLE BOBBY DUNN
Ways Of Meaning
PATHWAY002
Desire Path Recordings 2011
06 Tracks. 40mins28secs

The folllow up to the rather excellent A Young Person’s Guide To Kyle Bobby Dunn (Low Point) and contribution to Standard Form’s Rural Route series, Ways Of Meaning sees Brooklyn-based Canadian sound artist Kyle Bobby Dunn return to the reflective drone-based work for which he has been gaining praises across the board. For the occasion, he has stripped down his palette to very little more than guitar and organ, processing them into vast fluid soundscapes.

The second release on burgeoning vinyl-only imprint Desire Path, Ways Of Meaning is quite a pastoral effort, built around long progressive themes for which Dunn arranges his reduced sound sources into celestial drapes which appear to float effortlessly, defying gravity with elegant swirls and drones. Continue Reading »

SOLO ANDATA
Ritual
PATHWAY001
Desire Path Recordings 2010
04 Tracks. 39mins34secs

Norman Records: LP

This inaugural release from Desire Path Recordings sees Australian duo Solo Andata delivering, with their third opus, one of the most striking records heard this year. On their debut, Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006), Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin combined beautiful textural soundscapes and acoustic instrumentations, but on their self-titled follow-up, published last year on 12K, the melodic aspect was partially withdrawn in favour of stark and dense formations. With Ritual, the pair continue to develop the textural aspect of their work to create impressively spacious and evocative sonic vignettes.

Comprising four tracks, the longest one spanning a healthy twenty minutes, Ritual is a record all in shades and delicate touches, evoking at times the finely detailed sound formations of Substrata-era Biosphere or the sombre undertones of Miasmah. Continue Reading »