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CLARK: Totems Flare (Warp Records)

themilkman on Jun 29th 2009 12:53 am

Clark: Tottems Flare

CLARK
Totems Flare
WARP185
Warp Records 2009
11 Tracks. 44mins53secs

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It is almost hard to believe that Clark only released his first album eight years ago so much has he become, in that time, one of the strongest, most consistent and emblematic artists on Warp, to the point of challenging the might of heavy weights like Aphex Twin or Squarepusher. His constant deliveries, started with Clarence Park, have since considerably grown in confidence and vision, and his unashamed use of heavily electronic sounds, at a time when others seemed to move away from those, has made him one of the finest purveyors of the genre.

With Totems Flare, Clark’s follow up to last year’s Turning Dragon and his fifth full length, he continues to create strong and gritty electronic music, and he wastes no time showing off his latest dirty grooves with album opener Outside Plume and Growls Garden, the leading track to his recent EP. Continue Reading »

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PREFUSE 73: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp Records)

themilkman on Mar 26th 2009 01:40 am

Prefuse 73: Everything She Touches Turned Ampexian

PREFUSE 73
Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian
WARP179
Warp Records 2009
29 Tracks. 48mins24secs

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In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift towards a generally softer and more polished sound in the work of Guillermo Scott Herren, characterised first via his Savath & Savalas project which, following the pastoral ambiences of his debut, Folk Songs For Trains, Trees And Honey (Hefty, 2000), adopted a resolutely sunnier disposition with Apropa’t (Warp, 2004), before drifting into torrid torpor with Golden Pollen (Anti, 2007). Other projects didn’t appear as affected, least of all, for a while at least, Prefuse 73, Herren’s flagship project, which continued to challenge conceptions through his take on abstract hip-hop, but his last release, Preparations, published in 2007, showed some clear signs that the man was indeed mellowing Continue Reading »

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CLARK: Growls Garden (Warp Records)

themilkman on Mar 3rd 2009 09:28 pm

Clark: Growls Garden

CLARK
Growls Garden
WAP272
Warp Records 2009
06 Tracks. 25mins18secs
Format: 12″/CD/Digital

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Warp’s enfant terrible returns with another devastating slice of dirty gritty electronic music. Follow up to last year’s Turning Dragon, his most upbeat record to date, Growls Garden ups the ante once again as Clark launches another digital assault on the dance floor. Counting six tracks and clocking just over the twenty five minute mark, this EP is perhaps Clark’s most eclectic release since Clarence Park, as he revisits the dark hues of Empty The Bones Of You or Body Riddle (Growls Garden, Distant Father Torch), and, as he did with Turning Dragon, cuts some fine body-jerking grooves and harsh beats (Seaweed, Gonk Roughage). Continue Reading »

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HARMONIC 313: When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (Warp Records)

themilkman on Feb 12th 2009 01:12 am

Harmonic 313: When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence

HARMONIC 313
When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
WARP175
Warp Records 2009
15 Tracks. 57mins58secs

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“Music is now a thing of the past”. With this small detail settled, on Music Substitute System, one could just turn the page and think of other things. The past is, after all, quite important in the case of Mark Pritchard, and is certainly substantial enough to satisfy without the need of adding any new sections to it. That’s where he was in turn Global Communication, Chameleon, Reload or Jedi Knights with Tom Middleton; Link or Troubleman alone, and was involved in truck-loads of other collaborative efforts, scattered on too many labels to care to mention.

His latest project, Harmonic 313, is an offshoot of Harmonic 33, the vessel he created with Dave Brinkworth at the end of the nineties. Continue Reading »

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MIRA CALIX: The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions (Warp Records)

themilkman on Nov 29th 2008 01:43 am

Mira Calix: The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions

MIRA CALIX
The Elephant In The Room: 3 Commissions
WARP169CD
Warp Records 2008
09 Tracks. 56mins46secs

Four years after the first 3 Commissions EP, which collected a handful of site-specific performances recorded at London’s Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Centre, and a piece created for the Museum D’Histoire Naturelle de Geneva in Switzerland, Mira Calix returns to Warp with excerpts of two operas, Elephant & Castle and Dead Wedding, for which Chantal Passamonte was commissioned the music, and two movements of a twenty minutes video installation entitled Memoryofamoment.

For some time, Passamonte’s work has developed from her original overall electronic compositions, based on miniature found sounds collected in the English countryside around her home to incorporate more orchestral forms. Continue Reading »

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SQUAREPUSHER: Just A Souvenir (Warp Records)

themilkman on Oct 28th 2008 01:15 am

Squarepusher: Just A Souvenir

SQUAREPUSHER
Just A Souvenir
WARPCD161
Warp Records 2008
14 Tracks. 44mins24secs

The godfather of drill’n’bass is back once more, with his twelfth album, Just A Souvenir. Since he first appeared, in the mid nineties, with a series of EPs for Spymania, amongst others, and his debut album, Feed Me Weird Things, released on Richard D. James’s Rephlex, Tom Jenkinson has continuously remained close to his manic junglistic roots while exploring a variety of sonic spaces, at times digging toward funkier or more rave-infused sources, and at others sticking to jazzier and more improvised forms. His last album however, Hello Everything, published over two years ago, denoted quite a change of tone, with the melody becoming much more of a fundamental element of the compositions.

Just A Souvenir is said to have been inspired by a dream Jenkinson had earlier this year about a rock band playing an ‘ultra-gig’, whatever that is. The album was then recorded in just two weeks, and sees Jenkinson injecting a big dollop of psychedelic rock and eighties electro into his usual jazz-infused electronica. Continue Reading »

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NIGHTMARES ON WAX: Thought So (Warp Records)

themilkman on Aug 14th 2008 11:40 pm

Nightmares On Wax: Thought So...

NIGHTMARES ON WAX
Thought So…
WARP159CD/WARP159LP
Warp Records 2008
11 Tracks. 53mins23secs

Nightmares On Wax’s George Evelyn is one of the original Warp artists. While his first releases, centred around the1991 A Word Of Science album, shared with the rest of the label’s early roster a taste for bleepy electronica, albeit tainted with occasional smokey grooves, his consequent work demonstrated a much smoother and soulful approach. With the seminal Smokers Delight (1995) and Carboot Soul (1999) Evelyn, now sole master on board the NoW ship following the departure of Kevin Harper, combined hazy hip-hop grooves and funky soul melodies into effective laidback compositions which seemed to feel most at ease deep into the night.

Nearly twenty years on from the first NoW twelve inch, Evelyn returns with his sixth album, Thought So… Continue Reading »

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FLYING LOTUS: L.A. EP 1×3 (Warp Records)

themilkman on Jul 7th 2008 11:21 pm

Flying Lotus: L.A. EP 1x3

FLYING LOTUS
L.A EP 1×3
WAP247
Warp Records 2008
06 Tracks. 14mins25secs
Format: 12″/Digital

Flying Lotus follows the release of his excellent second album, Los Angeles, a few weeks ago with a series of three limited EPs, each released at just 2,000 copies on 12″. First to materialise is L.A. EP 1×3, which features Sleepy Dinosaur and Robert Flack, taken from Los Angeles, and four brand new tracks.

Kicking off the EP, the glitchy and short Sleepy Dinosaur is quickly followed by the even shorter (just over one minute forty) Rickshaw which despite its rather compact form manages to dispense quite a devastating groove, only lightened up by light oriental flavours. Continue Reading »

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LEILA: Blood, Looms & Blooms (Warp Records)

themilkman on Jul 3rd 2008 12:39 am

Leila: Blood, Looms & Bloom

LEILA
Blood, Looms & Blooms
WARP167
CD
Warp Records 2008
14 Tracks. 54mins56secs

Leila Arab first appeared on Richard D. James’s Rephlex just over ten years ago with a handful of EPs and a stunning debut album, Like Weather, which gathered considerable praises from the press and got the Londoner’s quirky blend of electronica and pop noticed for all the right reasons. Firmly in charge of assembling little gems drenched in bleeps and glitch, with just a little hand from lord Aphex on post production, Leila brought on board a host of contributors to assume vocal duties, including sister Roya and long term friend Luca Santucci. After moving to XL Recordings, Leila and her crew reconvened for her sophomore missive, Courtesy Of Choice, released in 2000. Continue Reading »

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FLYING LOTUS: Los Angeles (Warp Records)

themilkman on Jun 16th 2008 12:38 am

Flying Lotus: Los Angeles

FLYING LOTUS
Los Angeles
WARPCD165
Warp Records 2008
17 Tracks. 43mins17secs

Flying Lotus’s family credentials could hardly be more legendary. Grand son of Marilyn Mcleod, who penned songs for Diana Ross, The Four Tops and countless other Motown legends, and great nephew of jazz legend Alice Coltrane and cousin of Ravi Coltrane, Steven Ellison has quite a lot to live up to. With his first offering, 1983, released two years ago on Californian imprint Plug Research, Ellison set the foundation for his classic blend of hip-hop infused electronica and established Flying Lotus alongside the likes of Dntel, Madlib or Daedelus. Having consequently moved to London’s Warp Records, Flying Lotus delivered the rather impressive Reset EP last year, and is now bringing out his second album.

Dedicated to the city in which he grew up, Los Angeles is a largely instrumental collection, with only a handful of tracks featuring vocal contributors. Continue Reading »

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INTERVIEW: JAMIE LIDELL Amen

David Abravanel on Jun 3rd 2008 11:44 pm

Interview: Jamie Lidell

Whether the focus is on his divine set of Motown-esque pipes, his instrumental arrangements evoking classic soul, or his thoroughly modern electronic production prowess, there’s no denying that Jamie Lidell is a man of many talents. Coming off the heels of his frenetic breakthrough Multiply, JIM, Lidell’s latest, is set to catapult him even further into the spotlight. Here, Lidell takes a break from touring to speak to David Abravanel about his new band, medical-utensil swag, how Rick Astley has influenced him, and why Cristian Vogel’s name should never be spelled with an “h”, all with his biting wit and charisma in tow. Continue Reading »

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JAMIE LIDELL: Jim (Warp Records)

David Abravanel on Apr 29th 2008 11:12 pm

Jamie Lidell: Jim

JAMIE LIDELL
Jim
WARP 160
Warp Records 2008
10 Tracks. 37mins52secs

The past few years have seen the summer blockbuster season start earlier and earlier. June is no longer the start of summer; as far as movie producers are concerned, mid-April isn’t too early to start rolling out the action-adventures and goofy comedies. If there’s a musical equivalent of this seasonal jumping the gun to be found in the music world, it’s Jamie Lidell’s latest offering, Jim, overflowing with ecstasy and optimism more befitting of a gorgeous summer day than rainy spring.

Jim is an album about rebirth, redefinition, and happier new dawns ahead. On Out Of My System, Lidell visits the doctor, only to be told that, “I am not a machine”. Might this be a sly dismissal of the glitchy processing to be found on his previous material, both as himself and as part of Super_Collider with Christian Vogel? Continue Reading »

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