Archive for June, 2010

NEAR THE PARENTHESIS: Music For The Forest Concourse (n5MD)

themilkman on Jun 7th 2010 12:42 am

Near The Parenthesis: Music For The Forest Concourse

NEAR THE PARENTHESIS
Music For The Forest Concourse
CATMD176
n5MD 2010
12 Tracks. 61mins49secs

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

Surfing the wave of lush cinematic electronic music, Near The Parenthesis’s Tim Arndt has, in the space of three records, refined a very personal style, which often relies heavily on sumptuous soundscapes and sweeping melodies. With his latest effort, Music For The Forest Concourse, released on n5MD, the San Francisco-based producer and musician has taken this to a very different level, as he adds elegant piano sections to this exquisitely layered compositions to greatly accentuate the evocative power of his music.

While his work as Near The Parenthesis has always been primarily electronic-based, Arndt has, over the years, played guitar and piano in several bands, and has occasionally incorporated some of these in his solo work. Continue Reading »

Filed in Albums | Comments Off

SONNAMBLE: Seven Months In E Minor (Forwind)

themilkman on Jun 4th 2010 01:14 am

Sonnamble: Seven Months In E Minor

SONNAMBLE
Seven Months In E Minor
FWD01
Forwind 2010
07 Tracks. 43mins30secs

Amazon UK: DLD US: DLD Boomkat: DLD Norman Records: CD iTunes: DLD

Sonnamble is originally the project of London-based software designer and musician Conor Curran, who, after completing his music studies at Trinity College Dublin, has been involved with a number of projects, including his solo work as CjC. With Sonnamble, Curran aims at exploring the possibilities of live digital processing in improvised music. For this debut release, Curran teamed up with bass and guitar player Peter Marsh. The pair spent the best part of a year developing an approach that allowed them to process their respective instruments and incorporate the resulting sounds into substantial music compositions.

Sonnamble weave intense granular textural soundscapes, processed live from heavily treated electric and lap steel guitars, double bass, electric bass and analogue synthesizers, into beautiful introspective sparse pieces which all share a particularly abstract aesthetic. Continue Reading »

Filed in Albums | Comments (1)

SPLINT!: Intelligent Design (FRM Records)

themilkman on Jun 3rd 2010 01:30 am

Splint!: Intelligent Design

SPLINT!
Intelligent Design
FMRCD276-0909
FMR Records 2010
09 Tracks. 48mins30secs

Three years on from their very impressive debut album, Moro, published on the excellent Lampse, an imprint which has unfortunately been dormant for over three years now, Scandinavian experimental jazz quartet Splint! return with their second opus, Intelligent Design, released on UK-based label FMR. Splint! originally took shape in 2004 when Swedish bassist and keyboard player Johannes Lundberg gathered some of the finest talents in contemporary Scandinavian jazz, including fellow Swedish drummer and percussionist Jon Fält, trumpeter Gunnar Halle and guitarist Nils-Olav Johansen, both from neighbouring Norway.

Like many of their contemporaries, Splint!’s main terrain of operation is improvisation. They work predominantly with acoustic instruments, which are then processed and augmented with electronics to create a widely contrasted set of tracks. Continue Reading »

Filed in Albums | Comments Off

MAINS DE GIVRE: Esther Marie (Textura)

themilkman on Jun 2nd 2010 01:20 am

Mains De Givre: Esther Marie

MAINS DE GIVRE
Esther Marie
TEXTURA002
Textura 2010
04 Tracks. 46mins28secs

Amazon US: CD

The project of Montreal-based violinist Emilie Livernois-Desroches and experimental guitarist Eric Quach, Mains De Givre is the first signing of the label set up by Canadian magazine Textura. Both already respected musicians in their own right, Quach for his ambient work as thisquietarmy and with instrumental rock band Destroyalldreamers amongst others, classically trained violinist Livernois-Desroches for projects spanning a wide range of genres, from metal to folk, the pair met over seven years ago while playing in two different bands, but only began working together a year ago. The result, Esther Marie, is a stunning collection of deeply atmospheric and dark experimental compositions. Continue Reading »

Filed in Albums | Comments (2)

Jóhann Jóhannsson/Greg Haines/Nils Frahm, St Giles In The Fields, London, 27/05/2010

themilkman on Jun 1st 2010 12:32 am

Jóhann Jóhannsson/Greg Haines/Nils Frahm, St Giles In The Fields, London, 27/05/2010

Haven of calm and tranquillity right in the pumping heart of London, a stone throw from the chaos of on of the major Cross Rail construction sites, St Giles In The Fields paid host to three of today’s modern classical musicians and composers. Headlining the evening was Jóhann Jóhannsson, now something of a veteran of the genre, and the most established of the three, with Berlin-based British composer Greg Haines and German new comer Nils Frahm each bringing their own blend of the genre to the event.

Nils Frahm’s solo piano set offered a partial reading of his recent album The Bells, with compositions extended or altered to fit the mood. Continue Reading »

Filed in Live | Comments Off

« Prev