Thrill Jockey This is the disco of slurs, of slurry, of slurrrs. Everything seems wasted, in the sense of my favourite Donna Summer track (yep, “Wasted”). Even the hi-hats sound shattered, like you’ve found yourself at Shoom sometime around 1987, the real turn of the century; still dancing but full […]
Monthly archives: September 2022
14 posts
Thrill Jockey The recent collaboration I Get Along Without You Very Well between Ellen Arkbro and Johan Graden is something of a misnomer, as this selection of slow and dreamy minimalist masterpieces brings the strongest elements out of two vibrant and eclectic performers. The secret to the success of this […]
Thrill Jockey It has been lovely watching Glenn Jones‘s career and its slow evolution via his experimental work with Cul de Sac to his current solo direction which hints at the likes of John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Somehow Glenn injects a more modern sensibility, a willingness to introduce factors to […]
Greyfade Typically a good way to start these things is to have a rough idea of genre, but this is … not forthcoming. Possibly drone, possibly sound-art, possibly conceptual composition … the blurb has it that Greg Davis‘s New Primes “uses prime number sets to explore an integrated harmonic, rhythmic, […]
Hubro For his first solo album in nine years, Erlend Apneseth has chosen to go back to basics, taking his love of the Hardanger fiddle, Norway’s 350-year-old national instrument, and produce a rather personal journey, scouting the wilds of his native land and depicting its solitude and wild beauty in […]
UMC / Polydor Greatest hits albums don’t count. Everyone knows that. If someone tells you their favourite album is anyone’s Greatest hits, they’re not a serious person. They’re a “whatever’s on the radio” person. They’re a “this is good at dinner parties” person. EVERYONE knows that. Except when . The […]
Sub Pop Over the last thirty years and ten or so albums, Built To Spill has been a revolving cast of characters, alumni of the independent music scene, and bold and adventurous musicians. Through it all though has been singer / guitarist and principle songwriter Doug Martsch, who has commanded […]
Third Man (US) / White Rabbit (UK) Something that’s always useful, before going into a book, is to have some agency which is managing your expectations. Perhaps ultimately that’s why we have reviewers, like me, to hold your hand through a thing. We do the tutting so YOU, dear reader, don’t […]
Odin The latest release from the fourteen-piece OJKOS is an absolute joy, with its agility and pace really belying the group’s number. It is beautifully summery with a tropical beat to opener “Safari Sundowner” that allows flute, glock and horns to shift and turn at will. It seems a far […]
Century Media Electric Callboy are in many ways the very acme of a contemporary metal band; or maybe to put it another way, they have become that very acme. Their first decade was not perhaps as distinctive as their current incarnation, which may have something to do with the arrival […]
Intravenal Sound Operations Gargoyles are odd little things; like a lot of Christian ephemera they’re reminders of the impure relationship between the faithful and the spirit realm. In Catholicism, the church is a woman to whom the priest is married, hence their continued spurious and damaging homophobia within that institution. […]
(self-released) Produced for sale at UnicaZürn’s incredible IKLECTIK performance earlier this year, this thirty-minute CD-R features three live improvisations that are totally in the zone without edits nor overdubs. The slow and deliberate churn of track one, “Ancident”, sets the scene, its scattering fractals spaciously , an Arabian flavour that […]
Discus It is incredible how many albums sax player Paul Dunmall has been involved with over the years with his own name groups running from quartet to octet. Here we have the second outing for his quintet, but essentially it is the sextet without trumpeter Percy Pursglove, so the comfort […]
Label Kim Myhr is such an avid collaborator, releasing an album a year since the dawn of time, that when something comes out under his own name, it is definitely time to sit up and take notice. Recruiting some fellow travellers and long-time recording artists like Hans Hulbækmo and Ingar Zach […]