Sub Rosa A celebration of Mr Burroughs’ Western Lands, for the The Acid Lands, the Prague-based Opening Performance Orchestra spike the punch with their choice of narrator, and I’ve got to say the choice is a solid one. Iggy Pop’s husky bloom coherently curls into Burroughs’ talismanic trails, romances the roll of those words with a lived-in authenticity (and a touch of roomy reverb).
Album review
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Discus It is impressive what Hervé Perez has managed to accomplish on this latest album. With great assistance from Alex Hegyesi, they play an astonishing number of instruments, some of which (psaltery, kokiroko, caval) I have no idea what they are. What they have managed though is to totally encapsulate the idea of a Garden Of Secrets by producing a series of themes that are accessible yet mysterious, […]
Geo Graham Dowdall has been operating under the Gagarin moniker for twenty-five years now and yet each release manages to bring something fresh to the electronica table. The Great North Wood has an impressive if slightly disturbing photograph of a forest on the cover; the sort of forest in which it would be easy to lose yourself, and that sense of the familiar as unknown encapsulates some of […]
Upset The Rhythm The opener from the latest Green Child album Shimmering Basset moves like a dream; the drunken, weaving synths and Raven Mahon‘s light, airy vocals are captivating. It is all synthy heaven and stuns of spectral guitar, as if the duo caught sight of an ’80s synth band through a fun house mirror and added some post-modern vibe to it.
Opal Compilations can be rather odd releases, especially ones that cover a large period of time. Normally tracks jar against each other as the artist refines their music and even change styles. This is not the case with Film Music 1976-2020, where Brian Eno’s work seamlessly melds together to give the album the feel that you are listening to a cohesive piece of work especially composed for this […]
Architects of Harmonic Rooms & Records Although Steffen Junghans has appended Basho to his last name out of a sign of respect for the legendary guitarist, it does not in any way detract from the unique direction of his own work. His latest album, the first in quite some time, is a delightful foray into the kind of impressionist guitar landscapes that his work is always hinting at, […]
Young God / Mute “New Mind” was the soundtrack to a teenage holiday in Cornwall with a couple of mates. It was that kind of holiday: evil cows, bad beer, psychotic karaoke singers (the best-worst version of “Bohemian Rhapsody”), amyl nitrate dreams. One of the people on the trip also writes for this site. He’s not been the same since. “New Mind” is the opening track on Children Of God […]
Aagoo Nicholas Merz plies the same kind of widescreen, literate music for adventurers that shares some similarities with the likes of The Triffids and The Go-Betweens; a deep, resonant voice, seemingly full of wisdom, backed by a thoughtful band that frames the lyrics and leaves space for the listener’s imagination.
Virgin After 2019’s monumental In Search Of Hades boxed set covering Tangerine Dream’s ’70s output, it’s fantastic that Virgin decided to finish the story by releasing the bands ’80s records on the label. This period is sometimes seen as a regroup and reform period for the band. During the 1970s, their popularity had grown so much that they could put on large stage shows using lasers (actually the […]
Thrill Jockey Conceptual pranksters Matmos invited ninety-nine musical souls to do what thou wilt, with the blank canvas of the cover of the resulting The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises In Group Form an inkling of the freedom involved. Complete freedom? Well, not quite – the Matmos boys introduces a tiny condition in there to spice things up — any rhythmic rumpus created needed to bend to a 99 […]
Ankst In my head, Datblygu are putting out records at a rate of knots, but it’s been five years since Porwr Trallod, so what do I know. Time gets slower over forty-odd years, maybe. For the uninitiated, Datblygu are something of a legend in Welsh-language music, and not enough of a legend in British music. By a lot of estimations they’re something like the originators of singing in […]
Thrill Jockey There is always an air of mystery surrounding the releases of Marc Richter‘s Black To Comm, and his latest album opens with the most disorientating stumble through memoirs and memories, faded and distressed. His ability to lead the listener gently around the ravages of a stricken mind is never greater than on Ooctye Oil and Stolen Androgens.
One Little Independent Henrik Lindstand‘s latest album centres entirely around the sweet tonality of his piano playing. There is a remoteness and a kind of solitude on Nordhem that is reflected in the kind of videos he chooses to release for each piece.
Warp I get this as a single stream, which might be protective or perhaps artistically purposeful. If this is intended as a single stream assault on the history of Oneohtrix Point Never, then it’s a jagged, mischievous stream, characterised by one-stop assaults, Windows loading sounds, disrupted sweeps and strings.
On-U Sound / Evergreen Recordings Denise Sherwood, daughter on On-U hero Adrian, has been simmering the tracks that appear on her debut album for the last seventeen years. Unsurprisingly, considering her pedigree and the family history, there are appearances here from the likes of Mark Stewart, members of Tackhead, as well as Filip Tavares; but thankfully, it never takes on the kind of overwhelming power of Tackhead. Instead, […]
We Are Busy Bodies Library Voices member and sound artist Michael Scott Dawson has turned an unexpected bout of vertigo into the impetus for this series of stunningly minimalist vignettes that use generative synth tones to form slow moving cascades of ambient sound.
KrysaliSound Paweł Pruski is a Polish ambient artist interested in the search for what lies between words, between moments and how to capture those elusive spaces in some sort of sound form. Over thirty-five minutes and six pieces on Between, various atmospheres are evoked, but each one feels as though the basis is a long, flat landscape, with hazy blue skies and the roll of purplish clouds far […]
Sulatron Freak Valley is always one of those festivals that I’ve wanted to attend, but have never had the opportunity to do so. If I had gone, I would have most certainly chosen one of the two years that Electric Moon played there as I would be guaranteed one trip out into the cosmos. Here we have their live set from the 2019 festival, and what an awe-inspiring […]