Bureau B I think the first thing that should be mentioned about this record is the press release. Breaking all form and convention, it’s readable, witty, descriptive and — get this — actually tells you some information about the record.
Album review
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File 13 I must confess The Poison Arrows are a new one on me, but a great discovery because they ply the kind of slinky bass-heavy American post-hardcore that the likes of Girls vs Boys (GVSB) and The Jesus Lizard put out years ago.
Dais “This is what it’s like.” A softly whispered, wraith-like voice appears during one of the tracks and it’s an exemplar: this is one (relatively) short descent into a steaming woodland of madness. There’s great chasms opening up all over the land and we’re listening to ourselves being swallowed.
Paradigm Discs These recordings make up part of the Kymatik archive and were recorded nearly 20 years ago, yet are timeless and unfold at our leisure.
Adaadat White was the pairing of percussionist Shenggy Shen and guitarist and singer Zhang Shouwang, and this, their first album, was originally released in 2007. Now Adadaat have given White its first outing on vinyl, and it not only sounds but looks good ten years later, the striking cover image by Marcin Cybulski adding a Dada feel to the album.
Constellation This is Do Make Say Think‘s seventh album for Constellation since their inception twenty years ago and the first in eight years and it is a glorious, Technicolor addition to their already wonderful pantheon. For me, no other band sounds like DMST
BMG When Nick Cave experienced the tragedy above all tragedies as a parent in 2015, it would be no surprise that all artistic output would be set on hold. This compilation was in the process of being finished, but was yielded maybe because the need of finishing Skeleton Tree that came out last year.
Thoofa If this was a knitting pattern it would be full of lopsided colour, tangled dimensions and probably more armholes than really necessary. This second helping from Prescott has been well worth the wait. The musicianship is blinding, each track built up on little stabbing motifs playing footsie with Commodore computer tape loadings
Sub Rosa It’s becoming a little unpopular, and there seems a tiresome insistence creeping in that music should stand for itself (I completely disagree), but I love electronic music that’s about something; I love a history and a context. The words surrounding a release are as important to me as the music within. Almost.
Optic Nerve There seems to have been a lot of bands returning to action over the last few years, but surely one of the most welcome must be The Wolfhounds.
MIG Music Klaus Schulze is one of the pioneers of electronic music; his expansive cosmic music from the 1970s changed the face of modern popular music, and along with Tangerine Dream, it gave the world the Berlin School sound.
Gizeh Less is more, so they say. But as facile as that gnomic wisdom is to state, successfully — satisfyingly — putting it into practice, musically or otherwise, can be another thing altogether. This is what the pairing of Aidan Baker and Karen Willems achieves here.
Fourth Dimension Some of the best things come about from unplanned events: Lisa Jayne and drummer Andy Pyne (from Kellar, Medicine and Duty and more) first manifested as an impromptu performance at Supernormal in 2013 and this is their latest cassette together as Map 71
Rocket Girl Originally released as a 7″, a 12″ and an LP, these tracks were then compiled as a CD back in 1992 and have since been out of print for a long long time. Is this a 25-year anniversary re-issue? If so, it is one of the most worthwhile that I have seen in an age.
Nakama Agnes Hvizdalek‘s solo début Index is a 47-minute piece that explores the sonic possibilities of the human voice, recorded at the bottom of a 60 metre-high chimney in the ancient factory of Casa das Caldeiras in the heart of São Paulo, made during her residency there in 2016.
Young God (Americas) / Mute (Europe) With the latest phase of Michael Gira‘s Swans project drawing to a close, the bundled and remastered edition of The Great Annihilator and Gira’s solo album Drainland could hardly have come at a better time for new converts who are interested in learning about the band’s history.
Self-released There’s a handful of genres that, arguably, benefit most from never actually changing. Hardcore (punk), for instance, hasn’t had an idea since the ’80s. Gabber was perfect from the get to. Black Metal operates in some weird space in my head where I sort of assume it hasn’t changed since, like Xasthur or whatever…
Marionette Inaugurating the Little Mary series of collaborative vinyl releases on Marionette, Acosta is a split LP featuring label veteran Benjamin Kilchhofer on one side and Hainbach on the obverse.