three:four Swiss musician Manuel Troller has tried to shy away from performing solo, generally acting as collaborator with a wide variety of more esoteric artists, including Julian Sartorius and Merz. Having been asked three years ago to support Marc Ribot at a jazz club in Bern, circumstances have found him more open to the thought of his own album, and here finally are the fruits of his experiments.
Mr Olivetti
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Adaadat When I received this latest cassette from Adaadat, I was taken right back to my childhood and the story cassettes that used to come from Marshall Cavendish. You could buy them from the newsagents, and there would be a book and cassette combo that could keep an easily amused child quiet for ages. The duo Story Teller, made up of writer and broadcaster Bruce McClure and sound […]
Constellation Stepping out from the shadows of A Silver Mt Zion must be quite an undertaking, but Jessica Moss has chosen this opportunity to release her third album and see what she can offer under her own steam. The violin is her main instrument and, along with voice and drones, she has constructed some elliptical sound worlds from these basic ingredients that are far greater as a whole […]
Thrill Jockey Koen Holtkamp has been pretty busy over the last ten or twelve years, primarily with his label Apestaartje, but also releasing music under his own name, solos and collaboratively, as well as all the albums that the lovely Thrill Jockey-signed Mountains released.
Too Pure / Beggars Arkive When Stereolab arrived on the scene in the early nineties, plying their trade on limited, lovingly packaged, vinyl releases, they also brought with them a new aesthetic for those times.
Upset The Rhythm For Rattle‘s second album through the good people at Upset The Rhythm, they have chosen to use the long player as an opportunity to stretch their drum and vocal experiments over durations that allow the tracks to fully insinuate with their gradually unfurling structures. It is as if they took the ideas exhibited on their self-titled four track seven-inch EP
Bureau B For Qluster‘s seventh outing since the restart in 2007, the duo of HJ Roedelius and Onnen Bock has expanded to a trio with the addition of Armin Metz, and has taken what for them could be seen as a radical change in strategy. For Elemente, each of the eight tracks has been constructed using all-analogue equipment, a list of which is included on the back cover. Arps […]
Compunctio The recent collaboration between vocalist Andreas Eklof and electronic artist David Ahlen has resulted in the 1921 album In My Veins, a thing of rare delicacy that inhabits a hushed, candle-lit space set-back from the rigours of the world.
Dio Drone / Cheap Satanism Imagine walking home alone through some deserted, industrial area. A distant drone makes you aware of some presence, but nothing tangible. You think you are alone — but really, are you?
Freaksville Since 2005, Benjamin Schoos and his label of esoteric pop-loving misfits, Freaksville, have been doing their best to keep the Belgian / French language pop scene awash with an alternative to the usual radio fodder. As a solo artiste, Benjamin has released six or seven albums which veer all over the slightly kitsch shop.
Thrill Jockey The dynamic trio Upper Wilds, who comprise members of Parts & Labor and Ex-models, amongst others, are using the thrill of intense guitar riffage to explore the outer limits of our recognisable universe and report back
Drag City Cave must have one of the most unsuitable names in rock history. Not having heard them before, I was expecting some sort of dark metal sort of act, full of foreboding — so I was more than happy to uncover the sunny, funk-inflected psychedelic mantras contained within this latest album. The band have expanded to a five-piece since 2013’s Threace, but who plays what is a […]
Glacial Movements Patrick Bernatchez‘s film Lost In Time was originally produced a good seven or eight years ago and the soundtrack that Murcof produced for this double narrative take of life and death was originally released on vinyl back in 2014. The good people at Glacial Movements have chosen to re-issue it on CD
Figureeight Since Gyða Valtýsdóttir‘s exit from Icelandic collective Múm, she has spent her time back at the conservatoire, studying the cello and attaining qualifications both in the classical style and also in free improvisation. Since then, after journeying with artists as diverse as Damian Rice, the Kronos Quartet and Jonsi; and releasing 2016’s Epicycle, in which she re-configured classical pieces plus some of a more esoteric nature into her own […]
Transgredient Troum have been illuminating the drone landscape for over two decades now, so to celebrate their twentieth anniversary, they decided to issue a lush two-disc set where they invited friends, family and interested parties to tackle their favourite selections from the Troum catalogue.
Nicey Music Once again, that pseudonym of modern psychedelia and bedroom recording, Robert Sotelo is on the loose, this time firing out a missive courtesy of the good people at Nicey Music. This current cassette only release finds our enigmatic songwriter testing himself by writing solely on electronic keyboards
Modularfield Modularfield‘s continued campaign to highlight low-key experimental electronic music from around Europe has settled on Cologne, and particularly the latest album from Marco Petracca AKA HHNOI.
Tapete Annoyingly, when I received the CD of the latest Unhappybirthday release, the first thing that happened was for The Smiths‘ track of the same name to try and lodge itself in my brain. Thankfully, as soon as I pressed play, any thoughts of that rather lame song were sent running and were subsumed by a wash of gentle, hazy pop beauty.