Goldmund - Sometimes (Western Vinyl, 2015)

This record is so good it inspired me to write my first post since June. It is sure to appear on some year end lists.

Keith Kenniff is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic music producer. He makes ambient/electronic music under the moniker Helios, post-classical piano music under Goldmund, and is a composer for film, television, dance and performance art).

His "Goldmund" project has always been stellar, but he outdoes himself here. Ethereal and sparse piano compositions just do not get anymore lovely and moving than this. Theses pieces are utterly beautiful.

Stream on Soundcloud here: Goldmund - Sometimes

Villages - Procession Acts (Bathetic, 2015)

The decade long evolution of Villages (William Ross Gentry) has been a fascinating one. It's been a privilege to watch this personality unfurl. At an impressive fifteen releases, each has growth that is very apparent, one that is indicative of hard work, and a discerning ear.

His initial offering, the lovely and delicate "The Last Whole Earth" in 2010, seems homage to his heroes, a cold yet delicate droning piece that calls to mind artists such as Eno, Stars of the Lid, and Labradford. As his palatte refined, Villages moved in a less ambient / drone direction. At each moment, there is a subtle maturity. The Spilling Past showed leaps and bounds in production, Theories of Ageing sees a shift, not only to cinematic frontier, but a more rhythmic direction with clean piano, acoustic guitar, and banjo, signifying an attempt to distinguish his motif as an accessible music separate from the drone genre. He escaped the pigeon hole only to be dubbed "Appalachian Drone" by several writers.

With "Procession Acts", the ten year oeuvre seems to reach a pinnacle of emotion and individual characteristics. with a production excellence that would inspire all who make music themselves.

If you're a fan of classical music, you know that often it is possible to recognize imagery and incidents the writer was contemplating during the creative process. Gentry's subtleties and nuances are full forward, and he wears his influences on his sleeve: Jonny Greenwood, Cliff Martinez, and Nick Cave & Warren Ellis scores, Type Records artists such as Peter Broderick and Goldmund, western guitar drone and blues from Steven R. Smith to Mississippi John Hurt. All of these elements combine to make a perfect album, and the culmination of an excellent repertoire.

Act One

Beginnings in Dust
Devouring the Whole
The Luddite
Tell the Butcher
Coat of Arms
Pillars in Half Light

Act Two

Open in Reverse
Out of the Mines
Predecessors
Slow Successors
Endings in Rust

Purchase your copy from the wonderful Bathetic Records HERE. Vinyl will go fast!!!

Stream on Spotify HERE.

Listen to a mix he made of his influences for the latest album HERE

Klaus Schulze, German Genius and Hero: An Early Work Primer

Today I just want to take a moment to talk about one of my musical heroes, Klaus Schulze. For most music nerds, a mere visit to his Wikipedia Page is enough to stop you in your tracks and fall on your knees. Here are some highlights from his early career: Started Tangerine Dream with Edgar Froese, founding member of Ash Ra Tempel (the first record from them being my ultimate kraut rock record) with Manuel Gottsching, the father of techno, created over sixty albums over five decades, most of which are pretty good, several of which are considered ambient masterpieces. This resume makes my head spin.

Anyway, I reviewed my favorite of his solo records, Mirage, a few years ago, so I just want to post links to some of my other favorites from him. This is simply a primer to his early work, everything after is hit or miss, as anyone would be over fifty years of making music. I hope you take the time to really dig in. It pays off!

From his debut album, Irrlicht, 1972:



From Cyborg, 1973:



From Blackdance, 1974:



From Picture Music, 1975:





From Timewind, 1975:





From Moondawn, 1976:

 



From the soundtrack to Body Love, 1977:



From Mirage, 1977:

Ryan Teague - Block Boundaries (Village Green, 2014)

I am absolutely in love with this record. I was going to write about it but I accidentally read Boomkat's review and realized it perfectly encapsulated all my thoughts regarding it:

"‘Block Boundaries’ is the new album from minimalist composer Ryan Teague, building on his previous releases for Type, Sonic Pieces, and current label Village Green. Inspired by the theme of Psychogeography, the record fuses acoustic instrumentation with electronic and processed material, taking the listener on a hallucinogenic Ballardian journey through from the thrumming urban activity of New York, Amsterdam and London. Brooding opener "Site & Situation" sets the tone with hypnotic guitar and mallet chimes, emotive cello swells and surging bass synth, 'Last Known Position' comes on like a lost Tangerine Dream jam session, spiraling arpeggios and oscillating pulses, while 'Liminal Space' introduces driving percussion around mesmeric synth pulses and a shimmering piano progression. Closer 'End Of The Line ' brings the journey to an end in an introspective mood - a wavering synth figure cut against wistful drone washes that fade into the distance. 'Block Boundaries' is a masterful achievement of melody, form and texture that rewards more with every captivated listen and will assuredly secure Ryan Teague's place alongside his acclaimed contemporaries such as Nils Frahm, Jon Hopkins, Emeralds and Hauschka."

Yeah, I don't know if you're a fan of J.G. Ballard's work but, for my money, ya just can't beat a "Ballardian" journey through anywhere.



Block Boundaries from Leona Kadijević on Vimeo.

Psychonaut 4 - Have a Nice Trip (CS, Depressive Illusions, 2012)

The music of Psychonaut 4 has just about everything black metal could possibly offer: midtempo rhythms, classic blasts, downtempo shoegaze infusion and tremelo riffs. Graf, the vocalist, even comes equipped with onstage self-mutilation and bloodletting (assuring DSBM authenticity), and has an interesting hybrid of all three waves of black metal lineage. As the band hails from the nation of Georgia, there is even an accordion track steeped in traditional Russian folk music. This is a raw feeling album that has a studio quality. I think it's a nice package.

Since the cassette was released on a very underground Ukrainian label, good luck finding it. In the meantime, enjoy the streams below:

Demdike Stare - The Weight of Culture (Self-released, 2013) CS

One of the finest architects of modern experimental music, the duo of Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty, offers a sampling of crate digging tastes and its even far better than you'd expect.





http://www.discogs.com/Demdike-Stare-The-Weight-Of-Culture/release/4295738

HTRK - Psychic 9-5 Club (Ghostly International, 2014)

So I'm a longtime fan of this band. I adore them. I can't praise them enough except to say that their new record exceeds my expectations. The aesthetic hasn't changed much but the drum programming and overall recording techniques have drastically improved. This is a seductive, sensual, and gnarly record of bass, synth, guitar and beats, mixed with equal parts heartache and longing. I absolutely love it.

You can read my review of a previous album as well as my in depth description of them HERE  and stream a playlist of this record here:

R.I.P. Robert Ashley

I have a vivid memory of Dec. 26, 2000. It was a slow day at the record store so I decided to dig through a bin of $3 used cd's. The three I ended up taking home were life altering: Jim O'rourke's 'Bad Timing', Morton Feldman's 'Rothko Chapel' and Robert Ashley's 'Superior Seven/Tract'. The latter two I picked simply with a gut feeling due to the covers. I didn't expect that I would go home and listen to new favorite composers.

Robert Ashley was an American experimental composer. He reinvented opera and theatre by fusing electronics into the work. He was also a pioneer in audio synthesizer technology itself. He leaves behind quite a legacy with eleven operas and numerous films. Fans of modern minimal composition take note, especially you youngins' who dig Oneohtrix Point Never. You'll find that Daniel Lopatin is a big fan.

I urge you to investigate this vast and wonderful body of work. My favorites are below:

Actress - Ghettoville (Werk Discs, 2014)

"The machines have turned to stone, data reads like an obituary to its user." This was the press release accompanying this latest and supposedly final album from the brilliant mind of Darren Cunningham. And from the reaction of most fans and critics, the end has come none too soon.

 'Ghettoville' is a bit of a departure from the fun yet avant garde outings of 'Splazsh' and 'R.I.P.' His self-described 'R&B Concrete' as well as his heady lo-fi house jams have been replaced with stark, bleak, and utterly dystopian codes. Some nearly beatless, these intentionally numb melodies are held together by the thread of a drum. This is a laudanum funk, with its soul buried lazily beneath minimal breaks and lackadaisical samples. The dancefloor is still represented. Several four on the floor tracks are present. But this time they feel like a specter. The dust and sweat have long since settled, the dj standing in the booth reminiscing that final night. Ultimately, this just feels like something that would have been cozier over at Modern Love.At first listen, I wondered if Cunningham had a love child with Leyland Kirby and it was just still on the downlow.

 I'm opposed to the critics on this one. Here we have a good final document. Cunningham warned us that Actress was dead. Its possible that after being hailed as a golden child for eight years, Actress has been dead longer than we thought. Though, it didn't seem like it when I saw him perform last year. He killed it, enthusiastically stunning everyone in the crowd. The oh so exhausted one could have fooled me. He seemed to be having the time of his life. Then again, his moniker is / was 'Actress'.

   

Anton Zap - Water (Apollo Records, 2013)

This compilation showcases the Moscow deep house producer's meditative leanings from the bulk of the past decade. It begins with an ambient breaks number, then closes in on the dancefloor with a more accessible house mood. Things shift gears completely with a beatless drone piece, then stun with a new one that is essentially a downtempo 80's funk jam. This one makes me want to add a second 'P' to the end of his last name. Rounding out the album with some cosmic exploration, we get the closest three tracks to his classic sound.

Essentially this is a collection of singles from other compilations on Ethereal Sound, Soul People and Underground Quality. Its always nice to see the other side of an artist, and this one works for me.




Here is a good example of his standard dj mix:

Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Piano Nights (Ipecac, 2014)

One of my favorite bands of all time has returned with their eighth album. Have they changed the formula? Have they reinvented the wheel? Have they altered course for new destinations in uncharted regions? No on all counts. Nothing is different. Their concoction of ambient doom and jazz meets lounge need not change. The adagio / requiem is a perfectly haunting and romantic melancholy to soothe the thinker's soul. With sax, keys, bass and drums so flawlessly executed and painstakingly slow, the patience required to play this music seems an other worldly talent. These German masters win me over yet again. Timeless.

Listen to the full album here or on Spotify below:

Pink Priest - Seafoam (Self-released, 2014)

Pink Priest is William Cody Watson, a drone / ambient / experimental musician from Arkansas. I pushed Cody's last Bathetic Records release on HERE a couple years ago.

According to his Bandcamp, this will be the last solo record for the foreseeable future. Although, I'd like to hear more from him, he's gone out with a lovely record that falls under one of my favorite sub-genres, pastoral drone. On this outing, he seems to conjure classic early ambient masters. If Editions EG were still around, Seafoam would find a home right next to Apollo:Atmospheres. This is deep meditative drone. Cures what ails ya.

Corrupted - El Mundo Frio (HG Fact, 2005)

Corrupted are quite possibly the most patient band in the world. They are the epitome of doom: near infinite intros, slowly plodding downtuned riffs, ambient space, growling vocals, and minimal delivery. Amidst all this, they even somehow succeed in incorporating a harp, proving to be as equally delicate and lush as they are heavy. Many of their albums are single tracks that pass the hour mark, reinforcing the unending bleakness of content.

The veteran Japanese act offers some of the most beautifully dystopian sounds I've ever heard. In keeping with the depressing aesthetic, in its twenty year existence, the band has never given an interview and does not do photos. Although they tour the west, they dismiss general interest in mass appeal. One esoteric factor is the use of Spanish as the choice of language for lyrics. Its a fascinating niche they've carved for themselves, and the abundance of fan posted live footage on youtube shows that it is working very well.

Happy David Lynch Day!

This man is a monumental figure in my life. I'm consistently amazed by his artistic output. His films, paintings, animation and even musical compositions have all been enormous influences. Everyone is familiar with his film and television but I'm not sure most are aware the the music in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks primarily composed by the great Angelo Badalamenti is actually a collaborative effort.

Badalamenti is brilliant but Lynch is quite the musician as well, the mischievous jazz setting for Twin Peaks being his concept. Unbeknownst to the dynamic duo, their tunes would spawn one of my personal favorite subgenres, doom jazz, a form of music that combines the slow tempos, and sense of despair of doom metal with jazz style and sensibility. The music usually conveys an aura of pessimistic introspection, punctuated by dark ambient influences. Championed mostly by Bohren and Der Club of Gore, its also practiced by Mount Fuji Doom Jazz Corporation, Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Dale Cooper Quartet and the Dictaphones, and many more.

Celebrate the legend's birthday by listening to these great scores below:

Music for Solaris: Two Versions (Artemyev (1972) / Martinez (2002)

I can feel the nerd purists seething already. My death warrant is being signed, right? Well, though this is not a popular sentiment, I love both these scores. I even think Soderbergh's remake of the original film has its good qualities. In case it wasn't obvious, you're hearing this from not only a Tarkovsky junkie, but a Lem junkie as well. Don't me misled, Tarkovsky took liberties with his adaptation of the novel just like Soderbergh did. Sometimes these things are necessary. Deal.

Artemyev's original score is simply bleak. There are scraping sounds reminiscent of live electrical wires, extended pipe organ deliveries and heavy tape edits. Its raw, stark and perfectly appropriate for the incredibly slow pace and visual aesthetic. This is a fine example of a thinking feller's soundtrack. No frills.

Martinez, however, had a tough job. This version of the film had a more traditional Hollywood, a film noir setting. Not only did he have to be more blatant with musical concepts but the consistent presence of melody was necessary to keep the ADD audience's attention. His string and synth pulsing-based style worked perfectly. It does blur a bit with Clint Mansell's work, but there's nothing wrong with that. Gorgeous melodies and great rhythmic scene development here.

Both these have been reissued on vinyl. Grip them soon. Check out both soundtracks below.

The Wind-up Bird - S/T (Alone, 2002)

The Wind-up Bird, Joseph Grimm, is a contemporary multimedia experimental composer. I know of him thanks to Vincent's Ear (legendary Asheville, NC nightclub, show ca 2002). This is a truly important album in my life, launching an obsessive interest in ambient / drone / experimental A/V hybrids.

His installation concept comes to life before your eyes and ears creating near synesthesia. Swirling sounds of looped violin, guitar and trumpet delicately create drones of beautiful and cinematic melancholy. 16mm projections snake around the room, enhancing the sanctuary that is his ghostly narrative. This music offers passionate and heartbreaking moods unparalleled by most other modern ambient motifs, in a hyper-sensory experience. As striking as it is subtle, the album is high on my list of all time favorites.

His artist statement:

My medium, properly understood, is not objects in space; nor is it light and sound. Instead I interrogate the human body’s psycho-sensory apparatus, exposing its blind spots, glitches, errors. Taking sense experience as my canvas, I make work that exposes the support; I show where the canvas ends. In my recent performance and installation work, I use modified 16mm projectors, sans film. Micro-controllers algorithmically vary the speed of the projectors’ motors. At slow speeds, the shutter’s passing before the bulb generates intense flickering patterns. But as motors accelerate, flickers become so fast that they disappear to the human eye. At this threshold, ephemeral forms with unexpected color and movement are generated by the viewer's body. In certain pieces, I use handmade electronics to translate these shifting light patterns into sound waves which are at times audible, but at other times ultrasonic or infrasonic. Projecting into corners and onto domestic fan blades, I create illusions of dimension and motion that paradoxically negate illusion, prompting the viewer to negotiate a direct, problematized confrontation with space, matter, and time: what you see is not what there is. To encounter an artwork that exists partially beyond sensory thresholds is to face the limits of one’s ability to apprehend the ontologically real. When a phenomenon like sound vibration or flickering light moves back and forth across the border between the perceptible and the imperceptible, the fragility of the body is exposed in its limited ability to know its physical surroundings. Through this experience, I hope viewers will obliquely access the ultimately inaccessible world of things in themselves. I make art that, in Jean-Francois Lyotard's words, "bears witness to the incommensurability between thought and the real world."

More at his Website.

Manuel Gottsching - E2-E4 (MG, 1984)

I've been on a music history kick lately and decided to make a few posts about releases that were crucially influential to musicians that followed. I'll begin with one that may be obvious to the electronic aficionado that reads this blog, 'E2-E4'. Simply put, this is the ultimate proto-techno cut. Manuel Gottsching (guitarist for Ash Ra Tempel) released his first solo album with a monument to time's end. The reason for its groundbreaking nature was his lack of submission to the popular idea of melody and development. He just rode a rhythm in repetition for nearly an hour. The trance like space this music occupies set the tone for all dance floor material that came about afterwards. If it sounds mundane and familiar to you, its just because everyone emulated this for the next decade and a half without much alteration. There ya go...Techno 101.




Here's a nice tribute reworking of one track by Ernestus and von Oswald over at the BCD:

HTRK - Work (Ghostly International, 2011)

One of my favorite musical scenes was created by the Mancunian crew of the 90's in Bristol UK. "The Wild Bunch", consisting most importantly of Massive Attack and Tricky, were highly influential with their groovy 80 bpm breaks and blunted rock meets dub aesthetic. Tricky took things down an increasingly darker path with his albums 'Maxinquaye' and one of my favorite albums, 'Pre-Millenium Tension'. The vibe is so spliffed on the latter that paranoia gets the best of the protagonist. Hallucinations or even actual acts of aggression and fear ensue, charting territory that, given his particular musical production, was unparalleled in pitch black narrative.

HTRK is similar to Tricky in many ways. Their delivery system just happens to be narcotic in nature. The dub basslines are there, backed by tastefully subtle 808 beats, various synthesizers and swirling ambient guitar. The concept is an original pastiche of Lynchian imagery, proto-punk and post-industrial.

The now duo (bassist Sean Stewart having committed suicide in 2010), intentionally blur all lines. Jonnine Standish's vocals are subdued, to the point of lyrical irrelevance (which I admire). The music itself is an existential road to nowhere. There aren't even really songs, merely moods of doubt and doom, sensually shared by a deceptively charming junkie siren.

To be quite frank, albums don't matter here. Any place is a good place to start. Again, its all a seductive coldwave psychosis. I'd gladly follow her down into the sea.

Beru / Aloonaluna Split - CS (Watery Starve, 2013)

Each year music writers make lists of their favorite albums. This takes a lot of hard work, time and thought. But, the most difficult part is making discoveries from said year after the fact, when its too late. So far, my regret is this one not being on my list.

Lynn Fister's Watery Starve is a great cassette label. Her own project,  Aloonaluna, really does it for me. Check out all of her releases. Both sides are fantastic but side A just took me off guard.

Beru (the name lifted from Luke Skywalker's aunt) describes her music as a Keiji Haino and Vashti Bunyan music baby, which in itself should intrigue you enough. Her side is quite a journey through forms.It begins with lovely soft ambient guitar a la dark shoegaze. This aligns with synth that feels like Gyorgy Ligeti light, lush haunting female vocals, and percussion. The swirling narrative eventually experiences some sort of temporal shift / wormhole that gives way to a ritual rhythm. This beat conjures a terrifying black metal drum machine blastbeat combined with the screams of a tortured banshee.

I'm just overwhelmed by this. Its blowing my mind. Buy the tape!!







BERU-Music Excerpt From The Split Cassette With Aloonaluna from Jessica Nicole Collins on Vimeo.

More about Beru HERE

Nagual - S/T (Ergot, 2013)

I first saw Ian McHolm at a solo experimental percussion gig he performed last year. He was obviously proficient in jazz and improvisational techniques. More importantly, he was exceptional at combining his kit skills with various instrumentation to create a full wall of sound. Essentially, McHolm grasps how to actually be a 'one man band'.

He doesn't limit himself to solo recordings though. I listened to his Nagual Cassettes quite often after that night. This is the Oberlin, Ohio improvisational duo he has with David Shapiro, and a collaboration has finally yielded a killer 44 minute LP on Ergot Records.

The two musicians craft meticulous loops to create dark and powerful drones. From from piano and synth, to downright Fripp, these experiments meander toward a sense of doom. One track is even reminiscent of current Swans material, with its extended repetition building immense tension until a burst of drumming is released at the end. This is musician's music but with a deep narrative. Highly recommended!