miércoles, 27 de octubre de 2010

Scone - Maze Ambients

















Scone - Maze Ambients
Genre : Electronic, IDM, Ambient

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01 D90 Ambient
02 Why Ambient
03 Blando Ambient
04 Do Ambient
05 Sprak Ambient
06 Luttel Ambient
07 Maze Ambient
08 Night B4 Celine Ambient
09 Snth 65 Ambient
10 Ketayson Seaming Ambient
11 Bice Ambient
12 Second Ambient
13 Sowieso Ambient
14 Halfkriel Ambient
15 Dramstuk Ambient
16 Lisen Ambient


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Finally, after some of these tracks spent a long time in the vaults, we are ready to share this ambient drift into the melodic realms we explored with Kettel as Scone. The full original album is there, plus 3 unreleased tracks, including a Vade ambient with Halfkriel joining this brew.

viernes, 15 de octubre de 2010

Peter Broderick ::: Music For Contemporary Dance



















Peter Broderick ::: Music For Contemporary Dance
Genre : Electrocoustic, Ambient, Classic

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CD 1: Music For Falling From Trees

Part 1: An Introduction To The Patient
Part 2: Patient Observation
Part 3: Pill Induced Slumber
Part 4: The Dream
Part 5: Awaken/Panic/Restraint
Part 6: Electroconvulsive Shock
Part 7: The Path To Recovery

CD 2: Music For Congregation

Part 1: Discovery
Part 2: Understanding
Part 3: Differences
Part 4: Disappearance

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Music For Contemporary Dance packages together Peter Broderick's compositions for soundtracking choreography. The two scores compiled for this release are Music For Falling From Trees and Music For Congregation, the first being a suite for piano and strings previously released by Erased Tapes to great acclaim (on this very site, among a good many others), while the latter is a new work, commissioned by artists Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler, aka KMA. Congregation is said to be "The world's first ever ballet designed, choreographed and composed entirely for pedestrian performers" and is set to debut simultaneously in Shanghai and Bournemouth before further performances at Tate Britain. After the swooningly grand and emotive Falling From Trees, the score to Congregation feels more fully developed in terms of its arrangements and perhaps slightly more experimental in tone too. As you'll no doubt have come to expect from Broderick, his take on contemporary classical music never fails to be accessible, and sure enough, this four-part cycle is ravishingly lovely to the ear, peaking with the almost Sigur Ros-like post-rock ascent of 'Part 3: Differences'.

jueves, 14 de octubre de 2010

Helios ::: Ayres



















Helios ::: Ayres
Genre : Ambient, Electronic

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01. A Rising Wind
02. Woods And Gives Away
03. Signed I Will You Well
04. Soft Collared Neck
05. The Obeisant Vine
06. In Heaven

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It hasn’t been long since Keith Kenniff’s gorgeous collection of gauzy, cinematic sound-poems ‘Eingya’ slipped into the consciousness. In a short space of time the Boston based multi-instrumentalist has become awash with acclaim and been invited to perform numerous live dates around Europe, something which gave life and inspiration to this latest collection of work. Those who managed to catch him on the most recent tour will already be aware that Keith has just taken up his most breathtaking instrument yet – his voice, and ‘Ayres’ is his first exploration of this new-found talent. ‘Eingya’ managed with the simplest of means to show just how crushing Keith’s songwriting was, but here he pieces together five gorgeous ‘songs’ and one inspired cover with devastating results.

Combining his many musical loves, Keith manages somehow to bring in the warring elements of indie-pop, experimental electronics, folk and world music resulting in a sound which is distinctly his own; these might be songs in the traditional sense, but there’s little traditional about the way they have been produced. Decaying synthesizer sounds trip up over carefully strummed guitars and expertly carved percussion – take opening track ‘A Rising Wind’ which is maybe the most effortless display of Keith’s talents; this is a slow burning epic, beginning with the simplest of sound-palettes and growing into a jubilant dream-pop masterpiece. Elsewhere, standout track ‘The Obeisant Vine’ blends the hazy nostalgic electronics of the Brian Eno with the songwriting heart of the Innocence Mission leaving you gasping for more. By the time the mini-album ends with a cover of ‘In Heaven’, ‘that’ song from David Lynch’s seminal ‘Eraserhead’, you realize you have spent half an hour in Helios’s world, and it’s a world you’ll want to escape to again and again.

Miko ::: Chandalier



















Miko ::: Chandalier
Genre : Electroacoustic, Folk

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01. Sea House [3:30]
02. New Town [3:19]
03. Kikoeru [3:26]
04. Keshiki [3:22]
05. Cherries [3:34]
06. America [2:17]
07. Humming [3:17]
08. Ashitaga Hare Demo [3:50]

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Miko (Rie Mitsutake) composes her songs in shades of light and dark. Based on the outskirts of Tokyo, she seeks out vibrant harmony and shimmering rhythms that coalesce to create micro-universes in song-form.

On her sophomore album Chandelier, Miko creates a luminescent collection of songs that expand the unique and personal sound she explored on her debut album (issued by Plop). Working with organic instrumentation, led by voice, harmonic piano and restrained guitar lines, Miko utilises other less conventional elements (field recordings, unconventional percussion and more) to transform her songs from the everyday into something imaginary and evocative.

Choosing the name ‘Chandelier’ both for its sound when said and its association with light, Miko’s new album sees her inhabit an entirely warm and atmospheric song space. Its shapes and instruments bring to mind a new kind of folk music – in which the sounds of the spaces that fill her day connect with and influence the songs she writes. This is a profoundly enticing and personal space in which she is working and one that is illuminated by Miko’s imagined song worlds.

miércoles, 13 de octubre de 2010

Philip Jeck ::: An Ark For The Listener















Philip Jeck ::: An Ark For The Listener
Genre : Ambient, Electronic, Drone,

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1. pilot/dark blue night 8:47
2. ark 4:21
3. twentyninth 2:36
4. dark rehearsal 7:36
5. thirtieth/pilot reprise 2:56
6. the all of water 8:29
7. the pilot (among our shoals) 4:33

coda:

8. all that's allowed (released) 3:24
9. chime, chime (re-rung) 7:34

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On his sixth solo album for Touch, Jeck continues his perfection of using the record player as an instrument (not as a DJ) to create a long-form piece that has no sense of gimmick or cliché, but instead is a hazy, but warm and inviting piece of captivating music that is unlike the work of anyone else. Originally intended for live performance, this studio reconstruction is amazing on its own.

Having never seen performances nor read intimate details of his compositional technique, I’m fascinated by exactly how Jeck coaxes the sounds he does out of his rudimentary instrumentation. On this album, the requisite record players were used, along with the infamous Casio SK1 keyboard, mini-disc recorders, and a bass guitar with only a few effects. How this becomes the gauzy atmospheric music that is presented here, I don’t know, and I think I’ll be happy not knowing as long as the music keeps coming.

A recurring motif throughout the seven "main" songs here is a lo-fi melodic undercurrent that is absolutely immersed in reverb, giving a feeling that’s not unlike the Cocteau Twins or My Bloody Valentine but without sounding like either one of them. In these massive and heavy, but warm waves of sound, occasionally a bit of music is allowed to pass through. Percussion is hinted at on "Pilot/Dark Blue Night" but never fully appears until the closing "The Pilot (Among Our Shoals)" where it takes the form of snappy snare drum loops, with what resembles time-stretched harp plucks and violin notes as accompaniment.

As aforementioned, sometimes the musical source material shines through to the surface, such as on "Twentyninth," where the big reverberated sounds and cascading guitar tones could be a careful study and dissection of 1980s hair metal, reduced to its most base elements and rebuilt into something entirely different and far more compelling. "Thirtieth/Pilot Reprise" continues this, focusing on hidden melodies and Jeck's overdriven bass guitar playing with a guitar-like squall and a thin, brittle closing section.

Other pieces are less discernable, such as the dramatic swells of indecipherable sound of "Dark Rehearsal," which are preceded by some subtle, delicate melodies. "Pilot Reprise/The All of Water" is a chaotic pastiche of layered sound, immediately surging heavily and then continuing on with the same intensity, the sharp waves of sound battle one another over the dramatically drifting undercurrent.

For the album's coda, two remixes of tracks from Suite: Live in Liverpool are included, sounding noticeably different than the preceding album, but just as strong on their own. Mostly eschewing the hazy ambience of the other tracks, "All That's Allowed (Remix)" shapes shimmering passages of crystal sound into swirling melodies, keeping a very clean, sharp feel over a dynamic undercurrent. "Chime, Chime (Re-Rung)" focuses on beautifully tactile static bursts covering a bell ringing alongside twinkling wind chimes with the occasional bit of squealing feedback. There is a different sort of audio grime that appears, and the whole song is more loop/sample focused than the other ones, which felt like they had more of an organic drift to them.

Philip Jeck's work continues to sound like no one else's, in the best possible way. Regardless of the instruments used, he constructs beautiful, tactile sound that spreads out and engulfs its surroundings, demanding full attention. Few albums I have heard this year are as immersive and captivating as this one. [Creaig Dunton]

miércoles, 6 de octubre de 2010

Concern ::: Caesarean



















Concern ::: Caesarean
Genre : Ambient, Electronic, Drone,

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01.Discrete Memorial 09:50
02.Mending 07:32
03.From Warmth And From Violence 16:47
04.Immersed In Envy, Porous With 33:52
Forgetfulness
05.Leaving Gold 08:37

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Rather than stringing out drones from analogue synths, soft synths or field recordings, Concern’s Gordon Ashworth instead calls upon the services of various acoustic sound sources (clarinet, banjo, guitars, organs and more), all collaged together in an almost tangibly physical recording environment that seems a million miles away from the computer-dominated soundscapes this genre generally throws your way. It’s only the start of a very long journey (the album isn’t too far off maxing out the disc), but you might have trouble moving on from ‘Discrete Memorial’. It’s really quite wonderful; full of faults and dropouts, an introductory piano riff fires up in a stuttering loop, before languid woodwind tones join in. In theory this would all sound a bit derivative of William Basinski, but Ashworth ably asserts a very different voice on these pieces and certainly doesn’t adhere to any strictly repetitious loop-driven formula. Even on more conventionally drone-driven compositions like ‘Mending’ or ‘Leaving Gold’ there’s very evidently something special about those shimmering harmonics and endlessly sustaining strings; as much as the music itself, it’s to do with the production and the way the instruments dissolve into one another as Ashworth pieces the different elements together. Using both cassettes and quarter-inch tape, the album layers various crumbling stretches of acoustic sounds – perhaps never more adeptly than on the finely spliced ‘From Warmth And From Violence’ and its half-hour-plus follow-up ‘Immersed In Envy, Porous With Forgetfulness’, a formidable, slow-moving montage of ideas and sonic environments. Opening with ten minutes or so of dazzling metallic thrum, Ashworth goes on to pool sparse, untreated concrete sounds with overspilling harmonium chords to tremendous effect. Like Caesarian as a whole, it’s not easy to pinpoint precisely what it is about all this that distinguishes Concern as something special, but take a listen and it’ll soon become self-evident.

viernes, 1 de octubre de 2010

Dryft :: Ventricle















Dryft :: Ventricle
Genre : Ambient, Electronic

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01. Recalcify (4:52)
02. Marked Velotin (5:53)
03. Knives As Gifts (7:41)
04. No Bargains, No Pleas (feat. Xiescive) (7:05)
05. Vector Step (Regeneration) (6:35)
06. Vapours And Waste (6:42)
07. Transmission (5:55)
08. ...And Again (4:40)
09. (Re)prise (3:37)

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Ventricle is the latest album from Mike Cadoo's long dormant Dryft side-project. The album deviates from Cadoo's current main project Bitcrush just as previous Dryft efforts strayed from his previous group Gridlock. This time, however, it’s fair to describe Dryft as bearing more resemblance to Cadoo’s past than to any passing flirtation with fringe genres. Moreover, like a message in a bottle, it is as though all that Cadoo had failed to completely express through Gridlock had been stored away subconsciously and now, as Ventricle, that bottle has finally washed ashore. While Cadoo is the first to acknowledge the stylistic similarities between Ventricle and his contributions to Gridlock, he warns against making specific comparisons. This is new music. Caveats aside, the massive, enveloping drones and rusty clatter that anchored his former band are omnipresent. Powered by overdriven, symphonic walls of slowly evolving melodies matched with rhythms that recall the drum-n-bass of Cell (2000), the industrial battery of Gridlock and the jammed funk of his Mytotyc Exyt EP (2002), Ventricle is a true opus that offers revolution and retrospective in one. No matter the degree of hyperbole applied, the term “side-project” has never felt more out of place.