ASCOLTARE: B.E.A.M. (Tripel Records)

ASCOLTARE
B.E.A.M.
TRIPELLP005
Tripel Records 2007
08 Tracks. 50mins49secs



Ascoltare | Ascoltare B.E.A.M. | Tripel Records

From complex glitched up electronica with occasional orchestral tendencies to digital hip-hop and sample-heavy collages, Cambridge-based Dave Henson continues to evolve on the fringe of the electronic scene, applying his own unpredictable vision at will. This is an ethic that is also applied to Tripel Records, the imprint he co-founded with fellow Cambridge residents and musicians Andrew Coleman, better known as Animals On Wheels, and UM’s Peter Gregory.

For his latest project, Henson ditches the rich soundscapes of Visceral Vendor and the sample-heavy textures of Fatty Parts For A Good Match and Mutiny In Stereo for minimal techno formations in the tradition of Basic Channel or Sähkö. B.E.A.M. is split over two contrasting formats, five tracks collated on heavy vinyl and four additional pieces made available for free as digital downloads on a purpose-built Myspace page, establishing an interesting parallel between the retro futuristic appeal of UFO and exopolitics, which inform the project, and the past/future context of the formats. B.E.A.M. is darker than its clean-cut beats and grooves suggest. Behind sparse rhythmic screens hide dense, meticulously layered soundscapes of found sounds, statics and noises occasionally which coagulate into brittle melodies and repetitive motifs, adding to the impression of gravity that slowly builds over the course of the project.

Right from the opening bars of Exo On Ferrick, which proudly asserts ‘Let’s jack, that’s it, move those hips’ over dubby loops and distant clicks, Henson sets the tone. As he progressively adds substance to the beat and fills up the rest of the sonic space with reverbs, the piece gains density and abrasive vigour. The epic Semjase In Excelsis, which follows, is a much more complex and progressive affair. Developed over ten minutes, it rises somewhere between noise and music concrete to gather pace as the beat settles and additional loops are added. Although Henson relies on a considerable amount of disparate elements here, he introduces them one at a time, carefully avoiding overlaps to maintain the austere feel of the piece.

Passed the thick clicks and dub formations of Asket’s Ship, B.E.A.M. veers closer to the minimal techno it draws from, especially on Flatwoods and Sky Fishing, the two closing pieces of the LP, and on Deft Disk, the first of the thee MP3s. Here, Henson relies more strictly on radical 4/4 beats and rarefied musical forms, but the last two MP3 tracks reference more sophisticated atmospherics, returning to bleaker, more threatening, soundscapes.

With his latest incarnation, Ascoltare’s Dave Henson combines the ethic of minimal techno with his own aesthetic to create a very convincing collection of sharp electronic music. Although more preoccupied with the dance floor than on previous work, his mastery at assembling pertinent soundscapes and placing them in context confirms him as one of the most interesting and overlooked talents of the UK electronic scene.

PORN SWORD TOBACCO: New Exclusive Olympic Heights (City Centre Offices)

PORN SWORD TOBACCO
New Exclusive Olympic Heights
TOWERBLOCK039CD
City Centre Offices 2007
14 Tracks. 35mins29secs



Buy it: CD
Porn Sword Tobacco | City Centre Office

Named after an isolated shop somewhere in his native Sweden, near the studio where he records, Porn Sword Tobacco is the musical project of Henrik Jonsson, a musician hailing from the town of Gothenburg in Southern Sweden. His eponymous debut album, delivered on German imprint City Centre Offices in 2004, introduced his delicate blend of electronic soundscapes and beautiful melodies, and its follow up, Explains Freedom, published a year later, only served to reassert his sound.

With his third album, New Exclusive Olympic Heights, Jonsson assembles his most cinematic and accessible collection of music yet, at times developing sumptuous pieces over just a minute or two, at others stretching narratives a bit longer. Melodies swirl around warm atmospheric expanses and crackling beats while acoustic brushes and soft electronic washes blur the contours of Jonsson’s miniature epic vignettes. Pieces such as opener Tools For Trains, Giftwrap Yourself, Slowly, Do The Astrowaltz or U.S Saloon Props 41/59 are faraway beacons shrouded in dense layers of fog. As melodies echo in the distance, rising above the clouds only to be swallowed again in dense opaque atmospheric swathes, Jonsson creates a surprisingly cosy and gentle collection of tempered electronic textures.

At times, the heavy cover lifts for a moment, providing much more fertile grounds for luxurious orchestrations and elegant melodic themes to flourish. While Cubical Fever, with its library music influences, or Pappa! Min Karlek Ar Gravid retain some elements of melancholy, the tone is lighter, more in focus, while On En Hyllning Till Cyckeln, Jonsson carves a sweet romantic interlude with the graceful crystalline tones of a lonely piano which seems quite at odds with the more elaborate pieces but intrinsically belongs here as a particular mid-way point between the various influences found on this album.

New Exclusive Olympic Heights is a much more sophisticated and accessible record than its predecessors, yet Henrik Jonsson retain the essence of Porn Sword Tobacco by constantly emphasising the atmospheric nature of his music, making it both a logical step forward and an new opening in his career.

COPPÉ - Fi-lamenté (Mango & Sweet Rice)

COPPÉ
Fi-lamente
MSR011
Mango & Sweet Rice 2007
19 Tracks. 77mins06secs



Mango & Sweet Rice

Coppé has been delivering her finely tuned miniature epics with astonishing regularity since her debut self-titled album was released in the late nineties, working with an ever increasing circle of friends and collaborators along the way. After spending a few years in Arizona and Hawaii, Coppé returned to Japan in 2002 following the death of her father and has since established her Mango & Sweet Rice imprint in Tokyo, where she has also been seen regularly performing live.

Following last year’s double anniversary album 9+10, which collected rare tracks and remixes as well as new tracks, Coppé could have opted for a well-deserved rest, but instead, she got straight back in the studio to work on her eleventh album. The result is Fi-lamenté, which clocks at no less than nineteen tracks spread over nearly eighty minutes of elegant electronica on which the songstress applies her unmistakable voice in soft Japanese and English brushes. Once again, numerous artists, met during various tours or on the web, have answered her call, each weaving their own digital strand into her musical space. The album opens with the gentle tones of Black Water Melon, produced with Spoomusic’s Ariel Gross and Dave Ramen, and the scintillating Nicola with Dutch artist Kettel. Plaid contribute a lush new version of last year’s Lavender Oil, Mickey The Cat dresses Alien Mermaid with a delicate groove and rich soundscapes, and later, former Jah Wobble engineer Cai Murphy wraps a delicate blanket of found sounds around Coppé’s sweet voice on the frugal I Live In A Lava Lamp. Perhaps the most surprising contribution of all is found on the title track, where long term friend and musician Terry Driescher uses a sample of Coppé’s mother singing Utai, a traditional Japanese vocal form.

Very much like on previous albums, Coppé constantly jumps from one mood to another, dealing playful, atmospheric or haunting cuts with equal dexterity. With Bristol-based guitarist and producer Fred Moth, Coppé layers sparse drum’n’bass beats, electronics, breezy vocals and slurping noises into a light-hearted sonic vignette, Bristol Rain, before switching to the much more peaceful Broken Kaleidoscope with Demi Batard and the sun-drenched Just Want 2 B Me, shaped by Krautiopharm. Later, Coppé becomes all moody on the sumptuous and evocative I turn, with Parker and Dight, who create here one of the standout tracks of this album.

Coppé makes music with her heart, grabbing each new opportunity with passion, soaking up influences and eagerly pushing the boundaries of her music. While she ultimately calls the shots, she is happy to stand back and let other musicians guide her into their own realm. Fi-lamenté is one of her densest and most impressive records yet, and as she continues to surprise and captivate, she still manages to create music that sounds like very little else around.

VARIOUS ARTISTS: One Point Two: More Digital Listening Music From Rednetic (Rednetic Recordings)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
One Point Two: More Digital Listening Music From Rednetic
RN012
Rednetic Recordings 2007
14 Tracks. 72mins58secs

Rednetic Recordings

In the last five years, London-based imprint Rednetic have delivered a steady stream of elegant electronic records. While the label’s scope has considerably expanded over the years, the focus has largely remained on classic electronica. The label was set up in 2002 by Mark Streatfield and Joseph Auer, and the first release was Streatfield’s debut album as Zainetica, Escaping Dust. Since, Auer, who had then moved from London to Tokyo, released the Kyoto Tokyo 2001 EP, and further releases by Utility Player, The Vizier Of Damascus, Inigo Kennedy, Tommy Bass and Boltfish co-founders Will ‘Cheju’ Bolton and Murray ‘Mint’ Fisher, amongst others, have firmly established the label as one of London’s best imprints.

In 2004, the One Point One compilation collated tracks by some of the above artists together with offerings from Ochre, Sidechain and F.E.A.R. Three years on, the second instalment in the series harvests a further fourteen tracks of classic electronica and techno, with contributions from Mint, Tommi Bass, Liberation Jumpsuit, Infinite Scale, Boc Scadet, Joseph Auer, Sunosis, Zainetica and many more.

Very much like its predecessor, One Point Two spans a vast array of genres, from the elegant electronic swathes of Boc Scadet’s She Spoke Of The Sky, Zainetica’s Awaken or Sunosis’s Leap and the ambient expanses of Polestar’s Retro Future, Infinite Scale’s Cell Out or The Vizier Of Damascus’s Murmurs to the Detroit-infused offerings from Cheju’s Hubl or Inigo Kennedy’s Faraway Towns to the old style techno of Tommi Bass’ Electro Glitch 2007 and the acid funk of Liberation Jumpsuit’s One Night Stand.

The album kicks off in gently mood with the delicate formations and beats of Mint’s Queasy, but things sharpen up quickly, first with the electric charges inflicted by Tommi Bass, then with the dirty electro funk distilled by Liberation Jumpsuit, before Boc Scadet applies lush dreamy textures and brings One Point Two right back into melodic mode. A perfect reflection of the path followed by Rednetic over the last first years, the album then alternates between delicate pieces (Polestar, Infinite Scale, Joseph Auer) and more upbeat moments (Utility Player, Cheju, Inigo Kennedy).

Rednetic have gained confidence with every release, and the label’s audience has been growing accordingly. This second compilation brings together the many flavours of Rednetic and provides an ideal entry point for one of the most consistent independent imprints around.

RETINA.IT: Semeion (Hefty Records)

RETINA.IT
Semeion
HEFTY063CD
Hefty Records 2007
13 Tracks. 69mins21secs



Buy it: CD
Retina.IT | Hefty Records

Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono first met in the mid nineties while they were both DJs in a club in Naples, Italy. They began making music as the Qmen, before turning to more experimental musical forms as Retina.IT. This resulted in a first series of EPs and an album, Volcano Waves 1-8, for Chicago imprint Hefty, all published in 2001. Since, there have been sporadic releases, including a few compilation appearances, a handful of remixes, an album released under the Resina moniker, and a second, self-titled album, released in 2003 and 2004 respectively, on their own Mousike Lab imprint.

Semeion is not a totally new body of work as most of the thirteen tracks collected here have previously been published on various EPs released between 2001 and 2006. Only two tracks have never been released before, and a third one was commissioned for the soundtrack for a video by Claudio Sinatti, which was presented at the 2005 edition of the Videominuto festival.

Monaco and Buono create elegant minimal electronic formations over typically linear beats, with occasional found sounds softening the overall angular approach. Retina.IT often build their compositions around very few elements at a time, focussing primarily on the impact of each sound on the mood of a piece and how each new component affects its balance. Yet, with so little to play with, Monaco and Buono manage to craft rather funky and hypnotic little numbers with irresistible grooves tucked away in every corner. Tracks such as Pick, Uranio or Violynth force their way through futuristic dance floors with rather sharp electronics and angular rhythmic sequences, while elsewhere, the pulsating beats and bass found on Zilencer, Per Assurdo or Civilta Meccanica, combined with sparse noises evoke experimental early sixties TV sci-fi.

At times, the pair take stock, step back and invest their energy into slightly denser compositions. On Apeiron or T-UFO for instance, they carves complex rhythmic formations deep into beautiful haunting soundscapes, revealing a more meditative and atmospheric side of their music, while On Zucchine Alla Scapece, these hypnotic washes are applied in more subtle fashion as the pair work a lone drone against which they hang delicate processed vocal samples to emphasise the melancholic tone of the piece.

Semeion presents an interesting cross section of the work produced by Retina.IT in the last six years. While the band has remained rather the shadow of bigger electronic acts, Semeion demonstrates the consistency of the music produced over the years and how the pair have developed and strengthened their sound.

SPACEHEADS AND MAX EASTLEY: A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else (Bip-Hop Records)

SPACEHEADS AND MAX EASTLEY
A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else
BLEEP35
Bip Hop 2007
08 Tracks. 57mins21secs



Spaceheads | Bip Hop Records

The first collaboration between British sound artist Max Eastley and experimental duo Spaceheads dates back to 2001, with the album The Time Of The Ancient Astronaut, released on the ever-excellent French imprint Bip-Hop. Six years on, they reconvene for this second instalment of dense experimental music.

Eastley began to experiment with sound and machines in the late sixties, focusing particularly on natural elements such as wind and water, with great importance given to chance and accidents in his work. He has worked with various other experimental musicians, ranging from Brian Eno and David Toop to Peter Greenaway and Thomas Köner, and has exhibited his sound installations around the world.

Formed of Andy Diagram (trumpet) and Richard Harrison (electronics and drums), Spaceheads is an unconventional duo that evolves at the frontier of avant-garde jazz, noise and rock. The pair began working together in the late eighties in Manchester, first as part of various jazz formations then as a unit. They have since released a number of albums and performed all over the world.

When working with Spaceheads, Eastley plays a monochord instrument of his fabrication called the Arc. Combined with Spaceheads’ aural feast, Eastley’s sonic secretions create a tensed atmosphere that develops throughout the album, from the daunting owl calls of the opening The Chamber Of Statues and the spatial echoes of Every Thought Is Buried In Time to the intense layering of sounds that punctuates the title track. Diagram and Harrison appear to work around Eastley’s inputs, at times wrapping his eruptions in delicate swathes of electronics, at others in layers of dissonance. There is an intricate dialogue developing all throughout the record between Eastley and Spaceheads resulting in a series of dense soundscapes. While there is great intimacy in the exchanges, the scope of this record is rather ambitious, even for such an experimental record, with the trio often veering close to vast cinematic structures. It is therefore all the more impressive that they continue to pay extreme attention to even the minutest details of a piece.

The mood is generally subdued and introspective, with very few open rhythmic sequences to provide relief from the various sound assemblages, but the trio push into more dynamic terrains on Love Lends Wings To Our Desires and the twenty minute epic title track, on which Harrison plays a much more predominant role. The album concludes with the hectic Escape, which once again provides Harrison with fertile grounds on which to apply dense drums sequences.

The tracks featured on this album were recorded during two very different sessions. Four tracks were captured live on Frioul Island, off the coast of Marseille in the south of France, while the rest was recorded in a shed in the village of Brawby, North Yorkshire, the common link being the remote aspect of each location. The resulting recordings show surprising uniformity of tone and are a testament to how fruitful the collaboration between Eastley and Spaceheads is.

THE ORB: Orbsessions Vol. 2 (Maliscious Damage Records)

THE ORB
Orbsessions Vol. 2
MD624
Maliscious Damage Records 2007
11 Tracks. 76mins01secs



Buy it: CD | LP
The Orb | Maliscious Damage Records

The first installment in what is announced as a trilogy, delivered two years ago, delved deep into the Orb’s sonic archive, and provided, in the process, the beginning of a thread throughout the band’s career, seemingly marking various stages and incarnations of one of the most emblematic British acts to have emerged from the dance scene of the late eighties.

The Orb shot to fame during the rave revolution with the epic A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld and the seminal Little Fluffy Clouds, and rapidly became a major act alongside the likes of Orbital, 808 State and Banco De Gaia. Formed by Dr. Alex Paterson and KLF/JAMMS maverick Jimmy Cauty, the band has been through many personnel changes during its near twenty years of activity, Swiss musician Thomas Fehlmann being, alongside Paterson, the only remaining active member.

Subtitled ‘Finest Quality For The Connoisseur’, Orbsessions Vol. 2 collects another eleven previously unreleased tracks. While the first volume sounded at times slightly disparate, this second chapter appears like a much more cohesive piece. The sonic characteristics of the band are present all the way through, from deep rumbling dub effects to extensive sample use, but there is no trace of the band’s poppier tone of the early 2000s or the infectious minimalism of recent years. This album presents The Orb at their most elaborate and ornate, with contributions from Fehlmann, Andy Hughes, Hans Joachim Roedelius, vin100 and legendary producer Youth alongside Paterson,

Orbsessions Vol. 2 opens with the somewhat dark and haunting tones of D.A.D.O.E.S? Dense clouds of noise and echoes swallow any melodic attempt, while muted vocal samples and Berber chants punctuate the piece at regular intervals. Ralph’s Cupboard follows a much more familiar sound pattern as a melody circles above a hypnotic dub groove and intricate sound formations. From there on, the remaining tracks are set between these two points. 2026 is a stunning piece of progressive ambient that sparkles with hypnotic elegance, while It’s A Small World is a refined slice of bouncy electronic music in the great Orb tradition. Shem, with its vast soundscapes and beat-less facade, sits at the more experimental end of the spectrum, whereas Shem Version, which follows, feeds on a very similar drum pattern as Massive Attack’s Inertia Creeps, with which it also shares some of its dark oppressing atmospherics.

Later, Ba’albeck sounds like Perpetual Dawn given the Toxygene treatment. There is little more than a mechanical groove, at times supported by tabla and an occasional ‘ooo-ooo’ to keep the mind occupied, but its relentless drive is enough to keep it afloat. Jam On Your Honey shows similar characteristics, but feels even funkier and more playful.

It is something of a mystery why some of these tracks have remained until now unreleased. Spanning an undetermined period, although the overall sound seem to indicate that most of these date from the mid to late-nineties, there is an interesting sonic consistency throughout. Very much like its predecessor, Orbsessions Vol. 2 fills some gaps in the band’s work, but the selection is much more consistent here. While a new album is announced for later this summer, this second collection is a superb testament of the creative cauldron that The Orb continue to be.

RUSUDEN: Fe IX/X 171 A (Soho Six Records)

RUSUDEN
Fe IX/X 171 A
SOL003
Soho Six Records 2007
07 Tracks. 24mins23secs


Rusuden | Soho Six Records

Rusuden is the brainchild of Lexington, Kentucky, based musician Justin Morgan. Once a member of various rock and indie formations, Morgan switched to electronic instruments and computers in the later part of the nineties and began performing as Rusuden at the turn of the century. Following a series of self-released CDRs, his debut album, Formulae, was released on Sonicterror in 2003, and introduced his blend of glitched-up Detroit-infused electronica. The album was followed by a collection of remixes of tracks from the album by the likes of Wisp, The Gasman, Ochre, Multiplex and Morgan himself. Warm Human Antennae, Rusuden’s second album proper, was released in 2005 on Morgan’s own Soho Six imprint. While still essentially electronic, this record presented a much wider sonic scope, with guitar textures becoming quite predominant in a few tracks.

For his latest musical escapade, Rusuden has his eyes set firmly on the dance floor. The snappily titled Fe IX/X 171 A, a scientific term relating to the process of imaging solar activity via ultraviolet light, features seven slices of unadulterated old school electro with subtle injections of acid and ambient, tempered with an ounce of Germanic minimalism. The mood evokes in turn the Richard D James of Polygon Window, early Ritchie Hawtin, B12 or early Black Dog even. Fe IX/X 171 A also marks a new creative peak for Rusuden. Clocking at just twenty-five minutes for seven tracks, Fe IX/X 171 A is a very concise and tight affair. Morgan’s delivery is confident and efficient. His soundscapes fuse classic electronic tones and futuristic vision, particularly on Snogon, Zanika or Takkong, whilst he engineers much coarser formations on tracks such as Yametarans or Yadokirin. The compositions work on a variety of levels, as different elements become obvious with repeat listens. Cold bleeps, acid squirts and regimented beats reveal hidden lush warm analogue soundwaves, secondary melodies and even occasional voices to complete Rusuden’s intricate tapestry. Morgan keeps rhythms and melodies fluid and fresh, and excellent sonic consistency, all the way through as he focuses on setting feet as much as mind in motion.

Originally released as a clear blue vinyl, Fe IX/X 171 A has since received an extended digital release with five additional tracks recorded around the same period. With this return to purely electronic soundscapes, Morgan’s foray into classic electronica is his most convincing and accomplished record to date.

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW & THE HUN HANGÁR ENSEMBLE: A Hawk And A Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble (The Leaf Label)

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW & THE HUN HANGÁR ENSEMBLE
A Hawk And A Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble
DOCK47CDVD
The Leaf Label 2007
08 Tracks. 29mins20secs



Buy it: CD
A Hawk & A Hacksaw | The Leaf Label

Originally the solo project of former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes, A Hack And A Hacksaw is a totally unique project, which has taken Barnes in a variety of locations across the world. Beside his previous regular spot as drummer with Neutral Milk Hotel, Barnes has also served with Bablicon, Bright Eyes and Broadcast. He started working on his next project, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, toward the beginning of the century, and released his first album in 2003.

Feeding on a vast set of influences, ranging from Eastern European traditional music to avant-garde and beyond, the first self-titled A Hawk And A Hacksaw album, recorded in the quiet town of Saumur, on the border of the Loire, in France, totally disregarded traditional musical boundaries to create an exhilarating soundtrack out of field recordings over which pianos, accordions and various other instruments flourished into beautiful melodies. The scope of Barnes’s music continued to expand with his second album, Darkness At Noon, released a year later. On The Way The Wind Blows, Barnes was joined by violinist Heather Trost, now an active AHAAH member. The pair worked with Romanian ensemble Fanfare Ciocârlia, a popular twelve-piece formation which combines traditional Romanian music with influences from the whole Balkan region and beyond. Toward the end of 2006, Trost and Barnes discovered Fonó, a music workshop and centre for Hungarian music in the heart of Budapest. They convinced four musicians they met there to form an ensemble. Barnes and Trost consequently recorded a mini album with the Hun Hangár Ensemble, and they are set to tour with them in the summer. This very limited eponymous recording comes with an additional DVD documenting the work of AHAAH over the last couple of years.

The eight tracks of this mini album partly draw from traditional Hungarian, Serbian, Romanian and Klezmer folklore, and also feature two new compositions from Barnes and Trost. The album opens with the soft melancholic tone of Trost’s violin cast against a piano and a cimbalom, a traditional Hungarian instrument similar to a dulcimer. The mood changes with Zozobra as an accordion first, then the crystalline sound of the cimbalom, hurry through a fast-paced rhythmic section with strong Romani overtones. After these, the formation goes on to perform a series of traditional music themes, ranging from the vibrant melody of Serbian Cǒcek, supported by a vivid brass section, to the rampant melancholy of Oriental Hora and the beautiful Hungarian bagpipes motifs of Dudanotak. At times, tracks encompass a wide range of moods in just a few moments. Both Romanian Hora And Bulgar and Ihabibi begin with very melancholic melodies before gathering pace and swelling into rich harmonics and pulsating rhythms.

The additional DVD provides a further insight into the evolution of a band like no other. Over the years, Barnes has defined a strong musical identity, and with Trost now a regular feature in AHAAH, he continues to refine it as the band becomes more essential with each release. This limited release is a resounding example of how traditional and contemporary can fit in beautifully, something that AHAAH have become quite expert at.

KIERAN HEBDEN & STEVE REID: Tongues (Domino)

KIERAN HEBDEN & STEVE REID
Tongues
WIGCD189
Domino Recording Co. 2007
10 Tracks. 44mins45secs



Buy it: CD | LP
Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid | Domino Recording Co

Since he took some time off Fridge to concentrate on Four Tet, Kieran Hebden has become one of the most prominent artists of the British electronic scene of the last ten years. Three years ago, he met legendary percussionist Steve Reid, and the pair began working on live collaborations, resulting in the double-barrelled Exchange Session (volume one and two). The records were the result of improvisations, which were presented in their raw form, with no overdubs. Although split into bite size sections of barely more than thirty to forty minutes, these recordings suffered from lack of general focus necessary for this kind of project, and failed to capture the true energy of the live shows the duo had been performing earlier.

While recorded in the same conditions as the twin albums of last year, Tongues is a much more settled and balanced affair, and demonstrate how the two have learnt to channel their respective energy and work alongside each other in a more efficient fashion. Crucially, Hebden’s presence is much more prominent and consistent here. The fluid essence of Four Tet still doesn’t quite percolate through Reid’s ardent rhythmic sections, but he contributes to the lighter aspect of the great majority of the pieces here. The opening track captivates with its syncopated cuts and dense noise formations, evoking a jogger’s portable music device gone into spasmodic fit. Brain and even more so Out Time are refreshingly melodic and cheerful, the latter proving a rather seductive piece where lush harp samples cascade down a restrained rhythmic section.

Later on, the pair tackle the phone system hold favourite that is Greensleeves on music boxes and metallic percussions and manage to make it at once sound fresh and powerful. Reid leads almost entirely on Mirrors, with Hebden set slightly back, providing discreet electronics all the way through. Superheros sounds like a video games arcade in the middle of a civil war as dense clouds of analogue bleeps continuously hammer the driving rhythm set in motion by Reid. Rhythm Dance proves a much more hazardous piece. After layering soft electronics for just under a minute, Hebden seems to suddenly fall victim of a massive sonic fit before he gets some order in the chaotic sound collage he has spread at Reid’s feet as the tracks finally gets going. If, over its course, the pair manage to regain some interest, they struggle to limit the damage. The album concludes in rather subdued mood with the slightly sombre tones of Left Handed, Left Minded. Here, the pair tame their respective instruments to offer a beautifully restrained piece.

On Tongues, Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid have moved away from the lengthy and dense improvisations of their previous effort and refocused on the playful aspect of their collaboration, and while the album still shows signs of slight over-indulgence at times, Hebden and Reid manage to create here a record at once experimental and interesting.

OPSVIK & JENNINGS: Commuter Anthems (Rune Grammofon)

OPSVIK & JENNINGS
Commuter Anthems
RCD2062
Rune Grammofon 2007
10 Tracks. 46mins36secs



Buy it: CD
Opsvik & Jennings | Rune Grammofon

Opsvik & Jennings first appeared as an entity two years ago with their debut album, the superb Fløyel Files, released on NCM East. While Norwegian-born bass player Eivind Jennings had already two albums under his belt, Overseas and Overseas II, published in 2003 and 2005 respectively on Fresh Sounds Records, and had contributed to a considerable number of albums and formations, guitarist Aaron Jennings, hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a relative new comer. The pair met in New York where they both relocated in the late nineties.

Their second album, Commuter Anthems, released on Rune Grammofon, can best be described as a game of two halves. In the first section of the album, the pair adopt a rather more bucolic and chilled tone than that heard on Fløyel Files, with delicate melodies floating over air-thin instrumentations primarily formed around electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, concertina, horns and electronics. The album opens with the graceful guitar and piano motifs of The Last Country Village and Silverlake. While very much a continuation of some of the more melodic moments of Fløyel Files, these two pieces show a much more symbiotic approach to sound. The title track, which follows, has the light-hearted disposition and visionary approach of futuristic sixties pop music, underlined by a gentle melody and the prominent display of a Theremin in the background. The mood occasionally dips a tad, especially on the introvert Wrong Place Right Time, but even there, a discreet flute creates elegant patterns over a rather stern backdrop.

In its second half, the album takes a slightly jazzier turn, perhaps highlighting Opsvik’s influence over the pair’s work. Port Authority shows once again subtle sixties influences in its wonderfully melodic main theme, but later, the musical expression becomes more syncopated on I’ll Scrounge Along, where the pair work a much groovier sequence, with Opsvik’s bass taking a more central role. In contrast, Ways is a superbly evocative composition, with a clear cinematic feel. As the track unfolds, it goes through surprising transformations, evoking in turn early twentieth century music and orchestral grandeur before gently fading away in a circling melody. The Pendler is this album’s most ambitious piece, as Opsvik and Jennings appear to make good use of their full instrument arsenal, without ever loosing sight on the melodic aspect of the track. The album concludes with the short and sweet Apology / Goodbye, which dissolves before it is given time to fully develop, leaving the listener wanting more.

Commuter Anthems represents a slight departure for Opsvik & Jennings, who take their original sonic template and expand it in a range of directions, from jazz to folk and country music. The pair crafts beautiful melodies set in delicate yet complex soundscapes, creating often poetic compositions. Ultimately, Opsvik & Jennings defy classification with playful spirit and panache and present a truly enjoyable record.

SAVATH & SAVALAS: Golden Pollen (Anti)

SAVATH & SAVALAS
Golden Pollen
86839
Anti- 2007
16 Tracks. 52mins29secs



Buy it: CD
Guillermo Scott Herren | Anti-

Following a debut album, Folk Songs For Trains, Trees And Honey, concerned primarily with gentle acoustic-infused electronica, Guillermo Scott Herren turned to his father’s native Spanish roots, moved to Barcelona and covered his Savath & Savalas project with soft Mediterranean tones and moods with Appropa’t and its sister EP, Mañana, both released on Warp during 2004. While Folk Songs… was an entirely instrumental record, Appropa’t saw Herren venturing into song-based territory with Catalonian singer songwriter Eva Puyuelo Muns sharing vocal duties with him. For Golden Pollen, his first album for Los Angeles imprint Anti, it is Herren alone who steps behind the mic, with Swedish singer songwriter Jose Gonzalez landing a helping hand on one track.

Like on its predecessor, all the songs of Golden Pollen are sung in Spanish, and Herren makes extensive use of acoustic instruments, delicate melodies and occasional found sounds. Right from the short sequence that opens, the mood is set, and Herren never veers away from his template. All the way through, softly blushed vocals float above rich orchestrations and gentle rhythms to create airy pieces best suited for the time of the day when the torpor retreats and life returns. From the refined melodies of Apnea Obstructiva, Estrella De Dos Caras or El Solitario to the denser Concreto, Te Amo… Por Que Me Odias?, Vidas Animadas or Tormenta De La Flor, Herren crafts impeccable compositions which nothing seem to be able to derail. Everything is not quite as peaceful though. Three songs in, Paisaje begins in calm mood, with environmental noises bubbling in the background while a soft acoustic guitar carves delicate formations in the foreground, but soon voices and instruments appear in total melt down and struggle to stay in tune. Although Concreto, which follows, is not affected in such a way, there is still a partial feeling of misplacement that lingers over it for a while.

Once again, Herren has surrounded himself with an impressive cluster of musicians and artists here, including Jose Gonzalez, who takes care of the main vocal section on the beautiful Estrella De Dos Caras, or Los Angeles-based singer Mia Doi Todd, who guests on Intro, while Triosk drummer Laurence Pike, Danny Bensi and experimental vocalist and Battles member Tyondai Braxton provide drums, cello and additional vocals respectively all the way through.

While Appropa’t represented quite a new direction for Guillermo Scott Herren, and was linked to his move to Barcelona, Golden Pollen is less of a surprise, and perhaps lacks the spontaneity of its predecessor. This said, Herren certainly excels as much at assembling lush sun-drenched songs and chilled moods as he does intricate hip hop beats and shattering grooves. Golden Pollen requires a bit of time to settle and reveal its many depths, but once it does, it becomes a very enjoyable record indeed.

ISLAJA: Ulual Yyy (Fonal Records)

ISLAJA
Ulual Yyy
FR49
Fonal Records 2007
09 Tracks. 39mins00secs



Buy it: CD
Islaja | Fonal Records

Islaja’s first forays into dysfunctional folk sounded like the wanderings of a little girl lost in a forest teeming with crooked trees, chilling winds and hairy monsters, with virtually no clear reference points for the listener to hang on to. Her short vignettes, paper-thin arrangements, acoustic guitars and found sounds predominantly, wrapped around matchstick-like melodies, were fragile and ephemeral affairs, the peculiar timbre of Merja Kokkonen’s voice, at times brittle to the point of breaking, at others almost accidentally falling in or out of tune, adding to the overall disjointed feel of her music

Crucially, for Ulual Yyy, Kokkonen has been raccorded to the electricity grid and relies on much more expensive orchestration, bringing in Rhodes pianos, synthesizers and electric guitars, and sprinkling them with saxophones, violins and various other noises. Right from the onset of opener Kutsukaa Sydäntä those fearing a much more polished results will be reassured though. The songstress has lost none of her acidic tones and knack for abrasive melodies, and these more elaborate sound collages actually appear much more vulnerable than those of previous outputs. The solemn piano and electric guitar backdrop of Kutsukaa Sydäntä only just supports Kokkonen’s saturated vocals and threatens to come crashing down at every twist and turn of the melody.

There is, much more than on Meritie or Palaa Aurinkoon, a quietly dramatic aspect to this album, which at times evokes the mournful tones of Portugal’s traditional fado music or the rampant melancholy of Argentinean, tango. Kokkonen’s voice at times drones and lingers, shying away from attention, or cuts through caustic curtains of sounds with sheer emotions. The music appears more desolate and tormented than before. Shards of saxophone, in turn soft or strident, tear the fabric of this record with insistent regularity on Sydänten Ahmija, Pete P and Laulu Jo Menneestä. On Muusimaa, Kokkonen is caught amidst a disturbing storm of tuneless chords, as if she was surrounded by kids hammering instruments without cohesion.

The last three pieces are comparatively peaceful and spacious, with reduced sound sources and more clearly applied melodies. After the earlier torments, these are welcome resting grounds. The album concludes in surprisingly bucolic mood, with the last four and a half minutes of Suru Ei being entirely constituted of bird songs.

With her two first albums, Islaja’s Merja Kokkonen charmed and intrigued with delicate folk songs. Ulual Yyy is a much more unsettling record. The fairytale ballads have been replaced with much more striking soundscapes, and Kokkonen herself is driven by stronger currents. This third album is a much more mature album, but it remains a mysterious creation which only fits these moments in life when reality is a too vivid option.

ALOG: Amateur (Rune Grammofon)

ALOG
Amateur
RCD2069
Rune Grammofon 2007
12 Tracks. 59mins34secs



Buy it: CD | LP
Alog | Rune Grammofon

Thanks to tirelessly inquisitive minds and an unquenchable thirst for sound processessing, Norwegian duo Alog have, in just three albums, stretched their musical universe beyond recognition. In their hands, nothing ever sounds totally ordinary, and as their approach as become more experimental with each release, moving from largely electronic structures to much more delicate soundscapes built around acoustic instrumentations and found sounds, they have developed a truly unique semantic and continue to refine it. Alog deal with sound on a large scale, taking as much consideration perfecting elements of their tracks which are not directly within audible range as they do crafting overhead components, resulting in extremely detailed and complex pieces more fitting to avant-garde than to traditional electronic music.

Following last year’s excellent Catch That Totem! published on Melektronikk, which collected some rare and previously unreleased material, Eide and Haugan return to Rune Grammofon with their fourth album. With this opus, the pair do not quite revise their work ethic as drastically as they have done in the past, but instead refine techniques applied on 2005’s Miniatures and manage to produce a record which is at once more complex and more accessible.

Amateur, here used in the context of ‘person who appreciates’, was recorded in various locations on the west coast of Norway, especially in schools, where the pair, accompanied by Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and regular Nils Økland collaborator Sigbjørn Apeland, made use of the sometime rudimentary facilities at hand. At times, the quartet found themselves stranded in one location for days because of bad weather and passed time by building their own instruments, adding to the eclectic sources used across the album. The result is an incredibly dense tapestry of sounds and noises, at times used in their barest form, at others treated and processed beyond recognition. Opener Son Of King is a bubbling piece on which Møllerhaug’s vocal acts as a continuous thread throughout. Various phrases are chopped up and re-assembled in apparently random fashion, creating a strangely disconnected tale from which pretty much only the title can be heard intelligibly, over a backdrop of wood and metal percussions which sounds increasingly more like a trotting horse as the track progresses.

At times, Alog seem primarily concerned with the very musical essence of their work, bringing melodies to the forefront, while at others, the focus is much more on the rhythmic aspect of their compositions. It is when the two meet however, like on the fascinating The Beginner, which share with label-mate Svalastog a taste for acoustic loops, that the pair are at their most enchanting. As loops and patterns settle, the track becomes a haunting incantation. A Throne For The Common Man has a similar feel, but the context is very different. Eide and Haugan begin by defining the sonic space with bells and chimes before progressively building a dense layered structure from a variety of acoustic instruments. What results is a grinding groove that absorbs everything in its path. Sleeping Instruments questions of the notion of silence and whether it is a sound in itself. As its title suggest, this piece is entirely built around fragments of sounds sourced from instruments ‘at rest’, whether it is wood contracting or fingers running on the surface of an instrument. The Future Of Norwegian Wood works on a similar principle, but silence is not quite as intrusive here. As various wood sounds are processed and assembled, Alog create a surprisingly consequent piece which comes alive around the three minute mark as a rhythmic sequence is set in motion. The ten-minute Bedlam Emblem sees a dense cloud of saturated noises, which wouldn’t be out of place on a Spunk record, slowly materialise and become overwhelmingly oppressive. On close inspection, this constantly changing ball of sound is made of a multitude of entangled minute debris interacting with each other.

In comparison, Write Your Thoughts In Water or Turn Back. Undo appear almost too straightforward, but there again Alog play with lights and shades to create illusions and deflect the attention away from the painstakingly complex and extremely detailed assemblages that are these tracks and focus instead of the poetry that results.

After ten years, Alog continue to develop and refine their approach to sound, as they move away from recognisable musical forms. As their most abstract record to date, Amateur is surprisingly accessible and playful, and this is certainly what makes Alog one of the most compelling outfits around.

SEEFEEL: Quique (Redux Edition) (Too Pure)

SEEFEEL
Quique (Redux Edition)
PURE194CD
Too Pure 1993 / 2007
18 Tracks. 123mins41secs



Buy it: CD
Too Pure

Riding high on the wave created by earlier nineties indie luminaries such as My Bloody Valentine, Seefeel took the concept of cloudy guitar-led music, once labelled shoegaze, a reference to the recurring tendencies adopted by most bands at the time to never look up, and brought it to an entirely different level by confronting it with the ambient sound pioneered by Aphex Twin, Global Communication and The Orb. Formed of Mark Clifford (guitar, sequencing), Sarah Peacock (guitar, vocals), Darren Seymour (bass) and Justin Fletcher (drums, programming), the band develop a totally unique blend of processed guitars, rhythmic loops and hypnotic bass, with occasional hazy vocals textures.

Following two impressive EPs, More Like Space and Pure, Impure, both published on London-based imprint Too Pure, Seefeel delivered their first album, Quique in the autumn of 1993, and went on to release two more albums, Succour, for Warp and (CH-Vox) on Richard D. James’s Rephlex before apparently disbanding, with Peacock, Seymour and Fletcher forming the gritty pop combo Scala whilst Clifford continued experimenting with ambient as Disjecta and set up his own Polyfusia imprint. Following occasional outings as Woodenspoon and Sneakster in the late nineties, he reappeared a couple of years ago with Running Tapper, a collaborative effort with electronic musician Simon Kealoha.

Quique is considered by some to be Seefeel’s seminal record, and thirteen years after its original release, it remains a cutting edge record, sounding like very little else. Right from the onset of the cyclic Climatic Phase #3, the tone is set. Guitars are stretched, layered and looped over a groovy bass line and a slow moving rhythm pattern to form a dense sonic mass which seems to absorb everything in its path yet appears utterly delicate and eerie. This formula is developed over the course of the whole album with various degrees of intensity, from the warm waves that come crashing over the beat-less shores of Imperial, the fresh breeze blowing over Through You or the dark isolationist tones of Signals to the enigmatic fog of Polyfusion, Industrious or Plainsong, on which Sarah Peacock’s gossamer presence is rendered in delicate layers over the dense sonic backdrops of each piece as her voice is worked into the fabric of the music.

This new version comes with an additional CD featuring three rare tracks and no less than five previously unreleased songs and mixes all recorded during or around the album sessions. Clique, which opens this second part, displays some similar structures than those heard on the original album, yet the sound appears rougher and more angular, especially on the drums, which although placed in the background, emerge over the melting wall of guitars, bass and voice, and while Is It Now? and Silent Pool are dense and dark, in some way pre-empting the introvert structures of (CH-Vox), the blatantly ambient My Super 20, with its ever-changing drone, wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Global Communication’s influential 76:14. Elsewhere, Come Alive (Climatic Phase #1) slowly builds momentum over its course, at times echoing the end section of Minky Starshine, featured on the band’s Pure, Impure EP. Time To Find Me, which originated on More Like Space, together with the Avant Garde Mix of Charlotte’s Mouth and the Overnight Mix of Climatic Phase #3 are presented in stripped down version, revealing the intrinsically dubbey structures of the band’s approach in all its glory.

Although they only released three albums and four EPs proper between 1993 and 1996, Seefeel have created an incredibly consistent and influential body of work. Quique captures the band at the turning point between the guitar-led abstract indie pop of their early days and the more textural sound of Succour and (CH-Vox). With this album, Seefeel combine ethereal guitars, which find its source in the work of the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, with technique used by the pioneers of electronic music to produced one of the most fascinating records of the early nineties, and one that continues to captivate and inspire. The additional material collected on the second CD only serves to underpin the importance of the band’s work and how visionary and unique Seefeel were.

PANDA BEAR: Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)

PANDA BEAR
Person Pitch
PAW14
Paw Tracks 2007
07 Tracks. 45mins49secs



Buy it: CD
Paw Tracks

Person Pitch, Panda Bear’s third solo album, is a rather more luxurious and vibrant affair than its predecessors. While his 1997 eponymous lo-fi debut refused to decide between Casio-style knob tweaking and folk songs, its follow up, Young Prayer, released in 2004, dedicated to his recently deceased father, was much more sombre and atmospheric. In the last year, Panda Bear, real name Noah Lennox, got married, became a father and moved to Lisbon, where the album was recorded. On this latest opus, he lets loose and assembles a magnificent collection of uplifting and gently psychedelic avant pop.

Largely influenced by the vocal layering of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, especially on opener Comfy In Nautica and on the epic Bros, Noah Lennox is in fine form here, crafting beautiful melodies and arrangements which, while retaining some of the lo-fi essence that informed early Animal Collective albums, and his own, benefit from a more elaborate production. The rhythms are often tribal and the guitars hypnotic, with additional found sounds and electronics bringing unusual textures. The voice never appears entirely in focus and is often placed slightly at the back of the spectrum, making the lyrics slightly mysterious, as caught up in fog. This will be familiar sonic territory for Animal Collective fans, and it undeniably gives a strong hint as to what is Lennox’s contribution to the band, especially on their last two records. Yet, without the radical vision of Avey Tare, Lennox is free to let the music flow freely, and it shows. Not able to contempt with just one main theme for each song, Lennox changes focus halfway on more than one track. Take Pills, Bros and Good Girls/Carrots in particular seem as made of two or more songs welded together. In the case of the latter, it is perhaps because Good Girls and Carrots are actually independent songs, but they morph into one another in such a way that they become part of the same entity.

Beside the grandeur of these, Lennox also drops a couple of atmospheric pieces with the slow burning melody and kaleidoscopic backdrop of the moving Im Not and the introspective ambient sonic cloud of Search For Delicious. The album concludes on a delightful note with the slightly melancholic Ponytail.

With the next Animal Collective album due later this summer and Avey Tare’s collaboration with former Múm vocalist Kria Brekkan delving into much more experimental territories, Panda Bear offers on Person Pitch a series of beautiful songs. His music is much more confident than on previous solo outings, yet, he retains the innocence and spontaneity that have characterised his work to date, ensuring that this album is as refreshing and exhilarating as a summer shower at the end of a stormy day.

BATTLES: Mirrored (Warp Records)

BATTLES
Mirrored
WARP156
Warp Records 2007
11 Tracks. 51mins52secs



Buy it: CD | LP
Battles | Warp Records

The problem with such a stellar live act as Battles is that, whether they try to capture the energy of their performances or polish their music in such a way that it becomes a completely different entity, they are likely to ultimately disappoint. Battles are certainly in such predicament. Hailed as one of the best contemporary live acts around, the band’s fist three EPs, released between 2004 and 2006, never really sought to showcase their stage performances, yet they clearly informed the relationship between the four musicians, and consequently cemented the music. But Battles were still to demonstrate their ability to carry this onto a full length, which is now done with this debut album.

Labels don’t serve Battles well. The one that seem to have been created for them especially, ‘math rock’, being the most incongruous of all. As the quartet effortlessly dispatch mind-bending pieces one after the other, debris of rock, jazz, funk, metal and electro fly by without ever sticking up for long, clearly indicating that the point of the band is somewhat well beyond pigeonholes.

Nothing is quite as visceral and essential as the anthemic tribalism of first single Atlas. With John Stanier’s flamboyant drumming firmly at the centre of the piece, echoing the band’s traditional stage formation, the rest of the band massage acerbic guitar sections, rumbling bass lines and twisted electronics into a relentless groove, with reluctant front man Tyondai Braxton adding filtered vocals, at times reminiscent of early Animal Collective, over it all. Over the course of the track’s seven minutes, Battles fast-forward, slow down, pause, rewind and start all over again to create a true classic. In comparison, the incendiary Ddiamondd is abrasive and arrogant, as if the band had spontaneously combusted and were rushing to get through the track before going up in smoke.

The next three tracks are more subtle and show some restraint, starting with the surprisingly level headed Tonto, a magnificent slice of sturdy modern rock with enough balls to withstand a drastic change of pace in its second half without showing any sign of losing focus. Next, the short and sweet Leyedecker is refreshingly tuneful and damn catchy. This is the calm before the many stormy circumvolutions of Rainbow, an ambitious tale of avant-rock on which the quartet change direction almost constantly, juggling melodies and fiery arrangements with disconcerting ease. The piece concludes in somewhat subdued fashion as the band reach an atmospheric shore on which Braxton’s vocals resound with impressive magnitude.

On tracks such as the engaging opening Race: In, or the dramatic Tij, the band establish a clear groove from the outset and pretty much stick to its incandescent driving force all the way through. The album concludes with the brooding Race: Out, with Stanier originally forcing rumbling drums onto the scope before Ian Williams and David Konopka begin an exchange of phrases from their respective sides.

Battles is like an ego war in reverse. While each member contributes essential components to the overall sound, the sum of their collaboration is greater than any single intervention, which pushes the focus solely on the music. This is a state of affair with Battles live, and it is on this record too. Although Mirrored might surprise and disconcert, its impeccable cohesion and visionary perspectives reveal a band at ease with its experimentations and willing to push ahead.

ANTIGUO AUTOMATA MEXICANO: Kraut Slut (Static Discos)

ANTIGUO AUTOMATA MEXICANO
Kraut Slut
STA019
Static Discos 2007
10 Tracks. 57mins37secs



Buy it: CD
Antiguo Autómata Mexicano | Static Discos

Hailing from Monterrey in North-East Mexico, Angel Sánchez Borges has been an active member of the underground Mexican scene for over fifteen years, releasing music under a variety of guises, but he only emerged on the international scene a couple of years ago when he released his first album as Antiguo Autómata Mexicano, Microhate, on Düsseldorf-based imprint Background Records. With his latest, song-based, project, Seekers Who Are Lovers, Sánchez revisits the work of The Velvet Underground and Will Oldham.

With this first release for Tijuana’s Static Discos, original home of Murcof and Fax, Sánchez returns to the refined minimal techno of AAM. With Microhate, Sánchez explored a series of organic spaces built around minimal grooves, intricate sound formations and vast ambient soundscapes. Kraut Slut continues on a similar path, but here Sánchez relies on slightly more straightforward track structure, driving beats and clean-cut atmospheric soundscapes, reminiscent of Mille Plateaux or Komplott, yet he retains some of the abstract angles of his debut.

Album opener Rother, Dinger, You And Me and Mille which follows, set the tone. While the former evolves imperceptibly from a linear beat and rarefied electronics into a more elaborate piece of techno, the latter is a much richer slice of progressive dance music, which, after a rather introvert intro, slowly gathers pace as Sánchez applies more layers. Reflect Ella, All Styl and Co Opt follow similar paths, each track progressively developing from just a handful of components into crystalline formations. On Malandre De Culto, Sánchez drops a subtle melody over a soft aquatic groove, while, on the sombre Extirpe and twisted dub of Ham & Jazz, he toys with much more introspective ambient soundscapes, echoing the vast textural accents of Microhate. The album concludes with remixes of Mille (Kampion) and Co-Opt (J. A. Berricochea). While Kampion offers quite a radical rereading of the original, slowing it down drastically and softening its edges, Berricochea exposes the atmospheric hues of Sánchez’s version and deploys them as sumptuous electronic drapes.

While it may be regrettable that Sánchez hasn’t explored further the raw organic ambient and cinematic soundscapes that characterised his first album, his take on minimal techno proves very enjoyable and masterful. His beats are sharp, his grooves relentless and his sounds clean cut, with delicate melodies flourishing unexpectedly, making Kraut Slut an effortlessly classy piece of work.

COLLEEN: Les Ondes Silencieuses (The Leaf Label)

COLLEEN
Les Ondes Silencieuses
BAY57
The Leaf Label 2007
09 Tracks. 43mins20secs



Buy it: CD | LP
Colleen | The Leaf Label

The twist on Colleen’s third album title, which translates as ‘The quiet waters’ but can also be interpreted as ‘The silent soundwaves’, reveals a lot about the content of the record. Gone are the complex electronic experimentations of previous records, replaced with simple melodies and crystal-pure acoustic instrumentation. While Paris-based Cecile Schott had already made a substantial step towards real instrumentation on her previous album, The Golden Morning Breaks (2005), there were still traces of the electronic treatments she had applied on previous outputs. For Les Ondes Silencieuses, Schott relies solely on instruments such as viola da gamba, which she already used on The Golden Morning Breaks, spinet, a relative of the harpsichord, both dating from the baroque period, as well as classical guitar, clarinet and crystal glasses.

Schott’s Radio France commission Colleen Et Les Boîtes A Musiques, released last year, already partly hinted at more delicate and introvert forms than previous work. This new album offers a series of wonderfully emotional and contemplative compositions revealing at long last the chore of Schott’s work in its full glory. Right from the opening moment of This Place In Time, the rich tones of the viola da gamba are layered in harmonic formations, ranging from sombre overtones in the lower registers to lighter nuances in the upper octaves. The pace is voluntarily slow, with silences carefully assimilated into the sonic canvas of the piece. This is a process that Schott repeats throughout the record, giving each composition a particular dimension. The melody of the title track is punctuated with pauses which serve to highlight the emotional scope of the piece. Equally, on Echoes And Coral, entirely played on crystal glasses, the chime-like resonance of each glass and the silences between notes is intrinsically part of the music.

Elsewhere, Colleen creates rich soundscapes by simply layering different instances of the same instrument, most prominently on Blue Sands and, to a lesser extent, Le Bateau, where the viola da gamba, in turn plucked, struck with mallets or played with a bow, is given impressive sonic depth. The sharp metallic tones of the spinet rains on Le Labyrinthe like an invigorating spring shower, especially in its second half where the pace becomes more alert, while a melancholic clarinet wraps its warm tones around the almost medieval guitar phrases on the stunning Sun Against My Eyes and Sea Of Tranquillity.

Colleen has consistently taken brave steps since she first appeared, determined to follow her singular path without compromises. Les Ondes Silencieuses is the logical development of her earlier experimentations. Relying solely on acoustic instruments, a process which she has perfected through her live performances, she creates here a magnificent piece of work, all in nuances and gentles tones, which is undoubtedly destined to eclipse her previous work and inform her journey ahead.