The Pop Stalinist

http://www.mediafire.com/?0dj5uztjjmk4yjg

A Mix for July

2010-07-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

By way of apology for the dreadful lack of posts in weeks past, I thought I'd share with you all a mix I made for this month (I have a habit of making .zip mixes for my friends every month). It's not a unified mix, but it does feature a lot of music I really enjoyed over the last few weeks, including but not limited to things that have been covered here. Check it out!

Free Milyoo Track on Soundcloud

2010-07-13T17:33:00.002-06:00

The man himself stopped by the comments on my previous post and threw the link for this just-out-of-the-oven track out (it's been out for 9 hours or so). "What It Is" shows off Milyoo's penchant for oddball vox sampling, this time with a special focus on the low end. Very rhythmic, very dubby. Go and download it from Soundcloud.

Milyoo - Dasein EP (2010)

2010-07-12T21:01:00.000-06:00

Today's featured release comes from Milyoo, a producer out of Kentucky, a state generally known more for its bluegrass than for its electronica. He's come seemingly out of nowhere but he's managed to make a lot of headway recently, with a remix for Greymatter (part of one of the remix EPs posted yesterday) and this 3-track EP on Opit imprint.

The title track starts off with what sounds like a basketball dribble with added delay, a neat little sonic trick reminiscent (to me, anyway) of Los Angeles-era Flylo. Soon enough, however, a pitch-shifted bell loop and a driving, whiplash-inducing bass drum muscle their way into the mix. The nervous tension is broken up somewhat by an understated and pleasant organ line and some cut up, Funkineven-style vox samples, and stressed-out synth sounds. It's a track that's wonderfully hard to classify, not unlike Opit boss Subeena's own music. Whatever it is, it will find you dancing, or at least nodding your head.

Second track "Multitude" is a slow, funk-indebted crawler (UK Funky is such a thing now that I hesitate to use the term "funky" for fear of causing confusion) with a 4/4 thump and evil-sounding vox treatments that perfectly accompanied me on my recent foray down South - thick music for muggy air. "Fayoh" closes out the EP with a Guido-esque piano melody and reverberating handclaps, sharp steppa programming and squashed, churning synths. It's exhilarating and dramatic and a little weird but it keeps its coherence where a less skilled producer would let the tune fall apart. It also features a unique use of vocal samples that I can't quite describe - I've gotten used to soulful vox in my dubstep / garage ever since FaltyDL came onto the scene but this is something different. It's not laid out on top of the mix, it's used almost as a rhythmic element in certain parts of the song. A very interesting track to wrap a short but rewarding EP. I'll be looking forward to more from this guy in the future.

Tracklist:
01. Dasein
02. Multitude
03. Fayoh

Buy from Bleep
http://www.mediafire.com/?dljmmzmjtnq

Free things from Greymatter

2010-07-11T17:32:00.000-06:00

Turns out there's a whole mess of free music being offered by Greymatter (via Jus Like, hat tip to those cats) that you may care to be aware of. I hadn't heard of Greymatter before today, but he's apparently been around for awhile and he's got some support from notable types in the UK scene. For a limited time he's got his album Mind Over Matter up for download here, and it's a heady thing, lots of broken beat influences and shuffling Garage rhythms that remind me of FaltyDL at his best. Pretty great stuff. If that alone doesn't interest you he's also offering his first remix EP for the album here, featuring edits from notable sorts like Cosmin TRG, Ilum Sphere and Karizma.

All of this is, I assume, to raise awareness of his second remix EP, which isn't being given away for free. Greymatter looks to be label-less at the moment and is taking the Radiohead route, offering the EP at a minimum of $3. I dropped a fiver. On that one we have cuts from Altered Natives, Milyoo (who I'll be getting to on the blog here, probably tonight) and Throwing Snow. Speaking of Throwing Snow, because Greymatter is such a delightful chap he's also provided that particular remix from the Eglo associate for free as well. You can grab that here. It's a good one.

Illicitizen - Illicitizen

2010-07-10T14:28:00.005-06:00

Charlotte, North Carolina's Illicitizen are Eric Cavanaugh and Maria Zaccaro and their first release, self-titled, is an eclectic mix of fluent blues guitar playing and soft, rhythmic synths and programming to back it up. The two-piece have combined their musical skills expertly to create this great first album, a real testament to their hard work and tireless effort.

A record of 17 tracks in length, it suffers from the problems that all long albums do whereby the first instinct is to be overwhelmed by the number of tracks even though the songs themselves are generally around 2-3 minutes in length. In terms of production there is very little to be rankled with, the only slight issue I have is the volume of the vocal production on some tracks but these small issues aside, Illicitizen have produced an LP of excellent quality for a debut release with very few flaws, and certainly something to be proud of.

Cavanaugh's vocal style echoes David Byrne from his Talking Heads days and a young Jarvis Cocker, slow, quiet yet attention-grabbing and melodic while Zaccaro's steady bass line, similar to that of Joy Division, compliments it wonderfully. The guitar blues are not revolutionary but the tight playing of Cavanaugh is implicative of an accomplished player and the programming is indicative of an imaginative and well-versed band.

Although the band claims to have a positive plethora of influences on their myspace page they have found a niche of their own within all of these and only time will tell how wide this will become. They certainly deserve the chance to make their mark on the big scene.

Tracklist:

1. Minervamerica (Radio Edit)

2. Detached

3. To Arms

4. Monstr0

5. Irresponsible

6. Overwrought

7. Second Best

8. New New One

9. Two Eggs Any Style

10. Olives and Almonds (Radio Edit)

11. Imagine That

12. Estate

13. Therapy

14. Gardenia Radicans

15. It Ends

16. Minervamerica

17. Olives and Almonds

Track Streaming:

Brokenchord - Bluestar EP (2010)

2010-07-09T01:54:00.001-06:00

Lithuanian producer Brokenchord comes roaring out of the gate with this, his first EP for the formidable Black Acre imprint. The name of the game is half-step IDM, which as you might recall is really my kind of thing. I've been listening to EP on repeat for the last few days and it's only grown on me.

"Bluestar" starts off the EP with a nondescript-seeming post-dubstep thump and a whirring, twisting synth drone. About a minute in it gets kicked up a notch, with a cool trip-hop vocal sample and buzzing synth chords adding to the mix while the drum sequencing bugs out a bit. Second track "With Tsunami" features what sounds like warped vinyl scratching over a sizzling low end. As the song goes on it becomes ever more hard-charging, with soundscape-y IDM flourishes abound. It's like brostep without the bro, the sort of thing Slugabed would make if he didn't take so much glee in bludgeoning people with his bass. Third track "Lowe" is the high point of the EP, an awesomely hazy abstract hip hop jam more in the Modeselektor mold than the Brainfeeder mold. I've heard no better summation of the pop potential of half-step than in this song. Closer "Run Into the Light" starts quietly, building upon little elements until the heavy, echoing bass starts being thrown around and a half-audible voice (or is that some sort of synth?) starts singing, making the song strongly reminiscent of the anthemic space rock of post-metal titan Jesu more than anything else.

Overall, a pretty strong EP, and as good of an example of how braindance can survive in the bass music scene as any Mu album.

Tracklist:
01. Bluestar
02. With Tsunami
03. Lowe
04. Run Into the Light

Buy from Bleep
http://www.mediafire.com/?uyhglndigz2

Vacation Time / Yet More New Planet Mu stuff

2010-07-01T23:39:00.002-06:00

Hey all, it's been pretty quiet around here. 11 posts in a month is pretty stunningly bad, I know. But things happened last month and it's been a scramble to get everything back to the working order it was in, so. I am currently on vacation with spotty internet and without the same access to my music library, so there still may be some quiet over the next week or so. I'm going to do my level best to keep things going - Rob is going to try and make it back soon, as well. So don't think I've abandoned the blog. It's going to take some doing but it's all just a matter of getting a routine going again.

In the meantime, some news from my most favorite of labels, Planet Mu. Seems they've brought out some under-appreciated artists from their roster to participate in a new initiative called Mu Editions (pun!).

The first comes from Mrs. Jynx, one of a few artists who released albums on Planet Mu a bit under the radar, at least in terms of widespread critical reaction. Her debut, entitled The Standoffish Cat, was a great album of bright 90's IDM classicism in the vein of Mike Paradinas' own early output. Her contribution to Mu Editions is called "Shark Carousel", and it will be available in only a few weeks. I'll have a review then, believe.

The second offering from Mu Editions is a new album called Powerpoints from The Gasman, a veteran of the label (started out in 2003 with his Remedial LP). Gasman makes very weird, dense electronica. He might best be known for a very creepy cover of Nirvana's "Imodium" he made some years ago out of chopped up choir music. I got a physical copy of his first self-released album 001 and it some challenging, rewarding stuff. Powerpoints is due in August.

Mu Editions will be available solely via Planet Mu's official online retail, as a digital download or as a "very limited edition" digipak CD. Odd that there's no vinyl - I'm enough of a Mu fan to want the CDs but I'm pretty sure I won't be actually listening to them outside of the few minutes I take to get the tracks off of them. Hard decision!

Note: Sorry about the Play Button watermarks, no images outside the Mu site exist so I had to use the snipping tool.

iTAL tEK - Midnight Colour (2010)

2010-06-25T03:18:00.000-06:00

(Note: Since I know iTAL tEK's general attitude towards sharing links on blogs such as these, I won't be including one for this review. Just the buy link.)

Having written a bit about the capslock-abusing iTAL tEK before in terms of free content he's released, singles from his Atom River imprint, and in announcing the announcement of this album, there's relatively little I can write about him or the context of his music than what I've already provided. So instead of repeating myself I'll just get to the music this time.

Midnight Colour is Alan Myson's second LP for Planet Mu, and it finds him moving into 130 BPM territory (130 BPM being the preferred tempo for UK Garage, as opposed to the standard 140 BPM for dubstep). In itself this isn't anything too radically different, but Midnight Colour also displays the permeation of new and different influences on the iTAL tEK sound. The title is an apt one, though I do wonder if it's just a clever means of influencing one's visualizations of the music. Whatever the case, the album evokes many different shades of black and blue and, most prominently, purple. There is a definite Bristolian feel to Midnight Colour, even if iTAL tEK has always had an affecting melodic sense. Most notably there's the telltale chiptune influences on opener "Neon Arc" and the following track "Talis", which features a percussive, vaguely Eastern synth line that is more in line with Cyclical and Myson's other early work than perhaps anything else on the record. I've also noticed that several songs feature the sort of borderline-oppressive mastering that I've always associated with the Beats scene (Brainfeeder and the like). Perhaps it's my lackluster audio setup, but it seems like the beats in many of the songs, particularly "Neon Arc" and "Infinite", tend to crowd out other elements.

"Moonbow" starts off sounding rather like a track from Mu labelmate FaltyDL, with an uncustomary (for IT, anyway) vox sample, before becoming unmistakably iTAL tEK-y. The Mario fireball noises are a little peculiar, but all in all it's an adeptly crafted Garage track, if you're into that sort of thing. From there the two best tracks of the album are uncovered, "Babel" (Mike Paradinas referred to it as "Babylon" at one point, somewhat amusingly) and the short but sweet "Satellite". These two tracks continue in the tradition established by last year's stellar Mako EP, all dramatic bombast and forward momentum, with all of Myson's signature sci-fi flourishes. By themselves they stand as some of the best work in his catalog.

Other notable tracks include a VIP (or "Variant In Production", essentially a self-made remix) of "Strangelove" from the Massive Error EP, also released last year. The swirling reverb and luminescent bass are classic iTAL tEK - it could pass for a particularly good Cyclical b-side. "Moment In Blue" again flirts with the aesthetic of FaltyDL (who, ironically enough, has a particularly weird remix of the song out) while still retaining an essential identity. If anything, it's tEK's most overt love letter to his IDM influences. Late-game highlight "Heliopause" features a refreshing bit of static in the overdriven bass drum, with rim hits (or are those woodblocks? I'm pretty dumb, obviously) on the twos and fours giving it a nice, floor-ready feel. Closing track "Restless Tundra" is something of an oddity, having the sole vocal turn on the album (from Mu favorite Anneka, who's collaborated with Milanese and Starkey in the past) and a 4/4 slow house feel ala Floating Points. It's effectively sultry, and while at first it seems an odd choice to close out the album given its departures from the standard MO, it's a fitting end to the musical arc established by the album as a whole.

While on the one hand Midnight Colour works more effectively as a cohesive album than Cyclical did (and contains more memorable songs), I can't help but wonder if this is a dalliance for Myson, or an indication of the direction of his music going into the future. He's honing his craft, to be certain, but I'd be lying if I said that Midnight Colour features the wall-to-wall greatness I was hoping for after Mako made such an impression on me. Perhaps its strengths will grow on repeated listens - there are several songs (particularly "Moment In Blue" and "Restless Tundra") that I only came to enjoy after several playthroughs. Time will tell if my appetite will ultimately be sated. Until then, Midnight Colour may serve as an interesting, if sometimes fitful, stopgap.

Tracklist:

	Neon Arc	3:25
2	Talis	4:03
3	Moon Bow	4:52
4	Babel	4:13
5	Satellite	1:53
6	Subgiant	4:17
7	Black & White	4:33
8	Strangelove V.I.P.	4:37
9	Moment In Blue	4:16
10	Heliopause	3:07
11	Midnight Colour	3:51
12	Infinite	3:41
13	Restless Tundra (Featuring - Anneka)	5:03

Buy from Planet Mu

Subeena - Picture / Spectrums (2010)

2010-06-22T01:38:00.002-06:00

Like a handful of other artists, Subeena (nee Sabina Plamenova) entered my pantheon sometime last year, having only released an EP and a few singles. I don't know a whole lot about her - she's from Italy originally, she was / is going to university in the UK as well as taking regular DJ gigs, she took part in one of the recent Red Bull Music Academy events, her name really has nothing to do with musical concepts (it's just an alternate spelling of her name), she co-ran a label called either Imminent or Immigrant or possibly both (I haven't been able to make sense of it) before it shut down, and her prodigious talent has fostered something approaching a distant crush on my part, if it hasn't already been obvious.

It's been rather excruciating waiting on the trickle of new releases from her, much as it has been with other forward-thinking beatsmiths (Floating Points immediately comes to mind). Thus I am absolutely thrilled to introduce a new Subeena single, the first on her own newly christened Opit imprint. Those Subeena fans among you (is it just me?) may recognize the first track, "Picture", as the second or third selection from Plamenova's mind-blowing FACT mix from last year (it's hard for me to tell which one - that one was mixed pretty deep). I would often backtrack from the fourth or fifth song to hear it again, so I'm quite ecstatic to have it here, in extended form. It starts off in heavy step mode before picking up a thrilling pace with early-mid 90's Warp synth arpeggis - it's songs like this that make me wish I could DJ, so I could blast people with it.

The second track, "Spectrums", is surprisingly clubby for Subeena, at least judging from the assorted works of hers that I own. It starts off with blaring synth washes and a bit of rhythmic shuffle before settling into a comfortable 4/4 groove and a winding synth lead that is almost too brightly hued for its own good. It reminds me a lot of the MIDI dance tracks that Alexander Brandon doled out for the Deus Ex soundtrack back in the day - pure cyberpunk revelry. The house-y touches are a bit out of my comfort zone but Subeena keeps things interesting enough to hold my attention throughout. Almost effortless in its unique quality.

The physical release has been out for some months but the digital version only just dropped. Really consider buying this one - Opit is just a sprout of a label right now (the second release, from oddly placed Kentucky outfit Milyoo, should see some column inches from me soon) and it's shown a lot of promise in a very short span of time. It's only a few bucks. Snap it up.

Tracklist:
01. Picture
02. Spectrums

Buy it from Bleep!
http://www.mediafire.com/?jmigazytgdt

Daniel Savio - Street Cred (2010)

2010-06-20T03:26:00.000-06:00

Daniel Savio asserts his position as one of a few leading lights of the Skweee scene with this excellent 12" single. Title track "Street Cred" starts out in heavy rhythmic mode in the signature Skweee vein (does Savio use step sequencers? I feel like he must) but soon Savio's distinctive melodic sense shows itself. The heavy, stuttering pace doesn't let up, but I kept hoping against hope for more than a glimpse of a synth that wasn't gated, at least before the weirdly affecting outro. Still, it's an immense slab of prime analog electro-funk that only a craftsman like Savio can deliver. He keeps it just above rudimentary chiptune - at its best, Skweee is a reminder that you can make arresting art with basic tools, if you put your mind to it.

The b-side, the awesomely titled "Big Weiner", starts off with a pretty basic step beat before detuned bell synths and a squiggly, echoing lead (this must be what they refer to when they talk about "squeezing synths") under a playful, acid-y bass line. Synth elements drop in and out, creating a cartoonish, slow-motion sugar rush. It strips itself bare in the second half, returning to the basic rhythmic elements before the squirmy acid bass shows up again for the finale.

Really fun, very light analog funktions to wash down those heavy Alan Vega vibes. Check it out.

Tracklist:
01. Street Cred
02. Big Wiener

Buy from Bleep
http://www.mediafire.com/?tmlmzmjmnxv

Alan Vega w/ A.R.E Weapons - See Tha Light / War (2010)

2010-06-20T03:03:00.001-06:00

Here's an odd collaboration. Alan Vega is a legend - his protopunk / avant-garde band Suicide is mind-bogglingly influential. Iggy Pop, Big Black, and Bruce Springsteen are among the hundreds of acts touched by the band. They even coined the term "punk" from Lester Bangs. Chaotic NYC electro-clash noise band A.R.E Weapons, well, I don't know a whole lot about them, but they seem to have a troubled and chaotic history and they hadn't released anything in the 2 years preceding this collab. A.R.E Weapons serves as the backing band, presumably, for this single.

"See Tha Light" is classic Vega. He doesn't sing so much as he invokes, like a preacher or a beat poet. The song doesn't make a lot of sense, but the incessant post-punk guitar loop that underlays the track lends the track a dark, weathered feel. It's music for dark rides through the desert. If anything it reminds me of mid-period Bauhaus (who were probably as enamoured with Suicide as anyone). Vega's shamanistic charisma is in full effect. It's quite hypnotic.

The b-side, unfortunately, is far less alluring. "War" is an oddball cover of the soul singer Edwin Starr, and aside from the rather blase lyrics and uncharacteristically weak delivery, the production is stunningly cut-rate. It sounds like all the music is coming from cheap keyboard presets recorded from a mic halfway across the room. Either they ran out of money or they just didn't care enough to make it sound good.

So overall, it's not as impressive as it could be. You've got a winner and you've got a dud. It doesn't approach the transcendence of Suicide or some of Vega's other solo work, but "See Tha Light" at least proves that Vega can still deliver into his 70's.

Tracklist:
01. See Tha Light
02. War

Buy from Boomkat
http://www.mediafire.com/?omenjiekyot

Various Artists - 200 (2007)

2010-06-20T01:32:00.001-06:00

I had actually planned on posting this when I hit the 200th post for the blog, but somewhere down the line I got distracted and I lost track, in spite of myself. So this will actually be our 204th post. C'est la vie.

Before I purchased 200 I was living the in the pre-digital age insofar as music was concerned. It was 2007 and I was still exclusively buying physical albums from stores with no real selection, I wasn't plugged into any electronic music sites and I was taking electronic music advice from dinosaurs like Spin and Rolling Stone. Naturally, I was getting frustrated with the slow trickle of good releases I was taking in. One of the few "general interest" sites that was halfway dependable was The AV Club, as they had writers who were actually interested in the sort of music I liked (they recently ran a monthly electronic music roundup but it was shut down due to lack of interest - again, c'est la vie). Their end-of-year best-of feature was broken up into sections for each writer, so I homed in on the electronic albums being presented and tracked them down. 2007 was a particularly bountiful year as I recall, at least until I realized how much I hated Ed Banger house. But there were a few lasting contributions to my collection, and the foremost among them was 200. I think it was Andy Battaglia who recommended it (might've been Michelangelo Matos) - A two-disc compilation at a cut-rate price of $6 or $7.

It was important for a couple of reasons. The first was that it was, well, the first bonafide compilation I had bought. I would soon discover that label compilations were a pretty great way of exponentially expanding one's consciousness of an imprint's general philosophy, its strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, it began my love affair with the Planet Mu label, which continues into the present day. I had known of u-Ziq for some time, of course, but I wasn't aware of the depth and character of his label. And third, it was the first digital album I bought and downloaded - after that point, I bought maybe one or two CDs (not counting artist-supporting purchases from shows) and relied instead on digital downloading for my music, which has brought many benefits, the least of which is a pronounced lack of clutter in my room and the most of which is an astounding (sometimes too astounding) selection from which to choose.

But enough about why it was important. Is it any good? Of course it is. Besides being a crackerjack A&R man, Mike Paradinas has an exceptional ability to sequence his label comps, and like the rest of the considerably varied Planet Mu compilations, 200 serves as a fascinating snapshot of the label as it existed at the time of release.

200 is, as the name might suggest, the 200th release on the imprint, and it does an admirable job of serving as a label retrospective. It's far from complete, but with a label this prolific encompassing a catalog this eclectic, perfection is hard to ask for. What's missing from 200 are representations of the label's first two major incarnations - First, as a home for Paradinas' friends and artists who were very close to his 90's IDM sensibilities, and second as a bastion of weird electro-acoustic composition. There aren't any Jega or Leafcutter John songs on this compilation (for those, you have to go back to earlier comps). What is accounted for is the label's third incarnation as the king of all breakcore (Venetian Snares, Shitmat, Duran Duran Duran and Hellfish) and the earliest signs of the label's transformation into a dubstep juggernaut (Darqwan, Distance / Vex'd, Pinch, MRK1, Milanese and Ital Tek) as well as tracks from an assortment of the label's perennial acid-derived staff (Luke Vibert, Ceephax, Syntheme, The Doubtful Guest, The Gasman) and an overtly poppy cut from the man himself. There are 26 tracks, many of them exclusive to the compilation, spread out over two discs. As daunting as it might seem, getting through the entire compilation is surprisingly easy - there's nary a bum song or difficult section. Some credit must go to the artists, but Paradinas' ear for sequence is commendable, as always.

Consider buying this one - $7 for 26 tracks is pretty damn good.

Tracklist:

Castilian	4:54
M/A.. Ximum Reespek	5:37
Good You Dub	4:52
Equino	4:51
Whitemark	4:18
Throw Some Ds	4:41
Merda Style 2004	5:11
Finnial (Chevron's Acid Sandwich Bhuna Mix)	3:03
Devil's Totem	4:23
Reading You	2:26
The Moon Is Gone	4:33
Fallen (Vex'd Remix)	6:18
The Tams	6:19
Punisher (Loefah's SE25 Remix)	5:36
Acid Meters	3:45
The Feeling	5:43
Pepper Spray	4:49
Shut Up (Hellfish Remix)	5:41
Broken Language (Exile Mix)	5:38
Nannita	7:11
Lexicon	4:16
Kausikan	4:21
Bleep Biopsy	4:36
Broken Dubstep	5:33
Face Blast	3:53
Sensi Skank	4:13

Buy from Planet Mu

Roof Light - What Makes You So Special EP (2010)

2010-06-15T22:07:00.001-06:00

(That's actually the art to the Kirkwood Gaps album out next week. I'm not actually sure What Makes You So Special even has artwork! Damn!)

It's been only two months since I picked up Street Level, a single from South London's Roof Light on the L2S imprint and a rare UK Garage release that I instantly took to. As I'm sure I've expressed elsewhere on the blog, things tend to get a bit rough for me when I venture out into the less abstract tributaries of electronic music, and so it is with UK dance music that strikes my ear as coming from the UKG tradition, rather than the dubstep tradition - they have the same roots, to be sure, but in general dubstep on the whole seems to be more elastic in its paremeters, possessed of a wider palette afforded by the expanses of dub. A great dubstep song may not necessarily be a great dance song, at least not to a degree that is plainly obvious (a good DJ can make just about anything work). UKG, it seems to me, is a more "straightforward" sort of dance music (though I am far from an expert), announcing itself from the first seconds of a track as being all about the beat. And so it was with Roof Light, at least at first. There was a jacking Chicago influence on that first single that really grabbed my ear.

What Makes You So Special starts off firmly on the soil of the UK, with the sweeping siren synths, grime-y synth stabs and cut-up diva vox of the title track. It's "urban" without being entirely stone-faced, handily conveying the bustle of the city. Classic Future Garage (as though I knew what that term really meant). "Face Up (To Your Sensibilities)" is rather surprising, a Brainfeeder-esque foray into squashed and stressed-out funk, with wah-wah guitar samples and pulsing, breathing atmospheric loops over a 4/4 beat. It's like being stoned in an echo chamber with a David Lynch film on loop. Squeaky FX are mildly distracting, but their lack of prominence sees them utilized almost as an asset rather than a liability.

The EP picks up in its back half with the floor-ready 4/4 provocation "Prayin' to TE" coming in like a lost cut from a Wagon Christ album, all scatterbrained synth and bouncing, repetitive bass. Finally, "Cakes, Biscuits and How's Yer Father" offsets distant, ethereal downtempo with minimal electric bass, a looped vox yelp and sparingly used 8-bit synth. It kind of floats up and refuses to build, making it an unusual UKG track that doesn't overtly court the floor, and it closes out

Unfortunately for all of us, What Makes You Special and Roof Light's full-length LP Kirkwood Gaps spell the beginning of the end for the Highpoint Lowlife imprint, as label boss Thorsten winds it down to focus on his writing. In its day HL was home to many varied artists, including the aforementioned Roof Light, Production Unit, 10-20 and The Village Orchestra. It will be missed.

You can buy Roof Light's new album Kirkwood Gaps here. The vinyl version of What Makes You So Special is out for pressing, and I will let you all know when it becomes available, as well as provide a link. For now, I've provided a link to the full Kirkwood Gaps album (there is no overlap in tracklisting between the two) Enjoy for now!

Tracklist:
01. What Makes You So Special
02. Face Up (To Your Sensibilities)
03. Prayin' to TE
04. Cake, Biscuits and How's Yer Father

*Buy link will go here!*
http://www.mediafire.com/?mwgnd5izyho (Kirkwood Gaps)

Juke from Addison Groove, via FACT

2010-06-12T14:51:00.001-06:00

Addison Groove, maker of the phenomenal "Footcrab", drops a mix for FACT featuring lots of Chicago Juke, which is turning out to maybe be a big new thing in dance music. I'm really enjoying it so far. Check it out!

http://www.factmag.com/2010/06/11/fact-mix-157-addison-groove/

Production Unit - Ghost Tracks (2010)

2010-06-12T14:44:00.000-06:00

And I'm back! My class is over and (as far as I know) I'm free for the rest of the Summer, so the blog should receive all the energy it needs. We'll start off this new period of activity with one of my "blind-fire purchases", an EP I picked up on the basis of a vague Boomkat description. It worked out pretty splendidly this time. Glasgow-based Dave Donnely has made a name for himself under the moniker Production Unit with his mixes for Numbers and releases for a number of imprints, as well as his continuing association with avant-electronic crate-digger The Village Orchestra (occasionally they perform together as Rose & Sandy). He has been known to write for Clash on occasion.

His latest release is a 5-track EP for Highpoint Lowlife entitled Ghost Tracks and it has really been one of those pleasant surprises you run into on occasion. I was worried that the only thing I would enjoy coming out this week would be Ital Tek (which I will be getting to at some point later on). Nominally at least, Ghost Tracks is dubstep - the rhythms and the tempo certainly fit the profile - but I keep wanting to say this is IDM, even though I tend to hear IDM in just about everything I like without being able to articulate it. Perhaps I should just settle on the definition of IDM being "electronic music with a distinct melodic sensibility", as Production Unit seems to have that in spades.

Lead-off track "It's Personal" starts off like any other steppa, vaguely sounding like a Pinch tune before taking on a wonderful, Purple-y regimen of synth sounds. It sounds a bit like something Alexander Brandon would come up with 'round Deus Ex day had he an interest in dubstep and lacked his tendency to overcompress synth sounds. The synth line that anchors the song is overdramatic in the best way, and there's never a point at which you get the sense that maybe any one element of the song is being held off on for the sake of another.

Second track "Axel" builds on an Autechre-esque bell synth and a pulsing bassline. It's a very dark track, reminiscent of Anodyne minus the more hardcore dance elements. Again my mind wanders towards Alexander Brandon. The third track is entitled "The Limehouse Cut" and it quickly establishes itself as the standout. I'm a sucker for the sort of droning organ melodies laid out from the first seconds of the track, and only a few minutes in a highly processed "guitar chime" synth lays down a sweet little melody, reminiscent of some of Planet Mu's criminally overlooked early roster (Dykehouse specifically, but also Frost Jockey and Jega, not to mention the man himself, u-Ziq).

The high-water period continues with "With An X", again returning to the Incunabula well for a dark, grimy exercise in futurism. A degraded, dubby girl vox sample fills out the tone established by the air-siren synth stabs, which spawn a second melodic section before the ferocious rhythm section barrels in. Is there any song burst-fire handclaps can't improve? If there is, I don't want to hear it.

"Grey" closes out the EP following two knockouts, slowing things down a bit with a skanking rhythm and classic canned synths - it closes on a quiet note, approaching the soundscape quality of "444" or "Windwind". It's not particularly thrilling, but that's only because it has the thankless task of cleaning up after two knockout tracks.

Unfortunately for my hard drive, this is one of those releases that spurs a frantic search for more of the same. A filler-free EP. Highly recommended.

Read full review of Ghost Tracks - PRODUCTION UNIT on Boomkat.com ©

Tracklist -
01. It's Personal
02. Axel
03. The Limehouse Cut
04. With An X
05. Grey

Buy from Boomkat
http://www.mediafire.com/?krudmbwodzj

Seeing as how John and Rob are always pulling all the weight around here...

2010-06-07T15:49:00.003-06:00

It's almost summer up here on the top half of the planet, and I can't think of a better impetus to get off my lazy ass and serve up some ska to all you loyal readers out there. Don't like ska? Too bad, because John and Rob are busy and they're the ones with the taste. In the mean time, here's a couple short reviews of some classic albums to get your summer started. Enjoy yourself!

Action Shot - Underage and Underpaid (2003)

Golden, Colorado's Action Shot was late to the ska-core party by about ten years, missing out completely on the movement's brief flirtation with Bosstones-fueled popularity, which is a shame because the band produced some of the most unique and distinctive ska music this millenium, and their catalog is already mostly forgotten.

Underage and Underpaid, their debut album (I understand they released a second but I can't for the life of me find any decent information on it) showcases a band with a keen understanding of both the ska and hardcore elements that make up their sound and a unique ability to blend those two elements. A number of the tracks feature long, complex intrumental intros reminiscent of Planes Mistaken for Stars, a Colorado band they shared the scene with in the early '00s, performed by the group's expert horn section (the saxophone parts, especially, are a blast). Action Shot's sharp musicality combines with clever, sentimental lyrics to produce an album loaded with jams you won't believe you'd never heard.

Mediafire!

MU330 - Crab Rangoon (1996)

St. Louis "psycho ska" outfit MU330 started making waves in the nascent ska scene of the late 80s that would one day grow into the third wave. Third wave ska has been widely derided as a movement, and rightfully so, as it spawned some of the worst acts to ever fall into the genre(Skabba the Hutt anyone? Not to mention Christian ska, which, with the exception of the great Five Iron Frenzy, is just as risible as it sounds), but it seems like most of the time when we look back on the era now we forget it also contained the heydays of Mustard Plug, Reel Big Fish, the Toasters, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Skankin' Pickle. MU330 rose from the ashes of Skankin' Pickle's breakup after taking on Pickle trombonist Gerry Lundquist and jumped from local heroes to ska legends.

Crab Rangoon, released the same year as Skankin' Pickle's final albums, is full of energy and, for lack of a better descriptor, the kind of "good vibes" that great summer ska is all about. Go ahead, give it a listen.

Mediafire!

Re: A Lull Period At The Blog

2010-06-03T15:34:00.002-06:00

I too am a bit embarrassed with my recent very sporadic posting but am also bogged down with the end of summer semester and the recent exams that I have taken (and am still taking until next friday). However, hopefully I can squeeze in a post or two within the next week. Lined up are some more great folk artists and maybe one or two electronic artists too.

For now I will leave you with a link to a couple of myspace pages of artists that may be reviewed soon:

Serious Sam Barrett

Peasant

Hope you like it!

A lull period at the blog

2010-06-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

Hey all, we're getting to the last few weeks of the Summer semester and time is mighty compressed, so I might not be able to post all that much over the next week or so. I've already been mired in studying for the last few days (hence the 3-day stretch without a post, something I am definitely not proud of). I'll try and work in some lighter releases and I'll definitely be reviewing Ital Tek next week when I can find time, but I might be a bit quiet. As always, Rob will sneak up on us when he wants to.

Free Ital Tek tracks

2010-05-30T19:40:00.001-06:00

I don't know how long this has been around, but on the Atom River site Ital Tek has put a free, previously unreleased track up for download. Entitled "Lightning Fields", it builds on the same themes that the Mako EP, Atom River's first release, established. Mako was something of a concept EP, as there were recurring motifs throughout the songs, particularly "Topaz" and "Manhattan". "Lightning Fields" shares a common root with "Manhattan", a surging sub-bass throb below the particulars of the track. It's great stuff, up to the same standard as the rest of the Mako EP, which brought Ital Tek to a whole other level, as far as I'm concerned (Bleep's got it for sale here). Tek's newest album on Planet Mu drops in a little over a week, and I'm pretty excited. You can pre-order that here.

Meanwhile, Tek's Soundcloud page has the track "Arashiyama" for free download. This one's a bit slower than the usual (perhaps some of that 130 bpm stuff that he's said to be pursuing recently) but it's just as melodic and possessed of a great low end.

"Lightning Fields"
"Arashiyama"

Free José González Music!!!

2010-05-28T11:10:00.002-06:00

Take 100 people who know who José González is and put them in a room. Ask them to raise their hands if they love José's music. Probably 97-98 people will raise their hands*. This is why I am pleased to share with you a link to Junip's FREE new EP. Yes, that's right, José's band who he has been playing with since before he began a solo career are giving away their new EP completely free and all you have to do is sign up to their mailing list.

So what are you waiting for? Either click the picture or this link and get yourself a wonderful new 4-song EP from Junip completely free. You can thank me later**.

*Opinion may not be actual fact.

**Thanks not necessary but would not be turned away.

Death Vessel - Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us

2010-05-26T16:56:00.003-06:00

The first time I heard of Death Vessel was as a support act for Iron & Wine (who were superb as expected) and I was absolutely blown away. With a falsetto voice that was completely unexpected from the man sitting and plucking his guitar on stage I was introduced to a completely different kind of folk music than I was used to and that gig really helped me to broaden my horizon in terms of folk music. No longer was I only looking at indie-folk or folk-pop but I was able to really appreciate the variety that folk music possesses and Joel Thibodeau was my [Death] Vessel for that (yes, that joke is poor and cheesy, so sue me).

Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us is actually the second full-length release from Death Vessel, released in 2008, after the debut Stay Close which was released in 2005 and from which I heard the first Death Vessel tracks I would begin to fall in love with. The stage name for Joel Thibodeau, an international man, born in Berlin, Germany, raised in Maine and after a few more steps now resides in Rhode Island, the band is a fluctuating entity depending on tour schedules and album recording and has supported over 20 different artists since it began.

The album itself is a real traditional American folk record, with a sound plucked right from the prairies and dropped into modern times. Thibodeau's falsetto voice is often mistaken for a female singer and this album certainly has a similar sound to Black Prairie although with much more accomplished vocals and a greater sense of harmony that is to be expected of a great folk band. You may also recognise the voice of Meg Baird providing backing vocals to a couple of tracks here along with her sister Laura Baird who play together as The Baird Sisters.

As this album holds great meaning to me I of course have to give it a glowing review but I don't believe that any listeners will be disappointed at all once they have tried it. If you like Bon Iver or indeed Iron & Wine this is an album you should give a chance. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Block My Eye

2. Jitterakadie

3. The Widening

4. Bruno's Torso

5. Obadiah In Oblivion

6. Exploded View

7. Fences Around Field

8. Peninsula

9. Circa

10. Belt of Foam

11. Untitled

Buy from Boomkat
http://www.mediafire.com/?2ogykifzzzw

[Click Picture to Download]

Yet another Autechre album in 2010

2010-05-25T19:43:00.000-06:00

Yes indeed, only a few months after the excellent return to form Oversteps, Autechre are due for another full-length LP, entitled Move of Ten. The physical releases are available for pre-order via Bleep, and they come with complimentary digital versions upon street date.

You can listen to the first track, entitled "y7", here. It's very acid house-y, and reminiscent of the more esoteric sounds of Quaristice. Can't wait!

iTAL tEK - Spectrum Falls (2010)

2010-05-25T00:05:00.001-06:00

Brighton producer Alan Myson aka Ital Tek (I'm not going to bother matching the cases) played a formative role in my transition between music-starved IDM refugee desperately clinging to 90's classics and scooping up a scant few records per year to the all-consuming rhythm junkie I am today. Back when I first heard "White Mark" all the dubstep to be had was either the hauntology of Burial and company, the harsh and bottomless industrial of Vex'd and Distance, or the Dancehall classicism of the Deep Medi stable.

Ital Tek's music served as a ligament between the melodic futurism of early 90's Autechre that I so loved and the current dubstep scene, and it helped open me up to the odder and more compelling strains of music that lied outside mainstream acclaim.

The drum and bass-indebted techstep tradition that Ital Tek is a part of has gained a lot of traction recently, with old-timers like Exit label boss D-bridge and his partners in crime Instra:Mental coming to prominence in the ever-more-fractious dubstep scene. But as I mentioned, Ital Tek's music is as much indebted to the IDM of the 90's as it is to any subset of jungle. Spectrum Falls, Tek's second release on his own Atom River imprint, follows the outstanding Mako EP and the Massive Error EP, on Atom River and Planet Mu respectively, and it precedes another EP and an LP to come on Planet Mu next month (I wrote a little blog post about it here). The man's been plenty busy.

Ital Tek's early releases on Planet Mu suffered from a bit of flab here and there (the full-length Cyclical, while having plenty of panache and some great songs, felt a little too long) but he seems to be getting sharper and stronger with each passing release. The beats hit harder, they're more intricately programmed, and the melodic sense of it all has only gotten better. Spectrum Falls continues the trend. The eponymous track starts out sounding a bit like D-Bridge, with a buzzing tone and spare, thumping beat, before launching into the sort of tuneful, bass-heavy sci-fi music that's Ital Tek's stock in trade. The track's cascading synth line fades and surges around the rhythm while an unmistakable bass wobble slides above it all. B-side "Giga" starts with a beat and Ital Tek's formidable oblong bass tone, before a Lost-era Autechre electronic string melody reveals itself in the distance and percussive synth elements rattle around in the dub, and the whole thing fades away.

It certainly does my heart good knowing that there's still music like this being made, even if it doesn't sound exactly like it did 15 years ago. If anything, this makes the prospect of substantially more music in the very near future that much more enticing. Can't wait.

Tracklist:
01 - Spectrum Falls
02 - Giga

Buy from Bleep
*Link redacted by request*

Free Space Dimension Controller album!

2010-05-23T18:44:00.000-06:00

It's called Unidentified Flying Oscillator, and it was released last year via Acroplane Recordings. I don't quite have the time for a review at the moment but suffice to say if you liked The Love Quadrant, you'll really dig this. Future funk at its finest, equal parts Aphex Twin and Daft Punk. Hat tip to All Fer teh Lulz, for mentioning it.

Download here!

Nikakoi - Selected (2010)

2010-05-23T14:38:00.001-06:00

This blog tends to deal primarily in UK Garage-derived dance music, but it's certainly been no big secret that as much as I enjoy that stuff, my heart is and perhaps always will yearn for quality music of that undefinable "IDM" nature. In that, May 2010 has been an exceedingly good month for me. First I had Anodyne's latest re-exploring long-forgotten Skam territory, and now Nikakoi comes literally out of nowhere to drop a full 30 tracks of modern IDM / Jazz composition on me, from the Laboratory Instinct people (a label that I only really know from being a home for Daedalus before he got swept up into the Beats blowup he helped foster). I'm like a kid in a candy store.

I stumbled across this release trolling through retail sites, and while I was initially put off by the "Clicks / Glitch" label (that classification invariably conjures up memories of minimal techno and Datach'i, neither of which are very pleasant for me) the gushing Boomkat review (is there any other kind?) namechecked AFX and Autechre. I'm a sucker for anything that sounds like them, and thus I procured it.

Frankly, I think Boomkat got it wrong on this one. From what I can track down about him, Nikakoi is a Georgian film director and composer, and that side of his work definitely shows - the tracks on Selected all share a certain cinematic expanse and grandeur. The music lacks the overt acid techno / hip hop influence of Autechre or AFX, but it's still legitimate IDM of the jazz / ambient varity. Nikokai shares far more with The Black Dog or Plaid than AFX.

There is far too much music here for me to go over track by track, but the soundtrack work of Plaid is a constant point of reference when I listen to Selected, and I think anyone who enjoyed their Heaven's Door soundtrack (my favorite album of 2009!) will really enjoy the riches on display here. The specifics of the music vary (minimal house on "Cverty2 For May", lush downtempo jazz on "City Lights Tutta2", ambient drone on "Music 2_Piano", mid-period Autechre in "Something Moving in my Liquid", the melodic d'n'b of u-Ziq on "Uuusmine", haunting ambient in "Lulaby for Little GG") but the tone is remarkably consistent for a gargantuan undertaking such as this. A remarkable collection, very highly recommended for fans of more plaintive sorts of electronica.

Read full review of Selected - NIKAKOI on Boomkat.com ©

Tracklist:

1-01		Cverty2 For May
1-02		City Lights (Tutta2)
1-03		Minimisss 3
1-04		Pp
1-05		Shunat
1-06		Music 2 Piano
1-07		Teess
1-08		Krasnagorsky Dream
1-09		Petja
1-10		AdgilCX
1-11		HACPYBYXO
1-12		Bavshwebi
1-13		Tin Soldier For Nika Ono
1-14		Undine 2
1-15		Child
2-01		Surup
2-02		Something's Moving In My Liquid
2-03		Sentimental
2-04		Lul
2-05		Manglisi
2-06		Nishan3test
2-07		Uuusmine
2-08		My Right Hand
2-09		MZEMF
2-10		Dzzenn
2-11		Sestrichka-Bratishka
2-12		Maia
2-13		Uxal
2-14		Maybe
2-15		Lulaby For Little GG

Blawan - Fram / Iddy (2010)

2010-05-21T00:10:00.000-06:00

Hessle Audio has made its name on its stable of garage / dubstep artists that lean heavily on the former half of that designation, boasting names such as Pangaea, Untold, Ramadanman and TRG, names that I admittedly have had trouble engaging in the past. This week sees Hessle releasing a 12" by mysterious producer Blawan, an anonymous DJ. There seem to be more and more of those these days - Burial attempted to stay anonymous for awhile, Zomby's a prominent producer that's currently behind a mask - and there's something to be said about how it's a reaction to the "celebrification" of dance music and DJ culture that even fans of awful, awful trance music dislike. There's probably a blog post to be written about that. I'm pretty sure there have been several. I think I may have read about it in some prominent net rag, so I'm not going to go into it.

But it serves a practical purpose, this anonymity, does it not? A prominent DJ can release new songs and not have them be tested against his other material. When we get something like Fram / Iddy, we can only really engage the music on its own terms (you might be able to compare it to other Hessle Audio releases, but I'm not prepared to do that).

So yes, this is "post-garage", or "future garage", or whatever you want to call it. "Fram" leads off the single with understated bass (at least, compared to most dubstep these days) and queasy, gloomy techno synths lurching and slithering around its propulsive garage rhythm, a barely audible whisper sample looping throughout. Halfway into the song the synth moves a bit farther to the front of the mix and gets a little more elastic, pulsing and inflating and deflating. It's dark and weird, and you can dance to it. Naturally, I love it.

"Iddy", the b-side, starts off with barebones percussion clicking away while a gloomy organ sound creeps up, but it's a fake-out - the rhythm kicks in, and can I just say how much I love the sound of the kits on this track? It's the best, most dynamic and funky use of minimal drum sounds I've heard in some months, a standard to which so many so-called Garage acts seem to be incapable of meeting. I was sold on the song before Blawan's techno/jungle synths made their appearance, rising and falling like the call of some strange bird and forming a simple chord melody towards the end of the song.

Aren't the greatest entertainments the surprises? Hessle Audio is an imprint I have a lot of respect for even if their releases aren't the ones I immediately gravitate towards when I'm sitting down next to my turntable. A few more releases like this and I might have to rethink the distance to which I hold them. Sublime stuff.

Tracklist:
01 - Fram
02 - Iddy

Buy from 7digital
http://www.mediafire.com/?izmmhafnn4a

New Aphex Twin on the Youtube

2010-05-19T08:59:00.000-06:00

According to yon P4k, Richard D. James has decided to play new songs during his DJ sets this year. Someone managed to get a surprisingly good recording of one of those songs, and it sounds a bit like Aphex Twin's work as The Tuss, crossed with a bit of his sensibility circa Selected Ambient Works. When I first read the headline I thought it meant there would be a new release, but there hasn't been one announced (though the bigwigs at Warp had hinted at a new album some time ago). New material doesn't necessarily entail new releases - James has been known to put tantalizing unreleased material on his myspace sites at very low quality bitrates. He just likes to fuck with people.

youtube link

Meg Baird - Dear Companion

2010-05-18T12:45:00.003-06:00

Meg Baird is a native of New Jersey though now resides in Philadelphia when not on tour and is also a member of Espers and The Baird Sisters. Dear Companion is her first solo LP, released in 2007, of folk songs beautiful and scenic, simple and elegant. With vocals comparable to Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny and Joan Baez aswell as being a part of the ever-reliable Tequila Sunrise label, this is most certainly a memorable album.

Folk music composition is, in my opinion, one of the more difficult genres to get just right. Too many artists can spoil the melody yet too few can leave the tracks stripped bare with no real string to catch on to, no real thread to keep your attention. Too many instruments can create a "wall of noise", something so impenetrable that it hurts to know so many people have used up their time to create it yet too few instruments can leave the vocalist out at sea, nothing to allow them a chance to help cover the notes they might not hit every time. This album, however, gets that mix just right.

Like Goldilocks the porridge here is just fine, the bewitching clarity of Baird's vocals sitting so perfectly with the solo acoustic guitar, the listener's raptness of attention so apparent (I couldn't have stopped listening to this before the end if I tried). Perhaps the most discernable perfection of this album comes in The Cruelty of Barbary Allen, Baird's version of The Ballad of Barbara Allen (an extraordinarily old folk song that has been covered by many, many artists). The lyrics waver not a note and the guitar plays in perfect time.

It would be wrong to place any of these tracks above another as there are no weak tracks here at all but single release The Waltze of the Tennis Players is most likely the track that someone may have heard before so if you liked that then the album is a must. For any who haven't heard Meg Baird before this is a golden opportunity to do so and one that really shouldn't be passed up.

Tracklist:

1. Dear Companion

2. River Song

3. The Cruelty of Barbary Allen

4. Do What You Gotta Do

5. Riverhouse In Tinicum

6. The Waltze of the Tennis Players

7. Maiden In The Moor Lay

8. Sweet William and Fair Ellen

9. All I Ever Wanted

10. Willie O'Winsbury

11. Dear Companion (Trad., after Shiela Kay Adams)

Purchase MP3/FLAC

(Pic Linked)

Room E - Palms Together EP (2010)

2010-05-18T02:49:00.000-06:00

As I've written more for the blog and become a little bit more established through whatever channels people use to find resources like this one, the frequency with which reviews have been solicited from Rob and I has increased by some measure. At first I was delighted with this development, but I soon discovered that this changed the context in which I listened to and reviewed music - There is a great deal of music that I stumble across that I don't review and share, for various reasons, chief among them I don't feel a particular connection to the music and have anything in particular to say about it.

So when I'm writing a commissioned review I'm left to actively search for a means to latch onto the record, and if I can't find it, that's pretty hard. I haven't gotten anything I'd pan if I had to, but I have received stuff that's either beyond my capacity to adequately describe (I've received drone albums that were just too hard to review without constantly repeating myself) or just not to my taste.

So it is particularly special when I get something sent to me that I really do take to. The context of the listening experience is no different than normal and thus the stress and pressure is gone as well - I focus on how I'm going to do the music justice, rather than whether it's even possible for me to do so.

So it was when I was sent Palms Together, an EP from the San Diego-based producer Room E, who emailed me along with a link to his Bandcamp page. I was as apprehensive in approaching Palms Together as I always am with solicited material (saying no is a learning process I have not yet completed), but upon hearing the first (free) song, I knew this was something I would have no trouble with.

The indelible mark of West Coast Beat, or "W*nky", hip-hop upon Palms Together is apparent - The music often contains a considerable number of disparate elements put together in ways that might seem odd at first listen (though the cohesion of said elements in Beat often hinges upon the song and the artist), and there is an emphasis on electronic synthesis as well as more traditional forms of looping and beat construction. But despite the genre's ubiquity at the present time, it is not impossible to distinguish oneself within it. Room E largely avoids the excessive busy-ness of the Beat standard-bearers in Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder stable.

First track (and the only song available for free) "A Home For You" kicks the EP off to a promising start, with warm, lived-in instrumental hip hop in the mold of Tom Burbank's more subdued moments. The synth is what really sells it - there's a great melodic sensibility on display, as well as an adeptness with multiple elements, that tell you that you're not dealing with an amateur here. "In a Wishing Well" is akin to the sort of heady bass music that DJs like Slugabed have popularized, with big, outward-facing synths, but it's an understated song. The intention seems to be getting into a groove rather than blowing out speakers. The way the song fades and then builds back up is marvelous. "Move On" is another bass-y song, but a little more aggressive. It could easily pass as a lost Slugabed track or a particularly hip-hop leaning Tobacco track.

The elastic bass and live guitar of "Brickface" make it perhaps the riskiest song on the EP (are those vocoded vocals?) but it largely succeeds. It's what UNKLE would sound like if they hadn't decided to be so mediocre in their rock aspirations. "Open the Window" is probably my favorite song on the EP, with a great thumping beat and an incredible organ build-up, recalling Flylo at his best. "Reflective Surface" is very much the "wonky" track on the album, with weird shuffled claps on the 2 beat and a wobble on the synths giving way to lounge-y jazz samples. The EP ends on a high note with the Eglo-ish number "Fellow Traveler", a funky abstract hip-hop track with a healthy dollop of techno soul. The nicely building manipulated synths and heavy sampling recall the mid-decade glitch-hop of DJs like Burbank and edIT, with a bit of FaltyDL's IDM/Garage sensibility thrown in for good measure.

Perhaps what was most striking about the EP, that which caught my ear more than anything else, was the fidelity of the production on display. While the low end probably isn't as formidable as it could be, I'm not convinced it has to be. Low end or no low end, the music sounds professional, which is more than you can say for a lot of demo material that ends up headed my way (hell, it's more than you can say for some commercial releases). The music breathes, resonates and vibrates, none of the elements crowd one another out, and it's never disorienting or off-putting.

As I noted earlier, the first track off the EP is available for free download from the following page. If you like it (and I suspect you will) you should really buy the full thing. $4 is quite reasonable, and considering it was all done independently, I think it deserves that sort of support

Free track / purchase from Bandcamp:
http://roome.bandcamp.com/

Serafina Steer - Change Is Good, Change is Good (2010)

2010-05-14T18:49:00.000-06:00

It's not often that I venture outside of the strict confines of electronic music when acquiring new music, these days. There are too many variables to keep track of for me, and while there's plenty of non-electronic music that I like, I'd be hard pressed to tell you exactly why I like what I do - I could name any number of elements that speak to me in a particular song or artist but don't do so consistently across scenes or genres. I feel like I can do that with electronic music, being as it's often so conservative in style. So getting a rock or a folk album is a bigger risk. Usually there has to be some sort of hook that gets me to pay attention. So it was with Serafina Steer - the blurb on Bleep mentioned offhand that one of the producers on Change is Good, Change is Good was Capitol K, an endlessly fascinating composer and producer who had a few releases on Planet Mu (given this blog, where else?), serving for a few years alongside Leafcutter John in that label's rotating stable of electro-acoustic folk acts (currently occupied by Sunken Foal and the Internal Tulips). Since then he's popped up as a producer on Deerhunter's first albums, but I'm not sure if he still works with them now that they've become hot shit in the indie rock scene. He lives the true bohemian artist lifestyle, squatting in abandoned London buildings and making music.

I was curious to hear his influence on Serafina Steer's album, and it was there to be sure, but I vastly overestimated the part he would play in the enjoyment of it. Serafina Steer is an English harpist / singer / pianist / songwriter who's had ties to the London folktronica scene going back several years (Change is Good, Change is Good is her second proper album). Comparisons to Joanna Newsom were made often and early, but as far as I'm concerned the similarities begin and end with the harp. Steer's sensibility is darker and more claustrophobic, not as airy or quaint as Newsom's. And of course, there are the light electronic touches. Word has it that Steer was struck by extraordinary bad luck when her harp and other instruments were stolen in the middle of the production process, but she and her associates adapted, incorporating more electronic elements and using homemade instruments.

The album starts off with the breathing organ and pulsing synth of "Shut Up Shop", with Steer conjuring up the ghost of Nico on vox. The song sounds distinctly british, incorporating elements of church music and pop. "Day Glo" is perhaps the song that most invites comparisons to Newsom, with the music speeding up and slowing down during the chorus, but the song retains Steer's distinctive, shady sensibility. "GSOH" is the breakout track, with the organ and drum forming a solid background to the slightly gothy folk-rock tune in the Sol Seppy mold. The weird folk of "The Valley", with its lovely backing vocals, sounds like the soundtrack to some bittersweet period piece romance. The speak-singing of "Motion Pictures" gives way to a gorgeous and emotive latter half.

"Drinking While Driving" glides on an analog synth arpeggi and Steer's captivating whisper-song. "How to Haunt a House Party" is a particularly strange throwback to 80's synth-pop, with drum machines and prominent synths, Steer fitting role of coked-up, dead-eyed ice queen perfectly. The french of"Margoton" recalls a particularly light-footed Electrelane, while "Port Isaac" brings Steer's voice to the fore, accompanied by very quiet organ and what sounds like a lyre (perhaps one of their homemade instrument) before bringing synths a bit farther forward into the mix. "The Sisters of Porportion" is a dark, sickly fairy tale of a song about a covetous man and the titular siblings. "Half Robot" is a gorgeous and lush folk song featuring more live instrumentation that ends far, far too soon. The final track "Ulular" features a woozy, Sol Seppy-ish echo and a beautiful violin accompaniment, a downcast ending to an already downcast sort of album.

I keep coming back to Change is Good, Change is Good between helpings of whatever new dubstep or UKG comes my way on any given day. There's just something about it - I listen to it and I feel like I'm listening to the diary of a particularly precocious, forlorn, perhaps doomed teenage girl. Somebody get this woman Sofia Coppola's number. We could have a monumental film soundtrack waiting in the wings.

Tracklist:
01 - Shut Up Shop
02 - Day Glo
03 - GSOH
04 - The Valley
05 - Motion Pictures
06 - Drinking While Driving
07 - How to Haunt a House Party
08 - Margoton
09 - Port Isaac
10 - The Sisters of Porportion
11 - Half Robot
12 - Ulular

Buy from Bleep
http://www.mediafire.com/?twmywmdyoyz

Mixes from the Get Some people

2010-05-14T17:09:00.009-06:00

The fine folk at Dark Arx put me in touch with the group known as Get Some. The group is made up of one Ouzo (not to be confused with French electro bro Oizo) and J Money, who've hosted such hot properties as Darkstar and Joy Orbison at their Get Some night, and have recently been associated with Dark Arx and Greena (of Applepips fame). Talked a bit with Ouzo and he directed me towards a few mixes he has up for download. Most of them are Ouzo's, but there's a Greena set up as well. I've got a few of them now and I'm enjoying them quite a bit. As a home listener, I find I have to be in a certain mood to listen to contiguous mixes, but it helps when they're as varied as they are here - the Plan B mix shifts through all different incarnations of the UKG genus - Garage, Future Garage, Funky, Dubstep. It's never boring, and that's more than you can say for a lot of mixes, when you're laying about inert in your apartment. I've upped two to Mediafire if you prefer that method of download. If you like what you hear, there are a few more mixes for download here.

Greena - Get Some Minimix
http://www.mediafire.com/?0ynwnwnkm1d

Ouzo - Live at Plan B
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjejwwtjimf

Dan Rockett - What I've Seen

2010-05-12T11:10:00.004-06:00

What I've Seen is the first LP release from Dan Rockett, a native of East Greenwich, Rhode Island and a notable face of the Boston music scene and it is an interesting listen to say the least. The styles on the album are numerous, including Rock, Blues, Country and many more with the backing of the Rockett Band to produce a brilliant record of emotional tracks that ebb and flow like a tide.

The album starts off with 2 tracks of alt-rock in Driving Home and The Real Thing, Driving Home being a more upbeat, light-hearted song and The Real Thing being a longer, more mournful track with the introduction of the blues backing that the rest of the album will use so well. Midnight Train and Sea Side bring in a couple of country influenced rock tracks using a slide to slow the album while Rockett himself creates reggae-styled lyrics to sit on top. This may seem like a strange combination but the result brings such a successful infusion that it is difficult to criticise the choice.

Next up we have Soul Love which is a brilliant blues track before we come to Wonderful Day, a track that seems influenced by so many great artists; The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Neil Young among them to create a languid and doleful piece of music that really brings the album together.

From here on in we have tracks that would likely be classified as alt-country and are all wonderful alone but it seems slightly unfortunate that with such an admirable combination of styles in the first half of the album the second half should all be so similar and seem to lack that spark that was obvious in the beginning. However, this is not detrimental to the album as a whole which is a consummate blend of many styles to produce a very noteworthy LP.

Tracklist:

1. Driving Home

2. The Real Thing

3. Midnight Train

4. Sea Side

5. Soul Love

6. Wonderful Day

7. Prodigal Son

8. Wind and Rain

9. My Song

10. Shadows and Bones

11. In The Light

(Pic Linked)

The Fallout 1 and 2 soundtracks, Remastered

2010-05-10T14:33:00.000-06:00

So I had to post this. When I was a kid, PC gaming magazines were a big thing, and every month they'd include a disc from which you could install demos of all different sorts of games. I wanted these but I didn't have any money, so I would go to the grocery store, rip open the plastic of the magazine and take the disc (I still have the one with the Starcraft demo on it, and the demo for the early Bioware game MDK, scratched to hell as it is). On one such fateful occasion I took a disc that had the demo for a game called Fallout on it, and I became obsessed. I badgered my parents into getting the game for me on Christmas, in 1997, when I was 11 years old.

If you're the type to play PC roleplaying games and you haven't played either Fallout 1 or 2, I'm telling you right now to do it. You've probably already played the the third iteration, which was made a decade after the second by a different team of developers, even if it's a pretty impressive game in its own right (there's yet another sequel, Fallout: New Vegas, being made by a handful of the original Fallout developers, which is very exciting)

Anyway, for the purposes of this blog you need to know about the soundtrack. Like Streets of Rage 2 and many other games before it (I still can't find the soundtrack for Civilization 2!), Fallout was a game that I played sometimes just to hear the music. Mark Morgan (formerly of awful cheese band Starship), the composer, created an indelible dark ambient soundtrack to the post-apocalyptic game. It's not hard to discern what Morgan's influences were. The style of the music is greatly reminiscent of the incredible, seminal Selected Ambient Works Vol. II by Aphex Twin (I thought I had a post on that one, but I don't. One for the to-do list, I suppose). In fact, Morgan was so reverent of Richard D. James' accomplishment he ventured to the farthest reaches of flattery and actively ripped off songs. To be sure, most of Morgan's songs are original and pretty excellent, but there is some blatant stealing going on. For example, Aphex Twin's "Windowsill" holds more than a passing resemblance to Morgan's "Moribund World", and Aphex Twin's "Grass" is exactly Mark Morgan's "City of Lost Angels".

But despite that controversy, the Fallout soundtrack is quite amazing, and like so many game soundtracks it's bound up in a dense thicket of fond memories and long nights spent in the front of a monitor. The day that I acquired the soundtrack on .mp3 was a joyous day for me (I still remember that feeling). So I'm excited to announce that today they released a remastered version of the soundtrack online, for free. Needless to say it sounds much, much better than it did before. I'm told the job was done by Mark Morgan himself but I have no way of knowing. Anyway, pick it up before Bethsoft throws a C&D at it!

D/L it here!

Since I can't keep my promises, here's a Chap remix of Gordon Brown!

2010-05-10T13:39:00.001-06:00

Yes, I was going to be studying but I have no discipline to speak of. Anyway, a treat for all of you Britons out there - art-rock band the Chap have released a remix of Gordon Brown's "bigot" gaffe. I haven't heard it yet, but they just released a single online via Lo Recordings and it's pretty excellent (Bleep link)

You can download the track in a variety of formats here. Enjoy!

New signings to Planet Mu

2010-05-10T00:12:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a quick break from studying to pass along some info on new signings by my favoritest label, Planet Mu Records. Mike Paradinas introduces the new blood:

I am really happy to announce to arrival of 3 new artists to Planet Mu.

Firstly: ORIOL .

Of Spanish and Trinidadian heritage, The Barcelona born (but Cambridge based) Oriol expanded his horizons and learnt his craft at London's broken beat related CDR (also home of Floating Points). With lush synths and a truly fresh sound evoking the summertime grooves of 80s boogie, 70s soul and mid 80s electro with a patina of nostalgia over the whole shebang. Look out for the single "Coconut Coast" (with remixes from Shortstuff, Falty DL and Jake Slazenger!) and his album "Night And Day", shortly.

Secondly SOLAR BEARS

Hailing from Dublin and Wicklow, Solar Bears formed in early 2009. Named after a Russian science fiction film by Andrei Tarkovsky, the band consists of John Kowalski and Rian Trench who met at sound engineering college. Sharing a love of world cinema, their music combines a number of different influences ranging from electronica to film composers like Ennio Morricone and George Delerue. Their sound is a mix of programming, acoustic instruments, synths and vintage tape machines. The freeform approach of their writing and recording lends itself to varying tones and colours. Tracks often have differing sound sources from each other creating a unique musical experience. Seeing themselves as part of the "Chillwave" or "Glo-fi" scenes, their amazing album "She was Coloured In" is released in September. Their debut E.P "Inner Sunshine" precedes it in August, also featuring remixes from Lone and Letherette.

Lastly by no means least
DJ NATE

DJ Nate, born Nathan Clark, grew up in the westside of Chicago, he is an icon in the juke world for his Footwurk Traks, made for the Footwurking battles.... These traks have their roots in chicago house tracks, such as the 'dance mania' label and these youngers have taken the traks hardcore for the Footwurk kids using samples from pop and hip hop, warping them in fruityloops etc: the juke house sound has evolved into something new. This is unique, new and jarring music, giving me similar feelings to when i first heard hardcore & jungle. Nate releases his single "Footwork Homicide" and album "Da Trak Genious" in September and October respectively.

Keep an eye on the discography as we will be shortly updating the release information for the rest of the year.

You can stream ORIOL's album on the Planet Mu site, and it's amazing stuff. Like if Bonobo and Floating Points had a baby.

Takin' a Break for Finals Week

2010-05-07T02:25:00.000-06:00

Hello all,

This is the last week of the Semester at Uni so I'm going to be trying to spend as little time online as possible, and use the time I would've spent online studying for exams. I don't know how effective it will turn out to be, but I'm going to give it a shot at the very least. Rob / Arthur probably have some stuff to share. I know I've got a lot yet to get to and that pile's only going to get bigger but then, it never really gets smaller. See you in 7 days!

Some Thoughts on the Blog

2010-05-05T04:29:00.003-06:00

It's been 7 months and ~192 posts since I started this blog. It's changed quite a bit - I started it off as an outlet for my shitty Mixmeister "mixes", then as a rather nondescript link depot,and eventually I got Rob (and then Arthur) to sign on and write and it became something resembling a proper review site. I put a lot of effort into this blog, and I really enjoy it.

I soul-search, sometimes, about this blog. I put a lot of effort into it. Someone once asked in the comments section why I provide links to Mediafire in my reviews (and I'm sorry I never answered that in a timely manner, commenter, if you're reading this). It's a tough question to answer. On some level I feel like if I didn't provide the Mediafire links people wouldn't be paying attention. As of this writing there are 20 people officially following the blog not including FB or forum friends or people who bookmark or RSS, and who knows how many there are in those groups. It's staggering to me and so humbling, and I love writing for you guys. But at the same time, while I've only gotten positive feedback on the content of my posts from the actual artists themselves, the reaction to the Mediafire links is mixed - avant-garde and ambient artists tend to approve, other artists tend to disapprove.

I got a very nice email today from Dark Arx requesting link redaction on my review of the Blood Vein EP asking to redact the link, and I did, gladly. So I started thinking hard about this. While The Pop Stalinist has all the trappings of a review site it really feels personal to me, I'm sharing with you all my personal feelings on the music that I hear. It greatly intimidates me when people solicit their music to me for review, because that alienates me from the normal experience of which I write, which is of an "organic" and "authentic" discovery of music I like (I've never written about music I disliked - don't think I ever could). And so I tend to think of providing links as being akin to burning that album or copying that tape you really loved in high school and giving it to your friends and feeling like you're sharing something. But ultimately does that absolve me? I don't think it does. Artist do put countless hours into this music that I toss around and that's significant. I'm not entirely convinced of the notion that the $5 I put in for the Dark Arx EP gives me real, true ownership of the material such that I can give it away. I don't think it would be honest to claim that it doesn't matter because you can google the albums and find other links just as easily, one because that doesn't legitimize it and two because in some cases my links are the only links out there (something that has been pointed out to me). I do believe that music is meant to be shared amongst people, but are these links really analagous to mixtapes between good friends? I don't know.

At this point I have made a compromise with myself that I will assume that it's okay, and if an artist expresses that it's not, I will take any and all actions towards satisfying the artists' wishes. Ultimately, I pay for every album I put up and I trust that my readers will too. To this end, in the last few months I've resolved to put purchase links in the posts (something I haven't always done, unfortunately). In these days especially, when you can be inundated with music day in and day out it's easy to think of music as a sort of commodity that you pick up and use and discard, like a hair dryer or a toothbrush. I hope that isn't what a blog like this fosters in people. I have a real passion for this music and I think it ought to be celebrated. So I'm going to continue my current policies so that more people might celebrate with me. If you have thoughts or comments or disagreements I'd love to hear them.

Zamboni Soundtracks, Archived

2010-05-04T22:27:00.000-06:00

Hey all, I saw into my future recently when great resource and all-around blogspiration Zamboni Soundtracks got pinched by the Blogger fuzz, and the hundreds of posts of vital music contained therein were apparently lost. But no longer! There is an archived version of the blog here, for those who are interested (and you ought to be).

Dark Arx - Blood Vein (2010)

2010-05-04T22:22:00.002-06:00

Perhaps the most prevalent offshoot of dubstep has been the sort that has infused itself with the stylistic sensibility of Detroit techno, and there are plenty of good reasons why this is the case - the stalwarts of the style are all respected old-timers in the dubstep scene (Midlake, Peverelist, Martyn, etc.) and it's not, strictly speaking, a regional movement - While the vast majority of dubstep innovation was taking place in and around London, the Techno / dubstep scene was perhaps the first variant to find roots outside of that region (particularly in the Netherlands, where Martyn and 2562 made their names). Furthermore the unadorned, minimalistic nature of Techno was well-suited for a style of music that was steeped in the somber tones of Industrial and Garage in its earliest incarnations. And in a greater sense dub and techno have always been flirting with one another (for those of you who aren't familiar with Jamaican dub music's importance to dance music that followed it, The AV Club has a light primer here).

As I've said elsewhere, my entry into techno as a whole is still in its fledgling stages. Growing up on the off-kilter melodic sensibility of 90's IDM, it takes a bit of effort on my part to orient myself towards techno, which relies less on dramatic shifts and big moments and more on sustained grooves and incremental changes. It takes a patience that oftentimes I can't find within myself. In some cases it's easier to find that patience than others. The only dub techno artist I've enjoyed in some measure on album-length releases is Martyn, who admittedly taps into brighter hues than Peverelist or 2562, neither of whom I particularly enjoy, or Midlake, whose releases are almost as impenetrable to me as Autechre was in their deepest glitch phase.

Recently undertaking the release of music in this vein is London's Dark Arx, an artist I'm having a difficult time gathering info on. I only picked his Blood Vein EP up this morning along with a number of other releases and I'm enjoying all three of the tracks featured.

Like all good dub techno artists, Dark Arx makes good use of negative space in his songs. It's the opposite of something like Flying Lotus' auditory assault - silence gets in the cracks between kicks and snares, giving the music a sense of depth, with only deep bass to accompany it. That's ultimately what's appealing about dub techno, as a home listener. Title track "Blood Vein" eventually gives way to a nicely delayed organ line in lockstep with the bass groove, making it a particularly dancefloor-ready song. "Streak" recalls the heady, urban dub techno of Scuba, with a rhythm clearly indebted to the dancehall tradition and far-off woodwinds sounding under ping-ponging synth stabs and clattering delay'd percussion.

"Argent & Sable" starts off with a warm analog hum and undulating synths sliding over it while the rhythm and wobbling bass line start coming into focus. It builds nicely, but unfortunately doesn't go anywhere - it would probably make a fantastic first track for a mixed DJ set, but its lack of release prevents it from being my clear favorite of the EP.

I'm beginning to think that even more than dubstep proper, dub techno is a style of music that is best experienced in single form, rather than album form. I don't think there's a bum song on this EP, but I don't know how I'd react to a whole album of Dark Arx music. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. For now I'm content with its service as one of my first tentative forays into proper dub techno, and one that I can say that I enjoy without caveats.

Tracklist:
01. Blood Vein (6:01)
02. Streak (5:02)
03. Argent & Sable (4:06)

Buy from Bleep
More Dark Arx at Soundcloud

Get Shakes - Love Hate / She Found The Diamonds EP (2009)

2010-05-03T12:12:00.007-06:00

Get Shakes is the brothers' Farrow (Matt & Darren) from the Isle of Wight, UK. Any gamers amongst our readers may recognise them from their track Disneyland Pt.1, featured on the Radio Broker portion of the GTAIV soundtrack and any film fans may know them from their track Sister Self Doubt, featured in the film 21.

This EP, however, is a different style to the one any previous listeners may be used to, the brothers themselves labelled it "acid house inspired pop" and that is most definitely an accurate representation of the tracks. One word they failed to mention though is fantastic as that is most definitely what this EP is.

Leading out with the AA sides Love Hate and She Found The Diamonds as the first two tracks we are treated to two sensational dancefloor fillers. Love Hate is an acid house track very much akin to Boyz Noize and Erol Alkan's widely acclaimed track Waves and She Found The Diamonds is an LCD Soundsystem-esque house track with a less powerful drum beat and more educated synths. The other three tracks, Day Like Today, Back On It and Billy The Hood carry on the house music juggernaut that is this EP but add a small disco influence too that brings the EP back in to general listening territory rather than simply dancefloor music and ties the whole collection together.

From the first listen, Matt and Darren Farrow’s influences for their double A side single 'Love Hate' / 'She Found The Diamonds' are obvious. Elements of LCD Soundsytem and DFA can be heard throughout, which is no doubt a nod to the days of ’06 when they were known simply asShakes and were famed for their underground hit'Sister Self Doubt'. Whilst initially their sound appears to remain unaltered, there are subtle differences between their previous hit and this latest offering, with the latter having a more polished, mature sound with accessible lyrics and infectious beats.

'Love Hate' is described by the band as ‘acid house’ influenced pop and features poignant lyrics overlaying a complex arrangement of synth, drums and cymbals. There is certainly a time and place for this sound; this is music to finish a bottle of Rosé to before you head into town for the night. The pounding rhythm of the single, however, will not be of much use the morning after. The AA side'She Found The Diamonds' is not too dissimilar in its nature but is the very much the ‘younger sister’ of the two; softer and more easy-going, without the overbearing drums.

Get Shakes have proven that they can withstand the test of time, with this single being as enjoyable, if not more so, than their previous hits; if this offering is anything to go by, we can expect good things from their much anticipated full-length debut.

thisisfakediy.co.uk

Tracklist:

1. Love Hate

2. She Found The Diamonds

3. Day Like Today

4. Back On It

5. Billy The Hood

http://www.mediafire.com/?zyynykkk31v

(Picture linked)

Swindle - Airmiles EP (2010)

2010-05-03T00:34:00.002-06:00

Once again Planet Mu makes a foray into instrumental Grime styles with Swindle, a producer and collaborator of Terror Danjah's. There's some distinct element within Grime that I find both thrilling and off-putting, oftentimes in the same song. I can't seem to put my finger on it. It's present in most every song I've heard in the style but damned if I can't describe it.

Swindle's got whatever that is in spades. I like the music just fine, but there's some unknown element that's keeping me from outright loving it. The title track starts off like the Jamiroquai songs I grew up with, with noticeably live-sounding drums setting it apart from the common garage / dubstep sound (perhaps this is the influence of that "UK Funky" I've heard so much about). But for the bulk of the song that melodicism is dropped in favor of a dancehall-friendly descending synth arpeggi.

"Daredevil" and "Coffee" sound a bit like the Street Bass that Starkey champions, with a little less emphasis on the bass - "Daredevil" is a little goofy even before the doo-wopping vocal samples make their appearance, and the strutting rhythm of "Coffee" and wah-wah guitar synths recall the music to some long-lost Sonic the Hedgehog level. It's 90's electro-funk as it was before Dam Funk revitalized it, and it's probably the best thing on the EP.

"Molly", the final track on the EP, finds Swindle leaning even harder on the funk style, sounding every bit like Daniel Savio, plus the sort of digital shine that the Skweee scene generally eschews. That little organ flourish he plays is magic.

So all in all, the Airmiles EP starts off a little shaky and gets much stronger as it goes along. I suspect that the title track wasn't originally meant as an instrumental, but as a straight-up grime track, and as such the lack of vocals make it feel a tad incomplete. The other songs hold up a lot better on their own, and they show Swindle's firm grasp of not-so-guilty pleasure funk, filtered through his distinctly UK-bound sensibilities. A definite grower.

To say the title track on Swindle’s new Planet Mu EP “Airmiles” is a shock is like saying that the electric chair would give you a bit of a buzz. It opens with dramatic chords, the beat bubbling underneath in frantic patterns. There are some brief flutters of fractured p-funk synth before this absolutely fucking enormous synth line comes bursting out, collapses down a flight of stairs and revs up to do it all again, this time with the beat jackhammering underneath. It’s like having a defibrillator applied to your chest. Then he cools it off a little bit; the beat still thumps but the synthlines are pitched-up and woozy before that massive, juddering beast comes back in and obliterates everything. He finds time in the middle to bring back those delicate, drifting chords he opened with, the percussion back to a simmer but this time you know what’s coming and when it does return resistance is futile and you will be assimilated. Truly one of the biggest tracks of the year. You’d think following that up would be hard, but “Daredevil” wrings out lurid synthlines over this roiling, gut-wrenching bassline that’ll curdle your insides. He even drops what sounds like a funky Bootsy bass solo into the middle. If George Clinton hears this, he is going to flip out. “Coffee” continues in the same funkadelic vein, but forsakes pure bassweight science for a more limber psychedelic flex that has enough smouldering sensuality that it could knock Mother Earth up for the fourth time. Things are closed out with “Molly,” which mangles the template, wrenching the melody into an off-kilter whirl, and sounds like the sort of thing James Blake might do if he was abducted by the Parliament mothership. It caps off an absolutely fantastic release and an awesome showcase for Swindle’s talent. Alongside likeminded producers Terror Danjah, Royal T, Rude Kid and SRC, Swindle is smack in the middle of one of the most exciting scenes going today and this EP is another stellar example of what ‘grime’ means these days. - One Thirty BPM

Tracklist:
01. Swindle - Airmiles    (05:42)
02. Swindle - Daredevil (03:50)
03. Swindle - Coffee      (03:52)
04. Swindle - Molly        (05:20)

Buy from Bleep

...And Folk You Too!

2010-05-01T22:03:00.003-06:00

Seemingly hot on the heels of John, here is a folk mixtape that I put together this week to recap on the posts already made and to show some of my favourite artists of the moment. As with John's producers mix I have included a .txt file with the tracklist on and rather than put the mediafire link at the bottom it should now be linked to the image when you click on it. To try to keep the wrath of the record companies away I will be trying to do this from now on. Enjoy the tracks and hope you keep reading and enjoying our little piece of land in the corner of the inifnitude that is the internet.

Producers of Music #1

2010-05-01T04:32:00.001-06:00

So here it is, unannounced, my first (maybe last?) mix .zip thing for the blog. Producers of Music #1 is an roundup of all my favorite new / newish producers in the electronic music scene. I'm not going to post the tracklisting because honestly, doing so probably increases the chance of it getting flagged exponentially. However, I have included in the archive a .txt file with the tracklist and brief reflections on each artist represented. Some or most of these might be familiar to you, but I've tried to mix it up a bit. It's sort of a faux-compilation, but think of it as a mix, for you. To call it a compilation gives me far too much credit. Download and enjoy! ~ John

Space Dimension Controller - The Love Quadrant (2009)

2010-04-30T01:24:00.000-06:00

Irishman Jack Hamill made a stunning debut last year with The Love Quadrant, an amazingly assured 12" (on Boxcutter's Kinnego imprint. Hamill's only 19 years old, but he lays down tracks that ought to make DJs twice his age green with envy. Picked this up on a lark and suffice to say it's been love on first listen.

The first track, "The Love Quadrant", is incredible electro-funk house with a vocal turn from Kat Kirk (plus a goofy "soul man" vocoded verse from Hamill), a beautiful synth melody and a heavy thump that picks up about halfway through the track. A must-have for those who like Dam Funk.

The second track, "Electropod-250 Collision" is a similarly house-inflected number, a languishing, jazzy downtempo number that recalls Floating Points, with an added bit of elastic electro bass.

I don't know where I was when this single was released, but I was really missing out. Jack Hamill is definitely a name to watch out for in the future - He just released another vinyl single, I believe, but no digital version exists to my knowledge (yet). Might just have to pick up the vinyl. Highly recommended for the pop-oriented amongst you.

Tracklist:

A	The Love Quadrant	4:30
	Vocals [Additional Vocals] - Kat Kirk
B	Electropod-250 Collision	4:24

Buy from Bleep
http://www.mediafire.com/?qmmy2cht4wg

Mind.In.A.Box - R.E.T.R.O.

2010-04-29T18:57:00.005-06:00

Mind.In.A.Box are an electronic music duo from Vienna, Austria who make a quirky brand of electronica that is similar to futurepop but also not quite the same. R.E.T.R.O. is their 4th full-length release and their first since 2007. Their albums tend to follow storylines though R.E.T.R.O. seems to buck that trend for the first time though it takes nothing away from the fluidity of the music.

The album starts out with The Last Ninja III (The Last Ninja appears later on the album though part II seems to have been disregarded), a track that screams to be played as an opener to an epic and in a way it is; the album lasts almost an hour. It could almost be described as the "sound of star wars", space battles and all. As the album progresses the tracks shift styles slightly to tell a story (though I am unsure of exactly what this tale is) and you can find yourself picturing scenes from movies during these songs or even just imagining new scenarios of your own to fit the grand scheme of this LP.

Only the tracks 8 Bits, Mindkiller and I Love 64 contain lyrics and even then Mindkiller is simply full of vocal samples. I Love 64 may well be a nod to The Beatles' When I'm 64 yet it is far from the same song and 8 Bits is probably the stand-out track here, easily able to be released as a single and possesses qualities usually reserved for Scandinavian electro-pop luminaries Röyksopp and Datarock.

This LP is high quality electronica, futurepop, technopop etc. and you should try it if you like Scandinavian electronica, electro-pop or futurepop in the vein of Neuroticfish. I also highly endorse it as it took me a fair while to find and I am happy that it bettered my expectations.

Tracklist:

1. The Last Ninja III

2. Lightforce

3. The Last V8

4. Supremacy

5. Shades

6. 8 Bits

7. Mindkiller

8. The Last Ninja

9. I Love 64

10. We Cannot Go Back To The Past

11. Whatever Mattered

http://www.mediafire.com/?4j5noqxnino

Luke Vibert - Chicago Detroit Redruth (2007)

2010-04-28T04:59:00.001-06:00

It was way back in the early aughts, and I was in high school. Like any good music geek I needed a niche that set me apart and defined me, and while I had shown quite a bit of love towards funk and electronica, I was an angsty teen and I needed music that reflected that fact. Thus I developed an abiding interest in post-industrial music of all sorts (though tending more towards the proper post-industrialism of Coil and the metal of Ministry over goth stuff like Skinny Puppy or EBM stuff like Combichrist). Naturally I became one with the Nine Inch Nails cult, and through that particular love came many of the loves I have today, directly or indirectly. My interest in Luke Vibert came more or less directly from Nine Inch Nails - Trent Reznor had run a label called Nothing for a time in the mid-to-late 90's, and aside from NIN itself, Trent's pomo sludge clown protege Marilyn Manson, and the fortunate / unfortunate industro-pop outfit Prick, the label was primarily concerned with re-releasing classic Coil and Warp Records albums Stateside. So I visited the Nothing site sometime in the early aughts and saw these names that I hadn't seen before but I felt compelled to investigate - Squarepusher, Plaid, Autechre, and Plug. The P2P services of the day only allowed me the benefit of single songs, one at a time, but in some ways discovering catalogs song-by-song is preferable to the album-by-album methods you find today. It was like glimpsing some grand show through holes in a sheet. Invariably the singles I picked up were my favorites on the gestalt albums I would pick up later.

Anyway, it was a meticulous thing - You have this band you like, you see who remixes them, you explore the remixers, rinse, repeat. Luke Vibert was unfortunate enough to turn in a remix of "The Perfect Drug" as Plug that I didn't like all that much, and thus my urge to explore his output was blunted somewhat. But Plug's page on the Nothing site also mentioned an alias by the name of Wagon Christ, which, well, a name like that makes you curious. Too bad the P2P sites didn't have a lot of stuff by him - this was before digital distribution of .mp3s via legal means was a big thing, and while I got a few tracks off of Wagon Christ's Musipal (which I adored and still adore) the trail ran cold past that. So I forgot about Wagon Christ and Plug and got on with my life.

Fast forward a few years, and the AV Club runs a short, glowing review of Chicago Detroit Redruth by this Luke Vibert guy and I decide to track it down, and while I think it's love at first listen it turns out all the little tracks I had held fast to over the years by Wagon Christ and Plug were in fact Luke Vibert tracks. Did I mention that Vibert uses a lot of aliases? He has a lot of aliases. He seems to have retired many of them recently, though his output hasn't slowed much (just last year he released at least 2 full albums under his own name, plus who knows how many mixes and / or remixes).

Anyway, what you have to understand about Luke Vibert is that he is a true blue IDM luminary, even if he doesn't get the recognition that the Aphex Twins and the Squarepushers do. I recall reading some latter-day Pitchfork review in which the writer considered the idea that IDM was less a "movement" than a number of different artists with distinctive individual styles who got lumped into this trend that didn't actually exist. I think on some level that's probably correct - it doesn't make a lot of sense to draw direct comparisons between, say, Autechre and Plaid. And Luke Vibert's music in particular shares the heavy influence of acid techno with many other significant IDM artists (particularly Aphex Twin and Squarepusher). It wouldn't do to call him an also-ran, though. While acid-obsessed IDM artists all share use of certain sounds, their particular styles are quite varied. Squarepusher applied abstractified acid synth work to jungle (and later, to fusion jazz), Aphex Twin made classicist acid techno but it also intermingled with hardcore rave and drum and bass music.

Luke Vibert, by contrast is a huge, huge hip hop fan. It's all he listens to, reportedly. While he tries his hand at a lot of different styles of music he tends to always gravitate back towards abstract hip-hop of the pre-Dilla variety. Which is to say it features a lot of funky drum loops and analog drum sequencing. Vibert's stuff also features an infectious madcap personality that seems to be present in a lot of IDM DJs, but while Aphex Twin is supposed to be sinister and more than a little weird, Vibert's music has a Loony Tunes quality to it - thick, rubbery basslines, a penchant for danceable beats, upbeat melodies.

The best of those qualities are on full display in Chicago Detroit Redruth. Opener "Comfycozy" sets the tone perfectly, with cheesy lounge-jazz piano accumulating drums and synth elements. It's a very well structured and dramatic song, and it's always on the shortlist for kickers to my own mixes. "Brain Rave" is what it says on the box, showing the first overt acid influences on the album with oscillating 303 melodies and a strained organ backing. "Radio Savalas" hits pretty hard with a live-sequenced acid bassline bouncing between the kicks and snares of the hard-charging beat.

"Breakbeat Metal Music" offers a bit of weirdo speak'n'spell rave narration, but the song flatlines toward the middle (this is a problem with a few of Vibert's most recent songs). "Comphex" slows things down a bit and introduces a more ambient feel below the funk drum loop and arpeggiated synth.

The album's centerpiece is "God", a seriously weird but deeply mesmerizing electro-funk stomp over soaring choral samples and a typical panoply of recordings of people exclaiming the titular word. It's followed with "Clikilik", the most devastating dance track on the album, mining the vein of modern hardcore acid dance music (the song even features a female rapper famous for working with Simian Mobile Disco, one of Vibert's direct descendants) while still retaining that signature Vibert melodicism. "Argument Fly" is one of only two straight-up acid techno tracks on the album, and it's a little dense to get through even if the beat is a good one. "Rapperdacid" is downtempo hip hop not sparing in swagger. "Rotting Flesh Bags" is a goofy drum-driven track with a late-period Wagon Christ feel, and album closer "Swet" features live drums, lasergun sounds and a bell choir. It might be a little much, but "a little much" seems like a foreign concept to Mr. Vibert. It's a testament to his skill and talent that it works for him as often as it does.

Ultimately Chicago Detroit Redruths stands out as Luke Vibert's best and most consistent work in his post-Wagon Christ career. He's released a few full-length since then and they don't seem nearly as cohesive as this does. As the article below mentions, it's also a perfect intro record to the world of Vibert, and perhaps into IDM / Braindance in general. Check it out.

Luke Vibert began his rude-ass tinkering ways in hip-hop with a Beasties-like group in the late ’80s, before refocusing his efforts as a bedroom producer. In the early ’90s, the developing influences on his solo efforts quickly filled his artistic mug, spilling into multiple expressions of electronica. Consequently, Vibert began adopting pseudonyms to cope with all the variety. The first Wagon Christ album appeared in ’94 as an outlet for Vibert’s more ambient-based work, while his first drum & bass ego, Plug, popped up a couple years later. By ’99, he had begun collecting personalities like most of us collect STDs: "Kerrier District" handled his mutant disco house, "Amen Andrew" uses the Amen Break for all his drum ’n’ bass, "Spac Hand Luke" covered grime, and recently "Ace Of Clubs" became a pure acid outlet. Despite the multiple personalities, Vibert also released music under his own name, which dealt with more hip-hop- and acid-oriented flows. So, where does that leave his second eponymous album for Planet Mu?

Judging from the hodgepodge of styles and sounds within, Chicago, Detroit, Redruth seems to be a home for Vibert's newer tracks that aren’t easily classifiable. With Ace Of Club’s debut taking care of his acid-hop itch earlier this year, it now appears that aimless variety is the order of the day, with Vibert’s incredibly bright, creative guiding light holding the center of attention. Drawing on all his various styles, “Comfycozy” blends some ambient organica with his Plug-style drum ‘n’ bass, while “Brain Rave,” “Radio Savalas,” and “Argument Fly” bring all the 303 acid you can handle. “Breakbeat Metal Music” channels deep house through speak-and-spell hell, with “God” pimping Enigma doing huge bass trip-hop madness and “Rotting Flesh Bags” covering straight-up space hip-hop territory. Acid sounds and Luke’s trademark warm, analog beats are the eye of the aural storm, where anything and everything else goes.

Now, I don’t believe Chicago, Detroit, Redruth is Vibert's best work to date – that definitely falls to personal preference – but newbies have to start somewhere. Chicago, Detroit, Redruth is just as good a place as anywhere else, made more so by the unique electronic jumble it has to offer. Once you’re in, though, prepare to hunt down a lot of back catalog. There’s a lotta gold in them thar hills. - Alan Ranta, Tinymixtapes (3.5/5)

01	Comfycozy	5:34
02	Brain Rave	4:31
03	Radio Savalas	3:41
04	Breakbeat Metal Music	4:39
05	God	3:45
06	Clikilik	5:18
07	Argument Fly	7:53
08	Rotting Flesh Bags	4:58
09	Comphex	5:29
10	Rapperdacid	3:41
11	Chicago,Detroit,Redruth	5:33
12	Swet	8:05

Buy from Bleep

Roll the Dice - Roll the Dice (2010)

2010-04-25T04:44:00.000-06:00

I only knew of Fever Ray by reputation. Despite her debut being routinely lauded as the best electronic album of last year, I never really got around to it, mainly because I hadn't really enjoyed much of The Knife. So it was with some trepidation that I started listening to Roll The Dice, which has gained some notoriety as a Fever Ray-related project. Roll the Dice is composed of two members, Peder Mannerfelt and Malcolm Pardon. Mannerfelt callaborated on the Fever Ray project to some extent, and Pardon is a well-known producer of Swedish TV and Film music. Roll the Dice is their semi-improvised collaboration.

It's something of a trip. While the ever-present synth loops might recall acid house and techno, the album reveals itself to be more in the kosmische tradition, as there are no drum sounds to be heard. The whole of the album consists solely of piano and gurgling analog synthesizer. This gives Roll the Dice a distinct, musty 70's aesthetic - you can practically hear the wood paneling, the flourescent light, the orange-brown palettes, the shag carpeting. Opener "The New Black" slowly expands like a good Tangerine Dream song, while the understated synth strings of "Swing" give it the feel of a lost Gottsching track. "Guadeloupe" bends the rules a bit by utilizing stabs of synth string to create a percussive element - it sounds a bit like a jug instrument, and the way it ushers in the fragile melody of the piano line is really marvelous.

"Into the Ground" is as close as Into The Ground comes to acid techno, with its thick, reverberating arpeggio anchoring the song, recalling Luke Vibert's most far-flung experiments, or AFX at his most grouchy. It's a dark, angry track, flirting with dissonance at times but still maintaining coherence. "Axee" switches things around by making the piano the percussive skeleton of the song, and bringing a truly weird, thudding synth arpeggio that starts small and gets progressively messier and wider as a more melodic piano line is added. "After", on the other hand, recalls latter-day Autechre, with ethereal pads skittering about, like an indecipherable alien language breaking into song. The way it breaks into Eno-esque ambience is truly breathtaking. The album closes out with "Undertow", which starts with an arpeggiated synth line that almost sounds like a brass instrument, and slowly, dramatically adding additional synth elements - a pad, a melodic synth lead - until the piano comes in at a low octave, completing the picture.

It's a relatively "short" album at only 7 songs, but even then it's extremely impressive how Roll the Dice can make their two chosen instruments so versatile - the character of the sound never truly changes, but every track is completely distinct. This album holds up with the best of the 60's-70's kosmische classics. If Kluster, Manuel Gottsching or Tangerine Dream interest you at all, you need to hear this album. On the shortlist for best of the year. Highly recommended.

*Massively anticipated release of this mysterious Fever Ray related project for fans of John Carpenter, Emeralds, Cluster, Afx - on a strictly limited vinyl pressing* Roll The Dice is a very special collaboration between two Swedish studio boffins, Peder Mannerfelt and Malcolm Pardon. The keener eyed among you will recognise Mannerfelt from his involvement with the stunning Fever Ray project, while Pardon is known for his work as a behind-the-scenes producer of music for film and TV. They've shared a studio in southern Stockholm for several years so it only seemed logical to combine their passions for analog electronic music beyond the odd techno track they'd been known to make. So the decision to construct an album using only synths and piano was made, resulting in a semi-improvised opus that ranks alongside recent releases by Emeralds and strongly harks back to the minimal expressions of later Roedelius or the intuitive drama of John Carpenter. A working method was established where the duo would enter the studio with no pro-conceived ideas, inspiring a freeform aesthetic which found structure in repetition and understated progression, sometimes blooming like a spiritual Arvo Pärt composition, as with 'After', or at times conducting their feelings via Basic Channel styled metallic bass throbs reflecting chromatic synth patterns as vividly cinematic as the northern lights, namely with 'Swing'. The absence of drum machines and computer sequencing means that the duo rely on innate precision, guided by the same sort of kosmiche spirit that made Cluster's heavenly transportations so spectacular, and which they manage to parallel in the majestic ascent of hypnotic piano and subtly swelling synths on 'Undertow'. Giving a final shape to the product, the project was finished on the legendary API desk of Gröndal studios in west Stockholm, the desk of choice for Timbaland outside of the US, giving a hallucinatory hi-end gleam to their widescreen vision. Essential Purchase! - Boomkat

Tracklist:

A1		The New Black
A2		Swing
A3		Guadeloupe
A4		Into The Grand
B1		Axee
B2		After
B3		Undertow

Buy from Boomkat

Cheese People - Cheese People

2010-04-24T19:31:00.003-06:00

Cheese People are a Russian disco band from the city of Samara on the banks of the Volga and their self-titled album from 2009 is an interesting collection of music that rivals Gorillaz in its variety on one album. The female fronted four-piece have been compared to Datarock and New Young Pony Club yet they claim their influences are more in the vein of The Prodigy and Gloria Gaynor due to the slow rate of infiltration of modern western pop music.

In my opinion the comparison to New Young Pony Club is not an accurate one as the only real similarities are the female lead vocalist but Datarock could well be in the background here and there would be little difference. A better comparison would be to Shiny Toy Guns and their brand of disco with definite influences from The Prodigy in the very noticeable bass on most tracks yet there is no reluctance to experiment in any way on this album.

Just as Damon Albarn has done for Gorillaz throughout their career, each album not being treated with a set relation but rather a collection of tracks sharing a common theme, every track different from the last yet similar enough to be part of the same collection, Cheese People have achieved on this record. Here, all tracks share the common funky disco sound yet each one could come from a different artist if it wasn't made clear to the listener.

It is difficult to pick out a best track from this album as each one is most definitely a listening experience, sometimes bass-heavy, sometimes keys heavy, sometimes centred on vocals; tracks from this album could be played in clubs and discos from Europe to India, USA to Japan.

Although the lyrics at times can be a little silly it is not completely unexpected from an album made by non-English speaking artists and certainly does not detract in any way from the overall quality of this record.

Tracklist:

1. Stroitel

2. Ua-A-A!

3. Catch U

4. Boombaster

5. Moon

6. Wake Up

7. O-Djaz

8. Tibet+6++

9. Down & Down

10. Open My Eyes

11. Eats Your Popcorn

12. I Hate This Sound

13. Ua-A-A! (Yow Row from Gari Remix)

Download: Ua-A-A!

Download: Down & Down

Download: Ua-A-A! (Yow Row from Gari Remix)

Purchase (iTunes)

Purchase (CD) [Japanese release only]

New Trentemøller!

2010-04-22T14:08:00.001-06:00

Hard to believe it was a whole 4 years ago when Trentemøller's The Last Resort came out. As I recall it was in the midst of the Scandinavian minimal house explosion from which acts like The Knife and Pantha Du Prince sprung and, for a time anyway, became the biggest names in popular electronic music (matter of fact, go over "best of the decade in electronica" lists for any major mainstream music rag and it's bound to be loaded with those types). And while I never took much of a shining to The Knife or their ilk, The Last Resort connected with me on a deep level. Not all the songs hit, sure, but it was a double album and thus it was bound to happen. What I think really did it for me was that I started listening to the music during the Wintertime. The Last Resort is absolutely perfect Winter music, at least here in Colorado. Biting cold and deep snows create a sort of perfect ambiance for it (also perfect - 13 & God, or most Notwist-affiliated acts for that matter). I really recommend you check it out.

Anyway, except for a remix compilation in '07 Trentemøller's been pretty quiet these last 4 years. So I was thrilled to learn that he's prepping a new album this year, Into the Great Wide Yonder (unfortunately / fortunately, it is not a Tom Petty covers album) - it will probably come out long before Winter hits, so I'm probably going to have to sleep on it for the most part until I can really feel the music as I think it's meant to be felt. The new song they've released is really good. Unlike most electronic artists, I feel like Trentemøller works incredibly well with vocal accompaniment. "Sycamore Feeling", as the song is called, starts out like the languishing ballads Chris Isaak used to belt out back in the day, with woozy, reverb-heavy guitar and a suitably sultry vocal turn from Danish singer Marie Fisker. It then begins to sound a bit more like the Trentemøller I know - 4/4 minimal house beats and strings, all in that wonderful expansive space. It's a remix edit, apparently, so I'm guessing the original song is a bit longer. But it's a very promising taste of what Trentemøller has in store for us.

You can watch the music video for the song here. Bit of a different mix, but a pretty damn good video.

AND / OR

Grab the song here. It's legit, so don't worry about it, if you were going to.

Into the Great Wide Yonder is due June 7th. It's going to be pretty great, I think.

Starkey - Ear Drums and Black Holes (2010)

2010-04-21T22:30:00.002-06:00

I've gotten into the habit of making mixes of things I've been listening to for my friends on the first of every month, and sure enough over the last few months I've noticed certain patterns in my selections. I had always thought of myself as someone who had gravitated inexorably towards UK dance music, the IDM scene in particular, as though it was a concrete, distinct thing. But lately all I ever seem to be playing is abstract hip hop and UK techno. Part of the reason for that, I think, is that abstract hip hop is "in" on both sides of the Atlantic and thus I'm being met with a deluge of it. As for the techno, acts like Subeena and Actress seem to be ushering in an apparently new class of the UK variant which I am digging to some degree. But at the heart of it I'm finding out that the music that I had always loved was, for the most part, the union of those two disparate genres. Autechre's DJ sets are nothing but legitimate hip hop, despite that group's avant-garde techno leanings. Luke Vibert reportedly only listens to hip hop. Once the Plaid guys exited The Black Dog it ceased to be an IDM entity and started being relatively straightforward techno, but I didn't even notice until it was pointed out to me. A lot of what I would call IDM seems to be "acid synths + hip hop beats".

So the diversification of my taste has been a lot easier than I thought it would have been, and it's liberating, more than anything - I don't have to wait for the 2 or 3 really notable IDM albums (if that) to come down the pipeline every year. At this pace there's an average of at least one album a week that I can take a shining to. It's overwhelming at times, but it almost becomes a lifestyle - there's never a time when I don't have new things to listen to.

With the blurring of the line between legit hip hop DJs and electronic composers (pioneered in many ways by the jazz and experimental dalliances of many DJs on the Stones Throw label, namely the dearly departed J Dilla) I've been finding myself listening to acts I would normally have written off. One of these acts is Starkey, who I've written about before. Prior to this point, he was more or less exclusively an instrumental hip hop DJ, but Ear Drums And Black Holes is an album that features some pretty significant use of vox.

For the most part, this takes the form of Starkey's own (at least, I think it's his) voice subjected to the widely-praised wonders of autotune. It's pretty gaudy, as it tends to be - autotune has become a signifier of the "more is better" school of pop R&B production in the States. But it actually works when Starkey uses it, as he does on "Spacecraft", "Club Games" and "Alienstyles". His music has a size and shine that sets it apart from more abstracted DJ sensibilities. As I said last month, it makes more sense to call Starkey a hip hop artist than an electronica artist. Unlike most of the stuff I listen to it's not difficult to imagine most of the tracks on Ear Drums and Black Holes on a mainstream radio station.

The two straight-up rap tracks, "Club Games" and "Murderous Words", also happen to be the album's weakest tracks - southern-style club songs just don't sit with me. Which isn't to say that Starkey's production skills can't be served by a vocalist - Grime MC P-Money contributes his spry Grime delivery to what I believe is the album's strongest track, "Numb", and Anneka brings a lighter-than-air pop feel to "Stars", the lead single. Later on, Kiki Hitomi's singing (in Japanese) graces the almost Jamiroquai-esque ballad "New Cities".

This is the sort of music that makes me wish my car had a better sound system - especially with all the overt hip hop influences, Ear Drums and Black Holes practically demands to be played loudly and openly (they don't call it "Street Bass" for nothing). Starkey continues to display a natural affinity for infectious rave / disco melodies to go along with his wheezing / booming / skittering basslines. Tracks like "Multidial" and "Fourth Dimension" (which revisits the seemingly random bass sequencing of Ephemeral Exhibit's "Creatures") show a definite rave influence, like Raffertie, but a little less goofy. and the album as a whole is rife with dramatic bombast. A scant few tracks, such as "11th Hour", don't really go places, but Starkey's good enough at what he does to keep things interesting and at least mostly consistent.

This particular style of music - extroverted, aggressive dancefloor-oriented hip hop - seems to be the new established style for Planet Mu, with other proprietors of the style such as Slugabed and Raffertie signing on to the label. I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet, but Ear Drums and Black Holes, at the very least, shows that it might be better suited to the long-player format than other variants of dubstep.

As dubstep has spread to an American fanbase, artists like Rusko and Emalkay have theorized that stateside audiences gravitate toward the harder stuff, the heavy bass of dubstep's aggro side. For a while, Starkey fit this profile. The Philly-based producer's early releases ("Corner Store Riddim", "Pins", "Bounce") sounded like a dry run for a new, heavy American take on classic 2-step. Starkey's debut album, Ephemeral Exhibits, put the gloss on his street bass sound: The beats stayed massive, but rave pianos, electro synths, and ghostly, pitched-up divas gave them a bright neon hue. Starkey's gift for matching melodic complexity to his forceful rhythms became clear-- tracks that could've otherwise just sounded huge wound up feeling moving as well. With his second album, Ear Drums and Black Holes, Starkey amplifies those tendencies-- every beat is matched to a soulful melody.

Granted, it's a particularly wonky kind of soul. Starkey's compositions are filtered through the heavy buzzes and oscillating warbles of the post-Joker sound. So you get these soaring, emotive melodies, with 2-step beats loosely translated into contemporary R&B ("Neck Snap") or American club rap ("Murderous Words") that unfold into ultra-dense counterpoints between sweetly toned harmonies and clobbering low-end. And the tracks get more compelling the further those roles are blurred: The fundamentals of great bass music rely on every component reacting to and building on the rhythm, and in the purplish "11th Hour" or the rave-evoking "Multidial", multiple rhythms merge into a big wave of percussive harmony. The effect is nothing short of euphoric.

Yet for all its epic sweep, there's a certain lightheartedness and a sly sense of humor here-- a self-aware sense of playing with stylistic expectations. When the Underworld-esque "Fourth Dimension" baits the listener with a 4/4 throb in its first minute, only to switch to a gelatinous bassline, it's a great joke; when Starkey reincorporates the false-start melody into the track midway through, it's a stroke of brilliance. And even the Auto-Tune makes an odd sort of sense, cropping up on "Spacecraft" and "Alienstyles" where it feels right at home in the tracks' subtly tongue-in-cheek sci-fi futurism.

Starkey's style is rich with crossover potential, yet it could use a bit more adaptation to the hip-hop influences with which it feels made to fuse. Maybe it comes down to picking the right MC for the job-- "Bounce" combined dubstep with Young Dro's hook and made it work, after all-- but Starkey's beats accommodate Londoner P Money's rapidfire grime flow ("Numb") more comfortably than the simple, halting cadence of San Antonio indie-rapper Cerebral Vortex ("Murderous Words"; "Club Games"). Still, the job of bringing dubstep to the States has a worthy heir in Starkey, an ambassador of the style that proves American crowds don't have to stick with the hard and bleak. - Nate Patrin, Pitchfork (7.9)

Tracklist:

01. OK Luv

02. Murderous Words (feat. Cerebral Vortex)

03. 11th Hour

04. Numb (feat. P-Money)

05. Stars (feat. Anneka)

06. Multidial

07. Spacecraft

08. Neck Snap

09. Fourth Dimension

10. Club Games (feat. Cerebral Vortex & Buddy Leezle)

11. Alienstyles

12. Capsule

13. New Cities (feat. Kiki Hitomi)

14. Pleasure Points

15. Fidelio

Buy from Planet Mu

The Tallest Man On Earth + Horse Feathers

2010-04-18T20:46:00.003-06:00

Not Long ago, nestled in the archives, I posted the album Shallow Graves by Kristian Matsson a.k.a. The Tallest Man On Earth and I also picked it out as my album of the year for 2008 before this blog started up so I felt that it would only be right to mention that he has released a new album this past week called The Wild Hunt and that it is just as brilliant as his first. The vocal style has evolved to become a little less Dylanesque but still outstanding all the same. The biggest improvement, in my opinion, is that the songs are now completely discernable from each other; for me, the last album's only weakness was that some of the songs were very similar, sometimes too similar but not this time.

Second release of note this week is the third album released by yet more pacific northwesterners, again from Portland, Oregon, Horse Feathers. The new album, named Thistled Spring is the band's second on the Kill Rock Stars label following Words Are Dead (also in the archives) and House With No Home. This album merits notice too as one of my favourite have produced probably their best album yet of slightly more accessible modern folk and is as good as the new The Tallest Man On Earth album at least. My issues with the first two albums were that there were a couple of weaker tracks on each but this time they have changed that with every track being as brilliant as the rest.

I am still deciding as to which of these albums is better than the other but as they are both so good I recommend that you try each of them.

Purchase links below:

The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt (UK)
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt (USA)

Horse Feathers - Thistled Spring

[As per the message John made in a previous post we are not trying to draw the wrath of the record companies here so any albums that are widely available will most likely not come with download links]

Folk Against Fascism

2010-04-17T19:55:00.003-06:00

Now, I don't intend to turn this blog into a political debate in any way but I think we can all agree that fascism is not the way to go for anybody, at any time or anywhere so here is a group that I believe some of you readers will support. Folk Against Fascism is a British group that fights against the BNP's use of folk music as a platform for its abhorrent policies and encompasses almost every folk musician in the UK from Kate Rusby to Chumbawumba.

If you are a politically-minded person there are events you can go along to and in May there is a large concert in London headed by some very popular folk artists.

This announcement is not just for British readers however, as you can help fight fascism through supporting folk music by purchasing this CD, released in late April/early May or by buying a t-shirt or other merchandise.

http://www.folkagainstfascism.com/index.php

Nico Stai - Park Los Angeles

2010-04-16T16:25:00.003-06:00

Nico Stai hails from Los Angeles and plays acoustic alt-folk of the highest quality backed by his fellow band members. Park Los Angeles is the first release for Nico Stai since his former band Tinpaco dissolved before even releasing a debut record and the style is a change from the rock sound with Stai on electric guitar and more powerful vocals.

The change seems to be no problem though as the softer alt-folk sound allows Stai to sing without really straining as he was wont to do with Tinpaco and the vocals are now more listenable and less drowned to go with it. The album itself is a nice listen for a relaxed day and successfully whiles away around an hour without any real impact and no need for too much concentration.

Other reviews have compared Nico Stai to Bob Dylan and Elliott Smith among others but I don't see that as a real comparison. Stai has a long way to go before it could really be claimed that this is the level he is operating on but Park Los Angeles is a good album and worth a listen all the same.

Tracklist:

1. The Song of Shine And Shame

2. Like Alcohol (A Hole The Size of... Part 2)

3. The City Waits

4. The King Aside

5. Panic And The Should Attacks

6. Borrowing Cars

7. Andy's House

8. Green Lines

9. One October Song

10. The Bottom of The Ocean

11. Act of Birth

12. A Hole The Size of...

http://www.mediafire.com/?vjytx4izmvm

New design desired. Feedback?

2010-04-16T02:26:00.000-06:00

Hey all, threw up a newer, more-compact-but-still-pretty-simple header for the blog. I'm looking for feedback w/r/t the rest of this site. Any part of the design hurt your eyes? Any colors you'd like to see? Let me know.

Some Thoughts on LCD Soundsystem

2010-04-16T02:09:00.006-06:00

(Note: I won't be providing any links to "This is Happening". I've been at this long enough to know that posting any album recorded with a live band that average kids care about tends to draw the Eye of Sauron, and I have enough stress in my life presently. This is less a review than a ~~short~~ quite long editorial. That having been said, they're streaming the album legally and you should give it a listen. Shit's good.)

So, James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem. I always liked them. Back when the self-titled debut was coming out I was still regularly reading print mags pertaining to music and criticism, and I heard about the album from one of them. Might've been Spin, might've been Rolling Stone. Anyway, I picked it up and along with When It Falls by Zero 7, it was the soundtrack to a trip I took out to Kauai (all the albums I really love have a specific time and place). It was great stuff. Despite my growing interest in fully electronic music, it wasn't the type of stuff that was liable to start parties, and LCD Soundsystem filled that gap. That first album was really sharp, wry, energetic. For the first time in a long time I found myself enjoying live drums more than canned ones. There were a couple of tracks off the first disc that were good (lyrics aside, "Tribulations" is pretty great) but the real meat of it was the second disc, where the band played straight-up disco. I was excited to get more of it.

Maybe it was telling that "Losing My Edge" was the song on that second disc that took the longest to sound good to me, because I found myself fairly dissatisfied when Murphy started to gain a reputation as a sort of poet for once-fashionable people who found themselves disaffected in middle age, a Bob Dylan for Gen-Xers, as stupid as that sounds. LCD Soundsystem's second album, Sound of Silver, fed into that narrative pretty heavily, and I just couldn't connect with it.

That it was largely about a hipster midlife crisis I largely didn't care about (but one that I'm probably headed for) was only part of it. By the time Sound of Silver hit I was too far immersed into electronic music in general to enjoy the lo-fi disco cuts off the record (that is, "North American Scum", "Time to Get Away", "Us vs. Them", and "Watch the Tapes"). They sounded to me just like the middling tracks on the self-titled, the ones I tended to skip over to get to "Tribulations" and the "Yeah" versions. So I didn't jibe with nearly half of the record. There were two really great synth-heavy songs ("Get Innocuous!" and "Someone Great") and one pretty good song ("Sound of Silver") but "Someone Great" sounded better in LCD Soundsystem's faux-workout mix 45:33. And then there were the remaining two tracks, which not only were the "midlife crisis" tracks, but the ones that moved farthest afield from the aspects of LCD Soundsystem that I loved. "All My Friends" was endlessly compared to Bowie's "Heroes", but I didn't find it nearly as dramatic, and though I know a lot of people with good taste who swear by it, it has never moved me. And "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" felt absurd and clumsy to me, a grotesque aping of the somber Lou Reed of "Perfect Day".

Underlying all that was the sense that it was really the departure from the electronic sound I loved that was being equated with LCD Soundsystem's "improvement", that LCD Soundsystem was at their best when they were an indie rock (nebulous term, I know) band that incorporated disco rhythms, rather than an actual disco band. Maybe that's what they always were, but I felt like they were at their best the further they got from it. In some ways it was akin the aggravation longtime Radiohead fans felt when that band made it clear that they were no longer interested in playing the sort of music they had earlier in their careers. Except I might be the only person on Earth who didn't like Sound of Silver.

Anyway, I'm happy to state that This is Happening isn't the slog I was afraid it might be. It's certainly better than Sound of Silver. "Dance Yrself Clean" is better than the entirety of that album. It's more music in the vein of that second disc off the self-titled and I couldn't be happier with that. I've heard that the album's getting mixed reviews - I look forward to seeing the rationales for negative ones, afraid as I am that someone's going to accuse them of not living up to their supposed import as spokesmen for 30-something art majors. It's not as if Murphy has stopped examining the plight of the listless music nerd who hates how he gets older - he recently scored Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, which might as well have been called Sound of Silver: The Movie (I seem to recall "All My Friends" being used in the trailer, in fact).

Word on high is that this is going to be the last LCD Soundsystem record. I don't have the best relationship with this band, but I think that's a shame. At least James Murphy will still be running a superb record label, and producing some exciting acts. Maybe they stopped caring about the things I cared about. I think it's more likely I had a skewed concept of the band from the get-go. But, if this is the last non-electronic band that I really identify with (and it might be), I think it's good that at least we parted on a high note.

I wanted to find a link to someplace pre-selling "This Is Happening" but it doesn't look like anybody is. The DFA site links to Itunes, but fuck a bunch of Itunes, right? Wait for the proper release.

Hyetal - Gold or Soul (2009)

2010-04-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

One of the many distinctive scenes to propagate after the dubstep explosion began to settle has come out of Bristol, where DJs like Joker and Gemmy have etched out a sound that's more distinctively melodic than the gritty, morose, often spooky sort of sound that had come to typify the movement. This "Purple Wave", as they call it (one of the few things I regret about living where I do is the feeling that I might be embarrassing myself repping stuff being made halfway around the world) takes a few cues from 8-bit and electro-funk, but not to the hardcore extent of, say, the all-analog Skweee scene. It's got as much R&B in it as hard funk.

Among the clutch of artists at the fore of Purple Wave is Hyetal (ne David Corney), who has released a few 12"s over the last year or two and an incredible cut for Mary Anne Hobbes' latest compilation, Wild Angels. Gold or Soul was one of those singles, and for my money it's probably the best thing he's done that isn't on Wild Angels. The thing that I notice about Hyetal's best tracks is the subtlety with which he uses his synths - on "Gold or Soul" the leads feature a heavy wobble and great use of fade and velocity - It sounds like just one synth, but it's doing enough to add a lot of texture and flavor to the track by itself. The beat's nothing to sniff at either. The second track, "Neon Speech", seems vaguely familiar to me - I'll have to check, but I think it was featured toward the mid-point of a Subeena mix I have. Booming bass and gated synth squelches propel the song along nicely below a slightly cloying arpeggiated synth chime (I just don't like that sound). In a nice turnaround, the song shifts gears around the 3 minute mark, adding a second gated synth and a great organ line.

The Purple Wave guys have all put out a lot of great work (though Joker seems to be getting all the buzz), but it's Hyetal's particular way with synths that makes him my favorite of the scene. I'm looking forward to plenty of great singles in this vein as we move farther into 2010.

Following releases on Formant, Reduction and a beat on Mary Anne Hobb's Wild Angels compilation, Hyetal resurfaces here on Soul Motive, one of the more boutique labels operating out of Bristol. The imprint harbours a penchant for glossy photographed artwork and free digital files for their hardcopy purchasers, and has released plates from players like Joker, label owner Forsaken and dark garage pioneer El-B.

Hyetal's work isn't perhaps as immediate as someone like Joker, whose torrents of dovetailing synthesizers give you that instant lick of future funk. Both of the cuts on offer here are more cerebral, slowly clawing their way into your headspace rather than beating on your skull. "Gold or Soul" has the same kind of militantly delayed snatches of sound that "Pixel Rainbow Sequence" had in spades, but whereas that release exploded into a multicolour hip-hop swagger, "Gold or Soul" bubbles up into a juttering roller that harnesses the same kind of swelling synth leads as Joy Orbison. Adding touches of digital flurries, he lets his construct progress and eventually re-layers his synths with a slow delayed vocal that amps up the melancholy a touch.

"Neon Speech" plays more on the bass work, consistently pounding it out after the introductory swells have cascaded up into the first appearance of the heavy delayed snare drum progression. But as the recurring theme confirms, it's at the second drop that Hyetal's work shines, employing Ibiza house pianos that double time all over his sprawling framework. - Oli Marlow, Resident Advisor (3.5/5)

Tracklist:

A		Neon Speech
AA		Gold Or Soul

Buy from Boomkat

New Ital Tek is on the way

2010-04-15T18:48:00.001-06:00

Ital Tek (ne Alan Myson of Brighton), one of my favoritest producers, he of the quantized techstep rhythm and the bright, early Autechre-ish synth tone, just announced some new material through Planet Mu, slated for June. On the 7th we'll see a full-length, Midnight Colours, followed by a remix EP of Moment In Blue, featuring edits by Ikonika and FaltyDL, two weeks later. Can't wait!

You can preorder the album from Planet Mu here. You can preorder the EP here (the digital release contains an extra VIP ["Variant In Production"]).

Black Prairie - Feast of The Hunter's Moon

2010-04-14T19:45:00.003-06:00

Black Prairie hail from that musical hub of the pacific northwest, Portland, Oregon and feature several members of The Decemberists (this is not a disbandment, just a side project) along with Annalisa Tornfelt and Jon Neufeld. Started in 2007, this band comes together to play what I would deem as traditional American folk, music of the prairies and frontiers mixed with typical southern bluegrass, perhaps making the band's name even more apt.

In Feast of The Hunter's Moon the group has produced their first full-length release, a very enjoyable journey into the old west, long before mechanical contraptions and high-rise buildings had taken over from dirt roads and wood as the most important resource. In musical style the album tends to jump around slightly with the ambient leading into the uptempo bluegrass and the dark, brooding folk leading back into the ambient to finish. It is a composition that I don't completely agree with but each track is played marvellously and although most don't include vocals those that do sit well with the accompaniment.

The standout track on the album is probably A Prairie Musette, a composition that sounds like it could have been lifted from an Ennio Morricone score and leads into the darker parts of the album. All in all, a decent album but lacking in the real emotion that folk is supposed to bring.

Tracklist:

1. Across The Black Prairie

2. Red Rocking Chair

3. Back Alley

4. Ostinato Del Caminito

5. A Prairie Musette

6. Crooked Little Heart

7. Annie McGuire

8. Atrocity At Celilo Falls

9. Tango Oscuro

10. Single Mistake

11. Full Moon In June

12. Home Made Lemonade

13. Blackest Crow

The Unthanks - Here's The Tender Coming

2010-04-14T17:27:00.003-06:00

The Unthanks, previously members of Rachel Unthank and The Winterset, a name that changed in 2009 along with the lineup of the band, are sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank along with their fellow band members and hail from Northumberland, UK. Here's The Tender Coming is their first full-length release as The Unthanks but their third in total and is very much a traditional folk album bringing a darker side to the fore and more emotional tracks than in previous outings.

They open the album with Because He Was A Bonny Lad, traditional fare about a widow's bidding to a husband who dies at war and this sets the tone for the tracks that follow, heart-wrenching and sorrowful, maybe even bringing a tear to your eye. Second track Sad February is the first Unthanks track that we hear and a sad tale it is too with a stormy February bringing about the shipwreck that drowns 10 fisherman as they are out earning pay for their family to live on.

Passing over a couple more traditional songs in Annachie Gordon and Lucky Gilchrist we come to one of my favourite tracks The Testimony of Patience Kershaw, the sad retelling of real evidence given to a Royal Commission on children's employment by a 17-year-old mineworker in 1842. Perhaps the most upbeat track on the album the lyrics pull on the heart-strings and the vocals of the Unthanks sisters are at their best in describing in harrowing detail the struggles of the girl and the other children with her.

Even more fantastic songs come and unfortunately pass before we make it to the title track Here's The Tender Coming, a traditional tale recounted by two women of the devastation brought about by press gangs taking the men away and leaving women to fend for themselves in times when manual labour was the only available profession for most people. This is another of my favourite tracks from this album and the vocals of the Unthanks sisters are once again incandescent as they paint the dark picture of the life of those women left behind.

Although the album is very much traditional in nature the compositions of the tracks has a contemporary feel as the piano plays in the foreground on almost every track and the wonderful strings of Niopha Keegan's fiddle bring a dark brooding to every song, perfectly matching and enhancing the superb vocals. Full of tearful human tales this is an album that hooks onto the heartstrings and clutches there until the final track has lamentably passed, bringing beautiful and enthralling compositions with it.

Tracklist:

1. Because He Was A Bonny Lad

2. Sad February

3. Annachie Gordon

4. Lucky Gilchrist

5. The Testimony of Patience Kershaw

6. Living By The Water

7. Where've Ye Bin Dick?

8. Nobody Knew She Was There

9. Flowers of The Town

10. Not Much Luck In Our House

11. At First She Starts

12. Here's The Tender Coming

13. Betsy Bell