Currently listening, part 1

[APK]

- Murcof: Remembranza

always full of pleasant surprises.

[Ferngerms]

Good to know about this new Andrew Chalk.  Goldfall is probably my favorite of his releases.  Do you know about this artist Robert Haigh, whose CD is being sold on the Faraway Press site (although I don't think it's a FP release)? Haven't been able to find any samples..

http://www.art-into-life.com/?pid=14691739

Best way to put it the album is piano based...not like Harold Budd....but more like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, and Max Richter.  He had another release on Crouton records before they went bust that was really nice but was actually a re-release of sorts...this on the other hand I believe to be new material....so if you like classical piano go for it...if you expected drones of sort...no way...hope this helps and this sight based in Japan is actually awesome when it comes to drones....while your at it check out the sample of the Sam Goldberg 12"..top stuff...and investigate the drones from Nerae...which is right in that Mystery Sea train of thought....by the way did you get a chance to hear that one on Black Atlas i reccomended....should be the type of drones you covet....

Fernando

[Ferngerms]

David Tagg - Wind Blown Guitar - Second Sun - CD-R
(Awsome stuff...I found this album to be more ambient than drone. So if anyone is curious and has found Tagg's sound to be bleak and boring...this one is all tones and pure drift...in particular the track "A Glimpse Of The Valley" is the highlight for me)

Stephen Spera - 4 {H2O} - [parvo] Art Records - 3" CD-R
(very nice enviromental tape loop drones...friends with William Basiniski....which I gather is used as a selling point...you can download a free track at the labels website....comes reccomended if drones is your thing...if you liked the Relmic Statue on Hibernate this one should be of major concern)

Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Fall, Fall, Falling - Kalligrammofon - CD
(Noisy drones but plenty of substance...was really into this artist last year...although he has been quite as of late..missed out on the "No Words" cassette although a second edition is promised...from the reviews I read it seems to be murky ritualistic ambient....can't wait till it comes around....this is definetly a highlight in the artists in discography...it's not as clean as "Lost In Reflections" but nowhere short of being awesome)

Loren Dent - Anthopology Vol. 1 - Infraction - CD
(One of those albums that will come back over and over in the years to come...it has that timeless quality written all over it...had some friends comment on how nice it was (friends that have no appreciation of ambient)....the type of album that seduces people into ambient music...sort of like SOTL, Aphex Twin, Harold Budd, etc.....I know those are mighty names to compare this relatively new artist with....but wow does he have all the potential)

Final - Solaris - Alley Sweeper - CD
(Very subdued static drones....not as experimental or agressive....only four tracks and many have reagrded this album as has worst...I disagree....I don't think this album is a milestone but defeinetly ages ahead of it's time...when I compare this work with present day stuff...I can't help but think how influential Broaderick's work would be to the future...)

Fern

[jkn]

My recent listens - read from bottom up - these were posted to my twitter account - (I left a bit of a good music/bad music rant in there).


jkn: I only like to publically talk about music I really like. Speaking of, revisiting an old favorite: Modern English - After The Snow.

jkn: ...And no I won't mention the couple of artists I didn't care for at all that sounded half-finished, badly mixed, and probably not mastered.

jkn: Doesn't matter whether we're talking netlabel, micro indie doing cdr's, or larger... Someone needs to be the gatekeeper.

jkn: Of course, good music and bad music isn't limited to #netlabel releases. Personal taste has a lot to do with it.

jkn: The upside of #netlabel music is there are some hidden gems, the downside is like the 2 I just tried to listen to and will be deleting.

jkn: Stone Roses - Second Coming . This and their s/t album both have highs and lows. Breaking Into Heaven is sheer guitar groove perfection.

jkn: Chris Russell - Merge . Ambient soundscape sometimes melodic slow evolving. Chris' 2nd album on AtmoWorks. His 3rd will be on my label.

jkn: Clan of Xymox - Medusa. I loved this band in the 80's and I remember buying their s/t debut on 4AD on cassette. Medusa was a good 2nd album

jkn: Posted videos from Steve Brand and Beta Cloud on relaxedmachinery.com also added a Beta Cloud artist page. @iambetacloud #ambient

jkn: Muhr - Farewell Anthology . listening for 2nd time today. I like it, very nice mix of piano, atmosphere, mood #ambient #netlabel @softphase

jkn: Swans - stuff from Greed and Holy Money ... Just in the mood for a bit of 80's Swans. #nowplaying

jkn: M. Griffin - Fabrications - excellent drones drifts field recordings and about a decade in the making ;-) #ambient #nowplaying #ambientmusic

jkn: Austere - Remittance . 1st listen: slow drone focused excellent non-synth amazing ambient - gets replayed #nowplaying #ambient #ambientmusic

jkn: Morcheeba - Big Calm - lush vocals, trip hop beats take me back a decade / work: migrating EDI, old sys to new. #nowplaying #nowworking

jkn: Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue fantastic Blue Note release from 1963. Smooth jazzy blues. (or is it bluesy jazz?) #nowplaying #jazz

jkn: Oophoi - Athlit. Deep drifting clouds of sound mildly on the darker side, but not "dark" dark. #nowplaying #ambient #drone

jkn: Catching up on this weeks LOST episode...

jkn: Ray Charles - Genius Ultimate Collection. Brilliant through and through. #nowplaying
 

[mystified]

Can-- Anthology. Nice and mellow.

Miles Davis-- Kind Of Blue. Mellow and nice.

[mystified]

An old tape with some of Beethoven's symphonies. Nice.

[APK]

An old tape with some of Beethoven's symphonies. Nice.

Yep, those symphonies just get better and better as the tape decays 

[Ferngerms]

Some brilliant stuff these last few days.....

Pub - Making Trakcx 10 - Ampoule - 3" CD-R
(I will admit I was suckered into purchasing every single one right from the start...the first 6 were brilliant ambient techno affairs that reminded me of the Pub in his good ol late 90's releases...but after #6 I got the impression the releases started getting sloppy...it was almost as if the worked skipped the mastering process and went straight to CD...not only that the prices went up as well...or at least it seemed they did....I was paying way to much for each release....7 or 6 british pounds per each which comes out to the price of one CD....by the way each release was stuck between two pieces of cardboard and for some strange reason a few of these fetch ridiculous prices)

Biosphere - Cirque - Touch - CD
(Just decided to take it out for spin...and after about 6 or 7 tracks put it back into the sleeve and I get the impression I will not be listening to it anytime soon...at first I thought it was my ears...as two releases in a row sounded incredibly muddy and uneven....but no...that was not the case as the next cd would prove)

BvDuB - To Live.... - Smallfish - 3" CD-R
(An amazing piece...just ambient music nothing more or less....no dub stabs or beats...just whimsical synths and airy swooshes...has to be the best I have heard from this artist as I speak...however something peculiar has arised...this item which was supposed to be limited to 100 copies appears to be wrong as 103 people have it via discogs...not that discogs is a database or anything...)

Montauk - The Moment Lasts A Second,But The Memory Lives On Forever - Self-Release - CDR
(Very nice degrading loops, field recordings, piano keys, hazy statics, and synths....I suspect...originally this was a soudtrack...but I have a hard time believing it....if type records William Basinski, The Caretaker(definetly the Caretaker) is your thing....don't think just contact the artist and request a copy)

David Tagg - A Kingdom Of Dusk - Second Sun - 3" CD-R
(Can't wait for my new Sleeping Pill Box set to land....I just love David Tagg's work...this one in particular is much darker than all the other pills as it seems to be built out of guitar feedback and sculpted by the master....drones with an attitude....but seriously get yourself over to Second Sun and order the charming box before he retires it...)

Murcof - La Sangre Illuminada - Intolerancia - CD
(I bought my copy down in Mexico as I could not find one anywhere in the US...have not seen the movie...but the soundtrack is amazing...an album on it's own and one that is essential..and by all means the best thing I have heard from Murcof...brilliant.)

Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol 2. - Raster Noton - CD
(One of best albums of 2009....my third time through it today and still enjoying it....)

Fern

[mystified]

I put the folder with my unreleased tracks in it on "shuffle".

[APK]

Murcof - La Sangre Illuminada - Intolerancia - CD
(I bought my copy down in Mexico as I could not find one anywhere in the US...have not seen the movie...but the soundtrack is amazing...an album on it's own and one that is essential..and by all means the best thing I have heard from Murcof...brilliant.)

Thanks Fern ... I'll have to hunt for this for sure.

[9dragons]

Robert Rich:

Calling Down the Sky
Temple of the Invisible

These albums are absolutely incredible...made my night last night.

[uhurit]

Ian Hawgood on Resting Bell net-label...great drones!

[hdibrell]

Big Star - #1 Record/ Radio City. I was telling a guy I work, with who happens to have a classic rock website, about Big Star so I had to drag these out and listen to them. Wow!! I had forgotten how good they were. Those crisp ringing guitars both electric and acoustic just shine! This was a band that really should have been. But, due to an inept record company and terrible distribution never had a chance. It was 1972 and they were a breath of fresh air. They became a major influence for later alternative rock bands and one of my favorites of the era.

[1000snakes]

9dragons wrote:

Robert Rich:  Calling Down the Sky Temple of the Invisible

These albums are absolutely incredible...made my night last night.


I've been playing those two off and on for most of February! Rich is a wonder. I'm looking forward to hearing his latest release.
Peace, Kirk

[darkenedsoul]

Septic Flesh - Sumerian Daemons (fantasticly brutal/melodic album and glad I saw em live once so far!).
Rush - 2112/Caress of Steel (some of my old favs of them)
More doom/death/black metal as the night progresses ;-)

[9dragons]

Robert Rich:

Ylang

Just had the first listen. 53 minutes of music and it rushed by in what seemed like a few. My first impression is that it's a fusion of different currents of Rich's work...a masterful fusion at that. And the main element itself could be called a fusion of world musics. Inspiring work this is.

[petekelly]

'Hero Max' from 'Look at This! Ha Ha Ha!' by Kettel - Ingenium !

I've just found out that this track can be downloaded fer nowt on Lastfm, here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Kettel/Look+at+This!+Ha+Ha+Ha!

cheers
Pete

[Robert Logan]

Robert Rich:

Ylang

Just had the first listen. 53 minutes of music and it rushed by in what seemed like a few. My first impression is that it's a fusion of different currents of Rich's work...a masterful fusion at that. And the main element itself could be called a fusion of world musics. Inspiring work this is.

Yes - this is an inspiring piece of music, and those 53 minutes did rush by. Often with newer releases, as I've listened I've felt impatient and wondered when the current track would end and the next begin. Then I've been left feeling somewhat exhausted once the album had finished. Not so with Ylang... when I noticed I was on the final track on my first listen, I dreaded it ending. For once in 2010, I was left feeling energized and wanting more.

[9dragons]

Natural Sounds of Japan

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/andrewroth

This is a great album of field recordings. I don't think I've heard better. Purely natural sounds very well arranged.

[Seren]

Steve Roach - On This Planet. This was my reconnection with electronic/ambient music after about 17 years of not listening to music.....

I still think it rocks!