Currently listening, part 1

[Ferngerms]

Earlier Today:
Gregg Kowalsky - Through The Cardinal Window - Kranky
(What an amazing piece of drone this was when it first came out.  Although I hate to say it I have been disapointed with every other release from this artist.  I have tried again and again to enjoy "Tapechants Arroyo" and "Tendrils In Vigne" but I am left speechless at the end of them(not in a good way). Although somesay that "Tapechants A Million" is by far his best work but do to it's rarity I have never given it a proper listen.)

On Now:
Vikki Jackman - Whispering Pages - Faraway Press
(Ummm...this album is amazing)

Fern

[9dragons]

Secede - Tryshasla...an absolutely lush and wonderful sci-fi draught of electro ambience and beats...highly recommended.

[Undershadow]

Earlier Today:
Gregg Kowalsky - Through The Cardinal Window - Kranky
(What an amazing piece of drone this was when it first came out.  Although I hate to say it I have been disapointed with every other release from this artist.  I have tried again and again to enjoy "Tapechants Arroyo" and "Tendrils In Vigne" but I am left speechless at the end of them(not in a good way). Although somesay that "Tapechants A Million" is by far his best work but do to it's rarity I have never given it a proper listen.)

Agreed this is Gregg Kowalsky's best album by far, and one of the best of a good run of Kranky releases following on from the label's shift towards a more pronounced electronic base (Keith Fullerton Whitman's work being a keynote here).
Small pedantic point: this album is actually called "Through the Cardial Window", though I have seen it regularly rendered as 'Cardinal'. I would point out that there is good reason for the phrase 'cardial window', as can be seen from the following:

"[...] Kowalski began to immerse himself in the music that would become 'Through the Cardial Window' as he recovered from major heart surgery - the operation involved a 'cardial window' being made to drain fluid from the heart [...]" (http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=46928)

[Ferngerms]

Ooops...how could I miss such an important detail!  The whole time I thought it was called "Through the Cardinal Window." Perhaps I can see the music in a different light from now on and your point was well made and important. The only excuse I could make for myself is that the cover art was never that engaging to begin with and the spine for the most part is practically unreadable. Thank You Alan for bringing that point to my attention.

Earlier Today:
Koda - Movements - Infraction
(Who is this? Why has this artist remained silent? I am sure these questions have been asked before but seriously why have we only heard one album from this artist?)

At the Moment:
Bvdub - Return To Tonglu - Quietus Records
(For the most part the album is solid but not essential.  It sounds very similiar to a lot of releases he did for netlabels.  I have a feeling this release is going to gather a lot of dust on my CD shelves.)

What's Next:
Fabio Orsi & Mamuthones - The First Born - A Silent Place
(I have special time and place for Fabio Orsi pieces.  Ever since the Foxglove release "Please Dont Count The Clouds" I have been an addict going as far as collecting his ridiculously expensive vinyl pieces.)

Fern
 

[Scott M2]

"Cellardoor" by Solyaris.   Its solemn beauty has helped ease me into my workweek.

[Undershadow]

What's Next:
Fabio Orsi & Mamuthones - The First Born - A Silent Place
(I have special time and place for Fabio Orsi pieces.  Ever since the Foxglove release "Please Dont Count The Clouds" I have been an addict going as far as collecting his ridiculously expensive vinyl pieces.)
 

I've been enjoying his Before Long, Before Anyone, The Stars Will Be Walls In My Mind on Students of Decay: http://www.tomentosarecords.com/studentsofdecay.html

[Ferngerms]

That Students of Decay piece is absolutley immersive.  It reminds me a lot of the piece he released on Locus Of Assemblage "Birds Are Smart But They Cannot Speak." What I like about both of these pieces is that I would not consider them to be Drone or Experimental.  But instead it sounds like an "ambient" piece in the Jeff Pearce tradition with subdued Tim Hecker static in the background.  Although the guitar is used in all his music to a great effect some of his other works like the one's on Ruralfaune or Foxglove sound much more grittier and dirty.  I have'nt had a chance to listen to his new piece on Sentient Recognition Archive but from the description that I read on the website it sounds like his works on Students Of Decay, Waterscape, etc.  Can't wait to listen to this piece......

In the morning:
Aidan Baker - I Fall Into You - Public Eyesore
(This is with no doubt my favorite work from Aidan Baker.  I have about 26 releases from this musician and I listen to about 4 of them on a regular basis.  Why then do I have so many? His work is brilliant but often many of his limited releases sound like derivatives of grander works such as "I fall into you", "Oneiromancer", "The Sea Swells A Bit", etc.  I know that many Aidan Baker fans will probably tell me to stick it or that I simply do not pay enough attention to the subtleties in his work. Regardless, this work is genius and for anyone interested it just got re-issued on Basses Frequencies.  And it is actually a CD not a CD-R which makes it just as valuable.)

On Now:
Colourform - Visions Of Surya - Virtual Music Reality
(Ambient for ambient sake.  No drones, experiments, or pretentiousness. Just some smooth synths and wispy sounds effects to relax my head on.  Essential!)

Fern 

[drone on]

Takahiro Kido-Fleursy Music (Plop) This is a very enchanting album of melodic, soundtrack-like instrumental pieces that some might label as "new age" (pianos, guitars, violins, synths) but there is a coolness factor, perhaps in the sound processing, that sucks you in.  This is on the same label as Rod Modell's "Incense and Black Light," but is nothing like it.  But so far I really like the two Plop releases: any other recommendations for this label?  PS: Plop's sister label is called "Fizz Fizz." (just kidding). 

[drone on]

Ferngerms and Undershadow--I thought I was hip to the obscure experimental drone artists but whooaaa where do you come up with this stuff???!!! There's so much of this stuff out there doesn't it drive you crazy trying to keep up with it all?  Anyhow, interesting reading, always like to learn about new artists and labels I'm not familiar with. 

[Brian Bieniowski]

But so far I really like the two Plop releases: any other recommendations for this label?

The Fenton CD on Plop is excellent—also known as Shuttle 358, of course.  I have not cared for many other Plop CDs, but the Kazumasa Hashimoto is pretty nice, too, if a little twee in parts.  I also really like the Deupree/Willits CD.

[soma611]

The Ministry of Inside Things Ambient Elsewhere; released at Saturday night's Gatherings Concert Series event.  Long awaited for here.  Two long pieces on a double CD compiled from various live performances (most attended by this groupie ); both shine.  Chuck van Zyl's infrared photography graces the cover.

David Parsons Yatra; Somebody somewhere else on the forum posted in regard to wanting to visit the Himalayas.  Much of Parsons' work is inspired by these mountains, the area, & the people, Yatra as much as any other.

John Martyn Cooltide;  Martyn rules.

Villa Galaxia

[APK]

soma611 -- good to see a Martyn fan

np
- Steve Roach: Harmonia Mundi (from Empetus)
Entrancing !  bit like Terry Riley in this long piece.

[Numina]

Ah Cama-Sotz ~ "La Procesion De la Sangre"
Juno Reactor ~ "Gods and Monsters"
Hocico ~ "Memorias Atras"
Spetznaz ~ "Grand Design re-designed"
U2 ~ "October" re-issue
Tearwave ~ "Different Shade of beauty"
:SITD: ~ "Snuff Machinery" EP

[APK]

I eventually grew bored with Hamonia Mundi,
and switched to

- Max Richter: Songs From Before
he knows what he's doing.

followed by
- B J Nilsen: The Short Night
which is always excellent (in the noise-drone arena).

[kawera]

Juno Reactor ~ "Gods and Monsters"

How do you like that latest Juno Reactor album? I can't make up my mind about it. Sometimes I like it, other times I don't. It feels like a rambling collection of interesting tracks, but that's it. It lacks that cohesive feel an album should have, in my humble opinion.

Last spins include:
Tim Hecker - Haunt me, Haunt me do it again -- There are some magnificent soundsscapes here, but also a couple of forgettable tracks. But it sure has that cohesive feel I was talking about above.
Saul Stokes - Villa Galaxia -- Nope, not tired of it yet!

[Numina]

How do you like that latest Juno Reactor album? I can't make up my mind about it. Sometimes I like it, other times I don't. It feels like a rambling collection of interesting tracks, but that's it. It lacks that cohesive feel an album should have, in my humble opinion.

I'm not a Juno Reactor completist, so only have a few of his other albums but I reallly like this one a lot.  It's really mellow and "ambient" in many ways.

I saw their live show here last saturday, though, and I did not care for it much.   Good thing I got in for free.  Way too much urban reggae/rap stuff going on and nothing like the albums.  I sort of knew what to expect having watched the live DVD but seriously a dissappointing show - the crappy venue didn't help much either.  The small crowd that did go seemed to eat it up.  The cool thing about going, though, was getting to meet Bill Leeb - the GOD of industrial.  (Delerium played the following night and while I wanted to go I was much too tired).

J.

[ffcal]

Fern,

The new Fabio Orsi ("The Wild Light of the Moon") is really good one--one continuous 35-minute piece that ebbs and flows nicely.

Been listening today to Saul's new one and to Jonathan Hughes' Circumflex.  Both are excellent and are well-crafted.

Forrest

[Ferngerms]

Forrest,
Thank you for giving me a breif description on the new Fabio Orsi.  I read on some other post that you will no longer order anything from "A Silent Place", sorry to hear that because the new ones that Fabio Orsi just released a few weeks ago were a very good pair of releases. Although they did'nt really linger in the ambient drone haze style but seemed to be a collage of "post psychedelic acoustic drone rock".
Perhaps I have listed to many genres but as you know the man is all over the area!

Earlier Today:
Alio Die - Suspended Feathers - Silentes
(This is an incredible release and one of my favorites from Alio Die.  Melodies, enviromental sounds, and ethnic soundscapes all come together to create a flawless album.)

In the afternoon:
Emaciator - Reflection - Accidie 2x12"
(An artist that I have currently been digging a whole lot.  His catalog is mostly made up of cassestes and a few records.  Although he did release a CD on the mighty Students of Decay label which started my infatuation. Supposedly this recording captures the stage in which Emaciator moved from "noise" to "drone". A sort of in between genres.....If your curious check out his myspace for sound bytes: http://www.myspace.com/emaciator
Like I said he does make noise so have the speaker volume low when listening.)

And now:
P. Jorgensen - Let The Sun Drag Itself Out In A Long Ray - Monotype Recs
(It's poignant! It's bold! It sounds like shapes and geometrical patterns.  I have not listened to this album since spring but it seems to make more sense to me now than it did then.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was listening to a lot of Andrew Chalk and Paul Bradley at the time. My ears were biased and I did not listen to this album on it's own merit.)

Fern

[ffcal]

Fern,

I have quite a few of Orsi's releases, too.  One of my favorites of his is a limited postcard single called "One Thousand Years Red."  It's a great spacey 6-minute piece that should be on an infinite loop.  Too bad that I can't enjoy his releases on A Silent Place.  The bugger who runs that label never responded to my complaint that I never received my CD two months later, but PayPal refunded my money, anyway.  (I wonder if Jim02 ever received his CD after patiently waiting.)

Thanks for the heads up on the Inventors Of Aircrafts netrelease.  Downloaded it last night and am enjoying it.  I also picked up an Aidan Baker CD ("I Will Always Hold You Forever In My Heart and Mind") at the same time I picked up the new Orsi.  It's a really good one, much more focused than some of his other ones.

Forrest

[Undershadow]

P. Jorgensen - Let The Sun Drag Itself Out In A Long Ray - Monotype Recs
(It's poignant! It's bold! It sounds like shapes and geometrical patterns.  I have not listened to this album since spring but it seems to make more sense to me now than it did then.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was listening to a lot of Andrew Chalk and Paul Bradley at the time. My ears were biased and I did not listen to this album on it's own merit.)

Nice album, and one I'd forgotten, what with the constant influx of The New, forever effacing The Recent. I happen to have a review up on the furthernoise site - last October's issue:
http://www.furthernoise.org/index.php?url=page.php&ID=200&iss=64

Interesting coincidence: I also had been mainlining Chalk and (maybe more so) Bradley at the time. In fact a review of Chroma appeared in the same issue:
http://www.furthernoise.org/index.php?url=page.php&ID=198&iss=64