Currently listening, part 1

[Parallel Worlds]

- Taylor Deupree: Shoals

Excellent 12k release. Minimal detailing. Love it.

great album, indeed.

[drone on]

Jeff Pearce-Daylight Slowly.  IMO the best Pearce album, just fantastic all the way through.

David Sylvian-Manafon.  Dusted this one off from the shelf for a late-night headphone listen.  This is not casual listening by any means, but very effective in small doses.

Pretenders I & II (reissues w/bonus discs).  Two masterpieces that hold up over time, especially the second album IMO superior to the first.  There just aren't bands like this anymore, sadly.  They were never the same after the deaths of JH Scott and Pete Farndon in '83.  RIP.

Namlook/Rehberg-The Putney (Fax reissue) This '93 Fax album went for insane prices on eBay for years (upwards of $200) as it was ltd. to 500 and never reissued until now.  The first track was part of the first Fax Compilation on Instinct.  A couple long trippy space pieces here augmented with a couple weaker "hard trance" tracks that seem out of place.  Still, highly recommended for the early Fax enthusiast.

 

[APK]

- Arovane :: Atol Scrap

Its a regular play here.
Whatever happened to Arovane? Nothing for a few years.

[Mark Mushet]

Marcus Fischer - Monocoastal
Scott Cortez - Twin Radiant Flux
Clive Wright - Taqsim to Antlia

Three winners of treated/processed/played guitar atmospherics!

[Anodize DB]

NP (in the wee small hours of the morning):

- Peter Challoner 'Ambient Archive' (disc one) - more superb, and occasionally haunting (but *not* dark), longform spatial works by Peter, comprised of remixes of earlier pieces...walks that Eno/Roach line well, but is informed by its own palette of sounds/textures...wonderful.

Earlier yesterday (12/6), an earlier melange that consisted of Blue Oyster Cult's 'The Revolution By Night', Jeff Beck's 'Guitar Shop' and the NiN reissue of 'Pretty Hate Machine', still, IMHO, the best thing Reznor's ever done (excepting perhaps his recent 'Social Network' S/T, which is quite amazing). Late this evening will be something of an Aube-fest, as I recently acquired about 7 early back catalog releases for an amazing price on Ebay.

[drone on]

That Scott Cortez disc on Line has been hard to get into.  Talk about MINIMAL.  If you're expecting a Cocteau Twins-like wash of flanged reverb drenched chords you're in for a surprise.  Even on headphones it's hard to hear the "music."  A disappointment.

[Mark Mushet]

That Scott Cortez disc on Line has been hard to get into.  Talk about MINIMAL.  If you're expecting a Cocteau Twins-like wash of flanged reverb drenched chords you're in for a surprise.  Even on headphones it's hard to hear the "music."  A disappointment.

The Line releases are all about minimal though. The Clive Wright is the antidote! Or a Robin Guthrie chaser! ;-)

[mgriffin]

Exactly -- if you like 12k but you don't like minimalism, don't buy the Line sub-label stuff.

[Parallel Worlds]

Exactly -- if you like 12k but you don't like minimalism, don't buy the Line sub-label stuff.

i would not easily say that. some Line stuff is more minimal than other stuff...
anyway, i have only two line releases and like both of them. but they are minimal indeed.(one more than the other.)

[Mark Mushet]

Exactly -- if you like 12k but you don't like minimalism, don't buy the Line sub-label stuff.

I'm just giving the Cortez another listen and I'm reminded of Discreet Music. It's quite lovely and soft. 

[Parallel Worlds]

Markus Fischer - Monocoastal
Alio Die & Zeit - Il Giardino Ermeneutico

both great.

[Parallel Worlds]

Amplifier Machine - Her Mouth Is An Outlaw (12k)  great.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

In my car:

Brian Eno - Neroli
Autechre- Peel Sessions 2
Harold Budd- White Arcades
Steve Roach- Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces Part 1 & 2
AC/DC - Back In Black
Steve Roach - Dreamtime Return
Ian Boddy- Slide
Cyber Zen Sound Engine- Auslander
oophoi- Athlit
Telomere- The Stellar Sea
Saul Stokes - Outfolding

Computer CD drive;
David Sylvian - Approaching Silence

[jim02]

seth nehil - flock & tumble
seth nehil - furl
(an intriguing set of avant-garde ambient sounds, nice use/play of space, echoe and soft sparse tones..)

markus fischer - monocoastal
(beautiful, detailed micro-sound, among my 12K favorites)

alio die - tripidium naturae
(very nice collection and balancing inbetween Alio Die's early recordings and his recent castle series)

alio die & mariolina zitta - la sala dei cristalli
(a slightly darker set of sounds then Alio Die's recent output, cavernous, spaciousness... soft dusty drones, still digging these atmospheres..)

steve tibbetts - natural causes
(wonderful CD, thanks to Drone On for mentioning this one!)

thom brennan - stories from the forest
(never thought i would like this one that much, haven't played a CD that much lately, fantastic!)

enrico coniglio - sea cathedrals
(huge walls of majestic ambient, more interesting than Enrico's other more glitchy output, imo)

clive wright - taqsim to antlia
(after a few repeated listens i really got drawn into this release, i'm gonna play it again NOW)

celer - honey moon
(ohh man, i know there's too much Celer stuff around lately but this IS GOOD [comes close to their Four Pieces 3''CDEPs], even though this -fashionabe format- sucks twice)


anticipating;

steve roach 2011 Boxset !!
riccardo dillon wanke - to r.s. (on it's way)
bvdub - tribes at the temple of silence

[Parallel Worlds]

Alio Die - Tripudium Naturae (HSL)
Alio Die and Mariolina Zitta - La Sala dei Cristalli (HSL)
Steinbruchel - Mit ohne (12k)

[Mark Mushet]

Bernard Parmegiani - La Creation du Monde

And on the first day God said "Let there be electro-acoustic music to mimic my efforts in sound."

[APK]

- False Mirror :: Derelict World

As I probably said before, dark but musical. A work that really draws you into its world.

[Dave Michuda]

sifting through 2010 releases with a best of list in mind....

Kyle Bobby Dunn - A Young Person's Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn
Christopher Hipgrave - Slow, With Pages Of Fluttering Interference
Deepchord presents Echospace - Liumin/Liumin Reduced
36 - Hollow & Memories in Widescreen
Steve Tibbetts - Natural Causes

[Mark Mushet]

Stephan Micus - Bold as Light
Nik Bartsch's Ronin - Llyria

Both highly recommended!

[APK]

Recently

- Kyle Bobby Dunn :: A Young Persons guide...
I enjoy it as background music, but I do fine it a bit thin and uninteresting if I pay attention.

- Namlook And Spyra :: Virtual Vices I
Nice to hear this again after a year or two. Its an odd mix of things ... some quite endearing.

And picking up on Dave's list (above), I also played some 36 releases recently. All excellent.