Currently listening, part 1

[SunDummy]

- Namlook  & Montana :: Labyrinth   (there is some excellent music on this Labyrinth set of albums)

I had all five discs in this series in constant rotation all last week.  Great stuff. 

[drone on]

Radiant Mind-Sense.  The more I listen to this, the more I REALLY like it.  I think there are more copies up at the Roach site.  Highly recommend this one. 

Lycia-Ionia.  Powerful first album, when Lycia was just Mike Van Portfleet.  Darkness and depression never felt so good!

Depeche Mode-A Broken Frame.  Probably my second favorite DM album, after Black Celebration.  Like BC, it's dark 'n moody yet less sophisticated production wise. 

Bryan Ferry-Mamouna.  Very strong Ferry solo disc from '94, with help from Eno on most of the tracks.  I could play "Chain Reaction" 100 times and not get sick of it, such a great song. 

My Bloody Valentine-MBV. This is definitely a headphones album.  Not as epic as "Loveless," as none of the tracks really stick out and make you go "wow" like several on "Loveless."  But I like how varied it is, from heavy fuzz to light n' trippy, even poppy in spots.  I would also say this album is only for people who "get" this band; I think the average person hearing this would think this band was terribly untalented and couldn't play their instruments.  But if you appreciate all the studio trickery and mind-bending sounds they get out of the guitars, I'd recommend this one.  Wish it was a bit louder as I really have to crank it up in the car compared to other CD's.   

[drone on]

Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart-The Celtic Poets.  This CD came out in 1997 and I've always loved it.  It's a beautiful mix of excellently recorded drums, dubby bass, spoken word, and ambient atmospherics.  Highly recommend all to seek it out. 

Andrew Forrest-Starseed.  Do you like Michael Stearns and Jonn Serrie's classic space music?  Then you absolutely must get this.  Two long tracks of melodic floating space music. 

Max Corbacho-The Ocean Inside 2CD.  I've warmed up to this since getting it in December. 

Urenga-After Rain.  This CD is on the gterma label and is an excellent work of ambient dub techno, more on the ambient side.  Sounds like you're in a rainforest 'n stuff.  ;D

[Dave Michuda]

Phil Manzanera - Diamond Head - prog rock goodness from the 70s!
the Soil & the Sun - What Wonder is this Universe! - Discovered this through NPR's SXSW coverage.  They are an eclectic mix of orchestral sounds and rock.  They describe their sound as "experimental, spiritual folk / new Mexican space music."
Junip - Fields - Junip has a new record coming out soon, the first single is great, so I pulled out their first album for a quick refresher.  Good stuff.
Hakobune - A Distant Loss - I like most of Haobune's stuff & this is no exception.  Good straight forward ambient.

[drone on]

Type O Negative-Dead Again.  Ironically titled final album, due to Peter Steele's untimely death in 2010. The weakest release of their final four (preceded by Life is Killing Me, World Coming Down, and October Rust), but it has some good moments. 

David Galas-The Cataclysm.  Ex-Lycia member's first solo album.  Take some Lycia, some Swans, and some Type O Negative and you have a good approximation of what to expect. 

 

[chris23]

Sonmi451 - Probes & Prisms
Sonmi451 - Vladivostok

OMG. I just discovered this artist after (slowly) following up on leads from various "best of" lists, such as Dave's. I don't know how I missed Sonmi451, but I'm absolutely in love with these two disks.

Why, why, why are there two out of print discs on Time Released Sound?! I think God hates me.

[APK]

Somni451

Yep, that is some very fine music!

Was recently playing the playing the Slaapwel release.

And yes, God loves limited releases  ;)

[DeepR]

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Tallis Fantasia

Amazing piece with massive lush string orchestra, recorded in a cathedral for nice reverb. :)

Vaughan-Williams - Tallis Fantasia (1/2) One of the best performances ever!!
Vaughan Williams - Tallis Fantasia (2/2) One of the best performances ever.

[Dave Michuda]

Chris,

So cool that you discovered Somni451.  I have pretty much all of Somni451's output & enjoy all of it.  I think my three favorites are Spectrum, Cloud Atlas and Probes & Prisms.  But they are all good.

It looks like the Four Peaks disc on Time Released Sound is available as a standard disc for $15.  Not as cool as the deluxe but better than nothing.

While searching for that Four Peaks disc before posting this I ran across a compilation on Bandcamp that has a Somni track on it...
http://dewtonerecordings.com/album/v-a-foundations-2-dtr017
And it's free!!

[drone on]

It's SONMI, not SOMNI.   :o

[APK]

It's a stupid name !  ;D

Which reminds me: must pick up Cloud Atlas the book.

[chris23]

It is a great name. ;-)  (And the Cloud Atlas book is well worth the read. The story of Sonmi451 is a riveting piece of sci-fi. )

Thanks for the tips, Dave. I'll order the not-quite-as-handmade version of Four Peaks.

[Dave Michuda]

It's SONMI, not SOMNI.   :o

:-[

[drone on]

Depeche Mode-Some Great Reward and People Are People.  The liner notes on People are People state: "Martin Gore (guitar, vocals) and Andy Fletcher (guitar, vocals)."  Odd, since DM rarely used guitars (and only in the studio) in their early days, and Andy Fletcher did NOT sing (although he lipsynced on videos).  Any DM heads please correct me if I'm wrong. Also the notes state "Get the Balance Right" was on "A Broken Frame" LP.  Wrong!  Hmmm....

Peter Murphy-Dust.  Sublime 2002 album from Mr. Murphy, ex-Bauhaus.  This one didn't get good reviews, but it's one of my favorite, where he used Middle Eastern themes/rhythms/instruments so it sounded like Gabriel's "Passion" album quite a bit.  Michael Brook guested on a few tracks with his "infinite guitar."     

[drone on]

Thom Brennan-Stories from the Forest.  Brennan's last release (2008??!!), very good one, though not his best.  Anyway, it's really time for something new from Thom.  Anyone know the latest on his activities?

[APK]

- Sonmi451 :: Cloud Atlas -- that opening track is gorgeous.
- The Boats :: been playing a lot of things, they are like the British version of múm. Fit very well with Sonmi451.

[chris23]

Purl - A quiet awakening
More in the spirit of "conventional" ambient (ethereal, evolving synth washes) compared to Deep Ground. Quite nice.

Marsen Jules - The endless change of colour
I'm a big Marsen Jules fan, but this release isn't really grabbing my attention. It seems a bit monotonous and perhaps self-indulgent. I'll likely put it aside and return to it in a few weeks.

[| broken harbour |]

I "listened" to this today....



and by "listened" I mean I whipped out my guitar and tried to play along after not playing these songs for 10-ish years and trying to remember what part comes next....

I should really get back to the stack of ambient CD's piling up on my kitchen table that I bought months ago and then didn't listen to...

[drone on]

Jon Hassell-Power Spot.  This 1986 ECM release is a "tribal ambient" prototype of sorts for the early to mid-90's explosion of that style.  It's on Steve Roach's Top 10 Desert Island Discs, I know that.  So if you don't have it, get it!  Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Michael Brook guest.  Haven't heard this for quite awhile, and wow is it good. 

Gyalpo-various artists.  On the Gterma label, made up of four long tribal ambient tracks by A.P., Earth Vibration, Mathias Grassow, and Indo.  Highly recommended if you like(d) the Amplexus style from the 90's. 

[drone on]

Klaus Schulze-Shadowlands 2-CD.  This is another nice KS album that breaks absolutely no new ground but is very good nonetheless.  Guests include Lisa Gerrard and Thomas Kagermann.  Highly recommend getting the limited edition 2CD set as the long bonus track "The Rhodes Violin" is probably the best thing on this release.  Too bad the liner notes are in German!  :(