Currently listening, part 1

[mgriffin]

I'm sure we all remember the very popular and never-ending posts about what people are currently listening to.

I find those posts a great way to learn about new things that I might enjoy... though I find them less useful when someone just posts the artist & title, without any kind of comment or description.   I mean, if you write even a 10-word description, it helps me determine whether it's interesting or not. 

On the other hand, I'm not going to ban anybody or delete any posts if you just post:

"Radiohead - OK Computer"

So, here's a headstart on the new "Currently Listening" thread.  Thanks to new moderator APK for the idea of keeping these separate from the "Everything and Nothing" section, since they really ARE about music and should be in the "Music, Specifically" part of the Forum.

[mgriffin]

As for me, I'm listening to:

Various Artists - Sounds of a Universe Overheard

If I hadn't been buried under a mountain of hellish website troubleshooting the past 48+ hours, I would have announced on here that the CDs are done, and I've checked them out for quality and they're fine... so they'll be up on the Hypnos store very very soon.

For those of you who don't know, this is a great new compilation on the Hypnos label.

Track listing:
Jonathan Block "The Language of Rocks"
M. Peck "Somna"
Freq. Magnet "Nitrous"
Kirk Watson "Scarecrow"
dreamSTATE "Ghost Nebula"
Seren Ffordd " Strange Attractor"
Dwight Ashley " Behold the Trampled Wheat"
Justin Vanderberg "Infection"
Igneous Flame "Pandora"
Tau Ceti "Float"

[Antdude]

Looking forward to this one a lot. Damn, if only there was more money and time in my day.

Edit: False Mirror's new album, North arrived in the mail today. Dark and churning ambient mixed with incredible field recordings. You can almost see the glaciers....

[kawera]

Lately, these discs have been spinning:

Steve Roach - Magnificent Void -- I had forgotten just how good this really is. I'm looking forward to getting the latest one (Arc of Passion) from Roach. The audio previews sound good!

Vir Unis - Mercury & Plastic -- This really is the most sublime release from Vir Unis. I love the blend of atmospheric pads and clicky electronic percussion.

[MarkJohnson]

For me it's...

- Vidna Obmana: An Opera for Four Fusions Works (Act 3, Reflection on Scale). All four volumes have their merits, but I love the intentional static on this disc; I miss the pops and scratches of vinyl, and this, in addition to being interesting, sparse, well-constructed music, sounds oddly nostalgic as well.

- Mathias Grassow: Himalaya
- Mathias Grassow: Morpheus. I love Mathias's music and I never tire of it. Some might say it's one note droning on forever, but there are layers of music here and I feel after years of listening to these releases that there is so much yet to hear in them.

- Saul Stokes: Fields. This is the only release from Saul that I'm familiar with, though I've been told to check out others. Ambient? IDM? Something like that.

- Sigur Ros: Hvarf-Heim. 'New' release from Sigur Ros, half studio, half live performances. The studio tracks are apparently rerecordings of older tracks and the live tracks are acoustic performances which rival their studio counterparts. It might be old stuff, but it's new all over again. If you like them and haven't heard this album, don't write it off as a rehashing.

- Radiohead: In Rainbows. Better than 'Hail to the Thief', more song-oriented than 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac', I think this is a great record.

- Bill Laswell: Dub Chamber 3. Like the title says, it's dub. Bill Laswell rarely does wrong as far as I'm concerned. This is a mellow dub album.

- Trentemøller: The Last Resort. Electronic music, sometimes driving beats, but well-conceived and composed. Sample the tracks on iTunes if you can - I think this is one of the best electronic music albums ever. Really.

[mgriffin]

- Vidna Obmana: An Opera for Four Fusions Works (Act 3, Reflection on Scale). All four volumes have their merits, but I love the intentional static on this disc; I miss the pops and scratches of vinyl, and this, in addition to being interesting, sparse, well-constructed music, sounds oddly nostalgic as well.

That reminds me of when we were planning this release, and talking with Dirk (Vidna Obmana) about the glitches and static, and whether people would misunderstand it, since it doesn't appear throughout the whole recording.  It was my idea to include a note about this inside the booklet and I don't know whether that was the right decision or not, but at least nobody has complained and said "my CD is defective, it has all this static on it."

[APK]

right now

- Paul Bradley: Anamnesis (addictive droning)

[Elvenraad]

Just finished listening to:

Robert Rich - Calling Down the Sky

[Paul Vnuk (Ma Ja Le)]

I am on a huge Grateful Dead kick, which is actually a phrase I never thought I would say...

For years I just let all of my misconceptions about them keep me from listening to them and then a friend of mine lent me their entire collection of official studio and live albums, plus many of the Dick's Picks and I am hooked!!!


Paul

[jblock]

Utopia: Nov. 9, 1974 (St. Louis) and Nov. 11, 1978 (Hartford). A bunch of live Utopia shows have become available through iTunes. Pretty good quality and inexpensive too.

[jkn]

Listening to a couple of friend's albums lately...

	Vir Unis - The Drift Inside  - From 1999.  Great drifting floating ambient.    Perfect for background or foreground listening.  *** Definitely Recommended if you like beatless drift, but good luck finding it. ***
	The Circular Ruins - Falling Into the Sky - I'm not positive yet, but this may be my favorite album from APK yet - and I've been lucky enough to hear quite a few of them...   I've spun it at work about 7 times at work this week and it's great.  Beatless, moving, feeling.  Background or foreground listening.  APK is about as consistent an artist as can be - each album shows a logical progression of growth as an artist.  *** Highly, Highly, Highly Recommended ***
	The Winterhouse - Slow Promises - APK and Robert Davies team up for a great release.  Also beatless like APK's new Falling Into the Sky. I've spun this a number of times at work and once much louder in the car on the drives to and from work... Some great drones and textures, some moving stringlike synth parts slowly moving things forward.   Field recordings pop up from time to time and their inclusion is perfect.  One minor thing bugged me a bit - I was lost in this wonderful drone and then a clicky noise popped in (not sure if it was synth or field recording) - one of those moments where at first I didn't like it and then it grew on me.  Things like this have a habit of becoming my favorite parts of an album as I listen repeatedly.  So we'll see how that goes.   *** Also - Highly, Highly, Highly Recommended ***

[Parallel Worlds]

Steve roach - Possible Planet
Plaid - Greedy Baby
Stephen Parsick - Traces Of The Past redux
Tangerine dream - Bootleg Box Vol.1 disc 1

[jkn]

Paul Vnuk - Silence Speaks in Shadow - one long trek through field recordings and synth washes - a really nice beatless journey.   Police siren throws me every time - especially if I'm listening while driving.  Today was just at my desk at work.  :)

[APK]

Now

- Tom Opdahl: Black Smoker  (still in my all-time top 10. Must for Biosphere fans I'd reckon)

[Bill Binkelman]

Paul Vnuk - Silence Speaks in Shadow - one long trek through field recordings and synth washes - a really nice beatless journey.   Police siren throws me every time - especially if I'm listening while driving.  Today was just at my desk at work.  :)

This probably ranks in my top 25 ambient releases of all time (surely in my top 50) . Works as an amazing Doppleganger to Lost at Dunn's Lake from James Johnson and Stephen Philips.

[SunDummy]

Tons of random Acid Mothers Temple today, mixed with Roach's Fever Dreams series.  Very nice...

[Dave Michuda]

paul bradley - chroma [twenty hertz 2007] - gorgeous drones.  In another thread, I think Alan(Undershadow) described Chroma as "wide open".  Perfect.
tetsu inoue - world receiver [1996] - I'd almost forgotten just how good this one is.
pantha du prince - this bliss [2007] - irresistible techno.
robert plant and alison krauss - raising sand [2007] - I don't listen to 'normal' music very much anymore, but this one I am really enjoying.  Some beautiful tunes on this record.

[g.@.b.]

Fripp & Eno - The Cotswold Gnomes DGM, 2006

I hesitated buying this @ first (and listened to the samples several times prior to $). In a nutshell, recycled (all but one never released) sounds & sketches from the last 15 or so years (circa 1992~2005), but a solid album, IMO. They offer 2 methods of download, FLAC & MP3 (I took the cheaper route @ 9.95) and separated the songs (they're fused together) in Roxio Music Editor, as I plan on using a half dozen of 'em in a mix that's on the drawing board.

Some beautiful ambient pieces ("Hopeful Timean"), some searing Fripp guitar work ("The Idea Of Decline") and some middle ground ("Ringing Beat") make up the album. One song ("Voices") that's an obvious retread/alternate off their Equatorial Stars release, but all in all, 9-10 good songs out of 13, which satisfies my F&E jones. 

MP3 samples: http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm?show=1099

[mgriffin]

This morning:

Momus - Ping Pong (a wacky and whimsical set of songs in an electronic-pop style, I'd say one part Nick Cave, one part Tom Waits, one part Pet Shop Boys)

Sample lyrics, from "His Majesty the Baby"

I hate his majesty the baby
His bowels and bladder uncontrolled
Sitting astride a throne of nappies
As though his shit were made of gold
As though a cherub on a fountain
He suckles breasts as big as mountains
Then pisses freely on the women
Who so lovingly surround him

[mgriffin]

After Momus, moved on to:

Robert Fripp - Radiophonics 1995 Soundscapes, Live in Argentina
I'm always fond of everything Fripp does, and I love the fact that although he's a very established and "mainstream" artist in many ways, his ambient work has a rough and naive quality to it, very improvisational and always interesting.  I may like A Blessing of Tears better than this one, but this is good too.  Oh, and I love these CD covers.

Just now, listening to an M. Peck demo and think it's great!