Currently listening, part 1

[APK]

recently

- Loscil :: Coast / Range / Arc  (still excellent)
- bvdub :: I Remember (picked this up because of people talking about it, but I'm unimpressed)
- Bonobo :: Black Sands  (beat driven, some interesting tracks)
- Biosphere :: n-plants (kinda growing on me ... slowly)

[Anodize DB]

recently

- Loscil :: Coast / Range / Arc  (still excellent)
- bvdub :: I Remember (picked this up because of people talking about it, but I'm unimpressed)
- Bonobo :: Black Sands  (beat driven, some interesting tracks)
- Biosphere :: n-plants (kinda growing on me ... slowly)

that loscil indeed be some good stuff, as are all his recordings. i'm a pretty big aficionado of brock van wey's (bvdub) stuff, and found 'i remember' pretty much as enjoyable as earlier works (in fact, his new one on darla is currently en route). don't care for bonobo. liked the new biosphere as well, as it recalls the halcyon days of 'patashnik' though not quite as inspired.

np: terry riley's 'persian surgery dervishes' - full-on meditative/electronic/minimalist classic, as utterly compelling 30 years on as it would be if released today...resonates particularly well during the evening hours...spellbinding, hypnotic, dreamy, the descriptive adjectives are endless...

lately in rotation:

- kevin braheny 'lullaby for the hearts of space' - cassette dubbed on to CDR and one that kevin does in fact need to release on CD, as it's perhaps his best & least recognized work...two long, minimal, quasi-drones for serge modular, wind instrument and plaintive atmospherics.

- ryonkt 'small conversations' (experimedia) - expertly processed field recordings-cum-found soundscapes...microbial & macroscopic.

- patrick o'hearn 'transitions' - have gone through pat's new one three times and still fairly blasé about the whole thing. his records are always expertly recorded, played & executed, but he seems intent on resurrecting himself as a chamber-music performer/electronicist...this disc could have easily sat on either ECM or windham hill (no problem with either, certainly), but it's all somewhat inert; beautifully well done, yet i find the compositions patchy & strangely uninviting...successive plays? or right mood, perhaps?

- heretic 'yagyoi dreams' (belle antique) - picked this one up used & very rare indeed, on a recent trip to boston, and it's a very experimental & unique amalgam of electronics, asian winds, bells, gongs, guitars, etc. this japanese musician is aligned with the prog crowd, but this is quite far from rock, way too abstract, more of a bizarre melding of (edgier) kitaro with TD's 'zeit' or the more out-there heldon albums.

- thomas kessler group 'untitled' - very little known 'jazz' keyboardist, here firmly in jansen/karn/barbieri / late-period japan (the band) mode, mixing low-end funktronix with some more 'normalized' sax interludes and all manners of rubbery percussives and fourth-world-ish rhythmic patterns...obscure, and damn good (he has others, all of which i recently ordered quite inexpensively via amazon - check him out).

[drone on]

I noticed on the Steve Roach site, Patrick O'Hearn's name was erased from the "other artists/kindred spirits" sections, and no sign of Transitions for sale there (O'Hearns past three or so albums so there).  Wonder what's up?...

[drone on]

The sound samples I've heard for Transitions left me underwhelmed.  Not sure I'll even bother with it.  Meanwhile:

Oophoi-Il Silenzio di Dio:  nice but not great.  This is a really different sound than his usual ultra-quiet outer space zones.  There's even piano on one track.  I'll have to give it a few more spins.

Wave World-The Winds of Laax.  Fantastic floaty space album from 2005.  These guys are back with two new albums, which I'll have to check out.  All their back catalog is available again, too. 

[Anodize DB]

Wave World-The Winds of Laax.  Fantastic floaty space album from 2005.  These guys are back with two new albums, which I'll have to check out.  All their back catalog is available again, too.

Just got the 2 new Waveworlds but haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. More soon.

[headonist]

Steve Roach - Quiet Music, the extended 3CD re-issue.

[headonist]

Steve Roach - Dynamic Stillness

[APK]

Darren: I will have to try some earlier bvdub. I Remember certainly doesn't work for me.

Recently picked these up a Darla
- Maps and Diagrams :: Lights will call on you
- Maps and Diagrams :: The town beneath the sea

Couple of good albums (as expected). More beatless than usual.

Annoying thing is that the downloads had no ID3 tags and no
graphics were included. Kinda pitiful. I think.

[Anodize DB]

Darren: I will have to try some earlier bvdub. I Remember certainly doesn't work for me.
Recently picked these up a Darla
- Maps and Diagrams :: Lights will call on you
- Maps and Diagrams :: The town beneath the sea

I just picked up those 2 M&D CDs as well, Anthony; haven't received them yet.

Bvdub can be hit & miss, but overall I do like what he does. The new one on Darla (en route in the same pkg w/the M&D discs) supposedly incorporates beats as well.

[drone on]

If it's any help, I think the best Bvdub disc is "Songs For a Friend I Left Behind."  On a small UK label, I got mine on Discogs...

Currently (no pun intended):

Erik Wollo-Silent Currents.  Great release!  Nice to see Wollo explore the darker ambient realms compared to his often new agey Spotted Peccary projects.  The guitars are eerie and ethereal a la Robert Rich. 

[| broken harbour |]

Phelios - Passage
Steve Roach: Nada Terma

Been on a tribal/ambient phase the last week or so, looking for some rhythm....and been checking out Mystified a bit this week as well.

[drone on]

Patrick Ohearn-Transitions.  Got this last night, really a beautiful album. Very pleasantly surprised.  A more minimal sound but similar to so flows the current, not as experimental as something like slow time. 

[spectral67]

Synaesthesia - Man Made Dirigible. Spacey, Warm, melodic Electronica. Really good stuff.
Psychetropic - Heat & China Radio Sunshine. Warm Electronica, a bit like early 90`s Warp and good dreamy stuff from that era. Again really good.

All three albums are for next to nothing on Bandcamp.

[headonist]

Steve Roach - Quiet Music, the extended 3CD re-issue.

again...

[APK]

When you are in the mood this stuff is so remarkable

- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan :: Mustt Mustt
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook :: Night Song

[APK]

Now playing

- Bonobo :: Black Sands

Despite what one may think of all the other tracks (some are quite good)
the title track is a truly great piece of music.

[SunDummy]

Illusion of Safety - "Of & The"  :  Minimal drones and sustained sounds; I hadn't heard this in years.  Not 'musical' at all; like standing in a harbor in heavy fog while strange ships pass by.

Inade - "Aldebaran" :  Less focused than later stuff (Solar Architects or Samadhi State), but a good listen nonetheless.  Spooky without the Lustmord cheese-factor.

Juno Reactor - "Luciana" :  Could be an Inade out-take. 

[El culto]

One of the best Rmx ever made.

Libra Presents Taylor-Anomaly (Calling Your Name)(Solarstone Chillout Version)

[petekelly]

Juno Reactor 'God is God'

Brilliant surrealist video for a cracking track:

Juno Reactor - God Is God [HQ High Quality]

[Dave Michuda]

AHK-Toong BAY-bi - a U2 cover album that came free in Q magazine.  Features NIN, Damien Rice, Depeche Mode, Patti Smith, Garbage & others.  The tracks by the five artists just listed are very good, the others are so-so.  Overall pretty fun.
Holy Other - with u ep - good slow dubstep
Bjork - biophilia - very interesting.  Definitely not background music, it demands your attention.  Not sure long term how often I'll come back to it, but it's cool for now.