June 17, 2016 at 7:36 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Matt Karmil: ++++
The second of two albums so far this year from an up-and-coming abstract house dude. This is very stare-into-space house, usually just repeating one brief melodic phrase and sample over a thudding beat, maybe fading something in and out, and adding effects. It can be pretty monotonous, and the opening track (which repeats the phrase “it’s not a perfect world” ad infinitum) is irritating. But when this album is on, it’s on. Or rather, it’s off; it feels detached and disconnected but still bumping along. “AF” is the most developed track, and easily the most memorable. “Be Gentle” is really good too. “Crystals” starts very quiet and still, but after several minutes it builds up to a pretty good half-asleep groove. Other tracks don’t do as much. It’s best to just sit back and let this one do its thing and not think too much about it. When it works, it works really well.
June 17, 2016 at 6:55 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Ryan Huber: Comoros CDr
Doomy drones and ticking loops from the prolific Massachusetts-based CDr-slinger. This one’s actually somewhat poppy in compared to some of his other albums, at least in terms of song lengths. There’s no 20 minute slowly evolving pieces here, most of these are around 2 or 3 minutes, with only two tracks reaching the 5 minute mark. There’s a slight bit more melody to some of these tracks (not too much though), and some tricky rhythmic patterns as well. The tracks don’t flow into each other as one work, so it feels like a collection of short sketches or snapshots. “Parapet” is a cool micro-groove. “Takfir” has a cool splittery effect near the end. “Cambridge in Flames” is the most straightforward 4/4 techno track. “Trinity” is the longest and most droney/ambient track, and it sneaks some shoegazey guitar in near the end. “Vrej” is also eerie and droney, then “Saladin” is more of a Stroboscopic Artefacts-type techno strack. Available from
Bandcamp.
June 13, 2016 at 12:21 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Scientific Sunshine: Chaarmy
Detroit-area songwriter Jordan Sunshine has been writing acoustic folk-pop songs for guitar and ukulele for years, but her debut album
Chaarmy (which appeared late last year) is a full immersion into futuristic lo-fi electro-pop. It’s bright and effervescent, and the music and lyrics/vocals complement each other really nicely. The beats and electronic melodies are never heavy, and they let the vocals (especially backup vocals) swim around and underneath without obscuring them. The songs sound like they’re being sung by a cartoon hero traveling to a distant galaxy, but there’s still something very down-to-earth and human about them. An incredibly sweet album which doesn’t sound like much else out there. Free to download on
Bandcamp, where physical CDs are available for purchase.
June 12, 2016 at 11:56 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Blochemy: Da Mear
i’m honestly really glad that there’s still people putting out IDM releases that sound like this. Very tightly programmed beats obviously inspired by Autechre but not as overwhelmingly intense, paired with light refreshing melodies. Some of the other Sun Sea Sky releases are closer to the more chillout BoC-but-not-as-weird style of IDM, but this has a bit more bite to it (as well as mostly nonsensical track titles) while still being a smooth, enjoyable listen. A lot of the melodies are kind of cut from the same cloth, there’s more variation to the beats, but it’s nothing to complain about. Like a nice sparkling beverage to go with the summer weather.
June 12, 2016 at 11:41 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Lunapark: Gefangene Vögel LP
So I recently discovered that I’m really into NDW (German new wave). Bands like Palais Schaumburg and Grauzone are totally up my alley now. I know nothing about this group other than that this 1982 album was the only one they put out. Not sure if it’s some sort of cult classic or anything, but listening to this reissue, it sounds fantastic. Lots of minimalist synths, shadowy German vocals, and some more upbeat post-punk moments (“Dieser Tag”). “Lederhosen” seems like the requisite silly German synth-pop single, but other songs here go a lot deeper. Good stuff.
June 12, 2016 at 11:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment
P. Morris: Low
Very unconventional, confusing beats and edits from LA. The producer refers to his sound as “goombawave”. Seems like very abstract hip-hop production, but a lot of times it just seems to stop and start up again like a trick candle. “Hot Life” is a bit more of a conventional rap track with a verse by Haleek Maul, but then it ends and goes into a sad string passage called “Blood King”. “Great Expectations” is a minute of sad pianos with cartoonish strings poking out here and there. “Bad Habits” has traces of that Al Bowlly sample used in White Town’s “Your Woman”, mashed up with horns and some beats and vocals reminiscent of early James Blake.
P. Morris: Teeth
is a literal continuation of
Low, even beginning with the same samples. It’s also even more fractured and scattered, with plenty of long silent pauses between explosive beats, short tracks that don’t seem to have a clear beginning or end, recurring samples, orchestral bombast, heavy snapping bass, MORE FIRE, and moments that seem to fall flat on the ground only to be back in the swing of things seconds later. And while it all might sound like a random collage, the release ends with the entire work performed live at Low End Theory. It’s clearly all deliberate. Very strange, and something that encourages many repeated listens. Also, these are both the tip of the iceberg, as there are many more recordings on
Bandcamp dating back several years.
June 12, 2016 at 11:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Damian Schwartz: The Dancing Behavior 2LP
Super diverse set of tracks from the long-running Madrid-based producer. A lot of the expected Detroit and Chicago dance influences are present, but it goes further beyond dance music. There’s trippy vocal and sample manipulation, and some blippy/buzzy synths which recall some of Raymond Scott’s electronic inventions. There’s spacy electro, there’s proper house, there’s oldschool IDM type melodies. “Minor Moves” is more downtempo but with crazy Squarepusher rapid bass tones. Lots of ground covered on this one. Super nice.
June 12, 2016 at 10:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Moby: Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.
Real talk: this is Moby’s best album in 20 years. Possibly ever. It’s 4 hours long and the shortest track is 17 minutes. It’s a return to the dark, droney, non-commercial ambient side of Moby’s work. This is the Moby that gave us “hymn.alt.quiet.version” and “Reject”. This is the type of Moby music creates for himself, not advertisements. It’s intended for sleeping, and I’ve certainly listened to it for that purpose (I can’t say I’ve listened to the whole thing while awake), but it’s so much deeper than just merely a sleeping album. It’s not “chillout” ambient. It’s dark blue, it’s nocturnal, it drifts and flows in slow waves. It does have some incredibly serene moments, but it’s way more spacey than anything else he’s ever done. I am serious, if you are a fan of the most deep-space ambient music and/or you’ve written off Moby a long time ago, this is a must-listen. Best of all, it’s
completely free.
June 12, 2016 at 10:18 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Shantih Shantih: Winter In September LP
All-female group from Atlanta lead by Italian native Anna Barattin (ex Vermillion Sands). Slightly haunted Southern gothic indie rock, a little bit of a folk stomp to it but it’s clearly rock music. Some reverb on things, guitars are mostly pretty taut and thin. “Tell Me I’m Wrong” has ooh-la-laing backup vocals, but the lyrics are a little more sinister than the happy-sounding music (“you’re in my head let go of me”). Some of the uptempo tracks seem vaguely cowpunk-ish (I think? do I even know what cowpunk sounds like?). “Ruby” is a nice ethereal retro ballad with lots of angelic glowing echo. Overall, a bit friendly but also somewhat sinister. Listen on
Bandcamp. Just as a warning if you get the vinyl LP, the center hole must be smaller than usual because it took a bit of effort to remove the record from my turntable. Maybe that’s just a trick to encourage repeated listens!
June 12, 2016 at 9:29 pm | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment
Super Thing: self-titled
First album by an Ypsilanti-based psychedelic noise rock band who have mostly (entirely?) relocated to Chicago. Highly influenced by stoner metal, grunge, and Krautrock, but it doesn’t really stick to one thing, even within each song. Vocals are present, but they’re mostly just to emphasize certain parts of the song, or otherwise guide the tracks along, rather than provide lyrical structure. Lots of guitar soloing, and lots of splashy drumming. “4-LOM” is a bit closer to the group’s grunge side, specifically the vocals. “Baba Yaga” is long and hypnotic, and almost sounds like Nirvana covering Neu! “Lazer Puke” is a bit more explosive and math-y, and seems to be instrumental except for maybe some screaming in the middle (or is that just the guitar talking?). “Pandemonium” starts out as sort of a desert traveling groove, then pauses before turning into an evil swirling doom track with Satanic lyrics. “Untitled improvisation about selling weed” seems more noisy and unhinged than the other tracks. Fred Thomas recorded, mixed, and mastered this, but the extra studio sheen doesn’t distract from the intensity of their performances. I think this CD is limited to 100 copies and I’m not sure if it’s available anywhere yet, I guess just check their
Facebook.
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