the art of dying alone - bvdub (EP) release date: 6/9/2010 - available to download soon
San Francisco artist bvdub (Brock Van Wey) is known all over the world for having realized resonant jewels of rare beauty such as "White Clouds Drift On and On", "We Were The Sun", "To Live" and many more. He has collaborated with labels such as Millions of Moments, Echospace, Smallfish, Styrax, and the German Kompakt, for which bvdub joined the famous compilation Pop Ambient 2010 curated by Wolfgang Voigt (aka Gas).The personal sound of this artist moves from refined deep techno settings to more atmospheric and ethereal ones, leading to ambient soundscapes, and aiming to infinity. The treatment of the resonant subject is always executed with skill and discretion, and the sound possesses a wonderful capacity of description which lifts the listener up to the heavens. "The Art of Dying Alone" is no exception, and in the new work composed for Glacial Movements, bvdub spans different sound-sorgents of classical moulds such as piano, acoustic guitar, violin and angelic female voices, along with delicate digital soundscapes. All this is manipulated and perfectly orchestrated into six wonderful compositions in which moments of melancholy, isolation, coldness, and contemplation of life will take the listener's soul on a journey throughout those beautiful and desolate places eternalized in the cover photo by Bjarne Riesto, with great thanks to the huge design-work by Keep Adding studio."The Art of Dying Alone" is the contemplation of a final sunset over snowy peaks - it's the end of winter and the beginning of spring - it's a soft coat of ice on flowered grasses, quietly admired one last time.Without a doubt, this is the brightest but most melancholic work ever produced by GM.
walking, north, north - makiko nishikaze (EP) release date: 31/7/2010 - available to download
This CD, with three solo pieces and one duo, is the result of many years of collaboration of the composer, pianist and performance artist Makiko Nishikaze (b. 1968, Wakayama, Japan) and the ensemble L'ART POUR L'ART. "The musicians understand each sound and each musical gesture as their own language, and they are able to bring it to life," says Nishikaze. "wind, near you" is a flow, consisting of the sounds, their resonance, and silence. In "sanctus", air is the mediation between player and instrument. "walking, north, north" is not a narrative depiction of a winter landscape but a flow of sound and silence. The flow, or rather the path in "St. Michael's garden", is unpredictable, like entering a celestial garden, a garden that you can imagine but one that you have never visited before.
double cut - moebius & beerbohm (EP) release date: 20/8/2010 * reissue * - available to download
In 1984, two years after their first album collaboration, “Strange Music”, Dieter Moebius and Gerd Beerbohm issued their second LP, “Double Cut”. It bore the same distinctive hallmarks as its predecessor, but this time around, the two musicians had simplified matters significantly. This was not simplification due to a lack of inspiration, however, but a masterful concentration on what really counts in pop music: rhythm. Today, any discussion on German electronic pop music of the 1970s and 1980s takes for granted that the origins of a whole range of future music movements can be traced back to this period. German groups anticipated punk and were producing proto-techno and ambient music long before these had entered the genre pool as recognized categories. A number of the protagonists from that era would become enduring worldwide legends. Others , such as Moebius and Beerbohm, have thus far been limited to the shelves of certain enthusiasts. Yet as a precursor of prescient future music, “Double Cut” is a perfect specimen. The centrepiece of the album, the 22-minute “Doppelschnitt”, can be tagged as proto-techno. Moebius and Beerbohm have grafted an endless stream of rhythmical electronic particles onto an ostinato bass and drum figure, fluttering to and fro like the lightest of shimmering veils. The utter and deliberate absence of any kind of melody makes it even easier to be carried away by rhythm to distant places. “Double Cut” is musical askesis of a formidably persuasive nature, avoiding energy-sapping meditative ballast and the anaemic contemplation of new sound academia. “Double Cut” is powerful, sensual pop music. Moebius never sets foot in the studio with the aim of recording structured, premeditated compositions, he rather more resembles a child in a sandpit. Beerbohm was a congenial partner in this respect, as he and Moebius bounced artistic ideas back and forth, surprising each other time and again with their musical caprioles. Beerbohm’s contribution to the pair of albums cannot be regarded too highly. And Moebius, the brilliant spark, had once again proved shrewd in the extreme by enlisting Beerbohm to record two albums with him.
fiber - fiber (EP) release date: 13/8/2010 - available to download
Heat, sand, dry air, mirages. First part is an epic 20 minute walk through the dunes, transforming from dirty struggle with sand everywhere, to calm and dry air carrying you through the last half of the journey. The second part is closer to the city of Constantinople, echoing a chanting flute of a nomad with a steady beat and a hazy bell falling in and out of sync.
strange music - moebius & beerbohm (CD) release date: 20/8/2010 * reissue * - available to download
In the latter half of the 1970s, alongside their Cluster collaboration, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius embarked almost simultaneously on individual musical journeys. Roedelius focused primarily on solo projects, whilst Moebius preferred to enagage with other musicians on equal terms. „Strange Music“ – unimaginative as it may first appear (!), the title speaks volumes about where Moebius was coming from, artistically speaking. Moebius is a master of perspicuity, without ever oversimplifying or lapsing into banalization. Instead, he uncovers the rich variety inherent in the detail of minor variations. Moebius’ principles of pop music are drawn from three sources: the uncomplicated minimalism of the late 1960s, archaising, instrumental rock’n’roll of the late 1950s and improvisation. Working with Gerd Beerbohm saw him combine these elements to create an exact representation of his understanding of contemporary pop music. Gerd Beerbohm turned out to be the perfect musical foil for Moebius, affording him free rein, in the very best sense of the expression, to bring his concept of pop music to life. Whilst “unleashed” best describes his mindset, this should be equated with neither chaos nor arbitrariness. On the contrary, the only liberty Moebius took was to focus exclusively on his and Beerbohm’s musical visions, without feeling the need to consider any higher group concepts. This gave rise to a forceful, energized album, steering a clear course ahead, full of improvised ideas and unencumbered by frills or embellishments. Moebius und Beerbohm had well and truly arrived in the early 1980s, with the future clearly in their sights, most definitely not looking over their shoulders. It is impossible to ignore distant echoes of punk and new wave - DIY, the “do it yourself” ethic had been common practice for the Harmonia family since the 1970s, recording with their own equipement, independent of the bigger studios.
what about things like bullets - natalie beridze / tba (EP) release date: 6/8/2010 - available to download
Georgian musician Natalie Beridze aka tba first came to monika through her contribution to Volume 1 of the popular series 4 Women No Cry. Now her latest solo releases are coming out on the Berlin label too. This 5 track online EP is a taster for the full-length album, ForgetFulness, that is coming out in autumn. And while What about things like bullets stands proud on its own, it’s sure to leave you wanting more. While these are her first solo releases on monika, Tusia Beridze is certainly no newcomer. With output on labels such as Max Ernst, her ongoing collaboration with the Goslab collective and most recently a release on Laboratory Instinct, tba’s sound is both rich in texture and depth of vision. From the industrial beats of opening title track What about things like bullets to the club friendly electro-ambience of The Face We Choose To Miss and the intricate electronica of This isn't right, this isn't even wrong, the cutting edge production gains warmth and a personal touch throughout from the presence of tba’s voice. No more so is this the case as in her remarkable cover of Nine Inch Nails / Trent Reznor’s Hurt. Of course, Beridze is following in big footsteps with her rendition of this song as the late great Johnny Cash also covered it as one of his last recordings. But tba’s version in all its ambient elegance adds a whole new dimension to this brilliantly melancholy ballad and thereby recollects perhaps Pop Artificielle’s cover of Jealous Guy. This fine EP ends with Silently – which is nothing short of breathtaking. tba’s music is captivating and yet at the same time leaves enough room to let the listeners’ imagination run off in its own direction. And this download EP is just the beginning. If you like this, stand by for the immanent release of her brand new album, ForgetFulness, which contains collaborations with Japanese pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto as well as a host more original Natalie Beridze compositions. In the meantime, enjoy this EP!
jesu: can i go now (gone version) - pale sketcher (EP) release date: 6/8/2010 - available to download
As the first single released in advance of Jesu: Pale Sketches DeMixed, Justin K. Broadrick’s Ghostly debut as Pale Sketcher, “Can I Go Now (Gone Version)” is more than a fine introduction. The track contains everything Pale Sketcher does best: trash-compactor beats, gently swelling synth pads, and an air of beautiful, post-apocalyptic decay. Broadrick’s vocals float above it all, vocoded and reverbed, lending a touch of humanity to the song’s mechanized melancholy.
Danish duo Syntaks’ remix of “Can I Go Now” employs a double-time rhythm and a cloud of shoegazey guitars to bring the track to ethereal new heights; while Donnacha Costello’s take tosses Broadrick’s vocal into a pool of sky-blue synthesizers, recalling Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works while adding a romantic tilt to the song’s downcast melody.
jesu: pale sketches demixed - pale sketcher (CD) release date: 20/8/2010 - available to download
If Justin K. Broadrick’s Jesu project is the sound of the UK artist exorcising his demons, pummeling them into submission with tsunamis of guitar noise, Pale Sketcher is the sound that echoes through his head in the aftermath—a haunting, lonely sound-world of distressed beats and hazy melancholia.
On Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed, Broadrick displays a delicate touch with musical moods, crafting dark, sweet hymns that alternately soothe and unsettle. The crunch of rusty industrial machinery, the murmur of a summer wind—these are Justin K. Broadrick’s Pale Sketches.
black city - matthew dear (CD) release date: 3/8/2010 - available to download
Depending on whom you ask, Matthew Dear is a DJ, a dance-music producer, an experimental pop artist, a bandleader.
He co-founded both Ghostly International and its dancefloor offshoot Spectral Sound. He's had remixes commissioned by The XX, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Spoon, Hot Chip, The Postal Service, and Chemical Brothers; he's made mixes for the Fabric mix series and Get Physical's Body Language. He maintains four aliases (Audion, False, Jabberjaw, and Matthew Dear), each with its own style and distinct visual identity.
His highly anticipated fourth album, 2010's Black City - the follow up to 2007's critically acclaimed Asa Breed - is the culmination of years of hard work and experimentation, a darkly playful sound-world that envelops the listener like the arms of a malevolent lover. Black City is Matthew Dear's darkest and most engrossing work to date. After over a decade of exploring pop's outer limits, he now inhabits a rarefied corner of the musical universe: no longer tethered to any one genre, respected by his peers, and blessed with a bottomless well of creative energy.
sumerian - synthonic matter (CD) release date: 1/8/2010 - available to download
Synthonic Matters debut album speaks in a language which was long forgotten and came to earth thousands of years ago in hieroglyphic form and cryptical sounds. Now transformed and beamed direct to your ears in fresh sounding styles and noises. Sumerian is a experimental album of cranky electronica and sick chaotic synth activities which is hard to preview in short listening files. Most tracks are energised creations with much ups and downs, peaking out at freestyle madness and out of the ordinary distorted drum momentums. What makes it so enjoyable is the way Synthonic Matter has captured and recorded these outta space jam sessions with all the involved crazyness and fun. This CD is free from guidelines and can do whatever it wants. Something for free minds and lovers of experimental and electronically produced music.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 
flavour (1128 reviews)
ambient / electronica / avantgarde
