De Volta

Cá estou eu de novo.

Depois das férias e de um periodo um pouco negro na vida pessoal, decidi voltar com algumas sugestöes.

Mais tarde, lista de albums a ouvir.

Férias, Holidays, Urlaub, Vacances

Ellen Allien - Thrills

Bpitch Control


Press Release:

This summer sees the release of Ellen Allien’s third studio album. Taking time out from running her Bpitch Control label that has just turned 100 and constant global deck duties, Berlin’s Ms. Allien brings us ‘Thrills’.

“An album is a work from a period in one’s life,” states Ellen. “Constantly rushing around through clubs makes me feel distracted. I’m no longer grounded. Instead, I’m still floating somewhere inside this club action, fluttering through the night, standing between the bass drum and the emotions of the people. I’m totally absent. Often I’m no longer inside my own body. When I have more time, when I’m on holiday or just lying around in my bed, I can finally start to process things. I don’t often have this peacefulness in my life, and it’s the same with music. Learning to say no is a virtue, being able to concentrate on only one thing - my own thing. Making an album mainly means coming down, relaxing, finding myself again, making contact with myself again, finding out where I want to go, showing what I’m capable of. It’s a nice process, returning to the things I like.”

In the meantime, Ellen Allien no longer places the primary emphasis on testing her own abilities, perspectives (Stadtkind) and links to current movements in electronic music (Berlinette). Rather, her third album “Thrills” makes a clear statement: Her passions have become her profession. This also means that she has withdrawn from the daily grind of being a label manager to allow herself as much freedom as possible – namely to define herself as an artist, with all it entails. And that can only work based on the well-oiled team at BPitch Control giving her the necessary logistical support.

Concentration is vital. Creative expression has always been her outlet in the search for the thrill of sensing and feeling. On “Thrills” this builds up to a great moment of clarity. Ellen Allien puts her two feet on the ground and lets her thoughts play in the clouds. Thrills may be her balance between concentration and relaxation. She perceives excitement as a single moment, in which half-closed eyes show the surroundings in a blur, when one can feel a slight tingling beneath the scalp. This bodily sensation, of being “here and now”, may be an intention of “Thrills”, to hold on tight to this one moment of clarity. For Ellen Allien, music is expression and at the same time, a channel.
‘Thrills’ is a result of excellent teamwork with Holger Zielske (Smash TV) with whom she also produced ‘Stadtkind’ and ‘Berlinette’. But the making of ‘Thrills’ is not only defined by concentrated and experienced working methods.

The ability to let go and to feel like oneself also requires a very free and relaxed approach to handling production technologies. With new-old units like the Roland 808 and an ARP 2600 a much warmer, non-digital sound emerged, which also altered the music in a new and at the same time an old way. On ‘Thrills’ one can now interpret Ellen Allien’s search for a way to merge man and technology as an intermediate result among many others. Nevertheless, despite these recurring sound frames, Ellen Allien remains a tinkerer who objects to staying in comfortable, well known surroundings. The ARP 2600 has become Ellen Allien’s new favourite instrument, for which she searched for two months on Ebay. Her love of technology is also elementary to “Thrills”, while always remaining a means to an end – not vice versa.

Ellen Allien allows herself the freedom she needs to let out this inner thrill, this ecstasy, which can be experienced by producer and consumers alike. Her years of travel, the incredible flood of sensations, the filtering, capturing and framing, has, meanwhile, helped Ellen Allien to perceive herself more strongly. She no longer feels lost in this world – on the contrary. The relaxedness which emanates from “Thrills”, without being slow or chilly, is a sign of maturity. Ellen Allien has found her musical path, her orientation. She has built her own system of coordinates. She seeks out traces, and finds them. Ellen Allien’s musical future is a link between past and present even though she thinks that “future is dust”.

The clarity of sound on “Thrills”, the coherence, which finds its basis in Ellen Allien’s personal history, refers to memories – ones that were really experienced and not just re-produced feelings – which are still so moving that they not only become the sound of a whole generation, but also the soundtrack to her own biography. Ellen Allien’s technoid, electroid roots, the everlasting game of asking the question “What else can you do with it?” shows that techno has not come to an end by a long way – on the contrary. Because with every shout of “Techno Is Dead”, it is newly born with a different face, which at least on ‘Thrills’ is very coherent and self-contained and invites you to linger. And all this time, Ellen Allien’s orientation toward what rocks the hardest, what makes the dance floor boil over, is emblematic of her life and experience as a DJ. The bass is always the common thread and the vocals and melodies twirl around it.

‘Thrills’ is preceded by the single ‘Magma’ (BPC 105) featuring remixes from The MFA and Modeselektor on 16 May 2005. Catch Ellen DJing at The Poke, London on 22 April and at All Tomorrows Parties, Camber Sands 23 April.

CD TRACKLISTING:

1 COME 6:39
2 THE BRAIN IS LOST 5:20
3 YOUR BODY IS MY BODY 5:36
4 NAKED RAIN 4:56
5 WASHING MACHINE IS SPEAKING 5:27
6 DOWN 4:38
7 GHOST TRAIN 3:07
8 CLOUDY CITY 6:21
9 SHE IS WITH ME 5:05
10 MAGMA 5:56

EPM

Deadbeat - New World Observer

~scape

Third Album for scape by the legendary Deadbeat. The open seas - the pirates' domain - have long been a site of resistance. And if reggae, one of the world's great resistance genres, is an island ghetto music, dub is ocean song, brimming with tidal swells and pinging with the secret language of sonar. These freedoms are turned loose in the music of Deadbeat, aka Montreal's Scott Monteith. Equally influenced by German techno, dub reggae, and the digital dub of his mentor Pole, Deadbeat plumbs the unfathomable aquatic mass of the deep blue in his bottom-dredging bass lines, coral-clacking clicks, and untethered melodies. Deadbeat's third album for Scape, New World Observer, is his most accomplished attempt yet to fuse dub, techno, and ambient music into a complex, undulating form. It would be silly to call this a 'political' album, but the record's influences demonstrate how the tenor of the times filters into music that might at first listen be deemed a product for leisure consumption. If you listen closely to the introduction of "Abu Ghraib," you'll hear the appalling rhetoric of a certain North American right-wing radio announcer slowed to a brainnumbing crawl. in AB-CD


It’s interesting to see how purveyors of broken dubwise minimalism have tried to diversify their sound over the last couple of years. In thrall to the prototypes of Basic Channel and, later, their rhythm and sound incarnation, the sound reached a cultural climax with the release of Pole’s seminal first album back in 1998.From there on this generic microcosm unfurled at an exponential rate, bringing to the world the House modifications of Kit Clayton and his Belief Systems, the Scape imprint and a seemingly unstoppable roster of producers guided by the presets and configurations perfected by their master. As the scene has progressed these new diversifications have been necessary to keep the movement, well, moving, something quite evidently at the forefront of Scott Monteith's thinking cap while recording this excellent new album. in Boomkat

Albums Avulso #4

A última fornada, de albums deste ano, a ter em conta.


Bitstream - Domestic Economy 7 [Modern Love / Boomkat] Electronic, IDM
Boom Bip - Blue Eyed In The Red Room [Lex Records] Electronic, Leftfield, IDM, Post Rock
Goldmund - Corduroy Road [Type Records] Electronic, Modern Classical, Minimal
Jaga Jazzist - What We Must [Ninja Tune / Smalltown Supersound] Electronic, Rock, Future Jazz, Post Rock
Jesu - Jesu [Hydra Head] Electronic, Industrial, Experimental, Ambient
Monolake - Invisible Force [Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music] Electronic, Abstract, Techno
Out Hud - Let Us Never Speak Of It Again [Kranky / Studio !K7] Electronic, Rock, Leftfield, Disco
Quinoline Yellow - Dol-Goy Assist [Skam] Electronic, Leftfield, Abstract, IDM, Ambient
The Books - Lost And Safe [Tomlab] Electronic, Leftfield, Folk Rock, Experimental

Mais Concertos / Fabrik

10 de Maio - Jaga Jazzist

16 de Maio - Femi Kuti & The Positive Force

9 de Agosto - The Polyphonic Spree

10 de Agosto - Yo La Tengo


Fabrik / Hamburg

Albums Avulso #3

Bibio - Fi [Mush] Electronic, Rock, Experimental, Ambient
Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness [Leaf] Electronic, Rock, Leftfield, Krautrock, Downtempo, Indie Rock
Nicolette - Life Loves Us [Mono¨Cromatica] Electronic, Breakbeat, Downtempo, Experimental
Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep [Big Dada] Hip Hop, RnB/Swing, Ragga HipHop

Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham

Netlabels

Comecei a consumir há coisa de um ano, hoje em dia visito dezenas delas. Por agora ficam aqui estes links, säo aquelas que me fizeram continuar a explorar este mundo, que a meu ver näo tem fim. O que é uma netlabel? A Wikipedia responde.

Autoplate / Thinner - Alemanha

Autres Directions In Music - França

Monotonik - E.U.A.

Sutemos - Lituânia

Testtube - Portugal

TonAtom - Alemanha

Albums Avulso #2

E cá estamos nós com a segunda parte dos albums que por algumas razöes merecem o destaque, desta feita vamos deixar crescer o cabelo porque vem aí o "Roque".

Bardo Pond - Cypher Documents [Three Lobed Recordings] Space Rock, Alternative Rock
Mogwai - Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 [PIAS UK] Experimental Rock, Instrumental, Post Rock
Red Sparowes - At the Soundless Dawn [Neurot Recordings] Alternative Rock

Qual Comprar?

Já há alguns meses que ando com isto na cabeca, comprar um prato. Näo o tenho por causa de outros bens de primeira necessidade, näo quer dizer que este näo o seja. Encalhei nestes dois.



Technics Plattenspieler SL-1200 MK5

• Quarz-Direkt Antrieb
• Alu-Druckgußgehäuse / Gummeeinlage
• Brake Speed Control
• Gleichstrommotor
• Massearmer Tonarm mit Kardanauflösung
• Helikoid-Tonarmhöheneinstellung
• Brake Speed Control
• Skaliertes Tonarmende
• Antiskating (6g),
• Pitch-Reset


Technische Daten

Typ: Quarzgest. Direktantrieb
Drehzahl: 33 1/3 und 45 RPM
Pitchbereich: +/- 8%
Start/Stop: < 0,7 sek.
Drehmoment: 1,5 kg/cm
Maße: 453 x 172 x 355 mm
Gewicht: 12 kg



Technics Plattenspieler SL-1210 M5G

Features

• Pitch Reset
• Pitch Control (8% oder 16%)
• Brake Speed Control
• Blaue Beleuchtung
• Statisch balancierter S-förmiger Tonarm
• Höhenverstellbarer Tonarm
• Hochwertiges Audio-Kabel
• Skaliertes Tonarmende
• Schockabsorbierende Füße
• Antiskating (6g)
• Schwarzes Hochglanzfinish


Technische Daten

Typ: Quarzgest. Direktantrieb
Drehzahl: 33 1/3 und 45 RPM
Pitchbereich: +/- 8 / 16%
Start/Stop: <0.7sek.
Drehmoment: 1500g/cm
Maße: 453 x 172 x 355 mm
Gewicht: 11kg

Albums Avulso #1

Depois de ter feito, há uns dias atrás, a lista dos melhores de 2005 até ao momento, hoje vai uma fornada de outros albums a ter em conta. Alguns destes, só por muito pouco näo entraram nas contas anteriores. Mas muita coisa ainda está para sair ou já saiu, mas ainda näo tive a oportunidade de lhes pôr os ouvidos em cima. Nem todos estäo no mundo da electrónica, de vez em quando também faz bem mudar de ares.


Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Productions of Eggs [Righteous Babe Records] Folk Rock
Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down [Righteous Babe Records] Folk Rock
Animal Collective & Vashti Bunyan - Prospect Hummer [Fat Cat] Electronic, Indie Rock, Experimental
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness [Thrill Jockey] Folk Rock, Indie Pop
Matt Elliott - Drinking Songs [Ici D'Ailleurs] Experimental, Electronic, Rock

Warp Records News

‘Big City Loser’, the debut EP by Chok Rock (aka Parisian musician Gael Baillier) is rereleased on Warp on 25 April, re-mastered and with an extra track on the CD entitled ‘Take A Plane’.

Originally released in a limited pressing on the Parisian label Chateaurouge, a copy of the 12" ended up in the Rough Trade shop where one of the band !!! (on a rare afternoon's break from touring last year) heard it, flipped out and brought it to Warp's attention. Gael was immediately tracked down and bundled onto the next Eurostar to London... Further EPs and an album will follow in 2005/6 on Warp. Chok Rock is chopped-up, electronic funk with deconstructed vocals and bits of guitar - "Akufen meets Parliament" as Trevor Jackson put it.

CHOK ROCK will appear alongside other Warp artists at the third annual Vasarely Festival in Aix-En-Provence on 3rd - 5th June.

Gael Baillier started out as a guitarist in the band the Smouth Mohols (the Sweet Mussels), whose short career culminated in a single gig at the Rex Club in Paris. On this mythical stage, Gael hypnotised his friends with never-ending Van Halen-style solos. But faced with a general lack of interest from the public and the record labels he left the ‘mussels’ behind...

After founding and successfully developing a sound design company, he discovered electronic music and rediscovered Shuggie Otis, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and Timmy Thomas and invested all he had in a new studio, bankrupting his company in the process (to this day his business partner wants him dead).
Gael retreated to his small Parisian flat/studio that became a refuge for other wandering souls of Paris by night. One such soul was Camille Bazbaz who memorably defined the CHOK ROCK sound as "a futuristic dampness impregnated with sex" as only a Parisian can. He also met Cyril Kebellian, genius and mega-guitarist. Then Check Morris, graphic designer and videomaker, who created the CHOK ROCK visual universe.

Warp Records

Warpmart

Listen

Check Morris

Que Dizer?

Que dizer, quando entras num mundo onde sentes a vida através de sons?

Que dizer, quando és projectado contra uma parede, durante horas sem te conseguires mexer?

Que dizer, quando consegues cheirar cada ruído?

Que dizer, quando tu és uma marioneta comandada por alguém brutal e sem o minímo de respeito?

Que dizer, quando o teu corpo move-se sem qualquer direccäo ou destino?

Que dizer, quando o mais infímo movimento te eleva a um ponto nunca antes alcancado?

Que dizer, quando isto tudo, talvez tenha sido só um sonho?

Que dizer, quando passadas algumas horas, o teu corpo continua a movimentar-se sem qualquer direccäo ou destino?

Que dizer, quando passadas algumas horas, continuas a conseguir cheirar cada décibel deixado no ar?

Isso mesmo, näo há mesmo nada a dizer.

É hoje, é hoje

Novos Links

Foi hoje oficialmente inaugurada uma nova seccäo de links, mais propriamente, Bandas & Artistas.
Ainda tenho de acrescentar alguns, agora ficam só estes para abrir o apetite.

Venetian Snares

Depois de ter editado Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole a 20 de Janeiro através da Sublight Records, Inc., Rossz Csillag Alatt Született a 14 de Marco pela Planet Mu, vem aí, já a 20 de Junho, novamente editado pela Planet Mu, um novo album de nome Meathole.

O único senäo no meio disto tudo, é o senhor Funk näo passar aqui pela Alemanha.

Autechre European Tour 2005

April 05Thu 14 London. + Rob Hall, Mark Broom, Baby Ford SOLD OUT
Fri 15 Glasgow. Arts School ¬
Sat 16 Manchester. Zoo ¬ SOLD OUT
Sun 17 Nottingham. Stealth ¬
Mon 18 Paris. Point Ephemere
Tue 19 Antwerp. Petrol *
Wed 20 Eindhoven. Effenaar *
Thu 21 Hamburg. Blomen und Planeten *
Fri 22 Berlin. Maria * (+ O.S.T. & Errorsmith)
Sat 23 Koln. Sensor *
Sun 24 Mannheim. MS Connexion *
Mon 25 Reims. La Cartonnerie *
Tue 26 Lyon. DV1*
Wed 27 Geneva. L'Usine *
Thu 28 Marseille. La Friche Belle De Mai *
Fri 29 Rome. Brancaleone *
Sat 30 Bologna.

Link *NB: All dates with DJ Rob Hall
¬ = with DJ Mark Broom
* = with SND(live)

Warp Records


Finalmente...chegou a oportunidade de ver os mestres.

Editora do Dia #2

African Dope Records




African Dope Records is an independent label from Cape Town, South Africa, releasing fresh beats and breaks by artists from Cape Town since April 2000. It is the brainchild of Cape Town beats n breaks dj/producer team Krushed & Sorted, who started and run the label from its HQ in the centre of Cape Town.

The label has grown rapidly from a couple of djs with a couple of crates of records and high ambitions, into the definitive voice of the new wave of South African music - colourblind, bass heavy, an exotic blend of third world style and first world production values. With a strong emphasis on high quality production made on low-budget gear, African Dope has clearly changed the way South Africans see the leftfield of SA music, and has almost single-handedly sparked a mini music revolution for groove-based beats in Cape Town and other cities.

This contribution to the SA music scene became official when the 'African Dope Vol 1' compilation won a 2002 SAMA award for 'Best Dance Album'. [African Dope Records]


Albums preferidos por aqui, säo:

Felix Laband - Thin Shoes in June..., cd.2001
Kalahari Surfers - Akasic Records, cd.2001
Felix Laband - 4/4 Down The Stairs, cd.2002
Kalahari Surfers - Muti Media, cd.2003
Sibot & Markus Wormstorm - The Real Estate Agents, 3xcd.????

Khonnor

At only 17, Connor Kirby-Long is Type's youngest artist! Such a young age and Connor is already crafting the most beautiful electro accoustic works we at Type have heard. Imagine a blend of classic American folk music, 80s new wave sentiment, all with the modern gloss and production techniques of electronica.
Type will be handling the debut release of this fresh and mysterious new talent. If you hold any love for the beautiful, melodic and romantic excesses of 'The Smiths', 'David Sylvian' or more recently 'Jim 'O Rourke' then Khonnor is the man to watch. - in Type Records

Khonnor is a 17-year-old wonderboy from smalltown Vermont, usa - who has somehow managed to craft the most startling singer-songwriter debut we’ve heard in years. with an uncanny maturity and a gleefully rebellious lack of regard for generic restraint, Connor Kirby-long has taken influence from the sonic disruptions and considered melodic dimensions of outsider heroes like Christian Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke, Sonic Youth and even The Smiths.....all in between dodging maths class and fitting in his homework. - in Boomkat


Discografia:

- Lost Pets, mp3.2003 [Please do Something] Electronic, IDM, Experimental, Leftfield
- Handwriting, lp.2004 [Type Records] Electronic, Abstract, Experimental
- Handwriting, cd.2004 [Type Records] Electronic, Abstract, Experimental
- Live From Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, mp3.2004 [Please do Something] Electronic, IDM, Experimental, Leftfield

Novos Sons

Ontem foi dia da feira mensal, näo muito longe do bairro onde vivo. Muito vinil, muito mesmo, mas mais virado para o Rock de outras décadas (60/70/80), muito pouco ou quase nenhuma electrónica, a razäo da minha ida á feira. 3 destes albums já os tinha em mp3, mas quando tenho a oportunidade de os arranjar originais e baratos, näo a deixo fugir.


Alec Empire - Limited Editions 1990-94, cd.1994 [Mille Plateaux's Releases] [Mille Plateaux Media] Electronic, Illbient, Abstract, Ambient



Alec Empire - Les Etoiles Des Filles Mortes, cd.1996 [Mille Plateaux's Releases] [Mille Plateaux Media] Electronic, Experimental



Bola - Soup, cd.1998 [Skam] Electronic, Downtempo, Ambient



dDamage - Radio Ape, cd.2004 [Planet Mu] Electronic, IDM



Datach'i - Mmale And Ffemale, cd.2004 [Planet Mu] Electronic, Leftfield, Abstract, IDM



Eight Miles High - Katalog, cd.2002 [Klang Elektronik] Electronic, Techno, Experimental



Tweaker - The Attraction To All Things Uncertain, cd.2001 [Six Degrees Records] Electronic, Rock, Alternative Rock, Industrial, Ambient

Programa de Festas

Já está confirmado que nos próximos meses, vou ver algumas das bandas que me têm dado mais alegrias nos ultimos tempos. Tinha pensado em ir a mais, mas como os bilhetes têm de ser sempre multiplicados por 2, torna-se praticamente impossivel andar a pular de concerto em concerto. Qualquer uma destas bandas näo leva menos do que 20€ (num pensamento já muito optimista), já percebem o porquê, com muita pena minha, näo entrar em loucuras.

21 de Abril - Autechre [Blomen und Planeten] Hamburg





18 de Maio - Tortoise / Konono n-1 [Fabrik] Hamburg





13 de Junho - 13 & God / Why? [Fabrik] Hamburg





26 de Junho - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti [Golden Pudel] Hamburg





17 de Julho - Sigur Rós [Stadtpark] Hamburg

Resumo 2005 - parte 4

Para terminar a série de 12 albums, apresento 3 albums dos quais näo gostei muito á primeira audicäo, mas neste momento estäo bem lá no topo.



Larsen - Play, cd [Important] Electronic, Folk Rock, Experimental

What frequently got lost amid the amazing back-story that preceded the release of Larsen’s debut record for the Young God label was the music. The strange courtship of Michael Gira, the fact that they would never show themselves to him while he recorded their album, and the silk-cloth that sat between band and engineer were the main focus. And perhaps rightfully so. That being said, you could sit down with Rever and love it just the same without all that baggage.
Similarly audiences won’t benefit much from finding out that the group’s most recent recording Play, takes its inspiration from the melodies of Autechre. That’s because they were used as mere jumping-off points and are stripped bare of the accompanying rhythmic bluster that typifies the IDM stalwart’s sound. In fact, it’s a curious choice for the band, considering Autechre’s recent rejection of clear melody, in favor of the complexity of their rhythmic interests. Stylus Magazine




Phthalocyanine - No One Said You Didn't, cd [Planet Mu] Electronic, Abstract, IDM, Noise, Experimental

If Gabbacore was played by orchestras, “No One Said You Didn’t” sounds like its musicians tuning their instruments before an ear-grinding performance. Dimitri Fergadis is a veteran of this game, both as an artist and as curator of the amazingly astute and always challenging Phthalo imprint. When you think that artists as noted as Dntel and Daedalus emerged from his home-spun cottage industry, you get a good idea of just how on-the-money his selection skills have been. “No One Said You Didn’t”, despite the cacophanous racket, actually shows signs of the man as musician starting to mellow out. Nesstled alongside the crashing structures and tumbling, squashed breaks, you’ll find a finely tuned melodic determination with a decidedly blue slant. Almost like a jumbled-up Aphex Twin, keeping the edits tight, witnessed best on the killer rewinds decimated to full effect on “Hilbert Space” or the psyched-up adrenaline rush of the closing “Gunslinger’s Death”. A cracking start to the year for Planet Mu, good to have one of its earliest signings back for the party. Boomkat




Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Született, 2x12".cd [Planet Mu] Electronic, Glitch, Breakcore

How can someone write a review for an album for which there are no words that describe its beauty? How can any simple human being be expected to produce an analysis and examination of a record that a mind – evidently – so evolved past my own created? How can Venetian Snares have written an album that not only marks the best work he has ever released, but that will probably never be even equalled?
Put simply, Aaron Funk has made an album that transcends everything we understand as ‘music’. Judging from the amount of negative comments generated by this album’s release, Rossz Csillag Allat Született is a record that will evoke wide-eyed confusion in the common man, and wide-eyed admiration beyond words in anyone who has honestly taken in music in the true sense. CD Reviews

Resumo 2005 - parte 3

A próxima sequência é focada nos primeiros albums dos respectivos artistas. Vamos lá aos debutantes.



LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem , 2xlp.2xcd [DFA] Electronic, Leftfield, Techno, Electro

I can see why everybody has been freaking out over LCD Soundsystem. I have to admit I hadn't heard more than two songs by them before getting this album, and now I am becoming a fan.
This album is an interesting mix of styles - they seem to wander off into disco territory, but you can forgive them for it. They seem to do it well. They also merge other styles really well, ranging from free-form electronic music to almost thrashy guitars with and indie rock feel. They're all over the map, but in a good way. Spacelab




M.I.A. - Arular, cd [XL Recordings] Electronic, Hip Hop, UK Garage, Ragga HipHop

In late 2003, "Galang", the debut single by 27-year-old Maya Arulpragasam, AKA M.I.A., was well-received by those who heard the small indie release, but it wasn't until a few months later that word started to spread about the London artist of Sri Lankan descent, who, along with a budding career as a visual artist and as a musician, just happened to have a father who was a soldier in a Sri Lankan militant group. Internet denizens who frequented the burgeoning MP3 blogs online started downloading "Galang", as the exponentially increasing word of mouth kicked in among music hipsters. For good reason, too; the song was irresistible, yet mysterious, with M.I.A. singing lines of ebullient dancehall slang ("Boys say wha gwan/ Girls say what wha?") over a jarring beat and blaring Moog synths, the song concluding with a coda featuring a contagious vocal chant that sounded simultaneously jubilant and menacing. PopMatters




Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub, lp.cd [City Centre Offices] Electronic, Ambient

Some people have told me, that at times during a classical concert they were so taken away by the music, they wished, this moment would last forever. Marsen Jules has found a way to express this very experience in music, if at least for the length of six single tracks. The result is astounding, to say the least. Beautiful in every way, organic soundwalls of classical instruments washing all over another, complementing and supporting each other into the construction of one enormous piece of art. Monochrom

Resumo 2005 - parte 2

Cá vamos nós para a segunda fatia de albums que fazem as delicias por aqui.



Alva Noto - Transrapid / Transvision / Transspray, 3xcd [Raster-Noton] Electronic, Experimental, Minimal

A cycle of three 21min-CDs with an exclusive cover design created by the artist. Nicolai explains the concept of his work: "'Speed of data-flow is equivalent to the speed of our time. In an era when virtual products of our ideas are expanding, we are simultaneously positioning a calm point in which to settle ourselves. The state of rapidity in which our bodies and the objects around us are existing, is being replaced by a new economics of anxiety for resources. Only the rudiments of rapidity remain in the form of a crude distribution. The burying and codifying of information makes information available to only a few. This closed circle repeatedly tries to establish new mechanisms to restrict access to these possibilities. In order to realize these concepts, strategies are created to not only to absorb information, but also to diffuse and atomise it.' This release is presented in three CDs: Transrapid, Transvision and finally, Transspray. Forced Exposure




Autechre - Untilted, cd [Warp] Electronic, Abstract, IDM, Experimental

Listening to Autechre’s early material with the benefit of hindsight, one can spot their influence on the modern musical landscape. As early drivers of the electronica bandwagon from the impenetrable Warp Records label they set the blueprint for thousands of bedroom clicky, drilly electronic noisesmiths and were partly responsible for Radiohead’s Kid A. Most of their imitators can be chucked carelessly into the bargain bin marked with the label ‘veritable sack of pointless disposable head-wreckage’. A brief fiddle with any music computer software blows a wide hole through most electronic music on the market these days – it’s so damn easy to make! Contact Music




Harmonic 33 - Music For Film, Television And Radio Volume 1, lp.cd [Warp] Electronic, Jazz, Downtempo, Ambient, Contemporary Jazz

The title of this album is more wishful thinking than factual description. Each of the luxurious pieces on Harmonic 33's second LP could've served as soundtrack fodder for film, television, and radio programs -- if such programs actually existed. Other people have tried this kind of faux score before (see Barry Adamson's Moss Side Story, the blaxploitation foundtrack Soul Ecstasy, and Roger Manning's "sequel" to Logan's Run), but never with such spot-on results. SF Weekly

Resumo 2005 - parte 1

Este principio de ano tem sido magnifíco, grandes albums tenho ouvido. Eléctronica, sons mais virados para as guitarras, África, ambientes de sonho e de guerra, tudo tem passado por aqui. Näo tenho um album preferido mas sim, uma duzia (que até podia ser mais). Comecando no ambiente do senhor Marsen Jules, passando pelo Hip Hop experimental dos 13 & God e acabando no caos e sofoco do senhor Venetian Snares.



13 & God - 13 & God, lp.cd [Alien Transistor / Anticon] Electronic, Hip Hop, Experimental

13 + God, the band, are six music-fed bodies coming together for a first crack at making something from nothing. At the helm of their self-titled debut LP are two schools of thought: the balloon-and-burst child psychology of Adam “doseone” Drucker, Jeffery “jel” Logan, and Dax Pierson (collectively themselves), and the pinhole-in-paper astronomy of the Acher brothers Markus and Micha, and Martin “Console” Gretschmann (the core of the Notwist). All connections formal and former cast aside, this half-dozen form a transcontinental supergroup of very human proportions: American angst and honest ability, German composition and countryside chill, and the simple recurring universal urge to locate oneself within the folds of time and place. Alien Transistor




AGF/Delay - Explode, cd [AGF/Delay] Electronic, Experimental, Minimal

AGF/Delay marks a further coming together of Finland's Abtye Greie and Vladsilav Delay, more or less shunning the respective styles and genres with which they are generally associated, AGF/Delay instead takes the day-to-day snippets of modern culture which we all unconsciously hoover up (glimpses of news stories, half-heard conversations on the bus etc.) and distils it through a musical filter which takes in dub, electronica, microscopic emissions and even chamber music. Boomkat




Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen, cd [Raster-Noton] Electronic, Minimal

"With Insen, Alva Noto (aka Carsten Nicolai) and Ryuichi Sakamoto continue their collaboration which started with Vrioon their debut album released in 2003 and voted record of the year 2004 in the electronica category by The Wire. Particular interest was shown in Alva Noto’s creation towards a new synergy of acoustic piano and digital post production that had not witnessed before, in his approach and interpretation of Sakamoto’s piano clusters." Second Layer Records

Falta de Tempo

Por vários motivos, näo tenho tido tempo para actualizar o blog. O curso que estou a tirar está numa fase um pouco mais avancada e os estudos säo prioritários. Vou fazer aqui mais um famoso copy-paste, porque o tempo para escrever (ou mesmo para ouvir) é muito pouco, tem sido um martírio. Aqui väo as reviews do pouco que tenho ouvido.




AGF/Delay - Explode, cd.2005 [AGF/Delay]


AGF/Delay marks a further coming together of Finland's Abtye Greie and Vladsilav Delay, more or less shunning the respective styles and genres with which they are generally associated, AGF/Delay instead takes the day-to-day snippets of modern culture which we all unconsciously hoover up (glimpses of news stories, half-heard conversations on the bus etc.) and distils it through a musical filter which takes in dub, electronica, microscopic emissions and even chamber music. As they are dealing in recollections and memories the subject matter on show is quite hazy and often untethered, lending a frosted-glass atmosphere to proceedings. Greie's blunt but considered vocals drift lazily in and out of the mix throughout, evoking those of Michaela Melian's recent 'Baden-Baden' all the while complemented by Delay's sparse production which is just as happy to throw down industrial clicks as it is 80's power ballad atmospherics. All in all a discordantly bijou record that even finds at one point Mr Delay edging closer to the deep House glides of his Luomo project and AGF consenting to stop narrating and start singing. Well worth checking out. - in Boomkat




Alva Noto - Transrapid / Transvision / Transspray, 3xcd.2005 [Raster-Noton]


This release is presented in three cds: Transrapid, Transvision and finally, Transspray. Across the 3 installments special emphasis is put on the rhythmic aspects of minimalism, utilising Carsten Nicolai’s maverick minimal intricacies in brilliant white surroundings. There’s a crisp clarity to Nicolai’s construction’s that’s very hard to dissect – you know that you shouldn’t be able to relate to this music’s sparse trajectory emotionally, and yet, in between moments of microscopic dissection and malfunctioning arrangements - the material works on an incredibly moving level. Carsten Nicolai has been working on this material for over two years, these three releases also adhering to Raster Noton’s strict aesthetic emphasis – housed in absolutely sublime booklet-sized die-cut packaging that visually reflects the contents to be found within. Incredible music. - in Boomkat




Larsen - Play, cd.2005 [Important]


To say that larsen is mysterious or elusive is an understatement. they are are so elusive, in fact, that micheal gira of the swans/angels of light fame once said of larsen “"i worked intimately with the band for three weeks, but i never saw their faces." perhaps the finest description of their sound came from a perceptive, if not overly wordy, italian music journalist who described them as an “italian-cult-collective-urban-folk-ritual-experimental soundscape-wall of love band.” it’s all true. larsen’s sound is equally as ambiguous as any attempt to describe them, imagine elements of einsturzende neubauten, the swans, barbez, six organs of admittance, vibracathedral orchestra and godspeed you black emperor. Recommended. - in Boomkat

Post de Escuta

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Született, cd.2005 [Planet Mu] Electronic, Glitch, Breakcore, Noise
Hecate - The Magick Of Female Ejaculation, 2x12".2001 [Zhark International / Praxis] Electronic, IDM, Noise, Glitch
Phthalocyanine - No One Said You Didn't, cd.2005 [Planet Mu] Electronic, Abstract, IDM, Noise, Experimental
Genetic Drugs & Jasmon - Spacecake, cd.2004 [Blue Frame] World Fusion, Electronic Ambient, Reggae

Alog

About Alog

Alog is the brainchild of Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan. One dark and snow-stormy day in the winter of 1997, the band was born in a basement of a Kindergarten in Tromsoe - a city located in the far north of Norway. This day a string of happy coincidences led them to meet up for a session of tablas and guitar, of which they had no idea would evolve into a creative burst of ideas, involving all kinds of found instruments and collected sounds. The set of 4-track recordings of these dark-but-warm winter constellations eventually made it onto Alog's debut release on Rune Grammofon, entitled Red Shift Swing . In 2001 they followed up with the critically acclaimed Duck-Rabbit CD.
The Duck-Rabbit is a famous gestalt psychological figure representing both a duck and a rabbit depending upon the point of view. This shifting and switching character is an essential part of the Alog ethos. Even the very word alog has this shifting quality, never settling into one meaning but playing with the stems of a large collection of interconnected words like analog , dialog , logic, a logbook, catalogue, analogy and so on. Alog promises always to strive for the unexpected and surprising - the unsettling and unnerving quality of sound that escapes any final categorisation.
If one where to choose a word to describe the music of Alog, it would have to be - details . A plethora of miniscule details is carefully arranged so as to inflict the strongest emotional and intellectual impact upon the listener. Like the painting of Ottoman miniatures the construction of new alogic tracks is painstakingly slow, and often involves both extensive travelling in search of the right sounds, and listening through hours upon hours of recorded material for that one second of pure audio bliss. In the alogic studios these tapes are then stitched together - sometimes hiding the joints, sometimes exposing them as open cracks. The use of alogic computer-software developed by the band, is an integral part of this process. With this extreme attention to detail and control, each track takes several months to finish, and a whole album may ferment for years before it is ready for the public. Like good aquavit it has to travel to Australia and back before touching someone's tongue. Live shows sample the current stage of this development, giving a glimpse into the creative process often involving violent improvising and playful experiments. Live they often also team up with the improv-maestro Nicholas H. Møllerhaug on instruments-at-hand, to expand the alogic musical mythology.
"A tangle of lines and a mix of musical languages result - it's Techno, minimalism, electronica, post-rock. It's original, it's derivative, it's spontaneous, it's contrived." - Julian Cowley, The Wire Magazine, UK [in Alog's Site]


Discografia:

- Red Shift Swing, cd.1999
- Duck-Rabbit, cd.2001
- Miniatures, cd.2005

Todos os albums foram lancados pela Rune Grammofon

Pois é!

Ontem foi dia de ir ás compras. O saldo para este mês já estava no limite mas quando se trata de comprar alguma coisa relacionada com musica, nunca é demais. Cá vai a lista:




Einóma - Milli Tónverka, 12".2003 [Vertical Form] Electronic, IDM, Abstract, Experimental




AGF/Delay - Explode, cd.2005 [AGF/Delay] Electronic, Experimental, Minimal




Goldmund - Corduroy Road, cd.2005 [Type Records] Electronic, Modern Classic, Minimal




Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub, lp.2005 [City Centre Offices] Electronic, Ambient