The migration of this blog has taken up some time, so I got a little behind in mentioning some fine album recommendations.
Here is another shortlist to catch up
Shortlist for October 2014: albums by Marconi Union (including ‘the most relaxing track ever released’!), Aquavoice, Amongst Myselves, Looped Exodus and another huge compilation from Future Sequence.
Packed in a beautiful black embossed cover is this remarkable re-issue of Poppy Ackroyd’s 2012 album. For this re-release, “Escapement” is presented in DVD-format with visuals by Lumen (Tom Newell).
A Winged Victory for the Sullen (AWVftS) is often referred to as a duo consisting of Adam Wiltzie (core member of the legendary Stars of the Lid – guess there’s no further introduction needed) and pianist/composer Dustin O’Halloran. But AWVftS would not be AWVftS without the (now 7-member) string section and the additional modular synth sounds created by Francesco Donadello. Together they present a full orchestral sound with a fascinating balance of string arrangements, melancholic piano melodies and (somewhat unsettling) synth embeddings.
Thomas Köner is perhaps the Jules Verne of ambient-electronic soundscapes: his sounds seem to come from the deepest ocean, the centre of the earth, the vastest spaces imaginable. If you know his work, you will often immediately recognise his sound when you hear it – and maybe feel it before you even hear it.
Knowing his back-catalogue, the choice of a piano as the main instrument for his new album is somewhat surprising. Piano notes are clearly fixed in time, as opposed to the stretched sounds Thomas Köner usually applies. It is, in a way, a bit of a “rigid instrument”.
“A collection that holds twelve works for voice and 1/4″ tape” is a description that immediately grasps my attention, especially when the performing artists is “a trained opera singer, delivering an elegant balance between theatrical and ambient sentiments”.
Throughout musical history, composers have always taken fragments of other composers’ work and used them to re-compose completely new compositions. Before “electricity”, their choice of instruments was ‘limited’ to that of the classical orchestra settings. And now time has passed, they all sound ‘classical’ to contemporary ears.
But when contemporary composers – especially from ‘rock’ or experimental field – reworks classical compositions, incorporating electronic media – hell breaks loose in purist camps on both sides.
At least, that’s how it used to be – some years ago. It seems things have changed a bit since we’re more accustomed to the culture of ‘sampling’.
WOOB – AMBIENT DISASTER MOVIE
After having released two timeless albums on the now legendary EM:T label (“1194” and “4495”), Woob (Paul Frankland, also known as Max & Harvey and half of Journeyman) took some time off from making music (to work in the advertising industry) – returning in 2010 to release a string of new albums on Bigamoebasounds.
On “Ambient Disaster Movie”, the sound (sometimes referred to as ‘post-rave ambient’) is still as bright and recognisable as it was in the beginning – presented with a refreshing (tongue-in-cheek) sense of humour.
Richard Chartier – composer, sound artist, designer, LINE label curator – has released over 30 critically acclaimed albums under his own name since 1998, building himself an unrivaled status in the ‘reductionist’ electronic sound art field.
As Pinkcourtesyphone, he has released released music since 2012 with a somewhat different angle – the alias giving him some space for a slightly ‘looser’ approach:
“Pinkcourtesyphone is a more emotional, dare one say musical side of his work.
Pinkcourtesyphone is dark but not arch, with a slight hint of humor.
Pinkcourtesyphone is amorphous, changing, and slipping in and out of consciousness.
Pinkcourtesyphone operates like a syrup-y dream and strives to be both elegant and detached.”
