Review: Victor Berman - Arriving At Night
Posted on 7 May 2008 | No Comments
Need some music to do some relaxing to? Have a listen to Victor (don’t call me Chris) Bermon’s latest record Arriving At Night. It is a wonderful collection of folk-tronica that fits perfectly somewhere right between Four Tet’s organic glitches and The Album Leaf’s chilled-out micro tones. While vibes, rhodes, and gently plucked guitar strings carry the melodies, propulsive but mellow beats bubble up alongside to push it all forward into dreamland. Arriving At Night is a gorgeously constructed album that finds Bermon beautifully using the genre’s available vocabulary like a masterful painter would work in oils or pastels.
MP3 | Victor Bermon – Photographs Are Not Memories Arriving At Night
MP3 | Victor Bermon – View Of The Islands Arriving At Night
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: Burial - Untrue
Posted on 21 April 2008 | No Comments
When I saw Burial’s Untrue at the top of many 2007 year-end lists, I was puzzled. After hearing the album for the first time, I was skeptical and wondered what all the fuss was about. But now, some months (and many many listens) later, I’m thoroughly enjoying Untrue and his twisting turning dubstep. What exactly is dubstep? Good question. I’m not totally sure, but evidently it has something to do with being “a kind of trip-hop revival with overtones of downtempo drum ‘n’ bass” and is one of many subgenres of the UK’s garage and grime scenes. What? I don’t even think I understand a word of that.
Luckily for us common folk Untrue is fairly easy to appreciate. It is a bit minimalistic and darkly atmospheric but with the inclusion of glitched, chopped, and vocoded R&B vocal samples, it plays like some warped form of club music that never quite breaks wide open on the dance floor despite trying to. But, who am I kidding, I don’ dance at all, so maybe you can dance to this. Burial’s music is powerful but engaging but it is also very intimate and almost secretive. It is certainly heady music, but strangely accessible.
Now as someone who likes a fair amount of minimal techno, I’m still not sure what Burial and Untrue really are and what to compare this to. I don’t follow dance/cub/electronic music all that much, but when something catches my ears, I’ll listen. Seriously though, maybe like a more downtempo and glitchy version of Moby’s Play might be a no-so-bad-for-the-average-person comparison. Whatever though. I seriously dig the chilled out vibe of Untrue. You just might as well.
MP3 | Burial – Archangel Untrue
MP3 | Burial – Shell Of Light Untrue
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic
Review: Bruno Pronsato - Why Can't We Be Like Us
Posted on 28 March 2008 | 1 Comment
Seattle-based laptop sound manipulator Bruno Pronsato (aka Steven Ford) has a new album called Why Can’t We Be Like Us. It is full of playful minimal techno tracks that sound like they were meticulously crafted by an artist’s hand. Percussive elements and beats bounce against flickering organic sounds that seem to be floating somewhere out in space. Listen to this with some nice headphones and the sounds become magnified like a microscopic view of some dark and bubbling petri dish.
MP3 | Bruno Pronsato – Slowly Gravely Why Can’t We Be Like Us
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Posted on 19 February 2008 | No Comments
Fuck yeah! CYSTSFTS faves Hot Chip are back with a killer new record called Made In The Dark which is (again) filled with spastic indie electro r&b soul pop that ranges from inside jokes I don’t really understand to fantastic and glitchy ear candy. The album is great, but only in fits and starts; it is wide-ranging and exploratory but lacks a real cohesion as well as a true barn burner like “Boy From School.” That shouldn’t matter though since an only above-average record from Hot Chip is better than a stellar record from most other groups.
I really shouldn’t like this record, or even Hot Chip and their am-i-serious-or-is-this-a-joke electro pop, but ever since I saw them at Lollapalooza ’06, I’ve been hooked. A few listens and I’m sure you’ll be a believer too. Made In The Dark is out now on the amazing Astralwerks label.
MP3 | Hot Chip – One Pure Thought Made In The Dark
MP3 | Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor Made In The Dark
MP3 | Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Jesse Rose Mix)
MP3 | Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Shake A Fist Diplo Mix)
MP3 | Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Indie Rock, Soul
Review: Travels - S/T
Posted on 21 November 2007 | 1 Comment
Do you like darkly sunny lo-fi bedroom indie pop-tronica? If no, you can stop reading now. If yes (or if you’re feeling a bit adventurous) you might really enjoy the self-titled album from Travels. Travels is the duo of Mona Elliott (of Victory At Sea) and Anar Badalov (of Metal Hearts). The two met and fell in love as their bands toured Europe together last year and decided to make a record. The resulting collection of songs is intimate, passionate, and is the musical equivalent to a warm and fuzzy patchwork quilt that makes you cozy and just feels like home. It is mood music.
I can even picture Anar and Mona sitting together playing these songs with only the warm light of a fireplace illuminating them; instruments in hand, red wine glowing on the table beside them. As shadows dance around the room their voices, their racing hearts, and their songs become one. Travels is a little like that. Despite many of the individual sounds on the album sounding poorly-recorded, the whole of the album has a charming quality rather than just simply being bad. Perhaps everything about Anar & Mona is that way. They did draw a giraffe on the package the Travels CD they sent came in and my daughter really liked that. The record is self-released.
MP3 | Travels – Golden Sun S/T
MP3 | Travels – The Smell Of Kerosene S/T
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Folk
Review: Black Dice - Load Blown
Posted on 7 November 2007 | 1 Comment
After we humans have made Earth uninhabitable to our own species, all the insects, myriapods, and other creatures with exoskeletons will emerge from under the floorboards and loudly proclaim, “Hooray! Those fuckers are finally gone!” Then there will be a party. A huge and jubilant celebration. It will be a great party marking the end of humanity and the beginning of a new era. The music played at that party will be from Black Dice’s new album Load Blown.
It sounds like a digital swarm attacking your eardrums. It is the soundtrack to the post-apocalyptic dance party. It is practically seizure-inducing, but hypnotic in a way that I can’t begin to explain. Load Blown is off-putting, difficult, stunning, and downright awesome.
MP3 | Black Dice – Kokomo Load Blown
MP3 | Black Dice – Bananas Load Blown
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Noise
Review: The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass
Posted on 31 August 2007 | 1 Comment
Somewhere between the the homespun electronic beats and the classical-meets-folk-rock mini-orchestrations created by multi-instrumentalist Hrishikesh Hirway lies the remnants of someone else’s life and someone else’s pain. Like the soundtrack to some old reel-to-reel home movies that don’t belong to you, it sounds like a haunting look back at happier times that you can’t help but think may be completely gone. The projector is your stereo and the slides are the songs from This Too Will Pass, the most recent album from Hirway’s project The One AM Radio.
Sounding something remotely like the Postal Service meets Elliott Smith, the music is stunningly beautiful but equally as sad. This Too Will Pass sings with the intertwining melodies of hopelessness and urban isolation and sounds like regret and longing accompanied by music. Rays of sunshine still peek through the dark clouds like a glimmering beacon of hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. All hope is not lost. Even though those golden and time-worn memories might be faded, they aren’t yet gone. You’ve still got The One AM Radio to remind you.
MP3 | The One AM Radio – In The Time We’ve Got This Too Will Pass
MP3 | The One AM Radio – You Can Still Run This Too Will Pass
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Folk
Review: Caribou - Andorra
Posted on 30 August 2007 | 1 Comment
Can anyone tell me why Dan Snaith’s music has always seemed to get lumped into the folk-tronica genre? The man behind the Caribou moniker is an amazing producer and even though much of what he creates is sampled, chopped, and tweaked, it doesn’t (and really didn’t ever) strike me as truly “electronic” music, but whatever. His latest album Andorra is simply amazing.
Andorra is awash in a psychedelic haze that can easily (and without chemical help) transport its listeners to another world. Its densely layered symphonic soundscapes are the aural equivalents of the grandest spectacles mankind has ever seen. The most accurate of those that comes to mind is that of a star-birthing space nebula. If you’ve ever seen a picture of one of these interstellar clouds of dust, gas and plasma you’d know what I’m talking about. And much like those nebulae, Andorra is a nebulous and mesmerizing combination of layered polyrhythmic percussion, fluttering woodwind instruments, swirling synths, crashing cymbals, rock guitars, and falsetto vocals.
Another visual reference point for the music on Caribou’s Andorra is the Aurora Borealis. Free flowing and somewhat formless but cohesive enough to almost have structure, the record references everything from sun-drenched 60’s pop to noisy electronic freak outs and makes the most of all those moments. Some may say it is too sprawling and not focused enough while others may say it just sounds like a lazy rehashing of the past. I think not. The production is meticulous and the multifaceted sounds are expertly crafted. Andorra is essentially electronic-ish music that doesn’t really sound all that electronic.
Did you think the Junior Boys’ last record was great? Do you like Four Tet or Hot Chip? Well, this is totally different, but give it a try. I think you might like it.
MP3 | Caribou – Melody Day Andorra
MP3 | Caribou – Sundialing Andorra
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic, Pop
Review: Gui Boratto - Chromophobia
Posted on 22 August 2007 | 1 Comment
I have totally been loving Chromophobia from Gui Boratto as of late. The minimal techno is equally as good pounding through my car stereo on my way home from work as it is on the headphones at 1AM. It is a gloriously buoyant record from Sao Paolo, Brazil’s finest.
Like all great stuff from this genre it can just as easily be danced to (though perhaps not likely) as it can be chilled and tranced out to. It is almost like looking at a rainbow through a microscope while smoking crack. You can see every fantastical detail in expansive detail while it just hits you like a ton of bricks. Like being knocked over by the lightest touch, the music on Chromophobia is so delicate but emotionally weighty. A difficult task for a techno record, but somehow gracefully accomplished.
Droning, melodic, and ambient are all words that can describe certain aspects of Chromophobia and even though it is a techno record, I’m not so sure that the masses will be hitting the dance floor because of it. There are so many intricacies and complex patterns at work in Gui Boratto’s music it is almost dizzying. I love this album.
An amazing album that (for me) came out of nowhere. Chromophobia is out now on Kompakt.
MP3 | Gui Boratto – Beautiful Life Chromophobia
MP3 | Gui Boratto – Mr. Decay Chromophobia
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: The Secret Handshake - Summer Of 98 EP
Posted on 16 August 2007 | 1 Comment
The Secret Handshake is a one man show consisting of Luis Dubuc from Dallas, Texas. On his Summer Of 98 EP, he churns out a few great emo-rock jams that are dripping with sweaty dance-inspired synthesizers and skittering drums. The EP is rounded out by a few remixes by notables such as Spank Rock and The Dillinger Escape Plan. This EP from The Secret Handshake is a good intro and makes me curious to hear the new full-length due out on September 25th on Triple Crown Records.
MP3 | The Secret Handshake – Summer Of 98 Summer Of 98 EP
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Pop
Review: Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Posted on 13 August 2007 | 1 Comment
If you are ever in the mood for something a little lighthearted to break the monotony of the serious and downtrodden indie rock you’ve been obsessing over, I have your fix. I’d suggest checking I Created Disco from a young Brit called Calvin Harris if you need that break to be electro-pop that isn’t totally dissimilar to LCD Soundsystem. Its akin to eating gummy worms when you know that a banana would be the prudent choice, but who hasn’t done that? Unlike LCD (though) there isn’t anything remotely complicated about I Created Disco and Harris isn’t trying to change the world. Instead he just wants to dance have a lot of fun and that is exactly what this record is; fun. Electroclash pop with a sense of humor that even manifests itself in the ridiculous title. It is what it is and it ain’t bad. I Created Disco is out now in the UK on Fly Eye Records and will be released September 4th here in the US through Almost Gold (the label that put out Peter, Bjorn and John in the US).
MP3 | Clavin Harris – Acceptable In The 80’s I Created Disco
MP3 | Calvin Harris – Disco Heat I Created Disco
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave
Weekend Chill Out Mix Part 2
Posted on 12 August 2007 | 1 Comment
Hopefully you are enjoying a beautiful morning with a nice cup of coffee, green tea, or whatever wakes you up. Here are a few tunes that just make make that moment a little more perfect.
MP3 | Lanterna – Summer Break
MP3 | Greg Davis – Curling Pond Woods
MP3 | Lullatone – Morning Coffee
MP3 | The Zoo Wheel – Jitter And Hit
MP3 | Amiina – Rugla
MP3 | Tristeza – Balabaristas
MP3 | This Is A Process Of A Still Life – Maya
MP3 | Davide Balula – Um So Polio
MP3 | Jack Rose – Red Horse
Filed Under: Atmospheric, Electronic, Mixes
Weekend Chill Out Mix Part 1
Posted on 11 August 2007 | No Comments
If you came looking for punk, then this mix is not for you. It is more of a weekend chill out mix that has a bit of an instrumental (tomorrow) and electronic flavor (today). Very much like something you might find over at the Motel de Moka. Just don’t forget though that we like much more than standard rock music here at Can You See the Sunset. Eclecticism is a good thing. This is part one of the mix. Part two will be posted just in time to accompany your coffee tomorrow morning. Au revoir!
MP3 | Loscil – Mode
MP3 | The Field – A Paw In My Face
MP3 | Ezekiel Honig & Morgan Packard – A Lake Of Suggestions (2)
MP3 | Isolee – Bleu (Dixon Edit)
MP3 | Glenn Kotche – Cheju
MP3 | The Notwist – This Room (Four Tet & Manitoba Remix)
MP3 | Savath & Savalas – Sol De Media Tarde
MP3 | Gui Boratto – Chromophobia
Filed Under: Atmospheric, Electronic, Mixes
Review: Mocean Worker - Cinco de Mowo (or) five is a magic number
Posted on 25 June 2007 | No Comments
Have you heard the latest from Mocean Worker (pronounced Motion Worker)? Well, on Cinco de MOWO! (his fifth album as Mocean Worker) producer Adam Dorn takes upbeat jazz, funk, and big band brass stabs and adds hip-hop style beats and production to create a danceable fusion of old and new sounds.
The grooves are tight and Dorn’s samples intertwine effortlessly with the killer chops of of such jazz notables as Rashaan Roland Kirk, Herb Alpert, and Marcus Miller. It is an all-out party album that is full of life and sounds just like a sweaty summer night. Cinco de MOWO! will be released tomorrow via MOWO’s own label.
MP3 | Mocean Worker – Shake Ya Boogie Cinco de MOWO!
MP3 | Mocean Worker – Changes (ft. Herb Alpert) Cinco de MOWO!
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Jazz, World Music
Review: Matthew Dear - Asa Breed
Posted on 18 June 2007 | No Comments
As true in modern music as it is in nature, we must evolve to ensure survival. With his latest album Asa Breed, Detroit’s micro-house wunderkind Matthew Dear has just guaranteed his survival for now by crafting an album that (while a bit of a departure for him) is something that I just can’t get enough of.
Matthew Dear’s music has always had a little more pop structure than your typical dance fare and (for that reason) it has always resonated with me. I’ve been a fan since his 2003 debut Leave Luck to Heaven and 2004’s Backstroke. Asa Breed finds Dear pushing his aesthetic vision even further outside the micro-house template he stared working with. His incorporation of African-sounding rhythms, guitars, and droning buzzing synths spins this into something that sounds natural, organic, and (at times) almost tribal. Those elements along with the prominence of Dear’s low and multi-tracked vocals make many of the songs on Asa Breed more akin to something from TV On the Radio or Caribou rather than what might be universally perceived as“dance music.”
With his strictly techno records being released under his Audion moniker, Matthew Dear seems clearly focused on exploring a different path with the albums released under his own name. The dark and dimly-lit textures that illuminate Asa Breed are surprisingly melodic and listenable in a way that would appeal to fans of Junior Boys and other like-minded artists. Asa Breed is out now on the Ghostly International label.
MP3 | Matthew Dear – Deserter Asa Breed
MP3 | Matthew Dear – Neighborhoods Asa Breed
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Noise, Pop
Review: Para One - Epiphanie (or) transfer cables and data mining
Posted on 6 June 2007 | No Comments
Epiphanie is the debut full-length from French electro producer Para One. It is full of excellent dancefloor-ready and Atari-inspired IDM freakouts. Recommended for fans of Justice (they’re so hot right now), Daft Punk, and the like. Get out your jogging suits and headbands and guzzle down some Sparks. It’s on.
MP3 | Para One – Clubhoppn Epiphanie
MP3 | Para One – Turtle Trouble Epiphanie
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (or) heimdalsgate like a promethean curse
Posted on 29 May 2007 | 5 Comments
For some reason I’ve never given the Athens, GA band Of Montreal much of a listen. I don’t really know why but I never did. But a month or two ago my wife Amy started going on and on about just how great the new Of Montreal album is. I was like “Yeah, whatever,” but she was persistent about it.
Fast forward to last week and she finally corners me and tells me I need to listen to the album and write about it and blah, blah, blah. So I listened to it. Wow.
The album was blessed with the ridiculously long and pretentious-sounding title Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? but is so freakin’ irresistible that it doesn’t matter. On it Of Montreal kicks out twelve songs of indie-disco post-punk-funk jams that blew me away but not before being lodged deep inside my cranium. I mean what band has song titles that include the words Kongsvinger, Heimdalsgate, and Gronlandic?
Rump-shakin’ beats knock around with hyperactive synthesizers and Kevin Barnes’ sometimes shrill falsetto to conjure a dark yet sugary sweet psychedelic haze that approximates throwing Abba, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, The Bee Gees, and The Shins into a blender and then injecting the mixture into your broken heart. Forget Prozac and all the other anti-depressant drugs and listen to Hissing Fauna instead and dance away your blues.
I’m not really sure what earlier Of Montreal albums sound like, but I’ll soon be looking back to find out. Hissing Fauna is such an incredible and invigorating album that I’ve probably played it a half-dozen times or more during what was a busy Holiday weekend. The album is out now on the fantastically awesome Polyvinyl Records.
MP3 | Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse Hissing Fauna…
MP3 | Of Montreal – Faberge Falls For Shuggie Hissing Fauna…
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave, Pop, Post Rock
Review: Matzak - Life Beginnings (or) riddles full of syllables
Posted on 11 May 2007 | No Comments
So yesterday I sent my computer back to Dell because a broken heat sink was causing it to get hotter than the surface of the sun. Because of this I am forced to find alternate means of blogging which means my work laptop which (for some reason or another) won’t connect to our wireless network and so I’m writing this from the depths of the basement. Anyhow, luckily I have some great music to keep me calm through all of this.
So a week or two ago I found a truly wonderful song posted by Amy on her fantastic blog Shake Your Fist. It was a sprawling minimal techno track called “Daddaughter” by Frenchman Nicolas Matuszczak who (simply) goes by Matzak. For one reason or another the song really moved me. His entire debut album Life Beginnings was created during the nine months that his new daughter was in-utero and it is “pregnant” with meaning and growing love. That alone would be enough to draw me to this music, but the music itself is gorgeous. It is warm and playful IDM electronica that is slightly glitchy with simple gliding melodies. Very rare is it that electronic music (especially minimal techno) sounds this alive. Like waking up just early enough to catch the sunrise Life Beginnings is inspiring and invigorating and alive.
Matzak’s Life Beginnings is out now on Boxer Recordings.
MP3 | Matzak – Daddaughter Life Beginnings
MP3 | Matzak – Girl In Water Life Beginnings
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: Yacht - I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real (or) please beware the quiet front yard
Posted on 4 May 2007 | 1 Comment
Jona Bechtolt is a Portland-based producer/singer/songwriter and plain old mischief maker who records solo using the moniker Yacht and as part of the indie-pop duo The Blow. As Yacht, Bechtolt combines bubbly electronics and quirky pop with the reckless joy and abandon of a little kid in a candy store on his latest album I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real. Or like a kid jumping from puddle to puddle after a big rain.
I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real matches big beats against bouncy synths with a childlike playfulness and humor that makes the music come alive. Its a breath of fresh air into the all-too-serious world lap-pop-tronica. And while it isnt all glory like and (just like mine) all his jokes aren’t funny to anyone but him, Bechtolt has made a solid album that includes a wicked cameo from Eats Tapes.
Yacht’s …Believe…Magic… is out now on Marriage Records.
MP3 | Yacht – It’s All The Same Price (ft. Eats Tapes) I Believe In You…
MP3 | Yacht – I Believe In You I Believe In You…
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Pop
Dry your eyes you poor devil
Posted on 2 May 2007 | No Comments
The weather is finally getting warm again here in Chicago and that means we need some dance music. Here are two tracks from the French duo Justice who (just last week) brought their booty-shakin’ beats to our fine city. I can only imagine the calamity that ensued. Justice’s new full-length † will be released stateside on June 10th.
MP3 | Justice – Phantom D.A.N.C.E. EP
MP3 | Justice – D.A.N.C.E. (Extended) D.A.N.C.E. EP
Filed Under: Electronic
Review: The Field - From Here We Go Sublime (or) from the shores of stockholm
Posted on 27 April 2007 | 1 Comment
In the pre-dawn hours, lakes can be still with a glassy calm. As the sun rises a mist starts to lift. Traces of fragmented vocals sometimes percolate to the top. The looping ambient rhythms that lay just beneath the surface shift and swell as bubbling pulses slowly pound through the quietest din. This is From Here We Go Sublime.
From Here We Go Sublime is the debut full-length from Swedish producer Axel Willner as The Field. It is full of atmospheric minimal techno that is mesmerizing, meditative, and nearly lulled me into rear-ending the car in front of me on my way home today. The bass drum thumps like a newborn’s heartbeat and breathes life into what might otherwise be an exercise in icy droning minimalism.
Instead of stale and repetitive 4/4 beats, Willner manages to create music that is both subtle and vibrant. Music that works on the dance floor but just as well (and maybe better) as a chill-out soundtrack in your living room. The Field’s From Here We Go Sublime is out now on Cologne’s Kompakt label.
MP3 | The Field – A Paw In My Face From Here We Go Sublime
MP3 | The Field – Everday From Here We Go Sublime
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic
Review: Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers (or) late for work by nobody cares
Posted on 23 April 2007 | 2 Comments
The latest album from newly Portland-based singer/songwriter Laura Veirs is called Saltbreakers and it is great. I must disagree with the fairly negative Pitchfork review which states that Saltbreakers is full of “songs that aim low and leave no impression on landing” and “sewage.” Rubbish, I tell you.
The album (like 2005’s Carbon Glacier was) is full of literate folk-pop that is backed by diverse and grandiose instrumentation and (occasionally) an airy electronic haze. Oftentimes quite similar to Liz Phair’s in that they both have a limited vocal range, Veirs’ voice is warm, cozy, and downright soothing. A perfect accompaniment for a lazy Sunday afternoon lounging around the house with the fam.
Saltbreakers is out now on Nonesuch Records.
MP3 | Laura Veirs – Don’t Lose Yourself Saltbreakers
MP3 | Laura Veirs – Cast A Hook Saltbreakers
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Folk, Indie Rock
Review: Battles - Mirrored (or) the tape remains very exciting
Posted on 22 April 2007 | 1 Comment
Battles is a supergroup (of sorts) made up of drummer John Stanier (ex-Helmet), guitarist Ian Williams (ex-Don Caballero), Dave Konopka, and Tyondai Braxton (the son of jazz musician Anthony Braxton). They have a new album that will be released on May 14th called Mirrored which is full of the same complex mathy and unconventional post-rock that appeared on their previous EP’s continues to surprise with the addition of vocals.
Most of the vocals on Mirrored are (however) manipulated beyond recognition and sound more like Alvin from The Chipmunks than an actual singing human and are simply another melody instrument in the context of Battles. Just for the sake of comparison, the band sounds something like a cross between the craziest moments that Blur has committed to tape and Black Dice. Experimental, glitched, and complicated but exhibiting a new “pop” side as well as a technical prowess that most bands can only dream of.
The band properly titled the songs this time around and the recently released single “Atlas” was even voted best single of the week by NME. I’d highly suggest checking Mirrored out when it is released May 14th on Warp Records.
MP3 | Battles – Atlas Mirrored
MP3 | Battles – Leyendecker Mirrored
You can find more music from Battles at The Hype Machine.
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Noise, Post Rock
Review: Dntel - Dumb Luck (or) commotion in the ocean of fools
Posted on 20 April 2007 | No Comments
Jimmy Tamborello has made music as part of The Postal Service and Figurine, and also as Dntel. He has a new album coming out April 24th under the Dntel moniker and it is called Dumb Luck. It features Tamborello’s skittering beats, blips, and clicks and pixelated soundscapes, but also features vocal contributions from Jenny Lewis, Grizzly Bear, Lali Puna, Mia Doi Todd, Bright Eyes, and more. It is a gem of a record and (as stated) will be released on Sub Pop next week.
MP3 | Dntel – Dumb Luck Dumb Luck
MP3 | Dntel – Roll On (Ft. Jenny Lewis) Dumb Luck
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Pop
Review: David Fischoff - The Crawl (or) fishing for compliments and trout
Posted on 17 April 2007 | 1 Comment
Another label that can seemingly do no wrong is Bloomington, IN’s Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar collective. A record that (if I had heard it last year) would have been in contention for my year-end best of list is The Crawl from Chicagoan Dave Fischoff. It is essentially an orchestral indie-pop album that has been obscured and populated by relatively obscure samples taken from the Chicago Public Library sound collection. Catchy and melodic in a strange way that interestingly (really) evokes The Beach Boys and (of course) Dntel and The Postal Service. It is a superb cut-and-paste sound collage of skittering hip-hop beats and electronic pop that you really need to hear to believe.
MP3 | Dave Fischoff – Ghost Of An Afternoon The Crawl
MP3 | Dave Fischoff – Landscape Skin The Crawl
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Indie Rock
Review: Amiina - Kurr (or) goodbye Kurt Vonnegut
Posted on 13 April 2007 | No Comments
Amiina is an Icelandic group that began as a string quartet and filled that role wonderfully on the albums ( ) and Takk from fellow Icelanders Sigur Ros. But where the music of Sigur Ros (however) evokes a sense of the extreme grandeur of the Icelandic landscape, Amiina’s own music is the aural equivalent of looking at in individual snowflake or a single ice crystal. It evokes the same beauty but on a much smaller scale.
The band’s first full length album Kurr picks up where last year’s Seoul single left off. It is an affair in dreamy ethereal minimalism that combines loops, electronics, and ambient elements with chimes, rhodes piano, and other modern classical elements to create a magical sonic palette. The songs on Kurr glow an icy glacial crystalline blue and twinkle and sparkle in their microscopic beauty.
Adjectives like peaceful, tranquil, and calming can all be used to describe Kurr and its serene sounds. Certain passages seem to have slight Eastern influences that give the songs an almost meditative quality without droning on in any way. Amy noted that this album would also make for great music to fall asleep to. Agreed, but it is strikingly beautiful and deserves to be appreciated in a waking state as well. Amiina’s Kurr is available now right here.
MP3 | Amiina – Glamur Kurr
MP3 | Amiina – Seoul Kurr
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic, Folk
Review: Miguel Migs - Those Things (or) maybe I should take dance lessons
Posted on 12 April 2007 | 1 Comment
Sometimes I really surprise myself. For instance, I really like the new album from San Francisco based deep house DJ/producer Miguel Migs. The album is called Those Things and it is full of soulful funk and reggae influenced dance music that incorporates a lot of live instrumentation as well. Some of the tracks almost have a Jamiroquai sorta vibe. Anyhow, while most of the electronic music that I generally like is more minimal and ambient in nature, Those Things (with its throbbing 4/4 bass drum) is colorful music meant to be played in a dance club and features guest vocals on every song.
Those Things is out now on Salted Music. It isn’t emo, hardcore, punk, roots-rock, indie rock, experimental electronic, or any other type of music that would normally be featured here on Can You See The Sunset From The Southside, but that’s okay with me. Maybe I should even take dance lessons.
MP3 | Miguel Migs – So Far Those Things
MP3 | Miguel Migs – Giving It All Those Things
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: The Bird And The Bee - The Bird And The Bee (or) continually and never ending
Posted on 10 April 2007 | No Comments
I am really really good at dismissing things that don’t immediately catch my attention. A perfect example of this is the self titled debut album from the pop duo The Bird And The Bee. Although I posted the track “Again & Again” awhile back and listened to CD a few times, I’d pretty much shrugged them off as some generic sounding group without much afterthought but…
…fast forward to this past Saturday morning. I dropped Amy and Hailey off at their swim class and then bummed around Barnes & Noble for awhile. As I was perusing the periodicals I heard some familiar music come on over the loudspeaker. It was The Bird And The Bee and (much to my surprise) I really enjoyed what I heard. Something just clicked. Taking cues from classic 60’s female vocal music and even the modern electro-pop sounds of Stereolab, the duo (comprised of vocalist Inara George and multi-instrumentalist/producer Greg Kurstin) has a light and airy sound that was perfect with my coffee and copy of Punk Planet(seriously, the one with Ted Leo on the cover) on a Saturday morning. The Bird And The Bee is out now on Blue Note.
MP3 | The Bird And The Bee – Again & Again S/T
MP3 | The Bird And The Bee – I’m A Broken Heart S/T
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Pop
Review: LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (or) yellow mustangs on a dusty road
Posted on 8 April 2007 | 2 Comments
Even though LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy doesn’t run or jog, his excellent Nike approved 45:33 is a great soundtrack for a few miles on the treadmill or just chillin’ out around the house. LCD Soundsystem’s latest full-length Sound Of Silver is equally great. But would you expect anything less than greatness from the guy who gave us “Losing My Edge” and “Daft Punk Is Playing In My House?”
Sound Of Silver finds Murphy mining the same great electro dance pop territory that he always has, but this time every track is spot on. To my ears his warm production and decidedly pop ways have always set Murphy and LCD Soundsystem apart from the rest of the pack. And with almost half the tracks on Sound Of Silver clocking in at over 7 minutes, its hard to imagine that this could be LCD’s most accessible work to date, but it is.
Interestingly, I spent a lot of time jogging along to 45:33 last fall and upon listening to Sound Of Silver I couldn’t help but notice that parts of 45:33 were used. In fact, my favorite track from Sound Of Silver, “Someone Great,” appears on 45:33 in instrumental form. I’d recommend checking out both of ‘em. You can get both through DFA Records.
MP3 | LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great Sound Of Silver
MP3 | LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum (Onastic Dub Remix) North American Scum Single
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Indie Rock, Pop
Wand two three (clap clap)
Posted on 4 April 2007 | No Comments
Steven Ford once drummed for the Texas metal/punk band Voice Of Reason but these days (however) he is cranking out platters of minimal techno as Bruno Pronsato. If you are a fan of arty dance music that is more suited for post-party chillin’ than dancefloor shakin’ this is for you. 4/4 glitchy tech funk that goes down so smooth. Just turn down the lights put on Bruno’s latest There’s Galaxies Better12” (or his excellent Wade In The Water, Children 12”) on the turntable (or the iPod) and start sippin’ a nice glass of red wine.
MP3 | Bruno Pronsato – Our Holiday Clothes There’s Galaxies Better
MP3 | Bruno Pronsato – The River Wade In The Water, Children
Filed Under: Electronic
Review: !!! - Myth Takes (or) the smell of napalm in the morning
Posted on 24 March 2007 | 1 Comment
!!! (pronounced chk chk chk) is back. Their latest album Myth Takes is overflowing with slinky dance-punk that has (somehow) mysteriously writhed its way up from the subterranean depths. Guitars whirr and horns stab while the drums pump out dance floor banging beats like a candy factory gone awry.
The music makes you want to move. It is organic, glitchy, bouncy, and conjures images of darkly sweaty bodies that are moving hyper-motion. Myth Takes makes your heart pound. Like NYC in the middle of the jungle, this is the perfect soundtrack for a dance party into the heart of darkness. “Yadnus” is like a sacrificial (and almost Rammstein-esqe) death march. A perfect and funky urban jungle dub disco deconstruction.
Myth Takes combines bits and pieces of almost every genre imaginable and distills them into relentless visceral sexy disco-punk jams that (by comparison) make The Rapture seem safe. Fans of LCD Soundsystem, Black Dice, Orblivion, and Gang Gang Dance should take notice. !!! has hit their stride. Myth Takes is out now on Warp Records.
MP3 | !!! – Heart Of Hearts Myth Takes
MP3 | !!! – Must Be The Moon Myth Takes
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, New Wave, Noise
Review: Phelan Sheppard - Harps Old Master (or) collapsing cat and the tatum way
Posted on 22 March 2007 | No Comments
The music of the London duo Phelan Sheppard is perfect for early morning when the dew is still on the grass, before the sun has risen, and just before the coffee is done. Their latest album Harps Old Master is full of airy ambient folktronica that is much less bombastic than (say) stuff from Four Tet. This record is much more about texture.
Keiron Phelan and David Sheppard are (duh?) Phelan Sheppard. Sheppard is currently writing a biography of Brian Eno and is also part of the group Ellis Island Sound as well. The duo also records as State River Widening who’s last album Cottonhead has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. You should check that record out as well.
As for Harps Old Master, it is a fairly minimal and organic sounding album. Mixing little electronic noises and digital artifacts with instrumentation like woodwinds, chimes, various percussion, drum machines, strings, and filtered acoustic guitar, the result is something that comes in somewhere between driving ambient (if there is such a thing) and fluttering melodies wrapped around lite-hop beats.
It is the sound of falling snow that catches the glint of the setting sun. It is the sound of the Earth turning on its own axis. Harps Old Master is a fantastic album that is available now from the Leaf Record Label.
MP3 | Phelan Sheppard – Water Clock Harps Old Master
MP3 | Phelan Sheppard – Tjarno Harps Old Master
MP3 | State River Widening – Madder Hues Cottonhead
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Folk
Pigs are made of ham and bacon
Posted on 12 March 2007 | No Comments
Coming off as something like a reserved 80’s inspired Four Tet with more ambient leanings, Ayate makes some nice chilled-out soundscapes. He is from Shibuya, Tokyo the songs below would be right at home on the Lost In Translation soundtrack. Its always nice when digging around myspace unearths little gems like these.
MP3 | Ayate – Umi
MP3 | Ayate – Taiyou
Filed Under: Atmospheric, Electronic
Review: Cale Parks - Illuminated Manuscript (or) strike down with furious restraint
Posted on 23 February 2007 | No Comments
Cale Parks is the shit. The shit. He is also the drummer and percussionist of the band Aloha. He also plays piano and vibraphone for the band and has (additionally) performed with Cex, Chin Up Chin Up, Joan of Arc, Love of Everything, Owen, and Pit Er Pat. If you’ve read this blog over the past few months, you’d probably know that the last Aloha album Some Echoes is a CYSTSFTS fave. I liked that record so much that I recently sought out the latest solo album from Mr. Cale Parks.
His solo album Illuminated Manuscript was released this past summer on the consistently great Polyvinyl Records. It is a calming combination of experimental and atmospheric tones derived from electronic sources as well as drums, keys, and vibes. It is (at times) an almost hypnotizing affair that is a great compliment for Aloha’s more upbeat and pop-conscious songs. Have a listen.
MP3 | Cale Parks – Halls Of Avalon Illuminated Manuscript
MP3 | Cale Parks – Fearsome Opponent Illuminated Manuscript
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic, Indie Rock
Review: Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth (or) I eat punks like you for breakfast
Posted on 6 January 2007 | No Comments
I’m scared of Genghis Tron. The music that this Poughkeepsie trio churns out beats my ass every time. They’ve recently followed up their debut 2005 Cloak Of Love EP with a new full-length entitled Dead Mountain Mouth. It is full of (again) extreme juxtapositions. I mean, anyone that would even think about combining the disparate elements that Genghis Tron does has some serious explaining to do.
Genghis Tron sandwiches industrial metalcore riffage up against dreamy electronics in a much more cohesive way that than they did on their debut EP. A grindcore masterpiece (if you will) that actually offers much more than repetitious and mind-numbing blast beats. When the band turns off the loud, they let the synth hooks creep in and the glitchy drum programming take over. This band is is like the love child of Converge and Aphex Twin. Despite the drastic time signature changes and light switch start stops, Dead Mountain Mouth is fluid from start to finish and is definitely something that heavy music fans should check out. Its out now on Crucial Blast Records and is fast becoming a favorite of mine.
MP3 | Genghis Tron – Chapels Dead Mountain Mouth
MP3 | Genghis Tron – Warm Woods Dead Mountain Mouth
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Hardcore & Metal
Review: Grabba Grabba Tape - Kurt Kobaya... (or) blank cassettes and old shoes
Posted on 2 January 2007 | No Comments
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday season and are ready for the year to come. 2007 is already shaping up to be the best year ever.
Have you ever heard of Grabba Grabba Tape? I hadn’t either until recently, but I am glad I did. This Madrid duo of Gros-OH!-Vot and Lol-OH!-Vot dish out noisy Daft Punkish electro pop that is is pop in the same way that Lightning Bolt is. Yeah.
In addition, they look strange (white fur and neon pink faces), they bang relentlessly on their keyboards and drums, and sing through vocoders. Almost surprisingly, this isn’t a recipe for musical disaster. Their latest album Kurt Kobaya… is brash, bold, and fun. It is out now on Simple Social Graces Discos.
MP3 | Grabba Grabba Tape – Jaaj Ajja: Juanlumigas en los Ojos Kurt Kobaya…
MP3 | Grabba Grabba Tape – Orangotango y Cha Cha Cha Kurt Kobaya…
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Noise, Punk
Review: Helios - Eingya (or) houses filled with dark black smoke
Posted on 17 November 2006 | 1 Comment
Helios is the moniker of Berklee College of Music student Keith Kenniff. His second album using the Helios name is called Eingya and its a beautifully atmospheric album that is hugely affecting despite its subtle nature. Eingya is a dreamy affair in which each track slowly builds as layers of instrumentation ebb and flow forth from the minimalist droning soundscapes beneath. It is a quiet album filled with layers upon layers of droning synths, hushed acoustic guitars, delicate piano melodies, pastoral field recordings, and sparse glitchy percussion that (ultimately) falls somewhere into the shimmering space between Boards of Canada and a mellow and more understated version of The Album Leaf.
I was listening Eingya a few nights ago as I was trying to fall asleep and found myself being pulled into the album as it enveloped me like a blanket. Like the aural equivalent of your faded scrapbook photos and tattered picture albums, it is emotionally engaging and has a certain resonance that makes it so much more than just a collection of Eno-esqe synths and fractured beats. If I categorized the best new music of 2006, this would be on the list. Eingya is out now on Type Records.
MP3 | Helios – For Years And Years Eingya
MP3 | Helios – Halving The Compass Eingya
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic
Sunset trees and shimmering waves
Posted on 28 July 2006 | 3 Comments
Braid was one of my favorite bands, and when they called it quits in 1999, I was sad to see them go. And while the many releases from former Braid singer/guitarist Bob Nanna (Hey Mercedes & City On Film) have been enjoyable, I’ve really come to love just about everything that (also former Braid singer/guitarist) Chris Broach has done.
Chris has put out records with varying lineups of The Firebird Band, L’Spaerow, as part of Life At Sea, and is even working on a solo record. All this while running the awesome Lucid Records. It seems almost as if he is endlessly creative and never runs out of ideas.
Now, while Bob Nanna was more the straight-forward rock and roll part of Braid, Chris (in my opinion at least) added the interesting touches that made them one of a kind. He has continued that experimentalism in his post-Braid work and has mixed electronica in with his rock music. In fact, he seems to have almost ditched the rock almost entirely and with great results. His dark and atmospheric soundscapes provides a perfect, sometimes mysterious, often nostalgic, and always beautiful backdrop for his understated poetic lyrics and almost spoken vocal delivery.
If you aren’t familiar with the work of Chris Broach, you should be. The Firebird Band is playing Sept. 6th in Chicago at The Empty Bottle. Listen up!
MP3 | The Firebird Project – South Shore Drive Feel Alright EP
MP3 | Braid – Circus Of The Stars Please Drive Faster 7”
MP3 | The Firebird Band – Nothing Not Dance Party The Setting Sun And Its Satellites
MP3 | The Firebird Band – Distance The Drive EP
MP3 | L’Spaerow – Front Step City S/T
MP3 | The Firebird Band – Obsessive Compulsive The City At Night
Filed Under: Electronic, Emo, Indie Rock, Post Rock
Review: Belong - October Language (or) seeking introverted quiet type
Posted on 28 June 2006 | 1 Comment
I just realized that I haven’t posted much electronic, ambient, drone, or experimental music here lately. I apologize. Those thoughts came to me after I listened to the new album by the New Orleans duo Belong. They twist and manipulate their guitars and synths until their output swells into a massive wall of colorful sound. Do you like My Bloody Valentine, Fennesz, M83, or even the ambient Aphex Twin stuff? You’ll probably like this.
“The album encapsulates their hometown of New Orleans, at once bathed in sunlight and colors, yet dripping in decay and a rich sadness. It is a record that attempts to display the beauty in things that are worn, decayed or destroyed… Melodies are similarly enveloped in a sort of aural atrophy, forever repeating their blurring calls. At the end, all that remains is a noise so potent it leaves the sonic equivalent of the sun’s imprint on a retina.” – Carpark Press Release
Some have criticized the album for being to repetitive, but I think its a favorable element (in this case). The album is powerful and emotional in a way that is like looping your thought patterns until the sounds in your head just blur into white noise and static. October Language is out now on Carpark Records. It is a gorgeous dreamlike record and once you play it, you won’t want to wake up anytime soon.
MP3 | Belong – October Language October Language
MP3 | Belong – All Equal Now October Language
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic
Review: Greg Davis & Sebastien Roux - Paquet Surprise (or) hiding from the noise
Posted on 13 April 2006 | 5 Comments
Hi everyone. My daughter is still in the hospital and getting IV fluids to ward off any potential dehydration problems. We do however know what has been causing all the problems she has been having lately. Its a damn vicious rotavirus. We aren’t sure why the rota test that was done last week came back negative, but all we can do now is wait and keep the little one entertained.
I have (however) during the last two weeks, had some time to listen to some great music. One of the albums I have really been enjoying a whole lot is Paquet Surprise, a collaboration between Greg Davis and Sebastien Roux. Even Pitchfork gave the record a nice review.
It is a collision of electronic and organic/acoustic sounds. Hushed field recordings, beautiful dronescapes, and otherworldly blips and beeps are woven into the sonic fabric of what has become (when the headphones go on) my escape from the clamor and noise of the hospital. It is almost as if listen to the music transports me to somewhere else entirely. Glitchy, melodic, relaxing, and boldly listenable. I’ve been a Greg Davis fan for years, so I know how great his stuff is. You should (though) definitely give Paquet Surprise a listen. It is out now on Carpark Records.
MP3 | Greg Davis & Sebastien Roux – Air Castle Paquet Surprise
MP3 | Greg Davis & Sebastien Roux – Daybreak Paquet Surprise
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic
Review: Gang Gang Dance - God's Money (or) little blue plastic elephants
Posted on 8 April 2006 | 1 Comment
I read that Alan Sparhawk from Low said (about God’s Money), “I keep playing that [Gang Gang Dance] record. It flies in the face of everything I know to be true in the world.” The music that NYC’s Gang Gang Dance creates is definitely something that you don’t hear everyday. It is experimental electronic music that somehow remains very organic in nature. They combine masses disparate sounds that come together effortlessly. Rhythmic and interesting and something my daughter would like as much as I do.
“While GGD certainly aren’t the only purveyors of new sounds operating nowadays, it occurs to me that with God’s Money, they are proving themselves to be among the most able. And listenable. Granted, as good musicians they integrate the tools of the popular music synthesizers, guitars, drum kits as well as folk instrumentation and singing (which might more appropriately be described as cooing) while simultaneously subverting any expectation of pop song structure. But rather than just subversion for the sake of disorientation, they are respectful of their audience and seek to create music that will be able to speak to them, albeit in a new language.” – Tiny Mix Tapes
They are certainly breaking new ground and making new sounds. Those new sounds can be heard on God’s Money which is out now on The Social Registry.
MP3 | Gang Gang Dance – Glory In Itself / Egyptian God’s Money
MP3 | Gang Gang Dance – Egowar God’s Money
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Noise
Review: Bonobo - Dial M For Monkey (or) please wait system is initializing
Posted on 23 March 2006 | 2 Comments
I only recently discovered the downtempo music of Brighton, England’s Simon Green (aka Bonobo). He infuses organic atmospheric tones with catchy little melodies and ties them together with thumping beats. Equal parts chilled-out hip-hop, weighty jazz, broken beats, Latin, funk, and soul, his most recent full-length Dial M For Monkey is a great multi-layered and mesmerizing album. Because Green played all the instruments and did all the sampling and sequencing for the album, there is a cohesiveness that is often missing from instrumental hip-hop and electronic releases. Put on a fire, pour a glass of wine, put this on the stereo, and just relax.
Dial M For Monkey was released in 2003 by the Ninja Tune label, while they released his Live Sessions EP just last year.
MP3 | Bonobo – Wayward Bob Dial M For Monkey
MP3 | Bonobo – Nothing Owed Dial M For Monkey
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Hip Hop
Review: Syd Matters - Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles (or) three high sleeping giant
Posted on 13 February 2006 | No Comments
Parisian troubadour Syd Matters makes adventurous pop music that I’ve heard described (pretty accurately) as a cross between Radiohead and Iron & Wine. His latest album Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles is culled from a sonically rich palette that colors his dreamy folk-pop in every shade from whimsical to haunting. At times the music even recalls Elliott Smith or The Divine Comedy. Matters’ electronic acoustic sound is hypnotic and when combined with his low melancholy vocals, makes for a great listen.
Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles is out now on Third Side Records.
MP3 | Syd Matters – Obstacles Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles
MP3 | Syd Matters – Flow Backwards Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic, Folk
Review: Psapp - Tiger, My Friend (or) a stained glass window
Posted on 31 January 2006 | 1 Comment
The latest Psapp record Tiger, My Friend is pristine electronic pop that ranks right up there with The Postal Service’s Give up and The Notwist’s Neon Golden as tops within the genre. It also occurred to me that I’ve been listening to quite a bit of this stuff lately. You know, poppy electronica that’s been peppered with glitchy blips and looped acoustic guitars, music box sounds, whirrs, bouncy beats, and great melodies. Psapp (however) stands out a bit because of Galia Durant’s lovely soothing breathy vocals. I swear she oftentimes sounds just like Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab (which is a very good thing). They also stand out because where other artists might overindulge, Psapp aims for a quieter more restrained space. Listening to this makes me want to feel the warm glow of a fireplace as I look out over a snow-covered mountain village. Tiger, My Friend is out now on Leaf.
MP3 | Psapp – Electricity In Pine Boxes Tiger, My Friend
MP3 | Psapp – Curuncula Tiger, My Friend
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic, Pop
Review: Obadia - Where Does Dust Come From
Posted on 28 January 2006 | 2 Comments
My wife and I enjoyed Obadia’s EP Where Does Dust Come From? during a friendly game of scrabble (which I won) last weekend. This fun little 7-song EP contains “traces and excerpts from a larger mass of recordings” that film-maker and knob-twiddler (Stéphane) Obadia recorded between April 1998 and December 2003 in Paris and Stockholm. It is filled with the sort of easy-going glitchy folktronica that would fit perfectly in your collection next to your Four Tet or The Books records. It is a warm and pleasant blending of organic/acoustic elements and the childlike electronics reminiscent of DAT Politics or even Mouse on Mars. And while the music certainly occupies the same territory as scores of other artists’, Obadia incorporates a playfulness that makes this EP a breath of fresh air. You can download the entire EP for free from Autres Directions.
MP3 | Obadia – Don’t Forget To Be Late Where Does Dust Come From EP
MP3 | Obadia – Some Hot Lazy Day Where Does Dust Come From EP
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic
Review: Anderegg - Falling Air (or) no image available
Posted on 23 January 2006 | 3 Comments
The latest offering from acid-folk singer songwriter Brendon Anderegg is called Falling Air. From one track to the next the album is a mess of different genres but somehow ends up being a (sometimes uneven) but cohesive whole. The music touches on everything from Hail To The Thief style low key electronica, to Nick Drake-ish folk, to dronescapes ala Keith Fullerton Whitman without ripping off any of them. It is a quiet affair that uses a vast array of instrumentation (vocals, guitar, banjo, organ, Rhodes, horns, chimes, drums, assorted percussion, electronics) to create quiet textures that weave throughout the songs as well as the more experimental pieces. While it would be easy to overdo something on an album like this it is Anderegg’s subtle restraint that holds the whole thing together. Falling Air is out now on Psych-O-Path.
MP3 | Brendon Anderegg – Street Lights Falling Air
MP3 | Brendon Anderegg – Rode, Riding To Falling Air
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Electronic