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------Amethystium
- Isabliss |
| STYLE |
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Dreamy
fairy tale soundscapes delivered with lush melodic electronica
and ethereal female vocals. Amethystium has deepened and developed
his sound with this latest offering - the arrangements are
confident and sweeping, the instrumental work lucid and bright,
the vision clearer than ever. Now the vocals are mostly specially
recorded performances from such singers as Lee Nisbet, Stine
Mari Langstrand and Irina Mikhailova. The gorgeous downtempo
beats are still multifaceted and evolving - those low key
muted interlude grooves punctuating the shadows. The synth
work is multi-layered; repeating phrases and arpeggios rolling
over expansive pads and strings, chimes and little metalic
notes twinkling in the background - warm melodies and strong
themes demanding the attention, then dropping away into gentleness
and quiet corners. On Isabliss the synthetics are accompanied
by some deftly interwoven electric guitars and keening violins. |
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| ARTWORK |
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This
is a fantastic piece of packaging, capturing excellently what
Amethystium is all about. A three-panel digipack almost monochrome,
full of delightful imagery courtesy of Grey Decay and Brian
Son. The front cover features a striking twisted tree with
dense clouds for foliage, wheeling birds circling the branches.
On the reverse is a close-up of the gnarled trunk, track titles
alongside. Within two stark black birds adorn a knotted bough
that has a bright lantern hanging at its tip. Another panel
opens out to reveal the second half of the rear cover tree
trunk - here too are credits and some thanks. A final turn
of the page reveals the rest of the inner picture - a flying
bird trails dark leaves apparently fluttering out from a shuttered
window. There is a delightful air of mystery and appealing
shade about the whole package - very tasteful and stirring
to the imagination - you'll want to hold it as you listen. |
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| OVERALL |
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This
is the fourth album in the unfolding Amethystium story -
the fifth if you count the compilation Emblem.
Once more Neurodisc are the chosen label for the Norwegian
bedroom artist turned producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist.
If you have heard Øystein Ramfjord's previous albums
you'll know what to expect - although the dragonfly trilogy,
as it came to be known, was concluded with Evermind,
the trademark sound is still all here, just better. I think
this is a stronger collection that Evermind, more purposeful
and more clearly standing on the shoulders of earlier material.
There are some beautiful moments - I didn't think Øystein
could manage to become any more blissful and dreamy than
the Aphelion CD, but the track Frosty Morning Bliss manages
it. Lilting piano phrases and Stine Mari Langstand's heavenly
vocalisations work with some lovely understated electronics
to create one of the most chilled-out pieces of musical
mystique I've come across. |
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------Timonkey
- Cerulea |
| STYLE |
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Glitchy
left-field electronica mainly instrumental, but with scattered
vocal elements. Cerulea has an infectious sound carried along
by inviting beats and rhythms that draw on trip hop, dub,
downtempo and notably glitch. The melodic aspects of the music
have a light scatty feel to them full of varied electronic
tones, squirts, fragments, and collected sounds. Tripping
phrases and fragile-seeming repeating motifs dance over programmed
percussives, the tunes having a fractured scattiness to them,
jerky and bubbly - dance-worthy for the most part. There are
a few ethnic touches such as Josh-i's tabla work on 'Back
to the One'. There are some relaxing, gentle tracks such as
the delicate Azure with its fine little chopped up voice loop
lines and the lazy, lounging trip hop finale Five Kingdoms. |
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| MOOD |
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The
mood is mostly upbeat and bright, a feeling of light airiness
running throughout the album. The sonic palette has quite
a technical bent - digital ephemera and programmed effects
employed generously on most tracks, strongly manipulated
voice fragments and snatches also adding to the impression. |
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| ARTWORK |
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Cerulea
comes in a two panel digipack. The artwork appears reminiscent
of found street art - strong textural surfaces daubed with
colour, drawn forms and figures, rough graphic elements. On
the front is an uplifted face in profile a series of dotted
lines emanating from his forehead, rising heavenward. On the
back an outstretched hand claws at the sky alongside the thirteen
track tracklist. Opening up - more hands sketched out behind
brief credits and a dedication of the album to 'the liberation
of all sentient beings'. The CD sits atop a final panel of
watery blue ripples and molecular diagrams. |
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| OVERALL |
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Cerulea
is the third album from Timonkey on Muti-Music, preceded
by the Cloud City’ EP and ‘Mammals On The Brink’.
On his Myspace
page the artist describes his sound - "humpback bass
bombs, passerine filter zaps, orthopteran grainwaves and
microbial step sequences mashed with some cylon acapellas,
jawa handclaps, and pakune beatboxing" - that gives
you some idea of what to expect. Fusing organic and synthetic
elements, Timonkey does a good job of musically merging
the worlds of nature and technology. |
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| WHO
WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM |
|
This
is an album for fans that enjoy glitch riddled down/mid tempo
electronica. The approach will satisfy listeners with an interest
in experimental musical styles, whilst maintaining a strong
enough melodic and rhythmic focus for the album to be easy
on the ear. |
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------Craig
Padilla - Below the Mountain |
| STYLE |
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Deep
spacey synthesiser music with strong melodic content. This
latest release from Craig Padilla features analogue sequencer
patterns that recall Berlin school electronica, more rhythmic
than his previous long-form ambient The Light In The Shadow
CD. Sharp sweeps and vivid drones underlay percolating phrases
and motifs that take centre stage. There are some beats
in places, but for the most part Craig builds the rhythms
of this album with rolling sonorous sequencer forms at times
reminiscent of classic Tangerine Dream material. There are
passages of less clearly structured ambience, layered sheets,
gossamer textures and lucid cycles glistening, revolving,
meandering. Warm and clear Below the Mountain is an inviting
album, pretty in places and relaxing, introspective and
expansive in others. |
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| ARTWORK |
|
This
jewel case presentation is fronted by a photograph of a mountain
rising out of deep shadow into white cloud - simple, attractive.
On the back a blurry summit and hazy sky forms a backdrop
for the timed tracklist along with Spotted Peccary logo and
website address. Pulling out the two panel insert, a second
mountain image overlaid with the outlines of some technical
equipment fills one page. Inside we find a montage that sees
a panoramic spread of synths, leads, plugs and keyboards overlaid
with the artist in negative - a final mountain rising from
the clutter. Here are credits, thanks, a dedication and Craig's
own website details. |
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| OVERALL |
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Coming
as the latest of a considerably large discography, Below
the Mountain is inspired by the landscape and surroundings
of Mt. Shasta near Craig's home in Northern California.
This release contains seven tracks that range from just
under five minutes in length up to twenty two and a half
minutes. Once more Spotted Peccary is the chosen label,
home now to a growing collection of the artist's music.
Craig Padilla is now a well astablished name in the EM genre,
known for his use of classic and vintage synths, yet equally
adept at employing the latest in soft-synth technology.
Some samples can be heard at the label
website.
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------Kuba
- How the Future Sounded. |
| STYLE |
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Smooth
downtempo electronica with a tropical feel. The danceable
grooves and warm melodies that form the backbone of the
Kuba sound are more solid here than ever. There are a number
of gutsy basses in places, lumbering and dubby even, as
the band launches into reggae influenced chill, but the
many of the tracks have a lighter feel - summery and fresh.
The approach taken to the drum tracks is that of a live
kit sound mainly with programmed embellishments and interludes.
The synth work is very clean and shiny - often sparse or
subtle. There are soft washes and some almost ambient textures
hanging in the air behind the lead lines. Voice fragments
(spoken and samples of song), lilting flute performances,
chimes, ethnic violins, Indian drones, environmental recordings
and subtle brass leads broaden the sonic palette.
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| ARTWORK |
|
I
have only a promo copy of this album in a paper wallet and
so can't really comment on the art in a useful way. You know
as much as I do by looking at the thumbnail image above. |
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| OVERALL |
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The U.K.s Lawrence Harvey releases another colourful excursion
in comfortably chilled sound. This is the third Kuba album
to my knowledge, the debut Inside
Out released via Liquid Sound Design, the follow-up
Through a Lense via Chillcode
Records. Chillcode is the label of choice once more for
this latest CD. There are twelve tracks here in all that
alternate between stab-fractured dub thickness and easy
going electronic chillout. If anything this album is somewhat
more experimental than the last exploring a somewhat wider
selection of downtempo styles. You can catch a number of
track samples over at Psyshop.
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------Various
Artists - Sirènes |
| STYLE |
|
As the
title suggests this is an album of some of the best female
vocalists currently on the scene. The style ranges from chilled
and almost glitchy electronica, through pop, worldbeat and
acoustic folk. Harland's delightful Fly crackles and shudders
with static and interference building up to a blissful chorus
showcasing the singer's own fine programming abilities. Echostream
and Lisbeth Scott maintain a similar approach - emotive and
individual. Star from Viia had me turning out my Viia
album and wondering why this project never went so much further
than it did - Jody Quine's vocals soaring and beautiful. Brídín
Brennan's music is relatively new to me, although around for
a while now - delivering here a cinematic pop song that doesn't
surprise the listener when realising that she is the younger
sister of Moya and Enya. Sleepthief is represented by a post
Dawnseeker track featuring Kirsty Hawkshaw's fine, wispy almost
breathless voice. Other singers and bands include Blue Foundation,
Kristy Thirsk, Sophie Barker, Carla Werner, Íse, Tara
Mclean, Zoë Johnston, Sylvia Tosun, Aeone and Miriam
Stockley - a bit of a who's who of current female talent,
a sampler CD for some of the moment's most amazing performers. |
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| ARTWORK |
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Sirènes
comes in a tasty card sleeve that provides a bit of general
info on who the Sirenes were according to Greek mythology
and a tracklist for the CD. The artwork on the sleeve compliments
the jewelcase presentation within - Pre-Raphaelite style
models draped in white, surrounded by a montage of flowers,
foliage and graphic ephemera. The actual front cover is
wordless apart from a cursive ringed 'S'. The case rear
holds another tracklist on a darker ground - the otherwise
ever-present white lady here absent. Within the case is
a generous fourteen page booklet explaining the development
of the project on the first double page spread and then
introducing each artist with a paragraph of background information
and website addresses. The back pages discuss children's
charities supported by the project encouraging listeners
to take an interest in this noble cause. The final section
presents credits and thanks pointing out that purchase of
the album contributes to support of the afore-mentioned
charities. |
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| OVERALL |
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Spectacle
Entertainment, Russell Elliot of Musical Discoveries and Sleepthief's
Justin Elswick combined interests and efforts to bring us
this compilation album of tracks both new and previously established.
The collection presents vocal signatures familiar from such
notable projects as Delerium, Faithless, Zero 7, Ferry Corsten,
Guru Jazzamatazz, Junkie XL, Balligomingo, Opus III and Rose
Chronicles among others. There are less familiar singers here
too - perhaps this album becoming an introduction to the bodies
of work from these. In all sixteen tracks - so plenty to absorb
you here. Take a look at the Myspace
page for the album and have a listen to the music there. |
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------Fordham
Wilkes - People in the Sun |
| STYLE |
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Smooth
electronic songs featuring clear female vocals. Fordham
Wilkes use a variety of subtle electronic sounds along with
plenty of acoustic guitars, electric guitars and occasional
trumpet bursts to establish a series of warm backdrops for
Ginny Fordham's imaginative songs. Steve Wilkes' drum tracks
are a mixture of acoustic kits and programmed beats - mostly
laid down with a live drum kit approach. Ginny sings and
sometimes narrates in a style that has clear folk roots,
sometimes overtly as in the mellow Barbara Allen, sometimes
delivered in a new millennium context. The overall effect
of this coming together is one of traditional American popular
music given a modern twist, relaxing and easy on the ear. |
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| ARTWORK |
|
People in the Sun comes as a jewel case
presentation with a single sheet insert. The front cover
contains a tiled set of nine atmospheric sunset photographs
captured at Cape Cod - diagonal cloud banks and black silhouetted
scenery with trees and distant buildings. The reverse cover
contains a track list with times shown for each piece. Below
are credits including sample sources, and inspirational
references. The Insert within the case flips over to reveal
colour portraits of the artists in action alternated with
two more cloudscapes and a little more background information |
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| OVERALL |
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Fordam
Wilkes are US based musical professor/percussionist Steve
Wilkes and freelance musician/singer Ginny Fordham. People
in the Sun comes as the follow up disc to the duo's debut
under the current title 'From the Earth Below'. Prior to
this, the 'vocal/electronic percussion duo' released an
album under the name Dr. Carrot - indeed this is a creative
pairing that has been working together now for more than
nineteen years. For this release, the idea was to produce
a series of 'pop Songs inspired by Georgia O’Keefe
& Edward Hopper - hence recitation of the poem 'Nighthawks'
and reference to the book 'Flowers and Skyscrapers'. The
title track itself takes its name from a Hopper painting
and 'Ladder to the Moon' in turn from O’Keeffe’s
painting of the same name. If you enjoy songs with an American
pop / folk heritage and share an interest in these two iconic
artistic figures - People in the Sun is well worth a listen. |
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