|
 |
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------Jacaszek
- Treny |
| STYLE |
|
Experimental
post classical, electronic fusion. Treny is a wonderfully
well crafted album that initially just hints at its hazy,
grey beauty, catching the listener unaware as blissful melodies
well up like apparitions out of blurry, mote specked ambience.
Increasingly with each listen the music deepens and captivates,
drawing you in, replaying the whole disc. Jacszek masterfully
assembles disjointed sound canvases of eroded synthetic
sound, glitchy blips, crackles and disturbances flecking
the air like specs on damaged film. These constructs have
their own muted attraction, and are frequently allowed plenty
of time to gel unhurried and alone – at times the
static clicks and ticks coalescing into rhythm, but only
just. However, once the organic elements are added, the
effect is incredibly absorbing; plaintive melodies on violin,
cello and piano introduce a classical elegance that deliciously
juxtaposes the electronics – in fine balance, neither
aspect dominating the other. The musicianship is very delicate,
full of feeling and grace. In places lightly plucked harp
patterns fall into flowing regularity among the smoother
instruments. The ethereal wordless vocalisations of Maja
Sieminska hang in the air among these other elements - sometimes
distant and dreamy as if carried from afar on soft breezes,
sometimes more immediate, gently operatic and gliding. No
samples here, this project works more like a live act and
herein lies much of the impressive subtlety of the music
– a contemporary quartet performing before a live
audience. Much of the music has a romantic urban feel conjuring
up visions of European city streets full of history and
the glimpsed nostalgia of untold personal lives. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
Treny
arrives in a jewel case of matt paper inserts that all have
the feel of over-duplicated photocopies. These monochrome
sheets obscure their archaic imagery amid the fragmented bands
and inky spots of printing machinery. Across the beige front
cover trail leafy branches arcing above a stencilled title.
The rear cover presents a statuesque female figure in negative
thick with graphic interference. Brief credits are here along
with website details for artist and label. Within, the insert
opens into two panels – outside simple, white ground
with track titles and a list of the players. Within an architectural
archway image holds the centre amid the dusk of ambient ink
damage that bleeds gradually away toward the edges of the
sheet. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
Treny
is the latest release from Polish musician / producer Michael
Jacaszek. His lamenting synthetic-classical compositions
perfectly fitting the chosen label for release – Miasmah.
This label set up by Deaf Centre’s Erik Skodvin is
rapidly building a reputation for delivering quality material
in the field of dark, experimental beauty. The eleven pieces
here all have a similar quality and form – each a
different arrangement of consistent source material, each
remaining within carefully restricted structural parameters
allowing the variation of melodic content to first gain
the attention. The irregularity, the grit and dirt of Jacaszek’s
electronics make the stately strings and sparse piano seem
all the more luxurious by comparison – timeless, opulent
harmony ascending from the smog and detritus of modern life.
This CD is one you really must hear if you enjoy serious
quality music, in the vein of Max Richter, Deaf Centre and
Colleen. Can’t recommend it highly enough. |
|
 |
|
------Freud
- The Journey |
| STYLE |
|
Female
vocals and lush, tranquil electronica. Freud paint gentle
soundscapes of synth pads, lightly rippling arpeggios, abundant
pizzicato plucks and warm acoustic guitar phrases. These
are further softened by densely laid female vocal oohs and
aahs drenched in reverb used as an instrument in themselves.
Additional strings, harps, pianos and a range of global
sounds broaden the mix whilst chimes and bell trees twinkle
in the gloom of these inviting fire-side nocturnes. The
beats are comfortable downtempo structures, blending real
drum sounds with programmed hits and additional percussion.
Clear singing takes centre stage in a dreamy romantic style
that at times approaches West End musical delivery and at
others a more ethereal Celtic softness. The lead lines are
in places buoyed up by choral sections into climactic drama
whilst in others they drop away into low intimate whispers. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
My
promotional copy of this album comes with a front cover image
that submerges portrait images amid the dense olive hues of
a luminous collage that contains glowing light sources, architectural
forms and textual shapes. The title is set out in an archaic
gothic font – golden yellow on the muted greens of the
imagery. The rear cover presents the track list for the album
along with contact and website details for the Tantajo label. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
Freud
is primarily lead vocalist, Cora O'Donovan (who also plays
bodhran) and Ingo Hauss on keyboards, grand piano, guitars
and programming. In addition a range of other musicians
contribute their skills to The Journey ensuring a rich instrumental
sound and singer Maria Sanchez performs on a couple of tracks
bringing variety to the vocal content. The Journey follows
Freud's debut album Time Passengers and is released via
U.K. based Tantajo Records, a relatively new label centred
on contemporary easy listening ambient and downbeat electronica
as well as lounge and global music. The thirteen tracks
here have an Enya-esque timelessness about them, drawing
on themes of dreams, enigmas and legends. In keeping with
the lyrical content, the music has a pleasant, sleepy mystical
quality about it. Clearly Freud are aiming for the sonic
territory of the likes of Enigma and Enya and this quality
recording will do much to establish them as an act to watch
in the genre. |
|
 |
|
------Planet
Boelex / Lisa's Antenna - Little World |
| STYLE |
|
Blissful
electronic downtempo with dreamy female vocals. This is a
delightful album of warm, translucent digital soundscaping
carried on glitch touched beats - serene washes and air filled
pads form misty veils that enshroud lazy piano and synth melody
with an effect that reminds me of sunshine dispersing the
dawn chill. The music lingers in low key gentleness, builds
into waves of tranquillity, sighs of intensity that breath
in tandem with singer Lisa's wistful voice. It's a little
like Planet Boelex have strung together a suite of the most
beautiful interludes - those idle moments from the spaces
in between - then built these naturally into complete forms
in themselves. The vocals are equally effective - poignant,
whispery, breathy - mostly delivered softly, occasionally
lifting heaven high - intimate themes that neither dominate
the music nor submerge too deep. The rhythm section is among
the most serenely euphoric I've heard anywhere - uncluttered
programmed beats that nudge the music forward, unfurling bass
forms masterfully intertwined. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
Since
this is a freely downloadable album you might expect little
visual material, yet here is a full set of accompanying artwork
- and you know what - this too is of a very high quality.
Photographic imagery, little line drawings and painted textures
interact with printed fonts and handwritten script in a fashion
that calls to mind the more attractive aspects of personal
scrap booking. The front cover features a misty landscape
photograph where distant trees have softened into a single
hue, reflected in a lake, little reeds dotting the foreground.
The rear cover holds a shot of the wires and rods of T.V.
aerials on a rooftop black against a grey sky. A grey painted
panel to the left holds track titles and a note from Lisa
to Ossi - the eyes of the artists bookending this section.
Within, more lush, hazy scenery surrounded by eclectic pictorial
details - a dark snail, curling twigs, a windswept couple
on a plane of battleship grey, a bird on a roof, an abandoned
bag. Very little information clutters the impact of the artwork
- website details and titles. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
Planet
Boelex has been around since 2004 as an electronic music
project originating from Finland. Ossi is a self taught
musician who began his musical experiments using computer-based
"tracker" programmes. He has to date released
a series of albums and EPs via such notable netlables as
Monotonik, Ogredung, and Kahvi Collective - all freely downloadable
under the Creative Commons licensing system. But don't make
the mistake of thinking that this guy's music is in any
way inferior in quality to the expensive CDs that you have
paid for to put on your shelves - Little World continues
to demonstrate that Planet Boelex is a world class project,
delivering material second to none. Little World is a five
track EP released through the new netlabel Soft Phase. If
Soft Phase can continue this high standard they will certainly
be a label to watch. Planet Boelex's own promotional text
describes the music as "soft, melodic electronica,
fused with influences from ambient and IDM ... fluid soundscapes
emerge from the interplay of pulsating programmed percussion
and delicate unfolding synth melodies that echo rhythmically
to form an intricate mesh of sonic textures". Singer
Lisa says of her lyrics "My music may be soft and still,
some times a bit religious, on the verge of being melancholy,
but hopefully I pour some "Lisa humour" into it,
stabbing it with an awakening discomfort". Download
the album from Soft
Phase here. Visit Planet
Boelex. Visit Lisa's
Antenna. |
|
 |
|
------Stuart
Michael - Total Serenity |
| STYLE |
|
Tranquil
instrumentals on piano, synth and guitar with something
of an Eastern flavour. Total Serenity is a very gentle album
of easy melodies that are appealing and warm without becoming
sickly sweet. There are no beats, nothing harsh or dark
- everything is bathed in a lush, amber, dreamy restfulness
as the cover image is stained in that rich orange hue. Although
the music doesn't attempt to appear truly oriental in form,
there are numerous Far Eastern references; certain lead
instruments have a more or less oriental sound and some
of the scale patterns reflect the influence of Chinese music.
The main themes are buoyed up on beds of silken, smooth
washes and cotton wool pads, simpler secondary melodic phrases
twining comfortably around the primaries. Shifting from
one instrument to another, the lead lines are in constant
flux - from acoustic guitar to harp to Eastern instrumentation
to piano to flute - it's not always easy to tell when the
sound source is synthetic and when it is acoustic. Bell
trees soft gongs and various light chimes tinkle in the
background adding to the pervasive air of far off mystique. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
My
promo copy of Total Serenity features a beautiful image of
a breaking wave at sunset. The curl of tide stretches the
width of the cover - foaming and broken in places about to
roll in others - in the centre, right at the apex of motion,
a frozen moment of anticipation. A yellow disc of light throws
an effulgent band across the sea, the wave tip and onto the
beach. Steeped in orange that bleeds away toward the extremities,
the front cover holds only the title and artist name in text.
The same image re-appears on the back along with track titles,
recording details and contact info. Whether the disc comes
with a booklet of any form or not I'm not sure. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
Total Serenity comes from Stuart Michael
via GAP
Records. The album arrives as a follow-up to Stuart's
previous release Total Tranquillity. The music is most strongly
characterised by new age sensibilities - inviting and absorbed
in harmonious reflection. The six unhurried tracks here,
ranging in length from around eight minutes to over thirteen,
could well be used to create an atmosphere at a spa or to
accompany a relaxing massage. If you are looking for something
uplifting and positive whilst at the same time eminently
calming then this CD is worth checking out. |
|
 |
|
------Collide
- Two Headed Monster |
| STYLE |
|
Industrial
gothic guitar and electronic music with ethereal female vocals.
Collide have a massive sound - pounding drums drive rich tracks
of gritty guitar and sinuous bass full of energy that are
in powerful contrast with singer kaRIN's voice. The singing
is delivered with a languid cool, refusing to be hurried by
the beat of the music kaRIN wields her seductive voice as
if calmly controlling a tempest. The guitars are for the most
part heavily effected - corrosive distortion creating a dense
grainy feel for much of the time, broadened by various other
flange or chorus type pedals and who knows what else - there's
a lot in this sound. Statik also introduces various synthetic
effects and textures that keep the mix percolating - peripheral
details and bubbling ephemera that break up the surface like
grunge layers on a photograph, and an almost orchestral sound
on Shifting. The passages where the band wind the intensity
down do a lot to add to the interest value of the album -
sultry softer moments, downward spiralling interludes and
even a few whole tracks of downtempo trip hop shadow. The
album generally lowers the pace as the second head of the
Collide monster rises to dominance - a more dreamy atmosphere,
less noise and fuzz. That said there is an enjoyable variation
of approach from start to finish, each track taking an unpredictable
trajectory from the last. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
Two
Headed Monster comes in a jewel case with a glossy sixteen
page booklet. Imagery is primarily centred on shots of the
band. Singer kaRIN appears on the front in reflective symmetry
a conjoined two headed monster, hair lifted by unseen currents,
shot in a limited palette of near sepia tones. Indeed this
dark bronzy brown hue runs throughout the package - on the
back another portrait mirror image with track titles rolling
down the centre. Within textures of jagged stitching, cracked
earth and twisted branches form backdrops for a wealth of
information: lyrics are here, extensive credits, a whole page
of thanks and plenty of studio photographs of the band. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
This
is now the fifth or sixth album from Collide depending on
how you count things (the double disc Vortex
being largely a remix collection). This current release, once
more on the Noiseplus label, sees the band more solid, confident
and polished than ever; true to their darkwave heritage still,
yet with some more dance floor elements and at times even
leaning a little in the direction of edgy pop. There are elements
in the music that further explore some directions taken on
the Secret Meeting project where the Collide duo teamed up
with ex-Curve main man Dean Garcia. The ten track Two Headed
Monster comes five years after the last full studio album
and it's worth the wait - all of the controlled chaos, the
thick catchy riffs, the inventive programming and crepuscular
mystique - it's all here only even more well-produced than
before. Have a listen on the band's
website. |
|
 |
|
------ill.gates
- Autopirate |
| STYLE |
|
Urban
flavoured dubstep and grime instrumentals with occasional
vocals. Autopirate blends elements of glitch, dub, lounge,
IDM, house and hip-hop to create a cut and paste framework
where vocal snips and phrases flutter among strongly rhythmical
yet constantly shifting disjointed structures. All manner
of blips, clicks and electrical flecks flicker among the
constantly varying programmed drum tracks - muted loops
and frequent effected interludes interrupt the flow of grooves
that carry the diverse marks of DnB, dancehall and electro
influence. Bass bombs and sub wobbles add interest to the
low end whilst a veritable plethora of psychedelic FX further
fracture the sonic surface making for a very lively sound.
Melodic content is often held by the basses embellished
by acidic motifs and brief keyboard touches. Spoken voice
samples and rasta shouts introduce a clearer human element
to many of the tracks whilst a couple of pieces are carried
more fully by female vocals - net neutrality rantapella
is exclusively made up of montaged speech samples. |
| |
| MOOD |
|
The
overriding tone of Autopirate is one of modern city clublife.
The grooves are very contemporary and mostly danceable.
The emphasis on rhythm over melody creates an impression
of fleeting night scenes, life in motion, street culture
collage. The inventive drum tracks often have a sombre urgency
about them as well as a technical complexity that suggests
manipulated mechanism - digital montages of techno spatter.
Hard to keep still under the influence of such powerful
rhythms. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
Autopirate
arrives in a glossy card gatefold package. The design is purely
black and white, mostly comprised of thickly layered text
and various logos. The densely slathered black fonts generally
thicken into a central mass of darkness which is then broken
back into with white lettering for titles and info. The front
cover drags a scuffed band of mangled print elements from
left to right reminiscent of a distant cityscape - titles
on top. The tracklist appears on the back and on the inner
flap, logos for Mutimusic and The Phat Conductor to the sides.
Within, the same graphic approach is taken with credits, thanks
and a paragraph of 'much love' typed out each on its own surface
of broken blackness. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
This
is the new project from the Canadian underground producer
well known for his work as The Phat Conductor. This debut
album under the current title is released by Mutimusic, an
EP entitled The Sweatshop was previously released in collaboration
with Meesha on the same label earlier this year giving an
indication of what to expect. The thirteen tracks here feature
collaborative writing, singing and musical input from a number
of like minded artists. Singers Masia One and Clara Venice
provide two very different complete vocal contributions to
the tracks irma vep and prickles n goo - the former delivering
a pacey rap, the latter a dreamy, breathy song of almost ethereal
delicacy against the grit and guts of the supporting electronica. |
| |
| WHO
WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM |
|
Autopirate
is one for lovers of intelligent electronic dance music, especially
if you have a liking for eclectic urban imagery and beaty
instrumentals. The Mutimusic
website has a free promo mix that you can download to
get an idea of ill.gates unique sound. |
| |
| SOUNDS |
|
|
| |
| LINKS |
|
 lill.gates
@ Mutimusic
ill.gates
@ Myspace
The
Phat Conductor website.
|
Listen
to the Sweatshop sample EP at Beatport
|
|
