|
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----------Carbon
Based Lifeforms - [Twentythree] |
|
STYLE |
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September
2011
Vibrant ambient vistas with subtle undercurrents.
Twenty Three is a bit of a shift in emphasis for Carbon Based
Lifeforms: previous albums have seen the duo exploring ambient
space, but until now there has been substantial rhythmic and
percussive content. Here the crunchy beats, bass pulses and
lively sequences are almost absent. Fading quickly from emptiness,
the first track lays down a smooth yet profound drone that
hangs in solitude for well over a minute before additional
washes roll in. In due time the layered drones grow dense
and intermingle, a simple repeating pulse motif punctuating
the expanse. The depth of the music is hard to fathom: implied
patterns and indistinct forms might be carefully set way back
in the mix, or perhaps are merely imagined. As the album progresses
a series of lush ambient panoramas unfold. There is a persistent
spacey tone to the music: most pieces fairly steady and intense,
suggestive of enormity and possibility. Fine details - vaguely
organic cries; liquid clattering; bird trills, random chimes;
subtle disturbances; synthetic effects - are scattered throughout
a number of tracks, whereas some are almost silky smooth on
the surface with heaving depths. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
[Twentythree]
comes in a beautifully coloured, glossy digipack of three
fold-out panels. The musical emphasis is evident from the
front cover imagery: three intricate satellite dishes focus
their attention skyward, evidently reaching beyond the aqua
smoothness and ruffled salmon-smudged clouds. The full panorama
reveals three more silhouetted bowl-frameworks; setting sun
white among a lemon yellow pool of brightness. Track titles
with times are suspended in the upper third of the back cover.
The inner spread is given over to a complex starscape, brimming
with bright points and milky conglomerations. The leftmost
panel presents brief credits and website information. Neatly
concealed within the right section is a sixteen-page booklet
fronted by a further black bowl and twilight sky photograph.
The first page repeats the tracklist and notes a simple dedication;
subsequent pages present a variety of transmitters, towers
and antennae shot against beautiful skies. Toward the end
is a two page portrait of the artists followed by a chiaroscuro
plant-life image with acknowledgements and photo credits. |
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| OVERALL |
|
Swedish
ambient masters Carbon Based Lifeforms deliver Twentythree
as their fourth album. As before, French label Ultimae releases
this high quality item, with mastering and artwork by label
master Vincent Villuis. Promotional material describes the
project as "an interpretation of sidereal music captured
in and around layers of atmospheres. From wide and far reaching
soundscapes, the hypnosis subtly builds up with washes of
ethereal melodies while floating pads are brushed by reverberated
organic and electric data or the distant echoes of life
on a planet." The mid-length recordings here range
from five minutes fifty-seven to ten minutes thirty-three
seconds. For those wondering about the title, it might be
noted that Carbon Based Lifeforms have previously numbered
their tracks in ongoing form: tracks 01 to 11 on the debut
[Hydroponic Gardens]; 12 to 22 on [World of Sleepers] and
24 to 33 on last year's Interloper. 23 was absent. This
time the eight pieces from Twentythree are numbered 01 to
08. Visit the Ultimae
website for a presentation of the album that includes
audio samples for each track.
|
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----------Carbon
Based Lifeforms - [Twentythree] |
|
STYLE |
|
October
2011
Electro, darkwave, trip-hop and seductive female vocals.
Counting to Zero sees Collide doing all that they do best
with even more class and finesse. Plaintive piano and cinematic
strings run a thread of elegance through a number of the tracks
on this album, a contrast to the distorted guitars and crunchy
electronics. The downtempo pace of much of the music heightens
the moody, stalking nature that Collide creates so well. There
is a fine balance of intricate detail and deft sparsity with
gritty effects; crawling synthetic atmospheres and programmed
ephemera embellishing the guitar, drum and bass core. The
resultant mix often allows the vocals space to soar as on
Bending and Floating; meander ethereally or haunt the corners.
Further From Anything sees Collide drive the pace up a few
notches: a driving drum beat and layered guitars heaving behind
a slinky vocal arrangement that comes from different directions;
languid and cool against the sonic maelstrom. |
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| ARTWORK |
|
Counting
to Zero arrives in a hand wrapped shroud of black tissue sealed
with a sharp Collide sticker. The band clearly take great
care and interest in presenting their craft; the generous
accompanying package includes: a signed poster; a glossy photograph;
a press release sheet; a postcard; a signed monochrome card;
a small logo card and a badge (at least it does if you order
direct from the band's site - you'll just get the CD otherwise).
The jewelcase is fronted by a beaming, wind-whipped portrait
of kaRIN (as on the poster); hair and light threads curling
horizontally toward a faint overlaid zero. The rear cover
shows similar trails of light streaming across a stark landscape
and over a distant crag. Track titles are here in simple font
to the left. Inside is a lush sixteen-page booklet brimming
with sleek photographs, lyrics, track-by-track credits, contact
details, websites and a huge - huge list of thanks. Again,
the band have taken the time to sign the booklet. A final
sultry image of kaRIN bathed in light hides behind the disc. |
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| OVERALL |
|
Vocalist
kaRIN and multi-instrumentalist Statik return with their
seventh studio album joined by bassists Kai Kurosawa, Kevin
Kipnis and Dean Garcia with Scott Landes providing additional
guitar work. Familiar names now, Collide are further known
through side project The Secret Meeting (with Curve's Dean
Garcia) and remix work from such notables as Charlie Clouser
(NIN, SAW), cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy) and Rhys Fulber, (Frontline
Assembly, Delerium). The eleven recordings here flow smoothly
as a lush multi-faceted whole; the emotive, expressive deep
piano chords and electro-crackle of Human; the shady dream
pop and quiet interludes of the title track Counting To
Zero; the heavy guitar and buzz-synth wall-of-sound of Clearer.
Of course, kaRIN's distinctive voice and siren-song approach
unites the songs, but there is a powerful unity of vision
also in Statik's filmic-cyber-grunge sonic diversity. Interweaving
the harshness of noise and distortion with musical grace
and saturated colour, the beauty and passion of unique song:
Collide are riding the peak of their wave. Visit the Collide
website for details on this and all previous Collide releases.
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|
----------Krusseldorf
- From Soil To Space |
|
STYLE |
|
October
2011
Electronica, glitch, chillout instrumentals.
From Soil To Space sees Krusseldorf exploring further the
fragile, cinematic soundscapes that typify the project. Moody
atmospheres and sensitive themes set the music in a world
of gentle shadows where lustrous colour and flushes of warmth
maintain a pleasing balance. Ragged, grazed or damaged sounds
create varying degrees of friction amongst the beauty - sometimes
stark and mechanical, sometimes a faint texture suggestive
of antique nostalgia. More melodic than much downtempo trance,
Krusseldorf overlays delicate synth lines of differing voices,
playing out his dreamy narratives in shifting tone. Beats
are quite cerebral affairs; glitch scuffs, static and crackle
interacting with the often complex programmed percussion. |
| |
| IN
DEPTH |
|
The
album opens with an attractive series of soft pads that rise
like a pale sun amid the flutter of small clockwork clicks,
ticks and crackle. Warm, appealing and very transporting Geometrics
manages to retain a mysterious shade despite its beauty. The
album then progresses via the somewhat more melodically fractured
and robotic Boxing through a broad range of click-hop, glitch-ambient,
epic downtempo and blissful IDM. There is a distinctly European
feel to much of the music: restrained colour, idiosyncratic,
timeless with a hint of the sacred. There are some brooding,
sepulchral passages such as Deep Fulgin where throaty voice
sounds groan among low chimes and the dull buzz of stalking
synths. The album concludes with a sedate piano-led piece
called A Head Under The Towel; a lazy lounge beat |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
This
is an attractive jewelcase package where muted earth tones
gradually lighten into airy clouds and mists. The front cover
sees two cubes of soil suspended in the air, linked both to
a drifting astronaut and a flower form line drawing. Graphic
embellishments add sharp details: fiery tendrils bursting
like roots from the soil, spray can ink runs and bubble-like
circles. The rear cover shows a patch of sandy soil with boot
prints; track titles sit within a clean buff coloured box.
These are repeated on the back of the sleeve insert along
with credits and website information. The flip side of the
three panel insert brings the cover elements into vivid close-up:
the suited astronaut floats in, filling the whole left panel;
an earthen cube dangles on the right, further shapes fading
into obscurity behind. The central panel invites listeners
to meet up on the 'other side' of the looking glass, the 'plummeting
caves of humanity's cradle', 'the outer reaches of our fragile
mind'. Thanks from both the artist and label are also here. |
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| OVERALL |
|
Swedish musician, producer and sound designer
Simon Heath returns as Krusseldorf with this full-length
follow-up to Bohemian Groove. Simon has a sizeable back
catalogue of music released under various aliases with Krusseldorf
being his primary chillout identity. That said, Krusseldorf
by no means falls neatly into any specific genre and his
otherworldly static and glitch flecked recordings maintain
a beguiling individuality. From Soil to Space sees Krusseldorf
moving from the Beats & Pieces label that delivered
last year's Bohemian Groove to Aleph-Zero Records. There
are thirteen tracks on the album that are well arranged
so as to provide considerable variety of style within a
distinct bracket. You can listen to the music at the Aleph
Zero website, or you can learn more about the project
at the official Krusseldorf
site. |
| |
| ARTIST'S
THOUGHTS |
|
I
wanted to create a glitch-album that was harmonious, an album
that was dark but not monotonous, an album that was complex
but not cheezy. |
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| TRACKLIST |
|
1. Geometrics
2. Boxing
3. The Cell
4. First Blood
5. From Soil to Space
6. Click
7. Deep Fulgin
8. Tokyo Nights
9. Soe Doe
10. Deep into the Bowl
11. Choclop
12. Zyclops
13. A Head under the Towel |
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| AUDIO |
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| LINKS/TECHNICAL |
|
Label:
Aleph Zero
Format: Album
Style: Electronica, Downtempo, Ambient, Chillout, Glitch,
IDM
http://www.aleph-zero.info/releases.html
http://krusseldorf.com/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/krusseldorf
Beat Port - http://www.beatport.com/#/release/from-soil-to-space/683324
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|
----------Ishq
- And Awake |
|
STYLE |
|
November
2011
Meditative ambient chill.
And Awake sees Ishq return with a fine album of their trademark
tropical liquid sparkle. Colourful, vivid and intricate;
Ishq establishes a warm sense of the exotic right from the
start. Drifting pads with meandering melodic phrases, a
childlike voice mouthing "...and awake..." are
given a special lustre by means of bright electronic effects.
There are many layers to most pieces: interwoven harmonic
motifs; secondary melodies; underlying drones; water and
nature sounds; glitch flicker and, on the initial tracks,
a dreamy digital beat. The tone of the music is always inviting;
suggestive of soft sunshine and the wonders of the world:
somehow managing to carry the listener from floating on
the lapping calm of a clear lagoon to wandering among the
curves and curls of moist frondescence right down to marvelling
at the veins of a single leaf. Soft flutes, oriental strings
and Jacqueline Kersley's wordless vocals along with heaving
tides and the cries of seagulls all combine to ensure that
the Ishq journey is lush, expansive and truly captivating. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
My
promo copy of And Awake came with only the cover image that
you can see above left. The amber hues of a dervish dancer
in whirling motion blend midway into the sunset colour of
an evening ocean contained within the outline of the dancer's
outflung skirt. Black background - simple titles. |
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| OVERALL |
|
Ishq has been around for over a decade now;
their debut album Orchid was released via Interchill Records
back in 2004 (with an expanded two disk version released
by Dakini) and the project currently returns once more to
Interchill after a series of exploratory projects and self-released
titles. The UK's Cornwall based Matt Hiller and Jacqueline
Kersley have a unique sound that once heard is easily recognised
among the mass of ambient and ambient chill available today.
This distinct sonic identity even carries across to the
various side projects that have broadened the duo's output
over the years: Elve, Ishvara, Indigo Egg ...
The limited edition CD
label Virtual has been used as a way to deliver Ishq's
more experimental music as well as collaborative recordings.
Such albums as Timelapse In Mercury, Fluid Earth, Skyspaces
and Lotus can all be found there. The current And Awake
delivers eight mid-length tracks of unhurried buoyant beauty
that can be explored via the Interchill
website or Ishq's
own website. Interchill informs us that a follow-up
to And Awake is already scheduled for 2012. |
| |
| PROMOTIONAL
MATERIAL |
|
ishq
makes a welcome return to interchill with an otherworldly
excursion into sublime ambience. and awake is the next chapter
of their meditative chronicles that began with the 2004 debut
album orchid (interchill/dakini) and left off with their most
recent release sama (electronic soundscapes). imbued with
mystical properties, the rich harmonic layers of and awake
create space for the busy mind to unwind and drift away to
a subtle realm of inner quietude.
ishq, meaning 'love' in persian, is matt hillier and jacqueline
kersley, hailing from cornwall, uk. combining jacqueline's
etheric vocal contributions with matt's sonic wizardry,
they create a unique sound-world that conveys a quality
of contemplative depth rarely found in contemporary electronic
music. with and awake, their lucid foray into the borderland
between sleep and wakefulness is tranquility manifest and
shows yet again the enduring nature of fine ambient music.
through their previous albums, ishq has earned global recognition
as one of the frontrunners of ambient production and, with
each successive album, they have steadily built on their
formidable body of work. with additional releases under
the names elve, ishvara, crystal moon, indigo egg and colourform
their solid fan base of ambient aficionados continues to
grow.
|
| |
| TRACKLIST |
|
1. And
Awake
2. Diving Into Sun
3. Leaf
4. Mizu
5. Skylike
6. Blue Drop
7. Kong
8. A New Life |
|
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| AUDIO |
|
Coming
soon. |
|
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|
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| LINKS/TECHNICAL |
|
http://www.ishq.org
http://www.v-i-r-t-u-a-l.com
http://www.interchill.com/release.php?aid=32 |
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|
----------Scissors
And Sellotape - ...For The Tired And Ill At Ease... |
|
STYLE |
|
November 2011
Aching wistful piano and ambient soundscaping.
...For The Tired And Ill At Ease... is a beautiful, haunting
album of elegant minimal piano melodies. Reverberating or
muted as if heard within a dream or a distant memory, these
pieces are structured within hazy audio environments of
nostalgic fragility: light hiss; faintly rhythmic noise;
crackle; spectral drones, peculiar electronic textures;
bowed strings. The piano is at times intimate and ordinary:
the mechanical sounds of hammers and pedals warming the
music; at times more remote and misted with the depth of
environmental sound. The music was recorded initially on
piano and organ in St Mary’s church in Thornbury,
Melbourne, with samples of room ambience and keys being
struck with no notes also collected. McCaffrey talks of
"editing, resampling, stretching, twiddling, adding
strings" and field recordings later in the creative
process. The end result is a highly evocative album of very
individual, very contemporary classical grace. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
I haven't seen the full artwork myself,
having only an electronic promotional download, but as a
Fac-ture release I can be confident that the physical copies
are going to be a delight. The album package is a limited
edition of 200 copies and includes: 180 gm pure virgin vinyl;
letter pressed CD; 16 page photo booklet; 12 x 12 bespoke
print; A2 posters. The lot is hand numbered/stamped/sealed
mastered by Taylor Deupree. Duo-tone photographic imagery
focuses on the religious material upon which the album muses:
stone statues, graven words, vine draped memorials. |
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| OVERALL |
|
Scissors and Sellotape is one of Australia-based John McCaffrey's
various musical identities. Originally from the UK's North
West, McCaffrey has recorded both solo and in collaboration,
releasing his more folk and drone oriented tracks under
the project titles Part Timer and Upward Arrows respectively.
Promotional material aptly describes the "subtle electronic
manipulation, field noise, restrained melody and maudlin
texture" of this album as Scissors and Sellotape explores
some tastefully sombre yet soporific musical territories.
The tracks are divided into two sections to reflect the
vinyl nature of the release. The Fluid
Audio website is running an interview with the artist
where he discusses his music in some depth. |
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|
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|
----------Sam
Rosenthal - The Passage |
|
STYLE |
|
November
2011
Minimal ambience, weightless calm.
The Passage begins with a long-form recording of beatless,
heaving tones that warm and cool imperceptibly as the track
progresses. Fading in from silence, lustrous pads underpinned
by deep, heavy drones shift in oceanic manner; the buoyant
lighter layers weightless and bright almost giving way to
the shadows of the depths, then the abyssal gloom receding,
the softer drifting mid-tones once more ascendant. The second
track opens as the first concludes, crossing seamlessly, initially
with little difference; then a new thread, shaft of brighter
light, a sharp infusion of sonic effulgence. The violin strains
of Vicki Richards can be heard here, sharing in greater crescendos
than The Passage, beaming, soaring updrafts that build to
a dense climax before fading once more into the silence from
whence it all began. A serene album of inviting space, a refuge
from the machinery of the day, a retreat, a haven. |
| |
| ARTWORK |
|
The
Passage arrives in a smooth matt black card wallet, CD slotted
neatly into the right panel. One icy blue image illuminates
the darkness: a radiant ribbed tunnel curving away out of
sight. Studded with points of light, this ambiguous form appears
simultaneously organic and crafted. A similar passage dominates
the back cover space; track titles with times beneath. Within,
text is as minimal as the music: simple credits; recording
details and label information. On the inner right all is blackness
except for the words: For Tori Rae Cole. |
| |
| OVERALL |
|
Sam
Rosenthal is known to many as Projekt manager and founder/songwriter
of the darkwave band Black Tape For A Blue Girl. Here he works
solo under his own name with input from violinist Vicki Richards
long time associate of Black Tape For A Blue Girl. The forty
four minute twenty nine second The Passage is a meandering
zone that engrosses and absorbs the listener in hypnotic harmony;
the ten minute twelve second Rae brief and more varied by
comparison. Promotional material talks of a "vast field
of harmonious resonance and granular sound [that] move gradually
and languidly, time stretching and evolving, rolling back
into itself." This carefully crafted audio environment
can be sampled at Projekt
where a great deal more information is presented including
an explanation of how the music evolved from a track originally
on the 1999 Blacktape CD, As One Aflame Laid Bare By Desire.
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