Brian McBride - The Effective Disconnect (Kranky)

In a strange turn of events I came face to face with a bee today. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and a bee slowly landed on my mouse right when I was reaching out for it. It looked weak and wasn’t at all spooked by my sudden movement. The coincidence is that I was meaning to review Brian McBride’s new album the Effective Disconnect all week, but never got to it. This album is the official soundtrack for the movie The Vanishing of the Bees, a documentary investigating Colony Collapse Disorder, a condition that is currently threatening the bees and the welfare of the people around them. I feel as if this bee was suffering the consequences of this now widespread disease. For many people Brian McBride does not need an introduction. As one half of the duo Stars of the Lid, famous for their cinematic drones, he has been around in the minimalist ambient scene for almost two decades. Together, they literally have been setting the tone for contemporary musicians working in genres ranging from modern classical to drone. But even after hearing many artists working within a similar genre, there is no beating the real thing. And so after releasing his widely praised first solo effort When the Detail lost It’s Freedom (Kranky, 2005) in 2005 he now presents us the Effective Disconnect. Although on first listen this record does not seem to stray far from the sound STOL got famous for, this cd does convey a very specific change in style. The on and off swelling layers of sound are still there, but there is a decreased emphasis on repetition. Instead, Brian introduces many different themes that seeminglessly flow over into each other. And even though the slow movements and stretched-outness of themes used to be one of the fortes of STOL, a increased emphasis on melody treats the listener to a very rustic yet emotional listening experience. While striving to present the listener with a a piece that justifies the gloriousness of the bees through hopeful themes, the mood of the music quickly turns into a heavy and emotional account. I feel that “With Several Tries (in an Unelevated Style)” really conveys the gloomy tenor of the documentary. And the following track “Supposed Essay on the Piano (B major piano Adagietto) ” builds on this with a French horn melody that is supported by a sustained string section in the background. For me the pivotal piece is “Beekeepers vs. Warfare Chemicals”. The track starts with a high pitched chime-melody and goes on with a build up of strings that finally culminates into an almost aching piano piece. After this, we are introduced to the protagonists of the documentary through isolated bee wisps that fill the silent elements of “I Know That You Don’t Like the Future Like I Do”. The slow purring sound the bee makes, feels as if this bee is also contemplating landing on someone’s computer mouse. I read in several reviews of this cd that the change to more rapidly changing melodies is a bad thing. They were longing for the stretched horns and guitar-based drones that SOTL once brought to us. But Brian McBride has been moving away from this form of composing in favor of a multitude of motives and this was already noticeable in When the Detail Lost It’s Freedom (Kranky, 2005). I feel that this new direction is proving fruitful and as I get more familiar with the sounds, their influence over my mood increases. It’s an excellent record and a welcome addition to the record collection of anyone that likes Tim Hecker, Brian Eno, and Stars of the Lid.

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Review prepared by Caspar Menkman for Headphone Commute.

Read our Two and a Half Questions with Brian McBride

kranky.net/artists/mcbride | brainwashed.com/sotl
kranky.net | brainwashed.com/kranky

Loscil - Endless Falls (Kranky)

It begins and ends with rain. But when the waterfalls subside, a picturesque landscape reveals itself through haze and fog. Vast fields of textural sound unfold beneath the soaring heights, with a slight pulse of bass vibrations, originating from the unexplored depths, and an echoing muffled synth line, dying in the cavernous emptiness of this landscape. With a microscopic nod to dub, Loscil weaves sonic parachutes that lift up beyond the clouds and slowly coast down to earth, only to have it curve beneath them, in an endless fall. Endless Falls is Scott Morgan's fifth full length album on Chicago's Kranky, not counting the digital freebie, Stases, released out by a net-label, One. Endless Falls also comes on the heels of Strathcona Variations digital EP, released by Ghostly International in October 2009. I was sure that the follow-up full length was going to be put out by Ghostly as well. But, alas, Morgan returns to Kranky, which has been the home for his last four albums, Triple Point (2001), Submers (2002), First Narrows (2004) and Plume (2006). Since Plume, Morgan has been busy developing his ambient soundscapes, complimenting looped drones with subliminal melodies and modulated bass. The intricately designed dense textures wrap one's unoccupied consciousness in melancholy, sadness and reflection. The mood fluctuates the listener from wakefulness to hypnotic dream states, crackling and clicking with stripped down rhythms and wet minor pads. On the last nine minute piece, "The Making Of Grief Point", Morgan features a long spoken word piece by Daniel Bejar (member of indie band, Destroyer, for which Morgan plays the drums and saxophone), delivered softly and deliberately, over a pulsing tone and walking synth notes through an unresolved chord. This is the first time Loscil brings vocals of any kind into his work. About this choice, Scott Morgan states: "The collaboration with Dan made us both incredibly nervous. Dan felt out of his element doing 'spoken word' but rose to the challenge. I felt self-conscious about changing the listening perspective from abstract, ambient music into foreground, conscious listening. The first time I heard Dan's voice recording I was terrified and was tempted to call the whole thing off. I listened to it a few more times and it completely grew on me. Now I can't imagine that piece without his performance. I love Dan's use of words, his vocal rhythms and the intimate intensity of his voice." Additional collaborators on the album include the return of Jason Zumpano on piano, Kim Koch on strings and Robert Sparks on bass recorder. Scott's four year old daughter, Sadie, is responsible for providing the cover art for the album, taken from the backseat of the family car. Check out an interview with the photographer on Loscil's Blog. Endless Falls is incredibly gorgeous, sublime and subtle yet precise. Recommended for fans of Pole and Gas, as well as Stars of the Lid, Christopher Bissonnette and Tim Hecker. "The answer to the making of grief point is picnic baskets filled with blood."

See also Two and a Half Questions with Loscil

myspace.com/loscil | loscil.ca
myspace.com/krankyltd | kranky.net

Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country (Kranky)

Released exactly a year ago, An Imaginary Country by Tim Hecker continues to satisfy my aural cravings. From persistent nonchalant two note passages dispersing in reverb, to pulsating bass undertones accented with frequency thick chromatic chords, and concrete layers of sonic treatment placed in all strategic places, designed to hold this fragile structure erect, the architectural plans behind this album are as solid as that of a monumental building, rising skywards past all of the clouds, remaining one of the attractions, long after its creator is gone. An Imaginary Country is the sixth full length album by this Canadian based musician and sound artist. His discography stretches back a decade (back in 2000, Hecker was recording under the alias Jetone), with numerous releases on Kranky, Room40, Mille Plateaux, Alien8, Staalplaat, Fat Cat, and Force Inc. Hecker is focused on "exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft which is both physical and emotive." Performing at many international festivals (including Sónar and Mutek), creating sound installations and commissions for contemporary dance pieces, Hecker has sculpted a staple sound of provocative ambient, too intelligent to fall in the background. In a shadowy corner of the construction of this imaginary region, a distorted guitar attempts to break free of its chain-hold, only to be restrained with silenced and muffled with noise. The walls of this dwelling are thick and fuzzy, sometimes letting multiple tracks blend into each other seamlessly, until you arrive in a different place. "Borderland" rips through the constraints, like the shattered memory of a long loved melody, released in a solitary cell to bounce between the walls in a perpetual echo, crying on the final path of its demise. On "Utropics" a distant singing of haunting voices mesmerizes the mind until it is cut with another onslaught of wailing guitars and drifting mid-range saturations of "Paragon Point". From the label's press release we gather a few interesting notes: The title comes from a quote, "The imaginary country... one that cannot be found on a map," uttered by Debussy in regards to the sad state of musical affairs at the time, arguing that music was in dire need for alternate worlds of possibility. In some ways this is a utopian work, in the sense of the term meaning that of 'no-place'. All the tracks are landmarks in a dream cartography. Released on Chicago based Kranky, An Imaginary Country has already been hailed to critical acclaim, including a spot on Headphone Commute's Best of 2009 : Music For Bending Light And Stopping Time. Be sure to check out his previous release, Harmony In Ultraviolet (Kranky, 2006), as well as his collaboration with Aidan Baker, Fantasma Parastasie (Alien8, 2008). His 20-minute EP, Norberg (Room40, 2007) is also a worthy addition to anyone's collection. Recommended if you like Fennesz, Belong, Stars of The Lid, Loscil and Lawrence English.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Tim Hecker

myspace.com/rainbowbloodx | sunblind.net
myspace.com/krankyltd | kranky.net

Windy & Carl - Songs For The Broken Hearted (Kranky)

Windy Weber & Carl Hultgren have been releasing minimal ambient and experimental post-rock music since the late 90's. The catalog of this Michigan based husband-and-wife duo spans an eclectic selection of notable labels such as Icon, Ochre, Darla, Brainwashed, and of course, Chicago-based Kranky Records. Songs For The Broken Hearted is Windy & Carl's fourth release on Kranky (being signed to the label for over a decade now), where it perfectly fits among the works by their fellow label-mates, Stars of the Lid, Pan•American, Tim Hecker, and Brian McBride. The tracks on Songs For The Broken Hearted continue to build on the duo's style of beatless shoegaze layers of Carl & Windy's guitar work, using EBow and a variety of time-based delays, with the occasional soft vocals by Windy. Both play equal amounts of guitar on the record, and Windy tells me that "each track (with the exception of Rhodes) was created spontaneously with us both playing guitar, and then carl added a few extra layers after and i added the vocals". The sound of this album is still drony, but a lot more harmonic, as if a heavy pillow was left on the Rhodes, pressing on all the right keys. The cover art of the album pictures a forest with breaking light. A parallel could be drawn between this image and the dense stratum of sonic frequencies evoked by the guitar, with an occasional breakthrough of clearly EQed voice, which almost whispers the songs that lullaby the sad, and indeed the brokenhearted. To understand the depth of feelings behind this work, it helps to bypass my interpretations, and instead quote Windy talking about the album on the band's web site: "this is an album about love. everyone has known love, and everyone has known loss. love is not just about warm fuzzy feelings, although that would be the part people say they like the best. and in any span of time, love changes and means different things to different people. [...] songs for the broken hearted is an album full of honesty, both musically and lyrically. it is for anyone who has felt love - you can hear it in the sounds and the words, both spoken and unspoken. the album i never thought would be is finished." For an extensive selection of Windy & Carl's tracks, check out their triple disk release, Introspection (Blue Flea, 2002). A few other great recommendations from the duo include Depths (Kranky, 1998), Consiousness (Kranky, 2001), and a compilation of two EPs, The Dreamhouse / Dedications to Flea (Kranky, 2005) - the latter being a sad elegy dedicated to their departed dog, Flea. Recommended for the above mentioned Kranky roster. Windy & Carl are currently preparing for their spring tour along with Benoît Pioulard with some special treats from Lambs Laughter (Windy and Thomas Meluch). For tour tour dates and details check their website or myspazz.

myspace.com/windyandcarl | brainwashed.com/wc
myspace.com/krankyltd | kranky.net

Christopher Bissonnette - In Between Words (Kranky)

Here's another winner for Kranky, a Chicago based label that has been releasing outstanding material from Pan•American, Deerhunter, Stars Of The Lid, Loscil, Atlas Sound, Benoît Pioulard, and Valet, just to name a few. In Between Words is a sophomore release for Canadian based Christopher Bissonnette. And what a sonic treat it is! The warm layers of sound blanket the microscopic hair cells within my cochlea and gently sway them with precision controlled sound pressure. Half way through the first track an itch develops deep within my auditory canal, but I simply can not scratch that deep. Tiny white-noise artifacts crackle through the thick orchestral pads, like distant lightning in the muggy summer. But the thunder never breaks. Instead it stands still, simply just there, quietly revealing its presence, forcing you to accept. Accept this, and everything else that is currently around you. In Between Words is a collection of Bissonnette's works exploring special acoustics and integration of field recordings. Through six purely ambient and minimalist tracks, Bissonnette experiments with found sound and the empty space found in between. "Inspired by the continuous din, the constant low-level hum of urban background noise, interspersed with all manner of mechanically created sounds, Bissonnette finds in this a near-melodic soundtrack to his daily life." The organic swells are based mostly on symphonic instruments as well as macro synthesized frequency rich sound waves. As such, I find this beautiful composition much plausible to the soul, then the external background sounds of our urban environment. I almost wish that some public transportation authority would publicly broadcast this music during my morning commute. Until then, there are always headphones. If you enjoyed this album, be sure to seek out Bissonnette's debut album, Periphery (Kranky, 2005). Recommended if you follow works by Philip Jeck, Tim Hecker, Machinefabriek and Stephan Mathieu.

myspace.com/christopherbissonnette | christopherbissonnette.ca
myspace.com/krankyltd | kranky.net

Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline (Kranky)

It seems that I've been lately in a "chill out" mode, talking up Somnia, Hidden Shoal, and Darla labels, so it only makes sense that I turn my attention to Kranky once again. Two disks full of ambient bliss come from this Chicago label, giving us yet another quality release from Austin based guitarists Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride, also known as the Stars Of The Lid. The latest SOTL release, And Their Refinement Of The Decline, is much more than a collection of drone-based ambient textures. It is indisputably modern classical in nature, where acoustic sounds stand out in front of the curtain of beatless soundscapes. The waves of pads and strings gently swell in dynamics towards the perfectly groomed and endless playa del sonido. These cycles of calmness retreat and repeat, as does everything else in the universe. Some critics may snicker at the genre, reminding them of massage parlors and yoga studios. But that may be because their mind is over polluted with thoughts - the daily noise that always promises a better tomorrow. But only if they pause and really listen, they would locate the present moment and the peace that lies within, with Stars Of The Lid providing the ideal accompaniment. In the world of contemporary ambient composition few excel in continuous evolution of sound. Stars Of The Lid is at the frontier, along with Hammock, The World on Higher Downs, Fennesz, Bitcrush and William Basinski. Their latest album reasserts once again, that Wiltzie and McBride are indeed the stars of our own personal cinema, located somewhere between the eye and the eyelid.

myspace.com/starsofthelid | brainwashed.com/sotl
myspace.com/krankyltd | kranky.net

Loscil - Plume (Kranky)

Vancouver based Scott Morgan is a sound director within the video game industry. But that's his daytime job, and his contemporary ambient soundscapes constructed with looping oscillators (a similar function in Csound computer language is compounded to Loscil) don't have much in common with game music. In contrast, Morgan's fourth album Plume, on Chicago's Kranky Records, is a relaxing, atmospheric, and hypnotic trip unfolding layers of sound complimented by ethereal percussion, gentle xylophone taps, and strums of elbow guitar. For Morgan, the creation of music starts "with a harmonic root from which sounds [are] processed into a loose structure over which the live players could improvise". Each track within the album grows, transitions, and gradually develops into a piece bestowing a specific state of mind or a flashback to a concrete memory. A quote from Morgan's elaboration on a piece capturing the growth of family, if you will: " 'Charlie' was composed after seeing/hearing my daughter Sadie through ultrasound while she was still in the womb. The track was also partly composed as a womb-like sound experience for her to sleep to after she was born, hence the heart beats..." Recommended if you like his ambient label mates, Stars of the Lid, or other excellent artists in the modern classical genre, like Deaf Center, and Xela. Favorite track: Bellows.

myspace.com/loscil | myspace.com/krankyltd