Thomas Fehlmann - Gute Luft (Kompakt)

Thomas Fehlmann has long been a towering figure in electronic music. He was producer on The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and executive producer for Sun Electric. He and Palais Schaumburg bandmate Moritz von Oswald (of Basic Channel fame) famously collaborated with Juan Atkins in the early nineties as 3MB. More recently he’s been producing solo work for Plug Research and Kompakt. Gute Luft is Fehlmann's original soundtrack from "24H BERLIN" - a 24 hour television event, billed as the world’s longest documentary. Eighty camera teams filmed Berliners over the course of a day. Fehlmann provided a portion of the score, which he reworked here into album format. The title translates to “Good Air”. My favorite tracks are the most rhythmic. Some of the more cinematic pieces strike me as too museum-y. To that end, I enjoy the deep bass and cascading textures of “Alles, Immer”. In fact, it reminds me of Moritz von Oswald Trio. “Wasser im Fluss” falls into a nice, breezy groove. Crisp chord changes contrast reverberating string notes. “Schwerelos” is similarly lively, with bouncy bass and the occasional airy harp glissando. On “Speeding”, Fehlmann’s music takes on a darker tone with muted, tapped percussion and long, droning chords. “In the Wind II” has a bassline that is almost electro, while flutes play what seem like traces of “Londonderry Air”. It’s better than my description would have you believe. “Soft Park” is funkier, but woefully short. Dubby chords splatter over deep bass and percussion snaps. “Permanent Touch”, “Von Oben,” and “Cityscape” are all upbeat, but they sink into the background for me. For a soundtrack, that’s probably not a bad thing. “Fluss im Wasser”, on the other hand, is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The bass is lush and dynamic. A guitar slides, beats pound, and the sun shines. “Berliner Luftikus” follows with a deep dub techno vibe, the sounds of falling rain, and a pretty four-note pattern played on bells. “Darkspark” is an immediate attention-grabber, with an orchestral palette of strings and horns. Two-note chords pulse and change. I wish Fehlmann had extended this over a full ten minutes or so. “Im Überblick” is another tune that is over way too soon. It morphs from dub techno to bass-heavy minimalism to ambiance. The album ends with panning white noise and decaying piano tones on “Scheiben”. Gute Luft is released by the Köln (Germany) based Kompakt, run and operated to Wolfgang Voigt. The label's recent output includes the 11th installment in the Total series featuring an excellent roster of artists, such as DJ Koze, The Field, Gus Gus, and of course Voigt and Fehlmann. There's also a 12" Gute Luft Remixe edition, with three tracks reworked by Soulphiction (Michel Baumann) and Move D.

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Original review posted by Jacob Arnold on Gridface.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/thomasfehlmann | flowing.de
myspace.com/kompakt | kompakt.fm
24hberlin.de

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

Marsen Jules - Yara [remastered] (Oktaf)

My Reflections on the music I listened to one, two and three years ago, has guided me to revisit previously loved albums by Marsen Jules: Herbstlaub (City Centre Offices, 2005) and Les Fleurs (City Centre Offices, 2006). While I was digging through my collection, attempting to dust off these gems for yet another rotation, I noticed that they were missing from my library. So I had to go ahead and purchase them [again?]. Oh, and what's this? An album originally released on Thinner's sublabel, Autoplate, has been remastered and re-issued! I vaguely remember this 6-track digital release by Martin Juhls from 2004 as a digital modern classical marvel. So it's no surprise that I jumped at the opportunity of upgrading it to a remastered version. With two bonus tracks, that extend the original release by 22 minutes, Juhls brings back his masterfully woven neo-classical pieces that gently loop to the singing of organic instruments. The sources of the original acoustic recordings, as manipulated by Juhls, come from a classical trio Yara. Field recordings of atmospheric elements softly sway to soft piano phrases and the tender strumming of Meike Rath's harp. Occasional pads swell up in the background and exhale into the soundscapes of oscillating delays and ghostly vocals. The composition's building blocks slowly build up, then drop out, disintegrate, and rise into thin air, gradually evaporating, to become one with breath. It's easy to become lost, entranced, and saturated by the light aural fog surrounding your mind with this enchanting meditation. Yara is being released by a mysterious Oktaf label - "a place for authentic music and art", owned and operated by Martin Juhls himself. Kicking off the label's existence with a remastered edition of Marsen Jules' another wonderful work, Lazy Sunday Funerals, the label plans on releasing ambient, electronica, contemporary classical and modern jazz albums. Maybe we will see the City Centre Offices releases being remastered as well... Be sure to pick up Juhls' previous releases on Kompakt, Miasmah and Genesungswerk. And don't forget Juhls' deeply submerged dub ambient aquatic exploration, Nautica, released under his krill.minima alias on Native State Records back in 2007. Recommended for fans of Julien Neto, Klimek, Ryan Teague, Deaf Center and Rafael Anton Irisarri.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Marsen Jules

myspace.com/marsenjules | marsenjules.de
oktaf.com

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

William Basinski - 92982 (2062)

Late in 2009, William Basinski had released his eighteenth album, Vivian & Ondine, on his own imprint, 2062 Records. But my mind still holds on to the haunting melodies of his release prior, simply named after a single day, more precisely September 29th, 1982, culminating in the numerical representation of 92982. This is a document of a single night of work, which would eventually spawn a direction that Basinski would explore further. Deep from the archives, we hear Basinski's experimentation with loops that would eventually earn him critical acclaim with the four volumes of The Disintegration Loops, recorded the same year, only to be released twenty years later. Basinski's music is characterized by repeating loops of magnetic tape, playing endlessly on his reel-to-reel, saturated with reverb and short lived time delays. About a year ago, in April 2008, I met Billy at the Resonant Forms festival in Los Angeles. There, I witnessed his impressive live performance. That moment is still alive in my memory, and is recalled with his music. On a table there are two Norelco reel-to-reels, one tin box full of tape loops with a "Tootsie Rolls" logo, and various cylindrical objects. Basinski fishes out long and winding snakes of tape, and feeds them through the magnetic heads, stretching out the remainder of the loop between cups, cones, upside down water bottles and vases. These proceed to play, endlessly, through effects and faders on the mixing board. Only the hiss of the tape reminds me of this dying technology, which is still very much mechanically alive, in Basinski's hands. About the revival of 92982, Basinski writes: Something from a long time ago... in Brooklyn, 351 jay street... A fruitful evening in the studio... Home at last after a day of work at the answering service... answering phones for calvin klein, bianca jagger, steve rubell, and all the other somebody people... in our space station: home in my studio experimenting live. James is in the adjacent studio painting masterpieces. Roger is in the front, gluing old shoes on canvas and painting them orange... I'm clicking the old norelcos back and forth between channels... all the windows are open. The sound is spreading all over downtown brooklyn mixing with the helicopters, sirens, pot smoke and fireworks... Indeed, as if recorded from his apartment window, along with the sounds of a passing helicopter, Basinski reconstructs the moment in these countless organic repetitions of captured time in brief glimpses of aural mementos. These bounce back and forth within my headphones, within the walls of my apartment, or a glass jar of memory, intended to be preserved for another winter, when one feels cold and tired. On Disintegration Loops, the music slowly crumbles until the magnetic signals dissolve, erased through their repetitive playing, leaving a permanent snapshot of their demise. On 92982 the music lives on, with the purpose, one would imagine, of being imprinted in our minds forever. In Musicophilia, a book by Oliver Sacks, a chapter titled Brainworms, Sticky Music, and Catch Tunes explores the cognitive science behind the music that plays in our heads, over and over. "This endless repetition [...] suggests a coercive process, that the music has entered and subverted a part of the brain, forcing it to fire repetitively and autonomously." Somewhere fifteen minutes into 92982.4, I get stuck in that place, and can't tell when the song ends. The moment captured by Basinski back in 1982 continues to live in my mind. And that is the best compliment I can furnish.

See also Two and a Half Questions with William Basinski

myspace.com/williambasinski | mmlxii.com

Yann Novak - The Breeze Blowing Over Us (Infrequency)

Infrequency Editions is a sub-label of Dragon's Eye, the latter owned and operated by Yann Novak himself. The label was originally founded by Jamie Drouin and Lance Olsen, but after a brief hiatus, and introduction to Novak, it merged with Dragon's Eye. Originally concerned with documenting live performances and sound installations presented through public concerts at a local gallery in Victoria (British Columbia), Infrequency also releases ambient and minimal studio compositions, as is the case with this recording. The Breeze Blowing Over Us is based on a simple recording of a fan, during one of the hottest days in Seattle. This recording is transformed into a 38+ minute composition that layers organic and synthetic sounds into a thick, brooding, drenched with tropical haze, and tense composition, with a slow movement of mechanically distributed air, worthy of its original title. The piece begins with a moving onslaught of dense textures, inching its way into the foreground at a crawling pace. Muffled sound waves, resembling a pitched down ocean, or the rumbling of a gigantic vehicle passing through an underground tunnel, are offset by distant, high frequency robotic screeches of an alien species. I proceed with caution in the darkness, and feel ahead what must be the door handle. I guess this is where I enter. Suddenly, I'm fighting through the thick vegetation of sound. Soon I come out upon an opening, where the chords crawl up a mountain in a melting drone of lava. This expedition with sound enters a sacred circle of open mouths and stretched out hands, to lift the trapped spirit into the cloud of white noise, only to be spilled again in a form of frequency rain, at the foot of the mountain. The atmosphere of this recording is tightly wound, condensed, drenched in suspenseful emotions, with a slight tingling of uneasiness. Some may even find this unsettling - but not I. I love dark and spooky. Descending deep into abandoned caverns of sound is my part time sport. For the same reasons that one replays those eerie horror movies, I return to Novak's world, time and time again. Check out Novak's extensive discography, with many limited and archival recordings of live performances on Dragon's Eye. His attention to detail with the work on a label, and persistence at reinventing his sound has finally been rewarded - Novak has been noticed by Richard Chartier and is scheduled to release an album on Line in September of 2010.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Yann Novak

yannnovak.com | dragonseyerecordings.com | infrequency.org

Alva Noto - For 2 (Line)

Following a triumphant 2009 and two of the most notable releases of the year (Xerrox Vol. 2 and Utp_ with Ryuichi Sakamoto) Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto, returns with a second installment of compositions devoted to creative personalities from a number of different fields. Coming four years after the first one, For 2 features compositions dating as far back as 2003, although most are from around 2007. For 2 confirms that Nicolai’s music has become more and more orchestral in recent years, for lack of a better word, and not as heavily anchored in the glitchy beats of Transform and the Transall series. Although the micro beats, squelches and static continue to be among the defining characters of Noto’s music, there’s more going on all around them than there used to be. Of course, Nicolai has been rubbing up against modern classical music in his collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto going back as far as 2002 so this is no sudden revelation. But it feels like there’s more weight to his recent solo output as well. His two Xerrox volumes are a case in point. So is opening track "Garment (for a garment)". The sonic identity is intimately familiar - sonar beeps, white noise and minimal glitch. But halfway through, the cellos enter, providing the emotional depth that has often been absent from Nicolai's sterile soundscapes. It's a terrific track and simply put, the blend of the electric and organic just sounds great. Understandably, since For 2 is a compilation of material composed for many different occasions, there's a lot of variety on offer. There's the field recording-based "Villa Aurora (for Marta Feuchtwanger)", with birdsong and airplanes flying overhead. The dark and oppressive "Stalker (for Andrei Tarkovsky)" features Russian dialogue, presumably from the film of the same name, and is reminiscent of Kreng's L’Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu. On the other end of the spectum, there's the bright and luminescent "Sonolumi (for Camera Lucida)" and the rhythmic beeps of "T3 (for Dieter Rams)". But on the whole, the tone of For 2 is contemplative and atmospheric. This is a fascinating and rewarding collection and it makes you want to dive in and explore the connection with the people to whom the music is dedicated. I must admit that most of the names are unfamiliar to me, although I know Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and have heard of Phil Niblock. But the others drew a blank. So I thought it would be worthwhile to flesh out the context a bit. As Carsten Nicolai said when I interviewed him last your for Headphone Commute (see Two and a Half Questions with Carsten Nicolai): "I think, personally, that it’s not really necessary for the listener to know the full background of the concept... The listener can just enjoy and listen without any preconception... If you want to know more, if you want to have a really detailed view, you can go deeper and you can explore several levels of the piece. It can be enjoyable to be able to see the background of the piece..." So while it's certainly not essential to know the stories to enjoy the music, it does add an extra dimension. And those familiar with Carsten Nicolai's music know that "concept" is virtually his middle name. I have therefore added some info on the devotees here below, which may be of interest to those wishing to "go deeper". It's well worth the journey.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Carsten Nicolai

For detailed exploration of the album, samples, and background of the artists featured in this review, read directly on Headphone Commute

alvanoto.com | raster-noton.net

TU M’ - Monochromes Vol. 1 (Line)

Monochromes Vol. 1 is the first volume of archival installations by the Italian multimedia duo, Rossano Polidoro and Emiliano Romanelli, performing under the moniker TU M'. The name, taken from Marcel Duchamp's same titled painting, is a French expression in which the verb is missing (tu m’…). This literally translates to "you [...] me", where the missing verb must be provided by the viewer (of the painting), or, in this case, the listener. The album, released on Richard Chartier's LINE Records, features the first four (out of nine) audio compositions, created for "two laptops, two mixing boards, two loudspeakers, one video projector, [and] one room." These pieces were recorded live at Vico Santa Chiara Studio, Città Sant’Angelo, Italy in the summer of 2008. For the installation, the duo create an atmosphere where "sound and light vibrations reverberate inside the room, blending together in an enveloping monochrome, that creates an atmosphere to be contemplated." The visuals, available as excerpts on the TU M's website, are composed of drawn out monochrome landscapes, resembling distant mountain silhouettes and sluggish geometric figures, visible in change and movement only through sporadic skipping through the captures. Attempting careful observation, or trying to make out patterns that are not there, is futile. It's like watching yourself age in the mirror. It's like watching the clouds... The audio compositions paint the same picture. Over a slight white noise hiss and endless loops, the melody swells in ambient waves of sound, sparkling in the light of distant piano notes. Like the waves of an ocean that have been crashing against this beach for thousands of years, and many years to come, this music is new and ancient - it exists _all_ the time, somewhere completely on its own, only to be summoned into this moment with the press of a button. The sounds fade in and out with the rhythm of my breathing. Inhale soft pads. Exhale minor chords. Let this pattern wash away all worries. And when the [almost] 30 minute track ends, the melody is still there, in the background of my mind. To round off this exploration of space, sound, and light, intertwined together to create this minimal composition, the duo includes a quote by Jean Cocteau: A poet always has too many words in his vocabulary, a painter too many colors on his palette, a musician too many notes on his keyboard. Check out previous numerous releases by TU M' by rummaging through their sound and visual works, carefully catalogued on their website. Their project under the name of Steno, for example, describing themselves as "a world made up of second-hand music", is released on their own, Mr. Mutt label, which, not coincidentally, is the name Marcel Duchamp signed on the upside down urinal, and named his found art as Fountain.

See also Two and a Half Questions with TU M'

12k.com/line/ | tu-m.com

VA - Pop Ambient 2010 (Kompakt)

Kompakt Records kicks off the new year with the tenth installment of its annual Pop Ambient series — a decade of densely layered drones, tones, and sounds, showcasing the best artists making music in modern classical and ambient genres. The compilations are curated each year by label head and music legend, Wolfgang Voigt (aka Gas), and have basically been a staple in my morning and late evening playlists for an entire decade. The musical discoveries I have made because of this yearly release are unparalleled — over the years the series has acted as a who’s who in forward thinking electronic compositions that aren’t concerned with beats, bass, or the dancefloor. Artists like Marsen Jules, Klimek, Andrew Thomas, Markus Guentner, Donnacha Costello, Triola, and Thomas Fehlmann have all been mainstays throughout the decade long series, and all artists I respect and adore. A quote from press release: Newcomers may ask - so what is POP AMBIENT? A genre? Possibly. A statement of musical mindset? Absolutely! [...] Throughout POP AMBIENT's editions, the music has evolved ever so naturally - almost characterizing the blossoming of the floral arrangements that have graced the series covers year after year. [...] We say this every year but POP AMBIENT 2010 is a defining moment for the series - a change in pace but a familiar face for those that have been yearning for our annual remedy. The opening track for the 2010 edition starts with quite possibly the best Marsen Jules track I have ever heard. The aptly titled “The Sound of One Lip Kissing” sweeps from right to left channel and builds around a single dark and reverberating chord that is accompanied by the hesitant tinkle of piano to amazing effect. Brock Van Whey is welcomed into the Pop Ambient family this year and lulls listeners with two beautiful tracks under his bvdub moniker. “Lest You Forget” follows the opening track and offers a sense of air and light, after Marsen Jules’ somewhat ominous beginning. Van Whey also closes the album with the sprawling “Will You Know Where to Find Me” that features haunting vocals and rich delay that peacefully dissipates as the 17-minute track comes to an end, leaving you calmed and happily brooding. Kompakt’s own Dettinger, returns with “Therefore” his first new song in nearly a decade – a smooth and droney track, that features a slight hi-hat shuffle buried in the mix. Label head, Wolfgang Voigt also shows up with the excellent “Zither und Horn”, which sounds like nothing I’ve heard from him before. It’s a pastoral and string-based track that feels more traditionally “song-like” in its composition, and much different than his work as Gas. Offerings from DJ Koze, The Orb, and Jürgen Paape are equally as strong, and overall, this is another sterling edition to an already fantastic oeuvre of ambient music. Check it.

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Review by Matt Leslie (Inaudible). Edited by HC. Republished with permission.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Wolfgang Voigt

myspace.com/wolfgangvoigt | kompakt.fm/artists/wolfgang_voigt
myspace.com/kompakt | kompakt.fm

Richard Skelton - Landings (Type)

Richard Skelton's songs don't tell a story. They describe a place, a landscape. No... that's not quite right. They're more like a part of the landscape. On Landings, his remarkable new album, the rugged and earthy texture of the strings, gentle guitars and densely layered assorted acoustic instruments, all played by Richard himself, meld with field recordings of babbling brooks, the breeze and bird song. It all feels like it emanates from the same source. The songs on Landings don't contain much in the way of development. No build-up, no climax, no resolution. Instead each song is a portal into a particular setting... or state of mind. You step in, breath in the fresh air, the breeze ruffles your hair and all you can do is marvel at Mother Nature's handiwork. Landings is the product of four years of recordings that Skelton did in Lancashire's West Pennine Moors in Northern England, close to where he grew up. When originally released on his own Sustain-Release imprint, the CD was accompanied by a book with the same title that collected Skelton's writings, including diary entries, word lists, poetry and prose fragments from 2004 to 2008. Together, the writing and the music were his way of trying to engage with the landscape. Unfortunately, the book appears to be sold out but Type has thankfully rereleased the music. There's an undeniably mournful undertow to the album, a reflection of the rugged nature of the Moors no doubt, but it probably also has a lot to do with the fact that the album is dedicated to his late wife, Louise. In a recent interview with Title Magazine, Skelton explained that to him his music is an intensely private thing. In addition to being a way to connect with a place, it's a vehicle through which he deals with his loss and memories. There's a strong sense of ritual about the way he approaches this endeavor. He buries his strings deep in the soil, he takes stones from the ground in a particular place and knocks them against the body of his violin. This may not make a very tangible contribution to the recordings but the ritual is an important part of the act of making the music. There's something so solemn and beautiful about this process, and it displays an incredible dedication and commitment. Skelton has released music under a number of guises in recent years - A Broken Consort, Carousell and Clouwbeck. Landings is the second album in a row that he releases under his given name. A sign that he has well and truly come into his own.

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Review prepared by Tigon for Headphone Commute.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Richard Skelton

myspace.com/sustainrelease | sustain-release.co.uk
myspace.com/typerecordings | typerecords.com

Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More (Type Records)

After a string of releases and collaborations on various labels over the last few years, London based trio Rameses III released I Could Not Love You More on the always intriguing Type imprint in the fall of last year. It is a soothing and pastoral album full of lush drones and ambient soundscapes. Combining acoustic guitar, lap steel, loops, voice, synths, and field recordings of idyllic summer days, Daniel Freeman, Spencer Grady and Stephen Lewis, have composed a relaxing and intimate album reminiscent of Brian Eno, Helios, Mountains, and Klimek. Like all good ambient and modern classical, there’s a sense of weightlessness to Rameses III’s music, yet there’s still an inherent feeling that a band is playing this music — it’s not overly produced, it’s soft and very organic. Tracks like “All Shall Be Well” and “Cloud Kings” play up the trio’s love for sprawling drone, while tracks “Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines” and “No Water, No Moon” are more song-like in composition, where the instruments maintain their sonic shape, rather than morphing into a whir of sound. The album conjures up a sense of nostalgia that I cannot quite put my finger on. Listening to it makes me feel a closeness to the past, a nearness, a uniformity even, to a forgotten yearning from years before. The beach side samples in “No Water, No Moon” reminding me of summers come and gone — the soft strum of guitar creating a wall of white nostalgia, visceral feedback reverberating in my ears — as the band’s use of haunting vocals brings me back to the surface of my present, and I realize I’ve just totally zoned out on the streetcar and missed my stop completely. Such is the beauty of music, and such is the aural allure of Rameses III’s I Could Not Love You More, which ranks as one of the best ambient, modern classical albums of 2009. Check it.

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Review prepared by Matt Leslie (Inaudible) exclusively for Headphone Commute.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Rameses III

myspace.com/ramesesiii | ramesesiii.com
myspace.com/typerecordings | typerecords.com

Beta Cloud - Lunar Monograph (Laughing Bride Media)

It's easy to write about beautiful music. When the ambient pads wash over the gentle picks of a guitar and the distant eavesdropping of radio frequencies, it's easy to write. When the soft piano chords are smothered in a generous dose of warm reverb, spreading over the field recordings of a rainy city street, it's easy to write. When the music itself draws on the images of time slowly passing by as the world is drowning in the Sea of Tranquility, it's easy to write. It's easy to share these words with you about the music of Carl Pace, because it simply speaks for itself. And these words are just the outcome. Composing under the Beta Cloud moniker, Pace has had the pleasure of performing and releasing music with Aidan Baker - An Open Letter To Franz Kafka (2007), and Lull - Circadian Rhythm Disturbance (2008), all being published on Laughing Bride Media. But forget about name dropping for a second, and get immersed in the ethereal drift of weather torn sounds. In between the frequency currents, Beta Cloud's third full length album, Lunar Monograph, stands out on its own, setting up the mood for all the ambient sounds of 2010. The tracks on the album are named after the large, dark, basaltic plains on the Earth's Moon, known as Lunar Maria. This is where the titles for Marsh of Sleep, Sea of Rains, Bay of Billows, and the above mentioned Sea of Tranquility come from. The latter, a 21+ minute ambient soundscape, full of blissful white noise, bird sounds, and acoustic wind, is drenched in a strumming of a shoegaze guitar, organic chords, and ghostlike sounds of the sleeping world. A stunning mediation on our natural satellite. To reveal more of the concept behind the album, Carl Pace explains: in a broad sense, [the album] addresses our own perceptions of our lives; the world around us, the moon above, and what lies beyond that; the waxing and waning of our own personal existences. and in a very broad sense, it addresses the concept of 'lunacy'. there's a quote from carl sagan on the inside sleeve of the disc that reads: "We knew the Moon from our earliest days. It was there when our ancestors descended from the trees into the savannahs, when we learned to walk upright, when we first devised stone tools, when we domesticated fire, when we invented agriculture and built cities and set out to subdue the Earth. Folklore and popular songs celebrate a mysterious connection between the Moon and love." i think that sums it up nicely. The Lunar Monograph, or a concise study upon this very specific single subject, has been composed in the span of about three years. The result is an album with ideas borrowed from live performances, studio pieces, and field recordings, folded neatly into a sonic package, and delivered directly onto the doorstep of your soul. For the source of the material, Pace compiled recordings of "some of the beautiful things in life that we take for granted every day due to sensory overload, subway chatter of several voices in NY and Toronto that become one cacophonous and expressive voice in the process, beautiful thunderstorms that lull us to sleep on summer nights, the sounds of birds in my garden that i watch flourish and wither without fail every year, fireworks displays where people gather almost instinctively to realize that there is something greater than we out there. and others..." With the artwork by Chase Middaugh, and mastering by James Plotkin, Lunar Monograph will surely please the fans of Tim Hecker, Lawrence English, Simon Scott, and of course, Taylor Deupree and his 12k output. If I'm doing another Best of 2010 list the same way next year, then Lunar Monograph, will surely get filed under my Music For Bending Light and Stopping Time category. Highly recommended.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Beta Cloud

myspace.com/thebetacloud | betacloud.com
myspace.com/laughingbride | laughingbridemedia.com

Talbot & Deru - Genus (Ant-Zen)

The sound is born out of electric static, slowly penetrating through the thick veil of noise until it rolls over a thump. The tremolo affected voices grow into a ten part choir consisting of members of Tenebrae professional chamber choir. The strings provided by The Duke Quartet become rhythmical, accentuated by a pulsing metallic micro beat, until with a swoosh of white noise, resembling a raging storm, this progression evolves into something bigger, stronger, and primordial. Enter the sound of Genus - an electro-acoustic score for the ballet choreographed by award-winning Wayne McGregor. Commissioned by The Paris Opera Ballet, the work is based on Charles Darwin's discovery of evolution. Hence the growth, the organic development of the sound, and "the musical evolution of [its] own", as adopted throughout this eight-part composition by Joby Talbot and Benjamin Wynn. Since I started talking about the composers, let's get all the credits over with. Los Angeles based Wynn should be already known to the electronica and IDM community as Deru. He has released two solid albums, Pushing Air (Neo Ouija, 2003) and Trying To Remember (Merck, 2004). Both of these, along with a 10" single, Pushing Soil (Delikatessen, 2004) are among my top absolute favorites. Wynn's ability to create crispy, glitchy, hip-hop influenced rolling-bass rhythms got me bopping my head, and hunting down everything that he touches. Genus is no exception. It's no wonder that Ant-Zen picked up this amazing release. No wonder at all. Talbot is a British film and TV composer. With numerous commissions from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the BBC Proms, Talbot is known for his musical arrangement for The League of Gentlemen and a soundtrack for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Talbot's previous ballet score experience includes an orchestral arrangement of music by The White Stripes for Chroma. His education in composition at both Royal Holloway and Bedford New College completes the qualifications required to produce this haunting piece, and I have no doubt that Genus will be added to his further list of outstanding accomplishments. Spread over eight tracks (and 44 minutes), the released score is actually made up of three movements: The Transmutation of Species, Genus and The Great Tree of Life. Each part is considerably different then the previous. On Genus, for example, Louisa Fuller picks up her violin and guides us towards the mathematical passage of neo-classical progression with a slight touch of time-based effects. Released by Ant Zen in collaboration with Dear Oh Dear Records, the CD edition is limited to 100 copies, including a hardcover sleeve and a 20 page booklet. The disc also contains two video clips and a digital document. This is a marvelous release. And when it rolls over you with its top notch production, expert composition, and overwhelming concept, you can't help but play it again. Be sure to also keep your eye on Deru's upcoming album, Say Goodbye To Useless, which is scheduled to hit the streets sometime in early 2010 on Mush Records.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Deru

myspace.com/iamderu | meisderu.com
myspace.com/jobyvincenttalbot | jobytalbot.com

Corey Fuller - Seas Between (Dragon's Eye)

Opening in mist, with disassembled activity both hidden and continuous, Seas Between is a work containing the solemnity of temporality, trembling tenderness, and the brightest side of sightless imagination. Corey Fuller was born in the United States, but while still very young, he relocated with his family to Japan, where he spent the next 20 years, before returning to the United States to live in Washington state. December 2009 marks the release of his first solo album, and his return to Japan with his own family, to live and work. The album represents both a literary and imaginative vision of home and the distances between, a document of the placement and creation of a convolved third-culture reality. Seas Between was created using an expansive assortment of acoustic instruments, including piano, prepared piano, Rhodes electric piano, pipe organ, pump organ, vibraphone, pianica, accordion, acoustic/electric guitars, Gamelan bells, Thai finger cymbals, assorted percussion, and found objects. Field recordings were given delicate attention, including room tones, contact microphones, hydrophone recordings of both shores of the Pacific Ocean, field recordings from Japan and Washington, reel to reel tapes, cassette tapes, and analog tape delays. Custom software was also employed to create a convolved, indeterminate blend of instruments. In addition to the above mentioned palette, a group of collaborative musicians contributed work, such as John Friesen on cello, Tyler Wilcox on saxophones and bass clarinet, and Tomoyoshi Date on piano and electronics. Their contributions further complete a graceful warmth, to an already startlingly pronounced recording of poetic allusion, uncertain acceptance, and hazed mystery. Throughout the 45-minute work, clarity is demonstrated through swelling, warm tones, acute instrumentation, combined with the chill of the ocean breeze, and the indistinguishable traits of swirling, impermanent images. Beside crisp crescendos of the early morning dawn, foamy field recordings are hidden in the fine clouds; a formed, thin film, hidden in winter's winds. In Seas Between, here falls the shadow, between essence and descent, longing and fulfillment, wholeness and brokenness. The sense of separation and constant longing is ever-present, in our surroundings that are unwavering, but often unpredictable as the sea.

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Seas Between is released by California based Dragon's Eye Recordings, owned and operated by Yann Novak. The above text was written and contributed by Will Long, who along with his recently departed and dearly missed wife, Danielle Baquet-Long, released numerous albums as Celer.

See also Two and a Half Questions with Corey Fuller

Vladislav Delay - Tummaa (Leaf)

Listening to Tummaa requires preparation. At least, it requires knowledge of the intent behind this album. Let me set the stage. The intent is 'darkness'. And this is its music. Tummaa reflects the mood recreated by Sasu Ripatti, composing under the moniker Vladislav Delay, while living on a remote island in the Baltic Sea during the time of year known as 'kaamos' (polar night). This is precisely the time from December to February, where there is only a few hours of light per day. This overall feeling of darkness made an enormous impression on Ripatti. The track titles alone construct the following message: Kuula (Kiitos) means Bullet (Thank You); Mustelmia means Bruises; Musta Planeetta - Black Planet; Toive - Wish; and finally Tunnelivisio (ok, can you guess that one?) - Tunnel Vision. Ripatti last made a sizable impression on me with his previous album, Whistleblower, released on his own label, Huume, in 2007. Now, back in Finland after seven years of living in Berlin, Ripatti returns with a few elements from his roots as a percussionist. The album may take more than a few listens for the followers of Vladislav Delay's to get into the groove. There is no dub on here. Instead, gentle piano riffs and Rhodes licks are interrupted with clicks, chirps and musique concrète snippets of sounds snatched from a variety of metallic and industrial sources. Even a deep rumbling sigh becomes a bass here. This is Ripatti's return to the source of acoustic and organic. “I wanted to take a new direction with Vladislav Delay, with more acoustic sound sources,” he explains. “I avoided as much electronics as possible, wanting to bring myself closer to my background as a drummer and percussionist. [...] I just love hitting things... making sounds physically without needing a power plug.” The album incorporates some abstract and jazzy improvisation featuring a live trio – Lucio Capece on saxophone and clarinet, Craig Armstrong on the keys, and Ripatti on percussion. After intensive sample manipulation, some modulations remind me of descending spaceships from the 70s. Some sound a lot like circuit bending emissions. Some sounds are like nothing I've ever heard before (from an organic source). All of this is blended with the swirls of abstract effects, sporadic glitches and scattered ambiance, floating in a three dimensional stereo field. Through this dark and somber concoction, full of dread and isolation, we descend into Tummaa. I can imagine the overall recording to be a flashback to a bad psychedelic trip. At times groovy, hypnotic, and rough around the edges. The entire experience will keep your ears prickled up, and your eyes wide open. A serious juxtaposition of sounds even for a seasoned listener. Be sure to check out Ripatti's percussion work as a member of Moritz Von Oswald Trio (with Max Loderbauer and of course, Morritz von Oswald) on their latest release, Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon's Records, 2009), as well as his other works under aliases like Conoco, Luomo, Sistol, and Uusitalo. Oh, and don't forget his collaboration with Antye Greie as AGF/Delay and their 2009 release, Symptoms out on BPitch Control.

myspace.com/vladislavdelaymusic | vladislavdelay.com
myspace.com/theleaflabel | theleaflabel.com

Ben Frost - By The Throat (Bedroom Community)

I first listened to Ben Frost when he released his sophomore full length album, Theory Of Machines on Bedroom Community back in 2007. I described his music as ambient hardcore - psychologically raw, punishing, and overdriven guitars, with reverberated pads and rhythms that mutate into white noise and back, sending chills that originate deep from within your ear canal and slide down to your toenails. That album left a lasting impression on me. Enough to select it as one of the best albums of the year. I didn't think that Theory Of Machines could be outdone... That is... until I put on By The Throat. While listening to Theory Of Machines, I compared Frost's sound to that of an angry furry armadillo, creeping up the inside of my legs with a cold long needle, leaving me drenched in sweat. And with this latest installment, the chills rise up my spine and hold me, in perpetual, electric shock. The cover art alone puts into my mind the images of my final moments, lying naked on the snow, steam rising from the breath of a hungry wolf, his teeth sunk into my throat. And the track titles do not let up. Through The Glass Of The Roof, Through The Roof Of Your Mouth, Through The Mouth Of Your Eye. And the music? Dark grinding metallic strings scratched through distorted pads, deep breaths, growls, and choking melodies. The intensity of the bass and guitar riffs create instant goose bumps, tickling the inside of my ears, and clawing at my chest. White knuckled at the seat, I think I accidentally scratched a healing scab off of my back and now I'm bleeding through this white collar shirt, the tie restricting my cries. Let me out! I've heard some dark and terrifying ambiance in my lifetime, but Frost's onslaught is incredible. I stand applauding. And the production? We've got top notch mastering going on here, with perfectly sampled strings played with dry bows over thumping kick, and rising voices. With contributions from Jeremy Gara of The Arcade Fire, Icelandic quartet Amiina, Swedish grindcore band Crowpath, and of course, the classical touch of Nico Muhly the roster of artists is exciting alone. Oh, and did I mention that it was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson? It was created under the cloak of nocturnal snow in the far northern reaches of financial-fantasy island, a concept borne of Frost and weapons manufacturer, war monger and evil genius Sruli Recht, captured by the all-seeing-eye of Bjarni Gríms and forged in the fires of hell by Rebeca Mendéz… Frost's music is all about contrast - merging beautiful classical minimalism with the dirty grind of metal and drone core. This combination is unsettling to the mind, refusing to split in half and choose between the genres. Born in Australia, Frost is now living in Reykjavik, Iceland - home of the above mentioned artists, and of course Sigurðsson’s acclaimed Bedroom Community label. His debut solo album, titled Steel Wound, was released on Room40 in 2003. There's also a two-track digital EP, released together with Lawrence English, titled Anyone Can Play... Anyone Can Sing (Dreamland, 2004). In 2007, Frost released Theory Of Machines on Bedroom Community, and spent the next two years cooped up to dream up this nightmare. Let me restate my earlier conviction: By The Throat is even better than Theory Of Machines - a feat I thought impossible to bear. This is the music of suspense. The terror of the unknown. The ethereal melody at the end of the tunnel that gets cemented off a few inches away from your desperate crawl. The piano keys expand and shrink with pressure, and the white and black chip off and vanish. The tension ends with the last track, and although you can exhale, you want to feel the angst again. You want to feel. You want to feel...

myspace.com/theghostofbenfrost | ethermachines.com
bedroomcommunity.net

Solo Andata - Solo Andata (12k)

Close the doors and turn up the sound. This is ambiance that needs to be really heard. Quietly chirping submerged engines are silenced by waves of bowed cello. The sound of rippling water seeps through the drones of strings. This is the organic world of Solo Andata - an Australian duo comprised of Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin. Having previously released their debut, Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006), the duo got picked up by 12k, and contributed a recording to Live In Melbourne (12k, 2008), appearing among tracks by Seaworthy, and label owner, Taylor Deupree. Solo Andata is their highly anticipated release for the New York minimal and ambient label. The album is mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and is accompanied by a mini booklet of 8-piece photography by Deupree himself. This is a warm album, covering you with a blanket of organic materials, natural field recordings, and swells of ambient soundscapes. The restraint and delicate touch within this production stops time, thought, and all of the pain. Solo Andata is the sensual reflexology for the mind. The concept behind the album, reveals "a theme of travel from cold to warm, water to earth, fluidity to stasis, conceptually representing a thread between water and land." The meditative nature of these pieces focuses the inner ear on within, while the outer contemplates without. At the epicenter lies the focus of the album, Look For Me Here. This is the place that you reach after descending through the laid out paths of an early morning forest, quiet nights, and misty caves. This beautiful track is also available from the label as a single, with remixes by the above mentioned Giuseppe Ielasi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Make sure to grab that one. And by the time Loom comes out with a crying cello by Louise McKay, you're truly in love. Fans of Hildur Guðnadóttir will melt within. The duo uses barely any electronic instruments. Most of the heard sounds are resonating from strings, voices, guitar and a piano. The sourced material has been painstakingly captured, post-processed, and folded back into the pieces, often reflecting the origin within the titles. For example, “Woods Flesh Bone” actually records wood, flesh (from a dead chicken) and bones. “Canal Rocks” contains a recording of wind through the rocks in a small alcove in southwestern Australia called Canal Rocks. “Hydraulic Fluctuations” is a recording of the fluid fluctuations inside a large pump, “Ablation” is ice and wind. Highly recommended for all wonders of 12k, above mentioned artists, plus Richard Skelton, Lawrence English, and Christopher Bissonnette. Bravo, 12k! Well done! This is a great catch, hold onto this one. And I'll be more than eager to follow this group along its intricately formed path, even if their way is only one way, the solo andata.

myspace.com/soloandata | solo-andata.com
myspace.com/12kline | 12k.com

Scanner - Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges (BineMusic)

Robin Rimbaud spent his life listening to others. In his early works, Rimbaud tuned into the airwaves to pluck out pieces of radio, mobile phone conversations and police broadcasts. These were intricately edited and folded back into his compositions, producing an experimental genre of his own, often gathering international admiration from the likes of Aphex Twin and even Stockhausen. This is yet another one of Rimbaud's albums as Scanner, adding to his e-n-d-l-e-s-s discography (seriously huge), spawning collaborations with DJ Spooky, Alva Noto, Kim Cascone, and Vitiello among many others. And Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges does not disappoint. The album starts off with vocal samples, strums of guitar and Rimbaud's own gentle singing. That is until the kick drops and bounces away. The distorted bits and pieces of voices continue to dominate the background of Scanner's recordings. We are, after all, eavesdropping. This mixture of acoustic instrumentation and electronic treatments evolves, introducing a full on string ensemble conducted in the rhythm of solid beat and bitcrushed percussion. And by the time I arrive at track three, titled Anna Livia Plurabelle, which is full of classical operetta vocals by the acclaimed soprano Patricia Rozario, crying in angst, I realize the grandiose accomplishment of Scanner's work, painting a cinematic masterpiece from lost and found fragments. The rest is just as beautiful. Speckles of found voices, radar transmissions, and environmental recordings are hardly intrusive in this purely musical piece. "The ghostly presence of William Burroughs and philosopher Bertrand Russell weave their way through some of the pieces, opening into the dark heart of "Yellow Plains Under White Hot Blue Sky", an epic, almost menacing work, with corrosive voices, noises and abstract shapes over a primordial electronic beat, that continues to build and ignite with bowed strings into a picturesque precise explosion." Although I can't say that I've heard every album by Rimbaud, I can definitely agree with the critics that this is his most mature and personal album to date. A soundtrack to a voyeur's life finally turned inwards. This is organic, this is digital, this is modern classical at its best. Completely unexpected and highly recommended for fans of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Pick up your copy from the Essen (Germany) based BineMusic, while I scratch this winner onto my upcoming Best of 09. Need I say more? See more of Rimbaud's current and upcoming work in my Two and a Half Questions with Scanner.

myspace.com/scanner | scannerdot.com
myspace.com/binemusicgermany | binemusic.com

KiloWatts - Undercurrent (Somnia)

In terms of technique, Jamie Watts, the man behind KiloWatts, is an extremely accomplished producer; he knows how to make music that sounds great. His last full-length album, Ground State, released on Evan Bartholomew's Native State Records, stood out for its fresh and chunky sound. It featured a rolling mid-tempo groove, using mostly an acoustic drum sample set, to go with dynamic and full-bodied synths that displayed Watt's taste for thick, growling lead sounds in the lower register. At times, the bass took center stage and propelled the music forward, like on the excellent track Dub Serious. Watts has tried his hand at a variety of genres. His last few releases have ranged from the mid-tempo IDM grooves of Ground State to the tech house of the Snakewinds and Love on Saturn EPs, both released on Noah Pred's minimal techno and house offshoot of Native State, Thoughtless Music. Now, with Undercurrent, he's followed Evan over to his new Somnia label for a stab at downtempo/ambient. “With this album, I wanted to focus on the essence of melody and expose it in a raw form through the electronic medium," says Watts. "The source of the main melodies came from repetitive hooks I found myself sporadically singing or humming during day to day business. Think of the joyful tunes whistled during a walk. These melodic mantras seem to pop up out of nowhere and go on repeating forever... From a larger perspective, I felt that the search for these melodies was similar to unearthing subconscious archetypes that drive reality. the process was like discovering an ever-flowing undercurrent of reality that can be translated directly into melody." The funny thing is that taken as a whole, the album is not defined by the strength of the melodies. There are a couple of standouts - Rode Falls and Ayandan - that are blessed with the kind of riffs that seem to have been around forever. They're like old friends you haven't seen for a while. The Undercurrent Is Love is also hummable if not as memorable. But more often than not the album is defined by the mood it evokes. Most of the tracks are based on short repeated motifs that ebb and flow with the undulating tide or the movement of the current. Opener Cascade Serenade flows by effortlessly, but most of the album is tinged with a darker hue. As if gray clouds are gathering and the waves are beginning to swell. There's an ominous undercurrent to Couette and Seed is vaguely sinister, like a snake slithering along just underneath the water's surface. On Nightshade, the crickets and other creatures of the night come out to play. The album culminates in the 12-minute The Moment Just Before Dawn, with a single phrase repeated over and over again like a persistent mantra, slowly building toward a majestic crescendo. The sonic landscape of Undercurrent is compact, with clearly defined boundaries. The sounds mostly seem to originate from the same source, as if Watts decided to stick with one trusted synth and one electric piano throughout the making of the album. Most significantly, he has largely - though thankfully not completely - done away with the beats that have been such a defining feature of his music until now. It has to be said that while there are moments of beauty on Undercurrent and the album as a whole grows on you, the tracks that make the biggest impression are the ones that have a pulse. Watts is most in his element when he's working with a beat, or at least a strong rhythmic element, such as on Rode Falls, Seed and Nightshade. The percussion, although further in the background than is usual for him, gives the songs a much more vivid presence and sense of development. Nevertheless, it's clear that Undercurrent has served to expand KiloWatts' horizons, even if the addition of one more genre to his discography risks confusing some of his audience. Be sure to check out Watt's digital releases on Thoughtless Music, Harmonious Discord, as well as his own outlet, KiloWatts Music (see Six Silicates EP). Also, looks like Jamie finally re-released his collaboration with Peter Van Ewijk as KiloWatts & Vanek titled Focus and Flow (Dependent, 2009).

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Original interview posted by Tigon on Tigon World.
Republished with permission of the author.

myspace.com/kilowatts | kilowattsmusic.com
somniasound.com

Christopher Willits - Live On Earth - Vol. 1 (self)

Fans of Christopher Willits rejoice! The San Francisco based musician has something special just for you! If you were one of the lucky 1111 fans to first join the Christopher Willits Fans page on Facebook, this special digital release of live performance recordings is yours! The seven tracks on this self released exclusive album, include live performances from venues around the world over the last few years. Here are some gems from Berlin, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Bangkok, Chicago, Kyoto and Foshan (China). And yes, this release is limited, exactly to the first 1111 people! The album begins with an Improvisation piece, featuring lush layers of smooth ambient pads flowing from Willits' guitar into his custom-designed software. Soon, the waves begin to glitch, triggering themselves at various positions to create unique phrases and textures. On Passage, recorded live in Philadelphia, the patterns of effectuated harmony get backed by a pulsing bass that sends the main melody in a tremolo-like twitching. These are all trademark Willits techniques, which he explores throughout his works, and occasionally shares through his lessons on XLR8R TV, via his multi-part feature, What You Talkin' Bout, Willits? For those not familiar with Christopher's unique sound, you have a whole journey ahead of you! With numerous albums and collaborations, his discography includes releases on Australian Room40 label, Japanese minimal Plop imprint, and Ghostly International. Fans no doubt treasure his collaboration with Taylor Deupree on Listening Garden (Line, 2007) as well as the critically acclaimed work with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Ocean Fire (12k, 2008). I witnessed Christopher perform live this past Spring in Los Angeles. His shows add a whole other dimension to live electronic music. Especially if you think about ambient and experimental textures being performed in front of an audience. For most of the acts, I would close my eyes and absorb the frequency waves emanating from the surround sound system, occasionally waking up, in that red-eye-flight-trance, to see the artist's face illuminated by the laptop. But with Willits I kept my eyes open. After all, he had an instrument - a guitar - which he would play and feed back through DSP hardware. You see the hand strumming, your ear holds on to bits of familiar sounds, and then the rest is like a puzzle, struggling to come together in your mind. This creative process is perfectly captured on the forty-five minutes of Live On Earth. It is especially evident on Orange Lit Space during which the sounds morph into a rhythmic structure, over which the guitar leaps into a soaring solo. This is a treasured acquisition for every Willits fan and a taste of things to come, if there will be more releases as the subtitle Volume 1 suggests. Recommended for fans of the above mentioned artists, as well as Fennesz, Tim Hecker, Stephan Mathieu, Philip Jeck and Christopher Bissonnette.

Also, read Conversations with Christopher Willits.

myspace.com/christopherwillits | christopherwillits.com
facebook.com/christopher.willits.fans