Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix (12k)

A few steps in an empty gym, an organ chord, some pouring water, and we're off... Aix is a slight departure from the Italian artist's, Giuseppe Ielasi, previous release on 12k, August. The latter is a work of restraint ambiance with electronically treated acoustic instrumentation, which was a perfect fit for Taylor Deupree's minimal label. While the former album, the one we're concerned with in this review, produced in Aix-En-Provence (a city in southern France), is a juxtaposition of found confetti of sound, glitched trite and stitched tight into rhythmical structures and repetitive patterns. Like a winter coat glued and sewn together from ripped pieces of fabric, the sporadic collection of sounds seems obscure, that is until you get closer, and you realize that it's warm and fuzzy, even if the colors don't match. The selection of tracks on this "grid" album are groovy, funky and jazzy, drawing an imagery of street performers playing on buckets, rubber bands, zippers, aerosol cans and an array of homemade percussion. In fact, this album strangely reminds me of a recent intarwebs video I saw, Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers. Yet this concotion of dusty sounds does not feel muddy or loose. In fact, it is light and bouncy, leaving plenty of room for each sound to evolve and breathe in its own sound spectrum. Ielasi becomes a master chef, walking into your abandoned kitchen and while opening a rusty refrigerator door, mumbling to himself, "Now what do we have here?" While folding the samples of micro textures and handfuls of semi-random rhythm into a boiling pot of bouncing echoes and stirred grooves, Ielasi delivers an exquisite course of contemporary musique concrète, best served warm, while the melody's still lingering... Overall, this is an interesting sidestep for Ielasi and 12k as well. Don't expect the warm Fennesz like layers and washes reminiscent of August. Enter with an open mind, and Aix will surely leave an imprint and beg you to return again. Besides releasing albums on 12k, Sedimental, and Häpna, Ielasi is also a founder of Fringes Recordings [now defunct] and a co-founder of Schoolmap Records. Be sure to pick up his one-track 30-minute masterpiece, Plans (Sedimental, 2003), as well as above mentioned August (12k, 2007).

myspace.com/giuseppeielasi | ielasi.com
myspace.com/12kline | 12k.com

Juxta Phona & Offthesky - !Escape Kit! (Somnia)

With its fifth limited release, Somnia is introducing Juxta Phona & Offthesky to the rest of the world. Starting off with some ambient and modern classical sounds, Somnia delivered a little surprise with their last release by Evan Marc and Steve Hillage. In Dreamtime Submersible the duo has married dub techno and hypnotic ambient sound into a critically acclaimed composition that speaks for itself - the 777 limited copies are completely sold out. With the signing of Juxta Phona and Offthesky onto the label, the dub journey continues, this time with a jazzy swing. On !Escape Kit! the artist experiments with dubbed out, hazy, and definitely groovy beats, lightly sprinkled with tiny glitches and IDM treatments, but nevertheless purely organic sound. Instruments like vibraphone, sax, and jazz guitar quickly find themselves in a surreal atmosphere surrounded by acoustic drums, synth bleeps, clocks and paper rips. As if the local jazz band from the 60s has been secretly miked during one of their nonchalant improvisational coffee house performances, with the cables running through the walls into upstairs laboratory, where Juxta Phona and Offthesky feed the signal into their vacuum tubes, magnetic tapes, and digital machines, to twist, to bend, and warp the time, the sound, and reality. Inconceivably somnific, somniferous, somnolent. Here I want to applaud the art of Ray Massini, who has been printing the recycled paper covers with soy ink for every Somnia release. The illustration depicts an urban city rising above the skies, overgrown with evergreens, all floating on a piece of earth uprooted from its core. I need to get out. I need to withdraw. I need to return to my essential center of being. Where is my escape kit? Pick up your copy of this limited release while it hasn't run out. Clearly, by this point, Somnia is a collectible label, where each release shines on its own. Highly recommended. You will absolutely love this if you enjoy Dictaphone, Swod, Julien Neto, and Porn Sword Tobacco.



myspace.com/offthesky | offthesky.com
somniasound.com

40 Winks - The Lucid Effect (Project: Mooncircle)

In the mood for some laid back beats and loungy vibes? Let 40 Winks groove you with their instrumental hip-hop rhythms mixed with blues, funk, and soul. The group (also spelled without a space as 40winks, and referring to English idiom for taking a nap for a short period of time) is comprised of two Antwerp based Belgian producers, Padmo and Weedy. With samples ranging from bossa nova beats, sax riffs, and dusty jazzy records, the duo scratches the surface of our minds with old-skool effects and vintage organic loops. 40 Winks previously released More Than Loops (Swamp, 2005) and Sound Puzzle (Merck, 2007), so it's no wonder that I picked them up again for The Lucid Effect, after the duo migrated to yet another home, this time to Project: Mooncircle. The latter is not exactly a surprise, since 40 Winks has already contributed a track to The Heart On The Right Spot compilation (Project: Mooncircle, 2007) where they were showcased among their contemporaries like Mr. Cooper, Lackluster, and Dday One [worth picking up this great collection]. Looks like after thirty releases, this German label will continue to output some quality electronic and instrumental hip-hop material (their latest is a release by CYNE - Starship Utopia). The Lucid Effect continues to explore the head-bopping experimental sounds that will no doubt appeal to fans of Flying Lotus, Blockhead, Daedelus, Sixtoo, Jel and Malcom Kipe. Super fun with that 70's feel, turntablism and all. I only wish that more places in the world played this kind of music in the background (like dentists and government agencies), to take the edge off that unnecessary stress we're so programmed to cope with. I would also love to see 40 Winks branch out to using arranged loops by live bands - even if they don't play any instruments themselves.



myspace.com/40winks | 40winksmusic.com
myspace.com/projectmooncircle | projectmooncircle.com

Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir (Warp)

With his twelfth album, Tom Jenkinson takes even a further departure from his staple Squarepuher sound of broken beats atop slapped bass and twisted triggers of the Amen Break. Warp's own store, Warpmart, categorizes the album as "Drum and Bass / Breakcore / Electronica", but I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth! (kind of misleading actually). Just A Souvenir is more in the realms of experimental rock and future jazz, with a touch of electronic treatment and a few very tasteful drills, where Jenkinson continues evolving (as a true musician should) in his experimentation with abstract accompaniment of acoustic instruments (mostly his custom built 6 string bass guitar once again) and drums that effortlessly morph between organic and digital. With Just A Souvenir, Jenkinson introduces an element of early garage rock, with vocoder and all, and reminds us once again of his amazing instrumentalist skills. First thing's first - I like it! And after only a few listens, the melodies come back haunting me later during the day. A true sign that I will return to the album! Just A Souvenir opens up with a track titled, Star Time 2 (makes you wonder about its first part) with a fun funky synth/clavichord melody and light beats. From then on Squarepusher moves into improvisational, jazzy, and effected bass slaps over barely comprehensible vocoder blurbs. All of it is truly of psychedelic nature with sparking notes in a kaleidoscope of white, red, green, blue and yellow. On his site, Jenkinson explains that "this album started as a daydream about watching a crazy, beautiful rock band play an ultra-gig." He then goes on describing his fluorescent trip which included an Eskimo on the drums and a classical guitar player that could speed up and slow down the time in his vicinity. I recommend you read up on on Tom's blurred delirium before embarking on this trip. Then bathe yourself in this album which is the interpretation of Jenkinson's memory of the daydream which he held on to as a souvenir. Running at (only) 45 minutes long, Just A Souvenir picks up where Hello Everything left off, becoming more organic with every track. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you'll enjoy this rubber band trip through time. Only the way Squarepusher could. Just A Souvenir hits the streets on October 27th (2008), and is currently available as a digital download (in FLAC as well) from bleep dot com.



myspace.com/akais5000 | squarepusher.net
myspace.com/warprecords | warprecords.com
warpmart.com | bleep.com

The Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination - I Was Young And I Needed The Money (Ninja Tune)

Squarepusher recently announced a new upcoming album, titled Just A Souvenir (out on Warp on October 27th, of 2008 - and already available via digital download on bleep). But on my first preview of the album, Tom Jenkinson seems to drift even further away from his original innovative broken beats and drill'n'bass, so dominated by the late 90s. Personally, I always applaud the efforts of an evolving artist, and Squarepusher deserves a whole separate hailing review (coming up next). But being nostalgic for that jazzy breaky genre, I dust off a copy of an overlooked album by Florian Schmitt, which cries out to be back in my rotations. Schmitt recorded only a single album for Ninja Tune back in 1998 under the lengthy pseudonym, The Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination. He also did a bunch of remixes later under Clifford Gilberto and his real name. But that was a decade ago, and since then, he's been pretty quiet. Nevertheless, the sound of his debut album, I Was Young And I Needed The Money, is fresh and upbeat, after all these years. I did not begin this write up with Jenkinson incidentally, though. Fans of Squarepusher, Amon Tobin, Cinematic Orchestra, µ-Ziq, and The Flashbulb will be absolutely delighted to hear the Schmitt's tracks for the first time, if they somehow missed the album when it first hit the streets. The sound fluctuates between melodic drum'n'bass (closer to a drilling jungle though, then a straight beat) and a jazzy trip-hoppy rhythms with Latin-flavored samples. The Gilberto reference in Schmitt's alias reveals his Brazilian jazz influence... maybe... His biography on Ninja Tune's site claims that he's "the unknown lovechild of Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz", but Schmitt brings to the table much more than the musical genius of aforementioned influential bossa nova artists. Guaranteed to liven up your mood and get you to bop your head. And seriously, if you haven't heard this one, get it! Too many favorite tracks on that one to list.



ninjatune.net/gilberto | ninjatune.net

Silences Sumire - Return Is Selective (Ropeadope Digital)

Silences Sumire sounds as if Arovane remixed the live improvisation of Miles Davis, laying on his glitchy swishing drum patterns over electro-acoustic treatments of jazzy instrumentation. Hailing from Chicago, the group consisting of Thomas Faulds (Mercury Effect) and Charles Gorczynski (Colorlist, Leaves) compose a blend of light, electronic, and digitally crunchy percussion over woodwinds (alto sax) and female vocals. The sound of Silences Sumire is a abstract and modal, featuring extemporaneous saxophone overtones, voicing and glissando, with a continuous playful DSP effects of sample chopping, filtering, and bit-crushing. Chicago has a complex music scene that spans across genres like contemporary classical, rock, hip-hop, blues, jazz, and electronic. The duo skillfully merges the latter two, belonging [perhaps] on John Hughes' (Slicker) famous Hefty Records (with acts like Savath & Savalas, Eliot Lipp, Beneath Autumn Sky and Telefon Tel Aviv). I could even see this track appearing on Compost Records Future Sounds Of Jazz compilation series. Instead [and probably for the better], Return Is Selective is released on Ropeadope Digital label following a couple of EPs from Silences Sumire on Chicago local ears&eyes collective. Recommended for the jazzy glitchy fiends, and for fans of the above mentioned artists.



myspace.com/silencessumire | silencessumire.com
myspace.com/ropeadopedigital | ropeadope.com

The Drift - Memory Drawings (Temporary Residence Ltd.)

It's almost half way through the year, and suddenly I realize that I haven't listened to any post-rock released in 2008. So, I hit up one of my favorite labels, Temporary Residence Limited, a Brooklyn based source of great artists like Eluvium, Explosions In The Sky, Tarentel, Grails, and of course, Mono... and what's this? A new album from The Drift, that somehow slipped past me. The Drift is a four-piece instrumental band from San Francisco, originally created as a Lazarus and Tarentel side project, which by now evolved into a strong group of its own. Memory Drawings is The Drift's second full length release, following on the heels of an album compiling their previous three EPs, Ceiling Sky, released in November of 2007. Danny Grody from Tarentel literally synergies with the amazing trumpet work by Jeff Jacobs [the first time I heard trumpet blending perfectly with post-rock was on The Pirate Ship Quintet's self titled EP]. The drums and the upright bass more than compliment the intricate phrases and melodies which were recorded directly onto analog tape. The jazz influences are lurking just behind the curtains of the post-rock driven motif, and the tracks on Memory Drawings do not tire out the listener with any previously used and abused formula. Each piece on an album tells its very own story - changing rhythms, tempo, dynamics, and the tone as it evolves into a little cinematic fragment of memory, never forgotten since never was drawn. Yet another step forward for post-rock. Recommended if you enjoy Tortoise, Do Make Say Think and early Tarentel.

myspace.com/trldrift | thedriftmusic.com
temporaryresidence.com

Cujo - Adventures In Foam (Ninja Tune)

Before Amon Adonai Santos de Aravjo Tobin shortened his name to simply Amon Tobin, he released his debut album under Cujo alias (indeed borrowed from a Stephen King novel), on a small south London label, Ninebar Records. Soon after, Ninja Tune noticed the Brazilian born artist, and signed him in 1997 for his critically acclaimed Bricolage. The rest, as we say, is history. Covering Tobin's bio and discography is a lengthy task, so I'll leave the research up to you [and shame on you if don't know the artist already]. In 2002, Adventures In Foam was re-released on Ninja Tune, this time as a double CD, containing previously unreleased material. Here's a statement from the label: "[The] fact remains that "Adventures In Foam" was a really good record, one that deserved to be heard, so when Ninja were offered an opportunity to re-release it, they jumped at the chance. Not least, because a rather unscrupulous company in the States have been circulating a version of the record with a changed tracklist, different (and unapproved) cover art and mis-titled tracks". So this should settle it once and for all. If you first fell in love with Amon Tobin after hearing his Bricolage, full of jazz infused, Latin influenced downtempo and drum'n'bass breaks and broken beats, then you'll definitely enjoy another round of Tobin's signature sampling techniques. You'll even smile after recognizing familiar sounds and beats, later reused in his subsequent albums. Definitely still enjoyable after all these years, as a first or repeated listen. A must for collectors. Artist cloud includes DJ Food, Funki Porcini, Bonobo, Wagon Christ and The Herbaliser. Favorite unreleased track: The Brazilianaire.

myspace.com/tobinamon | amontobin.com
ninjatune.net

Manic - 1986 (Summer Rain Recordings)

Summer Rain Recordings is a digital net label that has already released over 30 EPs from independent artists, covering everything from IDM, glitch, and breaks to trip-hop, downtempo, ambient, and jazz. The label itself has another honorable mission: every signed artist donates a portion of his royalties to NextAid (nextaid.org) or a charity of their choice, to be matched by a donation from the label's profits. So with every purchase, you and the music you support, make a difference in the world. Manic's debut is the fifth Summer Rain release. The four track 1986 EP is a light, breezy, and upbeat stroll. The very first track, Spring, had me bopping my head with the hip-hop beat, as I walked along the street with blooming flowers, and I smiled at the synchronicity of track's title. The jazzy percussion and the hard-cut-off, lo-fi, and looped MPC sound remind me of the early, crate-digging, sample-based works by Amon Tobin, DJ Shadow and DJ Krush. And those are all the great things. When Manic takes it down a notch, and the beats recede into a lounge-like smokey downtempo with melodic piano chords, I can not help by think of Dictaphone. It is also worthy of mention that this San Francisco based artist works for Beatz, "a non-profit organization that teaches inner city and disadvantaged youth how to dj and make music using turntables and samplers". Really enjoyed the entire EP. Jump to the label's site, and grab yours from the many supporting outlets.

myspace.com/samplebasedmusic | myspace.com/beatznpo
myspace.com/summerrainrecordings | summerrainrecordings.net

Armen Nalbandian Trio - Manchester Born (Blacksmith Brother Music)

Armen Nalbandian has recently turned 30. The career of this improvisational and experimental jazz musician spans over a decade of over 600 original compositions and performances. Born in Manchester, England, Armen has dedicated his life to music, recently rising to the position of Musical Director of California's Fresno Art Museum. A protégé of jazz legend John Hicks, Armen has experience playing with members of the Classic Coltrane Quartet, Ornette Coleman Quartet and Charles Mingus' ensemble. For Manchester Born, Armen comfortably settles behind Fender Rhodes, while Kevin Hill joins him on the upright bass and Brian Hamada on the drums (I just love his brushed ride cymbals). The collection of ten tracks is upbeat and light, transforming musicians' inner moods into gliding fingers, plucked strings, and gentle taps. This child of contemporary jazz skillfully folds the familiar influences into an interpretation curated for a modern ear. The playful and organic sound instantly reminds me of the limitless possibilities that can be achieved with just three instruments, leaving me afterward humming my own improvisations to the rhythm buried in my mind. Armen's latest solo album, Young Kings Get Their Heads Cut Off, is an abstract and experimental improvisation for prepared Fender Rhodes, full of distorted reverb, controlled delays, noisy feedback and altered hammers for a unique percussion, all recorded live with no post-production - John Cage would have been proud.

armennalbandian.com | myspace.com/armennalbandian

Animals On Wheels - Nuvol I Cadira (Ntone)

Another album that keeps popping up on my rotations is the last release by Animals On Wheels, Nuvol I Cadira, released on Ninja Tune’s sub-label Ntone (originally named Ninja Tone). Animals On Wheels is a solo project of Andrew Coleman, whose last album, Tony Alva’s Hair appeared on Cocosolidciti Records in 2005. Nuvol I Cadira, on the other hand is almost ten years old now. Yet, if this is your first listen, I promise you a collection of light, jazzy, and refreshing beats. Falling somewhere during the prominent years of output from Amon Tobin, Prefuse 73, and Squarepusher, Nuvol I Cadira (translated from Spanish to "Cloud and Chair" and named after a sculpture in Barcelona), is a trip through chilled out organic downtempo with an occasional broken jungle beat. Recently, however, Coleman has been tinkering with some robot sci-fi, "crumpet nibbling", electronic hip-hop, in collaboration with Mike King under a project which he calls Robots With Hearts. In 2008 we can also look forward to Coleman’s soundtrack work for a video art project by Patrick Doan, Openland. The DVD release will include a separate audio CD featuring Coleman’s work as inspired by this collaboration, distinct from the soundtrack. Recommended if you like Funki Porcini, DJ Food, Coldcut, Blockhead, DJ Krush and Bonobo. Favorite track: A Plus Tard.

myspace.com/animalsonwheels | animalsonwheels.co.uk
myspace.com/ninjatune | ninjatune.net

Morning Recordings - The Welcome Kinetic (Loose Thread)

Morning Recordings is a brainchild of a Chicago based Pramod Tummala, and The Welcome Kinetic is his second full length on Loose Thread Recordings. The album is sprinkled with many guest appearances and musical collaborations, most notable among them is the voice of Drag City's Edith Frost, essentially comprising of a collective of friends. Tummala himself is easily comfortable on guitar, piano and the harmonium on this laid back classic soul, future jazz, and fusion album with elements of Tortoise-like staple vibraphone post-rock sound. The breathy playful vocals remind me a bit of Psapp and Portishead, while the lo-fi treatments and analog tape manipulation is reminiscent of Boards of Canada and Dictaphone. The album effortlessly loops and folds over itself, mostly in major harmonic scale, and serves as excellent background music, while you stare at the clock, watching the hands tick away the stubborn minutes left at work. Many tracks are already stuck in my head. Be sure to pick up a previous album, Music For Places, which features the lovely voice of Lindsay Anderson (think Telefon Tel Aviv's Sound In a Dark Room). Favorite Tracks: Sugar Waltz, The Welcome Kinetic, and Songs From A Hotel Bar.

myspace.com/morningrecordings | morningrecordings.com
myspace.com/loosethreadinc | loosethread.com

Tom Burbank - Famous First Words (Planet Mu)

It's about time I got my hands on this instant keeper from one of my favorite labels, Planet Mu. Part glitchy IDM, part instrumental trip hoppy beats, part experimental jazzy downtempo, Burbank's got my head bopping with every track, reminiscent of productions by Prefuse 73, edIT, RJD2, and Nautilis. The more I listen, the more the melodies implant themselves into my mind - and after half a dozen rotations, I am humming along with the sampled, scratched and processed vocals. Not much is known or written about Burbank, except the fact that he's from LA and has been a DJ member of BrokenBeat network within the West Coast scene. If the former mentioned artists have evolved and progressed onto their "next thang", while you're left helpless still craving more of "that sound", Famous First Words is almost guaranteed to fill in the void. If you accidentally missed this album from 2006, be sure to catch up and grab it - I'll forgive you. Favorite tracks: Gnats, Tha Chop, Cracked, and Juno Rhapsody.

myspace.com/tomburbank