News & reviews
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The weekly round-up of what is new and exciting here at Norman Towers. (Wanna see previous weekly reviews?)
This week's reviews
12 Mar 2010
News
Yo Folks. It's been another crazy week at the towers as we've endured dreadful lighting (another of the ancient strip lights has gone) and a robbery!!....but we're OK thankfully. We should have new lights sorted next week! Not that you lot care like...There's been some tastiness in this week in the shape of.... Three brilliant releases on Line/12k from Alva Noto, Lovesliescrushing and Pjusk (All highly recommended). Two new Ashtray Navigations albums, full lengths from Breakage, Balmorhea, Burning Star Core Vinyl on No Quarter, Ridiculous White Stripes box set, Nurse With Wound's Space Music album finally on vinyl! Delphic seven incher, Eluvium CD on Temporary Residence, Excepter 2CD on Paw Tracks, Jasper TX 2CD set on Under The Spire, Excellent Fabio Orsi CD on Slow Flow Rec. Dubstep action from Geiom, James Blake on Hessle Audio. HORRIFFIC CHILD wax on Finders Keepers. Some Sun Ra vinyl reissues... Basically shitloads of stuff as usual... Go sell a kidney, or the kids. Happy hunting! Ant x
PS!! An important one this! The new site is finally going live tonight!! The current site will switch off at 7pm (UK time) and the new one should appear within the hour. A massive thanks to those who volunteered to test it all off. Your feedback has been very helpful indeed!! Possibly expect some weirdness tonight!! You'll have to order slightly diferently to how you did before but you'll get used to it in no time! The main thing being we're not storing any card info online or offline anymore (for safety reasons) so you'll need to put your info in everytime. We've added various features to make that as smooth and as painless as possible. If you open an account the site will save all of your info aside from your big long card number so that will make it reasonably painless! Also you'll have a wishlist if you open an account which will help quite a few of you out judging by the feedback we get back for wishlists!! if you do spot any problems with the new site please let us know asap so we can try and recitify it asap!! There's still a few tweaks to do do on it but we wanted to get it up asap and Nathon wants his life back. Phil x
Album of the week
Alva Noto - For 2 (CD on Line)
Carsten Nicolai is an artist whose work I always await with high expectations. His approach to creating audio is both artistic and scientific, this also applies to his visual output. Over the years he's amassed an impressive catalogue in both fields, yet is probably best known for his work as Alva Noto and collaborations with Ryuchi Sakamoto.
I have a huge amount of admiration and respect for what this man does and his CD's and LP's have pride of place in my collection... So it was with great excitement that I really got stuck into the 'For 2' CD which follows four years after the release of 'For'. both on Taylor Deupree's 12k sub-label Line. This really is a fantastic and diverse selection of tracks compiled from various projects.
As the term 'For' suggests each has a dedication to a particular person and their creative output. So in this case for Marta Feuchtwagner, Heiner Muller, Andrei Tarkovski, Dieter Rams, Phill Niblock, Evgeny Murzin and even "A Garment" (inspired by a translucent textile!) and the fictional kingdom of Elgaland-Vargaland.
What I find to be particularly satisfying about the collection is that it displays many sides of his productions. From the pure rhythmical machine sounds, the crystalline and precise pin-prick electronic sparks, shimmering tones through to field recordings and orchestral string snatches…. But above all just how moving his sounds can be.
Nicolai has carved out a sound all his own and his attention to detail is astounding (Watch the utp_ DVD for further evidence) and usually lost on first listen. As with many of his releases repeated listens reveal layers previously unheard.
'Argonaut' is a hugely evocative piece of slightly melancholy electronic music with bleepy tones that in some ways recall 'Artificial Intelligence' era Warp Records.
'Stalker' (for film maker Tarkovskyi) is a much darker sonic entity that is a little reminiscent of very late period Coil. The spoken word female vocal adds an extra level of mystery to the track and works brilliantly.
'Sonolumi' has a rhythmic bleep that makes me imagine a life support machine or a space probe while ghostly electronic pulses hover around a heavenly, gently evolving ambient synth. 't3' recalls the rhythmic precision of the "Trans" trilogy, again a fine use of bleeps and pulses with lush dissolving textures a little like the 'Xerox' material. This one builds super nice until the low end finally arrives and then I really am in sonic heaven.
If you've read this far then you are more than likely getting bored of my words and eager to listen, so if the above appeals then just grab this CD and spend some time with it as this really is an awesome showcase of Alva Noto's many sides. If you're unfamiliar with Alva Noto then this CD is a great place to begin discovering someone working in electronic music that I genuinely feel is possessed by genius. The closing piece 'Argonaut-Version' elaborates on the previous version with moving keys that evoke the spiritually uplifting vibes of Terry Riley, coupled with heart-wrenching strings that just blow me away. A magnificent listen throughout the entire duration of the disc. 'For 2' gets a massive recommendation. - Ant (who did this at home bless him) x
Single of the week
Soft Circle - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever 6 (7" on Geographic North)
Geographic North have picked a sure fire winner in Hisham Akira Bharoocha's Soft Circle. Formally a member of Black Dice and now accompanied by Ben Singer of Signer, Bird Show, Town and Country, Bharoocha has creating some awesome music in his time. Soft Circle have taken the electronic tribalism of their PPM split with High Places and expanded on the theme with 'End of Summer' using hypnotic vocal chants and an onslaught of polyrhythmic drums to great effect. 'Climb High' gives of a crazed electro kraut rock vibe with it's mutant synth lines and wild vocal chants. Less focused than the a-side, it comes of sounding like an improv jam which ain't no bad thing. - Business Lady xx
Reviews
Don't worry lads Business Lady is busy wrecking the site....
Pantha Du Prince - Stick To My Side (12" on Rough Trade)
Stick to my Side is a total tune and one of the highlights of Pantha Du Prince's Black Noise LP thanks to an excellent vocal line from Noah Lennox of Animal Collective. Here we get three mixes as well as the original tune (which sounds as good as it did on the LP so i won't go on about it here). The Efdemin mix applies a little of the Four Tet formula to emote a naturalist techno feel from the original. Noah's vocal drifts around a mix of solid bass beats and some tasteful use of chimes and bells. Kieran Hebden's effort sounds less like Four Tet than the Efdemin mix (?) but it's easily the best of the tracks here. Drums are treated with some crazy phase and wild arpeggios are added creating a lively, danceable mix making great use of the vocal. Not sure who Lawrence is (sorry Lawrence) but his version strips the track down to the fundamentals and introduces hand claps and minimalist vibes to great effect. All in all these are some tasteful mixes well worth pursuing and a testament to Pantha Du Prince's original source material. Ace.
Prinzenallee - Don't Let Nerds Take Over Your Life (10" on Endemik)
Prinzenallee is bleubird (vocals/noise) and Jayrope (music) who make a mutated form of hip hop using industrial and experimental elements to give the tunes an otherworldly feel. Bleubird is a Florida born rapper with a poetic style and Berlin based Jayrope enjoys experimenting with ideas and appears to have some history related to the Digital Hardcore label and Atari Teenage Riot. Things kick of with the beatsy industrial rap rock title track but soon settle into a laid back vibe with looser rhymes, cheeky production and some crazy use of samples. All sorts of angles are covered here and the playful, colourful nature of OutKask's music comes to mind when trying to find a comparison. Intriguing back packer style nerdy hip hop that takes in pop, rock, electronic and industrial influences...what more could you ask for? Comes on white and teal specked vinyl with a free download code. That'll do it.
The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights (DVD+CD/LP/Special Edition Box Set on XL)
Bit of a tricky one to review as i haven't seen the movie that accompanies this release. From what i can gather from the press release 'Under Great White Northern Lights' documents The White Strips first full length tour of Canada and includes footage of the group playing venues large and small, conventional and unconventional. The CD companion piece features 16 tracks taken from various gigs of the tour. Though focused on the 'Icky Thump' material it also touches on elements of their entire back catalogue. The recordings are lively as hell with the band sounding increasingly more rocking with each new track and the crowds motivating the band with their insane screams...it's like a beatles gig or something. Anyway, not the big White Stripes fan so i'm not the best person to judge but this is some bad ass live material recorded in a no frills, spontaneous way and lively way. I'm sure the accompanying film will be just and raw and telling. Available in various formats, notably a deluxe version that includes the DVD/CD, double LP, a live DVD of their 10th anniversary show, a limited coloured 7" plus a hardcover book of photographs shot by Autumn de Wilde with a foreword by Jim Jarmusch and a silk-screened print (chosen at random from a selection of six designs) by Rob Jones. That's a lot of stuff ain't it.
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms (LP on Lefse Records)
Bit of a buzz surrounding this release especially in Pitchfork camp and on first spin i can see why. 'Psychic Chasms' is a totally sweet sounding album that perfectly encompasses the feeling of anticipation for a summer of love and laughter (something we won't get much of here at club Norman). The strange thing about this album is that every tune seems to utilise the same synth sounds used of Wham's classic christmas single 'Last Christmas'. This is no bad thing in my book as the mutated, phased into oblivion recording style is totally appealing in a funky Washed Out-esque disco kinda way. I love the arpegiated synths, tough disco beats and wild production that makes Neon Indian sound like the house band at a real Enchantment Under The Sea dance..like under water and everything. Singles 'AM' and 'Terminally Chill' can be heard online or at Pitchfork, i urge you to check it out cause this stuff needs to be heard to be appreciated. Hypnogogic disco pop is probably the best description i can come with at the moment. Totally ace would be a better one.
Weyes Bluhd - Shattered mirror/Liquid Castle (7" on Memoirs Of An Aesthete)
Man this is some crazy ass muthafuckin' shit yo! Weyes Bluhd is the work of Philadelphia born Natalie Mering who creates mind bending improv compositions using home made/obscure instruments and vocals. I think she's done a little time in Jackie O' Motherfucker and Axolotl so she's no stranger to the age old skill of making a crazy racket. Shattered mirror and Liquid Castle are both fine examples of 4-track home recording at it's most extreme. Behind layers of mutant percussive noise an feedback the fundamentals of a hybrid form of pagan folk can be made out in the distance. Difficult to put into words, i urge you to check this out for yourself.
Antelope
Kumisolo - My Love For You Is A Cheap Pop Song (CD on Flau)
This CD is good fun, it's really happy sounding Japanese electro-pop. It's super playful with lots of friendly melodies and very nicely produced. Many of the sounds remind me of video games and her voice is charming. Dave has just come over and declared that he's liking this. It's so cheerful and has a wonderful childlike innocence. It's fine quality pure pop music that makes me think of cute anime characters and things like pokemon. There is also a cover of The Waitresses' 'I Know What Boys Like'. A bit of a departure for the Flau label but a refreshing one. I also like some of the more emotional ballads on here. Super cute!
Fabio Orsi - Winterreise (CD on Slow Flow Rec)
Fabio Orsi has been steadily building his catalogue with releases on Students of Decay, Foxglove, Sentient Recognition Archive, A Silent Place, Students Of Decay, Low Point and Preservation. He makes his debut this week on Japan's Slow Flow Rec following excellent releases from Celer and Ian Hawgood. The audio comes in six parts and it's really doing the business for me. It's ultra soothing ambient/ drone of very high quality that just gets you in that zone. He composes on guitar effects and old keyboards and creates a stirring and emotive sonic landscape. I think I've probably exhausted my vocabulary in terms of writing about this style so I'll spare the adjectives and give this a very high recommendation. Lovely stuff.
Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss (CD on Dial)
Riding the current wave of Pantha Du Prince's successful Rough trade long player, Dial have reissued his second album on CD. It was originally issued in 2007 but feels a lot like his recent work in terms of pristine production and all the percussive layers. Generally speaking though the overall vibe is a little darker. From what I've read Hendrik Weber is quite conceptual with his ideas. Here even using small samples from Popul Vuh's soundtrack to a Werner Herzog movie. There's probably too much going on here to really call this minimal techno but certainly fans of Kompakt's techy house stuff should give this a whirl. I usually like this sort of stuff a little rawer sounding but in this case I quite like the polished sound.
Burnt Island - Music And Maths (CD on Chaffinch)
Here is a 6 track EP/ mini-album of high quality singer songwriter/ folk, that is very well written. Some sweet and honest little tunes on here that are both evocative and stirring. This chap Rodge Glass has a comforting vocal and I particularly like the viola and flute appearances. Fans of the scottish new folk scene/ Chemikal Underground/ The Fence label etc. should check it out. Heartwarming stuff.
Ashtray Navigations - The Beak Stuck Out Of The Snow (CD on Memoirs Of An Aesthete)
Time for some proper cosmic psychedelic spuzzle from Phil Todd. Immediately this doesn't feel as rough around the edges as I was expecting. The synths sound super icy and crystal like, most likely a refection of the bloody harsh winter weather experienced around the time of recording. This certainly feels like a more personal/ soulful album than many previous releases. Generally it's really chilled until we reach 'You'd Look Good As A 5 Pound Note' which really goes for it with a super crunchy drum machine rhythm and huge swirls of guitar and effects. Digipak with cool artwork.
Jasper TX - A Voice From Dead Radio (2CD on Under The Spire)
Dag Rosenquist fans will be pleased that Under The Spire have collected the limited long out of print 3” CD-r’s. Harrisburg, D+A EP and Pilgrims and presented them in a lovely six panel digipak complete with a remix Cd with a super stellar line-up of remixers: Pillowdiver, Zelienople, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Xela, Peter Broderick, Simon Scott, Steinbruchel, Aaron Martin, Alex Cobb and Seaworthy. It's numbered and limited to 300 copies and as you'd expect the music is lush. This is gonna fly out so get in quick! Mastered by Ian Hawgood too.
Brian Blurted
Excepter - Presidence (2xCD Set on Paw Trax)
Yo yo and not forgetting little yo down there. This next recording has us in fits of fascination. It's by Brooklyn tribal psychonauts Excepter and is a double disc blow out that commences with bent, sluggish synths & monged beatery. Onwards I march, my ears being subjected to some wonderful komische tropicalia action, digital fireflies fizz into my oversaturated shell-likes whilst gibbering digital druids moan at me from the shadows. If you crave a seriously tripped-out saunter through the crooked imaginations of these NY deviants then I suggest this is probably the most focused & impressive work of theirs yet. There's a few similarities to the more out-there work by GGD & Rainbow Arabia but this is generally a great deal murkier, drowsy & fucked-up with the lurking suggestion of 90's chill out being fed heavy psychedelic tranquilisers at an avant-garde installation. Brilliant gear! A serious head-trip to embark on before the phased retro-electro syth strides of the second installment have my mind panning from left to right in search of something unidentifiable. More muddied cosmic action arrives in good time, blending astral synth wibbling with impenetrable dialogue snippets and intriguing effects. The tracks here are longer than on disc one, I especially like the barnstorming repetitious 'n' beatless electronica bleeping & pulsing before some beautiful keys wander into the equation - A nice contrast to the cement mixer scraping sound that forms the percussive backdrop. Imaginative stuff!!
Gutta Percha - Tube Overtures (CD in Balsa Wood box thru Thelandof)
Joy...more cyclic, hollow scraping making the inside of my head go funny. The first track on here has that rolling industrial ambience thing happening with heart wrenchingly sad bursts of cold, melancholic synth. This CD also features some of that post-Caretaker blues; hazy, muffled evocations from another dimension parading themselves as weirdly fluffy hauntological snippets . Apparently the core aim of this project by two brothers from Illinois was to showcase some pocket trumpet interpretations of TV themes. Obviously realising the curious, almost alien sonic landscape that was revealed after messing around with voicemail messaging facilities, they've extended this project into spacious textural realms incorporating plenty of eerie ambient drone moods. I like the way one "movement" is dressed up with creepy disembodied vocal gurning and then later there's some thoroughly epic cinematic soundsapery to contend with! Quite an impressive journey
Ashtray Navigations - Dirt Mummies and Bloody Amps And Blood Mummies and Dirty Amps (Digipak CD on Memoirs of An Aesthete)
Ashtray Navigations is Phil Todd and guest cohorts. He's from round these parts (West Yorkshire) and is rapidly becoming synonymous with brilliantly epic, sludgy soundscapes & vast psychedelic noise sculpting. This catchily titled CD on his own DIY imprint is as caustic as the furthest reaches of the Astral Social Club or the ricocheting sonic feedback overload of Skullflower. Quite how he manages to layer this filthy, ascending distortion with such absorbing detail i'll never know yet the first number relentlessly evolves into a shitstorm of feedback whilst a lunatic UFO comes in half way attempting to suck the sonic cloud up, churning madly in its frantic determination! Sympathetic is the key and my ears are treated to some excellent analogue Komische action that has raw feedback tendrils trailing from its old-skool underbelly. 6 tracks in all, showcasing a rough, rugged & tantalising imagination from this region.
Pjusk - Sval (Digipak CD on 12k)
Phil has put some neo-goth nonsense on the stereo so I've decamped to headphone heaven to peruse the contents of this here CD on 12k. Pjusk is a Norwegian duo specialising in brittle, arctic glitchscapes & frosty dark ambient moods. I can sense a comradeship with the old guard such as Biosphere in these deep isolatory tones, manipulated found-sound, sporadic minimal beats/pulses and vast, brooding synth lines. Early 00s Russian electronica carried some similar eerie sensibilities & interesting micro-rhythms but this is definitely a Stately & Scandinavian kind of magic we're dealing with here. Foreboding yet oddly comforting, this 12 tracker carries the sound of icy crevices, isolation & the purity of nature; some beautifully deep & aquatically themed sound worlds are realised on 'Sval', a real treat for true fans of Nordic ambience!!
The Bundles - The Bundles (CD/LP on K recs)
Originally stemming from a brief Jeffrey Lewis & Kimya Dawson jam session in 2001, this project has blossomed almost a decade later to encompass his bro Jack, Karl Blau & Anders Griffen, not to mention the Olympia Free Choir somewhere on backing vox! I was a little nonplussed at first but this S/T album has many dimensions & a hell of a lot of charm. Kimya's sassy childlike voice melded with Jeff's nerdy brogue make for a marriage in heaven for fans of NY indie royalty! Some of the tunes have that ramshackle lo-fi Beat Happening edge, others sound like a quality Lewis brothers outtake (such as the frisky, rattly rush of 'Pirates Declare War'). I think certain elements of the alt. rock media were expecting some genre smashing behemoth of a record here. I think the simplicity & ease of these songs is quite enough. Whilst some numbers initially sound like weak links, the quality & fun nature rubs off on second-third listen and you're truly hooked. Take for instance the strummy, groovy free-rock of 'Shamrock Glamrock': it sounds like NY legends The Lapse performing a classic mid-period Fall tune and then later on 'In the Beginning glides into view as an atmospheric shambler with ghostly searching keyboard and tender twin-pronged vocals....I'm falling for this album already. I hope it touches your heart the way it's affecting mine!
Eluvium - Similes (CD on Temporary Residence)
Think we struggle here to fully appreciate some of our wares whilst the chaos of daily human traffic & general Norman Records mayhem shifts our consciences elsewhere, away from the subtleties & nuances of the gentler sounds emitting from the stereo. I couldn't even remember the new Eluvium CD yesterday. Had my head in boxes all day, my mind on the job, firmly on the prize. Which turned out to be a small ball of sticky tape & a papercut or two. Now I have this 'Similies' CD piping its way through the twin hot-wires of our posh studio headphones that don't appear to have fallen, broken, from a particularly dire episode of Quantum Leap at all. And it is fucking glorious. He's started singing a bit now too. He sounds like Interpol's Paul Banks, a little, or Wes from Cold Cave. The music is still formed around the ominous nucleus of his piano but now includes (variably) some delicious whirring electronics, understated percussion, drone and reverb. It's a fuller sound, a brave move & it truly fleshes out his vision. Grand melancholia that occasionally reminds me of Her Space Holiday loafing around in a dusty attic with Brian Eno. For those obsessed with just his fondling of ivories, this may take some time, but believe me, this is a recording rich in detail, focus & ideas. Usual sumptuous packaging too!
Balmorhea - Constellations (CD/LP on Western Vinyl)
Is Balmorhea a sudden, urgent shifting in the bowels when visiting the country home of our gracious Queen? Like, OMG does she have gold leaf bog roll or what? What if I use a full roll? Will I get billed? What if the bailiffs come round and kick my door in? Just because I've had a dump on Lizzie's throne!!! Worries aside for now as I investigate the REAL Balmorhea. This neo-classical/experimental folk outfit has a new album out and from the word go i'm being serenaded by gorgeous swooping strings, transcendental mandolin plucking, primal percussion and acoustic guitar. This is atmospheric, celebratory chamber-folk of the most impressive kind. Later pieces involve much rolling, portentous piano grazing. I wonder if they practice at night in some old Abbey ruins. They sound like a truly organic group, merging some sombre moods with moments of tender joy. I like them, i'm sorry I made fun out of their name. But not that sorry to remove it from my review....
The XX - Island (4 track remix 12" on XL)
It was inevitable The XX would eventually succumb to the Dubstep treatment on one of their classy remix twelves. I'm unsure what to make of the Untold re-rub of 'Islands'. I can tell it's good but i'm still thrown by the arrangement. The cool, morphing sub-bass textures and clip-clop beat are entwined with vocal snippets from the original which just glide in and out of this rather unusual piece of progressive electronica. It ain't a Ministry of Hounds floor destroyer for sure. More of interest possibly is an elegant & atmospheric version by legendary 80's Scots pop classicists The Blue Nile. A total contrast to the contemporary maneuvers of Untold, this is a sumptuous & beautiful re-jig that is only let down by its relative briefness! Further investigation on the second side reveals Nosaj's mix to be a meditative & cerebral treat which retains the songs harmony & feel, merely giving it a sublime 3AM post-club makeover. The last version by Delorean is quite new-agey but still lovingly executed. Nothing cringeworthy here, they've chosen their remix army instinctively & knowingly! Noice!!
Philippa Forrester
Plinth - Albatross (CD on Deadslackstring)
Yo... we got a bunch of CD's in on the Deadslackstring label from Ireland this week. I think some of 'em we've had before but I was intrigued by this Plinth CD mainly cos of the slightly oversized goodness of the sleeve and the haunting old photography adorning the front cover. Inside they've very thoughtfully shoved a bit of velvet behind the CD so you know it's gonna be toasty and warm in those cold winter nights. The music on Albatross would keep you nice and toasty as well I reckon... it's proper late night floaty listening!! Lots of meandering guitars being plucked here and there over some bowed dulcimer, harp and piano. Very tasty indeed.... I'd have to shoe horn the word pastoral in just cos it seems necessary. If you're a fan of the Rusted Rail label's output you'll be quite taken by this album I reckon. It's split into 5 pieces and they all ebb and flow into each other like an ebby flowy thing. Very lovely and atmospheric!!
The Vermin Poets - Poets of England (CD on Damaged Goods... LP to follow!)
It's time for Billy Childish to start a new project! After The Musicians of The British Empire, The Buff Medways, Thee Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars and The(e) Milkshakes here's the Vermin Poets!! 'Poets of england' is the name of their debut opus and although it's not my favorite Billy Childish project it's not without its charms. The press release is spot on for this one..... think 80's Television Personalities and chuck in a bit of The Who. The thing I do like is the vocals.... There's some good vocal melodies in there and the songs do get under your skin. I'm not a fan of this sort of production as I prefer the ballsy sounding Childish gear though I can see how it wouldn't necessarily suit this as it's more psyche pop punk than garage blues. It's making a lot more sense on 2nd listen so maybe I'll give it another spin later as Baby Booming Bastards is a totally sweet piece of pop music! I think the trick for this is to not think of it as a Billy Childish project and come from it at a fresh perspective and you'll warm to it in no time!
Ulrich Schnauss - Missing Deadlines Selected Remixes (CD on Rocket Girl)
The Schnausser is back with a brand new album courtesy of Rocket Girl... Well it's kind of new.... it's a collection of remixes he's done for a ton of like minded shoegazey/ indie bods all packaged into one package called a CD. This one features tracks by Howling Bells, A Sunny Day In Glasgow (weirdly when I listened to this the first time and didn't realise it was remixes I said this sounds just like a Sunny day in Glasgow...), Asobi Seksu, Dragons, Aus, Mahogany, Lunz, Rachel Goswell, Mark Gardener, I'm Not A Gun, Mojave 3 and loads more. It's a strong line up and he's put tracks by all of those artists into his Schnaussinator and made 'em sound triple shoegazey. There's a fine art to making things sound triple shoegazey..... it's fun anyway and it didn't nearly make me feel anywhere as annoyed as I thought it would. In fact I weirdly enjoyed most of it. Fucking turn up for the books or what....
Lovesliescrushing - Crwth Chorus redux (CD on Line)
I've not heard of these folks before. They formed in 1991 and released this album Chorus which was only released in Peru. Apparently Richard Chartier was well into it and he was pretty keen to get his hands on a copy and eventually after a number of conversations with Lovesliescrushing he persuaded them to go back to the original album and re do it. So it's not a remix album... it's a redux. Am I right in thinking the word redux has only been used in the last few years? I'm sure I never heard the word before the Pavement Slanted & Enchanted Redux album.... There's people out there making up words for you to inadvertently use tomorrow without realising.... Anyway the music on here is well lush.... The original album was only made using vocals... the redux version also just uses vocals. You'll listen to it and wonder how they did it as it's possibly one of the most remarkable things I've heard being that it just consists of manipulated voices and processing. It really does sit in somewhere between Seefeel and Fennesz... that's totally spot on... beautiful drifting melodies with some delicate fuzz and occasional heavenly female vocals make it all seem almost spiritual and ethereal. It's just incredible it's all been made with the human voice! Not just that but they've managed to create something as good as this with minimal resources! It's like a lost album which Infraction should have released! Also includes a download code to get the original album a 3 bonus tracks. A steal!
HORRIFIC CHILD- L'ETRANGE MR. WHINSTER LP/CD
Here's another terribly obscure record from Finders Keepers I know absolutely nothing about. It's a Jean Paul Massiera related thing by HORRIFIC CHILD called L'ETRANGE MR. WHINSTER and it's fucking tapped. I've no idea why it needs to be capitalised but I suspect there's some sort of demented reason for it. Recorded in 1976 it's apparently a Schizoid Sonic Sketchbook which features a disturbing mix of Dismembered tape samples, paranoid poetry and cosmic chaos. Make of that what you will but it's pretty accurate. It's a right ole eerie paranoid mess of experimental horror sounding noises and French spoken wierdness. I prefer this a lot to the Midnight Massiera album... it's much darker and wierder. Probably spooky as well... I like a bit of spooky.... I like it when I recognise the odd word word like chateau. It makes me feel like a super clever chap. The cover says it all.... a giant fish head wearing some armour holding a skull surrounded by a bat, a snakes head, a dismembered bleeding finger and some sort of lizard thing. The contents are indeed as surreal as the cover!!
Delphic- Halcyon (7" on Chimeric)
Delphic are the latest shit. That is until the next latest shit comes along and suddenly it's like who are Delphic. What's a Delphic? Don't they hang about with whales and eat sharks or something? Such is the fickle nature of today's youth and pop music. Ant has just described this as Pete Tong indie and he's spot on there. There's some elements in this record which are pretty good... the chorus is pretty catchy and it's super poppy. You will be humming it after one listen whether you like it or not. To me it just seems like a not very good continuation of what Friendly Fires were doing and I never really liked them. I never knew it was Ewan Pearson either... no one ever tells me anything...
Gish/ Perry-I'm Afraid I Ate Too Much Butter As A Youth (CD on Apollolaan Recordings)
I know the feeling. I love butter. I stopped using butter in a bid to try and be healthy and gave up recently as butter is a million times nicer. There's no competition at all... I even tried to kid my self that olive oil spreads tasted better. So stupid...Anyway I think this is a collaboration between both artists through this long 3 track CD. The 1st track is a long drone with some weird whispering and crunching noises which slowly builds but doesn't really do more than that. The 2nd track is my favourite... it starts off an ominous sounding drone before it builds to include some weird spacey sounding electronics and extra fuzzyness. And then you get one more track. I won't go into too much detail though as that would ruin the surprise! Edition of 50 on Apollolaan Recordings in a foly sealed map thingy!
Dave the turntable slave
Woods -I Was Gone (7" on Woodsist)
The latest cut from Woods is a psychedelic romp. Its quite melodic, super lo-fi and wears its DIY credentials on its hand-drawn sleeve. The vocals are falsetto and sit nicely in its scratchy mix. I enjoyed both sides of this single. Side B offers more than the first in my opinion, with its tumbling drums and oblique lyrics. A winner if your a martian....or a vampire.
King Khan & Pat Meteor -The Fiery Tears Of St.Laurent (7" on Sub Pop)
This sounds like "Hey Joe"..Well not quite but its totally walking that well trodden path. Its a swathed in reverb type affai with a kind of down beat feel. It reminds me also of BJM in its production and genereal vibe. Side B is quite different....An alt country sounding track that made me want to don a stetson and steal a horsey...The sleeve is rather fetching too; a hand drawn crayon portrait of the protagonists...on fire! There Is also a download code to get excited about... if that's what wets your whistle.
Motorpsycho-X3 (Knuckleheads in Space )7" on Rune Grammafon
Listening to Motorpsycho taught me a lesson today. Norwegians know how to rock! This might sound naive but I thought bands from that neck of the woods were introverted Noise/Ambient meisters. These chaps seem to know their way round a riff. The title track reminds me of Hawkwind in its groove and production. The vocals are caked in reverb and the song gallops along in a very space rock way. The second track got me fully excited.This track sounds like Ozzy or QOTSA with its complicated time signature and thick production. I think I like these guys and they are welcome to marry my sister...
Paper Planes -The Sway(7" on Say Dirty Records)
These guys are pleasant enough. The vocals are nice.The musicianship's tight. The melodies are catchy. The sleeve's crap. I guess it sounds like Be Your Own Pet. Or maybe Belly. The title tracks got a crappy disco beat, so It should end up on Skins or some yoof programme in the near future. Its not too bad, but I'm not raving, Mary...
Friendly Fires/Holy Ghost (split 12" on DFA)
It's funk time. It's a good time but not my favourite time. That would have to be Hammer Time but never Miller time .This sounds great though. It reminds me of a modern Lalo Schifrin song. It should be used on "Shaft 4 -Grandson of Shaft". The lyrical content is quite interesting, almost exsistential. The second track on the FF's side is instrumental. Holy Ghost have less funk in my opinion but more 80's sheen. It's disarmingly catchy and makes you want to dance like a mad rabbit or a bag of jumping beans. I really enjoyed listening to this 12". The second HG track is also an instrumental, and somehow sounds less 80s. Go figure...RIP The Haimster... you were a massive coke bloater but I enjoyed a lot of your films...
thanks everybody!
teamNORMY x