ghost box - rutual & education

on the turntable:

ghost box (v/a)
ritual and education
no cat. N°

image: ghost box

Excellent sampler from the Ghost Box label only available in download format. Features tracks from all of the bands on the labels' roster; Belbury Poly; The Focus Group; Mount Vernon Arts Lab; etc. etc. (one2zero)




Download / Buy - Ritual and Education from Ghost Box

fennesz - black sea

on the turntable:

fennesz
black sea
TOUCH # TO:76


image: japanese forms


While I'm a bit disappointed with this release ( - I'll probably get to like it more after a few more listens - ) the new Fennesz album is still one of the best discs I've invested in recently. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for those who are not aware of his recordings or haven't heard any of his stuff (-try Endless Summer or Venice-) but I'd say some of the tracks are up to his usual high standard; The Colour of Three and Saffron Revolution being, in my opinion, the standout tracks. You can get a full rundown on the album at the ever-reliable Boomkat site. (one2zero)


Buy Black Sea at: Boomkat / Touch

Download Black Sea :
from Boomkat

nhk - unununium

on the turntable:

nhk
unununium
rn-111


NHK is a collaboration of Kouhei Matsunaga and Toshio Munehiro who have been working together since 2006 when they both lived in Osaka. Kouhei started making music back in 1992 focusing on rather experimental compositions. he has been working with various artists such as Merzbow, Asmus Tietchens, Sean Booth (Autechre) and Pan Sonic’s Mika Vainio. On NHK EP Kouhei and Toshio are turning towards rough digital techno.(© raster_noton)

"If you've been feeling the latest direction of Alva Noto's new Unitxt project or Byetone's recent remix work, and got a good buzz from the Ae album, this is most certainly for you. ULTRA ULTREA HEAVYWEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Boomkat)

Unununium is a available on vinyl only from raster-noton or as a download from Boomkat. (one2zero)

Download Unununium : from Boomkat

kenneth kirschner - filaments & voids

on the turntable:

kenneth kirschner
filaments & voids
12k1050

Buy / Order: 12k


image: japanese forms



A subdued chord, and a subsequent quiet. A hovering drone, followed by a compelling absence of sound. True to its title, Filaments & Voids is comprised predominantly by one or the other: by carefully constructed audio of lingering delicacy or by singular silences of ambiguous depth. Over the course of two discs and nearly two and a half hours of music, composer Kenneth Kirschner focuses the listener’s attention on the silence inherent in his sounds, and the sounds implicit in silence. Like the night sky evoked by the album’s title, the music heard on Filaments & Voids is a broad and dark space inhabited by dispersed and luminous materials. ©12k - (more)

arve henriksen

on the turntable:

arve henriksen
cartography
ECM 2086

Undoubtedly one of the best albums of 2008 from Supersilent mainman, Arve Henriksen. Anyone who appreciates legendary trumpet players; Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Jon Hassell will truly love this album. Magnificent follow-up to Henriksen's previous solo masterpieces,Strjon and Chiaroscuro (Rune Grammofon). Features David Sylvian on two tracks.(one2zero)

image: ecm

A shifting cast of characters, with live sampling man and album co-producer Jan Bang at the centre, provides a series of soundscapes, an ambient-experimental map of moods, for the uniquely liquid, singing trumpet lines of Arve Henriksen to scale and explore. Some tracks are recorded live in concert, others are studio creations. Singer David Sylvian reads his own poetry on two cuts.(© ECM)

For a full review of this album I suggest you check out the excellent, personal miscellany at eleventh volume.

Links: arve henriksen / supersilent / eleventh volume (review) / myspace /

Available from Boomkat

fennesz - safron revolution

on the turntable:

fennesz
saffron revolution
TOUCH # TO:76D

While we patiently wait for the release of the new album from Fennesz (Black Sea), Touch have released a rather tasty sampler from it entitled Saffron Revolution. Only available as a one-track digital download and with the new album not being released for another couple of weeks; Saffron Revolution is a highly recommended download. (one2zero)

image: touch records

Download Saffron Revolution :

from Boomkat or Bleep in the UK
from Thrill Jockey in the US via Fina-Music.

koushik

on the turntable:



koushik
out my window
STH2174


image: japanese forms

I've been listening to Koushik ever since I first heard his "Battle Times" ep on Kieran Hebden's (Four Tet)Text Records way back in 2001. Although I really liked "Be With" (album & ep), as well as all of his other releases (under his own name), this is his best yet.
Hip-hop-based, downbeat 60s psych-pop, indeed! (one2zero)


See here for more reviews, discography, images and more details on Koushik.

Buy / Order: Stones Throw

amplifier machine - her mouth is an outlaw

Available October 2008

amplifier machine
her mouth is an outlaw
12k1049

Buy / Order: 12k




amplifier machine @ myspace


Amplifier Machine began in 2002 with James Dixon (Swordfish, Supagroop, James Dixon) on guitar, Korg & piano, Seth Rees (The Spheres, This Is Your Captain Speaking, I Want A Hovercraft, Seth Rees) on drums, violin, samples, piano & guitar and Alex Jarvis (Automatic, Black Cab, Registered Nurse, Alex Jarvis) on guitar & drums, with the intention of combining their songwriting talents. Something about getting three solo artists together, or maybe something about what rehearsing for so long in a freezing Collingwood warehouse does to the brain, caused the pop-bred members of Amplifier Machine to spiral out into a peculiar music of inquisitive, atmospheric, half-improvised mini-epics. Amplifier Machine is a self-described experiment inanemocratic process and near-improvisation (anemocracy = rule by whim or the wind). Through earnest discussion and endless unending jams, Amplifier Machine came upon The Rule: that when the other two members have settled, it’s your turn to change. ©12k - more)

stereolab - chemical chords

on the turntable:

stereolab
chemical chords
CADD2815CD

Buy / Order: 4AD

Deluxe Edition Card sleeve with booklet and obi.
See here for more details.

image: japanese forms

steinbrüchel - mit ohne

on the turntable:

steinbrüchel
mit ohne
12k2010

Buy / Order: 12k

Limited to 500 copies.
See here for more details.

steinbrüchel website

image: japanese forms

gas - nah und fern

on the turntable:

gas
nah und fern
kompakt (komcd66)

4cd box set of one of the most important bodies of work in contemporary electronic music. Includes most of Wolfgang Voigt's discography under the Gas guise.


image: japanese forms



buy:
boomkat

download:
boomkat

kangding ray -automne fold

on the turntable:

kangding ray
automne-fold
raster-noton / r-n094


image: japanese forms


More sublime recordings from the raster-noton label. This week's offering from frenchman, Kangding Ray. Although I prefer his previous release "Stabil" this one does have its moments. It may be the spoken word parts that confuse me; as we're not to used to hearing much "vocals" on anything on the label. It is, nonetheless, a very fine recording indeed. (one2zero)


buy:
raster-noton


website: kangding ray

David Letellier aka kangding ray was born in France and is today based in Berlin, he evolved as a guitarist and drummer in various bands whose influences ranged from rock and pop to jazz before moving into electronic music.
(© raster-noton)

Following his highly successful debut "stabil" (r-n073), kangding ray releases his second full length record on raster-noton, entitled "automne fold".

With "automne fold", david letellier has evolved from the quiet, pristine flow of his debut record to sounds that are raw, dark and organic on this second release. pulsating rhythms become lost in within walls of saturated strings, words are spoken over bowed acoustic guitars, and analog synths collide with urban field recordings.
vocals are a central theme through the record. treated as raw materials, like any other sound, the voice operates as beat, speaks melodies or sets themes.

In some moments, "automne fold" retains the emotional simplicity of traditional song structures, where message and images come together, but also manages radical abstract textures, when tracks morph in closed forms of static sounds.

"automne fold" is an instrumental record, an album of 14 "folded" tracks, and a cinematic journey between groove and the senses.(© raster-noton)

wolfgang voigt - gas (book+cd)

on the turntable:

wolfgang voigt
gas
raster-noton (r-n 102)

image: japanese forms


Though beautifully packaged and presented in the usual, lavish raster-noton way, I was a bit disapponted by the photography. The images being a bit too repetetive in their style for my taste. The release, nonetheless, remains a captivating one musicwise. Packaged in a hefty (24cm x 29cm) book of photos of dozens of the wooded images we have come to associate with earlier Gas releases ;it comes complete with a rather fetching, red foil-embossed dust cover. A must-have for anyone who enjoys Voigt's atmospheric sounds and all true raster-noton collectors. (one2zero)

For the first time ever a book presents the visual aspect of Wolfgang Voigt's comprehensive GAS project. It is not meant to be a monolithic retrospective of his visual work, but it features a broad spectrum of photographic images taken between 1995 and 1998 showing many different moods and perspectives of Wolfgang Voigt’s cosmos. what they all have in common, however, is the mystical focus and seemingly, the blurring of boundaries between lightness and darkness, happiness and depression, kitsch and art, pixels and leaves. and the enclosed music cd, voigt has opened his treasure chest and presents some well-selected, rare jewels from the very early days (and nights). four of the five tracks have never been released or played before. (© raster-noton)

buy:
raster-noton

download:
boomkat

byetone - death of a typographer

on the turntable:

byetone
death of a typographer
raster-noton / r-n092

image:japanese forms

Back again following a rather long hiatus, due to me relocating (again), one2zero will be trying hard to make up for lost time with some posts on a more regular basis. First up is the excellent release from Byetone -Death of A Typographer. Also, thanks to my good friend Chris for letting me discover a whole host of exciting new sounds over the past few months. (one2zero)

buy: raster-noton

website: raster-noton


,death of a typographer’ is meant to be a snap shot. the release was recorded in a winter week in berlin. only the pre-released single ,plastic star’ was created in sunny athens. the album contains the original session version of ,plastic star’.

the music of ,death of a typographer’ carries the special sound of raster-noton - but it is different: the tracks act as focal points, as elegy of an latently flowing stream, a stream that still moves on even when the music has long faded away. the tracks do not necessarily move forward, they rather open up a dark abyss which seems deepest in ,capture this I’ and II. byetone manages to achieve a remarkable metamorphosis of the organic, the tracks don't reveal any of the elements of conventional composition techniques but somehow they seem to show through the static sound body. with ,heart’ byetone finishes the album in a very dark manner. isn't there any hope? not in berlin winter.

,death of a typographer’ poses us riddles, even the title reminds of peter greenaway's ,the draughsman's contract’. for the vigilant spectator the ambiguous artwork will reveal the ,death of a typographer’. (© raster-noton)

sonic youth - andre sider af sonic youth

Sonic Youth

Med Mats Gustafsson Og Merzbow
Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth
SYR 8




image: japanese forms

Eigth installment of Sonic Youth's series of experimental + mostly instrumental releases.
This disk presents the complete 'Other Sides of Sonic Youth' improvised live performance from the 2005 Roskilde Festival in Denmark, featuring Sonic Youth (with Jim O'Rourke) and guests Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and Japanese sound artist Masami Akita (aka Merzbow). The single piece performed was a structured improvisation which for 60 minutes added and subtracted musicians one by one until only Masami was left onstage.(© Sonic Youth)

steinbrüchel - mit ohne (forthcoming)

FORTHCOMING
Available September 2008

steinbrüchel
mit ohne
12k2010

Limited to 500 copies.



image:japanese forms


Mit Ohne is a sound documentation of an audio/visual installation by Yves Netzhammer and Steinbrüchel. The installation entitled “The feeling of precise instability when holding things” was part of the group exhibition “Wohnträume/Wohnräume” exhibited from 26.07. to 28.09.2003 at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, Switzerland. The audio sections by Steinbrüchel where composed in sync with the visuals by Yves Netzhammer and succeed in translating and supporting the poetic vibrancy and slow morphing movements of the 3d rendered animation. For the exhibition an atmospheric fragile and detailed work was created involving a three-part projection and multichannel sound which conveys an abstract audio and visual approach to the environment surrounding us and the concept of a room itself. ©12k - more)

Buy / Order: 12k

steinbrüchel website

popol vuh - remixed

popol vuh

remixed by mika vainio
remixed by haswell & hecker
eMEGO090

editions mego

MP3
Download@: Boomkat
Download@: Bleep


Also available: On 12" vinyl

Nachts: Schnee - Mika Vainio Remix
Aguirre I - Haswell & Hecker Remix

Cut by Rashad Becker @ Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin December 2007

Popol Vuh’s soundtrack work for the films of Werner Herzog in 1970’s and 1980’s are some of the most stunning in the field. Editions Mego is pleased to present 2 re-workings of classic Vuh tracks. Mika Vainio takes ‘Nachts: Schnee’ from the 1987 soundtrack ‘Cobra Verde’, and delivers a skillfully constructed ambient piece of beauty, which shifts and turns over 10 minutes. Haswell & Hecker turn the majestic ‘Aguirre I’ from the 1972 soundtrack ‘Aguirre - The Wrath Of God’ into possibly the first track to be played at the last rave on Earth. Unlike recent H&H releases on Warner Classics and Warp this does NOT utilize the UPIC system but vintage digital delays and freeze effect units, in conjunction with digital compositional tools.
This release is pressed on red vinyl and packaged in a plastic sleeve with a golden sticker. ( © Editions Mego)

harmonia -live 1974

harmonia
live 1974
CDGRON78


Finally managed to pick up a copy of this. I had looked it over on several visits to the record store but always took something else; Michael Rother's Invisible Jukebox in April's edition of The Wire won me over. Excellent indeed. I've always rather liked Neu! so I wasn't disappointed in the least. A must for any krautrock / kosmische music aficionado. "You’ve heard of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster, right? How about Harmonia? It’s much less likely because, like many trailblazers of their own era, they were ignored at the time. Well, beyond the ‘How to buy Krautrock’ section in your local record shop sits a further, towering wall of German space music to explore and first on your list should be Harmonia." more (© gronland records)

gronland records

wiki

sawako

Available May 2008

sawako
bittersweet
12k1047





New York/Tokyo based Sawako is a musician, software designer, and multimedia artist whose multi-disciplinary works intermix and pollenate her music with inspiration ranging from nature, science, academia and poetic motion.

Bitter Sweet's diffuse and hazy soundscaping is Sawako's most mature work to date, relying less on her previous child-like melodies while remaining feminine and tender. She has come into her own after having established herself for a number of years as a New Yorker where she has tirelessly performed, studied and created as an important member of the city's electronic music community.

Bitter Sweet is packaged in a 6-panel digipack with photography throughout by Brooklyn-based artist and photographer Maki Kaoru. (©12k - more)

Buy: 12k

Download MP3: boomkat

autechre - quaristice

autechre
quaristice
warp333cd



Exists also as steel-cased special edition.

The music on Quaristice manages to make Autechre's complex sound designs feel simpler than before, which of course is an art itself. With a selection of tracks that sound like an album made on deep reflection, the whole album is kept exciting through the sheer range of music and ideas. more (© warp)

warp page autechre download wiki

németh - film

németh
film
thrill194


image:japanese forms


Very enjoyable recording from Radian stalwart, Stefan Németh. A couple of the tracks sound very much like some of the stuff found on the two Radian albums released on Thrill Jockey but on the whole this is well worth buying. Especially if you like anything that Radian has done. Nice booklet included but I wish the label would switch to digipak or some other form of packaging; jewel boxes really are the pits.

németh

Film is the first solo album by Stefan Németh, member of Radian and Lokai and the co-founder of Mosz Records. The album developed out of his years of work creating soundscapes for experimental filmakers and installation artists, but it was only after years of creating this work that he had he idea to repurpose it for an album under his own name.(© thrill jockey)

aidan john moffat

aidan john moffat
i can hear your heart
CHEM101CD

aidan moffat

Enhanced CD. Includes digital lyric book, bonus 5-track e.p. with printable artwork & a bonus short story.
Superb stuff from the former Arab Strap. The Scots Bukowski according to Uncut. Worth it alone for the superb packaging.

image: japanese forms



"Adults Only" spoken word from the Scots Bukowski...UNCUT [4/5]

"Certain to be 08's most intimate album, and an early contender for being its best..." ROCKSOUND [9/10]

Aidan has performed some exclusive versions of tracks from "I Can Hear Your Heart" on YouTube and you can see them by visiting our YouTube site. He's performed "Hopelessly Devoted", "Beak", "Fuck It" and "Super Sexxxy Real Live" so check them out prior to the release of the album in February.
(chemikal underground)

fennesz - on a desolate shore...

Available from Boomkat & iTunes now!

fennesz
on a desolate shore a shadow passes by
TS04D

MP3 only release

Download@: Boomkat, iTunes





Also available:

Transition Touch # TS04

7" vinyl only - no legal downloads of these tracks are available
Side A: On a desolate shore [5:14]
Side B: A shadow passes by [3:21]

This is the sister release to the digital-only On A Desolate Shore A Shadow Passes By. These three tracks are based on 8 different guitar recordings made at Amann Studios, Vienna, between 2005-07. The acoustic guitar was recorded with an AK c12 microphone. Other sounds were made using a Fender Stratocaster and a Vox ac15 amp.

The 7" is part of the Touch Sevens 7" vinyl-only series, which began with Oceanus Pacificus by Chris Watson [TS02].

Fennesz's new album for Touch follows in Spring 2008... ( © Touch)

on the turntable

on the turntable:

rechenzentrum
silence
weiser music - wm01

dawn mccarthy & bonnie prince billy
wai notes
sea note - sn14

kim hiorthøy
my last day
smalltown supersound - stsO87

image:japanese forms




weiser music / sea note / smalltown supersound