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.
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)
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.
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 Gasreleases ;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)
byetone death of a typographer raster-noton / r-n092
image:japanese forms Back again following a rather long hiatus, due to me relocating (again), one2zerowill 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.
