Experimental Electronic Music
Matmos are masters of the electronic concept album, and I was delighted that the archive in question is the plethora of “sound” albums released by the maverick founder of Folkways, Moses Asch. Beyond the concept, these glitchy, rhythmic, noisy, textural pieces are a joy to listen to and behold.
It is good to hear another contribution to the genre from Dave Seidel, whose homage is a masterpiece in its own right. That’s no surprise considering how as a musician, he continues to stay true and in tune with his own musical vision, all while extending the techniques of the masters who went before him.
We need musicians like Suseti and Henrik Meierkord who take making slow introspective music designed for contemplation an art form, and not just something that can be replicated with a few music apps and some help from soulless AI.
Contemporary pieces that reflect the ancient idea of the music of the spheres into the world of contemplative electronica.
The Magic Carpathians Project have released a number of enchanting albums and recordings since 1998, but Khemia, from 2019, is perhaps their most transformative. It pairs well when listened to back-to-back with the new 2024 release Alchemeia from the ever prolific Scanner.
The use of the standard music trifecta of bass, drums, and melody does ground these pieces in the familiar, yet the way Keith Fullerton Whitman has broken these out of their mold means what he is doing is still risky and groundbreaking research.
Modular Guitar Fields I-VI encompasses the expansive quality of dark ambient and the fuzz here is warm, analog, and rich.
There is something about Skinny Puppy that is tribal. It’s like they were able to draw something out of the terroir of the land they grew up and lived on and infused that Cascadian vibe into the music.
