REWOUND :: Volume 15 (blog-style) by Jericho Maxim

[7:47 am, December 29, 2009] First up – Rusuden’s Death By Din Sync (Soho Six). This is a nice start to the day. Opening track “DMO” has a driving acid bassline that is perfect for starting the day with — upbeat and slamming. I haven’t paid much attention to acid artists in the last couple of years, thinking that maybe the acid sound had played itself out. Rusuden happily don’t prove me wrong. And while this is retro in the extreme, it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Using mostly vintage Roland gear, Rusuden understands the acid playbook.

[7:56 am] I have a bit of constructive criticism for Rusuden. Trim your track lengths. When working with a limited sonic palette (which acid certainly is), concise is better than sprawling. And many of the tracks on this record stretch way beyond when they should stop. Sometimes less is more; this is doubly true here.

[8:00 am] “Acid Abyss,” track 3, reminds me of Clock DVA. The relentless beat with the acid handclaps, the darksynth bass loop, and the simple-simple-simple melody get my head nodding like Adi Newton’s masterpiece Man-Amplified. All that’s missing is the sample of someone discussing technology. Well done. This is the track I want playing in my head the next time I dream about a car chase.

[8:09 am] – “Tailpo,” track 5. Here’s the album’s best track, and I think it’s because it’s under 3 minutes 30. Just enough to get me moving, get the head nodding, get the shoulders bouncing, and then out, over, done. Perfect. I think I’ve got the Rusuden m.o. down. And I like it. This isn’t going to send me to the acid section of the record store to buy more, but I’m digging the old-school feel of Death By Din Sync. As anyone with experience with the genre will tell you, acid gets a little samey quite quickly, but for those minutes where it sounds new again, I suggest checking out this guy.

[8:16 am] Moving on to a collection of remixes called NOW Remixed and it’s a collection of remixes (obviously) of artists on the Underscan label. I’m not familiar with the label. Googling ensues…

[8:23 am] Okay; so this album is a complete remix of an earlier label sampler. It’s going to be hard to make some calls as far as artists go on this one, not having access to the original compilation. That being said, so far, Tammetoru’s remix of Pytlik’s “Atmachb” is pretty tasty – lush synthetics, interesting drum loops, vaguely psychedelic atmosphere. Based simply on this song, I know I’ll check out both Pytlik and Tammetoru.

[8:29 am] The Bovaflux remix of Fibla’s “International” is nice as well. There’s nothing more to this track than a simple and compelling melody and a nice beat. Kind of like the minimalism of Tycho. Ooooh Tycho, I love you. Fibla’s on the to-be-checked-out-later list as well. I’m digging this compilation so far.

[8:31 am] I’ve been jarred out of my reverie by the destructo-beats of the Scanner remix by Estonji. Typical Scanner melody is ruined by post-autechre/post-math digicrunch-beats. Not liking this at all, but only because I’ve heard so much of it before. I’m not saying that this sound is dead, there probably is room for innovation still, but stuff like this is tired.

[8:36 am] Slemper bring the funk! Or maybe Hungryghost put it in Slemper’s framework. Hard to tell. “Dusdatikaf” (why not just call it “blmpfrzlstj” or “afgrchjzc”? Why not just bang on the keyboard for a track title? Come on people, “Untitled” works just fine. Track titles like this are getting to me as I get older) is a simple slab of 4/4 sex. My toe is tapping, my head is swaying, I’m typing in time to the beat, all at the same time. I’m feelin’ it. Nice dub effects on top of the bass and drums, very psyched-out. Again, Slemper and Hungryghost go on the tbcol list.

[8:46 am] This too-short disc ends with Hecq taking on Frank Bretschneider’s “Polaris”. Excellent track, best on the disc – nice dark ambient intro, then a Brad Fidel-esque buildup straight from the soundtrack to The Terminator. Loving it.

[8:50 am] I’ll say this about NOW Remixed. It makes me want to hear NOW right now.

[8:53 am] Smoke break. Back in a flash folks. It’s way too cold outside to be out there for long.

[9:00 am] It’s time for Lackluster’s Proof of Concept (Yuki Yaki). I was a fan of Esa Ruoho’s work back in the day, but I confess I’ve let him fall off my radar. At the time (early aughts), I put LL alongside Brothomstates and Funkstorung – the first wave of the post-Tri-Repetae diaspora. What a rich time for music back then – the doors were blown off the hinges and artists were streaming through.

[9:04 am] Lackluster have matured since then and Proof of Concept shows a newfound nimbleness in the programming, with a lot of different yet complimentary melodies competing for dominance. And it’s kind of funky. Nice stuff so far. Opener “Montajoo” is great as well, a should-be anthem for someone, somewhere. Maybe me.

[9:12 am] Had to let the dogs out. Came back to the last minute of track 3, “rworbit,” a nice piece of mid-90s IDM, my favourite. Pretty good so far, this EP.

[9:21 am] The twelve-minute epic “Meyouit” is consistently engaging, a lush piece with symphonic structure, a tasteful and lush accretion of details that sound like a house track slowed way down, or something that was once house music wrestled into an ambient house form. Excellent EP from LL, I’d definitely like to hear his next full-length. Recommended.

[9:30 am] That past me, back to something I hope is a bit more in-line with my tastes, two EP’s from Randomform, carv.ec and Ono (Patpong).

[9:35 am] This does do too much for me. Randomform operate in a (I hate to keep using this term but it aptly applies) post-Autechre glitchbeat format, with atonal synth washes on top. Just not compelling anymore. I used to love stuff like this, really, but I’m past it and I wish the rest of the world would be too. I know I’m not describing this too well, but there are literally hundreds of Myspace artists doing stuff that sounds exactly like this. It isn’t that they’re not good at what they do, they’re perfectly competent arrangers, but it is difficult to find new inspiration/innovation with Randomform.

[9:55 am] Patron and Patron’s Gen (Nonine) starts.

[10:15 am] Got a phone call, so I took a break to make some coffee and talk. Opener “We Are Not Alone” isn’t too promising, a glitch/ambient piece similar to “Rettic AC” on Chiastic Slide. It’s thankfully short. Second track is better, a minimal groove, lots of small sounds making a nice little groove. It doesn’t do much over the course of it’s five minutes, but it’s pleasant enough. We’re off to a good start.

[10:25 am] P&P sound like what I wish the Kruder & Dorfmeister record will sound like if/when they get around to it. P&P keep things downtempo, blunted grooves and hazy atmospheres. There used to be a bar in Detroit that I was a big fan of, The Buddha Lounge (it isn’t there anymore). There were these two DJ’s, Erichinchman.com and Mr. Pickles that spun every Wednesday. And a small group of us would go there every week to hear them and drink ginger martinis. The two DJ’s would occasionally spin sets of the classic downtempo stuff from the late 90’s and early aughts. Anything I’ve heard so far would fit in with one of their sets. P&P so far have showed influence from K&D, Groove Armada, Fila Brazilia. Remember Quango records? This would be great on one of those early triphop compilations that they used to put out in the early 90’s. No big surprises yet, not that I’m expecting a 90-degree turn or anything, just noting that the mood here is consistently smoky, something to paint the clouds in your headspace.

[10:45 am] Not much more to say about these guys, except that I’m really digging Gen. There are some nice surprises hidden in these tracks, and they bear close listening. I’ll be searching out more from these guys.

[10:47 am] Changing up to Tzii’s Rotten Friendship on V-atak. Interesting play on words there, as this is a remix record. And like NOW Remixed above, I don’t have access to the originals so it’s going to be hard to quantify who is contributing what. At the start, Planetadol’s remix of “Teras Logos” is dark ambient in the vein of Paul Schutze’s New Maps of Hell or Lustmord. This is apparently part of a package that includes a DVD of videos for each track. And while I don’t have the DVD, I think it’s great that the state of the CD-buying landscape has changed enough to now almost require something beyond just the music on a CD. Those little extras that you can’t get by downloading the mp3s or the flacs. I sometimes feel gypped when I buy a CD and find minimal artwork, little to no information, etc. It is disappointing. So I applaud Tzii for going the extra step and including something more than just music.

[10:54 am] I think it’s fair to say that Tzii isn’t into happy hardcore. Umkra’s remix of “The Pole” is straight up dark electro, menacing in the very best way. Add some solid metallic percussion and you’re firmly in late-80’s Wax Trax company, which is a fantastic place to be. As a sidenote, I’ve listened to a whole bunch of early WaxTrax stuff this year, and I find a lot of it is still fresh.

[11:04 am] A little dark ambient goes a long way. After two indistinguishable remixes of “Swamp Ritual,” I’m ready for something new. The gutteral moans over dungeon-percussion just doesn’t do it for me much anymore. Maybe there’s some magic hidden later in the disc. I’m going to skip around a bit.

[11:10 am] I’m not finding too much here. Hop Frog’s remix of “Go East” is kind of neat, in that it is based on east-asian instrumentation with some nice dub effects thrown in. As a result, the track wobbles on its way. On headphones, it’s kind of disorienting in a good way. At least it’s not dark ambient.

[11:17 am] Okay, enough. I like the record in parts, mainly the opening two tracks and “Go East.” The rest seem to blend together, with little to distinguish themselves from each other. The two openers stand above because they’re first, simply. I’d like to hear some of the original Tzii tracks just to see what they sound like unaltered. Interest peaked.

[11:19 am] Sqaramouche’s First Raw (Nonine). For starters, I’m not a fan of the name, which is too clever by a quarter.

[11:23 am] Please make it stop. Stop sampling soul singers and putting them over half-baked and over-busy percussion. “Cincinatti Phoenix,” you’re guilty.

[11:29 am] Can’t say I’m to impressed yet. Granted, it’s only been 10 minutes, but with so much music out there, if you’re not going to like it in 10 minutes, should you move on? Part of me says yes and part no. It’s a personal decision, I guess. I myself don’t have the time much anymore for music I’m not going crazy about, so my instinct is to move on. But I’m going to skip through and see if something catches my ear. So far, it’s been mild to say the least, with half-formed hip-hop beats and inchoate melodies.

[11:31 am] Here come to vocals. Whoever it is on “Suck the Monkey” needs to learn how to either stay on the beat, or get off the beat skillfully. And if you’re going to say something, actually say something. The lyrics here are a collection of standard rap tropes, nothing new.

[11:39 am] I’m still hanging with this record. There’s something about the second half of it that reminds me of some of those early Global Communication 12-inchers. “Clean the Pipe” is really fetching, with a smeared little melody over some skittering early dnb drums, and it totally works. Feet are tapping, head and shoulders are swaying, and I’m back to typing to the beat again. And at 4:29, it’s not long enough. Damn.

[11:46 am] The rest of this record is shaping up to be much better than the first. Melodies are more mature, beats are still simple but effective. The vocals kill any track that they appear on, but the instrumentals are kind of nice.

[11:48 am] Smoke break, then on to Pepper and Bones’ One (Nonine).

[12:01 pm] This is cool. Slow tempo’s so far, hazy atmospheres, all the keystones of trip-hop. “Marivin” has someone on vocals that perfectly apes the smoky throat of Serge Gainsbourg. Pepper and Bones aren’t afraid to use acoustic textures as well, with piano and some very pretty guitar lines put to good use.

[12:07 pm] Hammond organ. Nice touch.

[12:15 pm] “Ginger” commits the crime of using the MacTalk voice as vocals. Inexcusable.

[12:20 pm] One is pleasant enough as background music, but it’s not keeping my attention. If I had to call this anything, it’s isolationist trip-hop in places, a slight bit poppier in others.

[12:42 pm] Lunch break.

[1:10 pm] And we’re back. Mutant Dubstep Vol. 3 by Mobthrow (Spectraliquid). I’m not the biggest fan of dubstep, to be honest. Yeah, I get it, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The Burial albums are okay, but how often do you listen to them for pleasure? Not much in my home. So this little five song taster might fit the bill.

[1:19 pm] Mobthrow are good, they sound like Scorn. Hey, I like Scorn. Ergo, I like this. Simple mathematics, actually. With a vicious atmosphere and slashing beats, this is decidedly more upbeat than the dubstep I’ve heard in the past. And far more interesting. The second track (“Breakstar”) has a couple of different beat patterns going on and it’s pretty constructive.

[1:23 pm] The press release calls this darkstep, and I guess that’s as apt as any genre tag. Industrial in atmosphere, Mobthrow sound like they should do the backing tracks for the next Dalek record. Heavy bass (obviously) and cut up drum breaks are in abundance. And with a running time around 30 minutes, it doesn’t get old. Well done!

[1:31 pm] Hey, that’s a remix of Future Sound of London’s “My Kingdom”! Nice!

[1:34 pm] We’re up to Langer & Raabenstein’s Sourpuss (Nonine). Hilarious opener, “Smack” with its samples of what could be an animal or some dude just screaming his head off… or it’s a trumpet… perhaps all three? Follow-up “66 Angel Field” has the sound of a trumpet farting. Just blatting away. Hilarious to a point. Then some real trumpet kicks in and it’s awesome. Acid Jazz to the max. Haven’t heard anything like this in some time. Kind of like Ben Neill fronting Portishead. Nice change of pace.

[1:45 pm] Well again, the vocals kill it. It never fails. “Feud and Far Between” tells the tale of Glenda who stitched dicks on her pants. Dear sweet God, why? Who thought this was a good idea? The track itself is a nice little jazzer in the vein of MC 900 Ft. Jesus and it’s got a great horn groove to it (the whole album does, so far), but damn if I’ll ever play this track again because of those vocals. It’s a shame.

[1:50 pm] Maybe I’m getting restless or have had too much coffee (three cups in 3 hours? your call), but what started out as being an interesting and different acid jazz record has become just another acid jazz record, and a reminder of why I don’t listen to much acid jazz anymore. Not that I ever listened to that much to begin with, mind you, but still. Next.

[1:53 pm] Three EP’s from Datacrashrobot, 7appera7, Probes, and Wired. Immediate reaction – minimal Funkstorung. That’s not a bad thing.

[2:00 pm] Two tracks into 7appera7, and I’m really digging it. There’s funk in these 1s and 0s.

[2:06 pm] I’ll say this – Datacrashrobot is good at what he does. This is really nice, like groovy Autechre, crisp beats, a whole ton of layers actually, just really well put together. Incunabula is a major touchstone here. And I know I mention that record in almost every column, but the thing holds up and still sounds fresh, despite the leagues of wanna-be’s. Some are better than others, Datacrashrobot certainly falls into that small group. Really aces so far.

[2:17 pm] Probes is great too – much more psychedelic than the above EP. Lots of echo effects, more of the same advanced rhythm programming and minor key melodics. Industrial house? The case could be made for that being an accurate genre tag.

[2:26 pm] Probes is really great. Fresh to the ears. Not a bad track on it. Touches of electro on “Signal Probe,” and what headspace. This is made to be listened to on headphones.

[2:34 pm] Wired is much more industrial. So for a trilogy of EP’s, this is great – lots of different styles that still have a singular, distinctive sound. So rare these days, to have an artist be able to do this so well. Industro-psyche-glitch? IPG? There’s your shoebox to horn them into. Recommended.

[2:42 pm] :papercutz’s Lylac (Apegenine). Firmly glitch-pop, gentle melodies and low-fi bedroom beats. Totally enjoyable. The singer sounds like Lisa Gerrard a little bit. Definitely a Liz Frazier/Cocteau Twins thing going on. Pop music from another century crossed with the most modern production techniques. Even the deliberately off-kilter “Caught in a Halo” is charming in its own way. The title track is all bells, really nice production, reminiscent of Oval’s masterpiece Dok, but not as glitched out.

[3:00 pm] I’m enjoying this quite a bit, but it is starting to get a little samey at the halfway point. Not wanting to spoil my current like for these guys, I’m going to move on and keep the second half for another time. But recommended for fans of laptop pop with angelic vocals.

[3:03 pm] Fujako’s Landforms (Wordsound Digital). Avant-garde hip-hop. Industrial soundscape on “Queda de Regoufe,” sounds like what Muslimgauze was turning into near the end; or Dalek. Not a fan of the vocals, which waver between straight up rap and a poor crooning. I think they’re shooting for something like a rap version of Sun Ra’s Arkestra. I’m not so sure it’s working. Kind of sounds, in places, like Kevin Martin’s God project, with multiple horns blatting away on top of each other.

[3:06 pm] There’s nothing about this record that ingratiates itself. It’s deliberately repellent. And that’s fine, I love some deliberately repellent records (hello, Sheer Hellish Miasma by Kevin Drumm). But this doesn’t work as noise-hop, doesn’t work as avant-hop, doesn’t work in french (“Irradies”).

[3:07 pm] 10-20’s self-tltled debut (Highpoint Lowlife)

[3:15 pm] I’m hypnotized by this record. Lots of detail, very trance-inducing. Pulsing throbs of electro on “Nei” make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And in what seems to be a theme of this column, the artists that are the most interesting are also the most industrial sounding. Which is strange because I haven’t been listening to much industrial lately, and haven’t followed the genre closely since Ministry started doing GWB concept albums and Skinny Puppy lost the plot. But this is pushing my industrial buttons, even though it’s not in any way classicly “industrial” sounding – more of an industrial vibe. An attitude toward sounds used, if you will.

[3:27pm] I have one quibble with this album, and it’s not about this music. It’s the nonsense song titles. “jjuvxszla,” “milvus,” or the worst offender, “wdtrhjvelgrad.” I mean come on. When you’re making music for a relatively small audience, you’re not going to get a lot of radio play with track titles like that. Global Communication did fine with making the track lengths the song titles on 76:14. It’s not hard, people, to come up with song titles that aren’t a bitch to type and impossible to say. That’s just a middle-finger to people who listen to your records.

[3:30 pm] Rant over. Aside from that though, this album is pretty meaty – lots of great bass, exemplary production, good sense of atmosphere, etc. etc. Recommended for anyone with an ear for such.

[3:32 pm] Alec Empire’s Shivers (Eat Your Heart Out).

[3:34 pm] Well, he’s slowed down. The breakbeat hardcore that Empire made his name on isn’t present here. Apprantly renouncing the sound in 2008, Empire now calls his stuff “The Sound of New Berlin.” Whatever. It sounds to me like warmed-over rave-dustrial. And it works in some places, mostly when Empire keeps his mouth shut. Screaming “control drug” over and over and dropping f-bombs doesn’t make you angry, it makes me angry. At you. But the beats are pleasingly slamming and full of energy.

[3:37 pm] Ooh, he’s singing on “Shivers.” That’s unexpected, and it’s pleasant in an Adi Newton/Ralf Hutter kind of way, half spoken half whispered. Easily the most mellow track I’ve heard from Empire ever. And I’ve been a fan of his early work (collected on the consistently excellent The Geist of Alec Empire) for at least a decade. A total change of pace and really cool. Never thought I’d say that about Alec Empire.

[3:45 pm] More strident vocals over kraft-rave synths. Empire’s agit-prop was kind of interesting when he was in Atart Teenage Riot, but that was their thing. Splatter beats and hardcore guitars with preaching-to-the-choir screams. Now that he’s moved on from that style of vocal delivery, his words sound almost completely ridiculous. Which is a shame because I don’t think he’s trying to parody himself (as much as that’s possible) with his lyrics, but this is grade-school anti-establishment scribbling.

[3:47 pm] Spoken word vocal albums are kind of like comedy albums – they’re only good for a couple of spins, not matter how great the laughs. Shivers is beginning to sound like that. There’s only so much negativity that a person can reasonably take, and with things like they are now, is it worth it to just hector people for the sake of hectoring them? I’m not into it anymore.

[6:05 pm] I had to reboot the Mac and got locked out. Blech. I’m back in now, but my flow is interrupted. I’m calling it a day for now, more to come.

[December 31, 2009]

[9:11 am] Last day of the year, last day of this cursed decade. I’m so glad to see it go. I think there’s a good soundtrack to the day today. Let’s see what we have.

[9:12 am] A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s Délivrance. This is a nice change of pace.

[9:27 am] Playing traditional folk instruments (accordion, bouzouki) at top speed, sounding like a cross between a greek wedding and A Fiddler on the Roof. Recorded in Budapest, the eastern European traditional influence is very prominent in the songwriting. Slow, almost funereal vocals float over a hyperactive fiddle and string section. And darn if it doesn’t make me want to get up and dance in a circle with 20 people who speak a different language. Some of the parties I went to with my Polish ex-wife had bands like this and while it isn’t my normal cup of tea (or igloomag’s, for that matter), they were always great musicians and the crowds always went wild.

[9:31 am] I have to believe that shows from these guys are fantastic. There’s a whole lot of energy in these performances, and a spirit of joy that comes through in each track.

[9:35 am] There are a couple of traditional songs here alongside some new compositions, and they blend together very well. Kind of like how Dead Can Dance would write in a madrigal style and do something that sounds completely authentic. A Hawk and a Hacksaw can do this in spades.

[9:44 am] I’m reminded of The Ukranians, and their EP of Smiths covers. Same kind of vibe here. Really great and unexpected.

[10:11 am] I’ve moved on to Slowcream’s and (Nonine). Temtative orchestrations start the first track, “Pressure,” and it sounds like a collection of cues that Michael Giacchino would do for Lost; very atmospheric and sinister like Univers Zero.

[10:13 am] Turns out Slowcream is an alias for Nonine recording artist Me Raabenstein (see below).

[10:23 am] Not a lot of electronics on this record, it sounds like. No problem. Modern composition is by turns invigorating and exasperating, usually the the oeuvre of each artist (take Xenakis, for example). Slowcream sound like they’re doing the cliched “soundtrack for imaginary film,” which usually means interesting fragments of songs, but no songs. Not the case here. Slowcream understand song form and are merely using classical instruments to achieve their sound.

[10:30 am] Each of these tracks is kind of long! And ultimately they’re kind of samey over the 40 minutes of their duration. Not in a bad way, I just wish that this music had some kind of horror film or crime thriller to be used in, because this music would be better with visuals. Moving on to Me Raabenstein’s Raabenstein_esk.

[10:42 am] So I’m trying to come up with some kind of identifying genre tag for Me Raabenstein, and I’m not coming up with anything. Parts of this album are very chill, others very IDM, some modern composition, kind of a mixed bag, really. And here, that’s totally cool. I don’t know much if anything about this artist and they keep surprising me with each track. “Island Patois” are these great Tom Middleton vibraphone lines, but underneath is a funky bubbling synth-cussion track that burbles along throughout, with this fantastically detailed echospace around it; very nice.

[10:56 am] One minor quibble with this record – again, the vocals. The spoken-word thing just isn’t working. Nothing wrong with the tone of the voice or anything like that, it just spouts relative nonsense, and when the instrumental tracks are so compelling as they are here, they’re just unnecessary.

[1:30 pm] Back from a break for lunch and year-end book selling. There’s a nice diversity of style on this record, far more range than shown on the Slowcream disc. This is definitely more electronic, but also encompasses ambient, funk, and some glitch. It’s a nice mix; Raabenstein knows what he’s doing. The vocals, however, kill this record.

[1:38 pm] A compilation from Point, called XVI: Reflections on Classical Music compiled by Me Raabenstein (Nonine). Pretty nice compilation from the looks of it with some mighty voices in the modern classical realm: Ryuicho Sakamoto, Gavin Bryars, Akira Rabelais, and Gas, among others. And the comp delivers just what it promises in its title. Some new takes on old-fashioned song structure, new expressions of tonality.

[1:43 pm] The Gas track, “Zauerburg iv” is a standout, as it must be. The project was so groundbreaking in bringing classical into electronica, that its inclusion was a foregone conclusion. What is unexpected, though, is the inclusion of the chamber pop of Final Fantasy, the track “He Poos Clouds” (nice imagery). It has all the trappings of an “art song,” string arrangements and restrained vocals spouting goofy lyrics; it’s a nice change of pace, and coming at about the halfway point of the album, re-engages your attention.

[1:46 pm] Philip Glass is also on here, an excerpt from his “Heroes” Symphony based on the David Bowie album. It’s a fun listen, but kind of out of place here. I personally would have gone with something older from PG, like Einstein on the Beach or Music in Twelve Parts. But that’s just me and this isn’t my compilation.

[1:48 pm] Max Richter also has a beautiful track on here, “Arboretum.” I can’t recommend Richter’s stuff high enough – he’s a favourite as far as modern composition goes. His track here is not the best introduction to his work (that remains The Blue Notebooks), but it’s good enough, with its changing moods and ghostly samba break in the middle.

[1:57 pm] Sorry, Try Again by Belladonnakillz (Dross:tik). This is a nice slab of electro-pop on the Dross:tik label. Infectious choruses, simple and memorable melodies, cool beats, nice vocal effects, it’s great. Music like this is just fun. With the dour mood, grey skies, and general malaise over the city of Detroit, this is a refreshing diversion for me, and something that I’d like to hear in the new year, which holds much promise to be better than the last ten. This is a perfect soundtrack for that kind of hopefulness.

[2:07 pm] Track “B In Love” is really smooth, a simple two-note piano figure bounces along as Bella happily sings about (I assume) a girl. It’s pop music of the highest order, and should be huge if there’s any justice in this world.

[2:15 pm] So the obvious comparison for electronic pop music is The Postal Service, but BDK keep their grooves a little dirtier, a little more abrasive than Jimmy Tamborello did with Ben Gibbard. When “A OK” slips in a little hardcore drumbreak action, it totally fits into the melange of styles BDK appropriates in each track. This one reminds me of ABC, with DJ Surgeon doing all of the music. Or, if you’d like, what Venetian Snares might sound like on downers and with a singer. I’d check that out, and deep in your heart, you know that you would too. Sorry, Try Again is as close as we’re going to get to that for now. And that’s cool, because this is a great place to stop over for a while and recharge.

[2:23 pm] I’m going to put this record on tonight. Great upbeat party kind of vibe, and from beginning to end, it kind of sounds, if you’re not paying close attention, like a great mixtape and not just a single artist. Well done.

[2:24 pm] Nancy Elizabeth’s Wrought Iron (Leaf).

[2:28 pm] Nancy’s got a nice voice, and her gentle arrangements of acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, and others is kind of captivating. Harmonies to rival the Beach Boys, and it sounds like it’s just her, but multitracked.

[2:30 pm] Not a lot of variation on this record. Nancy sounds at times like Stina Nordenstam, at others kind of like Jewel or Tori Amos. I guess this is a folk record, albeit a lush and unique one. While it might not end up being something I reach for often, I know I’ll be happy when I’m in the right mood to listen to this record. It’s for sunny days.

[2:32 pm] Halogen’s Baked (Maternity) begins with the sound of someone lighting up, a not-so-subtle clue as to where our heads are expected to be when we listen to this.

[2:44 pm] So far this is a nice piece of ambient-prog, kind of FSOL, kind of early Orb. Reminds me Skylab’s #1 in that both are largely very ambient with song interludes. Same kind of vibe, early trip-hop lounge, major dub influence. It’s good in the background or the front of your attention.

[2:51 pm] “Etik” is suitably psychedelic, its gentle Rhodes and tinfoil beat are mellow in the kindest way.

[3:04 pm] I’ve been letting this just play while doing some quick catching-up with the latest issue of Rolling Stone, and my attention keeps getting drawn back to this record. Halogen deals in the details, the tiny production bits that most people take for granted or bypass altogether, are here used so wonderfully. I say so in that Baked prompts a feeling of childlike wonder (the best kind) when listening to this record. Recommended. One of the tops for 2009.

[3:06 pm] John Kameel Farah’s Unfolding (Dross:tik). This opens with a classical/avant-garde piano piece, and then rips deep into Acid Jazz territory, Farah’s nimble piano style over some splattered drum’n bass… and then left curve back into some modern classical. This is all over the map.

[3:16 pm] Super wicked hardcore breakbeats in “Uprising,” sounds like Miles Davis’ fusion band with Dave Lombardo on drums. Excellent.

[3:25 pm] Farah has done something really intriguing to me, not being much of an Acid Jazz head. With his gorgeous and fluid piano playing as the base, he lets all number of sound effects and offkilter percussion run rampant through his compositions, giving it a feel not unlike, if you can imagine, Mr. Bungle as a jazz band. Just when I think I’ve got a track figured out there’s a total change up to something even more amusing. Moments like this are very prevalent.

And that’s it for this Rewound, for now.

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Essential Label Links

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