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At about 19 minutes, Norwegian electronic artist John Hegre (Jazzkammer)
sets out on his own in the escapism of A Nice Place to Leave. A
sudden jolt of pure ambient layered drones build to a volume and drop,
this is micro-noise at its finest, even though this listener normally is
a bit reticent about fever pitch. Most of this is pretty quiet and full
of sheer luster. Separated into three individual tracks that prepare
the world for its hollow voids and eternal tunnels. The stoic elephant
on the disc’s cover seems to emphasize the abrupt disturbance to nature
that is allotted to those who pay admission to see them out of their
natural context. The music manifestly mimics this theme by leaving its
devices to their own delicate possibilities of chaos theory. Like dry
windshield wipers scraping incessantly, in motion like a pendulum,
Hegre’s atonal configuration is at once uneasy and yet as uniform as
drive through at McDonald’s. If you enjoy the work of P16.D4 and Brume
this might be in your best interest.
A Nice Place to Leave is OUT NOW on Dekorder.
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Hazy electronics and broken vocals with some trad-drums and the sort of
feel of a more folky Pulseprogramming. “Ecologie + Histoire Pts. 2 and
3″ is the result of what might happen if you popped Mira Calix and
Schlammpeitziger (with essence of People Like Us) in a processor
together. Pop, hiss, scratch, and these Vitamins may easily be
served with your favorite breakfast cereal. But rest assured, this
ain’t the sugar-sweet carbs you resolved to abhor – this is a genuine
collage of sequenced vocal excerpts and unpredictable ocean waves. Some
guy is talking about sharing ice cream, some droopy Canadian guitars
(ala Godspeed…) and some fascinating glitch (on “Losing Everything”)
make I’m Sorry Forever and Always something of a mixed bag – but one
you want to continue routing through for surprises. This is like the
schizophrenic young cousin of an unknown folk artist who discovered a
vocoder in a grassy knoll while writing in his diary.
I’m Sorry Forever and Always is OUT NOW on Intr_Version.
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This disc has been kicking around and around for a while and I just
didn’t have the words until now. Guitars, samples, clarinet,
multi-lingual vocal and lots of super loops make this an eclectic
mélange of cross instrumentation. With pop hooks aplenty, Vienna-based
Ulrich Troyer invites musical friends to join him in the cut-n-paste
merriment. Rose de Shiraz has both studio and street savvy and drifts
in and out of funky rhythms that are informed by Miles Davis and world
music alike. Troyer has taken a herd of crunchy lounge-tinged vocals
with field recordings and just sculpted something quite insightful as
heard on the laid back “Muhallebi.” It is as if he just recorded the
sounds of random cafes he traveled to and seamlessly matched the warmth
of the people to the sounds of the music. On “Teddystep” I expect a
Madonna vocal to emerge, only to be more pleasantly surprised that he
plays on territory in the air by the likes of Basement Jaxx and Daft
Punk, not to mention the past influence of say, Propellerheads. The
electric diving pool that is “Brunnenmarktremix: Sirine” incorporates
the casual spoken punctuation of Kurdish Naser Razzazi. For all its
hooks and lines, throughout Rose de Shiraz we are reminded of the
power of bass, and of how emotionally connected the low end is. On
“Sono a Cozze” Troyer presents, in part, allergic reactions in the form
of sneezing – now that was a first for me – and this disc is filled with
so many clever rifs and tricks throughout one wonders how his next
effort will fare in comparison.
Rose De Shraz is OUT NOW on Deluxe.
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One of three new releases in his “winter collection” Barcelona-based
Koji Asano is nothing short of one of the most prolific living
electronic composers. Split into three untitled tracks this 50 minute
recording is an electro-acoustic reshaping of the instrument formerly
known as the violin. Asano has treated the instrument in such a way
that if one were to fiddle with barbed wire and a bow you may get a
similar result. This sound “zoo” is like a passage into a forbidden
layer of DNA that has been etched away for centuries. Verging on
commotion, but shy enough to suppress the edge that is about to burst,
Asano deals in the tact of tension. At times it is a pale drone, then
you are in traffic or a a grunting pigpen – in all you may be listening
to a full symphony tuning their string-based instruments – though there
is something much more profound here. Call it psychedelic if you will,
though this winter piece will keep me from hibernating.
Zoo Telepathy is OUT NOW on Solstice.
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It’s like a 10-track (all under 3 minutes) mini cartoon album on 3″
disc! Part Pink Panther, part Mouse on Mars, this is an incredibly
clever-sweet spin that has a relentless upbeat sense of perky beats,
almost like a harpsichord in the snow. Shucking out his debut album,
Copenhagen’s Voks has formerly worked with Goodiepal and V/VM with the
camaraderie of humor certainly passing hands for sure. Plink, plunk a
go-go….and here you have one of those special bright spots on those
nasty gray days – something you can play for friends that may even
warrant a gut full of laughter. These are little haiku sketches with some
vague Asian undertones and a connect-the-dots attitude.
Vaks Vanskab Ak is OUT NOW on Dekorder.
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