Sunday, 31 January 2016
Moby – 18 (CD)
This is the follow-up of
`Play `, Moby`s ground breaking, worldwide success. It took him
three years to come up with this album. If I was in his shoes and I`m not, I
would spend a lot of time wandering where to go from here. I`m not a Moby
fan, so I wasn`t expecting anything. I was curious. I wanted to see what he
would come up with next. Life, existence itself is never perfect. There`s always
good and bad things happening. Let`s start with the BAD VIBES
department:
A – The first track: we are
all made of stars, sounds like an old David Bowie song:
`heroes`.
B – To use computer language
this album could be titled `play version 2.0 `. You could also say it`s a
copy and paste version of `play`.
The GOOD VIBES
department;
A – This album came out in 2002
and hasn`t aged a wee bit.
B – The whole thing is a great
mix of vintage jazz, trip hop, electronica, downtempo chillout and melancholic
atmospheres.
My favorite songs are:
8 – Fireworks (2.13
minutes) = outstanding instrumental, minimal, melancholic
electronica.
10 – jam for the ladies
(3.21 minutes) = rap + downtempo electronics = infectious grooves on the dance
floor baybee! You want some, come get some here: http://www.moby.com/
Various Artists – Chillout (CD)
This came out in 2003 on
Guidance records. An international compilation (10 tracks = 49.55 minutes) with
the following bands / artists: Projections (Los Angeles, USA), Toka
Project (Nottingham, UK), Caia (Japan), Bent (UK), The
Dining Rooms (Milano, Italy), Butti49 (Norway), and Flunk
(Norway). It reads on the back cover of this CD `sit back and enjoy and
evening of modern lounging with this laid-back collection of chilled-out
grooves `, yeah right, I`m thinking. I bought this out of sheer curiosity
(and the fact that it cost me 2.00 $ at Renaissance Montréal helps). I`m
a sucker for cheap publicity. I was expecting commercial crap, maybe one or two
good tracks. I was wrong here. Yes your honor, I confess. I`m surprised. In fact
this one`s a good surprise. You will hear different music styles: lounge mixed
with cool jazz vibes (luminate part 2, be free), lounge with funk
+ trip hop elements thrown in (whose blues), downtempo + lounge +
electronica (strictly bongo), chillout funk & lounge (you,
sei tu), spacy retro futuristic lounge (afterwards @ the
bar), lounge with a Latin American feel (samba olympo), and dreamy
chill out lounge Sunday people). It`s minus 20 outside. I`m sitting home
enjoying a warm coffee, sitting on my favorite chair, having a sip while
relaxing, chilling out. Untrue. I`m chilling in, inside relaxing, enjoying
life`s simple pleasures. Warm music for cold days. It feels good finding some
spare time, escaping modern life`s numerous stressful situation and
relax.
Chaos as Shelter – in the shelter of chaos (CD)
Second album from Vadim Gusis
an Israeli artist. Aside from Chaos As
Shelter, the only other Israeli artist I know are Infected
Mushroom (a world famous psy-trance duo). This came on The Rectrix
record label (which folded after the death of it`s owner, Matt Gibney, in
early 2006), so prepare yourself for a walk on the dark, noisy side of things.
There`s nine tracks, for a total running time of 64.49, which makes this one a
nice and long release. This album has it all: blurred out vocal samples, subtle
noise bytes here and there, ambient noise, weird sonic experimentations,
elements of minimalism, various banging, processed voices / incantations, bells,
processed screams, lo-fi rumblings, processed electric guitar, some grinding in
the background, rhythmic noise and a good dose of ambient darkwave. The
soundtrack for unnameable things bumping in the night. A dark gloomy listening
experience (works great with headphones). `That is not dead which can eternal
lie, and with strange aeons even death may die` (H.P. Lovecraft). Highly
recommended. Contact: lkot@tiltan-se.co.il
Friday, 22 January 2016
Phaerentz – autofinger (CD)
Phaerentz
is Petr Ferenc`s (from Czech Republic) solo
experimental music project. The album consists of one single untitled track
(48.59 minutes). Upon the first listen, this one sounds like a long, repetitive
piece of music. It took me a couple of times to appreciate this. It sounds
better after multiple listens. There`s a lot of subtle stuff happening in the
background. This songs starts with some drones + ambient noise. Later on, I hear
some percussions / banging going on mixed with found sounds and / or field
recordings. Then it goes into minimal musique concrete territory with elements
of minimalism and lo-fi noise bytes. Good work Petr! Get your information here: http://phaerentz.bandcamp.com/
Kiosko 9 - 2015 / 2016 (CD)
I get this parcel from Germany.
The return address is from the Esperanto – Centro Harleshausen.
There`s a letter from Wolfgang Gunther. It says:
`Here is the new Kiosko
9, to which you contributed. You can read it, copy it, there is no specific
copyright from our side, but don`t forget; it`s a non-profit project! `. This is
strange, I don`t remember sending a song for a compilation in Germany. Might as
well hear this. At least I`ll know what it is. I put it in the CD drive in my
computer. It opens but I don`t hear anything. This isn`t an audio CD (neither
mp3). It`s a data CD. Inside there`s a huge PDF book (390 PAGES LONG BROTHERS
AND SISTERS!). Some parts are in Esperanto, others in Spanish and some in
English. There`s some pictures, collages, poetry, drawings, comics, and
paintings. It`s like a who`s who of the mail art / anti-internet / postal
culture. There`s a postal address, an email but no website. What should I name
this? Catalogue / encyclopedia / listing / an anthology perhaps. The
Kiosko concept seem like an annual affair. Being published in this year`s
issue is a definitely a privilege. I consider myself lucky this time around (I`m
on page / 323). Contact: Wolfgang Gunther
Esperanto-Centro Harleshausen
Wilhelmshoher
Weg 11
34128 Kassel
Germany
Email: w.guenther.esperanto@web.de
NB: for my all Mastock
readers out there, if you want a copy of Kiosko 9 (it`s legal this time around)
contact me. I love trading.
Bakra Bata – steel drums and percussion (CD)
I buy music I download music and
I trade music. I love music. In good times / bad times music never failed me. I
bought this at Renaissance Montréal, again. Never heard of
Bakra Bata before. Two things caught my attention big
time.
1 – The beautiful cover artwork
by Olabayo Olannyi. 2 – With a named like `steel
drums and percussion`, I immediately thought to myself SAMPLING
MATERIAL! I do music / noise. I rarely use percussions / drums. I`m not much of
a musician even though there`s often a rhythmic element included somewhere in my
`music`. The more I hear this album and the happier I
get. It`s too good to sample. I want to enjoy this until the very end. This is
instrumental music using various percussions (steel pan, conga drums, bells,
shakers, vibraphone, marimba, flute and gan gan aka yorouba talking drum from
Nigeria) with an Afro-Caribbean feeling. It is quite festive listening material
it conjures feelings of happiness, numbness and relaxation. They do a great
cover version of `red wine`(a Neil Diamond original). Link here: http://bakrabataband.com/
Mayan Apocalypse – disconnect (CD)
Second album (or so I think)
from this noise band featuring Zachary Short (instrumentation) and
Eric Thompson (vocalization). There`s five songs here (54.21 minutes).
And what`s in store for the future listener? Here`s a brief
description.
1 – Gate (7.39 minutes) =
bells + warped synthesizer + lo-fi Gregorian moaning / growling / rumbling /
ramblings = a meditative ambient noise mantra perhaps.
2 – Disconnect (16.11
minutes) = angry and warped rants + ambient noise = a hazy / slightly crazy
schizophrenic joyride.
3 – Washed away (15.20
minutes) = spoken word + warped chants (Gregorian perhaps) + bells + warped
synthesizer + lo-fi ambient noise = DEVON GET THE TYLONOL!
4 – Syntex reflection
(14.09 minutes) = spoken word + minimal electronics + some noise burst + ambient
noise = a walk on the dark side of reality.
5 – Exist (1.02) = a
short & sweet little ambient noise number = the perfect ending for this
album. Info here: http://www.foreverescapingboredom.com/ Email here: blackbeastofarrrghhh@yahoo.com
Black Beast Of Arrrghhh – a trip down memory lane (CD)
I got this CD as a trade.
BBOF is the solo experimental noise project of Zachary Short
JR, from Florida, USA. He also plays in Nexus Monkey (with Hal
Harmon) and Mayan Apocalypse (along Eric Thompson). Zachary is
one very prolific individual. To be perfectly honest here, I`m biased he`s one
of my favorite noisers. `A trip down memory lane `is his best work to
date. The frontier between minimalism / noise / music / ambient noise has never
been so thin. There`s seven amazing tracks here (54.38 minutes). He uses minimal
piano orchestrations, short noise bursts, cutups, ambient noise and minimal
acoustic guitar arrangements. This is a relaxing, meditative album with just the
exact dose of noise bytes to keep you from falling asleep at the helm. You want
standout tracks now. The whole enchilada is a standout track. My favorite ones
are:
2 – Air (5.07 minutes) =
minimal piano + ambient noise = meditative moods for the cold Canadian winter I
have to deal with.
3 – Left in the dark
(6.32 minutes) = short noise burst + more ambient noise & minimal piano
playing = need I say more. 6 – Mnlght snt Ist mvmnt
(5.49 minutes) = relaxing acoustic guitar minimalism. You don`t need to use a
continuous wall of noise to get my attention. This album conjures feelings of
coldness, minimalism, loneliness and isolationism. A beautiful, yet challenging
listen.
art is everywhere part 45
The Haddock of the day!
The Haddock
2760 Willamette street apt. # 205
Eugene
OR
97405
USA
Moby – I like to score (CD)
This is a
compilation of songs previously released on other Moby albums or on film
soundtracks. I was familiar with `James Bond theme `which is definitely a
good techno version. This album offers some interesting styles: beautiful
instrumental music (novio), house (go), techno (James Bond
theme, ah-ah, oil-1), funky instrumentations à la Curtis
Mayfield (I like to score). nice Joy Division cover
(new damn fades), instrumental piano ballad (God moving over
the face off the waters), electronic / house (first cool hive),
minimal instrumental (nash), dreamy almost near country music (love
theme) and a good ambient piece (grace) to end things beautifully.
There`s 12 incredible tracks here (47.51 minutes). I can say that one senior
Richard Melville Hall provides us with something different from his
worldwide success album `Play`.
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Vorpal – digressions (CD)
Varpal is the solo music
project of one Andrew Kozloski. He released three album under that
moniker. Digressions came out in 2006. The end, his third album,
2007. Then he seems to have called it quits. He has a website http://www.vorpalmusic.com/ but it doesn`t have
much information. There`s 15 instrumental tracks on this album for a running
time of 59.04 minutes. I purchased this at Renaissance Montréal for two
dollars. Upon seeing this CD my spider sense was tingling. The cool futuristic
cover made me think of Philippe Druillet`s artwork. I looks like electronic
music, so I bought it. I come back home open a cold beer, sit down and start
listening. It took me a couple of listens to appreciate it. This is abstract
electronic music going into IDM territory with a good quantity of broken beats.
My standout tracks are:
6 – Latenight drunken
email (5. 04 minutes) = nice funky IDM.
9 – Jessica in the sky with
diamonds (4.38 minutes) = broken beats + IDM with funk elements = chill out
material.
10 – Rene eespere`s trivium
lovingly reimagined (3.28 minutes) = melancholic IDM with more broken
beats = tears roll down my face. An interesting album with some influences /
traces / elements of glitch, acid, eight bit, funk and techno. Interesting
spicy, sweet and sour sonic stew indeed.
Crustacés # 7 – déplacement rendez-vous (cassette)
The latest Crustacé tape
by Gary Rouzer and Anne-F Jacques. There`s two tracksfor a running
time of 30.43 minutes. Now let`s begin with:
Side – A (15.44 minutes)
= lo-fi rumblings / gratings, some percussive / rhythmic moments, found sounds
and field recordings = nice experimental musings with elements of ambience and
minimalism thrown in.
Side –B (14.59 minutes) =
lo-fi sounds of unknown origins, some rhythmic elements throw in, short noise
bytes, ambient noise slowly going into subtle minimalism territory = cinema for
the ears. Send them a gift, a donation, a letter, anything by mail. As a trade
you`ll get their latest tape. Contact:
Crustacés Tapes
4555 Pontiac
Montréal
Québec
Canada
H2J 2T2
More info here:
The best of The Jam – 20th century masters of the millennium collection (CD)
The Jam were an English
punk / rock /mod revival band active for a period of six years (1976-1982). I
discovered them around 1982. At the time I was listening to Montréal`s own rock
station CHOM-FM. In those years they played more than rock music. The new music
scene was just beginning. UK bands got some airwave time back then: The
Clash, Icicle Works, Tears For Fears, The Fixx,
Simple Minds, Modern English, XTC, The English
Beat and The Jam. To name a few. I felt in love with the song `a
town called malice `from `the gift `(sadly their last album).
It sounded like motown mixed with the energy of punk rock / mod. I put this song
on a mixtape and completely forgot about it. Last Sunday afternoon my good
friend Pierre and me are at Renaissance Montréal hunting for second hand
DVD`s / CD`s. I`m browsing through piles and piles of CD`s. That`s when I see
this `the best of The Jam `compilation. I look at the song titles.
The compilation ends with, yes you`ve guessed it `a town called malice`.
I look at the price tag two dollars. Half an hour later I`m sitting home
discovering / rediscovering The Jam. The music still sounds good. Those
tunes aged well, the vibe, the energy is there. They must have influenced lot of
bands back then and even today. Their sound blends various musical influences:
soul, punk, mod, rhythm and blues, new wave, psychedelic rock and perhaps 1960s
beat music. I want some more.
Orange Cake Mix – harmonies and atmospheres (CD)
I got this one as a trade from a
good friend of mine. He sent me a big parcel full of CD`s, CD-R and good old
cassettes. This was laying on top of the music pile. Never heard of `Orange
Cake mix` before. It`s the solo project of US musician Jim Rao.
There`s 15 songs for a total running time of 39.17 minutes. There`s a lot of
music styles at work here: lo-fi electric guitar (zzz), lo-fi ambient
(andthenagain, less is more, deluxe harmonia, touch down earth, lost in the
crowd), indie / pop rock (days of time and space), homemade synth-pop
(clusterstone), psychedelic rock (the surrealist painter, everywhere
the light goes, way out there), lo-fi rock (safe inside your sky,
thought balloon, save for a rainy day) and lo-fi instrumental acoustic
guitar (June moonbeams). This is definitely homemade music. It often
sounds lo-fi in nature. I don`t know if it was done on purpose or not but I like
it. I would like to hear some more. This CD came out in 2002. It was released on
two record labels: Twilight Furniture and North Of January.
It seems that both labels folded. A little search on www.discogs.com and it looks like `harmonies and
atmospheres` is the last album from `Orange Cake Mix `. More info: https://myspace.com/jimraorangecakemix
Monday, 4 January 2016
Oka – elements (CD)
It was a cold and windy Sunday
afternoon. I was at Renaissance Montréal, looking at their huge second
hand CD section. I`m a curious person. I like to experiment, discover unusual,
obscure, interesting sounds. When I feel like buying music (and I don`t know
what to purchase), that`s when I listen to my inner voice, my gut feeling. Upon
seeing this CD my, spider sense was tingling. I don`t know why but I had to buy
it. The cover and the back cover was normal i.e. ordinary, nothing to catch my
attention. That afternoon my gut feeling told me two things: I gotta stop eating
at McCrap and I had to buy it, so I did. I go home, pour myself a big glass of
milk (I`m getting old, that`s what my liver told me), sit down and push the play
button on me CD player. Oka are an Australian combo featuring
Matt (keyboards, percussion and programming), Chris (saxophone,
percussion and flutes) and Didgeristu (yadaki aka didgeridoo, percussion
and turntables). This is their first album. It came out in 2002, on their own
label, Oka music. There`s 11 songs for a total running time of 51.51
minutes. Oka likes to shake, mix things up a bit and the result is simply
amazing. It would be a damned shame to say this falls under the category of
`world music `. Their music combines elements of (in no particular
order): electronic, reggae, folk, world & country, dub, roots reggae, tribal
and jazz. This is an infectious, potent mix. A nice way to start 2016 folks.
More details here: http://www.okamusic.com/
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