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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