Boards of Canada - "Tape 05"

IDM legends Boards of Canada returns with the haunting, drone/ambient track "Tape 05." They have lost none of their mysterious adventuresomeness. 

 

Model/Actriz - "Thank You By Dido"

Although most known for their fierce, aggro-industrial rock songs, Model/Actriz's tender moments are always standouts. From their surprise EP Swan Songs, which were born out of experiments from the Pirouette sessions, "Thank You By Dido," is an emotional, heart-on-sleeve ballad that is strikingly beautiful. 

Orchid Mantis - "Asleep On A Greyhound"

"Asleep On A Greyhound," a ghostly instrumental track from Atlanta band Orchid Mantis, is the perfect mixture of early 4AD atmosphere and Low-like slowcore.

Maria Somerville - "Garden"

Maria Somerville's excellent new record Luster is an exquisite collection of goth-ambient dreampop. "Garden" leans into a Cocteau Twins-like dream world of soft drum machines, aquatic bass, and washes of ethereal synths. 

DjRUM - "Out of Dust"

From DjRUM's mesmerizing new record Under Tangled Silence, "Out of Dust" is the atmospheric penultimate track. It focuses on ambient washes of electronics over laser-precise, complex drum programming.

Barker - "The Remembering Self"

Stochastic Drift is the latest ambient techno opus from Berlin-based producer Barker.  "The Remembering Self" is a lush, enveloping track that soothes the soul.

Album Review: Tim Hecker - Virgins

Tim Hecker
Virgins
Rating: Woof Daddy

Canadian ambient/drone artist Tim Hecker's 2011 release Ravedeath, 1972 was a game changer for me. I had listened to a lot of minimalist ambient and drone work before but never felt any sort of connection with the music. It was pretty at times, annoying at others, but always kept me at arms length. Tim Hecker, on the other hand, provided such a visceral impact with his compositions, breathing life and fire into each piece. The intensity of some of his work on Ravedeath, 1972 was so palpable it was almost emotionally overwhelming. To me, that seminal record was his masterpiece, and I hesitated to even begin listening to his latest work Virgins, as I feared any loss in quality might somehow lessen the impact of Ravedeath, 1972. It appears I needn't have worried as, if anything, that work spawned a more focused and energized artist, with Virgins offering up some of his most beautiful and haunting work. While it lacks the utter shock of the new that Ravedeath, 1972 provided, Virgins is a more streamlined affair, with many of the tracks hovering around the 3-4 minute mark, and only a few tracks going over 5 minutes. It is a dense and heady work though, yet never feels oppressive or too overly challenging. How Hecker is able to keep all these multiple layers of sound in the air without seeming jumbled is nothing short of amazing.

While the main focus on Ravedeath was piano and organ drones, Virgins opens Hecker's palate up somewhat, incorporating more acoustic instruments and woodwinds, which add a more human element to what once could be considered frosty and abstract. Hecker also involved a more live setup this go around rather than creating and manipulating his drones on computers after the fact. This process makes the pieces feel more structural and whole; there is meat on the bones now. Opener "Prism" immediately makes this known, with its cascade of synthesizers and what sounds like a church bell imploding and exploding at the same time. It has been noted in many reviews where pieces like his almost have a horror movie soundtrack style quality to them, and in case of tracks like "Prism" I would say they are not too far off the mark.



There is bold strength at play throughout the bulk of the record, with Hecker showing a firm hand in the direction and purpose of these pieces. "Virginal" is a masterstroke of build and release, with the forceful and almost harsh piano work leavened with a rush of woodwinds and horns.



"Live Room" adds background noise and found percussion to haunting effect in this Exorcist-style exploration, with dense drones of keyboards emerging from the waters.



"Stigmata I" trades blasts of competing drones back and forth in an almost endless fight to the death, and retreats back into almost nothingness on its companion piece "Stigmata II," only to lead to the intense closing salvo of "Stab Variation" where these drones take on the approximation of a sonic tidal wave.



Which is not to say that all of Virgins is some cacophonous dirge of synthetic drones, while there are some harsher, more brutal moments on this record, there are infinitely more moments of pure beauty here. "Black Refraction" is so gorgeous it almost makes me believe in the divine.



"Live Room Out" takes the basis of its predecessor and turns it on its head, removing the spectral haunting, replacing it with wandering drones of woodwinds that ache with deep meaning and beauty.



It is almost impossible to truly explain how moving and emotional this record is without someone actually listening to it and experiencing it for themselves firsthand. Virgins shows Tim Hecker at the height of his powers, being able to evoke so many moods and feelings with mere details. His work here is so concrete and textural you cam almost feel it with your bare hands. While it will likely not topple my admiration for Ravedeath, 1972, Virgins definitely holds its own against that masterpiece, and will likely figure very high in my best of list for 2013. My mandate to all my readers is to get this record as quickly as you can. It is that important.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Atlas Sound: Parallax - Album Review

Atlas Sound
Parallax
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

I hate this time of year, mainly because there is a dearth of new releases at the beginning of the year, and I am usually scrounging around looking for something to review. So, I am going back and reviewing some albums that either came out too late to really include in the end of the year posts, or albums that initially left me lukewarm, but have grown on me. Case in point, the current album from Deerhunter's Bradford Cox's side project Atlas Sound, Parallax. It has been in my playlist for a long time, and I have always enjoyed it, but it never really stayed with me afterwards. Atlas Sound used to be Bradford's more ambient/electronic, experimental outlet outside his work with Deerhunter. Over the past few years though, as Deerhunter's sound and aesthetic have changed from being abrasive and off putting to being practically refined and genteel, Atlas Sound's sound has adapted as well. Parallax is a collection of mostly guitar based pop songs, drawing from pop and rock from many different eras, from the 50s onward. As a result of this new glossy sound and production, the project looses some of its distinctiveness, however, it shows what a strong and focused songwriter Bradford has become.

The shock comes from gorgeous tracks like "Mona Lisa" which is likely the most shimmering pop tune he has ever created. His voice, reverbed and distant, a nice contrast to the jaunty beat and pianos.



"My Angel Is Broken" is a lonely, guitar driven travelogue. You can smell the miles of dirt and grime.



"Terra Incognita" is held close the vest, his voice a near whisper, over gentle, interlocking acoustic guitars.



"Lightworks" takes a stuttering, modern beat, then overlays 50s reverb heavy guitars over it, for a nice contrast.



Although there is a more refined sensibility at play here, there is still a streak of experimentation going on, which keeps the album fresh and new. "Te Amo" features lots of interplay between keyboard melodies and background atmospherics, and has a particularly striking vocal turn from Cox.



"Praying Man" has a dusty, echoing quality, that is the perfect update to 50s pop songs.



"Doldrum" hearkens back to earlier Atlas Sound, a lovely ambient track full of treated pianos and lonely vocals. Title track "Parallax" again takes the reverb guitar and places it over dense electronics.



There is still a disconnect for me with the album as a whole. A lot of the tracks drift in and out of each other, sounding more like a compilation of tracks rather than a cohesive work. Despite this, Parallax works rather well, and is always haunting the outside reaches of my mind. It will be interesting to see where Cox takes this sound next. Based on this and his current work with Deerhunter, it appears to be on a collision course.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Juliana Barwick: The Magic Place

Julianna Barwick
The Magic Place
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Louisiana born, Brooklyn based vocalist Julianna Barwick's latest album, The Magic Place, occupies a middle ground between the advant-garde musings of acts like Grouper and the overproduced ambient pablum of Enya. Barwick takes loops of her vocals and builds almost overwhelmingly gorgeous cathedrals of sound. Most of the vocals are wordless chants with only a few songs hinting at actual words, her voice working more in the vein of Elizabeth Fraser's more angelic tones. On listening to the album, you can definitely feel Barwick's church going upbringing, the music hymn-like, fractured like light through stained glass.

Barwick compliments her voice with muted instrumentation; treated Eno-esque pianos, heavily delayed guitar, hushed synths, and heartbeat soft percussion. The focus is always on her voice, which is never overshadowed by any instrument. Indeed, her voice, multi-tracked as it is, becomes an instrument itself. In a couple of instances, there truly is difficulty determining if it is a voice or a keyboard.

The music sounds old and decayed, wrapped in a foggy haze, as if discovered in a vault after many years lost. Opening track "Envelop" lives up to its name, covering the listener in a mist of Gregorian chants and the sea-intoning charms of the Sirens. "Keep Up The Good Work" evokes a mystical place full of singing nymphs:

Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place - Keep Up the Good Work (asthmatic kitty) by pdis_inpartmaint

While title track "The Magic Place," could be the soundtrack for the gates of heaven:



The highlight of The Magic Place is "Vow" with a delicately repeating piano refrain, and hint of accordion, that propels Barwick's voice into the stratosphere.

Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place - Vow(asthmatic kitty) by pdis_inpartmaint

Lovely echoed guitars intertwine with ghostly piano on "Bob In Your Gait," where Barwick's voice reaches operatic highs. "Prizewinning" continues the heavenly theme with delicately layered voices, merging the right amount of ambiance and forcefulness, and the one track on the album with noticeable percussion:

Julianna Barwick - Prizewinning by ZDBmuzique

The Magic Place is a gorgeously rendered album, full of beauty and stunning moments. But in the end, I have to admit it doesn't register deep inside me. When I have it on, I am at peace and feel calm, yet the moment I am done with it, I can't remember or recall anything specific about it. Unlike the instrumental ambient drones of Tim Hecker, there is nothing meaty here to digest and take with you. While Hecker's soundscapes are bold, hearty and sit in your stomach long after the meal, Barwick's music is like an amuse bouche before the main course, delicate and light, leaving a pleasant taste on the tongue, but lost once something more substantial is on the plate.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972

Tim Hecker
Ravedeath, 1972
Rating: Grrrr

The album cover is a striking image of the first piano drop at MIT. There is an amazing tension at play with the piano perilously perched on the edge of the building just before it plummets to the ground, shattering into a million pieces. Ambient-drone artist Tim Hecker found this photo while researching images of the tremendous amounts of digital garbage in the world: piles and piles of used up CDs, floppy disks, and other effluvia. Hecker claims "there's some connection between the computerized engineering that led to the codification of MP3s and music's denigration as an object and thus a viable means of economic survival." Thus, Ravedeath, 1972 is Hecker's comment on how music (specifically electronic music) in the digital age is becoming more homogenized, sanitized, and sterile.

Hecker attempts to bring back a solemnity and purity to music, recording the album in one day in a church in Rekjavik, Iceland, using an old pipe organ as the basis for the 12 tracks. All of the pieces are dense, sculptural, and breathtakingly beautiful. The album is divided into shorter, singular tracks that are almost a battle between organic, analog elements and harsh digital effects, evoking the tension of the album cover photo; and longer suites of music that are simple and haunting.

Lead track "The Piano Drop," has a lush tug of war between bursts of angelic organ, and rushes of digital feedback:



"No Drums" unfolds under thick waves of liquid organ:



And the striking "Studio Suicide," with its ghostly drones and uplifting washes of keyboards:



But it is the longer, multi-part pieces that form the core and heart of the record. "In The Air I-III" owes its obvious debt to Eno's ambient output, melding icy, treated piano with shuffling, digital atmospheres:



"In The Fog I-III" rolls in with echoed and reversed piano, moving into drones of organ and synthesizers, and eventually erupting into a cacophony of digital abstraction:



In the end though, aside from the carefully crafted backstory behind Ravedeath, 1972, what really matters is whether the music touches you in some way. These pieces are technically challenging, but are not impenetrable. In fact, I will go so far as to say these pieces are some of the most beautiful music you will hear all year.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Seefeel: Seefeel

Seefeel
Seefeel
Rating: Grrrr

Back in the early 90s, Seefeel stood out in the crowded shoegaze field by straddling the line between guitar-centric songs and more ambient/techno IDM. Owing more to Aphex Twin than My Bloody Valentine, Seefeel, led by Mark Clifford, pushed the limits of the sound as far as they could. Their debut album Quique, is a classic, mixing intoxicating drum loops, samples and keyboards, with wordless vocals and heavily treated guitars. It was truly a monumental recording at the time, and still sounds fresh today. Over the course of two more albums in a three year period, Seefeel moved further towards an all electronic approach, and even ventured into drone territory on their last album, 1996's CH-VOX. Seefeel took an extended hiatus afterwards, and almost 15 years later, appear with a new release, the fascinating Seefeel.

The good thing about this record is that it still sounds like Seefeel, but with a more direct purpose. While it still leans more towards experimental electronic music, it is not so obtuse as to be a difficult listen. Instead of the more driving techno based songs on Quique, the songs on Seefeel build their structures on the base of dub music. Real drums feature on the tracks, heavy and echoed, and the bass is deep, buzzing and droney. Vocals, when they do appear, are mostly wordless and appear almost as just another piece of the music.

The tracks are divided into short instrumental passages that are beatless and heavy on experimentation ("O-One One," "Gzaug," and "Step Up"); to longer instrumental passages like the stunning "Aug30" which features heavily treated guitar feedback, twisted and corrupted into new melodies, which fades in and out of the background, working with the negative space to create a wondrous tension:



or the almost beatless "Airless" with its haunting vocals, cut and pasted, sounding like the singer is drowning in digital feedback:



The majority of the new material is influenced tremendously by dub music The drums are hollow and echoed, while the bass is low and droning. Seefeel locks into some killer grooves at times, especially on the amazing track "Rip-Run":



"Dead Guitars" lives up to its title, with the guitars decaying and fighting for life:



"Making," which is probably the most accessible track, moves effortlessly on a deep dub bass track, with liquid keyboards floating along the drugged out drum track and breathless vocals:



Seefeel is a challenging record, but not difficult to be immersed in. Even after a long hiatus, the band retains their signature "sound" but takes it into new areas by embracing dub and other new textures. Let's just hope Mark Clifford and company don't wait another 15 years to give us more new music.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.