Skriet
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Moderator: Redaktörer
av zidanefromhell » 2011-10-26 11:36
av Koffe » 2011-11-08 22:12
av Koffe » 2011-11-08 22:16
Ton skrev:Bara för det så slänger vi in sveriges bästa platta 2011
http://open.spotify.com/track/4fSq8d1N9PB1UVBRWDWCMj
av FalloutBoy » 2011-11-10 18:01
A product of New York’s Tisch School of the Arts, Brooklyn singer-songwriter Lia Ices is a talent worthy of comparison to The xx. Both have roots in studied composition, with the Mercury winners first exploring their craft while at London’s Elliott School; and both now create music that is restrained and regal, all shadows and glass, fragility and ethereality.
The two are not exactly soundalikes – there’s more of the Cat Powers, St Vincents and Glassers of this world about Ices – but the trajectory they ultimately take could prove to be similar. The xx have broken the mainstream, but it took time. Grown Unknown, Ices’ second long-player and first for the Jagjaguwar label, gradually creeps into the system, slipping under the skin, infecting the blood. It might well be one of 2011’s finest sleeper hits, a record that finds its commercial stride a little down the line, perhaps courtesy of a well-placed sync (there’s potential aplenty). Time will tell. For now, it’s likely to be heard, and loved, as an individual’s special secret, an album to share only with those closest.
Where so many female vocalists fronting arrangements of shimmering synths and warm textures can become too detached from the terrestrial realm, harmonising into the ether rather than anyone’s soul, Ices’ approach is pleasingly direct. Her words are delivered clearly, and she’s not afraid to lay out her feelings for public analysis – the packaging contains sing-along-at-home lyrics. There are some predictable-enough adventures in ambiguity and commonplace metaphor, but while lines like "I’d hate to leave you while we still combine" (Ice Wine) and "Exhale your spirit poem" (Bag of Wind) are clunky on paper, they’re never anything but affecting on record.
There are deviations from the celestial template – but none so dramatic that they upset the flow of these nine songs. The hand-clapped intro to the title-track stirs thoughts of The Knife, and the bells and autoharp of After Is Always Before, combined with marching percussion, shift the mood to a rather more excitable state. But everything sits comfortably in the presented sequence, and the one guest vocalist, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, acts as more of a back-up singer than a duet partner on Daphne.
Like Vernon’s For Emma, Forever Ago LP, much of Grown Unknown was recorded far from the bustle of city living – in this case Rhinebeck, with a population of around 4,000. And its maker’s escape from the hubbub is perfectly captured, sonically – (basic) space explored and conveyed. An album to relax into, over weeks and months, this is one many will be coming back to whenever stress levels flit into the red.
-- http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fz3q
For an afternoon spent escaping April gloom, head to the kaleidoscopic forests of Arborea's latest record, "Red Planet."
Buck and Shanti Curran are living the dream: co-carrying the fire, married and mutually caring for another while ever in pursuit of their shared aesthetic goals. Both contribute when moved, and stand back when appropriate. In their music, the result is inspired minimalism that has a way of lingering in the old noodle.
The cuts on the self-produced "Red Planet" generally come in one of two flavors: airy, plucked folk numbers or barren drones evoking desert landscapes. The title track is a tense version of the latter -- unrelenting and changing shape as would molasses.
Yet, if you're prepared for this focused, sometimes mournful space, Arborea cuts to the marrow.
The project enjoys an utterly unteachable gift in Shanti's weightless vocals. Her instrument is a rich and trembling bellows capable of holding gauzy pitches on clouds of air. As a result, the tunes she carries, like the lilting "Spain," are easily trustworthy and affecting.
One stunner here is the jubilant closer "A Little Time." Arborea primed the pump for catharsis with plenty of unyielding meditations, but this cut, in three loosely woven movements, allows the couple to open up the toolbox.
An urgent folky fingerpicking gives way to backward alien blips and boops, which then gives way to a campy sing-a-long stomp. At the end of the eight-plus-minute epic, Arborea having some jollies comes as a shock and delight.
Fans of jaunty pop closure should probably leave this record be. "Red Planet" leaves you lotus-flower drunk and calm, but there are very few snap-alongs. Theirs is the old-fashioned art where the reward comes only if you care to put in the work.
-- http://www.pressherald.com/life/go/arbo ... 04-21.html
av FalloutBoy » 2011-11-11 21:14
Twin Falls – AKA Luke Stidson and his slowly revolving door of musical accomplices – is not yet a familiar name. But his first album Slow/Numb is a genuinely impressive statement of intent: in an understated and beautifully produced debut, there are signs that suggest his under-the-radar profile won’t stay that way for long.
The majority of the album is pitched somewhere between wistful, woozy alt-country and the broken, string-laden electronic laments of Grandaddy – although it is bookended by two fizzing, swooning, and quietly epic laments that wouldn’t sound out of place on an M83 album. The production is big and heavily instrumented, providing a deep river of melody for Stidson’s lyrics, which manage to sound simultaneously cynical and full of hope.
On the instantly hummable lead single Janie I will Only Let You Down, sweeping strings shimmy in between twinkling glockenspiels, creating a twee but undeniably beautiful song which deserves the radio play it has received from Steve Lamaq and Tom Robinson on 6 Music. If they could only see us now they’d swear we were ghosts is propelled gently along by chiming slide guitar before building to a Sparklehorse-esq crescendo – one of the album’s strongest moments. Neil Young’s moribund lullabies are not far away from the soft waltz of Every step we take in the snow. Album closer Alameda Sleepwalking is another standout track – a stumbling beat underpinning a wide-eyed, sweeping hook, and a sprinkling of 80s naivety.
The songs stand up on their own, but the real strength of the album is the meticulous, shimmering production. This transforms moments that might otherwise be more mundane into integral parts of the overall sound of the album. Its a striking debut: expect to hear a lot more about Twin Falls in the months ahead.
-- http://www.subba-cultcha.com/album-revi ... ntID=26439
av FalloutBoy » 2011-11-12 17:01
When we (full disclosure) released the devastatingly gorgeous debut 7" from Austin's Sleep ∞ Over in early 2010, it was difficult to envision Stefanie Franciotti's hazy dream-pop project ever again scaling the lofty musical and emotional heights of absolute gems like "Outer Limits" and "La Rose," especially since two-thirds of the group defected shortly thereafter for reasons unknown. But on her debut full-length Forever-- largely a solo effort, with an assist from Christine Aprile of Austin's Silent Diane-- Franciotti delivers on the promise of those alternately shimmering and haunting early singles and then some, crafting a cohesive and immersive collection of spectral love songs.
Out of the haze and murk of opener "Behind Closed Doors" emerge fully-formed, utterly enveloping pop jams like "Romantic Streams" and lead single "Casual Diamond," teeming with the kind of unforgettable, heartbursting melodies that earned Franciotti all of those early Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush comparisons. These lovely, relatively straightforward numbers are interspersed with warped, beautifully ominous ambient pieces like "Porcelain Hands" and the bleak, Grouper-in-outerspace-esque "Crying Game," recalling the more free-form exploratory noise that Franciotti creates under her "psych murk" side-project Raga Chrome. She has no qualms with getting suffocatingly dark on these mood-setting soundscapes, but the eerie and occasionally harsh dissonance only serves to make the pop-focused moments on the record that much more affecting and cathartic.
The depths plunged on the aforementioned "Crying Game" set the stage for the highlight and emotional core of the record: the powerful, one-two gut-punch of "Stickers" and "Don't Poison Everything." It's here that Franciotti reaches her compositional and emotional zenith, definitively transcending any and all lazily dismissive "witch house" tags, and at the same time, cementing Forever's place as one of the most bewitching and essential albums of the year.
-- http://alteredzones.com/posts/1953/zone ... r-forever/
av norman » 2011-11-26 21:38
av FalloutBoy » 2011-12-04 17:04
Sverige sluter ögonen och drömmer. Då hamnar musiken ungefär här: någonstans ute på valfritt korallrev. Sällan har ett gruppnamn illustrerat innehållet så effektivt som duon Marcus Joons och The Radio Dept-Daniels Korallreven, sällan har också ett svenskt poparv förvaltats och paketerats så kärleksfullt som på deras debutalbum. Den era som The Tough Alliance och The Embassy – med nästan rockjournalistisk precision – lade grunden för sammanfattas och uppdateras i den här dagdrömmen där Studios vågskvalpsdisco återerövrar new age-flöjten i sällskap av samoanska körer, regnskogsdub och den patenterade Radio Deptska sockervaddsreggaen. Den här så svenska genren kan knappast dras till en mer ytterlig spets.
-- http://www.svd.se/kultur/korallreven_6636954.svd
av FalloutBoy » 2011-12-06 17:54
In a marked departure from Goldmund’s previous, almost entirely piano-centered albums, All Will Prosper promises to bring something new to the conceptual and stylistic table. Representing Kenniff’s ongoing fascination with the American Civil War and the distinct culture on display during that tumultuous period, the album is being marketed as a collection of 14 traditional Civil War-era folk songs, and one contemporary track ‘Asoken Farewell.’ Yes, your intuition is correct — ‘folk songs’ does, in this case, connote the use of an acoustic guitar.
The album as a whole was recorded over a period of five years, and utilized close micing techniques on both the piano and the guitar in order to bring a sense of importance to every note and every detail. Despair and the incomprehensible loss associated with the war are both themes here, but so is the unimaginable strength and perseverance that followed. Kenniff, through his music, has always had an eye toward appealing to human emotion, and what better way to do that than to have in mind one of the most devastating and life-altering events in American history.
-- http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/goldmu ... ons-emerge
av FalloutBoy » 2011-12-19 20:21
A Fool Who’ll is album number three for Melbourne’s Laura Jean, following on from 2006’s Our Swan Song and 2008’s Eden Land. There’s been a shift in sound since then; whilst Laura Jean’s folk leanings remain as strong as ever, this third release is her first non-acoustic record. She’s assembled a trio with long time collaborators Jen Sholakis and Biddy Connor, with guest appearances on the album from Grand Salvo’s Paddy Mann, ex-Architecture In Helsinki trumpet player Isobel Knowles, and many others.
Gibson SG strums open first track ‘So Happy’, with the vocals playfully dipping in and out of soft purrs and high-pitched yelps. Laura Jean’s voice is diverse, easily transitioning from delicate, soft whispers to whimsical trills and then onto mighty shrieks, often all in the same song. The biting ‘Australia’ is another example of this; it creeps along despondently (“I’m afraid to sing in my own accent, culture cringing like an adolescent”) and as the drums take a beating, the vocals rise to fiery shouts (“We come from people that broke the law, now I need a stamped piece of paper to take a piss”) only to quickly return to a smooth warble.
First single ‘Missing You’ has a melancholic beauty to the ballad, and ‘Valenteen’ is completely mesmeric. ‘Spring’ comprises a duet between Laura and Paddy Mann, which starts oh-so-delicately before the full strength of the vocals rise over the accompanying strings, triumphantly ending in some pretty impressive vocal gymnastics. ‘Marry Me’ is classical folk-pop at its prettiest, high spirited and packed full of instruments (violin, cello and clarinet in addition to the work of the trio).
‘My Song’ is charmingly child-like with its nonsensical lyrics, and is almost old fashioned sounding due to the delicate vocal melodies of Magic Silver White’s Jojo Petrina and Monica Sonand. Just as you feel you’re about to be lured into The Secret Garden, final track ‘All Along’ comes along; a much more straight forward pop song.
A Fool Who’ll succeeds in putting together nine songs which are interestingly diverse, yet all equally strong. There’s no filler, and that is something quite rare indeed. Laura Jean’s gorgeous voice and strong range is well matched by her band and their new electric approach, resulting in an album that’s both dynamic and sweet.
-- http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-artic ... oll-185637
av OliT » 2011-12-26 19:45
Ännu ett band inom den belästa halvt elektroniska indiepop som svenskar varit världsmästare på det senaste decenniet, men som inte hade varit något alls utan närstudier av engelska 80-talsförebilder? Japp.
Men det är något mer med Azure Blue. De är konsekvent ett snäpp mjukare, även i uptempolåtarna, än både förebilder och samtida kolleger: Man kan framför sig se hur skivomslagets svala vågor inte slår utan liksom mjukt lägger sig mot stranden. Och det doftar här och där av en gnutta vit 80-talssoul, till och med av The Lightning Seeds och Alphaville, vilket känns märkligt bra. Och Tobias Isaksson sjunger mjukt som om hopplösheten bär ett litet leende, eller i alla fall en acceptans: ”Tja, så här blekt blev livet och det är väl okej.” Och man blir faktiskt lite lycklig av att lyssna på det här.
av FalloutBoy » 2011-12-28 19:04
OliT skrev:Mycket bra svenskt från Tobias Isaksson (tidigare Irene). "The Shore" och "Catcher in the Rye" är grymma.
Balmorhea would make the perfect score to an introspective and desperate western. In their music you can feel the wind blowing the loose, dusty earth against your cheek as the sun beats on your face. There’s also a sense of loneliness and a wild beauty in between the rising strings and storms of percussion, like this might be what you hear as you take your last breath in the open air. For a great visualization of their music, find the video for All Is Wild, All Is Silent, which was shot by filmmaker Jared Hogan (who also used the footage in his short film The Earth in the Air).
Many of the tracks which make up their latest offering, a live recording from Ghent, Belgium called Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk, are taken from All Is Wild, including “Coahuila,” “Truth,” and “November 1, 1832.” The recording’s opener, “Settler,” which also happens to open All Is Wild, is nothing short of moving. It’s a lengthy track that takes the listener through all of the peaks and troughs one would hope to expect from a track plump with emotion. And, the church where the show was recorded has such a massive, natural echo of a sound that it accents the song and the rest of the instrumental ensemble’s set divinely.
An impressive aspect of Balmorhea’s music is their use of minimalism, bringing a sense of poised and emotionally rich calmness in replace of just appeasing impatience with a wall of sound. Tracks like “To the Order of Night,” also found on Constellations, is one of the group’s most moving songs in their arsenal. The hum of the strings ebb and flow, allowing for subtle sounds like sparse piano twinkles to puncture through, which are pulled forth in this recording in sparkling clarity. The new track on Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk, “Untitled,” is up to par with their previous numbers, but leaves you wishing you were there to hear the music bounding off the stone walls of the church engulfed in sound.
-- http://austinist.com/2011/09/09/album_r ... at_sin.php
av ChristianAndersson » 2011-12-28 20:04
-eav zidanefromhell » 2012-01-01 22:29
av FalloutBoy » 2012-01-03 19:19
The making of a great album has everything to do with timing, and songwriter Tamara Lindeman's second release as The Weather Station was caught at just the right moment. After several unsuccessful studio sessions, Lindeman made the wise choice to put her new record in the hands of fellow Canadian songster Daniel Romano. Together, in the comfort of Romano's home studio, they worked through the songs one by one, arranged on the spot, and recorded without hesitancy. Several days passed, studio tracks completely scrapped, and All of It Was Mine was complete.
Without pressure and studio expectations, the album was given room to reveal itself naturally, finding a warmth and power within the simplicity of well written folk songs. Tamara Lindeman's intimate style breathes new life into singer-songwriter folk music. Like a conversation with a close friend, her voice speaks gently and with clarity over each track, sharing vivid stories of home and idyllic summer settings. That's not to say Daniel Romano didn't masterfully craft some great moments in production – because he most certainly did – but for the most part, minus a few stray electric guitars, snare drums, and vocal harmonies, All of It Was Mine is a collection of spontaneous, understated perfection.
-- http://www.naturalbeardy.com/2011/08/we ... -mine.html
av FalloutBoy » 2012-01-03 19:34
The very best type of pop music is the kind that mixes sweetness and light with dissonance and darkness, the sort which injects a perfectly addictive harmony with something sadder, stranger. Think of the gloomy melodrama of “Tell Laura I Love Her”, which kickstarted the “teenage tragedy song” craze in the 60’s, the bleak farewell of “Seasons In the Sun” in the 70’s, even The Smiths’ “Girlfriend in a Coma” in the 80’s – all meltingly beautiful melodies with something considerably darker lurking at its heart; the black cloud on a summer’s day; the bruise on a perfect face. It is a long and storied lineage, and one which London four-piece Veronica Falls are quite happy fitting into. “We love bands like Beat Happening, Velvet Underground, Galaxie 500 and Felt, but we also love over-emotionalism”, says drummer Patrick Doyle. “We all originally bonded over the sinister sides to love songs from the 50’s and 60’s”.
Welcome to the slanted and enchanted world of Veronica Falls, where serendipity, subversion, providence, and a shared love for Roky Erickson’s worldview all have a crucial part to play. Initially forming two years ago when Doyle and Roxanne Clifford (guitars, vocals) moved to London from Glasgow and met James Hoare (also on guitars and vocals) through mutual friends, the band ended up in a friend’s studio in Hoxton, where free downtime enabled them to develop songs at their leisure. From then on, the band have undoubtedly had a charmed existence. How else to explain how they ended up playing their first ever show with critically lauded indie rockers Pains of Being Pure at Heart, or, indeed, how they recruited bassist Marion Herbain, who was a friend from Glasgow who only learnt to play the bass when she was asked to join the band
It is this lucky streak which also saw them being snapped up by Mike Sniper, the head of revered New York label Captured Tracks, a scant 10 minutes after they put their MySpace page up. “He got in touch with us so we thought why not”, Hoare recalls. “We liked a few bands on his label so that helped too”. Doyle agrees: “It felt like a natural home for our first single”. The single in question, “Found Love In a Graveyard”, is a singalong slice of deliciously morbid pop, the breezy harmonies and chant-along choruses slyly belying the off-kilter undercurrent of falling in love with a ghost, and neatly set the tone for what was to follow – instantly addictive pop songs streaked with shades of grey. Subsequent singles on tastemaking labels such as No Pain in Pop and Trouble Records cemented their arrival on the music scene, winning plaudits from the likes of Clash, NME, Stool Pigeon and Loud and Quiet, among others.
A series of live shows through Europe and the US, including a fondly remembered SXSW stint this year (“We played one show outside a family run bike shop in the car park in the blazing sun which was a definite highlight”, Hoare says) have punctuated the recording of their debut album, which originally began as a “doomed residency at a studio in Yorkshire” where they locked themselves away for two weeks in deepest, darkest winter with little contact with the outside world, before the band scrapped the sessions entirely to re-record the songs in 3 days in London. “The previous session ultimately sounded overproduced”, Hoare explains. “We ended up recording live, and it was this old fashioned method which captured the sound and feel of the band more accurately”.
The resultant record is one which nails the band’s quietly dissident colours firmly and vividly to the mast. Fans may already be familiar with the likes of “Graveyard” and the galloping Dick Dale meets Nico surf rocker “Beachy Head” (an ode, naturally, to the infamous suicide hotspot), but also present and correct is an expanded sound and emotional palette only hinted at in the past – albeit one which is always grounded in the shadows . “Right Side Of My Brain” is a snarling and vicious beast, all sharp hooks and barbed wire, while “The Fountain” is more gloriously morose yet achingly beautiful pop, with these duelling contrasts reaching its gorgeous epitome on the astonishing “Misery”, as Clifford sings, “Misery/ It’s got a hold of me/ misery/ my old friend” while, all around her, melting harmonies and chiming guitars ring out, before ending abruptly in an eerie verse sung entirely acapella. Elsewhere, the brightly scrubbed “Stephen” may be one of the most touching declarations of friendship ever, while “The Box” is a bona fide indie anthem in the making. Finally, “Come On Over” makes for a poignant album closer, with its simple yet affecting refrain of “Hey, it’s getting colder/ come on over/ until the summer/ until we’re older”. With their debut album, Veronica Falls have crafted a brilliantly concise, superbly concentrated hit of spiky, marvellously contagious indie pop with a twist – these are songs which will lodge themselves in your head as well as your heart, with style and attitude to burn. Not that the band are content to rest on their laurels – they’re already starting work on a second album, which they say has them more excited than anything else right now. If it is anything like this album, we have a lot of reason to get excited as well.
-- http://www.bellaunion.com/index.php/site/artists/
av FalloutBoy » 2012-01-03 19:39
Ethereal melancholia: sluggish anti-speed delirium, warped in a baritone, empyrean wonderland of instrumental, Scandinavian simplicity. That is Danish-band ‘Chimes & Bells’: a twisted liquorish all-sort of ‘Flashy Python’ meets ‘The XX’, where even the euphemisms dark-chocolate or espresso-black pale in comparison to its pessimistic undercurrent of complete and utter darkness. ‘Interpol’, eat your heart out.
With my insatiable hankering for something bluesy surprisingly satisfied, I return to Highly Evolved after nearly a month of soul-searching midst assignments with an album I just can’t seem to put down. Their official, self-titled debut emerges after their critically acclaimed EP, “Into Pieces Of Wood”, successfully released ‘09 to ever-growing recognition and positive-reception. Debut-comparisons are the likes of ‘Tame Impala’ (“Innerspeaker“), with a refined calibre of uncategorical style and technique. While the overused tag of indie fails to encompass even the slightest margin of ‘Chimes & Bells’, it is similarly rash to singularly suggest either alternative, rock or even post-rock in its place. For at times, it will be all of these things, and then none of these things; a mixture of conflicting acoustical/electrical instrumentation – guitar, percussion, synth, saxophone and string are only the beginning. To listen is to shoegaze: drift across the room as a ghostly astral projection pinned helplessly against the wall. Those optimists still teddy-hugging their pillows to sleep best turn away, for ‘Chimes & Bells’ is anything but happy…
Cæcilie Trier, twenty-six-year-old Danish multi-instrumentalist, is the architect behind ‘Chimes & Bells’, previously a part of such bands as ‘Le Fiasko’ and ‘Choir Of Young Believers’. Spearheading vocals, Trier is like an antimatter Florence Welsh from “Florence + The Machine”. A ten-piece band in all, consisting of: Hans Emil Hansen, Jeppe Brix Sørensen, Silas Tinglef Hageman, Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, Jaleh Negari, Jakob Falgren, Jeppe Skjold, Sonja LaBianca and Maja Zander.
Just shy of the forty-minute mark, “Chimes & Bells” is teasingly short, but nevertheless enjoyable – without distasteful fillers. Instead, a rather filling eight-track listing averaging around four- to six-minutes each. Whether it’s the minimalistic approach towards instrumental-coupling, guitar and saxophone, percussion and guitar, or simply Trier herself with everything else conspiring together in unity, nothing seems overdone, outdrawn or oversimplified.
The tracks resemble melodramatic sludge, oozing and ebbing with tidal angst and malevolent undertones; where pace seems underdog to gargantuan displays of exhaustive lethargy. The dominance of Trier on vocals, in tandem with an almost unyielding combination of guitar-percussion duets, manifest throughout the album in one form or another. Lyrically, words are predominantly distorted in a thick haze of synth, while vocals are resonantly-airy. Its bluesy-jazzy atmosphere reeks of solitude, of late-night wanderings through the underground, a manifesto of the shadow. While their unique flavour remains unvarying within each song – enough to allow a casual bleed from one track to the next seamlessly – it is not enough to impact on their individuality. And being characteristically monotone in effect, crescendos are rounded to the consistency of a dull roar.
“The Mole” opens for “Chimes & Bells” with a relatively hushed beginning, reduced to the skeletal bonds between Trier, the solo hum of an impending synth-scape and the occasional sound of glass bells tolling. The introduction of string conforms the urgency within the vocals into an understated crescendo where everything else just sort of tumbles into place at 1:52. The electro-acoustical harmonies flow effortlessly together, bleeding out and into “Reasons”, where the ethnic, Asian-qualities of a mandolin help to offset Trier in a sort of role-reversing lead. When drum-kit percussion appears at 2:02, the track peaks slightly – and like “The Mole”, everything just eases into place without much need for an explosion. Then this couplet ends, dying away in place of “The Dot” which starts this elegant process all over again.
Tracks like “This Far” and “Do The Right” feature dominating guitar riffs in a simplistic style akin to ‘Interpol’ – their integrity is held together through tidy riffs altering scale but not form. Solos are in turn sacrificed for this repetitive order, and instead act like keynotes or signifiers for ease of recognisability. This same attribute is then turned on its head, following the end of “Do The Right” where saxophones play off one another leading up to “Pool”, where the guitar dominates in a particularly beautiful solo, descending through an effortless string of notes.
“Lashes”, finale for “Chimes & Bells”, is similarly timid and withdrawn in nature. Trier features more explicitly, surrounded less-so by her instruments during speech than previous, which are left to reinforce her breaks. Its miniature crescendos are really the only place where they combine more avidly. But it isn’t enough to look at this track as an ending for “Chimes & Bells” – because of its tracks’ (overall) well-rounded construction – any one of them could be a beginning, and just the same, an end.
What frightens me the most is that this astoundingly brilliant debut had the potential to slip through my fingers unnoticed; I just happened to stumble upon it by accident. And while I wish there was more that “Chimes & Bells” could offer, I write this review wholeheartedly satisfied because of its rewarding impact. I cannot underline its faults, but I think I’ve boot-licked it enough. It is simply epic…
-- http://highlyevolvedau.wordpress.com/20 ... mes-bells/
av sprudel » 2012-01-09 00:18
Koffe skrev:Vänner,
Nu var det länge sedan jag skrev i den här tråden. Mycket ursäkt. Jag skall försöka kompensera.
Jag börjar med en av min absoluta favoritskivor just nu. Genialisk. Brutalt vacker. Om alla skivor vore så här bra så vore världen en bättre plats.
av brumel » 2012-01-20 22:00
av FalloutBoy » 2012-01-26 19:55
Designed to be intentionally played at random, "The Spectrum of Distraction" is 96 tracks spanning a vast array of genres, creating a completely unique yet rewarding listen each time. Baker solicited drum tracks from 18 different drummers (including current and former members of SWANS, THE JESUS LIZARD, SLOWDIVE, KILLING JOKE, GODFLESH, JESU and more) which he then crafted instrumental work atop of.
In regards to constructing the album, Baker said,
"Originally I was going to stick pretty strictly to Zappa's 'xenochrony' idea of randomly putting pieces of instruments together, so that the drums, bass, and guitar would be recorded separately and then pieced together to see what came out. In the end, because of some different times and textures, instead of taking individual drum loops, I just used the entire track and recorded to everything I got."
Six hours of material was the result, of which Baker then pieced down to two hours across the pair of discs. Thematically complimented by a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style layout, an extended session of the full recordings is also included as an digital download card.
With organizing the playback of the release, Baker had the following to say:
"I structured it so that it would be a different listen every time... A couple of people that I sent it to ... let it shuffle between the two separate discs and not just the one disc. That's yet another possibility... They can listen to it as sequenced if they want, too. I set it up to have some kind of flow that way, but it's up to the listener, really. "
-- http://roboticempirenews.blogspot.com/2 ... nuary.html
av FalloutBoy » 2012-01-27 17:44
Vantzou will be known to some for being within the Kranky and Sparklehorse fraternities, connected with Adam Wiltzie via their collaboration 'The Dead Texan' (also releasing on Kranky) and more recently through creating the cover art for Wiltzie's work with Dustin O'Halloran as 'A Winged Victory for the Sullen'. Three years in the making, No.1 has more akin with Stars of the Lid, or Brian McBrides' The Effective Disconnect than Winged Victory, if we were to make comparisons. The wider spread of instrumentation makes for a less intimate, more cinematic feel but no less emotionally intense. Fans of Kyle Bobby Dunn also will find much hear to fall in love with.
The first moments of opener 'Homemade Mountains' (which was available ahead of release) sets the album off in a beautifully considered stasis, 'Prelude for Juan' however steps out of this mould, boldly incorporating an uneasiness that disallows us from simply letting the music pass us by. Rendered with strings, lonely horns, clarinets and hollow grating synthesisers; cavernous noise evolves with a seismic churning, like slate grey seas, broken only by the white crests of the waves.
Super Interlude Pt1 provides an [almost] solo horn introduction to its second part, before the charmingly delicate 'Small Choir' creates its warming ambience - its nice to hear the bass end used so well to deliver a well rounded sound. 'And Instantly Take Effect' segues between notes, string noises adding atmosphere, a rush of wind. All becomes clear - Vantzou channels the gentleness and power of nature through these pieces. - the majesty of the sea, richness of autumn colours, and locates us within the real world. Before we know it Joggers is playing, ending the album.
Full of expansive string swells that will render the heart both still and moved. Moments of clarity emerge from mists of feelings of being lost. Vantzou knows how to create beautiful harmonies by dovetailing phrases into each other; be that singular notes/drones or slow melodies. The production on the instruments is left for the most part open, allowing the richness to build and embody the emotion. If ever there was an album to soundtrack Autumn, this is it.
-- http://www.futuresequence.com/article/c ... tzou-no-1/
av shifts » 2012-02-02 11:10
av FalloutBoy » 2012-02-07 18:51
shifts skrev:Mark van Hoen - The Revenant Diary (Editions Mego)
av FalloutBoy » 2012-02-07 19:00
For their first album, Unison members Julien Camarena and Melanie Moran have conjured up a highly unique music, made of dark layered sounds that pulsate their way through waking dreams. They have hit a strange and powerful sonic vein that connects them to a secret place deep in France's electrified soul. Unrelenting beats and waves of guitar tracks by Camarena are met by the siren-like voice of Moran, irresistably calling out from this haunted whirlwind.
-- http://lentonia.com/shop.html
av FalloutBoy » 2012-02-07 19:09
A Pennsylvanian by birth, Keith Kenniff is best known as the brains behind dulcet ambient / electronic practitioners Helios, and the fingers on the ivories of post-classical piano minimalists Goldmund (whose music was once described by Ryuichi Sakamoto as “so, so, so beautiful”).
Keith’s music has been used on the soundtrack to Harmony Korine’s 2007 comedy-drama ‘Mister Lonely’ and on the trailer for the 2009 Academy Award-nominated ‘Revolutionary Road’, directed by Sam Mendes.
‘Branches’ sounds like a journey that ebbs and flows through a wondrous forest, accelerating and slowing up to reveal beauty in all its little nooks and crannies.
The album is a haunting and beautiful work that will appeal to fans of Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nils Frahm and Hauschka.
-- http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/produc ... 80801.html
av FalloutBoy » 2012-02-13 17:42
The shimmering sound of Sharon Van Etten's Jagjaguwar debut album, Tramp, both defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux. Throughout the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Van Etten was without a home -- crashing with friends and storing her possessions between varied locations. The only constant in Van Etten's life during this time was spent in Aaron Dessner's garage studio.
A two year journey brought her to that point of instability. Upon the release of epic (Ba Da Bing; 2010), Sharon Van Etten surprised the music world with a touching embrace. Having established herself as a reliable performer around New York, and coming off the release of her spartan first effort, Because I Was In Love (Language of Stone; 2009), Van Etten created a short album of diverse songs connected by a shared goal of expanded sound and her unmistakable voice. Fans quickly picked favorites, discovered their choices changing, then changing yet again. That is the magic of epic; the intricate, understated record covered so much ground within its 33 minutes, it required more than an initial half hour to absorb. Since epic's release, she has opened the Pitchfork Music Festival, played The Hollywood Bowl with Neko Case and at Radio City Music Hall with The Antlers, sung on new records for Beirut and Ed Askew, and collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Megafaun on the Songs Of The South project.
Dessner, a member of The National, heard Van Etten early on, and in collaboration with Justin Vernon, performed a cover of "Love More" at the 2010 MusicNow Festival in Cincinnati. Van Etten heard about this and contacted him. Almost immediately they formed plans to work together, with Dessner offering both a location for Van Etten to record new songs, as well as the opinions of a wise producer.
Now, one year later, Van Etten unveils Tramp, an album showcasing an artist in full control of her powers. Tramp contains as much striking rock (the precise venom of "Serpents," the overwhelming power of "Ask"), as pious, minimal beauty (the earnest solemnity of "All I Can," the breathtaking "Kevins," "Joke or a Lie"); it can be as emotionally combative ("Give Out") as it can sultry ("Magic Chords"). Contributions from Matt Barrick (Walkmen), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Julianna Barwick, and Dessner himself add a glowing sheen to the already substantial offering.
Van Etten has traveled far, and if her displacement took an emotional toll, she offset those setbacks with a powerfully articulated vision. And so, once again, each listener will discover their own moments along the way, and the debates as to the best song start anew.
-- http://jagjaguwar.com/onesheet.php?cat=JAG201
av FalloutBoy » 2012-02-21 18:01
Sleigh Bells arrived fully formed with blunt rock riffs, crunk beats, and airy, feminine vocals. Their debut, Treats, may be the first record to fetishize the negative consequences of the Loudness War, with guitarist and producer Derek E. Miller pushing an already bombastic sound to absurd extremes by deliberately narrowing the music's dynamic range to the point of clipping even at moderate volumes. Treats owes its greatness to its simple, direct hooks, but the band's overly hot recordings were also thrilling in that they tapped into our positive associations with cranking stereos up to the maximum volume because we loved what we were hearing.
Sleigh Bells' second album, Reign of Terror, is plenty loud, but it doesn't rely on this volume trick. Instead, the duo emphasizes the delicate elements of their sound that mostly got crowded out in the midrange of Treats' speaker-melting din. Alexis Krauss, the former teen-pop singer turned punk-rock badass, is foregrounded throughout the record, and her roots in Clinton-era bubblegum are more fully integrated with Miller's heavy riffing. The beats are less indebted to hip-hop this time around and the guitar parts have gone full-on metal, alternating between elemental AC/DC-like hooks and late-80s harmonics.
Reign of Terror is a brash, hyperactive set of songs, but Miller and Krauss' synthesis of disparate strands is exceptionally graceful, with traditionally macho and girly sounds flowing together seamlessly in dynamic, often ecstatic pop tunes. They refine their take on girl-group pop and cheerleader chants on "Leader of the Pack" and "Crush", and set shoegazer swooning to machine-gun drum fills on "Born to Lose". More impressively, Krauss' melodies somersault over Miller's waves of alt-rock buzz guitar and colorful keyboards on "Comeback Kid", and they fully commit to the gentle, sentimental melodies of "End of the Line" without compromising their noisy aesthetic. "You Lost Me", one of three consecutive songs that lean hard on metal harmonics at the end of the set, is straight-up gorgeous, with layers of clean notes, slow-motion drones, and breathy coos building to a headbanging catharsis.
Sleigh Bells pull off this more sophisticated and nuanced approach without calling attention to their improved craft or maturity. They remain obsessed with overwhelming their audience with excitement and pleasure, and their heaviest moments on Reign of Terror eclipse those on Treats. "Demons", the record's fist-pumping centerpiece, is an adrenaline rush sustained over three minutes, with Krauss affecting her most sinister tone above an overpowering riff straight out of the (original) "Beavis and Butt-Head" series. Miller has mastered the big dumb riff, but his arrangements are full of subtle touches that embellish and reinforce the bludgeoning attack of his chords. All through Reign of Terror, he and Krauss hit upon an ideal balance of texture and simplicity, expanding on their basic formula without losing any of their direct, unfussy charm.
The band makes such incredibly physical music that the lyrics would seem to be beside the point, but it's notable that so many songs on both records are fixated on winning and losing. This isn't a surprise, really-- given the triumphant sound of this music, what else would you want to sing over it? Krauss often sings from the perspective of a supportive confidant, offering a sweet pep talk on "Comeback Kid", or empathizing with a friend's suicidal thoughts on "Born to Lose". She spends a good chunk of Reign of Terror dwelling on the aftermath of violence and tragedy, seeking out ways of coping, moving on, and thriving despite the chaos. Themes of suicide pop up throughout the album, climaxing with "You Lost Me", which seems to be at least partly inspired by a pair of Nevada teens who attempted suicide while listening to Judas Priest in 1985. (One survived and their parents famously sued the band.) Krauss avoids moralizing on the subject, opting instead to project understanding and concern. In a small way, her approach is refreshing and subversive-- this sort of aggressive, over-the-top rock is traditionally a vehicle for narcissism, but she invests this music with kind-hearted concern for others.
-- http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/162 ... of-terror/
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