Cyclic Defrost

Delicate Noise – Filmezza (Lens Records)

2010-03-12T22:57:29Z

Opening with a track of wonked out scale modulations, which in another time would be termed psychedelic, Delicate Noise introduces Filmezza. Then brashly into handclaps, child wonder at butterflys, synth circular brightness and laid back drum patterns. ‘Butterfly envy’, so described, entertains the childs relation with natural beauty to be that of wonder and beauty, while reviewing the interplay as a psych state laced with a seed of perdition. These ideas are continued in Roundlake park with interactions with environments being the order of the day, lush waterscapes and ambient park recordings hang on strings and drum patterns.

Mark Andrushko makes much of the ‘warmth’ of vintage synths, and plays the psych edge up, with a hint of menace, at the edge. A kind of tripped out Hitchcock of electronica presenting darkly bright melodies, even in ‘Pheremone’ an echo of children’s rhymes undercut the nostalgia with hushed scattered murmurs of a child’s sinister collusion. Yet I listen to the construction of the sinister.

Also there are just genuinely interesting experiments, ‘Deluxer’, contains resonant chimes and staccato typewriter beats. Akin to telephone static and interrupts, sampled and tooled up into shapely slaps in the face, deftly changing pace to undermine your expectations.

It is only the loose weave of sample and instrument that arrests development in this album. Often it sounds as if Andrushko plays to and around the samples. ‘Beware of digital children’, the albums highpoint of the child’s voice, as ambivalent wonder/sinister, has moments of presenting itself as a gimmick. This works against the sophistication of the construction even though it continues an underlying theme of the album. This quibble aside Filemezza is definitely a fine ambient electronica album with the residue of Boards of Canada listening dripping from it and steeped with psyched out glitch laden atmosphere.

Innerversitysound

Delicate Noise – Filmezza (Lens Records) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Mr Cloudy – Sensitive Crop (Rednetic)

2010-03-12T06:54:32Z

As Mr Cloudy, Russian techno producer Sergey Barkalov has previously released tracks on netlabels such as Deepindub and Kyoto_Digital, and this latest contribution to Rednetic’s ultra-limited techno-oriented 3” CDR series follows on the heels of his recent Different Lives remix collection for Shoreless Recordings. ‘Excursion’ opens proceedings by throwing the listener straight down into cavernous dub-techno as dry, sharp-focus snares and ticking hi-hats trace a percussive outline around vast, echoing dubbed out tones and ratcheting cut-up rhythmic fragments, in an inspired offering that owes more than a bit to Rhythm & Sound’s sculpted dub-techno template.

‘Therefrom’ meanwhile rouses the mood out of its smoked out fugue, ushering in buzzing, reverberating dancehall-inflected synths as rattling snares inject some additional dancefloor swing, before ‘Datura’ sees Barkalov removing the beats entirely, in favour of an ambient glide through blissful synth washes and distantly rumbling sub-bass grooves that manages to introduce just the right hint of unease at its very edges. Lastly, ‘Dry Breakfasts’ fuses scattered, rattling broken techno rhythms and fractured synth stabs to a heartbeat-like bass pulse, gradually reducing them into a ricocheting rhythmic wash with some judicious use of dub delay. While there are perhaps few surprises to be found here, this certainly sees Mr Cloudy offering up an impressive contribution to Rednetic’s characteristically strong 3” CDR series.

Chris Downton

Mr Cloudy – Sensitive Crop (Rednetic) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Denim Owl – The Dream Pocket (Special Award)

2010-03-11T00:10:56Z

Melbourne-based band Denim Owl represents the alternate guise of Janita Foley and Aleks Bryant of Aleks and The Ramps fame and sees them veering away from the indie rock stylings of their ‘main’ group, instead venturing out into dreamy downtempo pop coloured with the haze of reverb and vintage keyboards/electronics. This debut five track EP on Dan Lewis’ Special Award label represents their first recorded output, following their national tour last November as support to Maximo Park. From the very outset here, there’s certainly an emphasis on textural lushness whether in the case of Foley’s vocals, which come coated with an almost Hope Sandoval-esque level of gauzy reverb, or in the case of the ‘kitchen sink’ approach to instrumentation, which sees kalimba and even a choir making an appearance on the delicate, Spanish guitar-tinged ‘Kitten Gloves.’

Opening track ‘Fantasy Dog Sled With A Man’s Head’ certainly aptly sets the scene, with retro clicking drum machines providing a backdrop for Foley’s gauzy chanteuse tones, before live drums arrive to take things off in a far more jaunty pop direction that calls to mind one of Stereolab’s synth-drenched skiffle-pop explorations. Elsewhere, ‘Chattering Face (When The Hammock Hits Quartz)’ sees banjos lurking alongside clicking rhythms and swelling organ tones in what’s easily this EP’s most beautifully understated moment, providing a slight slowcore bluesgrass-y edge to Foley’s vocal that melts perfectly into ‘Red Leather’s collision of ebbing analogue keys, strummed melancholic guitars and yearning lyrics. An impressive debut EP that’s well worth exploring.

Chris Downton

Denim Owl – The Dream Pocket (Special Award) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Tiago Sousa and João Correia – Insomnia (Humming Conch)

2010-03-10T04:27:39Z

Strange contrasts abound on this recording by Portugese pianist and composer Tiago Sousa, founder of the now-defunct Merzbau label, and drummer Joao Correira. Mastered by digital perfectionist Taylor Deupree, ‘Insonia’ nonetheless retains a slapdash bedroom aesthetic, and the music itself veers from jangly post-rock through wispy neo-classical and even flamenco, without raising too many eyebrows. Correira favours a rattly pots and pans approach; Sousa also plays guitar and organ, and they’re joined on a few tracks by Ricardo Ribeiro on clarinet.

This range of styles is apparent on opening ‘Movimento’, as Sousa moves from patient block chords on piano then onto Spanish guitar flurries, before the drums start kicking us into Chicago territory. ‘Pendulo’ explores pretty melodic phrases reminiscent of Sakamoto’s vision of Satie, while ‘Foula Cadouca’ interrupts the introductory hymn-like dirge with pacy Middle Eastern clarinet runs. The rich organ throb which underlies final ‘Surrealismo Impressionista’ is particularly efffective, with the wind trio lazily improvising over the top like an amateur version of The Necks. Here, Sousa and Correira’s restless approach shows promise, but it generally proves frustrating, it being difficult to catch their fleeting, or fleet-footed, ideas.

Joshua Meggitt

Tiago Sousa and João Correia – Insomnia (Humming Conch) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Ninca Leece – There Is No One Else When I Lay Down And Dream (Bureau B/Inertia)

2010-03-10T02:18:07Z

There Is No One Else When I Lay Down And Dream is the type of understated album that gently ingrains itself into your subconscious in a manner that I thoroughly enjoy. Yes, there’s pop hooks and interesting production, but ultimately its the rhythmic sense that filters into physical consciousness, bypassing the mind to work directly on the nervous system, like good dance music always does.

Ninca Leece is originally French but now resides in Germany via The Netherlands. Her subtly accented vocals and delivery bring to mind obvious forebears such as Björk (her penchant for elaborate costume in performance reinforcing this link), but the music lies elsewhere. Leece utilises the timbres of German minimalist techno and deep house, but with a variety of light and shade creating a more dynamic mood befitting song-based structures. This tends to stray towards the more overground end of the spectrum like Booka Shade or lesser known luminaries like Pupkullies and Rebecca. So expect to hear lots of tiny shards of sound standing in the place of hi-hats and snares, glitched electronic fragments creating syncopation, repetitive, deep basslines and stray synth whines floating overhead. And, above all, a 4/4 kick pulse which is never obnoxious, but constantly moving. Over the course of 50 odd minutes, the effect is to create a gently pulsing ebb to wash around you and carry you along.

Lyrically, Leece doesn’t stray too far from the sensual, befitting the history of this type of music. “When I touch your skin again/I disappear, disappear/When I smell your skin gain/I surrender, surrender”, she coos in ‘Division’. It’s typical of the entire album and, admittedly, sounds trite on paper. But Leece’s delivery never strays into the tacky, so the lyrics become a reinforcement of the brooding of the music, not a distraction. This is merely heightened when she reverts to her native French on tracks like ‘The Beast’ and ‘Aseptique’. Her gently glitched cover of The Cure’s ‘Lovesong’ fits in perfectly and gives an idea of the musical and lyrical obsessions Leece mines in her own songs.

There Is No One Else When I Lay Down And Dream is not going to break wide open the possibilities for the future of music, but it doesn’t aim to do so. But it does aim to use established formats in order to move you, and does so very successfully, with joyful playfulness.

Adrian Elmer

Ninca Leece – There Is No One Else When I Lay Down And Dream (Bureau B/Inertia) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Raoul Sinier – Tremens Industry (Ad Noiseam)

2010-03-10T04:26:10Z

It’s been scarcely a year since Parisian electronic producer / visual artist Raoul Sinier released his Brain Kitchen album and its accompanying Huge Samurai Radish remix collection on Ad Noiseam, but this follow-up Tremens Industry, his fourth album in total, represents a considerably different proposition. While Brain Kitchen saw Sinier out to scramble the listener’s synapses with some of his most complex and highly-edited productions to date, the thirteen tracks on Tremens Industry see him aiming more towards constructing actual ’songs’, with the aid of his self-constructed guitar (whose construction is documented on the accompanying DVD), drums and other live instrumentation. It’s an approach that results in a refreshing new level of warmth and accessibility, where Sinier’s previous works have sometimes been more cold and forebidding, and indeed all of the tracks collected here carry an emotional tone to them often missing amongst Brain Kitchen’s digital hyper-dexterity.

After opening track ‘Overthoughts’ sees Sinier venturing out towards Vangelis-esque territory with an epic-sounding synth overture that continually builds amidst myriad layers of arpeggios, ‘The Hole’ offers a perfect introduction to his newfound sonic aesthetic, with Sinier’s own vocals providing a fitting counterpoint to the crashing live breaks and cinematic keyboard arrangements that spiral beneath – indeed, it’s easily one of the most impressive moments to be found here. Elsewhere, ‘List Of Things’ harks back to Sinier’s more hiphop-centred ‘Wxfdswxc2′ album with its rhythmic base of cut-up MC samples, but in this case things take on a far more gothy flavour as Sinier counts of a list of dark-sounding items amidst funereal organ tones. That said however, Sinier’s increased emphasis on emotional progressions occasionally proves to be something of a two-edged sword here – while the likes of ‘Alternative Rush’ and ‘Boxes’ see him crafting epic, heart-swelling synthetic landscapes in a similar vein to Plaid, there’s a frequent sense of tension being generated with little pay-off or real resolution. Perhaps though, that’s just what Sinier wants, and with a collection this sonically impressive, he’s probably entitled to it. The accompanying DVD is certainly no less tasty, containing over two hours worth of Sinier’s excellent and frequently disturbing animations, as well as several documentaries.

Chris Downton

Raoul Sinier – Tremens Industry (Ad Noiseam) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

“Latter Lady Day” International Working Women’s Day Special – Extended Playlist 080310 – www.2ser.com 107.3FM

2010-03-09T12:12:19Z

This week we celebrate International Working Women’s Day with a cavalcade of fab female electronic artists, aided and abetted by sister singers from farther flung walks of musical life.

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More themes for future shows, please, or feedback or indecent proposals, at your leisure . . . to extendedplay@2ser.com .
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# > Australian artist or release
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Tartit – Tihar Bayatin
(“The Festival In The Desert” compilation – 2003, Triban Union)

Björk – Pearl
(“The Music From Matthew Barney’s Drawing Restraint 9” – 2005, One Little Indian)

Kate Bush – Sat In Your Lap
(“The Dreaming” – 1982, EMI)

The Creatures – But Not Them (John Peel 10/2/81)
(“At The BBC” 3xCD+DVD compilation – 2008, Polydor) (recorded 1981)

Xmal Deutschland – Qual
(“Fetisch” – 1983, 4AD)

Ideal – Eiszeit
(“Der Ernst des Lebens” – 1981, WEA)

Danielle Dax – The Spoil Factor
(“Jesus Egg That Wept” – 1984, Awesome/Biter Of Thorpe)

Juana Molina – Sonamos
(“Segundo” – 2000, Domino)

Julia Holter – Measure What More
(“4 Women No Cry: Vol. 3” compilation – 2008, Monika)

Romica Puceanu & The Gore Brothers – Inima Suparacioasa
(“Sounds From A Bygone Age. Vol 2” – 2006, Asphalt Tango) (recorded 1960s)

Dead Can Dance – Carnival Of Light
(“Garden Of The Arcane Delights” 12inchEP – 1984, 4AD) #

Buffalo Daughter – Pshychic A-Go-Go
(“Pshychic” – 2003, V2)

Kevin Blechdom – Da Barbershop
(“Your Butt E.P.” mini-album – 2002, Dudini)

Amanda Stewart – Postiche
(“I/T Selected Poems” CD+book – 1998, split) (recorded 1993) #

Chrystal Belle Scrodd – Riding the Red Rag
(“Belle de Jour” – 1986, United Dairies)

The Slits – Love und Romance
(“Cut” – 1979, Island)

Liliput – Türk
(“Liliput” 2xCD – 2001, Kill Rock Stars) (recorded live 1980)

Trio Bulgarka – Sedyankata ye na razvala
(“The Forest Is Crying (Lament for Indje Voivode)” – 1988, Hannibal)

Sorrow – Loki And Evil
(“Under The Yew Possessed” – 1993, Piski Disk)

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# > Australian artist or release
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Do you like our playlists?
>Produce your own music?
>>Send us your demos:
ollo/Extended Play
PO Box 292
Enmore NSW 2042
Australia

“Latter Lady Day” International Working Women’s Day Special – Extended Playlist 080310 – www.2ser.com 107.3FM is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Badawi – El Topo (Index)

2010-03-07T11:56:25Z

New release on Badawi’s own new Index imprint, this 12” is Raz Mesinai’s finest work to date, wonderfully gloomy, repetitious synth stabs, stripped down percussion, and subtle dubbed out techno grooves. El Topo takes this and runs with it, stripping everything back to almost nothing before bringing everything back together. “DstryPrfts” gets the remix treatment from the mammoth Shackleton, Skull Disco may be dead, but the Shackleton vision of percussive mesmerism continues. Shackleton works again with vocalist and modern day poet Vengeance Tenfold, to add an apocalypse to the gloom, there seems to be something so fitting about the spoken tones of Vengeance and the stripped down rhythms of Shackleton’s interpretation of the original, deep. “Stem1” is a 1 minute 40 second snippet of sound, a taster of things to come maybe?

Raz Mesinai has always done things a little differently, and teaming up with Shackleton on this 12” vinyl release is a stroke of genius, when so many dubstep producers seem to be following a stale recipe for more of the same, Badawi serve up something fresh, and very very deep.

Wayne Stronell

Badawi – El Topo (Index) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Alice Russell – Pot Of Gold Remixes (Pod/Inertia)

2010-03-08T06:08:59Z

Alice Russell can belt out a tune, she has one of those modern day classic soul voices, a voice that connects with most people, that lifts your soul, and puts a smile on your face. After the success of 2008’s Pot Of Gold, it seems obligatory these days to release a collection of remixes, but remix collections are often problematic, especially double disc compilations, such as this. Maintaining a consistency with the style, and quality of the remixes is often hard to achieve.

Spread over two discs, Pot Of Gold Remixes contains remixes by Kidkanevil, DJ Vadim, Mr Scruff, Mocean Worker, Kid Gusto, Herma Puma, Emika, Laura J Martin, Clonious, Lilste, J-Boogie, Shawn Lee, Captain Planet, Llorca, Dusty, Ohmega Watts, ZNTN, Ticklah, DJ Day & Clutchy Hopkins, Yellowtail, The Heavy, and GRC.

Mr Scruff’s remix of “Living The Life Of A Dreamer” is somewhat subdued for this producer, but the subtle latin rhythms work well, while Kid Gusto’s more upfront latin rhythms on “Universe” make for a very catchy tune. Herma Puma, a relative unknown, come across like a modern day Fila Brazillia with their version of “Two Steps”, while J-Boogie injects his funk jazz stylings into “Got The Hunger?”. Shawn Lee adds some smooth orchestrated funk into “Two Steps”, and Dusty adds his catchy latin shuffle to “Universe”. Ohmega Watts lays down a harder edge beat with guitar hook on “Two Steps”, as does Ticklah on “Got The Hunger?”, but with a subtler more laid back approach. The DJ Day meets Clutchy Hopkins remix of “All Alone” is one of the highlights, infectious vibes, brroding break beats, warm keys and sweet strings. The Heavy do a great job of “Got A Hunger?”, keeping the drums hard but sparse, with Stevie Wonder style keys.

Even with the same tracks remixed more than once, the differing styles, and the varied quality of remixes, Alice Russell’s voice still shines through, there are a number of remixes here that would suit different tastes, but to purchase a double CD on the strengths of these I am unsure. With Alice Russell, and even with the remixes here, when it’s good, it’s very good.

Wayne Stronell

Alice Russell – Pot Of Gold Remixes (Pod/Inertia) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Furesshu – Untitled 12” (Project Squared)

2010-03-07T11:50:19Z

The second 12” vinyl from new dubstep label and Project Mooncircle offshoot Project Squared, run by Paul Cooper. What we have here delves more into the dub techno template, and where the debut release mirrored much Detroit influence, this 12” shows more of an influence with the Berlin dub techno scene, and why wouldn’t it, as Furesshu has previously released on Echodub.

Where I praised the first 12” for its mastery of the slow build, “Unknown” shows a similar dynamic, 11 minutes of building, mesmerizing stripped back techno, where spatial sounds are given room to breath, subtle changes building tension. “1993” draws its influence from closer to home, still deep, but having more akin with the early UK techno of Warp Records and acts like Redcell, an early break beat template carrying the track nicely. “Horizons” remains in the territory of dub techno, but taking a more distinctive dubstep vibe, allowing the half-step to slow things, allowing washes of synth pads, rolling bass, and growling electronics to creep through.

The first two releases have been a fine start, and we have not been barraged with releases, showing Project Squared seem to be concentrating on quality, and not quantity.

Wayne Stronell

Furesshu – Untitled 12” (Project Squared) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Free The Robots – Ctrl Alt Delete (Alpha Pup Records)

2010-03-07T11:49:09Z

Its been a long time coming, but the debut album for Free The Robots released on Alpha Pup Records is finally upon us. Initially started as a side project by Chris Alfaro in 2003, a couple of EP’s, free internet teasers, and a split 7” with The Gaslamp Killer, we are finally bombarded with some mind-warping electronics, fuzzed out psychedelia peppered with blistering hip hop beats, reinstating his position at the forefront of the L.A. beat scene, alongside The Gaslamp Killer, Flying Lotus, Ras G, Nosaj Thing and all that have played at the late night Low End Theory Club.

Free The Robots mix up dusty samples with crazed synths, live instrumentation and a futuristic ideology that looks back to many influences, yet manages push boundaries of jazz and psychedelia beyond the now. Modern jazz stylings mix with a dubstep swagger, wonky Dilla inflected beats mesh with psychedelic drums and melodies, the raw experimentation of Free The Robots hip hop beat science seems to know no bounds. Featuring Ikey Owens from Mars Volta on “The Eye”, pushing aside the purely electronic psychedelics for a traditional take with drums, guitars and screaming organ, showing the level of experimentation that sits comfortably with Free The Robots. Like many in the L.A. scene, influences of Turkish psychedelic rock seem to be a mainstay, and just as The Gaslamp Killer and Gonjasufi before them, “Turkish Voodoo” shows us the Free The Robots slant on a resurrected, underrated period of psychedelic rock Havana.

Ctrl Alt Delete is a blistering record of intense synthesizer wizardry, but along the way it has absorbed so much more than just another electronic album, the influences are varied, and the result would please many a fan in varying genres, from dubstep, grime, hip hop and wonky abstract beat science. Highly recommended.

Wayne Stronell

Free The Robots – Ctrl Alt Delete (Alpha Pup Records) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Joe Kickass – Let Me Introduce EP (Project Mooncircle)

2010-03-07T06:22:02Z

Free stuff is always good, but when it comes from www.projectmooncircle.com, you know you have to snap it up, it is bound to be quality.

I didn’t know what to expect from this one, a new name for me, but after numerous listens its clear that Joe Kickass wants to go back to an era when hip hop was fresh and fun, the days of De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, conscious flows over party vibes. Joe Kickass has achieved just that, a maturity as an MC as if he has been doing this for two decades, injecting an uplifting party vibe to the music that takes me back to those fine old-school days. A new-school cat pining for the old-school days, getting back to basics, producing most of the tracks himself, even supplying the fantastic illustrations.

“Shirlyn” rides on a fine drum break, subtle vibes underpin the rhythm to allow the vocal to float above all, while “Joe Goes Africa” uses great African rhythms to great effect. All the six tracks show a side of what Joe Kickass is trying to achieve, raw, gritty and drenched with soul and jazz influences. Let Me Introduce, an introduction to the man, before the full length album release later in the year, download this EP now, you won’t regret it.

Wayne Stronell

Joe Kickass – Let Me Introduce EP (Project Mooncircle) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Herzog – First Summer And The Running Dream (Resting Bell)

2010-03-07T06:20:57Z

The Resting Bell label from Berlin reminds me of the single minded approach to music of other labels such as Static Caravan and Awkward Silence, single minded in that the music is what matters, originality in music, music not for the mainstream, but music that can be enjoyed by all, if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon it.

First Summer And The Running Dream contains five tracks, quite different to previous work, the songs here are more droning, utilizing slight distortion, where layered sounds harmonize softly and sublimely, creating a laid-back mood, but with a noise that increases through the tracks, giving his image of winter, watching raindrops on the window, and wind in your hair.

I like the way this release starts off sweet, promising to sooth from the start, but the distortion sets in subtly, slowly engulfing each wash of sound, before the final track “Lately I’ve Been Dreaming Of Drinking Sound From A Fountain” brings the noise in on itself, engulfing all. Before you know it, you realise the noise has had a soothing effect after all.

I think I need to investigate this label some more, www.restingbell.net.

Wayne Stronell

Herzog – First Summer And The Running Dream (Resting Bell) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Jonny Trunk – Jonny Trunk’s Scrapbook (Trunk/Inertia)

2010-03-07T06:20:28Z

Jonny Trunk is a modern plunderer, a man who has obsessively collected sounds from hundreds of music libraries over the years, and this album is a distillation of some of those ideas, as Jonny puts it, “those tracks that are barely still alive”. He wants us to think this all about him, but he would be quite happy for us to drop the ‘S’ in the title, and call this Crapbook. My guess is that this is in fact the Jonny Trunk humour, as Scrapbook is a rather wonderful collection of musical sketches, vignettes, mock-ups, unfinished musical passages just waiting for the right visuals.

This has to be the definition of a modern day library record, full of ‘moods’, music that can stand up on its own, but at the same time is crying out for some b-grade experimental cinema to add that last shot of life. Jonny is an obvious obsessive, he’s plundered and mined so many different styles from funk, and jazz, and he must have listened to every soundtrack ever composed, the detail in the tracks prove he is knowledgeable. Jonny Trunk uses a fair dose of exotica to elevate these songs to be more than just sketches, and this lightness used in conjunction to darker sounds of looped drum breaks and early synthesizers brooding and competing for space, is what makes this album a joy to listen to, and oh how fine it would be to have a visual accompaniment. Mesmerising.

As the footnote reads on the CD, go to www.trunkrecords.com and look at pictures, read stories and buy super things.

Wayne Stronell

Jonny Trunk – Jonny Trunk’s Scrapbook (Trunk/Inertia) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Richmond LaMarr – Lights (Lopsided)

2010-03-07T06:19:44Z

What a great little EP Lights is, having been described in the press of possessing the spirit of Charlie Parker, a strange comparison when you’ve heard the music, but there are reference points there.

Warped electronic infused jazz sketches, would be an apt way to describe the music contained. Very DIY in construction, it has a lo-fi feel, but a crisp production, each electronic tone polished to shine on its own, but gel with those around it. Melbourne’s Richmond LaMarr rambles over the top of the electric jazz soundtrack, using his voice for effect, rather than to convey a message, interspersed with snippets of spoken word and vocal hooks from the records sampled. This reminds me of the sheer sampleology of bands like The Avalanches, when I first saw them live I was astounded by the palette of sound, the influences they draw from, and LaMarr achieves a similar thing, albeit fed through an electronic shredder.

Fun, creative and quirky, my main question remains, why haven’t I heard of Richmond LaMarr before this? Listen at http://richmondlamarr.vox.com/.

Wayne Stronell

Richmond LaMarr – Lights (Lopsided) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Gonjasufi – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp/Inertia)

2010-03-07T04:40:10Z

Previously known under the name of Sumach, the self proclaimed sufi has reinvented himself as Gonjasufi, and has now been signed to Warp Records creating quite a buzz in the music press.

A Sufi & A Killer is the debut Gonjasufi release since this reinvention, with the main production duties falling to The Gaslamp Killer, with contributions from Flying Lotus and Mainframe, and with the combination of these producers and the infectious ramblings of Gonjasufi, it was always going to be a release that would be essential to check out.

There is an immediacy to the lo-fi, soul, funk, psychedelic hip hop oddity, but I have been unable to stop listening to it. Each new listen hooks you even more, the scope of styles, the crazy lyrics, the infectious psychedelic beats and folk song sensibilities, is enough to make this a future classic. Genre, style and pretension are stripped away to let the sufi speak, and while the producers may just be constructing instrumentals for Gonjasufi to ramble over, it becomes apparent that the music is a perfect compliment to his singing style.

Spaced out psychedelia is well represented here on “Kobwebs”, “Sheep”, “Stardustin’”, “Kowboys & Indians”, “Love Of Reign”, “Klowds”, “Aging” and “I’ve Given”, and even the Flying Lotus produced “Ancestors” has a modern electronic psychedelic spin to it, the sounds almost circling each each to create a tripped out fog of sound. “Sheep” has to be my favourite, a joy of a song, the lyrics are just so wonderful, so nonsensical yet poignant, adapting to the many shifts in the song structure, from the folky introduction, and the summery psychedelia of the main part, “I wish I was a sheep, instead of a lion, cause then I wouldn’t have to eat, animals that are are dyin…” The joyous lament eventually shifts to something more snarly, “I’m a lion babe, feeding off the sheep that graze… I’m a lion hey, see me livin in the shade, I have everyone afraid, roamin so no one is safe”, over vintage Turkish psychedelic mayhem. Gonjasufi spits over what sounds like a Stooges riff on “SuzieQ”, totally distorting his vocals, while “Kowboys & Indians” carries forward the distortion over more Middle Eastern psychedelic plundering from The Gaslamp Killer, rambling like the madman he probably is. The versatility astounds, injecting a warm flurry of soul into “Change”, and the pseudo-disco of “Candylane”, or the simplistic synthesizer and basic drum machine meanderings of “Holidays”. Big beats, bass, and simple piano hook carry “Advice” to somewhere else, repetition affecting the ramblings to great effect, “who will you turn to, when no ones lovin you, not even your own wet dream…” The Turkish psychedelic sounds return on “Klowds”, it’s a sound The Gaslamp Killer does well, and in conjunction with the vocals of Gonjasufi, you’re almost transformed back to those heydays of psychedelic rock experimentation. “Made” brings everything down again, for the ending, warm soft horns, sluggish slow break, soft tones of a sufi, to fade…

Nothing is what it seems though, minutes of silence followed by more distorted vocals over a 60’s garage loop, the man has to rant some more, and I for one don’t mind one bit. What he says may not always make sense, but that is a good thing I think, enabling him to avoid being pigeon-holed to one particular style. Keeping things in their musical family, MRR (from MRR-ADM and MHE) has produced some great artwork.

I would go as far to say this is already my favourite album of 2010, and although its early days, I’d lay money on this still being in my top ten at the end of the year. There is so much to like about this record, it just leaves you wanting more, so it now becomes essential to purchase every 7” release from the album, just to hear the b-side. An outstandingly brilliant album.

Wayne Stronell

Gonjasufi – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp/Inertia) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Various Artists – Headroom Volume 1 (The Frequency Lab)

2010-03-07T04:38:22Z

Australia has become host to some world standard producers in the realms of new and emerging sounds of dubstep, wonky and leftfield beats. Headroom Volume 1 has been compiled by label owner Monk Fly, and his co-promoter Jonny Faith, together they run Headroom, Sydney’s regular nightclub event dedicated to future beats, and weekly radio show For The Heads, on 2SER 107.3FM.

Showcasing producers from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, as well as Glasgow, Berlin and Florence, it’s the local content that really shines here, showing this country can produce world class music in emerging genres.

Roleo opens the compilation with the great “High’s”, laying down mad synth highs as good as Joker or Starkey, but keeping the beat firmly hip hop. Inkswel bring the 8bit sounds to great effect on “8 Bit Waterdrops”, like a cross between Ikonika, Disrupt and Dilla, while Studio Tan lifts the mood with the wonky synth lines of “48 Ways 2 Live”. MoR brings their brand of skwee funk to “Skweemo”, and Indelible serves up old-school Sheffield electronics over a straight up beat in “Material Hypnosis”. Tigerstyle merges 8bit electronics with Autechre style complex micro-rhythms and cool time-shifts of “Activate”. “Marshall High” by Mokke brings more synth and head nodding beats, while Digi G’Alessio gets Dilla-esque with warm synths and skewed beats. Rose Specs gets more downbeat with “Mmm Crunchy Crunch”, and Edseven’s “Pigeon Clap” brings infectious beats and warm electronic hooks, interrupting the hooks for beat breakdowns. The highlight for me is Jonny Faith’s contribution “Trifecta”, hard beats, mad synths, the perfect balance of dubstep and hip hop, showing his versatility, a producer to watch closely, also check the remix he did for Astronomy Class, the man is diversely talented. Know-U feeds a Detroit sound through the dubstep template in “Dune”, while “Ms Dost” by Yoff Trotsy & Westernsynthetics round out Headroom Volume 1 with a strange hybrid of many abstract styles.

That’s what really stands this compilation apart from others, not just the diversity in sounds, but the many hybrids created, giving a fresh collection of future beats from relative unknowns. The future for these artists should be one to watch, with future releases planned, and hopefully some live appearances at Headroom in Sydney. If you’re excited by future beats you have to buy on sight. Check out more at www.thefrequencylab.com.

Wayne Stronell

Various Artists – Headroom Volume 1 (The Frequency Lab) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Paradigm Shift Radioshow Playlist 1 March 2010

2010-03-06T23:15:32Z

The Paradigm Shift is a weekly Monday night radio show which (since 1995) has been presented by Sub Bass Snarl on Sydney radio station 2SER fm 107.3MHz – check the 2SER website for the high quality live web stream!

It airs Monday nights at the time of 7.30pm for 90 minutes (Australian Eastern Standard Time – GMT+10).

If you think your music would suit the show also please get in touch (320s welcome!) – EMAIL: paradigmshift [AT] 2ser [dot] com

Please note that since March 8 is International Women’s Day the show will be hosted by the awesome Anna John who is sure to play some very interesting tunes. And I’ll be back next week.

Four Tet – This Unfolds [There Is Love In You] (Domino)
Loops Haunt – Hurache [Rubber Sun Grenade EP] (Electric Eliminators)
Eskmo – Sister, You Have Got To Listen [download] (from www.amontobin.com )
Monk Fly – Well If I Ever! [The Far Side Of Zen] (Daly City Records) *
Jahdan Blakkamoore – The General (Marcus Visionary remix) [LDI004DI] (Liondub International)
Terror Danjah – Pro Plus (feat. D.O.K) [HDB031] (Hyperdub)
Zinc – Killa Sound (Skream remix) [Killa Sound] (Bingo Beats)
Cosmin TRG – Strobe Lick [Now You Know] (Tempa)
Autechre – d-sho qub [Oversteps] (Warp)
10-20 – Globe [Mountain] (Highpoint Lowlife)
Dem Hunger – Mosque Vibrations [Caveman Smack] (Leaving Records)
Robbing Hood – Kaempfart [EZ Listnin'] (unreleased)
George Lenton – Sorry [dubplate] (unreleased)
Eskmo – Lands And Bones (feat. Swan) [Hendt 12"] (Warp)
Illum Sphere – Chasing The Midnight Moth [Long Live The Plan] (Fat City)
Pantha Du Prince – Behind The Stars [Black Noise] (Rough Trade)
Mark Pritchard – The Hologram (Original) [HOHUM003] (Ho Hum) *
Burial – Fostercare [5 Years of Hyperdub (disc 1)] (Hyperdub)

* = Australian Track

Paradigm Shift Radioshow Playlist 1 March 2010 is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Ent – Welcome Stranger (n5MD)

2010-03-03T05:01:34Z

If you wanted a perfect example of an early 21st century, bedroom symphony, global village, post-everything, hybrid pop to send up on the next Voyager space explorer, then you’d need look no farther than Ent’s Welcome Stranger. Constructed entirely by Nagasaki native Atsuhie Horie, aside from live drums delivered by Takanori Ohita, in the downtime between his outings as frontman for his BritPop influenced Straightener, the album does everything you would expect from an up to date, technologically savvy multi-instrumentalist.

The glitched up intro for ‘No Tone’ which begins the album, sets the scene clearly. Snatches of guitar burst, static fizz, some IDM-esque rhythmic sounds and then a Strawberry Fields mellotron as early lead instrument. The track then builds, layering piano, synths and overdriven acoustic drums, building to the grand finále that undoubtedly resides in the art rock shadow of Radiohead. It’s epic and intimate by turns and quite engaging. The album progresses thusly over the course of 7 tracks and bonus added remixes. ‘Girl’ heads into more dreampop territory, ‘Silver Moment’ is based on an 8-bit electronica foundation, with requisite guitar grandeur as it progresses. Grainy field recordings inhabit ‘Will’ and ‘Farewell Dear Stranger’, the former’s booming noise of movement in a corridor setting the rhythmic template for the track, the latter creating atmosphere with rain. The 3 remixes, from Kettel, Near The Parenthesis and Helios don’t stray too far from the original template and flow seamlessly to round out the album.

Welcome Stranger is well produced to a fault, with all the right balances of atmosphere, grit and shine. It’s component parts are wonderful to hear. Yet, as hinted at, it leaves me with a feeling of unease. In being such a typical example of where the fringes of post-rock currently reside, it also indicates that the mould is well and truly set and Ent is placing himself firmly within it. If you’ve listened to anything in this ballpark in the last 10 years, you will know exactly what to expect around every corner. There is little by way of surprise or something to define Ent’s sound as his own. It is every post-rock, post-glitch moment distilled into one generic work. Another problem which I can’t help but be distracted by is Horie’s vocals. I would so much prefer to hear his voice in his native Japanese than an extremely strained English pandering to perceived target markets in the U.S. and the rest of the English speaking world. Surely the post-modern has moved far enough along for an artist not to have to resort to this sort of impersonation.

The component bits of Welcome Stranger are undoubtedly beautifully crafted. But aiming to emulate and exemplify an already established mode is surely not an aim high enough. As soon as I am no longer listening to the album, it recedes back into the wash of generic post-rock in my memory, from where, I dare say, it will struggle to re-emerge of its own accord.

Adrian Elmer

Ent – Welcome Stranger (n5MD) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Joao Orecchia – Hands And Feet (Other Electricities)

2010-03-02T22:13:19Z

Johannesburg-based electronic producer / multi-instrumentalist Joao Orecchia is certainly a guy who delights in the unexpected ‘mistakes’ and accidents inherent in musical performance, his meticulously detailed tracks fusing digitally recomposed improvisations on live instruments including banjo, drums, melodica and toy instruments with unpredictably glitchy electronics and buzzing digital detritus. This second album on Other Electricities arrives four years after his preceding ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ collection for Blankrecords and sees Orecchia working with a brace of guest collaborators, including former Playdoe / BLK JKS member Spoek Mathambo and Anticon’s Serengeti. It’s also a record that comes dedicated to Orecchia’s recently deceased father, with two recorded performances by him singing standards ‘When I Fall In Love’ and ‘Arrivederci Roma’ acting as appropriate bookends to the twelve tracks collected here.

Indeed, it’s slightly eerie and certainly evocative as the vintage dusty grooves of the former track suddenly burst into a swirl of colourful, fuzzed-out synths, lazy brass and clattering leftfield hiphop rhythms that calls to mind one of Subtle’s more kaleidoscopic backings. From there, ‘Midnight Serenade’ sees warm funk bass grooves and metallic banjo strings being pushed through all manner of timestretching and digital contortion as rich backing horns rise up into the mix in an offering that calls to mind Tortoise’s languid post-rock/jazz meeting Mouse On Mars’ gnarled electronics head-on, before the catchy ‘Play Pretend’ sees Spoek Mathambo adding his smooth falsetto pop vocal to an airy backing of colourful melodic synths and skittering, off-centre dance rhythms that’s easily one of this album’s most immediately accessible moments.

Elsewhere, the forlorn-sounding ‘De Los Muertos’ takes things down into fractured and glitchy electronic blues, winding spidery banjo tones around rich live strings and metallic percussion as crunching hiphop rhythms power their way beneath, while ‘All Opera’ sees Serengeti’s dense MC flow unfurling over a smooth, laidback backing of ratchety DSP effects, lazy live bass and swirlig strings, before things suddenly shift into a stuttering electro-pop section that ends up bolstered by muscular live hiphop drum breaks, in what’s easily one of this album’s biggest highlights. An excellent second album from Joao Orecchia that should particularly appeal to fans of the likes of Subtle and Odd Nosdam’s similarly crackle-heavy leftfield hiphop-centred electronics.

Chris Downton

Joao Orecchia – Hands And Feet (Other Electricities) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.