)))SURGERY(((

)))Moved(((

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:52:00 -0700

If you're looking for new shows they are over at Surgery's new home on Podbean. This site will remain active for the foreseeable future... possibly mutating into something different but just as wonderful. Thanks. e

Surgery 92

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:01:00 -0800

Various - Portland Stories (Sonic Pieces)
Tom White - In Poor Visibility (Hibernate)
Martin Schulte - On The Moon (Sinergy Networks)
Crushed Stars - The Refracted Light Of Crushed Stars (Simulacra)
Oren Ambarchi - Intermission 2000-2008 (Touch)
Elm - Nemcatacoa Psychedelic (Digitalis)
The Beautiful Schizophonic - Erotikon (Cronica)
The Sight Below - Murmur (Ghostly International)
Minamo - DurCe (12k)
Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek - Blank Grey Canvas Sky (Fang Bomb)
Eluvium - Similes (Temporary Residence)

Track Listing

Heather Woods Broderick - Behind Doors [0:00]
Tom White - Moredon Cooling Towers [2:45]
Martin Schulte - On The Moon [6:57]
Crushed Stars - Lens Flare [11:17]
Oren Ambarchi - Iron Waves [16:14]
Elm - Covered In Blankets And Moss [27:41]
The Beautiful Schizophonic - Fornarina [29:37]
The Sight Below - No Place For Us (Eluvium Remix) [36:09]
Minamo - Helical Scenery [43:51]
Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek - Rain [49:06]
Eluvium - The Motion Makes Me Last [54:34]

Listen Now:

Patient friends of Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:47:00 -0800

Some of you may have noticed there hasn't been a new show since early December. Aside from the usual holiday slowdown the other reason is my current podcast host that had been turning a blind eye to the mounting bandwidth demands has decided enough was enough. I can't blame them. I had always intended to archive and remove older shows but never gotten around to it. So here we are.

I am making arrangements and setting up a new host, so the first show of 2010 is imminent. Hopefully the switch over won't create any undue difficulty, such as converting from the old feed to the new one in iTunes etc. I will attempt to make it painless as possible.

Thanks again for your patronage and support.

Surgery 91

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Wed, 2 Dec 2009 18:08:00 -0800

SP:MC - Trust Nobody / Future (Tempa)
Thomas Fehlmann - One To Three (R&S)
Clubroot - S/T (Lodubs)
Cv313 - Subtraktive (Echospace)
Bibio - The Apple and the Tooth (Warp)
The Embassadors - Coptic Dub (Nonplace)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Empty The Sun (Drag City)
Ian Hawgood - Before I Let The Sunshine Rot (Phantom Channel)
Felix - You Are The One I Pick (Kranky)
Keijo - Here They Come (Reverb Worship)
Manual With Jess Kahr - The North Shore (Darla)
Strom Noir - Sen Zimnej Noci (Hibernate)
Dakota Suite - The Night Just Keeps Coming In (Navigator's Yard)

Track Listing

SP:MC - Future [0:00]
Thomas Fehlmann - Superflowing[5:19]
Clubroot - Sempiternal [10:40]
Cv313 - Subtraktive (Intrusion's twilight dub) [15:14]
Bibio - Dwrcan (Eskmo Remix) [23:18]
The Embassadors - Desdemona Breathes [27:29]
Six Organs Of Admittance - Goodnight Hal [30:40]
Ian Hawgood - Thank You Sara [33:49]
Felix - Where Is My Dragon? [38:34]
Keijo - Clear After Midnight [41:36]
Manual With Jess Kahr - Ica [46:40]]
Strom Noir - Cicada Queen [51:45]
Dakota Suite - A Quietly Gathering Tragedy (Hauschka remix) [56:27]

Listen to Surgery 91 click here

Today's Video

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:12:00 -0800

Surgery 90

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:00:00 -0800

Brian Harnetty & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Silent City (Atavistic)
Dirac - Emphasis (Spekk)
Quantec - Cauldron Subsidence (Echocord)
Fieldhead - They Shook Hands For Hours (Home Assembly)
Northerner - 1976 (Hibernate)
Ben Frost - By The Throat (Bedroom Community)
Sleep Whale - Houseboat (Western Vinyl)
Segue - Grey (Tokyo Droning)
Natural Snow Buildings - Shadow Kingdom (Blackest Rainbow)
Pub - Do You Ever Regret Pantomime? (Moamoo)
Zelienople - Give It Up (Type)
David Sylvian - Manafon (Samadhisound)

Track Listing

Brian Harnetty & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Sleeping in the Driveway [0:00]
Dirac - Augarten (edit) [4:07]
Quantec - Plateau [10:37]
Fieldhead - Of October [17:06]
Northerner - The End Of December [21:04]
Ben Frost - O God Protect Me [27:01]
Sleep Whale - Roof Sailing [30:01]
Segue - October [34:13]
Natural Snow Buildings - Go Away Disappear [40:03]
Pub - In the meantime [43:14]
Zelienople - All I Want Is Calm [47:42]
David Sylvian - Emily Dickinson [53:35]

Listen to Surgery 90 click here

Video of the day:

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:03:00 -0800

Surgery 89

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:50:00 -0700

Gabriel Séverin - Soliloques (Sub Rosa)
Cindytalk - The Crackle Of My Soul (eMego)
Black To Comm - Alphabet 1968 (Type)
10-20 - Island (Highpoint Lowlife)
Antye Greie Aka AGF - Einzelkämpfer (AGF Produktion)
Molly Berg & Stephen Vitiello - The Gorilla Variations (12k)
Aaron Martin - Grass Wounds (Under the Spire)
Akira Kosemura - Polaroid Piano (Someone Good)
Caethua - The Long Afternoon Of Earth (Into The Dog-Dayed Night) (Preservation)
Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (HAFTW)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing The Piano (Decca)
Tsukimono - Heart Attack Money (Kalligrammofon)
Ian Hawgood - Wolfskin CDR (Hibernate)
Autistici - Complex Tone Test (Keshhhhhh)

Track Listing

Gabriel Séverin - Jacqueline: "Je Ne Sais Pas Faire De Charme Devant Un Micro" [0:00]
Cindytalk - Our Shadow, Remembered [0:59]
Black To Comm - Jonathan [4:30]
10-20 - Thing From Inner Space [11:09]
Antye Greie - Rhythm, Rules And Ink [15:59]
Molly Berg & Stephen Vitiello - Variation 2 [21:01]
Aaron Martin - Shot Tower [26:04]
Akira Kosemura - Would [30:08]
Caethua - The Cold Stark North East [33:13]
Leyland Kirby - Tonight Is The Last Night Of The World [36:56]
Ryuichi Sakamoto- A Flower Is Not A Flower [46:21]
Tsukimono - Oh Cannibal [49:31]
Ian Hawgood - All These Memories Are Blue Type [51:55]
Autistici - Resonating Wire [54:10]

Listen to Surgery 89 click here

Surgery 88

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:21:00 -0700

Nudge - As Good As Gone (Kranky)
What Capitalism Was - Plays Philip Glass on Accordion (Self-released)
Heather Woods Broderick - From The Ground (Preservation)
Porzellan - The Fourth Level Of Comprehension (Hibernate)
Klimek - Movies Is Magic (Anticipate)
Steven R. Smith - Cities (Immune)
Milieu - New Drugs For Nuclear Families Of The Seventies (MMD)
Bvdub - We Were The Sun (Quietus)
Loscil - Strathcona Variations (Ghostly)
Pleq - The Metamorphosis (U-Cover/CD-r)
Isnaj Dui - Unstable Equilibrium (Home Normal)
Chihei Hatakeyama - The River (Hibernate)
Brave Radar - A Building (Fixture)

Track Listing

Nudge - Harmo [0:00]
What Capitalism Was - Etoile Polaire [4:53]
Heather Woods Broderick - Left [7:21]
Porzellan - One Week & One Day [12:05]
Klimek - Sound Of Confusion [20:43]
Steven R. Smith - Night Upon Us [25:58]
Milieu - Dionysus In Reds [30:20]
Bvdub - Lest You Forget [33:45]
Loscil - Midnight on Princess [37:47]
Pleq - Song Of Nonsens [43:50]
Isnaj Dui - Chill Turns To Cold [48:58]
Chihei Hatakeyama - Gray Hued Sky [54:33]
Brave Radar - Fireball (Surgery Edit) [59:07]

Listen to Surgery 88 click here

Christopher Tignor - Core Memory Unwound

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:38:00 -0700

An aptly titled solo debut from the musical director/violinist of the Slow Six ensemble that tests the elasticity of piano and violin themes with live sampling software. Where Slow Six dabble in Glass/Reich minimalism these pieces come closer to the chamber classical of Koji Asano or even austere John Cale. The eight pieces progress in pairs that alternate purely acoustic and treated electronic works.. “Last Thought at Night” is a lovely duet that slowly interlocks and pulls apart like a door latch, while the piano of “Last Nights on Eagle Street” tiptoes through an arpeggiated patch of violin samples. The title track at the centre of the album inverts the cascade, creating waves of piano samples that envelope slowly shifting drones spiking in the upper frequencies. Both sides of the equation approach each other closely on the subtly evanescent moments of “Cathedral,” a two-parter that closes the album.

Western Vinyl

Various - Iceberg

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:33:00 -0700

Montreal’s experimental music scene has a new label to exhibit its wares, both hard and soft. Minimalism is the watchword here, but the twelve artists approach it from intersecting spheres of ambience, concrete, dub and techno. Simon Carpentier (Sapin) provides a fitting introduction with “Balade,” a track that combines a soggy electroacoustic soundwalk with a chilly network of electronics from the Raster-Noton catalogue. Laforge and Sul.a follow up with a couple of micro-beat pieces that are part Tangerine Dream part Frank Bretschneider. “Luminescence” is a vapor by Julie LeBlanc (/de.i.te/) that seems to hover and vibrate in the middle distance just out of focus. Martin Dumais (AUN) labels his efforts as “blight metal,” but “Human Prince” seems light on doom, heavier on the hazy echo. More haunted is “Somewhere Cold” by Pascal Asselin (Le Chat Blanc Orchestra) that conjures quiet moments of devastation from Lynch films. At heart a post-dusk collection that contemplates isolation as the streetlights flicker.

CCCLTD

Martin Schulte – Depth of Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:22:00 -0700

Having spent a few years rising through the ranks on netlabels like Red and Op3n, Russia’s Marat Shibaev has found a new hard disc home on Tokyo’s fledgling Lantern Records. While there are echoes of dub and Kompakt-influenced minimalism (his pseudonym hints at the gutte vibrations), there is a compacted surface to these tracks that render them dancefloor-friendly. What distinguishes them from your average upper-middle tempo cuts are the detailed undercurrents built into pieces like “Big City Street” and “Supper.” The latter’s clattering flatware and mealtime chatter is more prominent, while the former features more subliminal snippets of voice that encourage slightly paranoid sidelong glances. Even the less ambience infected tracks are gibbous with little working parts. Even as the topmost 4/4 is prodding the plexus there are blurry washes that graze the surface, like moving water under ice. Having just cracked the big 2-0 Shibaev has many promising nights ahead of him.

Lantern Records

City Centre - S/T

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:19:00 -0700

The same shifty restlessness that made Saturday Looks Good to Me such an undervalued pop curiosity blossoms at the heart of Fred Thomas’ City Centre. Parts of this eponymous debut have the feel of a pillow fight where exploded feathers touch off loops of mbira, gamelan and then unexpectedly drop like rhythmic hammers. It takes a few tracks for the disparate elements to synch, but “Bleed Blood” succeeds by shunting the acoustics and embracing the Panda Bearishness of sweet and sticky tug-of-war layers. The wall of noise on “Cloud Center” is an appropriately nebulous one that is the aural equivalent of the debris that circles Saturn. Even in varied states of deliquescence, the hard pop core of each track retains enough form to survive declassification. “Young Diamond” sounds like a wet dream Kevin Drew wishes he could remember and closer “Unfinished Hex” proves there is a machine inside the ghost with its more minimalist guitar/vocal approach. Get your pillows ready.

Type

Surgery 87

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:55:00 -0700

Lawrence - Until Then, Goodbye (Mule Musiq)
Ben Klock - Remixes (Ostgut)
Daniel Meteo - Working Class (Shitkatapult)
Dubkasm - Transform I (Sufferah's Choice)
Variant - The Setting Sun (Echospace)
The Notwist - Music For "Storm" (Alien Transistor)
Naptha - Long Time Burning (Ruff Revival)
M - Pop Muzik (30th Anniversary Remixes) (Echobeach)
Midaircondo - Curtain Call (Twin Seed)
Rainer Wiens - Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Ambiances Magnetiques)
Thomas Köner - La Barca (Fario)
Ganesh Anandan & Hans Reichel - Self Made (Ambiances Magnetiques)

Track List

Lawrence - Sleep And Suffer [0:00]
Ben Klock - Subzero (Function-Regis aka Sandwell District Remix) [3:31]
Daniel Mateo - On The Corner [9:37]
Dubkasm - Sangue Brasileiro [16:03]
Variant - Adrift [20:12]
The Notwist - Sarajevo 2 [25:09]
Naphta - My Heart Beating [31:05]
M - Pop Muzik (Dub Spencer & Trance Hill Remix)[32:48]
Midaircondo - Bringing Me Home [38:52]
Rainer Weins - The Valley of Green Ghosts [43:11]
Thomas Köner - 35° 40' N 139° 42' E (Hour One) [45:31]
Ganesh Anandan & Hans Reichel - In the Stillness (edit) [51:47]

Listen to Surgery 87 click here

Surgery 86

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Sun, 6 Sep 2009 14:38:00 -0700

Vladislav Delay - Tummaa (Leaf)
Ethernet - 144 Pulsations of Light (Kranky)
RJ Valeo - September (Type)
900x - Music For Lubbock, 1980 (Asthmatic Kitty)
Epic45 - In All The Empty Houses (Make Mine Music)
Various - XVI Reflections On Classical Music (Universal)
Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More (Type)
Ólafur Arnalds - Found Songs (Erased Tapes)
Mem1 - +1 (Interval Recordings)
Con Cetta - Micro (Moteer)
Cresting - an e.p. (Fixture)
Radian - Chimeric (Thrill Jockey)

Track Listing

Vladislav Delay - Musta Planeetta [0:00]
Ethernet - Seaside [5:12]
RJ Valeo - Black Ice [10:39]
900x - Lands [16:26]
Epic45 - In All The Empty Houses [20:35]
Gavin Bryars - Tramp With Orchestra III (No Strings) [24:08]
Rameses III - No Water, No Moon [29:01]
Ólafur Arnalds - Raein [35:39]
Mem1 - +Area C [38:28]
Con Cetta - Shown Anatomicophysiologic [43:44]
Cresting - A Bottom Hill [46:41]
Radian - Subcolors [51:05]

Listen to Surgery 86 click here

Surgery 85

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:40:00 -0700

Sonogram - Pixels (Simulacra)
Sparklehorse + Fennesz - In The Fishtank (Konkurrent]
Gardenia - Untitled (CD-R)
Autistici - Volume Objects (12k)
Lokai - Transition (Thrill Jockey)
Giuseppe Ielasi & Howard Stelzer - Night Life (Korm Plastics)
Lawrence English - Transit (Cajid)
Brock Van Wey - White Clouds Drift On And On (Echospace)
Stephan Mathieu + Taylor Deupree - Transcriptions (Spekk)
Tickley Feather - Hors D'Oeuvre (Paw Tracks)
Six Organs of Admittance - Luminous Night (Drag City)
Tu M' - Monochromes Vol. 1 (Line)

Track Listing

Sonogram - Brakhage By Seashore [0:00]
Sparklehorse + Fennesz - If My Heart [4:13]
Gardenia - Blow Away Like Cosmic Dust (excerpt) [9:06]
Autistici - Broken Guitar, Discarded Violi [16:37]
Lokai - Salvador [20:54]
Giuseppe Ielasi & Howard Stelzer - Ruin 3 [24:47]
Lawrence English - Shinagawa (Moment On Tokaido) [29:40]
Brock Van Wey - Too Little Too Late (Intrusion Shape VI) [35:59]
Stephan Mathieu + Taylor Deupree - Largo [42:13]
Tickley Feather - Fly Like an Eagle [45:37]
Six Organs of Admittance - Cover Your Wounds With The Sky [48:50]
Tu M' - Monochrome 3 [52:56]

Listen to Surgery 85 click here

Coming up short?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:36:00 -0700

This is a little strange. After putting episode #84 on my iPod for the final roadtest (which admittedly I do after posting it to the site... making it fairly useless as far as a quality control goes) I noticed the running time was 59:09 and not the full 60 minutes I always make the edit. The original file is indeed an hour long and I have tried re-uploading it, but the iTunes running time still has it at the truncated version. Hmmm. Anyhow it doesn't seem to affect the direct download from the site... only the subscription version, so I apologize to Gareth Hardwick for the rude end to his lovely drone and to people whose enjoyment may be affected by it.

Scratching my head,

Eric

Surgery 84

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:17:00 -0700

Clubroot - S/T (LoDubs)
Father Murphy - ... and He told Us to turn to the Sun (Madcap Collective)
To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie - Marlone (Kranky)
Jack Rose - The Black Dirt Sessions (Three Lobed)
Risil - Non Meters Vol. 1 (Important)
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra - 3 (Rune Grammofon)
Cheju - Waiting For Tomorrow (Distant Noise Records)
Murcof - La Sangre Iluminada (OST)
Luigi Archetti / Bo Wiget - Low Tide Digitals III (Rune Grammofon)
Gareth Hardwick / David Tagg - Split (Install)

Track Listing

Clubroot - Dulcet [0:00]
Father Murphy - Hide Yourself In The Woods [5:50]
To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie - Villain [9:21]
Jack Rose - The World Has Let Me Down [15:25]
Risil - We Were Ruined Before We Started [21:59]
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Subdivisions [29:34]
Cheju - Grid Reference [34:20]
Murcof - Eugenio IV [39:34]
Luigi Archetti / Bo Wiget - Stück 28 [42:41]
Gareth Hardwick - Five Points [48:48]

Listen to Surgery 84 click here

Surgery 83

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Tue, 7 Jul 2009 15:18:00 -0700

Groupshow - The Martyrdom Of Groupshow (~Scape)
Gareth Davis & Steven R. Smith - Westering (Important)
Giuseppe Ielasi - (Another) Stunt (Schoolmap)
Chihei Hatakeyama - Saunter (Room40)
Pillowdiver - Sleeping Pills (12k)
James Stephen Finn - The Antique Metronome (Cotton Goods)
Le Chat Blanc Orchestra - Ste-Claire Hotel (Make Mine Music)
Aaron Martin + Part Timer - Seed Collection (Mobeer)
Gregg Kowalsky - Tape Chants (Kranky)
Kreng - L'autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu (Miasmah)
Boduf Songs - There Is Something Hanging Above (Under the Spire)
Nils Frahm - The Bells (Kning Disk)
Final - Reading All The Right Signals Wrong (No Quarter)
Jóhann Jóhannsson - And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees (Mutesong)

Track Listing

Groupshow - Dog Shoes To The Stars [0:00]
Gareth Davies + Steven R. Smith - A Relic [2:28]
Giuseppe Ielasi - Part 5 [7:21]
Chihei Hatakeya - A stone inside the box [11:02]
Pillowdriver - Nineteen [16:04]
James Stephen Flinn - Ghosts Are Making Appearances On Closed Circuit [20:44]
Le Chat Blanc Orchestra - Stephen Harper Dreams Of Kyoto [23:04]
Part Timer - Darkness Settles Over Jones (Voice Of Jim) [29:48]
Gregg Kowalsky - IX [32:35]
Kreng - Aspyxia [36:48]
Boduf Songs - Deathbed Triumphs Of Eminent Lackwits [38:18]
Nils Frahm - Peter Is Dead In The Piano [44:14]
Final - Green [46:58]
Jóhann Jóhannsson - The Flat [56:35]

Listen to Surgery 83 click here

Comfort – Sleep Talking Shared

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:28:00 -0700

Groups that decide to combine the acoustic and the electronic in their work generally draw heavily from one and add the other as an afterthought. Italian duo Alessandro Baris and Leonardo Chirulli take a much more balanced approach. On the rock side their bass/piano/drums framework is as complex and far reaching as any Tortoise jazz/rock essay. Rather than resting on this level tracks like “The Missed Environment” rework the script to include microtonal violin loops, hissing electronic percussion and synth textures. While it calls to mind works by Crescent or Radian, Comfort’s sound is much more expansive and not as dry. Tracks like “Florian” and “Iceberg” successfully combine hints of classic 60s soundtrack, 70s European jazz and modern digital effects in one cool, detail-rich flow. And though their scope is broad and guests many the duo is careful to let instruments breathe and silences matter. There is no abused space and each track comes with a fresh new secret waiting to be discovered.

Stilll/Off

Anduin & Jasper TX – The Bending of Light

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:26:00 -0700

With a more than a dozen recent releases on labels small and smaller, including last year’s wonderful Black Sleep on Miasmah, Dag Rosenqvist’s Jasper TX has been careful not to slip into a single-minded way of doing things. His ability to describe the desolate with either acoustic melody of dense drone comes to bear in this collaboration with Virginia native Jordan Lee’s Anduin alias. Using a Carl Sagan description of a black hole’s formation to unify their musical theories the duo create a mood that drifts between awe and resignation in the face of such raw but emotionless power. The first suite of three tracks is more dependent on the electronics that swallow, compile and compound tones, allowing only faint pulses and distant notes to emit. The album’s second half is comparatively sparse with the musical elements rising to the foreground like the debris left to orbit the gravitational well. It’s a work of stark beauty that serves as a worthy entry to both gentlemen’s discography.

SMTG Limited

Baja - Aether Obelisk

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:23:00 -0700

Not the splashdown into pop waters of, say, a Caribou, Daniel Vujanic is nonetheless dipping his toes in the pool with a few more lyrics on this fourth release. Baja signals the continued cross wiring with an introductory cough and wolf slide on the acoustic guitar that’s pierced by a sine tone on "9 seconds." From there on vibraphones and 70s flutes rub against cut-up drum patterns and vocal edits. Vujanic neatly interchanges noise and melody roles, creating competition and dissonance that evolves into harmony. For example "Graph-viak" unexpectedly flips from post-Drum n Bass froth to oddly 80ish pop song without breaking rhythm. Last year’s Wolfhour had a similarly broad palette of sounds, though this year’s model works it’s transitions and shifts with greater subtlety. “The Story of Fissa Maines” starts as a taped monologue unspooled from a noisy source and segues into a venue-changing woodwind cue that itself merges with an electronic pulse and piano figure as “Prism Break” starts. It's an album of (lovely) surprises that never lags or lulls.

Other Electricities

Fridge – Early Output 1996 – 1998

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:20:00 -0700

That this trio of London kids was still in high school and essentially just dicking around with a cassette 8-track when Trevor Jackson began releasing their explosively imaginative post-rock experiments on his Output label is humbling. It’s well known that they’ve gone on to glory with Four Tet and Adem; and a reunion in 2007 that produced the new album Sun whetted the appetite for more. Culled from sessions that yielded two full lengths and a handful of singles comes this blend of Tortoisesque musculature with swatches of cheap electronics and cheeky melodies for drapery. Sam Jefffers’ unschooled and deeply intuitive drumming was the loose backbone that let Adem Ilhan and Kieran Hebden drop noise guitar and droning keyboards wherever their hearts desired. Standouts like faux-dance groovy “Lojen,” Mogwai-winking “Swerve and Spin,” and the patient 808 epic “Anglepoised” prove the breadth of ideas and influences that continue to serve these gentlemen today.

Temporary Residence

Various – Enjoy the Silence

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:16:00 -0700

Taking a cue from the Kompakt Pop Ambient compilations, Japanese label Mule Electronic celebrates five years of bliss with its own collection of serene themes. Veterans like Strategy, Jan Jelinek and Thomas Fehlmann, who trumps even his IMPS remix from earlier this year with a wonderful piano-in-a-whirlpool bit, sit next to eagerly ascendant artists. Kuniyuki Takahashi, who records as Koss, takes a regal piano theme and adds slightly unsettled ambient noise to generate something lovely and a little unnerving. Sweden’s Minilogue continue to develop their non-dancefloor side with a lengthy synthpad churner that is treated to hide-and-seek polyrhythms from several sources. Peter M. Kersten’s Lawrence track is a simple and effective balance of a few echoing elements with a thread of playful vibraphone stringing them along. It isn’t as fluid a collection as the Kompakt offerings, but still makes a splendid label overview and bookend to their German counterpart.

Mule Electronic

Our Brother the Native – Sacred Psalms

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Hill) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:13:00 -0700

Pared down to a duo OBTN seem to have discovered a slightly more lucid spirit guide to follow on this third full length. Joshua Bertram and Chaz Knapp, both barely into their 20s, are still adventurers into and melders of twilit global musical forms, but with a firmer grasp on the western pop trope. Easy but accurate comparisons to Animal Collective’s earlier acoustic and ecstatic campfire songs paint part of the picture. However, for every song like opener “Well Bred” that thrives on adrenaline and a layered choir of voice and horns there is a “Sores” that has a simple and mournful folk song atop the bongo/sitar/gamelan exoticism. Certain tracks have a jammed-out feel where competing found sounds and meandering samples eventually stumble across the song proper. “Behold” has a repeated lyric that states, “there is no use in holding back / this is who we are,” and that is as good a self-descriptor of OBTN’s approach to music making as any critic could ascribe; best just to relax and enjoy the overflow

FatCat Records