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| Minotaur Shock – Amateur Dramatics (Audio Dregs/4AD/Remote Control) Posted: 11 Feb 2009 06:56 PM CST
David Edwards is quite a character if his music is anything to go by. That is if you are trying to read character by examining music as if it was some form of tea leaves or bumps on head for a yet unreconstructed phrenologist. It is easy to see how his music communicates easily, melody and hook laden with a clear IDM language ready palate. The scoring of the instruments is clever, moving between sound period templates as easily as scratching your arse but I figure quite a good deal more time, effort and talent went into achieving these transitions than the aforesaid activity. You may gather by now that there is something amiss to my ear, or in it perhaps, for it seems as if I am lining up for a metaphorical sucker punch and yet at the last moment pull back. Throwing insults and compliments at the same time is a seemingly psychologically deficient activity. So perhaps the need to separate from such an activity and describe dryly the sense of Amateur Dramatics. Zookeeper opens with acoustic touches before launching into the beat laden core overpowering the violin and relinquishing at moments to melodic acoustic interludes. Seamless transition to AmDram continues the insistent beat/pulse/clap notion this time with accompanying clarinet. Then to the killer pop lullaby, This plane is going to Fall, dreamlike ethereal vocals of Anna-Lynne Williams, tinkling jolly melancholy, on kilter melody, violin central and focal akin to gypsy folk tune set in technological clothing. Buzzards is a prime example of a definition of Italo House influenced floor filling number, Two Magpies a somber acoustic electronic ambience foregrounding James Underwoods violin skills. Such these easy descriptors may give you some interest in Amateur Dramatics, which is indeed it is a highly talented display, combining sound structures and forms with aplomb and suave charm. If taken instrumentally, that is in the utility sense, rather than in the musical sense, tracks here would enter the world of the gigging Radio/Floor dj as they have the qualities of effect for these realms. But imagine if you will that you are staying up late and reading your child a late night story and instead of one book you have gone to the library and selected a range of books and read chapters of all of them, then turned to the child and said, that's the story kid, make a coherent narrative of it yourself. Transpose this to late night activities domain for adults and kidults and in essence this is the nature of Amateur Dramatics. At least it is highly intelligent, thoughtful and well constructed and not junk that is being stirred together and dished up for our sustenance. |
| Sven Libaek - Inner Space (Votary) Posted: 11 Feb 2009 06:56 PM CST
It seems ridiculous, yet it’s genius. For the soundtrack to Ron & Val Taylor’s 1973 Inner Space documentary television series, chronicling life in the depths of the ocean, Norweigan born composer Sven Libaek felt that smooth Brazillian influenced Australian jazz would fit perfectly. And he was right. The resulting music is like nothing you’ve heard before, impossibly breezy, dreamy, wonderous and slightly eccentric without ever being close to difficult. It’s long been the holy grail of crate diggers everywhere and a couple of the tracks were even reused in Wes Anderson’s recent The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. There’s a certain sensual jazz exotica at play here, with vibes, sly horns, an ocassional plodding bassline, harp, keys, you name it. It really is incredible, you have never heard jazz, particularly Australian Jazz like this before. And though I’m not sure how it ended up melding with the images, this exotic underwater jazz music is truly a unique proposition and a real milestone in Australian film soundtrack. Bob Baker Fish |
| Paradigm Shift Radioshow Playlist 9 Feb 2009 Posted: 11 Feb 2009 02:11 AM CST The Paradigm Shift is a weekly Monday night radio show presented by Sub Bass Snarl on Sydney radio station 2SER fm 107.3MHz - check the 2SER website for the live web stream! It airs Monday nights at the time of 730pm for 90 minutes (Australian Eastern Standard Time - GMT+10). Get in touch to send us your music (320s welcome!) - EMAIL: paradigmshift [AT] 2ser [dot] com Sweet Exorcist - Testfour [WAP3R] (Warp) [* = Australian Track] |
| Various Artists - Friendly Strangers ([Unnamed Label] Records) Posted: 11 Feb 2009 02:07 AM CST The consistency of Friendly Strangers is both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness. It’s the first release for the new U.S. based label, [Unnamed Label] Records, run by a couple of teenagers with high ideals and a fair amount of commitment. The group of tracks they have assembled are impressive and they have mastered them into a fairly seamless sonic whole. If you were given the blindfold test on listening to the album, in fact, you could very easily be forgiven for thinking the album was the work of a single artist. The overall mood of the compilation is of gentle textural movement. The rhythms are generally skittering bursts of small sounds. Synth lines meander, some grainier textures contrasting the often lush reverbs. While all the tracks are strong, some personal favourites include Mick Chillage’s ‘Livin’ Large’ with it’s more robust rhythm (courtesy of Public Enemy), ‘It All Started At Marshalsea’ by Innerise which uses quiet field recordings to further emphasise the gentleness of its muted synth chords, and ‘Electrah’ by Remorse, who introduce some slightly more forboding synth textures and fuzzy rhythms. So while the album is certainly a strong one, and a great listen, there is an overriding issue to my ears. If such a variety of artists, from around the globe, can produce such a consistency of tone and mood, surely that is a signifier of some level of identikit fashion at work. And while I can still enjoy the compilation at face value, I just can’t get that nagging thought out of the back of my mind. Adrian Elmer |
| :papercutz – Lylac (Apegenine) Posted: 11 Feb 2009 02:08 AM CST
:papercutz was once an individual project by idm proponent Bruno Pinto started after finishing a computer science degree. Schooled in youth on piano and deepening compositional knowledge, and technical studio recording through the Oxygen rock/electronic project with friend Nuno Maciel. :papercutz demo album Articulated forms, Pinto describes: "presented through the point of view of an observer, the life of one individual on a urban cosmopolitan center that lives of articulated pieces and forms and from which it depends to function". A following ep, Nightmare at the playground, released on netlabel Testtube featuring tracks from the demo. Background leads the path to the present, which is as much explanatory as it is obvious, but the point was to bring you to the difference in that conceptually Lylac differs from previous releases as it concentrates on the question of inner being, on notions of emotion and intuition in difference to purely rational examination. Examination of this clip of Ultravioleta reveals a simple symbol play of the conflict between states of being in quite a humorous manner although some rationalists may claim it to be merely childish. In that Lylac concentrates on simple melodic form, (Miguel finding on Piano, vocals, melodica, fx, Melissa Veras as lead vocalist displaying dreamlike lyric form, Francisco Bernardo on acoustic guitar, Xylophone and synth), is deceptive a statement in that the seeming clarity and simplicity of the form hides the depth of knowledge. It is easier to distill complex ideas into simplicity to convey and communicate to a greater audience which belies the paradox of the pop sphere, that complexity may be transferred but it still requires an active listener. It is simpler as well as it aims at dreamlike nature, a lightness devoid of the complexities of the entanglements of darker worlds, which is often the complaint against the inclination as it is seen as a form of escapism yet also highly regarded as it allows this very space for the listener. Beyond these questions which seem central to the concept of the album, the question of form is easier to approach. Layla is quite an accomplished form, it's balance between acoustic and electronic approaches is seamless and invisible, vocal presence is foregrounded and yet not dominant, clarity of intonation of the piano, xylophone and melodicia display the technical achievements. Lovers of glitch electronicia, acoustic jazz fusion and classical ambience will be amply rewarded by the sophisticated simplicity of this album. |
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