Cyclic Defrost Magazine |  |
- Paradigm Shift Radioshow Playlist 13 July 2009
- Jon Balke – Siwan (ECM/ Fuse)
- Death In June – Presents Kapo! (NERUS)
- Totakeke – The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes (Tympanik Audio)
- Silicone Soul – Silicone Soul (Soma/Inertia)
| Paradigm Shift Radioshow Playlist 13 July 2009 Posted: 13 Jul 2009 07:50 AM PDT 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 The Heavy – Coleen (El-B remix) [Coleen versions] (Counter Records) [* = Australian track] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. |
| Posted: 13 Jul 2009 06:33 AM PDT
Norwegian pianist Jon Balke has assembled a remarkable collection of musicians for Siwan. Most notable is the incredible Moroccan singer Amina Alaoui, who’s presence here lends a quiet dignity, yet also Algerian Kheir Eddine M’Kachiche on violin, Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike and his baroque orchestra, and recent visitor to Sydney’s Luminous Festival Jon Hassell on trumpet and electronics. In all we’re talking 18 musicians on this unique and intriguing project that began life as a commission and grew into this cross cultural amalgamation of Arabic and European cultures that harks back to the Gharnati music from Muslim Iberia (730 – 1492), baroque, and also improvised music. It comes across as a series of swells, where you can hear hints of the mannered constructions of baroque, yet the gentle plucking takes on an Arabic feel. Above it all, above both the subtlety and power of the music are Amina Alaoui’s remarkable vocals. She comes from a classical tradition, yet is also a musicologist. Here she’s using the texts of famous Spanish poets from the 10th – 15th century, singing in Spanish and often it’s her long drawn out wails and vocal versatility that provide a sense of melody. This is a very still album, there’s a sense of melancholy to many of the tunes, only enhanced by the longing in Alaoui’s voice. Yet there’s also a slight jazz feel, particularly on the hypnotic peaceful stomp of Itimad, that comes from Al-Mu’tamid Ibn Abbad (1040-1095) the poet King of Seville who was deposed and imprisoned in Morocco with his wife. The poem comes from a note he slipped to her in an adjoining cell. “Promise me that the pact that unites us will not be broken with distance,” he pleads and though you can’t understand her words you can feel them. This is a remarkable album, there’s a real power in their restraint. Worlds are colliding, yet the results are subtle, intriguing and unlikely, pretty much exactly as it appears on paper. Bob Baker Fish No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. |
| Death In June – Presents Kapo! (NERUS) Posted: 13 Jul 2009 06:03 AM PDT
Kapo! was originally released as an eponymously titled LP in 1996. This expanded reissue under the Death In June banner features 6 extra tracks (remixes from 2003) and is released in digifile format with 8 page lyric booklet. Listening to this album is like experiencing a film for the ears. Kapo! is a suite of linked songs and instrumentals, but there is no clear narrative – rather it’s a succession of dreamlike moments. Kapo! is a collaboration between Douglas P of Death In June and Richard Leviathan of neofolk outfit Ostara. One of the most notable things about this album is that Richard Leviathan doesn’t really sing on it – he intones spoken word lyrics on ‘Wolf Wind’ and ‘Kopfjager’, and contributes occasional backing vocals. This is surprising as he has one of the most distinctive voices in neofolk. But perhaps he decided to subsume his ego here so as not to detract from the overall vibe of the album – and that vibe is very much nocturnal, oneiric and gloomy. Drums and percussion are used intermittently, and when present are mixed well back. This contributes to the floating, dreamy feel of the music. Opener ‘Wolf Wind’ sets the tone for the whole album: strummed acoustic guitar, spoken/whispered vocals intoning dark poetry, martial drums echoing in the background, string synth colouring the refrain, sampled voices floating in and out of the mix in a disorienting manner. Instrumental ‘A Sad Place to Make a Shadow’ is perhaps the most film soundtracky thing on here, with cello, strings, clarinet, horn etc all swathed in reverb, playing a mournful, halting tune. The brooding ‘Lullaby to a Ghetto’ seems to sum up the overall haunted, desolate feel of the record – “Don’t look to God, He’s turned away…”. Ewan Burke No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. |
| Totakeke – The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes (Tympanik Audio) Posted: 13 Jul 2009 03:10 AM PDT
New York-based dark electronic producer / composer Frank Mokros is certainly a prolific guy – a scant twelve months after the release of his debut album as Totakeke ‘Elekatota: The Other Side Of The Tracks’ comes this sprawling two disc follow-up effort ‘The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes’ (Mokros’ penchant for lengthy album titles remaining firmly in place here). As for the music itself, the 26 tracks collected over the two discs here sees Mokros more or less directly picking up thematically from where ‘Elekatota’ left off, with the predominant aesthetic mood leaning towards the broken, glitchy IDM electronics and forlorn cinematic ambience of that aforementioned album. There’s perhaps slightly more of a noticeable contemporary classical influence that manifests itself amongst the meticulous keyboard arrangements that appear throughout elegantly glacial tracks such as ‘The Past Forgotten’ and ‘Patient HM’, but it’s an ambient sensibility that’s nicely balanced out by the more energetic excursions into twisted, accelerated breakbeats and near-EBM techno influences in evidence on tracks like ‘Disconnected Inside’ and ‘Anterograde Amnesia.’ While this album certainly manages to remain consistently interesting and sees Mokros employing an impressively meticulous approach to production and sound design, the one main criticism to be made is that there’s almost too much to take in here at 71 minutes running length – and that’s not counting the second disc of equal length, which features reworkings of tracks by Flint Glass, Pneumatic Detach and Lucidstatic, alongside several new Totakeke originals. It’s precisely this sheer volume that threatens to undermine the listener’s ability to really enjoy and appreciate the numerous undeniably impressive moments going on here – hopefully, future Totakeke releases will see Mokros opting for more easily digestible portions. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. |
| Silicone Soul – Silicone Soul (Soma/Inertia) Posted: 13 Jul 2009 02:27 AM PDT
I’m not familiar with Silicone Soul’s earlier work, but this is their fourth album on Soma Recordings, the label that brought us Slam, Funk D’Void, and many other ‘progressive’ house acts that emerged from Scotland in the early nineties. It’s a pretty standard UK house affair, rarely straying from tight grooves, tidy bass lines, delay drenched pads and stabs, with the occasional filtered vocal sample. It picks up though, on the odd occasion that it strays from this formula, particularly on tracks Koko’s Song, and David Vincent’s Blues. Koko’s Song, the albums lead track, opens with a repeated laid-back electric guitar riff, subtle feedback, and amp buzz, under which a groove slowly builds to a break featuring more delayed feedback and some live percussion; an engaging, yet harmless six and a half minutes. David Vincent’s Blues picks up where Koko’s song left off, with more subtle guitar riffs over a very loose disco groove. The track has a late night jam feel to it, and stands apart from the rest of album, simply by being different. Seasons Of Weird opens with a promise of this same loose-jam-vibe but lapses into a tired synth line that repeats ad infinitum. Overall, this is too monochromatic. Ben Askins No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. |
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