Saturday, August 1, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Link to Cyclic Defrost

The Gaslamp Killer – My Troubled Mind EP 10”/Digital (Brainfeeder/Alpha Pup)

Posted: 01 Aug 2009 06:55 AM PDT

GLK - My Troubled Mind

I'm a huuuge fan of The Gaslamp Killer, the GLK has released some of the most intense, killer mixtapes in the last few years, starting it all with the self titled mix collaboration with MHE many years ago, reintroducing us all to some of the lost gems of the trip hop generation, truly dirty drums, dusty samples, and on the whole, instrumental… Having released a mix for Obey, a forward thinking clothing design house, reinforcing the dirty drum ethic, numerous podcasts such as We Make It Good incorporating some dubstep just to prop up the bottom end that GLK seems to thrive on, to being let loose on the Finders Keepers/B-Music reissue back catalogue for the All Killer mix that shows more of the GLK influences rather than the future direction of a deranged DJ. His most recent mix for the Hit & Run guerilla live T-Shirt design house, Hell & The Lake Of Fire Are Waiting For You, delivered a feverish mesh of his differing styles, dirty drums, psych gems, dubstep and 8bit bottom end brutality somehow finding a common thread between the disparate styles to create a cohesive mix that seems to sound better on every listen.

For such a respected, original, and crazed DJ, their own productions can either astound or disappoint. The GLK as a producer, we all know he is a wonderous DJ, with a deft selection of killer tunes, but can he cut it as a producer of his own tracks? This is where I have to make some observations, at the end of the day The GLK can nail down a groove like no other. His own productions, that may be a stretch, but what we hear on My Troubled Mind are re-edits, but damn good ones, dragging tunes decades old to now. Being a damn good drummer himself (check youtube for proof), this is where his strength lies, team that with lashings of psychedelic mayhem and experimentation, bottomless crate digging, and some synth noodlings by his good mate Computer Jay, and My Troubled Mind hits home as modernist tripped out re-edits that really do nail a groove.

Released as a private press 10" vinyl EP on the Flying Lotus Brainfeeder imprint, with great packaging and art work, which does make this format an expensive option, especially if you're getting it from the US, but also available to download digitally, what you get is five tracks and two intro's of crazed Turkish psych funk breaks blues sludge electronic space age music. Don't listen to anything you hear about The GLK, its something your ears must hear for themselves. Crazy. More craziness at www.brainfeedersite.com.

Wayne Stronell

Awol One & Factor – Owl Hours (Fake Four Inc)

Posted: 01 Aug 2009 06:37 AM PDT

Awol One & Factor - Owl Hours

Awol One has cemented himself as an MC to watch, teamed here with Factor on production duties, complementing Awol One's vocal style. Owl Hours moves from electronic pop to folk hop to rock hop accompanied by some great guest vocalists such as Aesop Rock, Myka 9, Tha Alkaholiks and executive producer Xzibit.

While touring through Canada, Awol One met producer Factor and forged a friendship and artist collaborative relationship that would rock packed crowds of hip hop and rock devotees when touring Montreal, showing their cross over potential on the live music circuit.

The subject matter here is from personal experience, which makes it so much more believable, this does not fall into mainstream hip hop trappings. Tracks like “Glamorous Drunk”, “Celebrate”, “Stand Up”, “Up Downtown”, “Waste The Wine”, “Back Then”, “Darkness” and “Brains Out” show a great maturity in song writing and lyrical poetry, delivered like a repressed party album, with a deeper message of life experience. The production is varied and subtle, allowing room for Awol One and guests verses to ride the beats and warm electronics, producing refreshing songs, not just hip hop tracks. Check out more here www.fakefourinc.com.

Wayne Stronell

Stina, Chris Coblis, Gutter Guitar – “Smell you later” Japan Tour 2008 (Heartless Robot)

Posted: 01 Aug 2009 05:30 AM PDT

8_smellcover

Naming your label Heartless Robot Productions is humorous enough but the ubiquitous teen put down title bides well for this irreverent crew from Western Australia at least in the mirth stakes. Smell you later is a compilation touring vehicle for 3 label artists; Stina, Chris Cobilis and Gutter Guitar. It opens with 5 tracks from Stina (Stina Thomas), the opener 'myoop' an optimistic beginning of revolving tinkling bright tones and mashed electronic drum clap. 'Cantaba' is precisely the idea of the title, a working around a bit of a canter, with a Spanish inflection. 'Lune' displays her piano training though the lens of a warm electronic environment.

Gutter Guitar (Predrag Delibasich) delivers 5 tracks of guitar experimental noise, building walls of abstracted rhythms predominately low bubbling repetitions, built into loops and overlaid with counterpoised strange rhythms, stretching the idea of the guitars plastic possibility. The epic 'Rhythm of Crime' track is a monster, precision cut guitar scratched loop manipulated and subtlety played into a hypnotic mind trap adding elements towards an elusive climax.

Chris Cobilis is definitely the standout on this album, 'home' is akin to a Zen poem, washing discrete precise notes through the spectrum, alongside 'bowed' screaming strings mimicking harmonic bowls. 'Sheds' reverent subterranean noise delivers atmosphere and holds in this melancholic space. 'Rosemount' is an intricate ending to the album, building complexities, haltering repetitions into wavering tonal insistence.

Overall it has to be seen for what it is, a sampler introducing musicians with a smattering of their works, a souvenir of a good night out.

Innerversitysound

Oberman Knocks – 13th Smallest (Aperture)

Posted: 01 Aug 2009 01:57 AM PDT

Oberman Knocks

Sheffield-born and now South London-based, electronic producer Nigel Truswell has previously released tracks as Alkin Engineering and WG Machines on a slew of labels, including the esteemed Static Caravan imprint, Unlabel and October Man Recordings. This debut album as Oberman Knocks represents the first release on Andrea Parker’s Aperture label, and certainly kicks things off nicely for a label apparently dedicated to the more experimental, abstract regions of electronic music. Perhaps the most apt description of the ten tracks collected here would be dark IDM, with much of the sonic palette here being constructed around dark drones, contorted, digitally-processed industrial breakbeats and the occasional fragment of cut-up, unintelligibly yelled vocals – indeed, Truswell apparently restricts himself to a comparatively stripped-back studio set-up, using only a minidisc recorder, cheap mic and three pieces of software.

While the Sheffield-based comparison is an all too easy one, the most obvious influential touchstone here is frequently Autechre at their most atonal, austere and nasty, with the skittering, steel-plate edged complex breakbeats and detuned synthetic drones of opener ‘Bronic’ and ‘Lackey Remand’ calling to mind the more confrontational edges of the duo’s ‘Confield / Draft 7.30′ period. Perhaps most noticeably however, it’s the unrelentingly dark nature of these seemingly airless tracks that perhaps strikes the attention most – with the gasped, strangled vocal fragments seeming to grab for oxygen amidst the unsettling textures, and further adding to the doomy sense of atmosphere generated. File under ‘uneasy listening’; ‘13th Smallest’ is likely to appeal most to fans of dark noise-laden IDM along the lines of the Ad Noiseam and Tympanik Audio labels.

Tiki Taane – Past, Present, Future (Tikidub Productions / Shock)

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 09:43 PM PDT

Tiki Taane

When former Salmonella Dub frontman Tiki Taane split from the New Zealand-based collective back in 2007 to pursue a solo career, it might have initially been seen by some as a risky proposition. In retrospect however, it’s proved to be an extremely astute move for Taane, with this debut solo artist album ‘Past, Present, Future’ reaching Platinum status in New Zealand, with first single ‘Always On My Mind’ spending more than three months in the top ten and recently becoming certified as the most successful NZ single to date. It’s certainly a testament to the strength of the thirteen tracks here, which see Taane adeptly blending elements of his traditional Maori heritage with a contemporary production approach that takes in elements of hiphop, dub, drum and bass and RNB / pop. If ‘Tangaroa’ suggests the massed gathering of Maori warriors at dawn, complete with massed multitracked vocals and thundering drum rhythms, the slide into smooth, synth-laden hiphop alongside Fur Patrol vocalist Julia Deans on ‘This Is It’ carries with it vagues traces of UK-born grime, something that’s beautifully brought out in full on the vaguely junglist ‘Our Favourite Target’, which sees Dean’s laidback soul vocal beautifully contrasting against the distorted sub-bass pulses and spidery rhythms that power beneath.

Indeed, the numerous collaborations amongst the tracklisting here see Taane reaching for the skills of close, NZ-based brethren, – the seemingly effortless trading of verses between Taane and Shapeshifter’s P-Diggs on the lovers’ rock-centred ‘Faded’ sounding so natural, you almost wonder why it took this long to actually happen. By contrast however, the aforementioned ‘Always On My Mind’ represents what’s easily the most stripped-back offering here, with Taane simply delivering his raw-sounding soul-pop vocals over a lone acoustic guitar backing. While it’s something of an atypical moment here amongst the hiphop / digi-dub styles that predominate this album, it’s certainly proved an enticing opening gambit for a rapidly growing fanbase. An extremely impressive debut solo album that provides compelling evidence of Taane’s multi-faceted skills as a vocalist, songwriter, producer and arranger.

at 5:11 PM