Tweetronic!

Isan | Plans Drawn in Pencil
The masters of tweetronic do it again. With this new album to stack on top of their other great albums, you can now listen isan all day long and feel good all over all day. Light-hearted yet somehow deep, enriched by soundscape pieces like 'Immoral Architecture' and 'Stickland' amoungst the clips and smirks of 'Corundum' and the lovely 'Roadrunner.' I can't recommend this one enough.

Apparat | Duplex
Even though this is a couple of years old, it still seems ahead of it's time. Duplex is an album that reeks of many long late-night/morning edits, yet still somehow contains a great amount of heart. Mostly light and detailed instrumentals, the few tracks with vocals 'Wooden', and 'Contradiction' seem to balance out the epic graciousness of the album. fans of Yasume and Isan will certainly appreciate this, if they don't already have it!

a lily | wake:sleep
A stunning album. Light, dense, organic and so full of love, it's contagious. The first half of the album are like morning pieces -light streaming in through the windows, waking you up with clicks, whirs, and glorious melodies. While the second half of the album are like time shifts, so long and pure and comforting me to sleep. James Vella has a knack for these organic textures, regardless of instrumentation, and the melodies woven throughout stick in my mind for days. If you want some warmth and love in your life, then by all means pick this one up.

Harold Budd + Robin Guthrie | Music from the Film Mysterious Skin
I can't tell you how happy I was to finally get to listen to more music from these two masterful gentlemen. How many of us longed for more of 'Moon and the Melodies?' Since so much time had passed since they had put out a release together, I tried not to have too many expectations. I love Robin's Imperial, and this album is even lovlier. Very smooth, and gorgeous. Some of it still gives me chills, really. The whole album feels so effortless for both of them and all the power to them. Thank you Harold and Robin for more of your selves.

Styrofoam | The Point Misser
Sorry for always using food references, but this album from 2000 is really quite crunch and yummy. Like really good home-made Kettlecorn. Why I haven't brought this album up earlier, I don't know. It's a perfect mix of the pretty side of electronic music and the crunchy pre-glitch side. It is a child-like and playful album for sure, inventive but not innocent. tracks like 'Words never spoken" and "futre Debt Collector are akin to the screengazer wonder of Manual. Delightful.

Manual | Bajamar
Speaking of Manual, this time he's shifted away from the rhythm oriented work of the likes of Ulrich Schnauss and has done a mesmerizing album of ambient wonder. It has the stunning longing that Manual is famous for, and its calmness is somehow startling. Nice long pieces that drone like a hot summer evening, but never get stagnant. Bajamar seems so reminiscent of Ivo Watts Russel's earlier sensibilities, it could have been on 4AD if they ever did ambient.

Yasume | Where We'r from the Birds Sing a Pretty Song
To top off this list of tweetronic, the collaboration of John Xela and Gabriel Morley also know as Yasume, is, imho, a perfect thing. laid-back and smoky, the non-intrusive glitch merged with the ephemeral environments set just the right mood for me. If you want to get some work done and feel intrigued at the same time, this is the ticket. There are several Twin peaks references through out the album, and just enough to not make the album creepy. it's not. but it does, somehow contain the 'other side' so prevalent on Lynch's work.