ixmae

A video for The Balustrade Ensemble

2008-07-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

Tangle In Delirium video by Frvescent:

http://ping.fm/0HIqm

The Abbasi Brothers interviewed on Wired.com

2008-06-29T22:01:00.001-07:00

A great and illuminating interview and sound samples. http://ping.fm/CSOIR

2008-06-29T21:55:00.001-07:00

The Abbasi Brothers Interviewed on Wired:

http://ping.fm/CSOIR

Fjordne | The Last 3 Days of Time is out now.

2008-06-23T00:03:00.001-07:00

Available in stores (Dynamophone, Aquarius, n5MD, P*Dis, Darla, etc) and now on iTUnes Plus: http://ping.fm/9k6Vl

2008-06-23T00:01:00.001-07:00

Fjordne now on iTunes Plus: http://ping.fm/9k6Vl

2008-06-20T11:45:00.001-07:00

Nice new review for The Abbasi Brothers: http://ping.fm/Wy4IC

2008-06-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

Hilarious placement for The Abbasi Brothers upcoming album: http://ping.fm/KYnYH

Architects, surgeons and tobacconists.

2007-03-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

Ellen Allien & Apparat | Orchestra of Bubbles
Berlin's coolest club fixtures crossed paths again to conceive one of 2006's chief electronic feats. Apparat's micro-glitch/strings-snippet signature meets Allien's sly electro songcraft to create a chic soundtrack for the post-modern age. The sleek circuitry is shorn of extraneous clatter, distilling elements to their purest form. Ellen's heavily-accented, hazy vocals drift across slippery, lacquered beats and chunky synth constellations on "Way Out" -- far and away, the most successful contender in the cavalry. Reserved but not cold, Orchestra is an urbane alternative to the generic oontz of mainstream techno.

Gavin Friday | Shag Tobacco
Former Virgin Prune Friday crowned his solo career with this exotic caravan of neo-cabaret numbers. Shag Tobacco unfolds like a two-part theater piece, with its roots firmly planted in the gilded gutters of pre-WW2 Berlin and the homoerotic heyday of 70s glam. Act 1 ushers in a slew of seductive slow-burners with an elegant feline gait. The sultry flavor lends itself to low-lit bars with red velvet upholstery and smoky tendrils pirouetting in midair. Gavin whispers softly in our ears like a high-brow lounge lizard, growing brassier with each syllable. Act 2 struts into the spotlight with a campy showstopper titled "Mr. Pussy" that packs an emotional wallop you won't see coming. The eclectic hodgepodge of instruments, moods and languages is streamlined by producer Tim Simenon, who added similar flair to Depeche Mode's Ultra. Shag Tobacco is the best 90s album you never heard.

Black Lung | The Great Architect
David Thrussell prepares an industrial sandwich with power noise crunch, ambient fizzle and delicious, bite-sized beats. The Great Architect is a compelling exploration of inner and outer space that bursts at the seams with boyish imagination. Heaving dump-truck blasts, robot zaps, mechanical pandemonium -- it's all here. These trinomial tracks bypass dull tweakery, remaining succinct and internally stable. A dazzling panoply of sonic experiments that snooty DJs can namedrop and B&T clubbers can embrace.

Lansing-Dreiden | The Dividing Island
The Dividing Island is a refreshingly lean pastiche that pays homage to clever songsmiths of eras past. This Brooklyn-based collective borrows blissed-out 60s psychedelia, somber 80s post punk and a touch of 70s soul to whip up an inspired blend that speaks to today's generation. "Our Hour" steals the show with sensitive echoed crooning reminiscent of Bryan Ferry and OMD's Andy McCluskey. No misfires here, only lush pop patchworks with style to spare. Fans of XTC's Skylarking: take note.

Matmos | A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure
This high-concept surgical symphony enchanted fickle critics and casual consumers alike -- and rightly so. The eccentric San Franciscan duo gleefully merge squirts, gurgles, slurps and gushes; all mined from the surreal locale of a plastic surgery clinic. Tongue firmly in cheek, they inject unlikely warmth into potentially gruesome subject matter. Quirky IDM trifles comprise the lion's share, but a seamy underbelly reveals itself on "L.A.S.I.K.", in which terrifying hospital din contorts maniacally and the mournful "For Felix (and all the rats)" which turns bagpipe-type howls, decrepit piano clangor and reverse-looped sounds into a marvelous avant-garde hymn. A Chance to Cut explores modern vanity rituals with humor and aplomb, making this one of the best theme albums to date.

Interview with Pieter Nooten, December 2006

2007-01-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

If the name Pieter Nooten is familiar to you, you are aware that he has been away for quite some time. An on-and-off-again member of Xymox (of the classic early 4AD records roster), Nooten has always been an enigmatic figure working just outside of recognition – even within the underground scene of which he was a part.

The jewel of his past is the gorgeous, essential late-80s collaboration with infinite-guitarist Michael Brook, Sleeps With The Fishes, which continues to inspire up-and-coming musical experimentalists. Nooten’s compositions even found their way onto the records of the seminal 4AD ensemble, This Mortal Coil.

Now, years after his early-nineties departure from Xymox (he left well before the dodgy records), Nooten resurfaces with Ourspace, a record of subtlety and restraint containing the kind of music it takes years of experience and perspective to put together.

Pieter, it’s been far too long since you’ve put out a record. What has been going on with you during your time away?

I have been all over the place to be honest. but mainly I’ve been keeping a low profile and being tired of the whole music industry, working for media, theatre, and magazines.

Do you see the musical landscape in 2006 as having changed much from the last time you released music?

I have no idea. I do not listen to much music other than baroque. There is so much good music around and so little opportunity to get it released. MySpace is a real invention in that respect. Since I’ve signed in, I hear absolutely stunning material.

Describe the process you went through creating your brilliant new album, Ourspace.

Ourspace consists of material that has been lying around for some time, yet some tracks are more recent. Some I am happy with, some less so. I am currently writing new material and will be cooperating with other musicians, singers, and producers. Only a few of the tracks on Ourspace have been produced using high-end equipment, which bugs me, to be honest. Most tracks started out as bedroom recordings, using an out-of-date computer. Yet, working in absolute solitude, they have that intimate, quiet feel I AM happy with. I find most 'ambient' music a bit too detached, technically perfect, but self-aware, and to some extent, self-conceited. I have been trying to bring back a bit of a human feel to the genre, and not bothering too much with the sound as
belonging to a certain genre.

The bulk of the album is instrumental. Was this intentional, or did the material just lead you that way?

No, no, really. I am happy you ask. Actually, most of the tracks I wrote with vocals in mind. Mind you, it’s difficult to find vocalists who meet my demands, especially in Amsterdam and Holland. Next time things may be different as I am looking around for singers (also on MySpace!). I do not like my own voice that much. Anka (who co-produced my album) really encouraged me to sing, myself, and she is very bossy so I had no choice.

Geographically, where are you at these days? Are your surroundings playing a part in your work – either in a collaborative or creative sense?

Amsterdam is a lovely place to live in. It is small, has gorgeous architecture, but it is also rich, bourgeois, and a tiny bit small-minded in spite of everything we want tourists to believe! Yet the beauty of the place does indeed inspire me.

Ourspace is so multi-textural. Besides synthesizers, what other instruments do you play?

I am trying to stay away from using synth textures and electronic sounds as much as possible. It is a technical thing and I just don't think it is original. Presets are easy to use, especially in this kind of music. You stick a plugin into your audio software and press a key, hey presto: ambient!

Yet digital sounds are extremely tiring to your ears and mind. So I use and create multiple sampled sounds which I 'found' myself. I am not bothered with things sounding too clean-cut or having a pleasing quality to them; there has to be a rough edge to it all.

Tell us a little about I-Rain, the new label that has released your new album. Are there plans to release the album in the U.S.?

Absolutely! We have just started this whole project. Our main focus at this point is online but we are looking into licensing deals. Obviously this is going to take a lot longer than throwing our stuff online as we are able to do now and selling through iTunes and the I-Rain site. Allthough it’s interesting to us that so many people are ordering the real, physical CD as well from our site.

Among many of the new, younger generation of electronic musicians, your collaboration with guitarist Michael Brook, Sleeps With the Fishes is greatly admired and cited often as an influence. What are your thoughts on that album nearly twenty years later?

I am honoured. Working with Michael was inspiring. The combination of my melodies, harmonies, and his ability to experiment with music, his approach to turn it around, created a special, deep, and multi-layered sound. It worked from the moment we set foot in the studio! I would love to work with him again. His new album is fantastic.

Ourspace has become one of our favorite records of the year.
Please tell us you have plans to continue making and releasing music?

Thanks again, I am honoured, and yes: I am back and brimming with ideas and inspiration. The next album will be absolutely stunning. I cannot wait to get it out there.

In the spirit of the Ixmae concept, can you provide for us your seven current favorite CDs?

I am afraid I can't. I really do not listen to much 'popular music'. People who know me realize that it's my strength in keeping the material authentic and personal (with that touch of naivety); I have no 'ambient' influences. Mind you, I have been hearing some great stuff on MySpace. If you insist, I'll admit that I do mostly listen to baroque music. I always have. I still consider Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' to be an all-time masterpiece of unbelievable depth!

4AD

Myspace

January 07 Reviews

2007-01-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

R/R Coseboom | Dynamophone 2006
BetweenTrembling Lanterns | listen
I meant to tell you about this gem earlier this year: it's got to be one of the top five albums of 2006. Seriously, even if I were objective! Two-thirds of the talented and evocative Halou, Ryan and Rebecca have woven such a nice collection of intimate and tragic stories, with topics ranging from rape and fetal loss to kinship with moths and hummingbirds. It is hard to not get shivers every now and then. It's pretty, it's brittle, it's warm, it's dangerous, it's nurturing. What more could you want? Merkur3

The Necks | ReR Megacorp, 2004
The Boys | listen
Dark and haunting jazz-drone soundtrack work from this Australian improvisational trio. The Necks construct somnolent percussive patterns below circuits of quietly evolving piano phrases, droning organs, narcotic bass, and tenebrous electronic atmospherics. The music has a kindred tonal palate to In a Silent Way-era Miles Davis but also draws upon the unrelenting pulse and more processed sounds of Krautrock bands such as Can or Harmonia. If you haven't heard The Necks, this album may be the easiest way to approach them. The songs on The Boys clock in between five and ten minutes each, which may seem rather abbreviated by The Necks standards. Other albums often contain only one song that slowly mutates over the course of an hour. The simplicity and open space of these arrangements let you focus on the subtleties of the performance and become absorbed by the slowly shifting patterns, creeping melodies, and burbling textures. Resurfacing themes and a zen-like restraint help the album feel like one continuous journey. This is introspective late night music, music for fireside drinks, reading poetry, or simply listening. Marmlezod

Nine Horses | Samahdisound, 2007
Money For All | listen |
I'm one of those unrepentant David Sylvian fans. So it goes without saying that I'm so biased toward whatever he works on that I am blind. That said, the three new tracks and the three reworked tracks on Money For All are just stunning. Midas touch. Nice to hear Stina (Nordenstam) again on 'Birds Sing For Their Lives', and to hear more of David's continued political frustration on 'Money For All' and emberic anger on 'Get the Hell Out'. This EP is great example of great craftsmanship and tenure at songwriting and music making. If you know Nine Horses and David Sylvian, you won't be disappointed; it's a gorgeous addition to your collection. Merkur3

Antena | Numero ,2005
Camino Del Sol | listen
Antena have been likened to Kraftwerk backing Brazilian chanteuse Astrud Gilberto. Warm analog synths wash across simple Latin-flavored drum-machine syncopations while understated female vocals float in and out of harpsichord filigrees. Noir-ish production values add a Martin Hannet-type feel to the recordings. Beautiful moments like the title track evoke warm, fuzzy memories of perfect vacations, beaches, and sunsets. This French trio was formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1983. The collection contains the re-mastered version of their self-produced LP, an EP, and a few odd singles. Quiet yet groundbreaking, the work was originally released on the Belgian label Les Disques Du Crepuscule which later joined with Factory Records to form the Factory Benelux imprint. During their brief existence, the band never attracted their due attention and before this 2005 release, they seemed destined to remain a musical footnote. Recorded over twenty years ago, the album still sounds current, vital, and hip. You can hear echoes of Antena's influence in the work of Stereolab, Bebel Gilberto, and Beck. If you enjoy this, also check out Isabelle Antenna's beautiful solo works.. Marmlezod

Marsen Jules | City Centre Offices 2006
Les Fleurs | listen
Cinematic, definitely, but for carefully shot reels. The kind of stills that reveal fine detail you might have missed upon first glance: a person in the reflection of another person's glasses. Each piece seems like a carefully set scene. At first you don't see anything but a wash of color and out-of-focus glimpses, but more and more becomes revealed when you are not looking. Lush, dark, and cold ambient settings that are far from trite, rushed, sloppy, or cerebral. Don't listen to it while driving, you'll forget the road. It's that good. Merkur3

Broadcast | Warp, 2006
The Future Crayon | listen
This is a collection of B-sides and rarities from a band sometimes unfairly looked upon as Stereolab's little sister. Unlike Stereolab's more recent music, which can at times feel over-thought and devoid of emotion, Broadcast maintain a naivety and quiet humility which help the listener traverse its noisier experiments. When in pop mode, Broadcast melt bittersweet pop melodies (a la Claudine Longet or Nancy Sinatra) across pulsing Kraut/Jazz rhythms, strange electronics, and growling hypno organs. At times, Broadcast seem to draw from 70s experimental space pop groups like United States of America, as well as the darker electro oscillations of Canada's Silver Apples, but throughout this collection, Broadcast manage to channel the future as much as the past. Later in the album, jazz/noise improvisations confront and challenge the timid, but the band's sense of charm and restraint keep it all from becoming too retro or self-indulgent. A few rare moments come off as sketches, experiments, or unfinished business, but the melancholic beauty of tracks like 'Locusts', 'Unchanging Window', and 'Poem of Dead Song' draws me back again and again. Tender imperfections and clever production keeps you engaged and discovering new things with each listen. This is the sound of Karen Carpenter dancing with Sun Ra off the shoulder of Orion, and is one of my favorite releases of 2006. Marmelzod

John Foxx/Harold Budd | Edsel Records 2003
Translucence + Drift Music | listen
I was apprehensive when I first heard about this on Echoes, but now I see that it's one of those few albums that stands out from a person's catalog, completely and in all ways magnificent. Granted, there have been a few of John Foxx's albums over the past fifteen years that I just can't listen to (sorry, John!), but I just can't get enough of this one. Aptly named, these are two CDs of perfect, mysterious, velvety ambient music. Translucence is mostly composed of Harold Budd's exquisite piano timing that (thankfully) manages to never get Windham Hill-ish, which is more of what I always love. Drift Music is exactly that: great Rothko-like sweeps of sound; shimmering, amoebic loveliness. Might be life-altering with opium. Merkur3

Romulo Froes | Tratore/Bizarre Music, 2004
Calado | listen |
This is a beautiful album of raw sambas and dusty bossas perfectly suited for lazy mornings and quiet nights of quiet stars. Romulo's weary voice floats over stripped down sambas that remind me of the band Low as much as the bossa guitar of Joao Gilberto. Soft psychadelic touches nod towards the Tropicalist movement (think early Caetano Velosa or Gal Costa), yet never disrupt the the warmth and intimacy of the album. Tracks like 'Suite' with its squeaky, out-of-tune violins and heroin-nod bossa rhythms should be enjoyed by those with an affinity for lo-fi folksters like Smog and Devendra Banhart as well as those attracted to the intimate sambas of early Jorge Ben. Throughout the album, Froes manages to sound familiar but never too derivative. The quiet melancholy and honesty of the whole affair make this release feel like a rediscovered classic. Marmelzod

Chris Herbert | Kranky 2006
Mezzotint | listen
I was in Smallfish buying a few Type releases when Mike Oliver suggested that I might like this. Turned out to be an understatement. Such a biotic combination of familiar sounds. Sleepy but intent, gorgeous and scientific, this ambient/experimental metroscape of an album is constantly revealing new angles and shows a great adult understanding - with glitchy film-track moments and pondering mystery. This album brings out the need to be particular and thoughtful. Goes good with a 12-year DoubleWood Balvenie and a dear friend. Merkur3

Tim Hecker | Kranky 2006
Harmony in Ultraviolet | listen
Tim Hecker's sixth proper album sounds like a distress call from robots drowning in rivers of lava. Genres and isms fail to describe the terrible beauty in this music.This is not ambient music, as it demands the listener's complete surrender to it's churning fields of static, interstellar transmissions and turbulent decay. Plaintive granular melodies coalesce and slowly dissolve into rivulets of white and pink noise, boiling fissures through an otherwise frozen landscape.Comparisons will be made to the distorted manipulations of Christian Fennesz or Kevin Shields but Hecker's pathos is at times more akin to classical works such as Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings or the sacred minimalism of Arvo Paart. Marmelzod

Rain-slicked, Cinematic Street Music

2006-12-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Fovea Hex | Huge: Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent Two
Huge is 20 minutes of haunting loveliness from the mysterious collective that is Fovea Hex. The second short release of the three-part Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent project, Huge contains all the instrumentation, drama, and swelling aural poetry of any ambient full-length. Vocalist Clodagh Simonds is more of an instrument than a singer, and her terse lyrical possessions drift in and out of the rich, primeval electronic droning like a siren's call. One would be hard-pressed to categorize Fovea Hex's music as anything more than small, lush gems of beauty. But as their label, Jenet Records, claims, "if you must bang on the table like that, you won't hear a thing".

Tram | A Kind of Closure
I first stumbled upon Paul Anderson's resigned falsetto guesting on Piano Magic's Writers Without Homes, and quickly became a fan of his three-album project with Nick Avery and Tram. Quieter than Low and perhaps more gallantly futile than even Nick Drake, Anderson lists all the ways that intimacy hurts, and the dark, dramatic piano, acoustic guitar, and whisk-rapped drums paint a somber picture to effectively merge with his resigned lyrical portraits. Catch reclusive Cocteau Simon Raymonde guesting on piano and pour yourself some whisky to help stave off the chill - Tram's closure is just another open wound.

Calexico/Iron & Wine | In the Reins
Joey Burns' West meets Sam Beam's East to form the very definition of Americana Gothic. It's really a wonder these two didn't meet sooner, for their seven-song EP is a natural synthesis. Gentle, driving acoustic guitar with bends and slides conjures a country feel but with a much darker core. One would expect to run across these guys playing in a lonely tequila joint somewhere just east of Santa Fe - and their lyrical stories are fitting for a chat at the bar afterward.

Efterklang | Tripper
Denmark's premiere electronic conglomerate create something very special on Tripper, a deep, pristine vista of drawn strings and crackling synth, layered with male and female voices throughout. The quiet times within build to crashing crescendos of simultaneous reverberant electro-harmonics and exaltant orchestration like something out of a science-fiction religious ceremony. The angelic chanting on the album's second track, 'Swarming', might as well be the representative choir for the Church of Technology. These songs, however, are hymnals for a new generation.

Film School | Film School
The massive production of Film School's second album, as well as its washed, shimmery guitars and pressing drumbeats, conjures a younger blend of The Cure and Interpol, but to some degree, these San Franciscans are more edgy than both of their contemporaries. Making optimistic pop songs with moody, self-loathing undertones is Film School's specialty, which is in itself just a prelude to their breadth of sound and skill. Also touching on psychedelia, shoegazer, and punk, all within the course of one album, the band will keep you guessing, nodding your head, and shamelessly pushing the play button rapidly in succession.

Interview with John Xela

2006-12-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

John Xela (Twells) is greatly responsible for a good amount of wonderful and innovative experimental soundscape music available today. He is founder of Type Records, has several albums of his own music (Xela and Yasume), has hosted many music nights in Birmingham (Default) and currently works for cult-status online music store Boomkat, and distributor Baked Goods.

Let's start with your long awaited new album "The Dead Sea." This album seems quite a departure from 'Tangled Wool'. Can you speak a little about the journey between the two albums?
Journey? I don't know about that... I think people said the same thing about the previous 'departure' - I just like to shake things up a bit. The truth is I'm a rabid music fan, I consume an inordinate amount of music and my tastes change week by week - when I wrote 'For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights' I hardly knew a thing about electronic music, and then writing 'Tangled Wool' was more of a 'return' to the sort of music I used to write previous to that, albeit with some more contemporary influences and stylistic flourishes. With 'The Dead Sea' I returned to the idea of writing a concept album which is something I’ve wanted to do for years, my love of horror films (again a long-term obsession) and a desire to shake things up a bit. At the time I was planning and writing I’ve been listening to a lot of free folk/noise/metal, or more than I had before so it's not surprising to me that these influences seeped in - it's the way I work. Also I do consciously try when I pen an album not to repeat myself if I can help it, there’s nothing worse than buying three or four identical albums from an artist, something that seems quite a hazard in the independent music scene.

It seems that we really depend on musicians to re-invent themselves, and at the same time we desire a sense of familiarity. Do you find yourself listening to music 'outside' your interest and comfort level in order to get new influences?
Yeah I guess, in my job I'm forced to listen to music from all genres really though, and that makes me think in a different way about things. I have found myself purposefully challenging my own ideas though at times, but I can never listen to something I just don't like, I get bored quickly!

What is it about concept albums (rather than just a collection of songs) that you appreciate?
Maybe it's sentimental value but I think it's more likely that I love the idea because I'm such a film junkie. A concept album is about as close as you get to a film without all the rigmarole of making one!

You are greatly involved in the creation and promotion of experimental music: with Type Records, Xela and Yasume, and your work with Boomkat and Baked Goods. What inspires this kind of dedication?
I guess it all boils down to my obsession with music... when I was a student I was running club nights and gigs in Birmingham and trying desperately to get the label together while also trying to write music… it was always something I dedicated most of my time to, pretty much as long as I can remember. Working with music inspires me, I get to hear more, I get to comment on it, I get to be part of the scene which inspired me so much growing up. I can't really imagine doing something not connected to the music scene in some way.

Now that you spend so much time with recorded music, do you miss 'Default' and putting together the gigs?
Sometimes I do, it was a lot of fun putting on shows but it was also a hell of a lot of hassle. I don’t know if the me right now would want to go through all that again, I'm probably less patient than I was back then.

Because of the greater exposure to more music, do you find that you are more critical of yourself as a musician than before?
I've always been very critical of my own output, but yeah you’re right, the more I hear, the more I adore, the more I question my own compositions. That's healthy to a point though, hopefully it won’t stop me from composing altogether!

What do you find valuable about experimental music?
I haven't really made my mind up whether experimental music is more or less valuable than any other kind of music, but for me it just so happens that this sort of music stimulates something in my brain. I like the sounds, I like to be challenged, and the deeper I get into music the more I need that kind of stimulation I think.

There seems to be a parallel between that experimentation and risk taking in music with the experimentation in Film. Much of what is on Type definitely feels like soundtracks to movies we would love to see. Would you say your love for horror films and, say, Lynch, has influenced your catalog?
Without a doubt, that was a conscious and very strong influence for me from day one - studying film and being totally addicted to cinema guided me somehow into darker more textural material very early on in my life and continues to be an important part of what I do. I love it when a director gets that mix of the audio/visual totally right -Lynch is a good example of a director who has that power.

Astral Portals and Stygian Soundscapes

2006-11-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Knife | Silent Shout
Siblings Olof and Karin Dreijer buck techno-pop conventions, releasing a progressive piece of melodious magic. These elegantly skewed fairytales present a range of characters enacted by the punk yelps, garbled rumbles and possessed whoops of our narrator. Swarming synth patterns and huge amped claps punctuate the misty sonic moors, as sounds split and multiply in the periphery. The journey culminates with "Marble House", a majestic masquerade exalted by the bewitching croon of fellow Swede, Jay-Jay Johanson. The year's best, without a doubt.

Gridlock | Further
Pendragon alumni Gridlock [both band and label now defunct] eclipsed themselves with this exquisitely unfurled industrial symphony. The material summons a classical aura placed in a distinctly futuristic framework -- lending gravitas to a Gibson-esque cyberpunk wasteland. Key track "Sever" pummels your senses with a bone-quaking pulse. The sadistic sonance is tempered with hovering ambient filigree -- a fusion of elements that set this Bay Area duo apart from the pack. Never aimless, always compelling -- Gridlock foreshadowed a rhythmic noise revolution.

Oil 10 | Beyond
Oil 10's sound is characterized by molasses-thick bass kicks, warm analog tones and whimsical sci-fi touches. A soothing spacial recipe transported in iridescent bubbles floating toward the stratosphere. Ambient textures, Kraftwerk allusions and flecks of psytrance paint a cinematic vision that is hardly novel, but lovingly rendered. Clean, concise and altogether pleasurable.

Sadovaja | Kill Your Darlings
Released in 2000 on Memento Materia, this classy collection of intimate slow-burners was glossed over by the entertainment media. Fronted by Swedish chanteuse Sarah Zodiak in a tone both nasally and untrained, but delivered with enough conviction to tug at the heartstrings. The arrangements bloom into tender tableaux of lovesick yearning, comprised of minimal trip hop templates, sentimental string sequences and a funky underpinning that wards off monotony. "Sweet Design" is an absolute stunner that seduces the ears with amorous professions and a Middle Eastern flavor that recalls Talvin Singh's contribution to Siouxsie's "Kiss Them For Me". A recommended soundtrack for moonlit lovemaking.

cEvin Key | The Ghost of Each Room
Legendary sound-bender Key left listeners awestruck with this chemically-enhanced odyssey into the mind of a mad genius. He demonstrates astonishing command over poly-rhythmic noise sculptures, welding a junkyard heap of reverbed clatter and crunchy clomps; tricked out robo-twitches and painstaking percussive tangents. Everything but the kitchen sink, yet unlike many of his IDM contemporaries, it isn't just noodling for the sake of noodling. The flow is nearly broken with the Skinny Puppy reunion track "Frozen Sky", which sounds more like a pleasant B-Side than a solo effort. Still, Ghost provides a much-needed fix for electronic connoisseurs.

Invisible Ballet | Escaping Light
Incandescent, larger-than-life electro-pop from Cosebooms Ryan and Rebecca [of Halou fame]. The irresistible "66 Degrees North" is a floor-killer infused with ethereal feminine grace. The pair's method eschews the redundancy of vocal trance and the pretentious brooding of EBM, carving its own niche within the scene. The fresh angle is enhanced by smooth, sensual intonations -- between Madame Coseboom and Victoria Lloyd [Claire Voyant], California has the market cornered for alt. pop divas. At times the mega-watt bass threatens to swallow her nuanced performance, but balance is mostly maintained. Flair for melodic construction is most apparent on the dazzling "I Am Right", featuring an unrestrained, driving rhythm and exultant chorus that catapults to the stars. Polished, tuneful, addictive -- and not a weak cut in the bunch.

Mount Sims | Wild Light
On second outing Wild Light, Mount Sims [AKA Matt Sims] swaps electro-trash affectation for serious artistry -- and I do mean serious. 15 dog-eared compositions that revel in the murky undercurrents of the human psyche. With a monotone drone eerily similar to the oft-emulated Ian Curtis, repetitive bass plucking and proto-synth palpitations, the formula is far from original. But it's enough to have the likes of She Wants Revenge shaking in their pointy hipster boots. Pitch-black tunes like the stand-out "No Yellow Lines" and gorgeously woozy "Ashes" evoke the menacing air of a dank underworld. As with a prolonged dreary comedown, you may need a shower afterward.

Tweetronic!

2006-09-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Announcing the IXMAE Soundscape Performance Series

2006-07-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been slackers lately. Well, we haven't really, just late on the reviews.

What we have been up to is setting up a performance series called the 'Ixmae Soundscape Performance Series.' The first event will be in London on August 17th featuring live performance and video by: Isan, Ochre, A Lily, Curium, Rigil, and Sleeprobot. If you happen to be in the U.K. then, don't miss this very special event.

The second in the series will be in San Francisco on November 10 featuring; R/R Coseboom, Nux Vomica, RF, Curium, and 2:07am. For more information on these events please go to the main page of ixmae or here.

What's your medicine?

2006-05-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Park Avenue Music | For Your Home or Office
It seems that the 'girl-singer coupled with a laptop wielding electronic musician type boy'band is perhaps a dime a dozen these days, but Park Avenue Music is an exceptional blossom in that venue. Glitchy, yes, but tasty. Breathy, yes, but so interestingly rendered and edited an composed, I can't stop listening to it. It being an EP makes me want more, and keep an ear out for more, because these two have really got something going.

Milosh | Meme
Mike Milosh does it again. So much soul and richness from a white man. Sonically consistent, with a great use of FM bass sounds, gorgeous syncopated multi-tracked vocals. Oh so funky for eclectica. Girl music, for sure. Can't be beat or compared.

Kuchen Meets Mapstation | Kuchen Meets Mapstation
A wonderful fusion of pretty and clever. Mellow, innovative and optimistically pensive. This makes some of the best background music with its cut-up gentle guitars and warm electronics. Damn, where did the afternoon go?

Worm is Green | Automagic
What a perfect combination of my old-school dark days interests and my current northern sound ones. Inventive, warm, odd, and evocative. Such variation in sound as well from their cover of Joy Divisions Love Will Tear Us Apart" to soundscapes of "Small Reverb. This album has it all. Sultry trip-hop style vocals at times, glitchy and experimental at others, this album somehow is very cohesive and doesn't come off ass skitzo. I highly recommend this to anyone.

Geniuser | Mud Black
The album title is so appropriate I can't imagine a better one. It's a dark and mellow album, and kind of a downer, but in a really comforting healthy way. Featuring Michael Allen (the singer from the amazing Wolfgang Press). It's a dark glassed soho club/lounge with dark wall and candlelight. You just don't know what will happen there and it's O.K. Very Lynch in experience, you just don't really know what's going on under the skin of it all.

Populous | Queue For Love
If you ever need a pick-me-up after listening to Geniuser, then this is the perfect opposite. Bright, cheery, toe-tapping and playful. Like a drive around town on a hot day with the top down, Populous always manages to make interesting and fun music. Not an easy task for sure, fun usually ends up being dippy and trite, whereas this album is thougthful, AND optimistic. Very italian, actually.

Sybarite | Nonument
Arty New York musicians are so cool. Just when you think things have gotten stagnant in the US, this album demonstrates why living on the East Coast can be enjoyable and life affirming. With a really lovely combination of instruments and textures, this album is very well crafted and thoroughly enjoyable. It hearkens to what 4AD should have been doing for the last 7 years.

The Heroes and Heroines of Modern Synthpop

2006-04-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Client | Client
Self-prescribed "sleaze-electro" vixens tantalize with pared down old school jams featuring the meanest Cockney-coated hooks this side of Ladytron. Perhaps written off as the last gasp of the electroclash fad, this sexy slice of noir pop fell mostly on deaf ears. Like a sinister score to a wet nightmare, Client leaves you aching for more.

IAMX | Kiss + Swallow
An ideal companion to Client, Chris Corner's [Sneaker Pimps] solo masterpiece plumbs the depths of carnal urges and social taboos. The dynamic structure is reminiscent of Depeche Mode's perennial classic, Violator [considered by me to be the greatest record of all time]. Kiss + Swallow evokes the seedy atmosphere of underground cabaret, walking the fine line between explicit and offensive, liberated and chaotic. Corner pours blood, sweat and tears into each verse, employing a vocal technique that listeners will either find affected and bombastic or raw and compelling. If you fit into the latter category, you're in for a treat.

Lavantgarde | Inside Out
Snobs be damned -- Euro dance act Lavantgarde pride themselves on unabashedly poppy tunes suitable for rocking out in your jammies. Aural comfort food, serving up retro grooves with a dash of melancholy. The formula clearly owes a debt to electropop godfathers the Pet Shop Boys, but does not feel overtly derivative. "Take Me S.I.M." is the chief single here, leading a pack of predominantly strong cuts. If you let your guard down, it might just grow on you.

Pulcher Femina | Shadows of the Lovers
On Shadows, Italian synthpopper Roberto Conforti builds upon the traditional goth blueprint with layers of velvety synths, undulating romantic melodies and synthetic string arrangements. With the expertise of T.O.Y. mastermind / production maestro Volker Lutz, this operatic synth classic warmed the hearts of spooky folks worldwide. If you're seeking subtlety, look elsewhere. But if you appreciate moody electronica with sparkling choruses, you've hit the jackpot.

Mind.In.A.Box | Dreamweb
2005's crowning achievement in the goth-electro department, Dreamweb, adds a distinct new flavor to a well tread genre. The Austrian duo juxtaposes soft, lacy strains with sharp attention to detail. Starring meticulous percussive strata, manipulated vocals and warm refrains to melt the chilly technological bent. Each track is like a deep sea exploration leading up to a cathartic hook that feels fresh and revealing every time. A few blemishes on the album do not obscure the potential for greatness that Mind.In.A.Box obviously possesses.

Final Selection | Meridian
A hybrid of Enigma and Alphaville, this virtually unrecognized synthpop group designs lush compositions for both rainy days and club grandeur. Refreshingly, the focus is on melody rather than fancy gadgetry. Keyboard-rich material with spiritual themes, reverbed instrumentation and delicately enmeshed harmonies sweep you off to transcendence. If they ever remake Neverending Story [god forbid], Final Selection would be prime candidates to create the Fantasian soundtrack.

Wave In Head | You
You best represents the intimate beauty that these A Different Drum upperclassmen are capable of conveying. With patiently developed builds, creative beatwork and stellar programming, Wave In Head execute a consistent vision that doesn't pander to the club crowd. Only studio headphones do the intricate digital harmonies justice -- the raining synths explode like pop rocks in your ears. Despite some lyrical deficiencies, this is an essential addition to any synthpop collection. [check out key track "Emotional Machines", which epitomizes the genre's cyberpunk obsession]

Nostalgiatronic anyone? Cheers.

2006-03-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

Blindfold | Blind Calm
Some of you might be aware of all the beautiful music coming out of Iceland these days. The music always seems to reflect the landscape, and Blindfold is no exception. A side project by AMPOP member Biggi, this excellent album came out in August 2005 and deserves more attention. With longing and nostalgia, it makes you stare into the fire for hours.

Xela | Tangled Wool
From John Xela, co-founder of Type Records, comes this perfect combination of electronica and shimmery, acoustic guitar work. As lovely as it comes, really. Comforting and warm, grand and effortless.

B.Fleishmann | Humbucking Coil
Jeez, this album is excellent. Just what I needed, actually. A step further than his previous albums which were fun but a little too sketch-like for me to love. But this one has just a perfect mix of simple electric bass and guitar and his usual wizardry at catchy, electronic goodness. Sounding playful without getting dippy is a very hard thing to do.

Arovane | Lilies
Influenced by a trip to Japan, this sweet album doesn't disappoint. It's like a gentler, kinder version of Haujobb. Great music to drive through new cities with. Light yet dense, well-crafted electronic wanderings.

Susumu Yokota & Rothko | Distant Sounds of Summer
So gorgeous. Well executed, warm and graceful - the instrumental pieces especially. It gets quite artsy at times with the texts, but that aside, it's up there with Marconi Union. A nice cross between Hermann and Klein and His Name is Alive.

July Skies | Dreaming of Spires
If you are ever looking for green, billowy landscapes to wander on while falling asleep, this is your train there. It's a gentle and slow train, a beautiful, old well-loved train with big windows and all the seats facing backwards. My favourite daily commuter. Meet you there.

Manual | Ascend
Somehow, it all comes back to this. How many times can I say 'beautiful' and 'glorious'? Dreamy, inspiring and even tender. I think this is the quintessential post-New-Romantic album of all time. Shimmery, bold and even tragically post-optimistic. If more people felt the way this album feels, the world would be a glorious place. I love it, I love it , I love it. There.

Into the Folds of Bliss.

2006-03-19T23:10:00.005-08:00

Piano Magic | Writers Without Homes
U.K. technocratic visionary Glen Johnson is the modern avatar of 4AD's Ivo Watts-Russell, with perhaps a greater range of skill and savvy, and two fingers on the pulse of avant-garde electronic music. Much like Ivo's ever-morphing goth/ethereal project, This Mortal Coil, Johnson spreads a spangle-studded mortar of talented musicians and vocalists to build his amalgam of his amazingly diverse and satisfying songs. They are cohesively bonded by one thing only - his willingness to project emotion and beauty inside the barely-audible lull of the intermittent harmonic spaces. Incredibly prolific and evocative in his work, Johnson might just be the most multi-layered artist in the genre.

Mark Lanegan | Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
While Seattle's Screaming Trees provided North-Westerners with a grungy, anthemic backdrop to their rain-soaked 1990s, the band's frontman emerged from the moistened wreckage with a somber, alcohol-fueled agenda for a new era and a new generation of listeners. Now Lanegan rumbles his solemn dirges and tales of southern-gothic blasphemy that burn like Jack Daniels and bad holy water. His miles-deep voice is hollow and haunting like a dark cave full of bats and stalactites, and his music conjures the chugging insistence of a train bound for nowhere savory - and you've just missed the last one, leaving you cold and alone on the platform.

Cranes | Loved
Certainly the highlight and the most representative album of Cranes' dark-experimental background, 'Loved' was also the most perfect release from their tenure on Dedicated. While the popular single from this darling gem was the hard, beat-driven 'Lilies', the beauty of 'Loved' lies in the droning lullabies that create an envelope of underwater-warmth around the listener, a la 'Bewildered', 'Come This Far', and 'In the Night'. Finding a quiet acceptance in being unable to grasp the past, Alison Shaw whispers secrets into your ear that carry hopes and promises for the future; vulnerability and a celebration of having loved, but lost now amidst the relentless tide of age.

Bowery Electric | Beat
Out of the mid-1990s trip-hop exodus drifted Bowery Electric, a two-piece rippled blanket of crispness and warmth from Brooklyn. 'Beat' takes the formulaic staccato that many hip-hop and electronica projects utilize, but filters them through a sieve of subtle genius. You won't always know where the line between organic and electronic lies - the loops and grinds are slow, steady, and driving, and the ever-fading voice of Martha Schwendener blows through on the wind like the spray from a rain-slicked intersection. These are urban hypnotics at their best, mesmeric and groovy in all the right places.

Devics | The Stars at St. Andrea
Possibly the most beautiful album of 2003, Devics left behind their earlier, derivative roots and journeyed to Italy to craft this masterpiece. Soft, somber, and lilting, Dustin O'Halloran sets up a translucent backdrop of guitar, piano, synthesizer, and percussion to let Sara Lov's mournful and dreamy lyrics creep up and down the bars, paralyzing and probing all the way. You simply must listen, hanging on her words, looking for a resolution. Signed to Simon Raymonde's excellent Bella Union label, 'The Stars at St. Andrea' is both an emotional roller coaster and a rich, wistful treat.

Halou | Wiser
'Wiser' is the second full-length release from this talented Northern California trio, an incredibly masterful descent into gorgeous, dynamic electronic music blended with live strings and powerful percussion. Rebecca Coseboom's vocals are full of love and light, like open arms that offer a soft respite from the creeping dusk, and the deep, labyrinthine valleys and exploding peaks of technical brilliance in their songcraft reach out and pluck you from your daily routine. This is music that makes you sit up and take notice, and you're guaranteed to read it again and again like a favorite book.

Scorpion Wind | Heaven Sent
Banner-waving nihilist Boyd Rice has cultivated and performed in many projects that span the dark neo-folk genre and beyond over the last three decades. On 'Heaven Sent', he teams up with Death In June's Douglas P. and a host of other world-enders to proselytize his own brand of subversive neo-Gnosticism. Throughout the album, Rice calmly meanders his way across reverberating guitars and deep, resonant bass, all the while conjuring images of the futility of humanity and the danger of pop-culture's enveloping facade. Almost a spoken word album with textured, pretty music accompanying, the whispered description of the uselessness of human love and equality makes for incredibly intriguing listening, even if you don't buy his schtick. Who knew nihilism could be such fun?

Worthy on both sides.

2006-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Curium | Aember
Another one of my all-time favorites. Sweet and pure but with such longing and mystery. Its pristine, uncomplicated and easy without being trite. Currently it is unreleased and only available from Curium's site, but hopefully will be released next year.

Murcof| Remebranza
Can't stop listening to this. Especially on the Tube. It's just gorgeous. Dark but not goth, mysterious and classic, sparse and rich. It makes me feel lost and glad to be loved. Fernando Corona has outdone himself as this album is grown up. it's less club-oriented and more, well, aware.

Anja Garbarek | Smiling and Waving
So, she has 3 albums now and all are quite stunning, but this one is the most interesting. What a magnificent combination of inventiveness and candor. It is very complex, but comes off feeling very simple. It doesn't come off as trying too hard, and that humility is what makes this album superb.

The Album Leaf | In a Safe Place
At times, this album just really helps. Mostly when working. Just a simple, lovely, mellow album. The fact that there are no vocals, really helps too.

Autechre | Amber
As time goes on, the further out they get, and I give them credit for that. But I really just love Amber. It's beautiful, timeless, clean, organic and modern. Dark, yes, but only just. It's a toss up on which is better between this and Incunabula.

Bang Gang | Something Wrong
This album is a little eclectic, sometimes steering towards 'alternative' like Arab Strap, but I really like the more "Icelandic" and glitchy moments. It all does have a certain purity or innocence, actually. It is pure and gorgeous, and perhaps that is why I can't stop listening to it. Don't let its high-polish sheen distract you.

Isan | Meet Next Life
This is one of my favourite albums. Its delicate and sweet, well crafted but not innocent. Kind of like a small bottle of Bastor Lamontagne Sauterne. It seems it should be thestandard of the genre. If only I could figure out what that genre is. If you can come up with one, please let me know.

What You've Been Missing?

2006-02-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

Low | Long Division
Over the course of the last ten years, Low has passed into that lexicon of strange, noisy pop music that bands like Yo La Tengo, Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth have been part of for years. During this time, they've gradually turned up the volume (and the tempos) but I find that this, their second album, is the one I reach for most often. Building on the solid foundation of their debut, I Could Live In Hope, Long Division feels more focused, more complex, and ultimately more rewarding upon further listening.

Mark Hollis | Mark Hollis
There was an uncomfortably long silence following the final Talk Talk album before we heard anything further from Mark Hollis. It would have been a great tragedy had there been nothing after the valedictory Laughing Stock. This record succeeds for two reasons: on its own merits, it is a damn fine testament to the artists ability to distill his songs to their most emotionally bare and vulnerable state; also, it provides a sort of counterpoint to latter-era Talk Talk albums - proving that those records were not 'happy accidents' but rather carefully premeditated works. This is not a record I listen everyday - or even every week - but still remains one of the most essential CDs I own.

Moose | Live A Little, Love A Lot
Where to start with Moose? Each release is so layered and unique. Live A Little, Love A Lot is sun-drenched shoegazing at its best. Grossly overlooked, Moose were close compatriots of Cocteau Twins and that relationship is displayed brilliantly here as Liz Fraser guests on the album and Cocteau-isms are evident all over the place. For those who have not heard - or even heard of - Moose, you are in for a big treat regardless of which album you start with.

No-Man | Together We're Stranger
No-Man's most recent record, released way back in 2003, almost fully removes the beats and electronics and leaves nothing but beautifully stark and honest songs. 'Back When You Were Beautiful' is just as heartbreakingly eloquent as its title suggests and the rest of the album follows suit. Rumor has it that there's a new album planned for 2007. Astonishingly, I have not been let down by this band yet, so that is very good news, indeed.

Halloween, Alaska | Halloween, Alaska
Some things arrive in the strangest ways and are all the better for it. I had heard nothing from or about this until it was generously given to me by a friend. Containing eight thoughtfully atmospheric pop songs, this album builds on fairly arcane 80s touchstones and achieves something truly unique and timeless. Even the Bruce Springsteen cover here works beautifully.

Notwist | Shrink
Though not as unanimously well-received as its follow-up, Neon Golden, Shrink is the perfect balance of all the facets of this band. The simple guitars, reeds and woodwinds mix with the lithe electronics to great effect. Though the production is to be appreciated and admired, it's the songwriting that keeps me reaching for this disc.

Susana & The Magical Orchestra | List Of Lights And Buoys
The most contemporary recording on this list, List Of Lights And Buoys is the best example of the current fertile Norwegian experimental music landscape. Susana & The Magical Orchestra consistently match their crafty production with delicate and thoughtful compositions that sound timeless - an achievement for a record containing so many trendy glitchy elements. The best tracks here, 'Believer' and 'Sweet Devil', have me salivating for the next release by this singular band.

[R]evolution In Progress :: The Highlights Of 2005

2006-01-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Fiona Apple | Extraordinary Machine [leaked version]
Rock's most awkward female made another dubious entrance in a storm of fan fury and misplaced blame. When the unauthorized Jon Brion-helmed project finally leaked in early 2005, expectations were soaring and patience was thin. What emerged was a diamond in the rough, replete with ornate orchestral touches, buzzed-out bass and dizzy carousel balladry. The recording cracked like a dusty vintage record, revealing the rare candor of homespun artistry. The raw compositions fit like a glove with her stark, heartfelt verse. But no more are the verbose ramblings of a bitter waif. Her perspective has ripened with experience and settled into its responsibility, as with the album's great universal anthem, "Extraordinary Machine". At last, the girl has stopped cursing the darkness and lit a candle. Let us all bask in its glow.

Fischerspooner | Odyssey
Bypassing the requisite sophomore slump, Fischerspooner wins with a glimmering hipster party soundtrack that LCD Soundsystem only wishes they could dream up. Electroclash elements remain -- trademark pulsating synths and hip-grinding glam-funk posturing, dolled up with crystalline studio finish. What the last disc lacked, Odyssey delivers in spades. The icy new wave shtick is enhanced by guest appearances by industry wizards such as Linda Perry [on the excellent Postal Service send-up, "Kick In The Teeth"] and Mirwais [Madonna's resident folktronica expert], not to mention lyrical contributions by David Byrne and poet Susan Sontag. The latter half sags under the weight of the first, but Odyssey proves itself to be a near-perfect blend of broad appeal and artistic merit.

M.I.A. | Arular
Sri Lankan ex-pat Maya Arulpragasam unleashed this fierce hodgepodge of revolutionary global pop anthems to colossal critical acclaim. At a lean 40 minutes, Arular is bursting at the seams with chunky double-dutch beats, arcade clamor, and sticky sweet melodies. M.I.A. narrates with slang-slinging gunfire rhymes and hyena calls, drenched in thick British brogue -- serving up catchy chants made solely for the people. This is scorching electronic warfare, aptly suited for summers in the city. As the bass rattles your senses, you can almost feel the heat-soaked pavement beneath your feet.

Sufjan Stevens | Illinois
Sufjan confounds casual listeners and courts critics with ambitious travelogue gorged with lavish orchestration, excessive historical references and wildly pretentious song titles. Amazingly, Illinois emerges a thematically sound, ingenious slice of Midwestern life. A clear highlight, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", demonstrates Sufjan's ability to inhabit his characters without looking down his nose. Tender, rustic portraits with great breadth and wisdom -- a real gem.

Annie | Anniemal
Blue-eyed songstress, Annie, joined forces with super-producer Richard X [also associated with M.I.A.] and fellow Norwegian synthpoppers Royksopp to create this retro-infused pop confection. Her anemic vocal wisps float atop twinkling kiddie keyboards and disco bounce, with an inspired Motown motif that recalls early Jackson 5. Add kitschy wordplay and experimental bloops and beeps, and you've got an innovative pop alternative that even record store geeks can namedrop.

M83 | Before The Dawn Heals Us
Deep space synth opera that owes as much to Kevin Shields as it does Roger Waters. Wheezy electronics, sweeping choral arrangements and guitar fuzz play like Air's tripped out younger brother. M83's celestial charm is best demonstrated on the more traditional indie single "Don't Save Us From The Flames" and "Farewell/Goodbye", in which billowing aural vapors weave in and out of consciousness. Before The Dawn is like an ethereal soundtrack to your best flying dream.

Animal Collective | Feels
Brooklyn-based bohemian jam band Animal Collective polarize blog mavens with the newest chapter of folk freakiness. On the surface, Feels is musical masturbation, but Beatlesque pop melodies are buried within the layers of din. Frolicking sing-song wails, inner-child ramblings, and primitive oddly-tuned instruments would normally amount to an un-listenable mess. But this is a beautiful mess of cathartic cacophony.

Heavy Lids and Reclining

2006-01-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Robin Guthrie | Imperial
For anyone who loved Victorialand and wanted more from the horse's mouth, as it were, look no further. He's still got it. Granted, there's no Elizabeth to grace this, but it still warms and enriches like no one else can. It's like a smooth cognac.

Marconi Union | Distance
For some reason this album seems so grown up. Masterfully made, extraordinary musicianship, and mellow without being stoner. On Harold Budd's label, All Saints, this concept album of travel does well to listen to while waiting in an airport, on the train, or, as they suggest, in a car at night with with the windows up. Truly a golden album.

Disinterested | The Past is Never Far
This unexpectedly beautiful album has really stuck with me. It's simple and sparse, lush and calming. Very nice ambient-guitar shoe-gazer dusty-landscapes by Tresspasser guitarist Matt Brown. The guest vocals add a nice variation and perhaps that is why I keep on playing this gem.

Sigur Ros | ()
Okay, so how could someone NOT like Sigur Ros? If any music could make me want to travel to distant lands, this album does it for sure. I picture vast fields of moss and ice, and oddly habitable moist lunar landscapes. I single this album out for its softness. It's cozier, perhaps. This is a timeless album, one of those 'greatest of all times' albums. Really.

Boards of Canada | Twoism
Simple, peeling, nostalgic and slouching. These eight songs encapsulate a whole era of perfect, beautiful, odd music that never happened - as if in an absinthe stupor. Mellow is the word, in a good way. I think this is on the required listening list for Modern Ambient 101.

Julien Neto | Les Fumeur de Ciel
Type records is getting better and better it seems, and perhaps this album did it for me. It's a perfect mix of Satie-tenderness and Morr Music-like glitch. It's a soundtrack to a nonexistent movie that I wish I'd seen. It is calm and slightly melodramatic, but somehow justifiably so.

Cranes | Particles and Waves
It feels like Cranes have grown up. This album has the same sadness and heartfelt longing that marks some of what I love about them. Except this time, it is timid, kind, wise, and understanding. I don't know what else to say except this is just quite a lovely, lovely album.

Manna & Ambrosia, Sonant

2006-01-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Bark Psychosis | ///Codename:Dustsucker
Though "Dustsucker" is the last, great effort of a posthumous band, released a decade after their breakout album from 1994, you'll find no evidence of this terminal nature in the Bark Psychosis sound. Underwater dream-pop, carefully tended like hedges of perfect orchestration are marked throughout, lending a rich, very human and very vulnerable feel to an astoundingly organic suite of music. If Slowdive were a bit more dynamic, if Low had a touch of jazz and just a bit more reverb, the hypnotic effects of this album would perhaps not be so unique. Taken on its own, however, one could not do better than to quote Pitchfork's testimony that "Dustsucker" is very much a beautiful shell "filled with huge, billowing clouds of resonance".

Arab Strap | The Red Thread
Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton moved from the bleak armpit of Falkirk, Scotland to the world stage in Glasgow, where there was more to do than just get pissed in the pubs, consoling each other over their broken romances. Now they tell everyone, and about everything. There is no fiction in this band's repertoire. Their stark and ravishing sound seeps poignance and truth, backhanded with typical Scots dourness and plenty of self-effacing wit. There are painfully long silences of self-reflection in-between provocative, arresting stories; amidst painfully and painstakingly measured notes lie the real aspects of love and lust. Moffat says, "No one really writes honest, hateful love songs. The kids never hear it like they should hear it. They should know of the farting, the fighting and the fucking. The pain and the pleasure." Arab Strap certainly provide a little of both.

Red Sparowes | At the Soundless Dawn
A mutable conglomeration of artists including members of power-prog bands such as Neurosis, Isis, and Halifax Pier, Red Sparowes craft luscious waves of beautifully-layered sound that wash all previous notions of instrumental, ambient-textured rock away with the tides. The Sparowes weave epic tales of three-dimensional euphony, fitting together within a concept that both questions and confirms the mastery of musical instrumentation over human emotion. They're pointedly unlike anything out there today, and still always changing, mutating, and enveloping.

In Gowan Ring | The Twin Trees
Perhaps the most truly talented artist in the neo-folk scene, B'eirth of In Gowan Ring is a not merely a minstrel and a troubadour, a prophet and a living poem. Featuring resonant drones, hand-made instruments, and warmly-quiet vocal pieces, his songs reek heavily of time and place, infusing stories of the natural with the supernatural and holding up the spiritual (or meta-spiritual) string that connects us with our surroundings. With closed-eyes and a nearly magical effect, B'eirth invokes the vocal confluence of David Tibet and Nick Drake, tempered by a gravity and creativeness all his own. I learn something arcane and feel something special every time I listen to this band.

Elysian Fields | The Dreams that Breathe Your Name
If I could choose one sultry chanteuse to lull me into slumber every night with her lusty, whispered tales of mermaids, shooting stars, and mesmeric meetings between love-struck strangers, Jennifer Charles would be my siren for life. She spins her tales with all the sensual acuity of warm honey, and I can't concentrate on much else when Elysian Fields is on. I listen, enfolded, looking for the next line to slide out from between her lips, and I melt into her dramas. Backed coquettishly against the masterful arrangements of Oren Bloedow, this dusky, gin-riddled lounge-cabaret stunner needs to be held aloft to give the mainstream an injection of artistry and emotion. Enjoy with a nice mixed drink and a warm friend *very* close by.

Queen Adreena | Taxidermy
Apoplectic vocalist Katie-Jane Garside left the mildy-successful British noise outfit Daisy Chainsaw to wander the hills of Wales, banshee-screaming to the winds for the better part of a decade. Upon rejoining 'civilized' society, she teamed up once again with razor-cheekboned guitarist Crispin Gray for a whole new wave of provocative, awe-inspiring music under the guise of Queen Adreena. Maybe it's their blues-infused, sticky and sleazy meandering about lost innocence and the ugly side of beauty that really captures the imagination...or maybe it's just ol' Katie flinging herself around the stage in nothing but a few wisps of torn silk, kicking at fellow bandmates and getting her petal limbs entangled in errant equipment, furniture, and foolhardy fans. But the flowers nestled in her stringy, straw locks set the precedent for the acute irony of this band - they still blossom, bursting red through the dirt stains and dripping sweat.

Steindor Andersen & Sigur Ros | Rimur
While intrepid Icelandic dream-shakers Sigur Ros need no introduction to most, their limited-edition EP with mausoleum-voiced Steindor Andersen may very well have slipped under the radar of many. And such a shame, as the stark beauty of Andersen's chants of traditional epic poetry - Iceland's Rimur - lilt out from between dreamy, pulsing chords and harmonious drones that Jonsi and the boys consummate. This EP is a six-song treat that opens the door to an isolated country, its history and tradition, and the mournful, delightful voice of bardic poetry as related by two great artists that transcend time together.

Calming Influences

2005-12-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

No-Man | Returning Jesus
Over the years, No-Man has distilled their sound down to only what is essential. By the release of this album, they were sounding more like a 'real band' than an electronic duo and were flaunting brilliant drummer Steve Jansen on many of its tracks. Just enough variety to keep you interested, this album, like Laughing Stock by Talk Talk, says as much with the silence between notes as with the notes themselves. Miraculously, Steven Wilson (1/2 of No-Man) produced and arranged Anja Garbarek's "Smiling and Waving" during the same period this record was made.

Johann Johannsson | Englaborn
This album sounds so inevitable. The coupling of light electronics with neo-chamber-music elements just works. Johann's compositional style is very contemporary and 'pop'-influenced, but he speaks in classical tongues and it is a joy to listen to the results. This record has long served as my bedtime soundtrack and was largely the musical pulse of our trip to Iceland a couple years back. Considering he produced the contrasting 'Dis' shortly after demonstrates that he is functioning at a high level.

Fennesz | Venice
I had been mildly intrigued by Christian Fennesz for some time by the time I picked up this one. Admittedly, the gorgeously simple cover (so typical of Touch) did a lot to convince me of purchasing the album. I'm so glad I did. This record uses texture in the way that others use lyrical prosody or performance dynamics to satisfy the ear. Blurring the line between guitar and laptop has never sounded this good to my ears

The Blue Nile | Hats
I'm not sure I believe Paul Buchanan when he says that the Blue Nile takes 5 years to make a record due to intense quality control. However, the songs themselves do have a timelessness that is undeniable. This, their finest moment, is a record that I will probably never be without. Evoking the subtle melancholy of a rainy night but never sounding hopeless or sad. Contemporary and classic all at once.

Talk Talk | Laughing Stock
"Before you play two notes learn how to play one note - and don't play one note unless you've got a reason to play it." - Mark Hollis
This record still challenges me. It's like math class and recess at the same time.

Slowdive | Pygmalion
Admittedly, I was shocked and initially saddened when this was released in late 1994. 'Souvlaki', the record prior to this one, suggested that this album would be the apex of Slowdive's atmospheric guitar rock with songwriting as interesting as the production. However, what we got was something very different. At the time, nothing else sounded like it at all. Essentially, 'Pygmalion' is an acoustic record that sounds a lot like electronics.

Piano Magic | Son de Mar
A short, but sweet, disc full of layered organic textures. Plenty of stringed instruments and found noises easily convince you that Piano Magic is just as strong at conjuring emotional instrumental music as they are at writing clever vocal-led pop songs.