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Muscle Memory/Holy Goodnight by The Vibration89 by KotchyMiracle Kicker by Dark Captain Light CaptainTriple Distilled by Graham Day And The GaolersTriple Distilled by Graham Day And The GaolersButterfly by AzymuthJealous Enemies by Dark Captain Light CaptainNew Music for Brass Band by Foden's Richardson Band and Bramwell ToveyNew Music for Brass Band by Foden's Richardson Band and Bramwell ToveyLaila by Shahin BadarFirst Light - Single by Turner CodyO by Tilly And The WallWorld I See by The PresentTones Drones & Broken Bones by Kobra Audio LabsFar Out Bossa Nova by Various ArtistsShe Made It Easy by KotchyDirt Don't Hurt by Holly Golightly and The BrokeoffsDirt Don't Hurt by Holly Golightly and The BrokeoffsCandy by SpookyBuilders Brew by The ChapShe Made It Easy by KotchyThree Blind Mice EP by Terry Edwards And The ScapegoatsThe Ice Pick EP by Shusi KhijadaBoy, Did She Teach You Nothing? by AbsenteeLost-Wax by Lena & The Floating Roots OrchestraObject 47 by WireMy 45 by Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs

Erkki Luuk

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Days Are What We Live In by Jimmy Behan (er4cd)

Days Are What We Live In by Jimmy Behan (er4cd) [ review of: Days Are What We Live In by Jimmy Behan (er4cd) ]

Jimmy Behan's debut starts on a blissful note with 'Granby Row', despite its rather straightforward rhythm section, leading a procession of high tones. By 'Mayfly' it gets folkier – a genuine guitar strums while the lazy electronic production is having its way with melody and texture. 'Deeper than Heaven' adds female singing to this array. The demeanor is laid-back, reclining in afternoon or summer haze, but not completely so till the playful 'Complete', which artificially resonates with a feeling of being lost in endless possibilities of summer. The title track could easily be the quintessential one with its nice, minimal, calm thrumming shine. From then on till 'Hanover' the album picks up a certain serial characteristic without ever (to the slightest) losing its summer charm, epitomized in the title of the next track 'Summer on the Wall'. It is an oddly even debut album musically, let alone emotionally, and symbolically as a concept, some welcome aspect of which none of the tracks here fall short of conveying. 'Dandelions', a brief, minimal track, trickles, hums, dripping organic matter and a sample of humanspeak into the mix. 'Normal Situation' is a song again, guitar and piano accompanying the songstress. A more austere, suitably cooler air is emanating from the closing track 'Under the Woods', a nice minimal hike, ending with semielectric birds chirping. I don't know if it's obvious by know, but this sonic adventure, so self-assured, like owing its existence to some definitive external artifact, artifice or reality, sounds more like a soundtrack of a fictional narrative or film on summer than that of summer itself – while literally, apparently, being neither.


Posted by Erkki Luuk at 23:45, 12 Dec 2004

Waterland by Alex Fisher (1001AD)

Waterland by Alex Fisher (1001AD) [ review of: Waterland by Alex Fisher (1001AD) ]

This demo CD gives a taste of Fisher's recent endeavors into semi-abstract dance music. An electric bubbling sound, a favored element of mid-90es atmospheric dnb is, with minimal rhythm arrangements, set as a basis for 'Bubble Bug (Intro)'. Hard-hitting beats and nervous, twisted rhythm saluted by a lethargic horn sample dizzily inform us of the approach of 'Launch'. The house track 'Don't lose' with its metallic tones and discomposing sonority set against mundane melody patches is quite unlike anything you're used to in this genre. All the tracks on this CD sound harsh and saturnine, with eerie sounds rotating supine melodies. 'Smoky' spills melodic lethargy over an illicit big beat score, while 'Launch' and 'Stepping Back Glory' get, as if for a bonus, grubbed by more outlandish rhythm schemes. Fisher's frequent use of guitar samples and the overall slant to big beat hint his rock/jazz background, evident in occasional trips in one of the aforementioned styles (in 'Stepping Back Glory' for example).


Posted by Erkki Luuk at 13:27, 12 Dec 2004

Aleatorical by Apollon (ADOR2371)

Aleatorical by Apollon (ADOR2371) [ review of: Aleatorical by Apollon (ADOR2371) ]

Kicking off with some distorted chords and reversed/time-stretched vocals growling, 'Aleatorical' is the kind of album you'd want to spin on parties to deplete the dance floor with a contemptuous statement. An ingenious album, with no conventions at sight, no particular style, no nothing beyond the composition laying its dark polymorphic experimental egg into rhythm and ambient alike. The result is a ghastly hybrid with historical/mythical connotations clanking in titles likes 'Kathumi', 'Questions of King Milinda' et al. These are in turn supported by hidden radio mantras and something of the sort buried deep in the mix. The demoniac who probably did this hasn't left us many clues, nor have we much to compare it with, making the recording all the more indispensable. Tracks like 'Another American Flag' and 'The Rape of The Lock' carry the potential of the darkest minimal dance music imaginable, countless others just spook their listener on sight. In either way, it works, and vocal parts and exertions of the sort of 'Scorpion Factory pt3', 'Still Numb', 'Love, Wisdom and Will', 'The Rape of The Lock' and others are especially welcome. Bis!


Posted by Erkki Luuk at 18:12, 03 Sep 2004

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