superpitcher / today / kompakt

Dreamy, heavenly and sometimes sinister, Superpitcher's mix CD for Kompakt delivers in a way that his album did not. All the dark atmospheric moodiness of artists like Lawrence, Mayer, Hacke, Max Mohr, Wighnomy Bros. and Superpitcher himself create the mood and focus of this mix. Angst-filled bouncy bliss prevails throughout Today, making this one of the first singular mixes to come through in a short while.
listen: marz & blouse / happiness - wighnomy bros. / superpitcher (lawrence mix)
listen: let's help me / love food - dj koze / michael mayer

aminar / AminaminA / the workers institute

Having met at the Reykjavik College of Music in 1998, the four ladies of Amina have an impressive resume. Perhaps best known as Sigur Ros' string ensemble (featured on two of the albums, and an essential ingredient in that band's live act), Amina also backed up Efterklang on their widely acclaimed Tripper album, and laid down some string love on one of the Album Leaf records. However, AnimaminA, the group's debut EP, sees them as much more than a back-up band. Centered around violin, viola and cello, the four compositions have a cinematic and otherworldly quality to them, enhanced by the addition of glockenspiel and glassophone. Clocking in at an all-too-brief 18 minutes, this is beautifully meandering and hypnotic music.
listen: hemipode

bohren and der club of gore / geisterfaust / wonder

Geisterfaust (which translates to ghost fist), Bohren have stripped their music down to absolute bare boned minimalism. Just shy of an hour long, the five songs-"Zeigefinger," "Daumen," Ringerfinger," "Mittlefinger" and "Kleiner Finger" are each named after one of the digits on a hand. Christoph Clöser's electric piano is the dominant instrument and for much of the album there's practically no detectable tempo. Every chord from his Rhodes is allowed to decay before he hits his next series of notes. Low rumbles from a stand-up or eight-string bass, occasional vibes and maybe a percussion accent here and there are sparingly used to emphasize the skeletal minor key melodies. Songs don't really move, but rather creep into lucid ambience like a sinister and unimaginably restrained Tortoise. Geisterfaust is definitely an album to be listened to late at night with lights off and headphones on.
listen: zeigefinger
listen: kleiner finger