spring gifts


various / idol tryouts two / ghostly
download cd 01
download cd 02

ellen allien and apparat / turbo dreams remix / bpitch
download

julien neto / le fumeur de ciel / type
download
pass: DrNil

spring, where are you?

clifford smith photo

alex smoke / paradolia / soma



Thank you Alex! His release Incommunicado last year was a span of his work over a four year period which demonstrated a wide array of different sounds and influences, now with his latest release Paradolia he has welded the different expressed genres together to complete a tighter produced album. Since Incommunicado, Alex's success has sky rocketed. He has been compared to the sounds of Matthew Dear, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano and Lawrence. If you haven't jumped on the band wagon yet, here's your chance to taste bass-heavy trawls through slow motion techno slivers of ambience, dubwise steppas and microscopic house hiccups.
boomkat review
download


agf/delay / explode / agf produucktion


boomkat review
download

isolee / western store / playhouse



Western Store was compiled by Alter Ego's Jorn Elling Wuttke from Isolee's 12" back catalogue. Western Store comes across like the missing link in the chain of albums between Rest and We Are Monster. It makes no difference whether the year they were created was 1997 or 2003 as Rajko Muller's unique sounds are always fresh and exciting. This is truly an album that highlights his talents as a producer.
listen: lost

ellen allien and apparat / orchestra of bubbles / bpitch


download
out april 17th


download

snd / newtables ep

kaito / hundred million light years / kompakt

sleep archive / radio transmission ep pass: touchmenot.net

dapayk / live at golden gate, berlin / october 2005

audion aka matthew dear / footwork, toronto






Matthew Dear rocked Toronto by giving us a taste of Detroit. Audion's Suckfish release last October didn't get me excited when hearing it in the comfort of my bedroom, it's because it's not meant for the bedroom or the living-room, his neo jackin' funky techno belongs in the club and tonight I got to appreciate Audion to his full potential. Matthew Dear's live set was seamless, subtle, pumping and booty-shaking.

various / idol tryouts two / ghostly

Get ready for this next release on ghostly, with this phenomenal repertoire list of brilliant artists, how can this not be good? Taste it for yourself by visiting the idol tryouts two website.

biosphere / dropsonde / touch



Geri Jenssen was born and permanently resides in Tromso, Norway which is 400 miles north of the Arctic circle. It is here, isolated from urban cultures that he creates his beautiful minimal organic creations. Jenssen, known for his ambient techno has incorporated beautiful model jazz structures into his latest release Dropsonde. Rhythms come out of nowhere through the ambient sounds of wind, rain, water, and ice which subtly burst into a driving brushed drum and plucked bass melody. Beautiful lush tones loop, build, swirl, and then fade away. Fans of Jan Jelinek's work with Triosk will appreciate this album. Jon Savage states "As with all of the Biosphere albums, the music draws you in and makes you want to listen and feel. Jenssen's work acts on a very emotional level, one that encourages you to drift away into a haze of images and scenes brought to you by the music, where spectacular beauty hides unseen danger. Intense and moving, but comforting and soothing at the same time." This is ideal listening for the winter months. Highly Recommended.
listen: birds fly by flapping their wings
listen: sherbrooke

download:
pan/tone / chug mp3
pan/tone / smoke signals mp3

download:
lawrence / untitled / dial cd02

download:
various / compilation 01 / freude-am-tanzen recordings

01. Gamat 3000 - Feeling Love (Wighnomy's Give Peace A Chance Remix) (remix by Wighnomy Brothers)
02. Soulphiction - Black Woman
03. Funky Transport - Hell Bells
04. Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wru"hme - Bobb
05. Hemmann & Kaden - Sense
06. Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wru"hme - Bodyrock
07. Mark Henning - With the Folks
08. DJ Koze - Lighta Spuba
09. Hemmann & Kaden - Vaganza
10. Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wru"hme - Pele Bloss
11. DJ Koze - Smornin

Wonderful presents from Jens Lekman.

Thanks to subverted.org for the honourable mention in his journal entry and another thanks to one, yet another netlabel for linking me to their reviews section.

ryan driver, sandro perri & jennifer castle / tranzac club / toronto, feb. 18th




What an amazing intimate encounter with some of Toronto's best talent. I was blown away by Jennifer Castle's chilling sweet minimal folk tunes which silenced the room. About 30 people were in attendance and although the artists deserved a larger audience I was pleased to have them all to myself. What a beautiful moment in time. Check out Jennifer Castle's "heaven" video and fall in love with her as quickly as I did.

sebastien roux / songs / 12k



Tinkery electronics that peek-a-boo oh so daintily in and out of silence, sometimes tweaking out a bit while remaining gentle. Sounds as commonplace as hands searching through a drawer of clutter, a sudden bump and a distorted tone complimented with intermingling strums from an acoustic guitar. Roux's Songs could be described as a folktronic dream that challenges and stills the listener into wanting more. Purchase this journey, it's an enjoyable voyage.
the harp and contrabass song mp3

various / pingipung plays the piano / pingipung

I must have this album! Pingipung label (first time I've heard of it) brings us a compilation that focuses on the piano. Familiar artists like Lawrence, Barbara Morgenstern and Hauschka sit comfortably among new names such as Grabuk, Springintgut, Thaddi and Egobird. Nils Frahm's sample track is beautifully crafted with delicate sweet melodies and click beats which only makes me want more. What a tease. Why aren't there any proper record stores in Toronto?
nils frahm / durton mp3

Check out the Bjork's hilarious and brilliant "Triumph of the Heart" video

loscil / stases / one, another net label

download


Loscil aka Scott Morgan's anticipated new release Plume is out this May and according to him "has a 'nice' picture of a smoke stack on the cover." Stases is a series of drones that he recently released on one. He said "they seemed a little minimal for most conventional labels so i went with a net release." He presently juggles his work at an animation company in Vancouver and has recently become a dad to a little baby girl. "Her name is Sadie and she's now 8 months and is full of piss and vinegar. She gets a special credit on my new record" Catch him on tour with Destroyer this March at Lee's.

banyek / tesz-vesz varos / exclusive mix for radio petofi / bitlab records

01.Miles Tilmann: Middle Fields (Toytronic)
02.Ten and Tracer: Dragon Simply Speaking (U-Cover)
03.Vector Lovers: Neon Sky Rain (Soma)
04.Montag: All I See (Gooom/Carpark)
05.Kaminari Synthesis: Blue Skies, Winter's Final Cry and Other Relevant Love stories /reszlet/ (Camomille)
06.Digitonal: Snowflake Vectors (Seed)
07.Cooler: Sorrowful-go-round (U-Cover CDr Limited)
08.Mou, lips!: Deep Blue Ocean of Emptiness (Observatory Online)
09.Bad Comfort: Melodie Denise (Phonocake)
10.Soutien Gorge: Story Told in The Town of Friendly Tentacle Worms (Bitlab)
11.Multiplex: R U Real (U-Cover)
download

ezekiel honig / percussion lab
download

sQuare productions has added me to their links page!

I'm a little late with bringing this amazing album to you, but it shouldn't be missed. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah hit the indie charts like fire last year. They sound like a mix between Violent Femmes and Arcade Fire. Enjoy!
download: upon this tidal wave of young blood mp3
download: over and over again (lost and found) mp3

dj misha / chance of snow / download
1. Broker Dealer - Opening Night/After Hours
2. SCSI 9 - On the Edge
3. Sunsetpeople - Orion
4. My My - Klatta
5. Sutekh - Two Rhapsodies
6. Kooky Scientist - Mosquito Bytes
7. Jeff Samuel - Bork
8. Guido Schneider - Unterwegs Mit Guido Schneider
9. Konrad Black - Medusa Smile
10. Huggotron - Glasshouses
11. Steve Bug - Tanzbug
12. Gerome Sportelli - Acid Krax Vol. 1
13. Williams - Picadilly Circuits
14. Booka Shade - Mandarine
15. Plastique De Rêve - The Sounds You Hear
16. Pan/Tone - Smoke Signals
17. Misc. - Like Morning In Your Eyes
18. Adam Beyer - A Walking Contradiction
19. Wighnomy Brothers - 3 Fachmisch EP

jenny lewis with the watson twins / rabbit fur coat / team love



Jenny Lewis' debut album is gorgeous twangy folk-country. Rabbit Fur Coat resonates with me, can't seem to get enough of her warmth during these cold winter months. Highly recommended.

cat power / the greatest / matador records

Chan (pronounced Shawn) Marshall who's been going under the moniker Cat Power since the early 90's releases The Greatest (not to be confused with a Greatest Hits release). The Greatest is a chillingly beautiful folk album that shows musical maturity through her dark introspective lyrics. Cat Power's the Greatest is her greatest album to date.
download - the greatest mp3

speaking in code documentary clip produced by square productions

happy new year!

top 50 music videos of 2005

VA / Triple R Selection 4 / Trapez
01 Oliver Hacke - 6:04 (John Tejada Mix)
02 Shinedoe - Underspell
03 Patrice B?umel - Shower Of Ice
04 Dominik Eulberg - Gasthof 'Zum Satten Bass'
05 Burnski - Coldcut
06 Artificial Latvam?ki - M?nty
07 Oliver Hacke - 7:03 (Alex Under Remix)
08 Jeff Samuel - Forinsee
09 Swat-Squad - Bauhaus
10 Alex Under - Las Bicicletas Son Para El Verano
11 Ryan Crosson - Painters Day
12 Swad-Squad - Escoria
13 Franklin De Costa - Like You
14 Audio Werner - Just Wanna Get Down
15 Remute & Riley Reinhold - Jah Wobble
download

Andre Galluzzi / Berghain 01 / Ostgut
01 Lusine - Figment
02 Monne Automne - Teco (Pink Elln Vs Pier Bucci Remix)
03 C:C/P - Mammals (P20 Remix)
04 Alex Under - Par
05 Daniel Stefanik - Deviant Behaviour
06 Ali Khan - Fudgebuster Beat
07 Maetrik - Utilizame
08 Daniel Taylor - M.O.R.D. (Locodice Remix)
09 2 Dollar Egg - Naxos (Audion's Put Salt In My Wound Mix)
10 Taksi - Regenschauer (Guido Schneider Remix)
11 Wighnomy Brothers - Wombat
12 Ame - Rej (Edit)
13 Metaboman - Easy Women (Robag Wruhme Remix (Motoguzzi Re-Remix))
download

pan/tone
download

Check out jellokoko.com. It's an honour to be mentioned in January's news section.

best of 2005:

1) jamie lidell / multiply / warp



2) final fantasy / has a good home / blocks

download

3) antony and the johnsons / i am a bird now / secretly canadian



sasha pafos / lasttex mix - free download

track listing:
01 Das Bierbeben - Staub (Robag Wruhmes Im-Brokklio-Staub-Wisch-Remix) [Shitkatapult]
02 Luciano & Mathew Jonson - Alpine Rocket [Perlon]
03 Jeremy P. Caulfield - Grotbox (Alex Smoke Remix) [Dumb-Unit]
04 Robag Wruhme - Mensur [Musik Krause]
05 Dominik Eulberg - Der Totenkopfschwärmer Im Bienenstock [Traum Schallplatten]
06 Pan/Tone - Radio Dispatch [BiP_HOp]
07 Alex Under - Tormenta De Cerebros [Trapez]
08 Sweet 'n Candy - Marzipan [Regular]
09 Alex Under - Jerome Y Alex [Cmyk Musik]
10 Basteroid - Dawaj Dawaj [Sender Records]
11 Ryan Crosson - Junk Mail [Tic Tac Toe Records]
12 Berlin By Night - Living On Video (Extended Mix) [Z.O.M.T.A. Music]
13 Frank Martiniq - Extrashark [Boxer Recordings]
14 Quarks - Allein (Augen Zu Und Durch) (Sascha Funke remix) [Home Records GmbH]

new order / blue monday / flunk remix - download

tonight!

the orb / okie dokie, it's the orb on kompakt /
kompakt



How can this album not be good? The title, Okie Dokie… admits an attitude of, "Well, here it is in all its varied glory!" That's what we get: an album that displays all the flavour of seasoned rave veterans modern and focused enough to fit on the Kompakt label. Okie Dokie delivers Thomas Felmann's familar polka-shuffle tracks but also delivers soft, cloudy rave-down moments that are simply gorgeous and classic Orb. Recommended!
listen: kan kan
listen: kompagna (zandkik mix)

various / pop ambient 2006 / kompakt
The best pop ambient release yet!
boomkat review
listen: albtros / kohncke/heimermann
listen: come to where i go / dirk leyers

the dolls (vladislav delay, agf, craig armstrong) / the dolls / huume

The Dolls is the collaborative project of Vladislav Delay, AGF, and Craig Armstrong, and together the three have created an album that is the sum of all three artists' visions. The leadoff cut, "Martini Never Dries," sounds like it could have been left off Massive Attack's landmark Protection album, with its dark, distorted beats, lilting beautiful piano lines, and AGF's smokey vocal delivery. If you are familiar with these three artists' output then you definitely know what to expect here, but it is done so well, and so meticulously that the debut album from the Dolls is definitely a very pleasant surprise, and a must have for fans of Portishead.
download: the dolls / pop stars
download: the dolls / martini never dries

thomas brinkmann / lucky hands / max ernst
boomkat review
listen: jacknot
listen: margins

mi and l'au / mi and l'au / young god

Mi and L'au met and fell in love in Paris. They then decided to move to the woods of Finland, "so they could be alone together in peace and to spend their time discovering each other and their music. They live in a small cabin in complete isolation with the barest of essentials and they spend virtually all their time making music together in solitude." The intimacy of this album is almost awkward, as though you shouldn't be in the room with them but you can't seem to make a move either way. The quiet vocals from both Mi and L'au are generally accompanied by the delicate strum of the guitar and, at times, the light and sound of what appears to be a sinister carnival off in the distance. It is the kind of album you carry with you long after listening.
listen: they marry
listen: philosopher
download: older

jake fairley / blood from a stone / sender
free download

jake fairley / boozing + losing / dumb-unit
free download

Deep Mix Moscow Radio

Party like Arnie

friday / nov. 25 / the boat

supesharu
now hype
eye hype

music is polarizing between over and under stimulation.
how can you not love?



matias aguayo / are you really lost / kompakt

The long awaited and anticipated release by Matias Aguayo has finally arrived. Matias Aguayo formally known as the singer of Closer Musik surprises us with Are You Really Lost by creating a blissful album of beautiful liquid sexiness. Aguayo crackles and pops our cherries with exciting new dirty disco pop. "New Life," has not been able to leave my playlist. Aguayo's tracks are compelling and varied giving us tastes of throbbing bouncy bass line clusters while smokeing us out warm and gloomy grittiness.
listen: de papel
listen: so in love

jan jelinek / kosmischer pitch / ~scape

Jan Jelinek's Kosmischer Pitch is an album of gradual exploration. There are healthy portions of the sophisticated edge of pre-millennium micro/clicks and cuts-era music but with an organic, quietly majestic Krautrock flavor. Explored here are the concepts of time sense alteration through repetition without being too clinical or cynical; the ride is gentle, beautiful and moving. This album is a slow burner: One that will grow on you as it opens with multiple listens. Fans of Jelinek's many high-quality albums will be very pleasantly surprised.
listen: morphing leadgitarre ruckwarts
listen: im diskodickicht

various / the post piano open remix project / 12k - download the album

various / rhythm & sound - see mi ya / basic channel
If you don't like raggae then perhaps this is the album that will change your mind.
download the album

bit rock alumnae / london / oct. 21st

New emerging Toronto artists spread their love by sharing their talents with the less fortunate cities of the south. Prhizzm, Minisystem and B. Kawula packed Alex P. Keatons, this small warm little pub style restaurant in London Ontario on October 21st. Prhizzm, signed to Scottish label Benbecula Records, Minisystem who will be the next exciting release on Noise Factory Records in 2006, and B. Kawula who entertained Mutek goers last June are some of the brightest new stars to hit the local electronic music scene. If you haven't heard them, start paying attention now.

b.kawula


minisystem


prhizzm

I dream of days that go slow, I dream of someone that won’t go


off the sky / caustic light ep / autoplate net label - download

alex smoke / incommunicado / soma
in the mix review
listen: download album

murcof / remembranza / leaf

Leaf Records brings us Murcof's second full-length, Remembranza. Slow-building tones, much like soundtrack music, compositions are minimal yet rich tapestries of prepared sounds. Corona opens the parameter for sound to breathe, interrupt, slow down, and sustain itself, all in calm beauty. Reminiscent of the work of Vladislav Delay, Thomas Brinkmann, Fennesz, and Morr Music's pop ambient releases, however, possessing a restrained approach. This album is perfect for those lonely nights when you're trapped in doors and a glass of wine is your best friend.
listen: rostro
listen: reflejo

audion / suckfish / spectral

Audion (aka Matthew Dear) hits it harder than his regular known moniker. Suckfish is a hit and miss album. Some tracks hit so hard they completely miss me all together. The repetition in "the Pong" (hence the name, I guess) goes beyond enjoyable, but then there's tracks like "Your Place or Mine" and "Taut" that have the familiar booty neo-jackin' choppy kicks that make us so hot, we weep for more.
listen: kisses
listen: t.b.

vladislav delay / the four quarters / huume



Vladislav Delay is back full of soft, moody, gently cascading atmospheric bubbles with a hint of soul: ambient Luomo? Seriously, check track two, "The Second Quarter." All four of the 15-minute-long tracks are chock full of living, breathing-style arrangements. Another beautiful organic classic which has kept me happier than a pig in mud these last few days. Vladislav Delay is always highly recommended.
listen: the first quarter
listen: the fourth quarter

skugge & stavostrand / humla / onitor

Onitor has been dishing out the consistently soft and deep Traum meets Forcetracks jams. The collaboration of Sweden's Skugge & Stavostrand is a continuation of that tradition. Humla is an album of smooth, bouncy, and smart tracks.
listen: move, run, fly
listen: lonely at the k-mart

alex under / dispositivos de mi granja / trapez

Alex Under is the hottest new techno producer from Spain.
boomkat review
listen: download album

images in the sky
I love the simplicity of this idea, makes me want to do my own.

humus magazine

safety scissors / tainted lunch / ~scape



San Francisco based Safety Scissors returns with a squelchy IDM-disco-pop much like his first album. Generally, the way it works is: a bouncy electro house beat is laid down while an endless barrage of bleeps, shifting keyboard lines, and leftfield sound effects keep the music constantly moving in one direction or another. Erlend Oye and Kevin Blechdom provide vocal assistance, while Vladislav Delay adds some programming, but it's Safety Scissors who makes the music so infectious and bubbly you'll find yourself humming along on the first listen.
listen: amnesia, i need you to remind me
listen: l'amour d'cuisine

dominik eulberg / kreucht & fleucht / mischwald

Dominik Eulberg's Flora and Fauna was one of my favorite albums to hit the shelves last year. His latest release Kreucht & Fleucht is a double CD mix. The mix mostly contains neo-jacking and interestingly bleeping German house tracks, with that blunted haze in the production that keeps the beats and bleeps from being too harsh. The first cd focuses on the softer side of the club experience, while cd two rocks a little harder without losing any of its creative edge. Classics like Termiten's "Nordhorn" (a soft melodic bobber secretly released by Villalobos) are blended alongside Sergej Auto's killer "I Am Dirty." This mix coaxes you onto the dancefloor and keeps you there.
listen: dinamo / pele bloss
listen: las velas no arden / i am dirty

dj koze / kosi comes around / kompakt



DJ Koze has released a full-length album on Kompakt entitled Kosi Comes Around. This album has many synthesized references to classic house grooves stripped bare and fucked with sparingly, using everything from strange sounds, odd bass pulses to random squiggling sounds. There's also many odd transitions within tracks, where the beat will minimize and ride for a long time and suddenly burst and change. The stripped down funk combined with the goofy unpredictability of this album makes it eligible for a new hybrid genre name.
listen: brutala square
listen: estrella

sigur ros / takk / geffen



It's been over three years since Sigur Ros released an album, and during this time, there has been much speculation in the press regarding what direction they would take. The band claimed that their new direction would be more "pop," and promised that there was an album with proper song titles in the works. Well here it is, and to say it is "pop" is definitely relative, for Takk is more structured and focused than its predecessor, ( ). The bombastic drums, sweeping strings, falsetto vocals, bowed guitars, and delicate piano melodies are distinctively Sigur Ros, but somehow this album seems happier and more optimistic than their previous albums. This could be their finest album to date.
listen: glosoli
listen: saeglopur

tape / mort aux vaches / staalplaat

Swedish trio, Tape's latest endevour "Mort Aux Vaches" treads a similar path to that of their previous albums; it's another faded postcard from the dew-soaked Swedish countryside, where folky acoustics and field recordings are juxtaposed with electronics and synthesizer. Over six tracks and 33 minutes, these contrasting elements help create some of the most entrancing and infinitely beautiful soundscapes, which should thaw even severely frostbitten hearts. Especially recommended for those who have been enjoying releases by Colleen, Mountains, and Fennesz.
listen: reversed flames
listen: summonspipe

t.raumschmiere / blitzkrieg pop / shitkatapult
brainwashed review

depeche mode / precious video

download sam koivikko / hot pepper

download marat hussein

{sender 030cd} konkord - foodgroover
{ware 048} ziggy kinder - mikrozirkulation
{dumb 017} midiots - traktorizm
{dessous 54} phonique - weapon [tracks and the city remix]
{itiswhatitis 003} drumkomputer - munk [john tejada remix]
{boxer 021} goldfish und der dulz - micro boy
{ware 054} mathias schaffhauser - coincidancetrentmoeller remix
{areal 032} konfekt - quenge liese
{sender 030cd} metope - Crux
{substatic 044} metope - even
{wagon repair 004} mathew jonson - return of the zombie bikers
{mental groove mg.ltd.001} luciano - A2 Untitled

_download_