múm / summer make good / fat cat

If you've heard Múm's excellent pair of Fat Cat albums, Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Was OK and Finally We Are No One, you should have some idea of what to expect from Summer Make Good: songs that stray a bit from traditional form, yet retain an internal sense of structure; a panoply of instruments, real and virtual; a uniquely Icelandic sense of innocence and melody counterbalanced with dangerous swaths of noise and chaos; and a nearly comprehensible yet slightly alien title.

But while the album has plenty in common with its predecessors, Múm is working on perfecting a mode of expression rather than being stuck in a rut. Its choice of instruments has become more subtle, even while the range expands--most of these songs incorporate some form of guitar or piano, but you're just as likely to hear a bit of banjo or glockenspiel played against a MAX/MSP patch. The various elements are interwoven so as not to call undue attention to themselves for eclecticism's sake. Kristin Anna Valtysdottir's delicate, childlike voice whispers simple, poetic lyrics, but her twin sister has moved on from the group, leaving her tiny voice alone among the waves of music crashing around it.

Summer Make Good might be a maritime concept album, as well, as titles like "The Island of Children's Children," "Oh, How the Boat Drifts" and "Abandoned Ship Bells" are hard to miss. Where Múm's music used to reflect the cold-yet-bright contradictions of Iceland, on Summer Make Good it seems to have sailed off into some dark, mythic Nordic sea, and these songs are the half-remembered sea shanteys of a vessel long gone.

Grooves
Rob Geary
listen: múm / the ghosts you draw on my back
listen: múm / the island of children's children


thomas brinkmann / tour de traum / traum

For Tour De Traum, Kompakt's sister label and its owner Riley Reinhold open the vaults and let the one and only Thomas Brinkmann in to do what he will with them. And that he does. Brinkmann takes his favorite Traum tracks and mashes, splices, fades and overlaps them in a way that only he can. In the first song alone, he melds four tracks into one 3-minute segment that not only adds a bit to each of the individual songs, but he has created something new and all his own. Thomas is never one to make things easy on himself for he has reshaped and interpreted eight of the 13 tracks contained herein, tweaking some ever-so-slightly but still adding his personal touch -- one that is both bass heavy and dubbed out. On this CD I have to say that Thomas Brinkmann has had excellent source material to work with (probably some of the best that Cologne has to offer) and he has created an impeccable mix that lives up to the standards of himself, Traum and I am sure, you, the listener. This is one of the finest mixes that I have heard in some time and it has a surefire place in my CD changer for months to come. Recommended!
listen: thomas brinkmann / surface + today
listen: thomas brinkmann / polar 1: 21: 31

lali puna / faking the books / morr



With Faking the Books, Lali Puna have finally come into their own and released their most cohesive and confident album to date. This album screams maturity and growth. The songs are slightly more catchy, the guitars and keys turned up in the mix, and the real standout here is Valerie Trebeljahr. All of those live shows and tours abroad seemed to have given her voice power and you can tell there's a newfound confidence that really makes her stand out as a proper front-woman. All the while the band has come up with the songwriting that allows her to shine while they create their trademark sound with bedroom electronics, analog keyboards, live drums, bass and guitars. Lali puna has created a great pop album by a band who has defiantly reached their full potential. Recommended.
listen: lali puna / micronomic
listen: lali puna / call 1-800-fear

mitchell akiyama / if night is a weed and day grows loss / sub rosa

Montreal resident Mitchell Akiyama's name should be familiar to anyone who has been following the undercurrents of contemporary experimental electronic music for the past several years. Having released several solo albums on labels such as Raster Noton, Alien8 and his own Intr_Vrsn label, Akiyama has somewhat quietly made a name for himself alongside Tim Hecker and some of the more beat driven (think Akufen, Deadbeat) electronic producers currently coming out of Montreal. While much of Akiyama's recent solo work can easily be compared to many other excellent post-Fennesz guitar and computer inspired projects, he continually manages to stand out with his almost classical approach to song structure and hazy production. Although he often works within rather specific aesthetic restraints he has always had an individual approach that is rare in such narrow quarters.

Consisting of mainly heavily filtered and repeating guitar and piano fragments that project through layers of hiss and static, If Night Is a Weed... has the overall effect of an underwater symphony. Melodies drift in and out as waves of static and hiss slowly grow into swelling masses of undulating texture. Akiyama's warm almost fuzzy production style lends itself well to his extremely stylized compositions. With a healthy dose of reverb and some light distortion, Akiyama's work has as much in common with fellow Montreal residents Do Make Say Think as it does with more digitally inclined producers. I was a little unsure of the blatant Steve Reich tribute "With Hope That" (think piano phase), but it's so well done that it's hard to hold it against him for giving a nod to those who came before. If Night Is a Weed and Days Grow Less is an extremely promising album with a range and depth that becomes more expansive with each new listen. Highly recommended.
listen: mitchell akiyama / with hope that
listen: mitchell akiyama / if day wins, night could fail

tape / operette - opera remixes / cubicfabric

The best of the best in minimal electronic music come together to pay tribute to Sweden's incredible electronic/acoustic innovators Tape, whose two recent albums have been big hits with OM's customers and staff. The remixes on this collection are built almost entirely from tracks on the group's first release, Opera. Oren Ambarchi, who has collaborated in the past with Tape's resident acoustic guitar/harmonium master Johan Berthling, offers one of the record's most compelling interpretations with his guitar accompaniment played over a loop of one of Tomas Hallonsten's amazing melodica lines. Hazard's remix adds a subtle pulse to a track that otherwise sounds relatively unchanged, and the minor change in instrumentation takes the song in a surprising and interesting new direction. Other notable contributors include Apestaartje artists Minamo and Anderegg, drone guru Stephan Mathieu, and Pita on one of his most subdued and pleasant compositions ever. Like the music on Tape's studio albums, everything on here is highly melodic, relaxing, hypnotic and just simply beautiful.
listen: oren ambarchi / summa afrique
listen: hazard / noises from a hill

dogville / lars von trier

DOGVILLE is an amazing portrayal of the extremities of humanity. Lars Von Trier's masterpiece and depiction of one town could not be more truthful about the beauty and ugliness of humanity. The acting is superb, that you actually forget you're watching characters set on a stage. The narrator couldn't be more effectively used to describe the story where words from the script / book speak louder than any movie. The act of story telling this simplistic yet complicated tale could not have been delivered better. Truly a highlight compared to any movie watched prior. Highly recommended.

ellen allien / astral / bpitch *out May 2004

vladislav delay / demo(n) tracks / huume

Vladislav Delay returns with his first album on his Huume label. After exorcising his house demons with the recent Luomo LP, our favorite Finnish producer brings us 13 tracks of digi-dub, ambience, and minimalism.
listen: vladislav delay / kohmeesa

funkstorung / disconnected / k7

After four years and 15 remixes, the duo known as Funkstorung return with their new full-length, Disconnected. This time around they've expanded their palette inviting tons of collaborators which include trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, vocalists Erik, Lou Rhodes (Lamb) and Sarah Jay (Massive Attack), as well as rappers Tes and Rob Sonic, and essentially a live band (piano, electric and acoustic bass, cello, acoustic drums, guitar, DJ). Tired of making purely instrumental music, on Disconnected they showcase their producer skills turning themselves into a downtempo soul/electronic pop/hip-hop collective a la Massive Attack, Telefon Tel Aviv, Lamb, DJ Krush, Vadim, or Scott Herren. Not just simply tracks, this one has 'songs' which blend their trademark snap-crackle-pop rhythms, and cut-up, time-stretched snares and cymbals that made them a name to mention. But there is also a newfound taste for the classic feel of vocal music, be it rapped or sung. Overall, this one is more for the beach rather than the dancefloor with enough bite to keep you out of the chill-out lounge. Full of warm, spring infused vibes and varied moods, Disconnected is urban, digital, soulful and tropical, tastefully crafted with if you will, a gritty beautifulness.
listen: funkstorung / sleeping beauty
listen: funkstorung / moon addicted

deadbeat / something borrowed, something blue / ~scape

The timing couldn't have been better for this album to come out. These days, "digi-dub" conjures up the sound of dark and heavy-lidded, surface-noise filled beatscapes. Don't get me wrong, I still love Pole, Rhythm and Sound, Kit Clayton etc., but I'm not excited about the prospect of hearing just another version of the aforementioned artists.

Deadbeat's new album, his second on Stefan Betke's Scape label, IS a solid member of the "digi-dub" family, but it manages to stand on its own, deftly avoiding falling into digital dub cliché. For one thing, the album is not another track-to-track exploration of the same theme over and over. From the first note the album opens up slowly and evolves, slowly introducing shifts in rhythm and melody that follow alternately open and song-like structures. Killer warm bass is woven into directed ambient moments that progress into nicely developed songs. Good old-fashioned quality "songwriting" that's well sequenced to create an "album" feel. (It sounds like I'm grasping, but I'm not, trust me.)

This album also successfully uses its dub roots as a launch pad instead of an anchor. In other words, it takes its dub inspiration and moves away from it to become something else enjoyable in its own right rather than sounding like a looped tribute album. Sounds easy, but as I hinted at in the "timing" comment earlier, these days that counts for a lot. I've been recommending this album left and right as a downright solid new electronic album. It might not change your worldview, but you'll definite play this one over and over.
listen: deadbeat / fixed elections
listen: deadbeat / white out

New Discoveries on Fallt

Maybe one of the reasons that 'space' is such an important quality in the music I love is that I've always linked the sounds I hear to geographical images. Someone out there might be able to psychoanalyze that, who knows.

Anyway, today, February 23rd 2004, a cold wintry day in Newcastle upon Tyne under a big blue sky. Whilst I work away on my PhD I have been engaged in some headphone listening to two of the most beautifully realized records I've heard in ages, music so attuned to the gentle frostiness outside that they may as well be an extension of that very environment. Both come courtesy of Northern Ireland's Fallt, a brilliant, under-exposed label that is as much about the visual production of its releases as artistic artifacts as the music.

The discs in question are, firstly, Komet's "Arc, Live", a recording of a gig in 2000. Frank Bretschneider (for it is he) originally turned me off big style. I thought his bleeping minimalism was about as interesting as a vinyl test tone. Now, though, I've well warmed to it, and this subtle, almost-invisible funk music is like tiny icicles forming at the far edge of a tree branch. Delicate though it is, at high volumes one imagines Bretschneider would shake the very walls of the venue with reverb.

The real find, though, is a live set by Hard Sleeper (the project of Dubliner Peter Maybury), an artist of whom I knew absolutely nothing prior to listening. Maybury is a friend of Donnacha Costello's and there are similarities between their music. Neither is interested in mathematical abstraction, using minimal approaches instead to tour the more melancholic side of the psyche. However, whilst Costello has a tendency to go for the gut in his wrenching instrumentals of a love lost, Maybury constructs something altogether more ethereal and sublime from tiny fragments of melody of detritus. His music brings to mind Shuttle358, but at a point where the music almost hovers on the very edge of existence. Tiny pops and crackles start to emerge from a bed of poignant tones in their very twilight, there-but-not-there, spectral apparitions of song. At the 11-minute mark a more profound melodic line starts to emerge, adding weight to, but never disrupting, the carefully crafted sense of serene stillness that characterizes this exceptional release.

Always great to come across someone unfamiliar and to fall in love with their music there and then. Particularly when the low sunbeams shining through the blind in the room seem utterly at one with the sounds in one's ears. After retreating back into near-silence, the piece comes alive again towards the end.

John Gibson
grooves / senior editor
2004-02-23

broken social scene / bee hives / arts & crafts

Like Broken Social Scene's first album "Feel Good Lost", "Bee Hives" is calm and most of the time ethereal reflecting the group's more quiet explorations. Not a must-have for the casual fan only acquainted with "You Forgot It in People," there is still a sense of continuity throughout this collection of b-sides, some dating back to earliest incarnation of the band, as well as a few new tracks. Most songs are instrumental, stretched out with long, shimmering drones occasionally offset against minimal playful skitters - the pastoral bedroom electronics of "Ambulance for the Ambiance" could easily pass as a Mum outtake. Without breaking the quiet melancholy, a few of the tracks are a little more formed; "Lover's Split" is a brooding, piano driven song with a beautifully somber vocal melody. Though not a proper album, anyone who loved Broken Social Scene's recently re-issued "Feel Good Lost" will definitely enjoy the subtle ambience of "Bee Hives."
listen: broken social scene / ambulance for the ambiance
listen: broken social scene / lover's split

triple r / selection 2 / trapez

Trapez is known for their long, often full-sided deep techno house groovers. Not as much techno/house as techno-with-house. These are smart, minimal club tracks with that classic "track" quality, tracks you can ride forever till the end, or use as transitions within a mix. Maybe that's why the beginning of the first half of this mix, though well mixed, has a bit of that "warm-up" quality. Each track explores a different theme from the track preceding it. A deep driving, slightly epic track like Dialogue's "Boulevard" will mix into Akufen's cutup, bouncing funk ("Psychometry 2.1")

Things kick into gear at Track 5 with Rheinhold/Barnes' "Count", and really get running by track 8 (Oliver Hacke's "Vampir Von Dusseldorf"). This is almost like Rheinhold's version of a "club mix" in comparison to his "Friends" mix. It's still deep, melodic and poppy, but it's more driving (without ever getting nearly as hard as Mayer's "Speicher" mix) with only a few vocal bits here and there to accent the beat.

During tracks 8 through 15 is where Triple R shines. This is where he laces the melodies and beat textures from one track to the next and achieves that "floating" quality in his mix. Standout tracks from Oliver Hacke, M. Rahn, M.I.A. and Sarah Goldfarb.
listen: matthias rahn / reflections
listen: pleitte / pleitte

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

manual with jess kahr / north shore / darla
*see 'darla' link for review and mp3

elektronische musik interkontinental 3 / various artists / traum

Yet another brilliant release in the Elektronische Musik series for Traum Schallplatten. "Interkontinental 3," compiled by Traum/Trapez co-owner Richard 'Riley Reinhold' (aka Triple R), continues to bring us the finest in warm bubbling techno from every hemisphere known to man. Germany, England, Ireland, Australia, Argentina, Japan, they're all here. Volume 3 is full of bright, poppy, dance-floor material properly balanced by deep, dreamy, minimal activities for the late-night; and it all grooves. Process and Oliver Hacke deliver, as usual. Donal Tierney and Jorge Gebauber each introduce some of the finest tech-house this side of that new rock beyond Pluto, Sedna.

I'm telling you, it's all here, and thankfully, the vinyl release this time round is only a 4 track 12" featuring a few club friendly tracks from the CD. It includes the Broker/Dealer rmx of French band Margo's "La Baumette," Popnebo's "Of Course She Does," a different killer from O. Hacke than appears on the CD, and Michael Fentum's "Warm Hands," which are actually lush strings that evolve into this static-laden montage. There's even a QuickTime video on the CD by POLAR called Occupy set to the music of Victor Bermon rmx of Fotel Folyamat's "Love Streams." Like I said, it's all here.
listen: adam kroll / klostergarten
listen: donal tierney / text xxx

pantha du prince / diamond daze / dial

Pantha Du Prince (aka Gluhen) takes his personal palette of sounds and applies them to new minimal techno structures. After falling for the Gluhen LP, I didn't know what to expect from this one. I half-expected off-time, deep shuffle techno with noise clusters here and there. What we end up getting is deep minimal techno with the classic Dial beauty and sophistication devoid of any straight up, generic sounds. Every element - bass, melody, hi-hats - is given a custom tuning to make it unique, stark, grey, and full of beauty.

Pantha Du Prince blends the dark brooding drive of Carsten Jost, the heavenly lift of Lawrence, and a tech/house structure similar to the Traum label injected with impeccably chosen/arranged sounds. While Jost tends to push forward with dark, sharp sounds accenting the beat, Pantha Du Prince has more of a driving (yet still sophisticated), dark funk. (See "Eisregen and "Circle Glider") Side C's "Sad Saphire" is like way deep Basic Channel taken out of the dank basement and placed in the clouds. Another step forward in the dark beautiful world of Dial records and another favorite LP. Recommended.
listen: pantha du prince / circle glider
listen: pantha du prince / butterfly girl

fennesz / venice / touch

One of the few truly original voices in contemporary electronic music, over the last nine years Christian Fennesz has created and refined a signature style that effortlessly combines dense, noisy digital fragmentation with a warm almost subliminal pop sense. As with pretty much all his releases, "Venice" sees Fennesz focusing on the sound of the electric guitar extending its palette through various digital processing techniques.

Although the album is less cohesive and overall developed than his last album 'Endless Summer" (or even the singles collection "Field Recordings"), in some ways its sketch like quality is its strength. Less conceptually oriented, the album comes across like a personal document of a time, an idea or perhaps a place. While "Venice" may not be as immediate as some of Fennesz' previous efforts, its combination of somber haunting melodies and grainy texture illuminates a space where simple somewhat catchy guitar playing wontedly coexists with the din of contemporary computer manipulations which is further illustrated by Jon Wozencraft's beautiful cover photographs documenting human interaction and manipulation of nature.

A somewhat mournful and generally subdued affair, "Venice" shows an artist reflecting on his craft rather then trying to force himself into a new direction. Highlights include "Transit," a stunning collaboration with David Sylvian that continues where their fantastic duo track on Sylvian's recent album "Blemish" left off. Situated directly in the middle of a mostly subdued listening experience "Transit" literally bursts out of the speakers accentuating the album's more pop like characteristics as well as its more restrained moments. Here's to hoping for an album's worth of Fennesz vs. Sylvian.
listen: fennesz / the point of it all
listen: fennesz / transit

luomo / the present lover / kinetic

It seems that Vladislav Delay has always wanted to make a pop album. From his tracks on the last Electric Ladyland compilation, and his first album under Luomo entitled "Vocalcity," he has shed his clicks and cuts image and was on a mission to make the perfect house record, one that combined the elements of experimental electronics with mainstream house hits like Kylie Minogue. I can tell you that Vladislav Delay sweated over these tracks for months, reproducing, remixing, and rerecording to eventually produce "The Present Lover."

The man has completed his mission, for "The Present Lover" is a superb house album that can be listened to just as easily in the club as it can in the home. It is superbly produced, but still contains elements of his experimental works; there are still elements of electronic dub, glitches and vocal cut-ups. Many have dismissed this album as his bid for commercial success but really it is just another face of this extremely talented multi-faceted artist. Mr. Delay did not "sell-out," this is just his attempt at making the perfect house album, and once again he has given us an incredible listening experience. A must have for fans of Vladislav Delay You will here this everywhere in 2004... from mega-clubs and lounges, to dinner parties and shops.
listen: luomo / talk in a danger
listen: luomo / the present lover

pass into silence / calm like a millpond / kompakt

Pass into Silence has a new EP on Kompakt and the label seems to be stepping out of its mold a bit with this one. The sweet/pop/austere formula that most "Pop Ambient" releases are known for is beginning to stress the "austere" part a little less. The five track EP is mainly built of electric piano, angelic female vocal bits (minimal Enya on track 1) and glacial atmosphere. There is a definite regressive, almost indulgent childlike vibe, track 3 sounding like an electronic soundtrack to a children's storybook. Little Nemo (the boy, not the fish) maybe? What may come across as Kompakt going "light" is saved by the always-impeccable production. The most "aggressive" track is a revisit from the "Pop Ambient 2004" track "Sakura" followed by a blissed-out remix (of "Sakura") that trades its slow moving melody for what seems like a slow, cloud-filled, descending melody accented by distant harps. In the remix, 3 minutes and 30 seconds ends way too soon.
listen: voices
listen: sakurare remix

skyphone / fabula / rune grammofon

Norway's always-incredible Rune Grammofon label starts off the year 2004 in fine form with the debut album from a Danish trio called Skyphone. The best recent point of reference for this group is another Scandinavian trio that seamlessly blends acoustic and electronic elements: Tape. While Tape has a more direct approach to song structure, Skyphone's loose, almost dreamlike compositions still retain a strong sense of melody and form. A lot of bands like this tend to go overboard with their arrangements, but the members of Skyphone never allow too many things to happen at once. There must be a million different sounds and samples spread throughout "Fabula," not one of which is ever lost or buried in the mix.

Skyphone probably have more in common with Phonophani than with anyone else on Rune Grammofon, but the extensive use of acoustic guitar and the influence of dub and minimal techno in their incredibly subtle, sometimes almost inaudible beats set them pretty far apart. Fans of Boards Of Canada and Kompakt's Pop Ambient Series will most certainly dig this incredibly beautiful, understated, and mature record. Perfect late night headphone listening, or for closing your eyes and relaxing on the subway ride home from work.
listen: skyphone / monitor batik
listen: skyphone / airtight golem

listen: the mole/ back to the endless
listen: the mole/ grinder review

contact: basic_sounds@yahoo.ca

isan / meet next life / morr

It's been over two-and-a half years since "Lucky Cat," ISAN's last full-length, and not much has changed in the world of these Morr Music staples. Their ultra-melodic brand of warm analogue electronica is still here but this time out there is a slight twist. Robin Saville and Antony Ryan have for the first time added organic acoustic instruments into the fold, and what comes out is a beautiful amalgamation of both the traditional and the modern. Downtempo beats are the backbone, while spacey analogue synths float by, electronic blips and bleeps add some texture, and various acoustic instruments like acoustic guitars, hand percussion, glockenspiel, and many more flesh out the songs. The one thing about ISAN is that their tracks are meticulously composed, even though the melodies are extremely simple with each miniature part an essential to the whole. Once again, ISAN fail to disappoint and "Meet Next Life" is another exquisite album in their almost flawless discography. Recommended.
listen: isan/ birds over barges
listen: isan/ one man abandon

casino versus japan/ hitori + kaiso 1998-2001 / attacknine

Casino Versus Japan drops a bomb on us this week. Milwaukee's Erik Kowalski gives us 29 unreleased tracks that he recorded between 1998 and 2001. Why these songs didn't make it onto any "official album" is beyond me because they are far from "throwaways" as one might expect. All of these tracks are stunning, right from the very start of Disc 1. Album opener "Buried" is a lush downtempo jewel that could compare to any of the amazing tracks on Boards Of Canada's "Music Has the Right to Children"... yes, it's that good. The first disc is comprised of mostly upbeat and lush sounding songs with some of the more ambient pieces left for Disc 2. Freescha and your Attacknine label, I thank you; for if not for them "Hitori + Kaiso" probably would have never seen the light of day, and that would truly be a shame. By the way this is a 2-CD for a single CD price, and well worth it.
listen: casino versus japan/ buried
listen: casino versus japan/ bound by your smile

ellen allien / remix collection / bpitch

Ellen Allien continues to leave her "electro" peers behind with a collection of remixes that, like her album "Berlinette," moves toward pop without losing a bit of her punch and danceability. While some of her album tracks may have suffered from pressure to "have a message," the "Remix Collection" displays all her new wave, glitch-hop, acid, pop-house styling, without any excess baggage.

Tracks range from broken beat glitch-hop ("Let's Get It On" rmx impossibly creates a song I like out of a Gold Chains song) to new wave acid pop house (tracks 5-7, including a B. Morgenstern remix-excellent, and an Ellen Allien remix of her own "Alles Sehen," and "The Way We Have Chosen" by OMR) to full strength club rockers like Ellen's remixes of "Bullet" by Covenant and "Butterfly" by Gut-Humpe.

The collection is rounded out by a fine, dreamily glitched up remix of Golden Boy with Miss Kittin's "Rippin Kittin" -- a successful redefinition of an already flawless club pop hit. You will ask and re-ask yourself, "How does she make solid tracks where others would just make frivolous electro pop?" Again, all her strengths witnessed on her first album, "Stadtkind" through to her "Berlinette" LP are showcased here, unadulterated. While others seem to be stepping back to avoid the trend-end backlash, Ellen Allien seems to be intent on moving forward. Recommended.
listen: ellen allien/ let's get it on
listen: ellen allien/ uus heiterem himmel

best of 2003:

1.) ellen allien/ berlinette / bpitch
listen: ellen allien/ abstract pictures

2.) t.raumschmiere / radio blackout / novamute
listen: t.raumschmiere/ the game is not over
listen: t.raumschmiere/ monstertruckdriver



3) polmo polpo / like hearts swelling / constellation

michael mayer / fabric 13 / fabric

Michael Mayer has created a beatmatched "Back to Mine/Another Late Night" style "listener's/taster's choice mix" that trades his driving abstract momentum for contrasting blends that allow for full appreciation of the nuances of each individual track. There is a decidedly friendly and soft song-style techno (not necessarily all with vocals) throughout most of this mix. Inviting melodies move through H. Voss' "I Think About You (rmx)" into R. Davis' "Bring Me Closer" cresting with Westbam and Nena's(!) "Oldschool, Baby", full of disarmingly festive, yet still minimal, club piano melodies!

Track 5: Wruhme and Wighnomy's "Killerteppich" into T.Schaeben's "Busted" is where Mayer begins to lay into his abstract funk a bit, but the mix suddenly eases down to Villalobos' "Easy Lee" which clears the palette for my favorite part of the mix...

From there, Magnet's "Abendstern" climbs infinitely into space, full of small beautiful details, becomes Superpitcher's "Mushroom" and blossoms into Jackson's remix of M83's "Run into Flowers."(This track will put a lump in your throat.) This section is full of contrast and detail that underscores Mayer's statement that "Fabric 13" is not a "clubset" and that he prefers mix CDs to "be intimate" and "to tell a story." (Although describing a DJ mix as one that "tells a story" might sound cliche', Mayer does NOT delve into pacifier/glowstick territory.)

Finally, after a short, two-song detour into more killer funk (Le Dust Sucker's "Love Me" is a bit SICK), Mayer frames the mix with a re-visitation of H. Voss' "I Think About You", this time, with the original version. An infinite variety of tracks, arranged primarily for appreciation (melody driven, rather than beat driven) as opposed to moving the dancefloor. Another facet of one of the best.
listen: michael mayer/run into flowers
listen: michael mayer/love me

troisk meets jan jelinek / ~scape

How many killer incarnations can this man generate??? As Farben, Jelinek produced pinprick, micro-funky minimal house. As Gramm, Jelinek eased the seat back with the ultra jazz ambience. I could go on. Triosk meets Jan Jelinek beautifully fleshes out and solidifies what I've previously described as "liquefied jazz". It's as if the murky and melted sound of the "Live in Tokyo 9/01" has hardened and crystallized like so many mid-December snowflakes, and in almost as many varieties.

Here Jelinek sharpens the quality of his sounds by capturing the sound of jazz trio, Triosk (L.Pike, A.Klumes and Ben "Donny" Waples) in all their live acoustic glory. Each instrument must have been painstakingly mic'ed because the crystal clear sharpness of the instruments is gorgeous, ESPECIALLY the drum sounds. Where other producers like to take live jazz samples and "throw them in a blender," Jelinek lines them up and arranges them in modern, modal, melodic deconstructions. The tracks ride that beautiful line between modern electronic music and modern live jazz. Although loops are used throughout, there is a definite "live" tension retained throughout the album. Maybe if Four Tet and the Necks collaborated the results would be somewhat like "1+3+1," but I have to admit, probably not with results as good as this one.

On "Theme from Trioskinek", piano loops are sliced and diced with high definition hi-hat rolls and a beautifully plodding double bass loop. Over and over, lush digital hums, clicks and bleeps lift the live-sounding endless drum loops, thick buzzing double basslines and piano melodies. Again, it's easy to imagine these tracks being played live with Jelinek joining the Trio stage-side, laptop in front of him, yet the simple elegance of the arrangements proves that these tracks aren't live productions.

More than one person has commented that this was the album that Herbert's "Goodbye Swingtime" should have been more like; I have to agree. Superb album. Recommended.
listen: jan jelinek/onthelak
listen: jan jelinek/vibespul

b.fleischmann / welcome tourist / morr

The man that started the Morr Music phenomenon returns to the label to present us with his new double album. "Welcome Tourist" is a slight departure from B. Fleischmann's previous works; gone are the simple groovebox beats, but they are now replaced by lush instrumentation alongside his own brand of bedroom electronics. A track like "Guided By Beats" starts off with gently plucked guitar, followed by heavy Def Jux style hip hop beats, then halfway through tremelo-ed synth washes float by. "Pass By" begins with a delicately tapped piano melody, followed by a live bass rhythm until the heavy downtempo beats kick in and cut-up female vocals are dispersed throughout; then at the two-minute mark, beautiful washes of guitar distortion permeate the song -- it is absolutely stunning. On "Grunt," he probably comes up with his most catchy melody yet; all the while Fennesz-style electronic static floats in and out of the song as if to not make it sound too pretty. "Welcome Tourist" contains 11 amazing tracks on the first disc alone while disc two is one 45-minute track that spans the whole spectrum of what Mr. Fleischmann is trying to accomplish. The second disc utilizes acoustic guitars, live drums, piano, strings, cut up vocals, ambient electronics, crunchy beats... you name it, it's in there. "Welcome Tourist" is B. Fleischmann's masterpiece and definitely one of Morr Music's finest hours. What more can I say, but that the man has done it again! Highly recommended.
listen: b.fleischmann/pass-by
listen: b.fleischmann/grunt

deadbeat vs. stephen beaupre / it's a crackhaus thing / onitor

Are you fan of Akufen, Herbert, or the Soft Pink Truth? Do you buy records just because they are on Perlon, Playhouse, or Kompakt? If you have answered yes to any of the above then this is for you! Deadbeat and Stephen Beaupre have created a fabulous, funked-up tech house album with "It's a Crackhaus Thing." Like the previously mentioned artists, this duo incorporates the popular chopped-up style of beats and vocals to their own brand of house and it comes out nothing short of funky. With a track like "Shine Your Light" with its pumping house rhythm, cut-up blues horns and soul vocals you would swear that it was off of Akufen's "My Way". "Little Cosmonaut" starts off all distorted and dirty, with shifting rhythms and a cut up sample of what sounds like a woman's laugh put through about 50 processors. Then right before the two-minute mark, everything drops out just to reveal the lone 4/4 beat which lasts for about 30-seconds until the rhythm, chopped backwards and forwards, comes charging back in while completely new vocal comes in and the melody completely changes. Nothing short of amazing, this record is one for the headphones and the dancefloor. I have to say that the Onitor label is on a roll with last week's amazing Gustavo Lamas CD and now this... There is no stopping these guys. Recommended.
listen: deadbeat vs. stephen beaupre/shineyou
listen: deadbeat vs. stephen beaupre/littleco

plaid / spokes / warp

While Plaid's new LP is a definite change for Warp's number-one party-rockers, in many ways it is not so much a new direction as an old one. As the world of electronica continues to tread water, unsure if it should sink or swim, one of the latest tricks is a look back to the "classic" years, and longtime fans of the group will recognize some of these sounds as reminiscent of the (pre-Plaid) Black Dog days. There is less of a hip-hop/big beat groove here, and a strong classic techno/acid influence (similar to Luke Vibert's new one, although not as overt, or as sunny). The sounds are dark and unsettling, the beats are skittering and slippery. Tracks build slowly, often starting as dark ambient washes and adding sounds in careful layers. This is still dance music, but maybe not for those who need huge backbeat to hit the floor, and it is still the Plaid you know and love, but not in their time-tested easy-to digest formula.
listen: plaid/crumaxi
listen: plaid/cedarcit

baby ford / basking in the brakelights / force inc.

I'll save you from all of the "anticipated album" talk. All we need to know is that Baby Ford's last collection of tracks, "Sacred Machines," with the I-Fach collective was deep and sick. That, and the fact that there aren't many dudes who made acid house hits for major labels in the late-'80s that still produce up-to-date tracks of note -- tracks for Sender, Perlon, Klang and now Force Inc. -- all varied in style and focus, while every one of them is unmistakably Baby Ford. Peter Ford makes tracks that have all the edge of the high-falutin', so-called "experimental/microhouse" producers of late. They share affection for minimal funk, small sounds, deepness, etc.; the difference is Baby Ford isn't putting on any airs of sophistication. These tracks aren't dry, fresh out of the dormitory, dancing is funny/ain't-I-white bullshit. Besides all the well arranged micro-CLASSIC STYLE house beat arrangements are bouncing acid funk basslines that are wet, juicy and full of ASS. Think Losoul from London without any rave casualty symptoms. (More techno, less house right?) Another key element to the beauty of these tracks is their complete refusal to beg for your attention. With Baby Ford, if you don't place yourself INSIDE the track you will miss it. What may at first seem just long, repetitive and "funky" is actually expertly arranged bits of classic house over layers of subterranean tones, post-4 a.m. soul and, I say it again, ASS. I want my own copy!
listen: baby ford/exopolis
listen: baby ford/parallel


kid 606 / kill sound before sound kills you / ipecac

Kid 606's follow-up to last year's "Action Packed Mentalist" shows the mash-up master just won't let up; "Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You," pummels through acid, technopunk, gabber, jungle, bass and dancehall at a brutal, sweaty pace. Opening track "The Ilness" has a mid-'90s hardcore feel but totally sliced, diced and tweaked out through the Kid's laptop, it lands right in the 21st century. The frenetic BPMs of "Who Wah Kill Sound?", "Powerbookfiend" and the digi-core dancehall of "Buckle Up" will spin you dizzy and leave you in a gritty daze. "Kill Sound" isn't all sonic assault though; Kid 606 sprinkles a few ambient interludes so you can catch your breath, and following the hyper-skitter of the bass-heavy "Woofer Wrecker," he peacefully leaves us floating in space wrapped in a fluffy montage of sounds.
listen: kid 606/theillne
listen: kid 606/buckleup

andrew thomas / fearsome jewel / kompakt

Kompakt's latest installment features New Zealand resident Andrew Thomas with a breezy 35-minute mini-album that leans more on the ambient than the pop side of things. While he may be somewhat distant from the Cologne based label geographically speaking, Thomas is obviously well in tune with the label's aesthetic. Most of the pieces on "Fearsome Jewel" are based around micro-melodic piano loops supplemented by warm washes of synth strings and the obligatory digital clicks and pops. Thomas uses these ingredients well, focusing more on creating a general sound rather then trying to get too caught up in details. The loopy, ambient nature of Thomas' album of miniatures reminds me a bit of Novisad's "Seleya" or some of the more calm installments of the Kreisel 7" series from a few years ago. An extremely pleasant overall atmosphere that would make a wonderful soundtrack for daydreaming.
listen: andrew thomas/7

villalobos / alcachofa / playhouse

Recent minimal house releases have been more "yawn" than "Yeah!!", But I have to say, when I walked into the OM office while this was playing I had to stop in my tracks and say "WHAT is this?! Is this the new Villalobos?!" Ever since "What You Say (Is More Than I Can Say)", this man is single-handedly reinventing the use of the vocoder for psychedelic stimulation. No ironic robot vocal delivery here, just pure wooziness that sounds like an intoxicated person talking to himself. All tracks segue nicely into each other for an uninterrupted listening session. All the sharp, dry funkiness that this man has been refining for the last five years has culminated in "Alcachofa," his finest recording yet. Deep, dry, funky, sharp, and pumping as ever, but these tracks have a new found sense of focus that is unwavering. Villalobos is no longer satisfied with finding a sick, deep, ultra-stoned loop and drawing it out. Now he seems to hack at it with machetes, thrash it about and turn it inside out. These tracks dig deep into you and rewire your psyche. Sick. Guaranteed to be as influential as Akufen's "My Way", but personally, I like this one better. Another thing: Before he sounded like a German-born Chilean, but now he sounds like a hot-blooded Chilean-born German. Guess what? RECOMMENDED.
listen: villalobos/dexter

BJORK ON TOUR

Saw Bjork for the second time on her tour last night. The Toronto venue was beautiful. It was on the Toronto Islands, so everyone had to board a ferry to get to the show, which was included in the ticket price. We arrived to this manicured dream park where we had to go over this picturesque bridge to get to the stage. The Stage was set in front of the Toronto city sky-line....and like any city always looks better from a distance. Kid Koala opened, then Bonnie Prince Billy and then BJORK! Kid Koala is the Canadian Scratch Turntable King, so he geeked it up and also dedicated a Audrey Hepburn song for his mom. Awwww. Bonnie Prince Billy has been touring with Bjork, practically the entire time, but I felt like they just didn't work. It's folky, great song writing stuff...but really needs to be appreciated in a small intimate venue with a glass of wine, not before the anticipation of electronic pop artist BJORK! Bjork was fantastic as per usual....entering the stage wearing a black glittery dress with allot of green puffy lace. I would have to say the Toronto Olympic Island show was better than the New York, Coney Island show which I saw two weeks prior. The crowd was cooler in New York, much older and better dressed, but the fireworks and visuals were better in Toronto. At one point last night the sky was completely lit up by gold sparkles. It was fuckin' fantastic and the fire on stage was choreographed perfectly to her music. Bjork's voice was so clear and euphorically emotional...words can hardly describe how inthralled and ecstatic I was. Her poetic clarity consumes me. Desired Constellation must be a new song, but it was defiantly a highlight for me. Matmos are the masters of sound. Their synth noises with twerk-y new sounds added to her performance...made it uniquely brilliant. Nature is Ancient had the actual video play behind it during the song and the rest of the visuals that took place were organic swirls and lines with limbs and body parts floating around. During the Soft Pink Truth remix of In Our Hands, which has defiantly been the song of the summer for me...there was some eskimo animation going on, but I was too busy dancing and cheering to really pay attention. The visuals I remember at the New York show were sparse. Only one screen to the right of the stage with Bjork in a ball rotating in air...very Matthew Barney, but that was about it. The Toronto show was over-all presented better with a more attentive audience. Bjork's performance is always 100%, and defiantly always worth the ticket price. I can't understand why anyone would miss out on the opportunity to see her, as her performances and now memories are a true highlight to life. Yeah BJORK!
Bjork interview after Sonar 2003