By the 80-minute mark it’s a powerful experience, but brings with it the usual frustrations of single-track albums: artists who release these obviously want you to experience their work as single block yet make this very hard when they deliberately or accidentally include elements that disrupt or block the flow of the whole and leave you wanting to make your own edit.
Category: Featured Reviews
Koneyn – Transitional
“Transitional” is Koneyn’s debut solo release for Serbian label Àsino Elettronico and follows two self-released EPs – “Stormfields” and “Enclosed” – both issued during 2008. Released digitally and also as a limited pre-order edition in nicely produced handmade packaging, “Transitional” consists of five fairly short tracks covering a 20-minute duration.
Tokyo Morose – Specific Ocean
Charming is the first word that comes to mind when it comes to describing Tokyo Morose’s “Specific Ocean”. This is stripped down electronica with massive pop sensibilities. It’s intelligent pop music, full of charm and character that you can’t help but fall in love with.
Troum – Autopoiesis / Nahtscato
If you’re new to Troum, this could be a good starting point, although the only real complaint, which might put newcomers off, would be that occasionally things may become repetitive and overly simple. But for the main part, here are some really fine, deep drones!
Various – Acid Futures Vol. 1 & 2
“Acid Futures”, a colossal two-disc compilation from The Centrifuge, a UK-based electronic arts collective, will go a long way toward satisfying the full spectrum of cravings for die-hard acid lovers and the acid curious alike.
Various – Le Triomphe Dans L’Endroit De La Duperie
I guess it’s a must to visit this exhibition if you’re in Italy, and as long as you’re there just get this catalogue as a souvenir from your trip. For people who like the long, droney ambient pieces with transcending effects and analog experimentations, as well as loopy madness.
Various – Thalamus III
“Thalamus III” documents Russian post-industrial/noise artists alongside less classifiable work, mostly lo-fi, abrasive soundscapes. It is an uneven but important compilation and, provided you can endure the generally desolate tone, there are some really interesting pieces to be discovered.
Bashed Nursling – Every Sunday Morning Kills Us
This ‘rhythmic noise’ album can be summed up in four words: Warm tones, punishing beats. At times the crushing percussion takes a back seat to the melancholy ambience, and reminds me of the feeling you get when lying in bed listening to a raging storm outside.
Sonarophon – De Frie Elementer
“De Frie Elementer” is a live recording of guitarist Alf Terje Hana and vocalist Line Horneland performing as Sonarophon. Composed around a core of experimental and ambient electronics, their set features the six string skills of Hana combined with the vocal yet wordless voice techniques of Horneland. “De Frie Elementer” is comprised of a single 24-minute track split into a number of linked elements.
Andrea Marutti and Fausto Balbo – Detrimental Dialogue
Through the use of effects, the sounds that are used this album – and then mainly those noisy escapades – are put into a really nice perspective. The stereo image as well as the depth have an exceptional extra dimension, which makes the album as a whole interesting for modular sound nerds and people who want to hear proof that there is more than your mind can handle.