Caribou - Swim

caribou did it again with a nicely sounding production but very different from his earlier works. it seems he got pretty influenced by this new electro-club fad and he did his own take on it. its full of his trademark mixture of acoustic and ethnic sounding instruments along with a tribalist percussive feel that gives his music a unique vibe.

hell yeah for cover arts.

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

some varied listening styles for headroom psycobonanza.

"A resident of the West Midlands, England,Stephen Wilkinson developed a passion for experimental music during his time at Middlesex University in London, where he studied "sonic arts". He developed his own style of music, drawing from contemporary experimental bands such as Boards of Canada, and incorporating field recordings and found sounds. Electronically modified guitar melodies and droning synthesizer sounds are a recurring theme in his pieces, causing many people to label his music as a hybrid of electronica or intelligent dance music and traditional folk music. His music has recently been licensed for commercial campaigns by L.L. Bean and Toyota."


gimme all the flowers!

Badawi - Bedouin Sound Clash

Sound alchemist from NYC.

"Raz Mesinai -- aka Badawi -- was born in Jerusalem in 1973, and was raised in New York City. At age 11, Mesinai went into a record store looking for instrumental rap and came out with dub, hooking the lad to a life of delay and tape echo. A decade later, he was being hailed as one of the most important DJs in NYC. Meanwhile, Mesinai began studying rhythms of Persian, Indian, Yemenite, Moroccan, and Afro-Cuban styles at an early age. After making a number of basement recordings, Mesinai hooked up with friend John Ward to form the influential dub duo Sub Dub, which saw the friends draw on their love of hip hop, house, Middle Eastern, Irish, and dub.

As Badawi, Mesinai samples his own live playing, then digitally treats it through smearing, stretching, and looping. Badawi's ROIR recordings are filled with angular and hypnotic rhythms, subtle electronic processing, dubbed out fuzz bass, and creative compositions. Mesinai's music channels the spirit of dub masters Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby, and Augustus Pablo, easing your body as it frees your mind."- Mat Mahoney

Fruit Flies

Jamie Lidell - Multiply

Howard request. 21st century soulman, Sam Cooke filtered through Warp's Artificial Intelligence.

Game of Fools

Techno Animal - The Brotherhood of the Bomb

Techno Animal were: Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, Final, Ice, etc.) and Kevin Martin (God, The Bug, Ice, EAR, etc.).

"The biggest addition on Brotherhood are a cadre of underground hip hop MCs, from favorites like El-P, Vast Aire, and Antipop Consortium to hyper-obscure rhymesmiths Rubberoom and Sonic Sum. Rapping adds a crucial dimension to the Techno Animal sound (which can be somewhat static), and the group handles the addition well (Martin and Broadrick worked with many of the guests on other projects).

But what Brotherhood really reveals is how far Techno Animal has come in the realm of production. Martin and Broadrick cull the pieces of their compositions from a variety of places, but then layer on the effects processing so the source sounds are completely unrecognizable. The sounds become electronic drones, otherworldly howls, pulverizing static, and then are melded into harsh industrial soundscapes. These soundscapes are incredibly evocative and meticulously designed – it’s almost a wonder that the duo decides to obscure them with overdriven bass and distorted drum loops. Of course, if I want industrial-ambient flows, I can pop in some Future Sound of London. Techno Animal cares little for any desire for delicacy and subtlety, instead trading in the currency of aggression and intensity.

“Cruise Mode 101” cashes in on these quite well. A big, rumbling beat joins with a wobbly bass line so overdriven it sounds on the verge of collapse. Chicago rappers Rubberoom provide high-speed flows that match the production flawlessly (Techno Animal never fails to effectively back up the variety of rapping styles on the album). Drones, squeals, and some effective CD skipping effects (Oval influenced, no doubt) combine to make an incredibly driving song about – well, driving (incidentally, the song is an excellent one for the highway). Martin and Broadrick immediately slow things down for “Glass Prism Enclosure,” a more textured piece, with a shuffling, syncopated beat, dissonant string chords, and abstract rapping from Antipop Consortium.

The instrumental tracks often pale in comparison to the tracks with MCs, but contain wonderful intricacies as well. “Hypertension” and “Monoscopic” travel down paths of malevolent dub (similar to Scorn), the latter sounding like a wonderfully fucked Pole track.

But the instrumentals are easily overshadowed by explosive numbers such as “Piranha,” with Toastie Taylor blasting ragga-styled flows over a propulsive beat. The result is violent, almost primal, and one of the most stirring pieces on the album. “We Can Build You” comes across as a bit of a let-down – El-P and Vast Aire provide immaculate stylings as usual, but the track is a slower, come down piece. I would have liked to see the Def Jux crew spit over something a bit more visceral.

“Hell,” The final track makes up for any lack of intensity, featuring the criminally-underrated Dalek. A dark subdued beat and some metallic drones assist Dalek’s monotone rapping. The beat drops off for the breakdown, and Dalek’s rap is dual tracked – he verbally battles himself. The cacophony grows – swirling static, sirens, and atmospherics. The rapping slow burns into a fury, and the beat comes back in with full force, assisted by rollicking waves of bass, pitting Dalek squarely against the storm of noise. The hurricane subsides quickly and suddenly, perfectly ending the album." - G. Mueller

BOMB

Farmacia - Crucial Sky In The Land Of Premonitions At Lorenzo's Weekend

Argentinean pharmacy employees and dementors of the best sort.

"We all agree here at AQ that this is a really amazing disc. We also all agree that it's tough to describe! Which is maybe why we didn't manage to review it right when it first appeared a few months back. But now we'll try, since we like it so much and want you know about it. Simply put (which is impossible), Farmacia from Argentina straddle the line between minimal dance music and rhythmic noise. Crucial Sky In The Land Of Premonitions At Lorenzo's Weekend (there, doesn't that title tell you all you need to know? no? uh, yeah, you're right) is the work of a trio who are making their OWN original music first and foremost, not something we hear everyday. There's an experimental, home-brewed, kit-bashed approach here that possesses some of the charming weirdness of Argentine AQ faves Reynols without sounding like them... much more user-friendly, these guys! It's a sort of playful industrial/electro music, part Throbbing Gristle, part Aphex Twin, part Mouse On Mars. One track even reminds us of Itavayla, or Trans Am. There's bopping abstract noises, wordless vocals, distortion and drone and disco-friendly beats. Surprisingly beautiful, beautifully surprising. The three members are credited with the use of plenty of analog synths, samplers, computers... an array of ethnic flutes... eggs, noises, and "atmospheric crucial voices"... y'know, the usual stuff. And the results are, as we said, tough to describe. But we figure it's got a wide appeal, to fans of Kraftwerk and Cluster back in the '70s... to fans of Lindstrom yesterday. Totally recommended." - Aquarius

Estas Tecnicas

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

For Raul E. of C-7. Myspace of the group here.

Cop it

DJ/Rupture - Uproot

Sandunga already posted the excellent Nettle album, here's DJ/Rupture's mix from last year that was one of my favorite records of 08'. 

Rupture's mixes always have this unique cohesion to them. Drawing from a pool of worldwide artists these songs from varied genres and moods blend together perfectly going by with an almost dreamlike flow. The album feels like a journey from beginning to end which isn't very common amongst mix albums.

"Uproot oozes self confidence, with effortless mixing of disparate source material. The hour-long record does not seem to run nearly this long, due to the economy of ideas and excellent pacing. Dancehall bangers flirt with chamber music, Nigerian folk and Moroccan hip-hop, eventually decaying into an extended suite of near beatless ambient post-rock. The closing tracks recall Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a striking contrast with the first half of the record’s wobbling low-end bass and dub. It’s an exquisite way to cool off a mix. Uproot is an accomplished release from one of New York’s finest DJs, one that deftly illustrates his transition from showy wunderkind to an elder statesman of forward-thinking mixology."

Get it

Supersilent - 1

Supersilent are:

Helge Sten (electronics, guitars, keyboards)

Ståle Storløkken (keyboards, synth, electronics)

Jarle Vespestad (drums)

Arve Henriksen (trumpet, voice, drums, electronics)

Cream of the crop of Scandinavian jazz and avant garde scenes, Supersilent play an incredibly energetic mixture of free improvisation with fearsome sound processing and inner ear-burning analog circuitry dead in the center.

"In the course of these long improvisations (each disc contains a track at least 25 minutes long and many others reach 15 minutes), the group moves through countless moods, drawing from ecstatic jazz, avant rock, noise, and electro-acoustics to produce captivating music that pushes far into experimentation and yet remains immediate, even at times accessible." - François Couture

This is the first album of the initial trilogy.

Audio Virus

Nettle - Build A Fort, Set That On Fire

Nettle are (or were) DJ/Rupture, DD, Jenny Jones, and Abdel Hak.

"As the opportunities for collage recordings become more and more detailed and intricate, artists like DD and DJ Rupture, who make up Nettle, are in a prime position to create collaged beatscapes the likes of which just weren't possible ten years ago. Digesting a wide range of music between them, Nettle bares the marks of two love affairs with sound. Each of the group's members bring with them a large record collection, which has been sampled and laid out into free flowing cut-ups. There's eastern and "world" influences, gabba kick drums, dancehall grooves, one off hip-hop vocal lines, processed drum n bass grooves and seemingly countless other reference points that map out this duo's artistic background. The end result of this collision of sound objects is hard to summarise. Like the artwork on this disc lifted from Goin's "Nuclear Landscapes", this record is the aftermath of a musical explosion. It;s the remnant soundscapes that exist post a studio fallout. They're alien and sometimes eerily unfamiliar, but there's a character to them that's truly unique and fascinating." - Lawrence English

Minesweeper Dub

Dusk + Blackdown - Margins Music

Abelardo request. One of the top dubstep/grime releases in 08. From Boomkat:

"It's been a long time coming, but dubstep hack Martin 'Blackdown' Clarke and co-producer Dusk have finally completed their A-Z of London's sonic landscape in the form of 'Margins Music'. Blackdown's writings on his hallowed blogpsot have long been hinting and suggesting at a music that encompasses the rich diversity of London's myriad of multi ethnic communities and their inherent territorialism. So alongside his trusty sidekick, the pair invite us for a mooch round their end. From the opener 'Darker than East' we set out with sirens blazing and a running commentary from Target for company, but it's 'Con/Fusion' featuring the first of many lush vocal contributions from Farrah that will really hold your attention, before moving through predominantly south Asian ends on the run of 'Lata VIP' to the string led bollywood pomp of 'Kuri Pataka'. The album takes a swerve into sweaty grime territory at the halfway point with 'Concrete streets' feat Durrty Goodz and the massive 12" cut 'The bits' feat Trim on furious form, making the breezy respite of the album highlight 'Dis/east' all the more welcome for it's rich tapestry of cooling textures shaped from swirling strings and tripping piano lines. This prepares you sweetly for the final tracks running on a steppers vibe til the album's closure, with 'The Drumz of Nagano' rolling out some Oriental rhythm mysticism before killer recent single 'Focus' comes to the end of the line with that epic crescendo. As a package it's quite an accomplishment as a sonic charting of LDNs urban life in this decade and if you've been following his blogspot or consider yourself to be a connoisseur of the finer end of the grime/dubstep spectrum this comes very highly recommended."

Rican dubsteppas

Klaus Schulze - Dune

Schulze was a founding member of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, played on the Cosmic Jokers, Sergius Golowin and Walter Wegmuller albums, produced crazy duo Sand, and made impressive electronic constructions as a solo artist. On this one his wall of electronics and keyboards are complemented by Wolfgang Tiepold's cello and vocal contributions by Crazy Arthur Brown, conjuring visions of huge deserts and empty landscapes. The album's a tribute to writer Frank Herbert.

Dune

Kode9 & the Spaceape - Memories from the Future

Kode9 is the founder of the Hyperdub label and one of the principal movers n shakers in the Dubstep scene based in London primarily. Along with Burial he was one of the first dubsteppahs to properly release an album, this time along with MC Spaceape. Working with the picked-clean bones of Rave, Jungle, House and Dub, reconstructing bleak, haunted future zones hitherto unimaginable, Dubstep may be the first Hauntologic genre of music. The comedown, 21st century style.

Glass

Antipop Consortium - Arrhythmia

The third (and best) album by this most original and groundbreaking hiphop group, sadly now defunct. Raw electro meets disjointed Jungle meets Pierre Henry fucking around with a Moog with MCing that'll tear you a new one.

Ping Pong

Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies - The American Metaphysical Circus

Requested by Andres. More electronic/psychedelic craziness from Mr. Byrd.

"Byrd wasted no time refurbishing his nest with another group, this time a studio-only entity known as Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies. Their lone LP, The American Metaphysical Circus, is another oddball classic. Opening with some dark, electronic soundscapes laminated with haunting, moaning female vocals that segue into an awesomely catchy, lightweight, psychedelic rock song; a parody of many musical styles then follows: ’60s pop, romantic ballads, vintage hot jazz (in one speaker only with tons of surface crackle added for authentic 78 rpm record sound), old folks' sing-along piano ditties, etc. with occasional ominous electronics bubbling up to the surface. The overall “Age of Aquarius” feel is subtly twisted by beautiful, mostly female vocals belting out some fairly mentally disturbed lyrics."

Mister 4th

The United States of America - s/t

Request by Andres. Like the Silver Apples, the USA's use of electronic apparatus to bolster the song into other planes of there made them instrumental to the development of popular electronic music.

"Joseph Byrd is a composer and music teacher who's been working since the 1950s. After starting out playing in pop, jazz and country bands as a Tucson, Arizona teen, Byrd moseyed on over to Stanford college in New York City in 1959, where he became a student of experimental composer John Cage and joined the nascent Fluxus art scene. He even debuted his first minimal music works at Yoko Ono's loft! Soon after college, Byrd accepted a teaching position at UCLA in the mid '60s, but after the music bug bit him hard, he quit to play full-time. His most well-known work appeared on two LPs at the end of that decade.

Byrd's first band, the short-lived United States of America, splashed out a unique spray of rock, psychedelic and avant-garde music. They eschewed rock's staple instrument, the electric guitar, in favor of then cutting-edge electronic devices like an early, primitive synthesizer and a ring modulator, the whoosh and bleeps of which they blended in with crystal clear female vocals and searing violin to effortlessly bake a whole loaf's worth of damaged space age pop. After the release of their one and only self-titled LP in 1968, the band played a few shows, then promptly and predictably imploded due to the usual drug problems and creative differences."

USA

Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir

Thomas Jenkinson had a crazy ass day-dream in which he envisioned a rock band playing in front of a glowing backdrop and all of the sudden things just got utterly surreal. The guitarist played some sort of time manipulating instrument that accelerated and decelerated time at will, the drummer`s kit kept changing places with one another, a river came out of nowhere on stage, there were even some kayaks involved. The he went to the studio and tried to get all that on tape.

Do it!

Suicide - A Way of Life

Their third album, includes perhaps their most beautiful song, "Surrender", that sounds like doo-wop's ghost trapped in a web of old transistors.

I Surrender

Suicide - Half Alive

The legendary ROIR cassette, remastered with bonus tracks.

A pounding reminder of industrial dance music's early beginnings. They produced a unique obsessively American electronic music of enormous energy and enduring influence - throbbing sequencers and "Morrisonesque" vocals: Awesome. -Trouser Press Record Guide

Haaarleeemm

Suicide - Suicide

The sound of broken dreams and exhilarating drug rushes in dirty NYC alleys. Suicide WERE New York. The importance of this album cannot be overstated.

Ghost Ride