Xqui - Ambients

 

One of my favorite musicians of recent years returns with yet another immersive recording. This is one feels slightly less close to his pure Lovecraftian evil approach in Capitulate, November or Lleisiau and more as a return to his more levitational early releases (the first four EPs and Dragon) with a heavy ambient wash sound, hints at orchestral music, William Basinski, Giulio Aldinucci, and Stars of the Lid, but always with his deeply personal touch. No link this time, this deserves your support, so over to his bandcamp and get it. 2020 cd on Wormhole World.

Xqui - Microchasm / Recent Wormhole World releases: Robyn G Shiels & Steve Nolan - Sky Drew Near/ Mzungu - With Seasonal Affect/ Outside The Glitsch - Cartography / Jewels Of Shame - Negative Dialects / Quimper - Dejado

Xqui's fourth full-length came amidst a storm of other recordings he posted on his bandcamp during the quarantine. At first I thought that this would be his most structured releases due to some beats here and there, but it reveals itself as the exact opposite. It might not have the utterly Lovecraftian subterranean feel of other releases (apart from "Scale"), but it is one of the most psychedelic ones, at it reminds at times of Coil's mid-90s phase and even other mind-bending Coil-related projects such as The Threshold HouseBoys Choir and UnicaZürn, and it has some weird fuzzy beats that sound similar to old video games!

You can buy it for a very small price on bandcamp, and it's always a good idea to support his music.

Wormhole World is a label with which Xqui is closely related and it has released recently some quite nice music.

First is Sky Drew Near by Robyn G Shiels & Steve Nolan, which is a nice change from the label's usual abrasive electronics output, as it is a dark pop heartbroken music album with a touch of americana. I really liked this one.

With Seasonal Affect by mzungu is an adventurous attempt at wintry ambient with very beautiful frozen synth washes that you really must hear.

Cartography by Outside The Glitch is one of the best albums of 2020 so far. It is superb imposing ambient . It has all the best elements of Basinski and Robert Rich shaped in a very personal approach that I would dare say incorporates also elements of elemental/primordial beatless ambient techno. I see that the artist has also done other releases on Wormhole World which I will definitely give a listen to immediately. 

A slightly older release is Negative Dialects by Jewels Of Shame, some guy wanting to be shrouded in mystery, as most of his tracks are titled by date of recording, and they have all been recorded during the 2000s. There's some primitive horror noise/ dark ambient with a mostly crude sound and an unfinished feel to it, which I like, as it presents a non-linear and anti-closure/anti-perfection approach that I find interesting as in other artists such as J.G. Sparkes.

The last one of the recent lot that stood out is Dejado by Quimper, which is fun dark synth-pop/ hypnagogic electronica, like a more electronic/beat-y Ariel Pink with dark house music lurking somewhere in there...

As always, both Xqui and the Wormhole World label are very-hardworking and cool people that really deserve some support, so don't hesitate to pay some little cash to get these very nice musics.

Xqui - Elemental

Xqui always manages to end the year with a superb release. In this third full-length, which is dedicated to the chemical elements, he seems to have foregone of most "musical" features (beats, guitars, voices) present in his previous - and stellar - Capitulate, and focusing instead on the most elemental aspects of his work. In other words, this cd is dominated by creepy subdued ambient sounds with a very lo-fi quality (be reminded that Xqui works mainly with mobile phone apps), which accentuate what I have called his urban Lovecraftian atmospheres. Everything sounds as if it has been extracted from basements, underground tunnels, manholes, and there are also several howling voices, offering a ritualistic and menacing feeling. Only the last track, "Vanadium," has a more musical approach, sounding like a noise string orchestra. Xqui never disappoints, so go now to his bandcamp, and get the last remaining copy of this excellent year finisher. 2019 cdr on Wormhole World.

Xqui's bandcamp
Wormhole World's bandcamp

J.G. Sparkes - Gor West

Picking up from the superb Past Lives, Near which I previously reviewed, J.G. Sparkers brings out one more excellent study of ambient paradoxes: both nostalgic and distantiated, beautiful and threatening, frosty and warm, his music has a very narrative and painterly element in his shaping of soundscapes. And there's a beautiful almost pop track called "Eccentric Orbit," something like an ambient ballad! Looking forward to more stuff! 2019 cdr on Wormhole World, where you can get it from for only a few pounds (and also land a preorder for the forthcoming third Xqui full-length!)

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Xqui - Lleisiau cdr

Lleisiau is yet another piece in Xqui's urban experimental evil music. Quite removed from the more structured recordings of his previous full-length Capitulate, this one seems kind of closer to his first one Dragon in its more abstract approach, but the darkness and the horror are accentuated; as always there's a subterranean and submarine menace lurking, a Cthulhian creature waiting to arise when the stars are right. What I particularly like in this one is that it seems to have been influenced by the 80s industrial/experimental scene: early Coil, very early Current 93, a bit of Throbbing Gristle, all covered with a psychedelic and hazy atmosphere. On his bandcamp page, I see there's one remaining copy waiting along with some free button, so do the right thing and buy it; as always Xqui deserves our help. 2019 cdr on Wormhole World.

St James Infirmary - A Sound Is A Sound cdr

I thought St James Infirmary, the project of G.W. Lang played mostly in looped ambient styles, but this is a real change, and an excellent one at that. On this superb cdr you get lysergic 1970s psychedelic/kosmische rock, with equal parts Can (the voice kind of reminds me of Damo Suzuki at times, and insistent motorik rhythms prevail) and Pink Floyd-Meddle era, with a touch of post-punk and garage. On this one, it seems that St James Infirmary has turned into a quartet and it all seems to have been recorded live. I hope that SJI continue making music in that vein, although I've already expressed my fondness for other recordings of his. Oh, and the cover kind of reminds me of Andy Warhol's "Mao." 2019 cdr on Wormhole World, whose bandcamp is always a place to find new exciting releases to spend money on and support.

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Xqui - Timepieces/Settlers EPs

After the feverish Capitulate full-length cd earlier this year, Xqui returns with more subterranean manipulated sonicscapes. My description of his music as "Lovecraftian horror for urban landscapes" continues here; subdued dreamy and unsettling passages in undeground tunnels is always what comes to my mind when I hear his stuff, and while I was hearing "Biff" from his latest EP Settlers, I couldn't help but remember when I was playing maniacally Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth, and thought how much these tracks would fit that awesome game, (Which reminds me to ask, has anyone played the new Call of Cthulhu game? Is it worth?), or they could as well have been released by the master label of dark ambient in the late 1990s and early 200s, Roger Karmanik's Cold Meat Industry.

Both Settlers and Timepieces are available for free on Xqui's bandcamp, so enjoy them, and why not, help the artist continue his awesome job. Plus, I notices a new track from an EP due out in May called "Monatomic," which mixes the dark ambient style with a slightly 1980's experimental industrial style such as that of the very early Coil or Current 93 ritualistic feel (or even with SPK's Zamia Lehmanni), with an amazing reverb feel. Really excited for this new EP!

Shit Creek - Prozac Rainbow

Shit Creek became a household name to me through TQ#15, when the guy behind the project (and the Luxury Bucket label) Lewis Duffy was featured in an interview. The early Shit Creek material I head on his bandcamp featured fleeting/epic/fairytale ambient experiments for violin and loops. But it now seems that Lewis has moved into an entirely different territory, with several recent releases and this new album called Prozac Rainbow. Here we get hyper-modern hypnagogic electronica and soundscapes. There's a very fizzy and liquid feel to the sounds, which tempts me to label it as muzak for aquariums; it's kinda like the aquatic levels on Sonic the Hedgehog 2! One could find similarities to the more recent James Ferraro material, or even Vektroid; there's also a hint of labelmate Xqui's material; that said, there's a strong personal identity, not a rehash of said artists. Preorder it on Wormhole World and get lost in the waterworld.

Tremolo Ghosts - A Cardboard Sunset

Another very interesting release by Wormhole World, who have just released Xqui's Capitulate, is the upcoming cd by Tremolo Ghosts, the solo project of Owen Chambers, who participates in the Liquid Library label, presented in an earlier issue of TQ. The basis for the music here is acoustic folky stuff, with Owen's very characteristic high-pitched voice, which somehow reminds me of Yes's Jon Anderson in a higher and warmer tone. However, in comparison with earlier releases such as Gibraltar or Clutter Flies there's a more psych mood, more diverse instrumentation with electric guitars, reverbs, and improvised guitar snippets, and there's even a noise interlude. I get a very maritime feel here, and a melancholy air but filled with hope and conviction. Another great early 2019 release that's gonna keep me good company for the year. Go to the bandcamp, and pre-order it, it's worth the money.

Xqui - Capitulate CD

Xqui was a surprising newcomer in the noise/electronic underground world; refusing to reveal his real name and working with mysterious samples processed through mobile phone apps, he has so far created a number of diverse releases spanning the distance between dark ambient, soundscapes, noise, and epic levitational hymnal ambient. In his new release, which was brought out just a few days ago, he presents an even more expansive painting of sounds; starting with the more surprising additions, there are a few - so to speak - more conventional and accessible tracks; there's "Cypriot," a collaboration with Geiger von Muller, which starts with typical cryptic ambient and builds on a weird acoustic guitar loop; there's "Epiphany," a tribal-sounding rhythmic track that urges the listener to dance naked like possessed and sounds a little bit like William Bennett's Cut Hands, and there's "Valley," which sounds almost like monotonous 80s electro-EBM without the rhythm, but with a bright melody on top. And then there's some of his darkest and most feverish ambient soundscapes, of which I can distinguish "Deathbed," a track with an amazing ringing keyboard sound hovering and returning over layers of sound created by a female voice and a distant percussive sound, as well as "Kismat," a muffled chaos of reverse voices and a swirly loop that just creates fever. I have referred in another post to Xqui's soundscapes as Lovecraftian horror music for the urban individual, and this album reiterates this likening; even the "lighter" moments have an ominous feel about them, and bring to my mind the clubs presented in Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows's The Courtyard in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where Aldo Sax investigates murders and ends up under the influence of the Great Old Ones. Dizzying music, worth hearing and supporting financially, so go to Xqui's bandcamp and donate something to this exceptional sound shaper. 2019 cd on Wormhole World.