Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Slaapwel Records. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Slaapwel Records. Afficher tous les articles

mercredi 31 décembre 2008

Jasper TX - This Quiet Season (Slaapwel Records, 2008)


1 Things Could Stay (11:05)
2 Moments (2:44)
3 A String Of Broken Lights (5:21)
4 Home (4:49)
5 Twilight (8:27)
6 Embers (7:14)

Drones dont la texture est renforcée par une ligne de guitare simple... Evolution lente mais résolue.... Mélancolie et calme....

Not dissimilar to his previous releases This Quiet Season is full of minimal melancholic ambient music. Dag Rosenqvist builds up soft drones with guitar sounds running through effects. In a familiar approach, that is not so much different as that from his partner in crime Rutger Zuydervelt (machinefabriek), he is not so much a computer musician as someone playing around with analogue instruments and effect pedals. Sounds from guitars are stretched and looped and as such an organ like drone files the room. Slowly the sound evolves and more tones are added. By this soft melodies appear. Though, Jasper TX is about more than this. In Moments for example there are no drones at all but it’s a soft piano piece with field recordings in that background. It’s a welcome break with the familiar sound that so much of these artists have.

As a whole This Quiet Season makes me think back to the times when I was a young boy playing out in my parent’s garden in the snow or going ice-skating in the nearby park. Not because it’s such a playful album, because it’s not. It is dense melancholic music. Instead, it sounds so winterlike, which apparently is becoming more and more some Scandinavian thing.
Musically seen This Quiet Season doesn’t give us anything we didn’t know yet, but as not everything has to be new and refreshing, it actually is a really nice album and my favourite so far by this young musician from Sweden. I do hope in the future he will develop more his style and keeps surprising us with different approaches and takes a step into a new direction.

Recommended late in the evening while reading a good book or just dreaming away on the music.

EARLabs

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mardi 11 novembre 2008

Wouter van Veldhoven - Ruststukken (Slaapwel Records, 2007)


Stoffig Stuk (6:27)
Stukke Rust (19:34)

Wouter van Veldhoven utilise sur ce disque des enregistrements de guitares, melodica, xylophones et bien d'autres choses encore. Contrairement à ces deux premiers disques, il choisit ici de ne livrer que deux titres. Le premier, Stoffig Stuk, est basé sur le titre Stofstuk de Machinefabriek mais si celui ci est un drone, ici Wouter van Veldhoven le transforme en une véritable forêt enchantée de sons. Le second morceau, plus long, se construit très graduellement, pendant que chaque instrument ajoute à la palette de sons....
Fortement recommandé pour les amateurs de Machinefabriek et de Colleen...

Hailing from Utrecht, the Netherlands, Wouter van Veldhoven is the musician behind the first slaapwel record. His tape-experiments provide listeners with beautiful decaying sounds, bathing in a sweet swirling hiss. I find those sounds and loops so soothing and gentle that I thought Wouter would make an excellent artist to record an album to fall asleep to. Wouter seemed to really like the idea and within a week or two he made "Ruststukken", a beautiful EP compromised of two long sleep-inducing songs. The first song is called "Stoffig Stuk" and is basicly Wouter re-interpreting the infamous "Stofstuk" by Machinefabriek. It is followed by my favourite piece of him; "Stukke Rust" a 20 minute epic that builds up with a melancholic melodica, hiss, acoustic guitars and other otherworldly sounds. I can only describe it as if Yann Tiersen and William Basinski decided to record together. I suppose it's not hard to imagine for you how awesome that must sound. The artwork for this one is extremely special. All boxes are handpainted with glitters and a sparkly star. An Vandesompele designed them and I must say she did an incredible job. It's probably the most beautiful box I own in my record collection.

Slaapwel Records

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