Zack Kouns - Endless Fertile Valley (Clinical Archives, 2011)

01 Deathless ground of life - 5:09
02 He does not grieve over what is not - 4:45
03 Mara - 4:23
04 Hard to aim, hard to restrain - 4:28
05 Hiding from the freedom of a bird in flight - 6:36
06 Death sweeps them away while they are still gathering - 4:21
07 White bones cast away - 4:13
08 Burst into flames - 4:13
09 Alive and alone - 4:48

Endless Fertile Valley is very loosely based on the Dhammapada; all of the song titles are garnered from the ancient text of the book. The album title is the only exception and is intended to illustrate the true theme of the album that the Dhammapada can only hint at and words in general can barely brush against (music being the ideal medium for conveying our most esoteric and abstruse intimations.)
The theme came to me by accident (or mysterious design) during a 15 kilometer run during the summer. I passed a valley with tall grass that I stopped to admire. Suddenly, I saw the valley extend upward into the sky; it stretched behind me and became the road. I vomited in the prairie grass several times and lost consciousness. When I awoke, everything was back to "normal" and I ran home and wrote the entire album in under two hours. Here is that album, born from a bizarre vision of eternity and the impossibility of ending and certainly open to interpretation.
Zack Kouns

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Fires Were Shot - The Wake (self release, 2010)

1 The Wake
2 Feel Like Illinois

Fires Were Shot is a duo out of Austin, Texas, making drone and experimental sounds from their acoustic guitars. In December, Quiet Design Records will release the group’s new double-vinyl record, awakened by a lonely feud. In anticipation of this, a digital single has been unveiled on the band’s Bandcamp page.
Fires Were Shot


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Zonderland - The Sometimes Genetic Memorial (self release, 2010)

1 The Sometimes Genetic Memorial


In August 2004 the band Zonderland started with four people Bart, Michel, Bastiaan and Sietse.
Drums, guitar and two laptops.
In the beginning the focus was on subtle post-rock and looping sounds.
In 2005 Zonderland was temporarily joined by bass player John.
In 2006 Bastiaan and John both left the band for good leaving the trio heading slowly into new directions.

Over the years the trio slowly shifted from post-rock to a more drone/spacerock sound. Though, the traces of post-rock would always stay.
Over the years Zonderland played several live shows in factories and art-galleries. This included performances for theater shows, film and normal concerts.
The Sometimes Genetic Memorial is a recording done at Perron 55 in Venlo for the birthday party of Ze Majjem and Cut Hands.
We as trio were asked by our friends from the radio show Ze Majjem to perform at their evening on November 12th, 2008.
In almost 40 minutes we did what would become one of our best live shows ever. Something to be proud of.

And as our last statement we have now made this release available for "Pay What You Want" (or free) download.
It is our goodbye present to everyone who supported us in the past and who just wants to hear that little bit more.

Zonderland will sadly stop making more music, we hope you like what we have done in the past.

Thank you.

Zonderland was:
Bart Zonderland: drums
Michel van Henten: guitar
Sietse van Erve: laptop, vocals and random objects
Zonderland

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Conductive Alliance - Water Glyphs (self release, 2010)

Water Glyphs" is the sophomore EP from Chicago's Conductive Alliance. The albums intricate sound collages and experimental pop arrangements expand on the minimalist improvised approach heard within the band's earlier incarnation. Their broadened musical palette incorporates spiraling tape loops, fizzing electronics, ethnic percussion, cello and musical saw.

Tracking was split between Steve Albini's Electrical Audio Studios and Shape Shoppe. The EP was engineered and mixed by Griffin Rodriguez, who has worked previously with Icy Demons, Beirut, Man Man, and Akron/ Family. Recording to tape, the band captured the cavernous drum sound and instrumental warmth of Electrical Audio and Shape Shoppe.

Conductive Alliance will be touring extensively this summer and fall to promote the new release.
Conductive Alliance

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Gastr Del Sol / Tony Conrad - The Japanese Room At La Pagode / May (Table of the Elements, 1995)

a1. Gastr Del Sol - The Japanese Room at La Pagode
b1. Tony Conrad - May
c1. Tony Conrad - Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain (#1)
d1. Tony Conrad - Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain #2)

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Natural Snow Buildings - Ghost Folks (hinah, 2002)

1 Nuclear Winter / (Dispatches)
2 If I Can Find My Way Through The Darkness...
3 ... I Came Down Here
4 Sun
5 The Haunted Falls / (Let Us Now Praise Harry Powell)
6 Fallen Lords Were Riding Half Horses
7 With A Stolen Red Lipstick Bible On Her Side
8 They Are Still Hanging Around
9 (...)
10 Guns & Rifles
11 Nuclear Winter

Bizarrement, avant même d'avoir écouté l'album envoyé par Natural Snow Buildings, nous nous sentions déjà en terrain ami. Peut-être tout bonnement grâce à la simplicité des informations accompagnant leur album : une unique feuille de calque contenant les titres et les instruments, le tout tapé avec une fonte de machine à écrire. Et l'osmose n'a pas été démentie puisque nous avons craqué sur ces longs morceaux atmosphériques basés en majorité sur un trio guitare/boucles/violoncelle.
hinah

Funnily enough, without even listening to the album that Natural Snow Buildings sent us, we already felt on familiar ground. Maybe quite simply thanks to the plain information that came along with their album: just a sheet of tracing paper with the titles and the instruments, typed with a typewriter font. And the osmosis wasn't denied, as we fell for these long atmospheric tracks, mostly based on a guitar/loops/cello trio.
hinah

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Last Days - Sea (n5MD, 2006)

1 Leaving Home (1:59)
2 The Safest Place (4:26)
3 Two Steps Back (3:28)
4 Snowing (4:26)
5 Arriving At Jan Mayen (3:21)
6 Mountains (3:03)
7 Your Birds (6:01)
8 Nightlight (3:42)
9 Saltwater (1:18)
10 I Remember When You Were Good (3:33)
11 The Norwegian Sea (5:14)
12 Dying Minutes (2:59)
13 Fear (7:44)
14 All The Lighthouses (3:36)

Pour son premier album, Last Days (alias l’Anglais Graham Richardson) a été signé sur n5MD, label qui nous propose régulièrement d’intéressantes sorties, aussi bien en electronica qu’en ambient.

Précisément ici, on est à la frontière entre ambient et post-rock avec des plages où une guitare alanguie distille des lignes nonchalantes, soutenues par un piano gracile et des nappes enveloppantes pour un résultat magnifiquement captivant (The Safest Place, Nightlight, The Norwegian Sea). Par endroits, la guitare se fait plus affirmée et une batterie intervient, emmenant le tout vers des rivages plus post-rock (Your Birds) que côtoie aussi Fear, son élégant glockenspiel et ses guitares superposées.

Optant à d’autres moments pour une approche plus franchement ambient, Last Days y intègre tout de même quelques petites pulsations (Snowing, Dying Minutes) ou une lointaine guitare saturée (Arriving at Jan Mayen). Quand il s’arrime au néo-classique (I Remember When You Were Good, All the Lighthouses), Graham Richardson se fait également probant, parvenant à dépasser le simple stade des arpèges de piano contemplatifs par l’adjonction de triturations à l’arrière-plan.

S’il est possible de reprocher à Last Days de ne rien apporter de véritablement nouveau dans un genre déjà bien balayé, il n’en demeure pas moins que Sea possède une grâce peu commune et, pour un premier album, s’avère particulièrement réussi.

EtherReal

Within the past ten years, the US has become a real hub of electronica. Quality labels and talented artists have made America a home for computer music. One label that has been a forerunner in producing great electronic music in the States is n5MD. The imprint was born with technology and music in mind. The label’s name is emblematic of this. n5MD did not start off with CD's or vinyl, but with a totally new medium: the minidisc. The label's name, n5MD, stands for No Fives, Mini Discs. This compact, futuristic format was what the label chose to put out its first release on, the MD1 Compilation. The compilation, in its pocket size shape, was a merging of micro-media and sound with artists like Arovane and Quench involved. Soon n5MD had set itself up as one of the top labels of US electronic music. The label skipped from format to format, producing music on vinyl, CD and minidisc but always releasing digital music of deep emotion and feeling. Yet, the minidisc, sadly, died - thankfully n5MD did not go the same way as the latter half of its name. The label sought out new talent, bringing names like ML and Proem to a larger audience. n5MD gave the electronic music community a solid stream of superb IDM but encouraged experimentation, letting its artists test the waters with new, and old, equipment. It is with this in mind that n5MD offer up their latest CD release, Sea by Last Days (a.k.a. Graham Richardson).

Sea is a meshing of the electric and the acoustic. Richardson employs strings, gentle chords and lulling beats to create harmonious soundscapes that are light but deep. The album opens with "Leaving Home," a piece that drones into life on ripples of sound. The track hazily develops, stretching and yawning into being before quickly ending. This opener is a taster of what this relaxing and ambient album will be like. Richardson follows down the road he has laid with "Leaving Home" with "The Safest Place," a string centered track with soothing chords and keys. A terrifically beautiful work, demonstrating how the contrasting mediums of electronic and acoustic can come together in perfect harmony. "Two Steps Back" is a much more computer generated work, but maintains the abstract, overwashing ambience of Sea. This track is a gentle pulling and tugging at computer sounds, a heaving to and fro of softly contorted melodies with touching keys once more playing an important role. Down the line, "Arriving at Jan Mayen" reflects and refracts "Two Steps Back," another resonating, haunting, echoing piece. But in this work, Last Days illustrates the eerie estrangement which electronic music is capable of; the dissociating sound that computers can create. Warmth returns to the record with "Mountians" and its opening of soft luscious keys as peaceful xylophonic drips slip through a net of sound. The album maintains a laid back, relaxing sound throughout; be that it sounds more electronic or acoustic the melodies remain dreamy and atmospheric. "I Remember When You were Good" is a piano-centered track of warm keys that echo and resonate behind a curtain of sound. "The Norwegian Sea" opens with a lulling bass, an overture that sluggishly develops as low clicks simmer through subtle strings to create a hazy lush soundscape; a wonderfully isolated track. "Fear" moves the listener towards the final furlong of this debut release. Another acoustic composition, this time introduced by soft guitar strings. Low and gentle, light beats swim and sail through the track to create an upbeat, yet darkly sombre, work. This warm loving track ambles along, edging beautifully to its climax before fading away to a faint glow and receding back behind the speakers.

Sea is an excellent debut piece by a talented young artist. The album's name, Sea, mirrors the style Richardson employs. A dreamlike, gentle, yet undeniably powerful, sound forever moving and reforming. Richardson utilises both the electronic and acoustic, blending them seamlessly into a rich audio scenario. Sea is an album full of emotion, full of beauty, full of darkness. Sea is an album that is as stark as it is rich, it is Richardson's manipulation of this disparity that makes his debut LP such an intoxicated suspension of sound.
Igloo Magazine

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Thee Silver Mountain Reveries - The "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" E.P.

The result of passionate and inebriated studio jam sessions, this would be a fantastic record were it not for some questionable production decisions and vocalist/guitarist Efrim’s unfortunate voice which is to this album what too much salt is to good food.

Pretty Little Lightning Paw, a 30-minute four track EP begins with a rousing call to action as a woman exhorts the title, “More action! Less Tears!” to powerful guitar chords, crashing drum cymbals and stirring violin sweeps. While those are the last vocals to be heard, the song’s intensity and raw emotional power make it a stunning opener.

The remaining three songs have lyrics articulated in an uninhibited, almost drunken manner. Efrim’s voice is particularly objectionable when he hits the high notes on “pretty little lightning paw,” not unlike a cat serenading in the back yard in the remote hours. A four-person choir does help take the edge off, but Efrim’s voice merits comparison with the Shaggs, intentional or not.

The vocals on "There's a river in the valley of melting snow" are much more tolerable. Comprised solely of vocals and guitar, Efrim narrates a descriptive agrarian setting which turns into personal lamentation soaked with echo. The decision to dilute the vocals through studio treatments results in a ghostly reverberation making for a more palatable song. One can almost picture a pallid spectre of a miner or hiker wandering the valley and singing his lonely song for eternity.

The instrumentations – bass, drums, organ/piano and Efrim’s inspired guitar – are masterful and evocatively arranged. The musical tone of the lyric-based songs are consistent to projects affiliated with godspeed you! black emperor – cinematic and suggestive of vast, desolate tundra-like spaces and ghost towns in a world on the edge of apocalypse. Production wise, the songs follow the same pattern, starting clean, then drowning in a processed-haze that becomes almost hallucinogenic.
Dusted Review

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Tarentel - Mort aux Vaches (Mort aux Vaches, 2002)

1 Adonai (10:27)
2 Steede Bonnet (13:13)
3 When No One's Listening (9:30)
4 For Carl Sagan (18:11)

Tarentel, dont la musique s'apparente au post rock expérimental, n'est pas le genre de groupe auquel nous a habitués la série Mort aux Vaches... Enregistrement live le 10 avril 2000 pour VPRO. Quatre longs morceaux s'appuyant sur un post rock à la guitare lente...

The latest in Staalplaat's acclaimed Mort Aux Vaches series of live recordings for VPRO. Tarentel might not seem like the sort of project you would expect to find on Staalplaat; their sound somewhere between Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Mogwai. Their music (at least, as it appears on this release is a compelling form of slow moving guitar-based rock (could one even call it space rock? or post rock?) with some fantastic feedback, rolling rhythms and a heavy, cradling bass that carry you through these four long tracks. Probably my favourite track here is the second one, with its balance of elements, moving from a rocking groove to quiet guitar drones, incidental sounds and feedback. It seems to capture all aspects of the band's sound in one go. Formed in 1997 and having throughout their history gone through various personnel changes, each of Tarentel's releases (on Temporary Residence, Awkward Silence, and more recently on Neurot Records) has reflected a particular shift in their sound. Their latest full length on Neurot has been likened to a somewhat unlikely combination of :zoviet*france:, Radiohead and Arvo Part. Sounds fantastic. This record for the Mort Aux Vaches series was recorded mid-2000, and is more rock-based, but the music reflects a great talent for creating some intoxicating guitar-based experimental rock music.
Incursion

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Jesu / Eluvium - Split (Temporary Residence Limited / Hydra Head Records, 2007)

A1 Jesu - Farewell (6:28)
A2 Jesu - Blind & Faithless (3:31)
A3 Jesu - Why Are We Not Perfect? (6:43)
B1 Eluvium - Time-Travel Of The Sloth Parts I, II, & III (19:46)

...ce split permet la collaboration entre Jesu et Eluvium. Ce dernier est un projet electro/ambient, mené depuis 2003 par l'américain Matthew Cooper. On trouve au total trois chansons de Jesu, pour une seule d'Eluvium.

Ce split est tout simplement impressionnant. Tout débute par "Farewell" qui est un véritable hit dont seul Broaderick a le secret. Entre force et douceur, la mélancolie des nappes se noie dans un tourbillon sonique. On peut songer au pauvre Kevin Shields qui aimerait tant pouvoir recomposer des chansons de ce niveau. L'instrumentale "Blind & Faithless" à la ligne de basse entraînante passe bien trop vite. "Why Are We Not Perfect" emmène Jesu vers le downtempo. Le rythme lourd se marie parfaitement au chant limpide de Broderick. La partie finale est magnifique avec l'arrivée des guitares saturées.

Eluvium vient clôturer ce split par presque vingt minutes de nappes apaisantes comme pour méditer sur les bienfaits d'une telle collaboration.
XSilence

This is a record I've been waiting for pretty much since the first whispers of it bubbled up on one internet forum or another. At first I was slightly puzzled, in one corner we have Justin Broadrick, founder member of Napalm Death and Godflesh and all round metal deity, then in the other corner we have Portland's Matthew Cooper, purveyor of some of the most blissful hazy ambience and post-classical experimentation you're likely to hear. It could be a strange pairing, but then in recent years Broadrick has progressively stripped the metallic crunch from his productions (now under the Jesu moniker) and begun to lean more and more into the world of Thames Valley shoegaze. Some might call it nu-gaze (isn't everything 'nu' these days?) but by harnessing the power of My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Lush, Broadrick has smudged his earlier post-industrial metal into something a little more jubilant and a little more enjoyable. Even those of you familiar with Broadrick's earlier Jesu material might be surprised at the three tracks on this split LP. Although his work has been getting progressively 'popier' since the release of the earth-shattering 'Silver' EP a couple of years back, this is possibly his least metal record to date and at times sounds like it wouldn't have been out of place on Morr Music's genre defining compilation 'Blue Skied and Clear'. We open on 'Farewell' with its verse/chorus/verse structure and a slice of pure pop - all reverberating chords, carefully programmed drum machines and Broadrick's keen sense of sound engineering adding that unmistakable gloss. However it's with the side's second piece that the record really gets into its stride; 'Blind & Faithless' takes Ulrich Schnauss' template (breakbeats, synthesizers) injected with enough humanity and style to leave you with a piece of music totally out on its own. It might only be short, but its brevity only serves to leave you gasping for more. This in itself should surely be enough to demand the asking price, but then we flip the record over and are treated to one expansive piece from Eluvium, this time seeing Matthew Cooper in collaboration with Temporary Residence boss man Jeremy deVine. The two manage to conjure a simply peerless haze of gaseous synthesized harmony, drifting environmental recordings and Cooper's signature lilting piano melodies (last heard on his excellent 'Copia' album). In just one track Cooper seems to have distilled his entire catalogue and has created a piece you can lose yourself in totally, and like all the best ambient producers refuses to let it sink into the background. What initially could have been an odd pairing of acts ends up becoming one of the most hazy, genuinely well-meaning collections of dream pop I've heard this year, and I'd expect it to be nudging into the upper regions of many an end of year chart in a few months time. Apparently the record is already sold out at the source so you'd better act fast if you want to bag one of these beauties. Highly Recommended!
Boomkat

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Mirza - Anandromous (Darla Records, 1997)

1 Dream Of The Fossil Sea (13:49)
2 Aphasia (4:42)
3 Bless This Gathering (10:28)
4 These Are Our Last Days (9:59)

Psychédélisme instrumental et fantomatique...

Mirza, which means "royalty" in Persian, are a San Francisco quartet who play ghostly instrumental psychedelic sounds. This is their debut. It's like Magic Hour or Bardo Pond, if either of the aforementioned were from India. Perhaps they are the paisley side Rodan never had. The music is like lying on the grass in Golden Gate Park & watching the sun filter through the big evergreens while Jefferson Airplane blast away at an electric love raga with Ravi Shankar.
Recorded by Tim Green (The Champs, Nation of Ulysses). Group member Steve R. Smith releases solo material as well (Darla, Autopia, 3 Acre Floor)

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Arca - Cinématique (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier, 2001)

1 Baixa (4:08)
2 1957 (4:34)
3 L'organisation (5:41)
4 Personne (3:07)
5 La Zone (5:28)
6 Pearl Harper (2:07)
7 Monogatari (4:06)
8 Formes Vides (4:34)
9 Orly (5:09)
10 Quand Tombent Les Toits (3:47)

Nouveau projet musical pour le très prolifique Sylvain Chauveau, qui a près s'être fait remarquer sous son nom puis au sein du projet Micro:mega se lance dans une troisième aventure en compagnie de Joan Cambon sur le très ambitieux label nancéen "Les disques du soleil et de l'acier" pour un album à l'accent cinématographique et littéraire puisque on trouve dans les morceaux des samples extraits de films de Tarkovski ou de Charles Laughton mais aussi des passages de textes signés Albert Camus comme dans le très beau 1957.

Cinématique est véritablement un disque d'ambiances à la fois diverses et singulières qui prouvent que Sylvain Chauveau ne veut pas faire les choses simplement comme tout le monde mais offrir une musique riche faite de sons électroniques et d'instruments traditionnels et apportant des émotions particulières lies au climats développés tout au long des presque 43 minutes que dure cet album. Disque aérien, organique et mélancolique, cinématique prouve qu'il est également doué pour faire une musique post-rock touchante et exigeante.

Benzine

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Hrsta - L'Eclat du Ciel Etait Insoutenable (Fancy, 2001)

1 L'Éclat Du Ciel Était Insoutenable
2 Lime Kiln
3 Don't Let The Angels Fall
4 City Of Gold
5 I Can Transform Myself Into Anyone I Want
6 Jakominiplatz
7 21-87
8 Silver Planes
9 Blessed Are We Who Seem To Be Losers
10 Lucy's Sad
11 City Of Gold (Reprise)
12 Whip
13 Novi Beograd

Hrsta est le projet de Mike Moya, membre fondateur de Godspeed You Black Emperor !. En 98, Moya quitte le groupe et le label Constellation, pour passer chez Alien 8 avec le groupe Molasses et Set Fire To Flames alors qu'en 2001 sort l'album de son groupe. Le titre de ce premier LP nous met en garde vis-à-vis de l'ambiance et des sensations que peut procurer cet album. Il sera triste voire deprimant. Mike Moya ne l'éloigne pas forcement de l'esprit de Molasses et opte pour une orchestration reduite (guitare -sèche et electrique-, basse, piano, violon...), presque intime, avec également ses débuts au chant. Il n'y aura donc pas d'envolées célestes à la GYBE!, ni de long passge de musique "réelle", à la Set Fire To Flames (ouf). Hrsta se contentera de nous donner ce que l'on a envie d'entendre les jours maussades et les soirées où l'on se retrouve face à soi-même. Hrsta nous donnera tout ce que l'on pourra attendre d'un groupe dans la mouvance post-rock made in Constellation, Mike Moya reussit malgré tout à nous délivrer un disque beau et envoûtant.

XSilence

If you're a fan of Godspeed You Black Emperor, chances are that you've heard the name Mike Moya. He was a member of the group playing guitars on their first two releases, and the first track of their Slow Riot for a New Zero Kanada simply goes by the name "Moya" and is dedicated to all the cats who have gone missing at the Mile End in Montreal. In addition to being one of the founding members of the above group, though, he's also a member of Molasses, The Lonesome Hanks, and was also part of the recent Set Fire To Flames collective album Sings Reign Rebuilder.

That all may come as no surprise, though, as some of the best music I've heard in the past couple of years has come out of different collections of Canadian musicians. Spread out over the Alien8 and Constellation labels, almost 10 different bands or projects (and numerous more musicians) have been creating some amazing music. Hrsta is one of the newest of these bands, and although it's mainly a project by multi-instrumentalist Mike Moya, there are several other players. As one might expect, the tone of the album sort of fits in alongside work by contemporaries. It's not as stripped-down as Molasses, not as shimmering as Fly Pan Am, and not as psychedelic as Shalabi Effect, but there are little elements of each that creep through and add up to something new yet again.

The album titled track opens up the release and it's basically just an introduction of sorts, as the layers of droning guitars slowly wash by and drift directly into the following track of "Lime Kiln." While the track takes on a more traditional structure, the lyrics of decay and woozy instrumentation fit together into something that you might hear the ghosts of a mining town singing. From there, the album goes through several shorter instrumental tracks, some more simple guitar melodies ("I Can Transform Myself Into Anyone I Want"), while others are more experimental (the howling theremin-like sounds of "Jakominplatz").

Although the instrumental tracks on the release are sometimes excellent, it's the tracks on which Moya sings that really take hold. The lethargic pace of "21-87" is made even more languid with the addition of vocals that sound like they were done while half asleep, and when the final, louder part of the track hits, the words come falling out in a slurred mumble/growl that sounds like he was shaken awake. On "Silver Planes" (the most droning song on the album), the vocals never get louder than a whisper, while on "Lucy's Sad" (a dark, folk singalong) he damn near yodels.

This is nowhere near a fast-moving album, though. Although a couple different tracks reach an almost feverish pitch, things mainly move along at a steady pace with an overall feel that is slightly haunting and eerie. It's a combination of0 swirling instrumentation, and the lazy, sometimes bewildering vocals by Moya himself, but if you're into some of the bands mentioned above and their quieter moments, this is definitely something to seek out. Not immediately striking, but something to keep you company on a cold winter night.

Almost Cool Music Reviews

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Yasushi Yoshida - Little Grace (Midi Creative / Noble, 2008)

1 Permanent Yesterday (4:40)
2 Greyed (5:00)
3 Little Hand (1:11)
4 Thread Still (10:10)
5 Lasted In Different View (1:36)
6 Three Winters Our Trace (7:39)
7 Under Calf, Winged Steps (4:26)
8 Lullaby For Rainsongs (6:03)

Près de deux ans après Secret Figure, Yasushi Yoshida revient, à nouveau sur Noble, mais en profite pour changer son fusil d’épaule : après l’electronica de son précédent album, c’est à une musique beaucoup plus organique que le Japonais s’attache, utilisant nombre d’instruments réels et conviant une douzaine d’invités pour un résultat entre post-rock et néo-classique.

Certains morceaux optent en effet pour cette seconde veine, majoritairement portés par des cordes soyeuses (Permanent Yesterday, Thread Still) ou sur un piano détaché (Little Hand). Si cette optique conduit parfois à un peu trop de lyrisme (la fin de Thread Still avec ses cordes cherchant démesurément l’émotion), elle se trouve néanmoins dépourvue de la touche « auteuriste » qu’on reproche fréquemment à ce genre musical, en raison de la présence récurrente d’éléments moins habituels (le theremin de Under Calf, Winged Steps, par exemple).

Parfois donc, c’est une inflexion plus proche d’un post-rock traditionnel qui est entreprise, avec sa batterie caractéristique, ses mélodies à la guitare ou aux cordes, son alternance entre passages calmes et moments plus enlevés (Greyed, Lullaby For Rainsongs). Une nouvelle fois, rien de vraiment surprenant, mais une sincérité certaine et un virage musical réussi par rapport au disque précédent pour son auteur.

EtherReal

Few areas of the world have been as exciting to watch as the experimental community in Japan over the past half a decade. What was originally dominated by noise and psychedelia-oriented music has slowly transformed into a sea of post-rock, ambient, and electronic artists, exposing a magnitude of creative musicians with large ambitions and a wealth of talent at their disposal. While this is undoubtedly a counter-culture movement amongst the very pop focused Japanese mainstream, it is having a much larger and significant impact on the global scale.

Although many have celebrated the evolution of ambient music within the boundaries of Japan, which has broken through a decade-old stagnation of the generation with a more humanistic approach to the whole process, it has really been the electronic circuit which has received the most critical acclaim and will probably leave a lasting impression decades to come. The innovation comes in the natural blending of unnatural pairs of genres, particularly the classical and glitch IDM influenced genres. The two most noteworthy pioneers of the field are undoubtedly found in Katsuhiko Maeda (a.k.a. World's End Girlfriend) and Kashiwa Daisuke, both label mates of Yasushi Yoshida.

Maeda is the eldest of the group, with a discography that now spans almost a decade and a career that demonstrates strong sonic development through time. His work is the strongly influenced by the avant-garde, and, in general, his compositions represent sketches or snapshots of a sonic landscape that is constantly evolving and largely chaotic in nature. Daisuke's approach is much more narrative in nature, as he takes a longer form to allow the pieces to fully illustrate his themes and paints a full portrait for the listener. While both pull from very similar worlds for influence, they acheive stunningly different results, although comparisons between their work is surely evident.

Yasushi Yoshida's debut, Secret Garden, was very much in line with this world. Little Grace, his newly released sophomore effort, is as well, but it'd be difficult to draw such a conclusion without knowledge of Secret Garden and seeing the progression in action. On the surface, much of Little Grace sounds like it's in comfortable proximity to the works of contemporaries Olafur Arnalds, Peter Broderick, and maybe even Balmorhea (and, let's be honest, they all love Rachel's). It has all the required ingredients -- piano, strings, a slow, emotional air -- and the pieces are composed in the general neo-classical style that has now become standard. However, tracks like "Greyed," "Under Calf, Winged Steps," and "Untitled" should tip us off that there's much more going on below the surface than just pretty neo-classical music (not that there's anything wrong with that...), harking back to the works of his Maeda and Daisuke in true cutting-edge style.

Indeed, on closer inspection, even the seemingly straightforward classical pieces are less predictable than Yoshida's peers. The lengthier pieces ("Thread Still" and "Three Winters Our Grace") are accomplished tracks that stretch the imagination and offer a few extra tricks during the expanded time frame. Meanwhile, the shorter tracks ("Permanent Yesterday" and "Lullaby for Rainsongs") adhere closely to stock neo-classical formulas and provide a solid foundation/anchor for the album to flourish from. Essentially, Yoshida provides a spectrum of tracks that highlight the movement of his music from the experimental to the conservative, but in doing so he also doesn't give up the things that made him love the combination thereof in the first place. Although the electronic component is drastically reduced in Little Grace, it is still present and, for the most part, used subtlely. This is brought to the fore in the more experimental tracks, but then fades back into supporting role (if any at all) during the rest of the album.

There's no denying that Yoshida has created a timeless, exhilarating album that many will quickly fall in love with. But, for several reasons, I'm unable to give this album my full support. First of all, I feel that Yoshida is, at times, trying too hard to distance himself from Daisuke and Maeda, and in the process sacrifices the electronic component which is largely what gives his work a voice and separates it from his Western peers. There are many moments on the album that slide into generic neo-classical territory, which is not something you typically see on many Japanese releases. Secondly, his newfound style hasn't quite been developed as fully as his older work, which had the benefit of appealing to the work of his influences. A little more tinkering would flush out the Yoshida sound to great lengths. Lastly, upon analysis of the album and the progress of Yoshida's work, I can't help but conclude that this is a transitional album and his next will be a more satisfying release. Little Grace looks to be wedged between his past work and a more organic work that awaits in the future; we've yet to see his masterpiece, but we're still getting a pretty good view in the meantime.

-Lee Whitefield, The Silent Ballet

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Kwoon - Tales and Dreams (self release, 2006)

Intro (1:47)
I Lived On The Moon (4:32)
Blue Melody (6:05)
The Beast (5:36)
Eternal Jellyfish Ballet (6:06)
Last Sundown (3:04)
Tinklëh (4:33)
Tinklëh Skofa (1:49)
The Door (3:34)
Kwoon (5:00)

Derrière l’entité Kwoon se cache un mystère nommé Sandy. Un être qui, des dires de ses proches, préfère qu’on parle de son univers plutôt que de lui même. Cet univers, fait de mystères et de poésie, découle d’un premier essai en forme de pastel atmosphérique et intemporel. Il se construit autour d’un optique à la fois pop, mélancolique et planante. Si les dominantes organiques de l’album puisent dans le son des guitares une pulpe opaque ou plus acerbe (les saturations en apesanteur de "Last Sundown"), l’apparent calme et la rétention qui gouvernent l’ensemble se parent de textures électroniques fines et fugaces. Ils dessinent des paysages intérieurs délicats et irréels, dominés par l’importance des rêves et de leur sauvegarde ("I lived on the Moon").

Kwoon, toutefois, ne s’inscrit pas dans le repli total. Ses quelques exergues orchestrales peuvent (avec classe) dépeindre une ambition plus physique et majestueuse que le simple format pop ("Blue Melody", au sublime final, ou le très beau crescendo de "Eternal jellyfish Ballet"). Leur bienséance prouve simultanément que rien ne vaut l’économie des couches, la sobriété.
A l’instar de Sigur Rós, des univers enfantins mutent vers des formes inquiètes, une hypnose qui fait que l’on quitte l’espace temps sans pour autant pénétrer pleinement les ténèbres ("The Beast"). L’ensemble de "Tales And Dreams", ainsi, reste davantage dans le questionnement et l’attente et évite la démonstration de force, laissant Kwwon imposer un songwriting inspiré et délicat, teneur d’un psychédélisme rénové et – fatalement – passionnant.

obskure.com

It doesn't take long into Tales and Dreams before Kwoon unviels their influences. "Intro" may through the listener for a loop (perhaps a snapshot from Scars of the Midwest?), and even "I Lived on the Moon," with it's gloriously ascending guitar line, may still leave us scratching our heads. Some very somber vocals are even added to the mix to further complicate the matters; yes, Kwoon is a post rock band that likes to sing on occasion. Then we come to "Blue Melody" and as the slow, celestrial ambience slowly begins to dissolve, the pace of the guitar quickens and the drums flare to life, signaling the beginning of the triumphant finale. The sextet sure knows how to pack a powerful punch, a punch which sends me back listening to Agaetis Byrjun.
-Jordan Volz

The Silent Ballet

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Arca - Angles (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier, 2003)

Le Puit Face Au Ciel (5:23)
Polarités (3:35)
Portrait Of An Unsatisfied Figure (3:56)
Perspective Of Nude (2:46)
Endormir Les Hommes (5:34)
Attendre (3:09)
Attractions (3:06)
Errance (3:22)
Face (5:46)
Nyodene D (7:42)

Arca est la collaboration entre Sylvain Chauveau et Joan Cambon. La guitare de Chauveau hante chaque titre mêlée à quelques abstractions électronique, le disque est peuplé de dialogue tirés soit de films, soit de bulletin d'informations. Un disque brillant, recommandé pour les amateurs de post-rock à la Goodspeed You Black Emperor !

"Angles" is the second album of Sylvain Chauveau and Joan Cambon's project. They both gathered some guests to create a superb following to "Cinématique". The question is: do we necessarily expect a band who baffled us with their first album to surprise us with the second? Because here, the result is certainly brilliant, but insists too much on a post-rock genre that any Godspeed or Mogwai's fan has known for years (especially in the structures of Le Puits face au ciel, Endormir les hommes or Errance, or in the use of (over)present voices' samples). Perspective of Nude, Face and Nyodene D, the magnificent final apnoea, remind on some points of "Wu Wei", Hint's last master piece in 1998, and that could well please the inconsolable ones. On the other hand, Portrait of an Unsatisfied Figure and Attractions, which would be the counterpart of the dark track Orly from their first album, show a more experimental and electronic side, despite a still melodic and therefore more personal orientation. Too bad it's not displayed on the full length of the album, though "Angles" remains a highly recommended piece.

Premonition Magazine

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Labradford - Labradford (Kranky, 1996)

1		Phantom Channel Crossing (4:43)
2		Midrange (6:29)
3		Pico (5:46)
4		The Cipher (3:12)
5		Lake Speed (6:47)
6		Scenic Recovery (4:52)
7		Battered (7:57)

This eponymously titled Labradford album was actually the group's third, and finds them in chillingly good form. The opening track, 'Phantom Channel Crossing' is a real hair-raiser, ushered in by the sound of rattling chains and shrill percussion. The typically atmospheric mini-epics the band became famous for are just around the corner though: just check out the luscious strings and ghostly organ on 'Mid-Range', or the stately, quasi-gothic textures of 'Lake Speed' for further details. Very, very beautiful indeed.

Boomkat

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The Gentleman Losers - The Gentleman Losers (Büro, 2006)

An Empire Of Coins (1:39)
Gold Dust Afternoon (6:10)
Mansion On The Dunes (6:09)
Slow Guitars (5:46)
Horses Of Instruction (5:35)
Laureline (5:50)
Silver Mountain (4:48)
Light Fandango (5:36)
Salt Of The Sea (4:33)
Weed Garden (3:16)

When we first heard Finland’s Gentleman Losers it was as if their music had always been familiar to us, bringing to mind the instrumental wonder of Vincent Gallo’s massively overlooked ‘When’ album, coaxing dusty guitars, brushed drums and archive documentary music into an epiphany of childhood nostalgia and blissful daydreaming. To be sure, this has been the sort of album that has charmed and beguiled anyone and everyone who’s just happened to walk into the office when it’s been on – straddling that fine line between twilight beauty and dusky threat. Opening with the creased prologue of 'An Empire of Coins', The Gentleman Losers sound much as you wish Boards of Canada did - taking a water-bled guitar part then incrementally coating it in a queasy blend of crackling aural lint. Recorded at night in a reputedly haunted house that comprises part of Finland’s medieval district, The Gentleman Losers describe their music as "one part 60s movie soundtracks, one part wooden electronica, all recorded through a 50s Telefunken mixer we found abandoned in a basement". ‘The Gentleman Losers’ encapsulate a universe of quiet musical aspirations in a breezy, effortless way that’s all-too rare, managing to distil their sound into a pithy diktat : "we wanted to make music from a past that hasn't happened yet...". Album of the year

Boomkat

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