so this pair was posted at the beginning of august or end of july. i can't remember. thankfully this month has been summer holiday time over at good old Connexion Bizarre, so not much action going on and zero turnover for new reviews. but that is soon set to change! anyway, check it.
Together, producers Jonathan Uliel Saldanha (a.k.a. HHY) and Nyko Esterle (a.k.a. Ripit), having purportedly sequestered themselves in a mountain studio in Portugal, engendered an unforgettable exegesis of post-hip hop norms (if such exist) and pushed the envelope for this genre with startling ferocity. "Landform" won't disappoint.
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Utilizing the requisite field recordings, found sounds, CD/tape/vinyl manipulations, etc., Violet presents listeners with an album both disquieting in its peacefulness and jarring in its white noise banality. It is not so much mentally invasive as vaguely irritating, lacking the essential cohesion necessary in an experimental/drone record and likely far more interesting in terms of creative process than actual listenability.
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yoww it's been awhile. i'm the one to blame for a spate of abnormally lethargic turnarounds, especially on this last review, and it's even already been posted over at Connexion Bizarre for more than a week. stuff happens. but hey, i know these guys so go ahead and check out the goods.
A multifaceted album that confronts listeners with pop tendencies, taking inspiration from the sharp beats, brimming bass and lyrical delivery of indie rock's more electronic leanings, and similarly finds substance with a blended new wave versus old industrial feel. Flatline Skyline overall benefits from its oddly familiar genre-bending forms and passionate articulation.
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read them at your leisure, for your pleasure. all this wonderful stuff and more available this week on Connexion Bizarre.
Tonikom's sophomore release on Hymen Records, "The Sniper's Veil", is a wholly satisfying exercise in breakbeats. Most everything appearing on Tonikom's latest shows fantastic cohesion, simplicity, musicianship and, it must be said, an intriguingly feminine essence.
"Amesha Spenta" as an album is relentless, even in its ambient passages, and however sedate the bpm might be. It is dense, secretive, and part of a floating realm, suspended between the occidental and oriental with chime-like melodies and shivering tones, supported by spine tingling beat structures.
a pair of fine releases have been reviewed for your reading pleasure and, one hopes, musical curiosity. at times heavy, playful and psychedelic, albums like these are what keep this business interesting. posted this week on Connexion Bizarre...
With "Area Keloza", French hardcore/gabber artist Lingouf joins the ranks of the Ant-Zen catalogue. Recognized for his unique sound within hardcore and breakcore categories, Lingouf's Vincent Ingouf is a competent visual artist as well, reflected both in the subversively cartoonish and imaginative album artwork, and in a fascinating website full of clever animations and hidden puzzles.
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Kibuka is a new project from sound mastermind Dean Dennis, formerly of Clock DVA and, more recently, Nohno. A logical successor to the latter's "Metropolis" (2006), Kibuka's "Dystopia" takes the sumptuous bass and retro-electronic, tech-ambient feel of that pithy release and articulates it further. Kibuka delivers nostalgia with a 21st-century twist, and fans of early IDM and electro-industrial are advised not to let this one slip by.
whoops. forgot to post this one. plus i'm behind on my current reviews. stuff happens.
(an IDM beat record, aka random playlist interlude fodder)
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this week on Connexion Bizarre.
Inversion Effect - A Brief History
"A Brief History" is a befitting title for Inversion Effect's debut
album, which contains material recorded over three years of studio
sessions, rehearsals and live performances. A digital-only release, it
is best described as (dark) ambient, drone and experimental, with
plenty of attention given to gazing into static noise and abyssal space
alike.
once again, it's time for another review. this one goes deep, and takes you right along with it. a very highly recommended drone project from Finland, with beautiful cover art to boot. all this and more can be found over at Connexion Bizarre. enjoy!
no Xivic - Yksityisyys
Three years in the making, "Yksityisyys" is a mercurial set of seven
compositions upon which Kyllönen has instilled a careful architecture
in both form and color. Using a mixture of drone work, found sounds,
fields recordings and musique concrète, he has generated an auditory
experience that surpasses standard visualizations of reality, instead
nullifying worldly imagery and emphasizing emotional perception and
vision, organic duality and density.
stuff and some more stuff. new review posted this week on Connexion Bizarre.
MMMF characterizes itself as "never boring or foreseeable", and its musical methodology is something of an electronic melting pot, filled with sharp layering. If their music may be described as a bit conventional and whimsical, it's because "In the Lab" seems to be just that - superficially simple tracks with titles to match.
some worthwhile reading was posted this week on Connexion Bizarre. this includes my first review for 2009. enjoy!
"Lost in Reflections" is not all void and darkness, shrouded apparitions and pervasive melancholy. Full of warmer tones, richer hues and softer timbres, we can accept that ensconced somewhere among the meticulous layering is a mind at odds with its environs, and by no choice of its own.
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because of holiday travel priorities, i didn't have the chance to post this one when it first went up on Connexion Bizarre a few weeks back. recommended for those who enjoyed the first Pylône album, generally unsettling music, or any of the stuff offered by Laurent Perrier's uniquely cerebral label, Sound on Probation.
Pylône - Grounded Hands
minimal / dark ambient
