Adrian Klumpes & Shoeb Ahmad - In Bed We Trust (hellosQuare, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 113mb / rs | rel. apr 09

"Despite its title, In Bed We Trust is not a lazy album. While far from hyperactive, it's a very delicate collection of precise improvisations recorded by Canberra's Shoeb Ahmad (who besides being one half of Spartak has released solo records on labels such as Low Point, Cook an Egg and sound&fury) and Sydney's Adrian Klumpes (formerly of Pivot, currently of 3ofmillions and creator of 2006's beautiful Be Still album).

Ahmad's processed instrumentation is all over opening track 'Prologue', before the focus shifts to Klumpes's piano on 'Her Lovers and My Letter Hand'. The first track in an unofficial triology, it builds like the crest of an uneven wave, Klumpes throwing more and more notes against Ahmad’s slowly-shifting wall of sound. It’s followed by the shimmering radiance of 'Her Birds and Her Pin Cushion' and the minimal, spacious 'My Bedside and Her Paper Flowers.'

The eight-and-a-half minute 'The Turn' sees Klumpes skilfully disrupting swirling clusters of static with brief, controlled bursts of piano notes. The fragile melody of 'You Can Have What I Take' takes on a haunting quality when combined with the track's subtle, grainy background noise. 'Credit and Refinance' is the album's darkest moment, and threatens to drag the mood right down before 'Other's Dream' allows tiny shards of scattered light to shine through the gloom.

Klumpes and Ahmad have found an entirely sympathetic space within which to improvise, and have developed their own intuitive language through which to communicate their ideas. Evenly paced and expertly crafted, In Bed We Trust is the perfect album for quiet afternoons spent under (or at least on top of) the covers."

Alka - A Dog Lost In The Woods (Electronic Eel, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 105mb / rs | rel. jun 09

i've missed this kind of sound... awesome idm here!

Review: Textura

"More ultra-sparkling IDM from Bryan Michael under the Alka guise, A Dog Lost in the Woods serves up twelve expansive samplings of his composing and production talents. In contrast to other long-winded IDM artists, the Alka material appeals for being direct and economical, with all of the tracks in the three- and four-minute range. What recommends the album most, however, is that Michael has toughened up the Alka sound considerably in the beat department so that the tracks' candy-coated melodicism and synthetic amplitude is nicely balanced by a heavier rhythm attack. So while you'll find glittering IDM well accounted for in the bookends “Blueberry” and “Sky, Face Down,” you'll also find much more material less solely situated in the upper stratosphere. Hints of shoegaze drama seep into the keyboard sparkle of “When You Abandon Your Youth” while “I Am a Wreck” and “Israel” add refreshing hardness to the Alka sound by grounding their celestial upper registers with heavy funk pulses. Michael roughs up the Alka sound in a few other tracks too, with a heavier beat pattern powering “Separate,” head-nodding grime dirtying up “Alpha Pilos,” and a hip-hop feel anchoring “Solip,” whose silken synthetic flow is also given a slightly more epic treatment compared to the other tracks. Anyone wishing to declare the genre's played-out will be challenged by this superbly-crafted sophomore Alka effort."

Con Cetta - Micro (Moteer, 2008)

mp3 / 320 / 109mb / rs | rel. jun. 08

"New Moteer acquisition Con Cetta hails from Sicily, expanding upon the label's established sound with an album of beautiful, evocative processed sounds, exploring the properties of the looping and layering techniques available in the post-glitch era. While much of this album might be seen to approximate the classic clicks+cuts sounds of late period Mille Plateaux, there's a sublime late night aesthetic here that's effortless and hugely involving, perhaps more closely resembling the more melodically accommodating sounds of Mokira or even 12k's shuttle358 on 'Connecting Forming Averaging Positive'. More shuffling ambient strategies follow on 'Ken', which takes some emphasis off beat-like rhythms and instead immerses the listener in the granular judder of Con Cetta's lively circuitry, something perhaps best exemplified by the Tim Hecker-like piano and field recording blur of album closer 'Mentis'. "Micro" establishes a wonderful harmony between the familiarly warm, melodic compositions of the Moteer sound and a more experimental, ambient approach to electronic music, making for another exceptional transmission from this always-great label. Gorgeous music - Essential Purchase."

RJ Valeo - September (Type, 2003)

mp3 / 320 / 86mb / rs | rel. 2003

Thanks Rhys for sharing!

"All truly good things take time, something worth bearing in mind when considering that after months of preperation, a fair bit of speculation and more then just a pinch of interest - the very first release on John Xela and Stef Lewandowski “Type” imprint is finally with us. And how comforting to know that hyperbole isnt always impossible to meet – for this debut album from the evidently gifted RJ Valeo is just sublime, building on the exceptional groundwork laid down for his debut EP on Opiate’s Hobby Industries imprint and taking things to another level of innovation and warmth. “September” defines the label’s mission statement perfectly – a love of warm, delicate electronic music that isn’t obsessed with technique or trickery, focusing instead on elements of assembly that meet halfway between the tempered ambience of the likes of the 12k label and the surface-noise bubbling of a myriad acoustic and electronic hybrids, free of the posturing that so often goes hand in hand with this kind of music. Musically, “September” paints a rainbow of fragile sounds with percussive ingenuity and a feel for deep textures – shimmering neon sweeps of melody engulf tricky percussive pops and clicks in a way not a thousand miles removed from the sparse love-story-telling of Dub Tractor or the lullaby minimalism and effervescence of Mr Xela himself. Music that doesn’t necessarily stick to conventional means but that somehow manages to make itself accessable to all who approach it – a combination of ingenuity and emotional vulnerability that sets this label off to the kind of start we dreamt of when we launched CCO a good few years back. Absolutely gorgeous."-Boomkat

Tor Lundvall - Sleeping And Hiding (Dais, 2009)

link removed by request / 320 / 76mb / rs | rel. apr 09

www.torlundvall.com

www.daisrecords.com

"Originally recorded in 2005 and intended as the third and final chapter in the series which included the beautiful albums Last Light and Empty City, Dais Records is proud to release the latest album from Ghost Ambient composer TOR LUNDVALL. Dark and beautiful soundtracks for afternoon daydreams and moonlit forest walks. Limited to 500 hand numbered editions."

"Placid, natural, poetic flows of highly subdued balladry are the stock and trade of Easthampton, NY’s Tor Lundvall, a musician and painter who has quietly made a name for himself in the death/folk/ambient arenas, following early works in collaboration with Sol Invictus’s Tony Wakeford. This is an immersive effort, designed to grab one’s attention with as little rancor as can be mustered. Lundvall’s voice falls in between Antony’s melting drama queen and the light, mellifluous tone of the Left Banke’s Steve Martin, guiding the rich, rounded electronic tones of bass-borne melody. Don’t mistake this music for drone; though the notes do hang suspended, this is pop music with structure, fitting well within both its established home, and several key examples from the ‘90s, such as Labradford or even Radiohead. Relaxing in ways you can’t imagine, and not something you’ll ever be embarrassed of listening to or talking about. This is Lundvall’s sixth or seventh release overall, recorded in 2005 but just being released now by Dais, who are quickly assimilating themselves into the thing that the artist is part of, and spreading it to a slightly wider audience just outside of this music’s typical reach."- Dusted

removed / vbr / rs / Tor Lundvall-Yule EP (Strange Fortune, 2006)

removed / vbr / rs / Tor Lundvall - Empty City (Strange Fortune, 2006)

removed / 192 / rs / Tor Lundvall - Last Light (Strange Fortune, 2004)

removed / 192 / rs / Tor Lundvall & Tony Wakeford-Autumn Calls (Tursa, 1998)

VA - Elektronisk Tirsdag (City Hall Music, 2009)

cd1 | cd2 / 120+ 130mb / 320 / rs | rel. aug 09

The electronica scene in denmark anno 2009.

Release party during the Strøm Electronica Festival in Copenhagen @ Statens Museum For Kunst on August 12. Complete program for the festival here.

http://cityhallmusic.dk

"We are proud to announce the release of “Elektronisk Tirsdag“! This double album includes 27 tracks and is by far one of the most extensive Danish compilations of electronic music with a wide range of Danish artists (27!) from Lulu Rouge, Trentemøller, Troels Abrahamsen and System to up and coming talents like Eloq, Bokal, Nabo and Yeti. "

CD1:

01 Lulu Rouge – Tirsdags 6

02 Mikkel Meyer – Bacon

03 Aslope – The Recover

04 DDD (Ballistics & Don Skeleton) – Blood Pressure

05 Karsten Pflum – Blue Cycle

06 Det Sejler I Effekter – Dybt Nede 0

07 Spejderrobot – Statsborger

08 Badun – Hofmann

09 Bokal – Adub

10 Rumpistol – V2

11 Sofus Forsberg – Lenely

12 Booka Shade – Outskirts (Trentemøller Remix)

13 Skyphone – Værft

CD2:

01 JSL – Mulsanne 4AM

02 YETI – Distnt Elmnt

03 Kee Fritchards – Perkursive

04 System – WB

05 Pellarin – Desolate

06 Kasette – Ruffian Footwork

07 Mikkel Metal – Denver

08 Spoke – Housecall

09 Eloq – Head Head

10 Nabo – Breakdance

11 Simien & Obeah feat. Ilawy – Waiting (VIP)

12 Troels Abrahamsen – Tool

13 Fagget Fairys – Feed The Horse (Gambit Remix)

14 Spejderrobot – Shippingelev/Besat (MHM One Remix)

Lawrence English - It's Up To Us To Live (Sirr, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 120mb / rs | rel. feb 09

www.sirr-ecords.com

Sirr is very proud to present It's Up To Us To Live from Australian composer Lawrence English. This work unfolds and reveals Lawrence's delicate sense of textural depth while exploring densities and flows (in his own words, "only offering the occasionally moment to surface for air. Much of this LPs sound textures emanate from distant calls of guitar, sharply cracked electronics, alien field recordings and a variety of other less identifiable sources."

The cover art by renowned Australian photographer Marian Drew, from her 'Still Lives' series. It's Up To Us To Live is a distorted sonic distress beacon. It suggests a possible mapping of the increasingly cluttered sound spaces that find themselves associated with human habitation and expansion.

bRUNA - And It Matters To Me To See You Smiling (Spa.rk, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 60mb / rs | rel jul 09

...and i'm smiling!! 26 min of happiness.

www.sparkreleases.com

''And It Matters to Me to See You Smiling'' is the record we've been waiting for the last 12 months: a young Barcelona artist and a new growing name in Spanish electronica scene, bRUNA, that finally delivers his passionate debut album for spa.RK. With just a couple of tracks on Myspace, he became rapidly a favorite of local critics and the most anticipated name in the Spanish press, playing three times at famous Sonar festival, being selected for Red Bull Academy Toronto and delivering a gorgeous 12" for Marc Marzenit's Paradigma Musik label.

Now spa.RK has the honor to present his debut album and we knew that the very best was still to come! The first thing we loved about Carles, the young man behind bRUNA, is his passion: passionate electronics done with real love, straight to the bone, without unnecessary detours, with melodies that remain stuck to the soul and a pop vibe that makes this short butemotionally intense album an addictive and intimate experience.

Nursed in the most exquisite electronics and in the most intense pop, bRUNA?s music breathes orchestral magnificence, crepuscular electronics and powerful pop à la Creation: emotion to the limit. bRUNA is also a good example of the generational renewal on the electronica scene, led by those that grew up with it and that face it not like something a la mode, but like a particular language. Aphex Twin, yes, but even more James Holden and Kettel.

Nowadays, when it?s easy to find dispersion prevailing over concretion (72 minutes albums, one-hour long free-downloadable EPs), Carles presents ''And It Matters to Me to See You Smiling'', an old-style album that looks radically modern to us: 28 minutes, no low moments, full of a contagious vitality, ultrashort songs, based on a strong conceptual structure basis, where nothing exceeds and nothing lacks and that demonstrates his clarity of ideas and the solid condition of his discourse. Absolutely addictive.

Sleeping Me - Lamenter (Phantom Channel, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 65mb / rs | aug 09

another gem from the phantom channel label!

"Thick, melancholic and evocatively haunting soundscapes created entirely by guitar, the music of Sleeping Me employs a balance of delicacy, power and gentle reverb to present an affecting sound that's resplendent in its warmth and fiery beauty. 'Lamenter', closely following stunning debut full-length 'Cradlesongs' on celebrated Australian imprint Hidden Shoal, proves that Sleeping Me's sound finds peace in even the most heartbreaking of circumstances, rarely has the devil's instrument of choice sounded so heavenly. '"-label

Motohiro Nakashima - We Hum On The Way Home (Schole, 2009)

mp3 / 320 / 116mb / rs | rel. jun 09

so beautiful! late evening stuff here.

Norman Records wrote:

"Motohiro Nakashima releases his (3rd I think??) album following two on the LO/ Loaf label. This new one is on the Schole label of Japan so it's a wee bit more local (to him anyway!). We Hum on the Way Home is a delightful mix of pastoral-sounding acoustic neo-classic loveliness. There's guitars, pianos, trombones, violins, cellos, and percussion all hanging around together making a beautiful mix of loveliness. It's well constructed, thought-out instrumental music which is really emotive and moving. I thought this was gonna be more electronic as I'm sure some of the earlier releases by him I'd heard were electronic. My memory is shocking...I really can't remember. Anyhoo this is lush. The acoustic guitar and trombone work really well together like they're related (not like their married though as they wouldn't get on at all...). It's a thoroughly charming and delightful listen and I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to have a really enjoyable 56 minutes of their life."

Motohiro Nakashima - And I Went To Sleep (Lo Recordings, 2004)

mp3 / 320 / 98mb / rs | rel. 2004

Lo Recordings:

The music on this album is by a young man called Motohiro Nakashima from Osaka, Japan. It reminds me sometimes of Aphex Twin’s selected ambient works v1 and sometimes of Mogwai or Susumu Yokota but mostly it sounds like the man in the picture below. When I listen to it, it makes me feel better. It fills the space beautifully. His music is warm, intimate and relaxed. It’s probably just what you need. But we can’t be sure. -

Lawrence English - Transit (Cajid Media, 2005)

mp3 / 320 / 151mb / rs | rel. 2005

review from Cyclic Defrost:

"A lo fi warbling mass of electronically treated field recordings opens Brisbane based sound artist, Lawrence English's Transit. It's a modus operandi that he persists with for the remainder of the subtle contemplative work, merging together multiple contributions from numerous artists including DJ Olive, Philip Samartzis, Mike Cooper, Ben Frost, Cat Hope and Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). English constructs new abstract sound worlds from his contributors who offer field recordings from Thailand, Tasmania, Vietnam and electronics, guitar, voice and turntables in varying combinations. Transit is filled with repeated moments of subtle beauty, such as closing frame in which Gail Priests ethereal vocals are the perfect counterpoint to the harsh field recordings and high pitches. Whilst it is not clear precisely what English is bringing to the table, the majority of the pieces exist in a droning, drafty, drifting world punctuated by passing cars, fidgeting moments of movement and fleeting undefined fragments of sound. "