featured releases
(Fonal) CD & LP
Blossoming from the minds of two brothers from Finland, it seems this fragmented work of melodic semblance & textural melancholy includes the whole Scandinavian forest & its elves. With glitchy bursts, music box curdlings, Finnish spoken word & angelic ghost melodies, it sounds as though it was recorded over the ebb of a tide. “Kevätrumpu” grazes between wind chimes and a lo-fi dance party, with vocals that flirtatiously allude a Finnish Kate Bush. “Italialaisella Laivalla” & “Tyttö Tanssii” sound like they’re left to be sung by a man on a tree-stump on the last desperate night of summer. This is living in a Scandinavian forest inebriated with memories of all-night parties in Helsinki – it flickers like an eerie twilight whilst carrying a bag of magic raindrops.
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28 August 2008 by Tara Campbell
| All Around The World, Pop / Rock
(Kompakt) 4CD
Wolfgang Voigt is the mastermind behind one of minimal techno’s largest stables: Kompakt. But before his brand was dominating global dancefloors, Voigt was exploring the deep dark realms of his German psyche as Gas. Drawing from German schlager music & Wagnerian classical influences, plus ambient staples like Satie, Aphex Twin & Eno, Voigt conjured clouds of throbbing ambience & drone, ceaselessly propelled by submerged kick drums. Nah Und Fern compiles the entire Gas output — Gas, Zauberberg, Königsforst & Pop — there’s slight remastering, but nothing that detracts from the nimble balance of tension & levity within Voigt’s most revered project. A brilliant document of one of the most important canons within the ambient techno world.
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28 August 2008 by Chris Long
| Avant-Garde, Electronic
(We Are Free) CD
From the world of the frenetic Baltimore scene (Dan Deacon, Video Hippos, Ecstatic Sunshine) comes another crew, this time with two guitars, no bass & lots of fucking energy. On their second album Ice Cream Spiritual, Ponytail create an erratic train running with high-freted guitar work, rolling drums & the artistic flamboyance of lead vocalist Molly Seigel, who sounds like something between a hyperactive parrot & a wild boar in heat. The record’s turbo fluster of crayon-coloured-craze certainly will leave those involved with a heart beat per minute that would worry a physician. The sound of punk-infused paint colour aimed at the art gallery: yes, please.
16 July 2008 by Tara Campbell
| Pop / Rock
(Pink Flag) CD
Object 47 is just that; it’s the 47th “thing” that UK former-post-punkers Wire have released. Since their unbelievably influential opening salvo of releases (Pink Flag, Chairs Missing & 154), the London band has basically written the textbook on how to be a non-compromising, academic art-rock band. Object 47 ain’t gonna blow the socks off anyone (except maybe me), but it’s startling that these 50-somethings are still pumping out music with texture, urgency & a keen sense of structure & melody. Despite original guitarist Bruce Gilbert having officially left the band, Wire’s brilliant mastery of tone & texture is splattered all over this. Opener “One Of Us” could be a lost New Order gem from their classic period if it weren’t for the bassline being, well, bassy & ballsy. It drives the tune pretty much to the dancefloor, with a wide-screen chorus about dissolving relationships. That transition from verse to chorus, the “opening up” of a track, is what gives spirit to much of the rest of 47, especially on “Mekon Headman” (sung by bassist Graham Lewis) & “Perspex Icon”, both of which pit contrasting lyrical & melodic hues against each other. Object 47 isn’t retro; it’s un-modern… but ain’t that refreshing nowadays?
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16 July 2008 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock
Wire are mindblowingly amazing. Learn about them here.
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15 July 2008 by Chris Long
| Reissued / Remastered
(Flemish Eye) CD & LP
It sounds like it was recorded on a four track, and it plausibly was as bedroom-recording-mastermind Chad Vangaalen was the one that did it. The lads that compile Women – two of which are members of Calgarian co-patriots Azeda Booth (debut album out July 22 on Absolutely Kosher!) – throw together glistening harmonies as divided by drills and drones. With emphasis on pedals, distortion and a fuzz box; at times they allude the air of the Dischord catalogue, as on “January 8th”; before they catch the flipside of the coin like a walk home from a summer barbecue, as per “Black Rice.” Through interchanges of clamour and clarity; Women seem to be another element into what might be introducing Calgary, AB as the home of a blooming music scene, indeed.
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14 July 2008 by Tara Campbell
| Pop / Rock
(Ipecac) CD
Melvins’ re-invention of sorts on 2006’s (A) Senile Animal was a welcome return to the riff-tastic prolificacy of their 90’s major label heyday. Joined again by Jared & Cody of Big Business, Nude With Boots, like (A) Senile Animal, sounds re-invigorated & shows the accessible Melvins that you don’t have to work to enjoy. The proof here is in the double drum kit-laced pudding (two drum kits people!!!); from the thick, chugging layers of “The Smiling Cobra” to the near-jovial catchiness of the title track, Buzz & Dale seem as relevant as ever… bottom line: Melvins kick major ass & don’t even care about taking numbers… the riffs are that good. I don’t even know what that means, but this album is awesome.
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7 July 2008 by Chris Long
| Metal, Pop / Rock
Nude With Boots is a crushing reminder of how amazing Melvins are. Entering their 25th year as a band, they are still indignant of anything other than their own creative pursuit.
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7 July 2008 by Chris Long
| Metal, Pop / Rock
(XL) CD, 2LP coming soon
Sigur Rós’ whimsical first single “Goobledigook” primarily introduces Með as a turn for the group. With the bouncy march of a Panda Bear bass drum & Birgisson’s coos in English(!), the track treds in the same water as Animal Collective or Adem. English, Icelandic or Hopelandic, the vocals are still as evocative as they were on ( ). Meanwhile, the album slowly parts from its glockenspiels & xylophones to retreat back to the traditional symphonic prolifia that has marked Sigur Rós as the kings of a genre one might call “Icelandia”. Once again, there are nods to both Constellation records and philharmonic orchestras as they greet the album’s many pocketed crescendos. With equal doses of experimentation & the familiar soundscapes that have embraced our headphones on many winter walks; the whole thing might just be evoking enough to bring you to the Croatian Cultural Center by the time they play Vancouver in October.
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6 July 2008 by Tara Campbell
| Pop / Rock
(XL) CD & LP
On their, ahem, third full length, the NY duo slow things down a bit. Spreading out the ecstatic romp of ‘hits’ like “Wildcat”, “Seventeen Years” & “Lex”, LP3 explores the latin/tropicalia/scoring tendencies of Ratatat’s more subdued side. Tracks like “Flynn” splice 8-bit bloopery with scenic vibes & vocal samples, while “Brulee” is kind of um, cute I guess? There’s a lot of rhythmically rich tonal adventuring going on here: wildlife samples, claps for days, chopstick breaks & tons of tinkly noises… still, “Shempi” will make you want to grind your hips & bang your head at the same time with it’s crazy organ line…
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3 July 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
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