Senking - List

Label: Raster-Noton

Released: 2007

Style: Abstract, Electronic

"is there beauty in the threatening? with list senking introduces 40 minutes of the darkest matter and reckons: yes.

on list he varies and experiments with a - for raster-noton - frightening diversity of sounds. he reveals the pieces as sound-collages, as quotes, which seem to refer to splatter movie and film noir. following the tremendous plot of his endtime-sujet, he persistently welds together sound spaces in order to compress them later into overwhelming drone-sounds. these as such, then go to serve a fundamental purpose, as an environment for minimalistic themes and melodies, always to be driven by the ever present slow-beat of the pieces. nonetheless the syntax, the destiny of each single piece is highly varied and has the appearance of a much more mature composition, compared to his earlier works."

Tracklisting:

1 Common Business (4:00)

2 Pathogenic Agent (4:26)

3 Come In (4:36)

4 Bohrer (5:35)

5 Great Day (4:41)

6 Gestalt (0:36)

7 Graue Musik (4:24)

8 Mist (4:47)

9 Crevasse (5:04)

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Sunroof! - Cloudz

Label: VHF Records

Released: 2003

Style: Abstract, Experimental, Psychedelic

"Bi-annual collection of pillow sound from Bower & Co. Fairly mellow and spacey, ala the "Embroidered Birdsong Nearly Meadows" disc from 2001's Bliss dbl CD. Layers of twinkling keyboard, guitar, unidentified fuzz, short wave, etc. Very much in the style of Harmonia/Cluster in spots. There's a couple of amped-up moments here, including surprise lead guitar action on "tornado rose canoe," and the excellent fuzzgrilled rock of "Primavera." "Best Sunroof Ever" - Neil Campbell" - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Machine (9:33)

2 Grasshopper (3:27)

3 Viva (5:42)

4 Zero (7:58)

5 Universal Acceleration (7:42)

6 Tornado Rose Canoe (7:39)

7 Silver Nazi Suicide (12:23)

8 Primavera (7:59)

9 Silver Zero (7:55)

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Rafael Toral - Violence Of Discovery And Calm Of Acceptance

Label: Touch

Released: 2001

Style: Abstract, Experimental, Drone

"More oceanic 'calm of acceptance' than 'violence of discovery', these ten Ambient meditations on treated electric guitar, gathered from the last seven years, are like a series of exquisitely poised and iridescent ragas. Hailing from Portugal, Toral's work has been compared to that of Robert Fripp in its exploration of the melodic colour of drones, loops and overtones, using only guitar and analogue equipment. Slow, broadly arcing and snaking coils of sound unfold like a gargantuan reverberating wind chime, or a labyrinth of vast organ pipes. Two or three drones will twist alongside each other, causing harmonic clouds that tremble and melt without setting up much rhythmic interference. The effect is deeply colourist. Whether it climbs its way out of the growling depths, or shimmers into appearance like a scraped gong, each track moves into the same kind of pitch range and lets the Aurora Borealis work its sonic wonders. 'Maersk Line' is more quavering , seesawing and abrasive, and this well judged introduction of movement helps to animate the second half of the album. 'Optical Flow' unexpectedly foregrounds more plucked chimes, falling upon each other like a music box. Other later tracks give a fuzzier feedback edge to the iridescent prowling of the drones, or use the puckered croak of slowly scraped guitar strings to provide stronger textures. The final track steps off into post-rock territory, with, for the first time, a downbeat strumming of plangent chords and a fuzzy background drone (provide, believe it or not, by a recording of 'silence' from a space shuttle mission, broadcast on the Web), which raises the spectre of My Bloody Valentine. Bliss with ballast. " - The Wire

Tracklisting:

1 Desirée (3:58)

2 Measurement Of Noise (6:27)

3 Quiet Mind (4:00)

4 Maersk Line (3:15)

5 Liberté (5:35)

6 Optical Flow (3:51)

7 Energy Nourish (5:15)

8 Hay Que Trabajo Me Cuesta Quererte Como Te Quiero (8:56)

9 We Are Getting Closer (3:57)

10 Mixed States Uncoded (5:00)

Link

Pan Sonic - Aaltopiiri

Label: Blast First

Released: 2001

Style: Abstract, Minimal, Ambient

"Probably my favourite of all the Pan Sonic albums, this showed a slight departure from their previous efforts. Instead of focussing mainly on distorted technoid beats and extreme sounds, Altopiiri interspersed the hypnotic analogue techno mainstays with gorgeous atmospheric compositions reflecting influences from early electronic composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Todd Dockstader. These tracks were all made without overdubs - live recordings pitched by Vaino and Väisänen in the studio and improvised as they went on. Listening through the tracks it is hard to hear how they managed such an accomplished finish by working in this way. Many artists never reach the heady peaks of tracks like 'Ensi' or 'Toisaalta' in a lifetime of output, and Pan Sonic manage it in one take. An incredible achievement in electronic music and an essential slice of history, this is an album you need in your collection, minimal or otherwise." - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Ensi (0:38)

2 Vaihtovirta (6:38)

3 Toisaalta (0:31)

4 Johdin (5:46)

5 Kuu (1:26)

6 Ããnipãã (3:49)

7 Arvio (1:24)

8 Liuos (6:16)

9 Ulottuvuus (5:58)

10 Hallapyydys (4:42)

11 Reuna-alue (9:30)

12 Valli (6:19)

13 Kone (4:20)

14 Johto 3 (3:48)

15 Murskaus (1:37)

16 Rasite (0:51)

17 Kierto (6:11)

Link

Svalastog - Woodwork

Label: Rune Grammofon

Released: 2006

Style: Abstract, Experimental, Ambient

"True story, as told by Per Henrik Svalastog himself: “I found an old Norwegian zither laying around my grandfather´s barn in the mountains. It appeared that he had been a fiddler before he lost all his fingers at the sawmill and convertet to become a hardcore pietist setting down a prohibition against music, dancing, card-playing and television. That made me want to convert as well, from digital medias to real playing. From electronica to folk music. Back to the sources. Heritage and environment.” So it goes that Per Henrik is playing and improvising on archaic folk instruments like the ram's horn and harpeleik, which is a Norwegian zither. He is then processing it all in the computer, resulting in a detailed and accomplished but soothing and quite hypnotic music. Taking the music out of the city and into the Norwegian woods, and not the arctic regions, as is the popular image if you come from Tromsø and is associated with electronic music. Per Henrik Svalastog is also a member of Information who released the excellent “Biomekano” (RCD2024) on Rune Grammofon in 2002. The previous year he did a stunning SPUNK remix for their “Filtered Through Friends” collection (RCD2022), a track that is also available on the “Until Human Voices Wake Us And We Drown” vinyl box set." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 The Wood Metal Friction (5:13)

2 Snow Tracer (6:24)

3 Reconnecting Joints (4:52)

4 Mouse Tracking (5:58)

5 Centerline Reminder (4:18)

6 Reforestation (4:27)

7 Cow Goat Goat (3:17)

8 Slow Blowing Wireless (3:59)

9 White Oak White Pine (3:47)

10 Rework And Out (3:10)

Link

Mark Van Hoen - Playing With Time

Label: Apollo

Released: 1998

Style: Abstract, Downtempo, Experimental, Ambient

"Fifth and best album of elegant electronica from the ex-Seefeel man.

From the breathy and mysterious opener Real Love to the marathon finale Love Is All, Playing With Time displays an impressive range of instrumentation and clever application of technology. Its 10 tracks draw on techno, trance and ambient influences without ever making you reach for the fast-forward button. There's even an extended Bobby Konders-style funky organ workout on Once When I Was Fourteen to stop the whole caboodle getting too airy and rootless. OK, Van Hoen occasionally gets a bit literal with the temporal allusions - music-box noises on Surrounder, clockwork cogs grinding away on Gifts And Prizes - but the results are so damn beautiful they take your breath away. Nine pieces of exquisitely crafted electronica set the scene and then Love Is All glides gracefully by and keeps the old-school ambient heads happy for 36 minutes. There's life in the old circuitry yet. Rob Chapman" - Mojo

Tracklisting:

1 Real Love (7:57)

2 Surrounder (3:15)

3 First Steps (4:18)

4 Closer Than We All Thought (3:42)

5 A More Light Past (2:58)

6 Once When I Was Fourteen (4:36)

7 Gifts And Prizes (4:13)

8 You And Me Inside (4:30)

9 When Tomorrow Comes (5:54)

10 Love Is All (4:45)

Link

Animal Hospital - Memory

Label: Barge Recordings

Released: 2009

Style: Abstract, Rock, Post-Rock, Experimental

"The people behind Brooklyn's Barge imprint have clearly spent the last six months trying to work out how to follow up last year's jaw-dropping "Baby, It's Cold Inside" album from the oddly monikered 'The Fun Years', one of the most satisfying and immersive releases of the year. Their response? Why they've only gone and produced this astonishing, multi-layered epic from Kevin Micka, aka Animal Hospital. "Memory" is a record that engages with familiar techniques and proceeds to completely f*ck with the programme. The album starts with a shimmering duet for music box and guitar, laying the foundations for what's to follow. Except things don't quite develop in the manner you might expect if you're into this sort of delicate, engrossing home listening, "His Belly Burst" is up next and slowly evolves from the sound of a mournful, solitary Cello (beautifully played by Jonah Sacks), to a rumbling, droney, sometimes distorted mass of sound that brings to mind the post-post-rock of, say, the Constellation label, or Mogwai's quiet/loud blueprints but with a completely unfamiliar backbone shaped by electronic, experimental and classical traditions. By the time "2nd Anniversary" sweeps in it becomes hard to really identify what sort of album you're listening to, finding yourself in the presence of distilled, affected guitar noises that lie somewhere between late, treated John Fahey and Neil Young's amazing soundtrack for the film "Dead Man" - the dissonance at once jarring and deeply moving. In turn, "A Safe Place" sounds like a cross between Oval, Tortoise, Mika Vainio and Radiohead, rearranging and rewiring human sounds inside reverberating bass and malfunctioning electronics before Micka's voice resonates through the sparse elements to ground the music in a deep, mournful clearing. Fuelled by coffee and heartache and recorded in an old bank, an antiquated movie theater lobby, and various apartments around Virginia and Cape Cod, It's left to the 17 minute title track to close the album with perhaps its most astonishing and heart-wrenching segement. The opening once again seems indebted to Tortoise, but the unusual, wordless vocal layering introduces entirely different dimensions. 8 minutes in and things become quietly colossal, merging sweeping strings, twangy, edgy drops with extraordinary arrangements that keep you at once transfixed and disturbed. And that's the thing about this amazing album - it has all these different, wildly incompatible ideas that somehow come together and merge into eachother, making use of electronic devices, shelves of effects, delay units, as well as shiny guitar tones, vocal washes, and dramatic build-ups that create a unique sound you're unlikely to come across again despite all the familiar elements squeezed in. It's the realisation of one man's messed up vision, held together by things that shouldnt work but somehow really do. Just awesome." - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Good Times (2:25)

2 His Belly Burst (17:31)

3 2nd Anniversary (4:28)

4 ...And Ever (12:33)

5 A Safe Place (4:43)

6 Nostalgia (1:42)

7 Memory (16:50)

Link

David Sylvian - Alchemy - An Index Of Possibilities

Label: Virgin

Released: 2003

Style: Abstract, Art Rock, Experimental, Ambient

"This newly compiled collection features the gorgeously ethereal Words With The Shamen mini album (recorded 1985) together with several rarities recorded during this period with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Also featuring the likes of Jon Hassell, Holger Czukay, Steve Jansen, Robert Fripp, etc., 'Alchemy An Index Of Possibilities' is yet further proof that David Sylvian's musical touch is as light and blessed as ever - taking you on a smoky journey through drifting territories that never once belies it was made over twenty years ago. Featuring the impossible to find 'Steel Cathedrals', this will serve as the perfect introduction or undeniable find to anyone's David Sylvian collection. Magic!" - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Words With The Shaman (Part 1 - Ancient Evening) (5:15)

2 Words With The Shaman (Part 2 - Incantation) (3:29)

3 Words With The Shaman (Part 3 - Awakening - Songs From The Tree Tops) (5:18)

4 Preparations For A Journey (3:40)

5 The Stigma Of Childhood (Kin) (8:30)

6 A Brief Conversation Ending In Divorce (3:31)

7 Steel Cathedrals (18:58)

Link

David Sylvian & Holger Czukay - Flux + Mutability

Label: Venture Records
Released: 1989
Style: Abstract, Experimental, Ambient

"David Sylvian and Holger Czukay are fairly eclectic and diverse musicians. In the European ambient scene, they are fixtures. Flux + Mutability is an album with two long-form compositions. "Flux" is "a big, bright, colorful world" and "Mutability" is "a new beginning...in the offing." These pieces are deep, expansive atmospheres with eerie samples and vacuous walls of sound. The second piece features only guitars, keyboards, and an African flute. The first piece has a much wider sound. It is a safe bet that it has the only ambient flugelhorn ever (by Markus Stockhausen). The real essence of this disc comes from the sound design, mixing, and processing. Sylvian and Czukay present this collection of atmospheres as a tight and cohesive soundscape. The gentle sway of the ambience is deep and comfortable. There are no dark overtones. Fans of Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Markus Reuter, and Liquid Mind will like this CD. It is an important selection for fans of electronic minimalism. " - Allmusic

Tracklisting:

1 Flux (A Big, Bright, Colourful World) (16:52)
2 Mutability ("A New Beginning Is In The Offing") (21:02)

Link

Kawabata Makoto - Hosanna Mantra

Label: Important Records
Released: 2007
Style: Abstract, Psychedelic Rock

"Guitarist, violinist, performer on numerous traditional instruments, composer, leader of the Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata Makoto expresses in this solo performance all his mantric cosmical vocations and spins them into space sonorities! He took inspiration from the Popol Vuh album of the seventies Hosianna Mantra, during his visit to A Silent Place headquarters in late Winter 2006. In a sunny Sunday noon spent in the country-side, eating and drinking Apulian specialities and listening to some great experimental records, Makoto and his Italian friends Pierpaolo and Pasquale, took the decision to start this cooperation. A few days later, back in Japan, Makoto recorded the Hosanna Mantra album at the Acid Mothers Temple between March 12th and 13th, using electric guitar, bouzouki and sitar. The result is this new fantastic sound coming from the cosmos. A simple gem of crystalline beauty." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Scarlet Phenomenon (20:11)
2 Hosanna Mantra (19:32)
3 Door Of Your Enigma (7:06)
4 You Are All Of My Love (7:10)

Link

Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.

Label: Kranky
Released: 2002
Style: House, Abstract, Indie Rock, Experimental, Disco

"Here it is, the first kranky release aimed at your ass as well as your head. Out Hud deliver the rhythm and the restraint; recalling the dry, brittle funk of early 80s UK post-punk, Sherwood’s beat-mashing across the On-U Sound catalog and even acid house and hip hop. The five piece doesn’t sound hopelessly retro or preciously muso. At the core is an airtight, energetic live band transformed in the mix into a pounding system with a wide melodic range." - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Story Of The Whole Thing (4:58)
2 Dad, There's A Little Phrase Called Too Much Information (7:30)
3 This Bum's Paid (5:04)
4 Hair Dude, You're Stepping On My Mystique (4:21)
5 The L Train Is A Swell Train And I Don't Want To Hear You Indies Complain (12:19)
6 "My Two Nads" (Dad Reprise) (4:43)

Link