Thrill Jockey Listening to In Free Fall, Maya Shenfeld‘s album of slow-moving and stately processions, it feels a little like visiting a gallery full of huge, abstract artwork or watching somebody gently unfurl a series of enormous flags. Everything unfolds at a pace that gives opportunity to be totally immersed in the evolution of each piece.
Mr Olivetti
901 posts
Discus The latest eclectic release from Bo Meson finds him teaming up with other Discus luminaries to re-imagine the life and possible success of Dylan Thomas through words and soundscapes, using the opportunity to shine a light on what might have been in an alternate universe.
Rednetic Regular Rednetic recording artist Zainetica is back with another album-length dose of his progressive synth-based hymns to modernity; the subtle, scuffling beats and the warm sense of movement evincing a sweetness and sleekness that leaves contemporaries trailing in his sky blue wake. There is the feeling of a whole new language, a revision of electronic beat-driven music with the dust and grime of our current existence swept […]
Empty Birdcage Regular improv collaborators Daniel Thompson and Colin Webster have released this live set from September 2020 to give the uninitiated a glimpse of their playing relationship and the way that differing viewpoints lead to surprising interactions, veering from placid waves to more frustrated and awkward splashes.
(self-released) This Comet Of Any Substance release, Full of Seeds, Bursting With Its Own Corrections — which can perhaps be described as an EP due to its short running time — has the greatest air of mystery about it. There is something disorientating about the woozy instrumentation that flickers and drones, worn out from intergalactic travels. You can see them rushing past, but we are static, waving from […]
Discus For French singer Carla Diratz‘s latest album, she has enlisted two of the Discus family to conjure some surprisingly diverse soundscapes for her smoky, timeworn vocalising. Both Martin Archer and Nick Robinson are hardy veterans, capable of providing the perfect backdrops and these veer from the gentlest of piano laments to forceful, driven, post-prog whirlwinds. In fact, the opening two tracks show the full range of their […]
Constellation When the first Light Conductor album was released, I remember considering that it would be a suitable one-off experiment and that an attempt by Jace Lasek and Stephen Ramsay to follow it might be folly; but I am really pleased to say on the strength of Sequence Two, it was a wise decision as there is much more ground for them to cover. This time, spread over […]
Constellation As with many artists, the genesis of Jessica Moss‘s fourth album occurred during lockdown and it acted as a means of working her way through the enforced isolation. Judging by her previous offerings, the sense of remove and the overwhelming melancholy is something to which her violin sound is suited; but on Phosphenes, it is as if the bar were raised and the immersive sensations of solitude […]
Geophonic The packaging for the latest Aperus release is a thing of beauty, containing a number of glorious weather photographs selected at random from Brian McWilliam‘s well-curated archive. Thankfully, the sounds contained within live up to this lush presentation, channelling the spirit of Covid as well as the New Mexico mountain fires which were delivering smoke to Brian’s back door. As you can imagine, these disturbing events have […]
One Little Independent Not only did Poppy Ackroyd have to contend with Covid around the writing of her fourth album, but the birth of her first child also coincided with the process. As you can perhaps imagine, on the strength of that, the album runs through a full range of emotions from thrill and ebullience to concern and introspection. Although the album is solely piano based, using the […]
Zonedog For Under Triple Suns, Jan Gleichmar‘s Disrupt finds itself abandoned far from home, heading through the upper atmosphere, stretching and randomly steering through the sparsely lit sky amidst the rumble and flash of multitudes of unseen objects. The sound of freefalling against the background drone that opens the album contains a sense of helplessness. A voice appears telling us that “you have suffered minor head trauma” and […]
Discus Jan Todd‘s third outing as Frostlake finds her appearance as part of The Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere lending a warmer and more open feel to this double-length collection when compared to the icier, more dramatic Ice And Bone from 2019. There is a lightness and an airiness to her voice this time around that brings to mind the first shoots of spring bringing to an end the […]
Honest House I really miss the heyday of the kind of muscular, sinuous post-rock that was plied by the lies of Shipping News and June Of 44. Thankfully for me, the twin bass guitar-led Delwood have stepped into the frame and their first outing is a real winner. The idea of two bass guitars has me thinking firstly of Rothko and then of Girls Against Boys, but Delwood […]
Crammed Discs The latest Aquaserge release is yet another unique addition to their intriguing canon of work. Expanding the band to a nine-piece here, they have drawn inspiration from four contemporary classical composers; but rather than retreading those steps, they have chosen to expand on the original ideas, tailoring them to suit their own sound in its inimitable glory and reflect something modern back to the mid-twentieth century.
One Little Independent The latest album from Scottish inventor and sound artist Lomond Campbell tips a hat to fellow tape loop enthusiasts William Basinski and Steve Reich, but goes one step further by actually engineering the machinery himself. It involves some complicated device which includes tape loops, a rotating magnetic disc and a couple of eccentric cams that ensure that every second of the soundscapes presented here is […]
Constellation Judging from the artwork of the latest Jerusalem In My Heart album and the fact that Qalaq is explained as feeling of deep worry, the state of play in the Middle East is a constant concern to Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. The renowned soundscaper and producer has managed to use this album as a representation of the tension that prevails in the region, yet also shows the beauty that […]
Discus Martin Archer is once again proving himself one of the hardest-working people in music with two very different collaborations in quick succession. It seems that every other release that comes from Discus involves his playing, but there is always an extraordinary diversity in styles and sounds. The latest albums here from avant-rock / prog jazz trio Das Rad and an improv duo with guitarist and old friend […]
One Little Independent With their second album, AVAWAVES, the duo of Aisling Brouwer and Anna Phoebe, found themselves stranded far from one another during the enforced partition of lockdown, but still with a burning desire to collaborate on new music. The synchronicity of their ideas and sounds is in no way affected by the isolation and if anything, there is a sense of longing that plays throughout Chrysalis […]