Aquariusssssss from Los Angeles creative extraordinaire Carlos Niño and many of his musical colleagues was a shocking and exhilarating surprise from one of the labels we are drawn towards the most, Porter Records. The spiritual and glowing celestial atmosphere from song to song is outside of explanation and dives deep into a highly crafted state of studio mixing and a cultural diversity that leaves no major region of this world untouched.
With a pair of headphones, Aquariusssssss breathes unlike anything I have heard this year and something that is deeply close to what I really love about music. Featuring a plethora of visionaries who walk the same path as Carlos, the gravity of Aquariusssssss is indescribable.
The world of Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma is conjured in spirit with the presence of violinist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson in the waking moments of Aquariusssssss. Futuristic and organic, layers of some of the most breath taking textures of violin, guitar and synth expand on “Mezame (Awakening)”, the albums opener. Miguel is one of our favorite musicians and whenever he is on a record, we immediately seek it out. His inclusion into the opener of the album sets the tone into something so culturally rich and vibrant that it makes me naturally tune everything out that proceeded hearing it. The underlining synth roams in organic like procession and the lack of percussion allows the piece to really shine with all focal points on the melodies. It’s unreal when listening to this album with headphones as different layers move in different directions and the point of entry for every sound transforms constantly.
Sob Pop and Plug Research producer Dntel turns out a marvelous number with Carlos in the song “Shapeshift Of Uranus”. Psychedelic catacombs of beat creation rise up as a circling chasing wave of sonic weight under neath feels like it’s falling endlessly. Traces of piano and percussion keep the song intact while the remains of all matter around it are stretched to the limits. The music sounds like it was recorded live, under water, an effect I still can’t process how it was achieved. Daedelus makes an appearance as well, celebrating in musical fashion the closing of this album with the bonus song “Sparkling Arch Of Existence”. There is a juxtpozed flow of rhythm that dives in and out with an elegant early 20h century ballroom feel, giving this closing piece a dreamy and experimentally driven final call that breaths Los Angeles all over it.
Turn On The Sunlight gives one of the most unique collaborations on the album with “Sailing In Concentric Circles”. Acoustic folk that is drenched in a landscape of psychedelic remedies, this is the true musical representation of some of natures most extravagant natural gardens. The mix is very 3 dimensional with Tun On The Sunlight grounding it into an earth bound structure that unfolds over the beautiful acoustic guitar work. Carlos Niño included a song from the collective he is a part of Build An Ark and it was the piece on the album that has made it such a special part of my collection now. Any attempt to describe this song would be pointless and is something that defines why we do what we do here at SCV.
After the first few songs in Aquariusssssss, I knew I was in the midst of something far greater than I had ever imagined and something as deep as anything in my collection. To fall in love with music is a part of life I live for and Aquariusssssss has given me that breath of life all over again.
We are stuck in doors, in front of monitors, watching the outside from the inside, forever. Myself and Angelo Harmsworth dreaming into the void. – Good Amount
The mystery of music can reveal a picture so large that the definition, process, location and every other controlling mechanism of how the music is created can become endless. That state of infinity always becomes a part of my life when I am lucky enough to enter inside a body of work where preconception and any notion of what is or what shouldn’t be has no existence. All that exists is that eternal evolution and digression in tones and ultimately that calm before the storm in which all matter is about to explode before your ears and eyes. Holy Page Records has given me that reality with a batch of cassette tapes mailed to my house and with a tape in particular, HOUSE by Good Amount & Angelo Harmsworth. Housed in as mysterious of a package as the contents inside, HOUSE thunders in rain forests, Odd Nosdam and Dosh sequences of production and ethereal vocal work that makes the music as mystic, primitive and raw as it is futuristic and technology driven.
HOUSE builds in cascading waves of energy, pulsing in and out of dynamic swells and crashes but never going too extreme into one direction. The beginning of this tape slowly lurches in, with the faint distant sound of a field recording inside of a tropical forest. Location of this lush, rain forest state is unknown, only adding to the mystery and dark reasoning behind the album. An angelic and gospel like keyboard is always present sounds like a distant train horn approaching and layers itself on top of this field recording. Wavering in tone, the keys play on the minds intrigue, fueling the unknown realities even further. Vocals enter in with gentle force, causing a cyclone of ad lib sounds, not lyrics, to create visual gardens most music shuns away from after story lines become the focal point. Rising up and down, the vocal work is doubled up to achieve a beautiful harmony that allows the synth, guitar and other experimental sounds to rise in more emotional depth. The vocals almost act as a connecting bridge to the dynamic construction of this intro, removing the mystic, trance like aura and making the body of this album fully pronounced. Small interlocking synth parts are placed in such a subtle manner that you can miss many of their dancing phrases if your mind wanders along with it. The vocals sound youthful yet mystic, young yet full of wisdom and are the defining elements to the album for me.
HOUSE really breathes in cycles, retaining a shimmering aspect of the whole while giving room for added overtones and wailing compartments of unscripted soul that fall deeper and deeper into nothingness. To describe this tape in length would fill my mind with a labyrinth so large and so consuming, I’d write endlessly. To put it in short terms, this is a tape you have to check out if you love experimental music.
English born musician Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher unveils his new creation in Ufabulum with London’s Warp Records. More than a dozen full length albums and scores of ep’s and singles later and Squarepusher has come back full circle with Ufabulum, giving the world of ten tracks of classic Squarepusher electronica that will blast out speakers this month. As a technically devoted electronic experimentalist, Squarepusher has defined his own path and one that is so unique and technically demanding nobody has been able to trace his footsteps. 16th and 32nd note drum patterns take rapid flight inside of locked in gear like patterns while synthetic barrages of layers unfold, peeling back sheet after sheet. Ufabulum is a landing point into Squarepusher’s past and breaks away from his ground breaking live bass work to dive very deep into a complete make up of a futuristic music world built entirely on an electronic grid.
Ufabulum‘s opening piece “4001″ glides in right away with a glorious drum break reminiscent of early Aphex Twin. Dark and carnivorous in aura, there is an on edge feeling from the bouncing of metallic like percussion. When the song breaths and percussion falls out, a milky and dreamy swirl of synth showers through until the building up of percussion comes back. The synth keeps building as this opening piece flows through over six minutes of mind altering electronica. The evolution of an artist is always very important, but so are ones roots and already the album breaths of everything Squarepusher became recognized for. I always try to wrap my head around the labyrinth of sound that Squarepusher achieves and this album like any of his others, leaves me shattered when trying to process it all into a cohesive understanding. Electrifying and thrilling, Ufabulum is everything I hoped for in this period of Squarepusher’s career.
“Unreal Square” is a song that I latched onto right away. With an 8-bit intro that really makes it as playful as it is sleek and dark rhythmical, this is one of those songs I played on repeat for hours while writing for another project and a track I go back to a lot. The ending is euphoric when the time meter doubles up and the drum patterns sound like they are imploding inside of the machine in which is producing it. It’s unreal to think how tightly spaced each percussion and synth part is layered inside of one another, something that reveals its framework deeper and deeper the further my mind focuses in. Squarepusher has always made albums where the listener’s ear has to be as involved and locked in as the music coming at you. There’s not breaking loose from this one to answer a phone call if you are trying to hear how everything unfolds. As soon as “Unreal Square” feels like it’s about to completely separate from itself, the main melody comes back in to interject a balance. Squarepusher achieves that tight rope walk balance of an act as he pushes every song to an extreme before bringing it back to its center.
With the album relying on so much drum patterns and interlocking synth work, the piece “Red In Blue” is a breaking of this cycle and serves as the only song on Ufabulum without any drums whatsoever. Warm yet dark, this sounds like soundtrack music to a Rod Serling sci-fi creation and is the perfect launching pad for how explosive the next piece is, “The Metallurgist”.
“The Metallurgist” is by far my favorite piece on the album, breaking into form with a flight pattern that moves at light speed. The drifting synth that hangs over the rapid percussion is surreal and makes the piece as haunting as it is futuristic. These are the type of drum breaks that are impossible to play on a live drum set and they never loose position or a consistent flow forward. This is one of the darkest songs on the album and feels like it’s ripping dimensions a part, creating new matter in its rippling existence. I pace around my room in amazement as each sound evokes that how the hell did that just happen mind state and I become further entrapped into it’s dark beauty. “Drax 2″ feels like a smoothing out of the chaos that was “The Metallurgist”, riding on a really organic form of percussion and dark overtone work that gives it that omni present and more free feeling. “Drax 2″ is the kind of music that gangsters will be playing in their lowered flying vehicles come 2150.; oldies they’ll call it. I always wonder how this type of music will resonate with the masses come 100 years from now and I truly feel Ufabulum is the kind of album that will stand the test of time.
On Ufabulum, the indescribable music lineage of Squarepusher thrives yet again and the melodic and rhythmic foundations are just as striking, beautiful, forward thinking and poised as any release in his catalog. The inclusion of new gear, new technical proficiencies and a vestige of the past, present and future give Ufabulum that extra touch in which has kept Squarepusher so influential yet a sound nobody can copy, let alone come close to even touch.
A track by track break down from Squarepusher via Warp Records
Music always has an imaginary visual aspect for me, ranging from evocations of simple combinations of colours, through complex geometric arrangements to real-life scenes. This project is focused on allowing visual aspects to feed back to the music that I make and vice versa, in order to bind them as closely together as I can. I’ve only ever seen the point of using imagery when it is completely locked, both rhythmically and conceptually, to the music.
Track by track…
Track 1 — 4001 I was working on a visual representation of a large underwater structure that you could gradually start seeing bits of, but at no point would the whole thing be revealed. That image gave me the idea of a tidal wave of polyphony smashing over this submarine edifice. It was at this point that I realised I wanted to work in black and white, because the piece seemed so much more unreal and savage without colour gradations. Track 2 — Unreal Square I had made the image of a square outline morphing into a kind of circular saw with a vicious shining blade, rotating in two directions at once. At the same time I had been trying to make a bass sound that had the quality of being sharp enough to rip through concrete. I put it together with the circular saw and it was pretty nasty. I added the melody and it was transformed into a kind of industrial sea-shanty, which I’m sure I’ve never heard before.
Track 3 — Stadium Ice My main source of music as a kid was the radio and I’ve always been fascinated by how massive music sounds on FM broadcasts, to the point where I’ve bought the record but then gone back to listening to the radio tape because it sounded better. In my head I call it the “stadium sound.” I came up with the main theme in the chorus which is actually a processed vocal, and it made me think of a continually dissolving and reforming Greek ampitheatre. So I developed the visual aspect to represent a perpetually regenerating ancient stadium, built in stone.
Track 4 — Energy Wizard Arpeggios often remind me of bacteria, and you could certainly call them a disease in some kinds of music. In this piece I was working on a bassline featuring these whirling arpeggios and I decided to try to generate images that were akin to strobe flashes under a microscope lens where some sort of strange bacteria were proliferating at an alarming rate.
Jazzman Records has put together a second, otherworldly compilation spilling with incredible influences brought together in Europe during the 60’s and late 70’s: Spiritual Jazz 2: Europe. Who could imagine that Choir had such a wonderful place within Jazz? Not to mention the uncanny amount of Moroccan influence and not only in the percussion but in the seemingly endless progressions of scales used throughout the recorded performances.
To picture this music in juxtaposition to 60’s and 70’s in the United States is unpredictably understandable. The idea and craving for freedom is very present. The free form waves used throughout, the saxophones that spill emotions never spelled out with letters but balanced so much more adequately with music make for a moving compilation. At times relaxing, at other times challenging, this compilation embellishes the essence of what Jazz music is.
Not because this is classical jazz, but rather, because of the idea of jazz itself. To me, jazz has always been something free, something that has no beginning and has no end. Jazz is almost literally feeling the other participants and embarking on a journey. Jazz, in essence, has never been afraid. This compilation is nothing short of fearless.
Take “Temple Dancer”, a track that clearly showcases the awesome amount of traditional Arabic influence within the record: Spain should be thankful. This track is one of my favorites, especially considering that it is a live performance, one that was captured perfectly. Once “Temple Dancer” ends, another one of my favorite tracks begins.
“Archangelo” indisputably reminds me of French progressive Avant-garde band Magma. The mixture of Choir with free form Jazz along with Moroccan roots gives for an amazing assortment of tastes that dance around the musical pallet. The structure of the choir along with the doom-like melody are immediately overtaken by alley-cat jazz that takes the listener from larger than life awe to swaying down a European street tossing around smoke from the end of a cigarette.
This compilation is one I will be returning to quite frequently since it has so much mixing and mashing going on. It isn’t something to be missed and certainly something to be compiled. Thank you Jazzman Records for this heady, worldly trip through Spiritual Jazz.
Multi-instrumentalist Omar Rodriguez Lopez of The Mars Volta is back with yet another solo album, Un Corazón De Nadie. Released today on his own label Rodriguez Lopez Productions and the LA based imprint Sargent House, this album is an unexplainable ride of ten tracks saturated in heavy elements of electronics. Metallic rhythms, small traces of recognizable guitar and hallucinogenic synth and vocal work, Omar Rodriguez Lopez and his colleagues take a subversive dive into extreme states of illumination and darkness on Un Corazón De Nadie. Electronic in body, young in spirit and something otherworldly in the aftermath, haunting melodies and snake like movement becomes the focal point, not overpowering sequences of note configurations. I pictured a haunted mirrored house when first hearing many of these pieces, with siren esk sounds that fluctuate in breathing like patterns. The drum and percussive elements are surprisingly ridged yet have that fluid and glossy feeling that the tools of today are giving electronic drums.
I can’t help but think of many modern electronic producers when hearing Un Corazón De Nadie, something of an evolutionary step when analyzing the solo heavy guitar music that has dominated the career of Omar Rodriguez Lopez. Half way into the album and the ride changes drastically with “Colmillo”. With this piece, I feel like I got zapped inside of a game of Tetris gone wild with flying blocks coming at me and the walls around me shattering as they stack together. Bass rides out like a early 90′s deep house song and as soon as this equation becomes restless and overdone, a really heightening synth line comes forth and moves the piece to a harmonious reshaping of its former self. Rolling and almost tribal sounding deep bass and percussion tower inside of the electronic style synth that is reminiscent of old sci-fi shows. There’s not many artists who can utilize this much dissonance and achieve this much power and connectedness inside their compositions but Omar Rodriguez Lopez pulls it off time after time. My favorite piece has to be the song “Hez”, with a rustic drum pattern that centers around synthesizers moving in the dark like fire fly’s. There is a very pure and light filled sound here and it is a much needed breathing point from how dark the record is overall. Minimal piano is the defining element that drifts the song into an abundant state of happiness.
If you are a fan of Dalek, Dose One, Mike Patton and any other shape shifting musical genius, you’ll love the state of kaleidoscopic foundations into electronic dynamics and incendiary grafted composition work that makes Un Corazón De Nadie an indescribable album.
Numero Group has set out to make a wonderful classic soul compilation: Eccentric Soul A Red Black and Green Production. It is a compilation of 19 fundamental soul songs that Numero calls “The ultimate fantasy low-rider soul collection.”
8 different soul groups playing soul classics on original recordings. The quality of the recordings is something that only analog can do. The sensual wah-wah, the simplistic, melodic noodling all followed by funky drum bits biting up in between low-rider bass lines and singing that tears hearts out. The similarities between artists like “The Exceptions” and “Summits” to today’s modern world R&B are immediately recognizable.
All of the compilation was tracked in Silver Spring, Maryland Studio, same place as the great Gil Scott-Heron. These tracks resonate not only true soul, but a mixture of different harmonies that at times come off more funk, pre-disco and on others more like ballads. The one thing that is constant is the purity that rings in the voices of the singers who present their love-life situations behind popping drum sets. The soul carried in these songs transports the listener into neon nightclubs and back to white picket fences homes. It is something easily recognizable yet completely new. The track “Town Called Nowhere” has one of the most infectious guitar melodies I have heard in a while. The strumming against the soft reverb and clean tone make for a wonderful dance number. All of the songs have the same honesty that hip hop carries with its sword swinging poetry. But neither the passion nor the melody nor the musicianship is what impressed me the most. The recordings of these timeless, underrated relics are honest totems to demonstrate the power of analog in soul music. The raw nature of the voices, the string arrangements and fluid, rhythmic guitars are absolutely astonishing. The way they have been captured on record, the way they were written demonstrates mastermind abilities in and outside of the studio.
Numero has also included a 12 page booklet explaining the origins of such pieces as well as photographs of the people behind the Soul that is, indeed, sensually eccentric. For anyone seeking near perfect soul jams, this is the place to look.
Les Cousin Music has compiled a dazzling and eccentric treat from the influential British guitarist, Davy Graham. Davy’s work is something unparalleled in the world of guitar playing. His pioneering abilities and unorthodox methods have provided influence to the world of not only folk but rock and world music as well. Every song on the anthology, from “Southbound Train” to “New Junkies Blues” toss the listener into a whirlpool of gorgeous tastes and scents. The reel-to-reel version of Anji (his most recognized piece) is sublime. His style, although very much his, changes so rapidly that one can forget that it is the same guitarist.
The entire anthology gives the feeling of a long and epic voyage through the notes of music and travel. You are literally transported to all of the areas that Davy Graham explored, loved and grew enamored with. His love of the guitar and music gave way to his incredible guitar style. It birthed an entirely different beast that influenced many- from Jimmy Page to Ray Davies. His work ranged much like his free forming life.
This rare collection isn’t focused on capturing Davy’s most popular moments, but rather, his virtuoso ability of transcending musical time and bringing together world cultures to capture the essence and magic of the liquid-like guitar player. This anthology is a true treat to fans and newcomers of Davy Graham. His deep seeded knowledge of not only music but life experience ring out on every note. His pain and his joy snap on every chord, causing wave after wave of emotional awe. On “Blues Raga”, Graham dives deep into World and even Progressive music. His timings although complex are something incomparably natural if not freakishly fluid. It almost seems as if the song is writing itself out without Davy’s consent, as if his fingers are truly haunted whirling dervishes flinging themselves through India and back to Britain. Les Cousin Music have brought together a diverse, rare and incomparably enjoyable experience for those willing to travel along Graham’s influential road of life.
Often sited as one of the greatest guitarists Britain has ever known, in this anthology, Davy Graham proves these titles to be true – even if he himself discouraged such titles and recognition. His truth, his almost shamanistic approach to music is something to be admired and followed. Davy serves as a beacon for those seeking true talent, both technically as well as emotionally. This anthology is nothing short of incredible and will leave any listener in awe of Davy Graham’s legendary expressions.
-Xavier Vilapana
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Guitarist Davy Graham playing Cry Me A River, as captured in a 1959 BBC documentary directed by Ken Russell on the rise in popularity of the guitar in Britain.
Davy Graham – Anthology Les Cousins Music – LC016
CD1 – 1961 – 1963
01. Southbound Train
02. Here Comes the Carnival
03. Hallelujah I Love Her So
04. Take Five
05. Careless Love
06. Anji (1961)
07. Saturday Night Shuffle
08. Fannin Street
09. How Long
10. Hey Bud Blues
11. Geno’s Tune
12. Broonzy Stomp
13. Fingerbuster
14. Worksong
15. Guitar Shuffle/House Party Starting
16. She Moved Through The Fair
17. Mustapha
CD2 – 1965 – 1970
18. Better Git IN Your Soul
19. Davy’s Train Blues
20. Sermonette
21. Maajun
22. I’m Ready (Live)
23. Rock Me Baby
24. Neighbour, Neighbour
25. Louisiana Blues
26. Freight Train
27. Anji
28. Anji’s Greek Cousin
29. Blues Raga
30. When Did You Leave Heaven?
31. Bruton Town
32. Tristano
33. Rock Me
34. Good Morning Blues
35. Hornpipe for a Harpsichord
36. How Come You Love me Like you do?
CD3 – 1970 – 2007
37. The Gold Ring
38. Happy Meeting In Glory
39. Blue Bossa
40. DeVisee Suite
41. All of Me
42. Sita Ram
43. Hessamalo
44. For a Princess
45. Mevlut
46. City and Surburban Blues
47. Jenra
48. Down The Back Lane
49. Forty Tonne Parachute
50. The Preacher
51. Jubilation
52. Rumores De La Caleta
53. Capricho Arabe
54. New Junkies Blues
Will ‘Quantic’ Holland is a deeply rooted musician in one of the most special areas of this world for sound: Colombia. This is the origin of cumbia and Will’s studio band Los Miticos Del Ritmo has achieved one of the most authentic modern cumbia sounds I have ever heard with the release of their self titled debut. Strapped with his accordion and some of the best musicians of Colombia, Los Miticos Del Ritmo runs through unlikely sources of covers that are as raw and authentic sounding as the many original numbers present. It’s unreal how much of a time portal this is into the foundations of analog recorded cumbia. Will ‘Quantic’ Holland might be the only person alive who could have constructed the circumstances that brought this album to Soundway Records. Cumbia!
-Erik Otis
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From the sweltering tropical depths of Cali, Colombia Will ‘Quantic’ Holland’s studio band Los Miticos Del Ritmo (The Mythics of Rhythm) return with an album of hip shaking, dancefloor quaking instrumental cumbias. Released on CD, LP and download on the 30th April. The LP is 100% analogue and comes with an original screen-printed front cover designed by the London based artist Lewis Heriz.
Assembled using vallenato and cumbia musicians living in Cali, Los Miticos del Ritmo are a 7 piece studio band put together by British musician, producer and now Colombian resident Will ‘Quantic’ Holland.
Covers of Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop’, The Abyssinians reggae classic ‘Satta Massagana’ and Gildardo Montoya’s ‘Fabiola’ (as featured on Soundway’s ‘The Original Sound of Cumbia’ sit along side original cumbias on this feel good, house party cumbia LP.
Recorded in Will’s home studio in Cali, his approach was to produce an album with the aesthetics of 1960s tropical recordings made in Colombia and the Caribbean. Careful attention made to preserve the analogue quality of the recording at every stage.
‘The idea of the record was to record something that sounded like a lost cumbia classic,’ said Will in a recent interview with Soundway ‘Like something dug out of a Barranquilla basement after decades of humidity and dust. In a modern climate of mashups and sampling, it seemed refreshing to record something with musicians doing covers and approaching new ideas for cumbia, rather than rehashing old tricks.’ [...]
British pianist, composer and electronics specialist Daphne Oram is next up in our comprehensive outlook on the foundations of electronic music. As the founder of BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop in 1958, this was ground zero for many innovations and foundations of radio music and sounds. Her work would be the catalyst in which would set the standard for BBC for decades and she only spent a very short time there. It was in 1959 when she crossed the pond and created her own lab of sonic creation in the Oramics Studios for Electronic Composition in Tower Folly. Located in Kentucky, this was in my mind an unlikely place for such an expansive and innovative body of works. With the safe keeping of over 400 tapes from this studio, the travel they must have taken to get to their new archival home in London must have been one of the highest intrigue.
It was at Oramics Studios for Electronic Composition that Daphe Oram would be commissioned for some of her most well know film, tv show and radio work. The under belly of this exponential period of Oram’s career is revealed in The Daphne Oram Tapes: Volume One on the imprint Young Americans and reveals the darker more experimental side of her worlds. Over 50 years in the making now, Daphne Oram is given the double CD treatment, collecting many of her sonic innovations that have never been heard outside of small circles. Her Oramics machine was already highly respected by the 60′s and this two disc collection maps out in the most detail possible, many of her musings with this system of creation and the vast body of tools she utilized to achieve the understanding of sound she acquired.
With the moments collected on both discs that were directly written for film, the music becomes very enlightened and reveals the heavy influence of experimental composers pre-60′s that Oram studied and respected so much. These are my favorite moments in the collection and really highlight some who could have made as many records as her contemporaries. The barrier’s are obvious but it is now that an entity far ahead of her time has finally caught up. It’s hard to define how important a release like this truly is as the entire foundation of electronic music has become a reality of how far individuals like Oram pushed their ideas and imagination. The packaging is incredible on The Daphne Oram Tapes: Volume One, something you’d expect considering how far these tapes traveled to be put into print this year.
-Erik Otis
Deluxe quadruple vinyl comes in a gatefold edition, including 46 previously unheard recordings from the founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, remastered and cut at D&M in Berlin
Oram’s [oramics] composition machine consisted of a large rectangular metal frame, providing a table-like surface traversed by ten synchronised strips of clear, sprocketed 35mm film. The musician drew shapes on the film to create a mask, which modulated the light received by photocells. Although the output from the machine was monophonic, the sounds could be added to multitrack tapes to provide more texture. – Wikipedia
If you have been following Ipecac Recordings for the last few years, there is no question Dave Lombardo is a house hold name for prolific drummers and percussionist. It is this year that he has started what is possibly my favorite band he is in, PHILM. Mike Patton’s Ipecac Recordings is the label who will launch this group into the world and their first outing, Harmonic, is one mind altering ride. Consisting of Civil Defiance guitarist/vocalist Gerry Nestler, Slayer and Fantomas drum extraordinaire Dave Lombardo and the current bassist/vocalist of the highly influential group War, Pancho Tomaselli, PHILM stretch out into a multitude of styles that range from metal, and grunge to improvisatory realms of jazz and prog rock and stir up a brew that falls everywhere in between.
On Harmonic, the bass is mixed very much into the front, highlighting a lot of the higher tones the bass resonates at. The guitar lines are really explosive and when the music molds into something of experimentation or minimalism in weight, Gerry Bestler’s parts transform in perfect response. On a few of the numbers, Gerry Nestler plays some really passionate guitar solo’s, sounding like electric blues, progressive rock and jazz that is as much a part of now as it is in that rich musical era of the 60′s and 70′s.
Harmonic is a really nice pathway into the love of dynamics and the scope of sound achievable through different sonic frameworks. Jumping from Slayer and Helmet power charged moments that leap further back into the past with the jazz rock fusion of Soft Machine and the symphonic blue prog of Pink Floyd, this is one of the most diverse, dynamic and introspective records I have heard with a trio format this year. Dave Lombardo has already shown a multitude of styles and abilities in Slayer, Fantomas and many other groups and it feels like Harmonic culminates everything from his past and present into one assimilated body of work.
“When people hear about my involvement in PHILM, they automatically assume that it will compare to Slayer’s sound,” explains Lombardo. “They couldn’t be more different. I have scaled down my drum set to a four-piece, reminiscent of the drummers from the late ’60s that influenced me. Each song is unique in itself, I like to refer to it as ‘rhythmic emotion.” It’s almost like taking all the heavy songs of the ’60s and bringing that era to a modern plateau, then blending them with the modern trance and psychedelic sounds of today.”
“We decided to record Harmonic in the intimate setting of a home, with various vintage recording equipment. ” says Lombardo on the band’s debut album. “The music was written collectively in an improvisational manner, unlike the majority of recordings I’ve done before. This was very important given this is my first recording where I’m carrying the title of Producer and performer. The album achieves a dense, unholy convergence of tones and discords. We also touch on haunting, desolate, ambient sounds. Our music tends to be written in a manner where we never know the outcome until we listen back to what we recorded. A Harmonic journey.”
Eight years out of releasing new material and New York’s Turing Machine are back with another full length What Is The Meaning of What?. As their first release on the Temporary Residence Ltd, this album contains seven songs that show some of the heaviest nods to the 80′s. What Is The Meaning of What? is an album that borderlines the groove derived sensation of rhythms found in !!! and the sonic variety of guitar sheets and synth from a group like Battles. “If It’s Gone (It’s On)” and the self titled piece on the album exemplifies this up beat fusion the most, with never ending drum grooves, wavering synth bass lines and soaring guitar lines that never let up. Krautrock pioneers Can make an audible influence as well, shaping elements together most wouldn’t approach and consider divided and unsharable.
Turing Machine brings it all to the now with a raw punk aesthetic that underlines the unrestrained guitar tones and the electro anthems of the drum work . After the departure of drummer Jerry Fuchs from this world during the making of this record, the band took the tracks he had recorded and some four years ago later has finished the album that he would ultimately never see complete. His beats canvas this album in a way that makes it very electronic, regardless of how experimental the guitar and synth becomes.
What is really interesting about What Is The Meaning of What? is how subversive the album slithers into state with the succession of each track. With the album displaying a strong electro outfit on the albums opener “Yeah, C’mon!”, by the time you get to the ending piece “Bovina 2/23/08″, the full weight of the 70′s krautrock world is unhinged and at full speed. The track “Sex Ghost” is a really interesting and percussive-less diversion to the album and lands at a nice resting point in the middle of the album to catch your breath from how much this album compels you to dance. Blanketed in deep atmospheric resonance and color, you’d think Tangerine Dream had made a stop on the session for “Sex Ghost” with how animated this atonal sequence becomes.
Turing Machine’s What Is The Meaning of What? is a phenomenal album from the fine people at Temporary Residence Ltd. and a record we can’t stop dancing too.
-Erik Otis
Turing Machine What Is The Meaning of What? Temporary Residence Lid.
Tone scientist and theremin specialist Pamelia Kurstin joined with the prolific and one of King Crimsons drummer, Pat Mastelotto for an LP I had no clue existed until today. This is kind of an unusual post for us today as we normally stick with albums releases from the current year or last, but this album was too heavy on contact to pass up for review. Tunisia is the pairing of these two sonic mavericks and was released in 2008, two years before we started SCV.
Tunisia is built around a collage of sounds from Pamelia Kurstin all too unreal that rotate in spheres along the percussively explosive and restrained paths of Pat Mastelotto. Tunisia is based off exploration as much as it is a very linear and rhythmic approach. Duality surfaces on every piece with Kurstin moving the atmosphere of the music into territories that could easily sit along side all the work Mastelotto completed with King Crimson. Kurtsin has been dubbed one of the best theremin performers in the world and her work with Robert Moog, Barbez and so many others really makes this album something special. you hear the raw essence and flow that has made her so unique with her instrument. Mastelotto is the icing on the cake, pushing the drums into regions of progressive rock, jazz and electronic experimentalism rarely seen inside of such majestic and beautiful tones Pamelia Kurstin brings to every piece. If you happen to read this Kurstin, I still remember out conversations about temporal lobe epilepsy. It has been a long time, hasn’t it?
-Erik Otis
I Am A House Pet
The Use Of Black
The Flower That Never Bloomed
Our Green Adventure
Annunciation Of An Angel
Waiting At The Window
I’ll Have Another…That’s Enough For Now
Generated Divinity (Medenine Ghorfas)
Seven Tears
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The world’s greatest living Theremin player Pamelia Kurstin creates sonic adventures in progressive psychedelia with Producer Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson.
Released 11 November 2008 p@ – drums, keys, programing, production Pamelia Kurstin – Theremin, Bass, Keys Photography and design of the first album by the music project Tunisia, formed by Pamelia Kurstin and Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Tuner, KTU…). All the images taken in the African country of Tunisia.
esp — Dirección de arte, fotografía y diseño del primer disco del proyecto Tunisia, formado por Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Tuner, KTU…) y Pamelia Kurstin. Fotografías tomadas en Túnez
Sound Colour Vibration covers a wide variety of genres past and present and will continue to bridge the many cultures of music, film and art. SCV is a vehicle to present these three mediums of art as one collective window that shows the creative evolution of the human race in modern times. We cover timeless art, film and music, not just what's in or what record sales dictate. Our site includes interviews, album and film reviews, online art gallery, streaming music podcast series and much more. We are also known as SACVS (Sound and Colour Vibration Society). Learn more about the different areas that represent Sound Colour Vibration HERE
Read an exclusive interview with Sound Colour Vibration's Erik Otis for the Plastic Water e-Zine: Plastic Water Volume 3
Hour long mixes with music from all over the globe and from many different time periods. Our mixes contain no commercials or a host and are compiled from the depths of our collections. Expect the unexpected.
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Can you write ten good blog posts a month for art, film, music, culinary or technology? If yes, contact me. We are right around the corner from really making this as successful in terms of the financial game as we are with the expansion of our readership month by month. We are looking for 2-3 paragraphs per article. We have a ton of series and places for you to concentrate your writing. We are not looking to give you content to write about, we are looking for you to bring it on the levels our inner staff has been. Contact us if you can generate your own leads and bring your own identity to add to the cultural bridge known as Sound Colour Vibration / soundandcolourvibrationsociety@gmail.com
Aquariusssssss from Los Angeles creative extraordinaire Carlos Niño and many of his musical colleagues was a shocking and exhilarating surprise from one of the labels we are drawn towards the most, Porter Records. The spiritual and glowing celestial atmosphere from song to song is outside of explanation and dives deep into a highly crafted state of studio mixing and a cultural diversity that leaves no major region of this world untouched.
