Jonsi & Alex – “Stokkseyri”
Riceboy Sleeps
A rich, contemplative soundscape that manages to faultlessly merge digital and organic tones. Perhaps closest to Sigur Ros’s ( ), but more subdued and blue-grey. (insound)
The first among elegances is idleness.
Les Miserables
Fata morgana
Fata Morgana is a type of mirage that occurs when a layer of cold air bends light downwards, creating a superior-image effect and making it look as though what is below one’s line of sight is actually above it. The name is derived from the superstition that Morgan Le Fey created illusionary castles at sea with which to seduce sailors. More information here and here. (The images above are extremely inaccurate)
Olivia Tremor Control – “Holiday Surprise”
Dusk At Cubist Castle
Despite their sound being more ether-soaked psychedelia on this record than the sharp, more abstract Black Foliage, OTC were plenty ambitious with this album. With multiple multiple-part tracks and an entire optional “background” track on a separate CD, this was straight up concept work. But with solid songwriting and an sound that changes so often you can’t help but pay attention, you can take the concept or leave it and it’s still a great record.
Leaving TechCrunch
(this is a personal announcement, please ignore if we are unacquainted)
In 2007, I was talking with a friend of mine who had recently been hired to write about gadgets and such part-time. It was for a site I hadn’t heard of, CrunchGear, and as there were many such sites at the time, I didn’t think much about it. But I had been doing music reviews on my old blog, Robosexual, for about two years, and thought maybe I could get a little pickup work doing something I was becoming familiar with: writing.
Move forward a year or so, and lo, there I was, quitting my real-life steady job at the beginning of a recession on a bet that my new blogging gig might pan out. Luckily, it did, and for about four years now I’ve been an actual full-time writer at TechCrunch, putting words one after another to form sentences and paragraphs. I’ve written and written, through hard times both in the world and at the site. CrunchGear is gone, as are most of the people who were working at the company when I started.
I’ll be gone too shortly: I’m moving over to MSNBC to write for the blog network there. If you want to know the totality of my reason for moving, it is this: I feel like it. TechCrunch has been great, and it’s recovering from a rough year to become better than ever. I’m not leaving because of any petty industry drama or rarefied principle. This is just an interesting opportunity to shake up my world a little bit and I’m ready to take it. I’ll still be contributing at TechCrunch, so I won’t disappear altogether.
I would like to thank my current employers at whatever company employs me – TechCruch, the Huffington Post Media Group, Aol, AOL, America Online, or whatever you please. Thanks also to my colleagues at TechCrunch today – I’m happy to have been able to work with all of you, and I hope to see you again soon. And a special thank you and congratulations to the original and extended CrunchGear team which formed my first online working group. All of you know who you are, all of you are doing well, and I sincerely hope to work or at least pretend to work with all of you again.
That’s all. The last few years have been interesting, valuable, and important to me. I have made friends for life and developed skills that may support me for a lifetime.
Autechre – “krYlon”
Oversteps
At first, I thought claims Autechre had gone melodic on this album were overstated. Then this and the final track cashed that check but good. It’s their most beautiful and accessible work since LP5’s “Rae,” combining some of that album’s glitch-outs with harmonies as much Frost as they are Tri Repetae. And the 10-minute closer, “Yuop,” channels (if you can believe it) Stars of the Lid more than anything, all zen bowls, strings, and eerie majesty. Oversteps does have the usual Autechre weirdness, but parts are powerful and the last two tracks are simply stunning.