Phantogram – “Make a Fist”
Nightlife
Somehow combines the mystical, rhythmic insight of Gang Gang Dance with the best aspects of today’s electropop. Every buzz, echo, tomtom, and break in this song is placed with extreme care and precision, manifesting in unremitting urgency and variation. (insound)
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – “100/0 (Snowdays forever)”
Autumn, again
The last track on this album epitomizes it well, and is perhaps also the best one, assembling a truly broad assemblage of tones and instruments into a cohesive and powerful whole. The bass is great, the keyboards sharp, the random synths, echoes, and breaks well-placed. They also successfully make a minor key upbeat and ebullient. Still, their “klangy” noise-pop isn’t for everyone. (insound)
Nico Muhly and Nadia Sirota – “Part I: Material In D”
Drones & Viola
Part of a series of short contemporary chamber music EPs by Muhly and collaborators, this track is perhaps the most listenable (some of the pieces are a little— bangy), yet is also fundamentally elusive. The “drone” aspect acquires different tones throughout the piece despite remaining in essentially the same key, causing an interesting tension: Are the ever-present strings or the itinerant piano driving the melody? (insound)
Mojave 3 – “My Life In Art”
Excuses For Travelers
Mojave 3 may be cuddling music, but that doesn’t mean their solid songwriting can’t be acknowledged. This classic album has more than a couple tracks I’ve been whistling for years, but “My Life In Art” is the low-key, porch-sitting, significant-other-squeezing centerpiece.
Lake Trout – “Look Who It Is”
Another One Lost
An ominous, Lynchian instrumental that seems at odds with the rest of the album, which is energetic but uneven. Really impressive second half, channeling Angelo Badalamenti’s “Go Get Some” from the Mulholland Drive soundtrack.
Juno – “The Great Salt Lake”
This Is the Way It Goes & Goes & Goes
I missed out on Juno when they were a Seattle band, though I had their split with Dismemberment Plan and later taught Travis’s daughter at preschool for a couple years. It seems they helped lay the foundation for later indie rock bands, and present a sort of middle ground between earlier alternative bands and post-punk stuff, like The Wrens mixed with Built To Spill, if that makes any sense. This track is not representative of the album at all, but is too good not to share with anyone who likes atmospheric rock and hasn’t already encountered Juno. (insound)
The Wind-Up Bird – “Violin & Trumpet”
Conduction, Convection, Radiation
This excellent (but rather somber) split between 1 Mile North, Colophon, and The Wind-Up Bird has a number of great, near-ambient tracks. 1 Mile North’s “Ashes & Dust,” with its spare piano and texture, is a departure from their usual guitar noodlings, and Colophon’s contributions acquire perhaps too much poignancy once you know their context (probably better not to learn). But it’s The Wind-Up Bird’s tracks, shimmery and otherworldly, that stand out most to me — this one in particular. (insound)
Fredrik – “Black Fur”
Na Na Ni
A rhythmic and harmonic little anthem. I keep thinking I remember how it sounds, but then it surprises me with little flourishes or jangles. (insound)
Wye Oak – “Talking About Money”
The Knot
It’s uncommon that I’m exposed to an artist through their latest album, but then find I prefer their earlier work — especially when the latest album is as good as Wye Oak’s Civilian. But The Knot does everything Civilian does, with more variety, grandeur, and power in general. From the setup and punchline of the first two tracks to the unbelievably confident “Talking About Money” to the shoegazer “Mary Is Mary” and triumphant “Tattoo,” there is hardly a misstep on the album and a surfeit of just plain excellent music. (insound)
Murcof – “Spring In The Artificial Gardens”
The Versailles Sessions
The occult quasi-baroque meanderings of The Versailles Sessions seem a strange sequel to Murcof’s dubby, Loscil-esque Martes and Remembranza. But a lot can change in a few years, and the artist’s experimental leanings were already evident. Still, it’s a fairly baffling 50 minutes. The focus is on space and ambience, not (as the compelling but ultimately frustrating “Louis XIV’s Demons” shows early on), and this track embodies that without being terminally weird.
Marielle V Jakobsons – “Crystal Orchard”
Glass Canyon
An ethereal but sonically fascinating album. Jakobsons creates wonderful atmospheres, and the journeys through those soundspaces occasionally resemble songs. The first three tracks (this is the second) are especially intriguing. (experimedia)
Sin Fang – “Strange House”
Half Dreams
An excellent EP packed with some just plain great songs. This one in particular has a wonderfully varied structure, swinging from jangle to piano-and-surf to Elephant 6 psych. Calming but still upbeat and musically interesting. (insound)
Efterklang – “Sedna”
Piramida
I’ve discarded two whole albums from Efterklang due to a lack of focus, which the earlier Tripper, by contrast, had in excess. “Sedna” is the first new song by them that has not only arrested my attention but truly sounds Efterklang-y to me, yet evolved and different. Imagine Talk Talk mixed with DNTEL — understated and beautiful. Also look for the almost Graceland-esque “Dreams Today.” Great cover art, too. (insound)
Johann Sebastian Bach – “Prelude #1 In C major”
The Well-Tempered Clavier
The opening track from Bach’s historic collection of keyboard pieces is a simple and delicate piece, but with lots of room for expression. Glenn Gould plays it crisply on the piano, but with a precious air, and at any rate I prefer the richer overlapping tones of the harpsichord. This is a nice recording, but it was Luc Beausejour’s that originally caught my ear.
Austra – “Lose it”
Feel It Break
The feminine electro-pop of Sister Crayon crossbred with turn-of-the-90s dancefloor synth, resulting in a slightly repetitive but ferociously catchy tune. Great timbre. (insound)
The Most Serene Republic – “Career In Shaping Clay”
Population
If you’re familiar with TMSR, you know what to expect: bombastic, somehow geometric indie rock, with a sort of uniquely multitracked vocal effect that, to be honest, isn’t for everyone. But it makes for really great songs now and then, like this one, which stumbles a bit in its second quarter but really nails it for the climax. Phages is probably still a better intro to the band, but Population is still a quality record. (insound)
Minotaur Shock – “Local Violin Shop”
Chiff-Chaffs & Willow Warblers
A classic “organic electronica” album I always associate with Four Tet’s Pause, Fridge’s Happiness, and Manitoba’s Start Breaking My Heart. “Local Violin Shop” is a great example of this vanguard of cross-pollination. Its lively drumming and occasional drilling loop makes it a bit too active to be played in boutiques, but it’s still eminently likeable while also rewarding closer listening. (insound)
Lights Dim / Gallery Six – “Sea of Tranquility”
Moon EP
This short ambient album was put out to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the moon landing. It’s very reminiscent of the Fennesz/Sakamoto collaboration, Cendre, but a bit noisier. Only 21 hard copies were made (and sold), but you can pay what you like to get it at their Bandcamp page or download it for free at Archive.org.
Gregorio Allegri – “Miserere mei, Deus”
No day like today to reflect on the enormities of mankind, the number and scope of which have, incredibly, survived centuries of prayer. The piece itself (I have learned) was forbidden to be performed outside the Vatican or transcribed, on pain of excommunication. It was only after a 14-year-old Mozart memorized it during attendance and copied it out from memory that it escaped the confines of the Sistine Chapel; the Pope himself praised Mozart and the music was released for general performance.
Jack Rose – “Dusty Grass”
The Black Dirt Sessions
A bit like a minor-key “Rappahanock River Rag” at the beginning, but morphing into something more complex and urgent once it departs from its initial jangly theme. This EP is host to a number of excellent tracks, including an extended “Cross the North Fork” and a melancholy pair of tracks closing out the B side. Certainly worth a listen for fans of Jack Rose (RIP) and acoustic guitar in general. (insound)
The Willowz – “Cons and Tricks”
Talk in Circles
Just some straight-up noisy garage rock. Love the “busy” tone about 2/3rds through. Apparently this was on Jersey Shore? Doesn’t matter, great song.
Lead Belly – “Black Betty”
Negro Sinful Songs
After hearing the 1977 Ram Jam version of this song, I was curious about its origins. Turns out it dates back to at least 1933 (almost certainly decades before), but was first commercially recorded by Lead Belly in 1939. Betty herself seems to be everything but a trouble-ridden woman; “Black Betty” is said to refer to a whip used in prisons, or the black wagon used to transport prisoners, or (as early as 1736, noted by Benjamin Franklin) a bottle of whiskey.
Tanakh – “5 AM”
Ardent Fevers
While this album never approaches the mystical prominence of Villa Claustrophobia, it does have some moments of beauty and lucidity. Here is one of them. (insound)
World’s End Girlfriend – “We are the massacre”
The Lie Lay Land
A beautiful but sometimes grating and even terrifying album, The Lie Lay Land is inarguably also very creative. The way this Japanese electronic-classical composer combines soothing strains with noise and samples is atmospheric and powerful, though certainly not for everyone. This track is probably the most accessible, though their collaboration with Mono is more likely to attract the average listener’s ears.
Various – “The World Is Gone”
The World Is Gone
An unaccountable and varied album, touching on dub and noise as frequently as it does on folk melodies. It’s not always successful, but there’s a kind of grooving, dirty honesty pervading it that makes it impossible to truly dislike. This is the only instrumental track, but the vocals elsewhere range from Espers-esque harmony to jarring spoken word. It can be a bit hammy, but certainly worth a listen. (insound)
