Category Archives: Reviews

Review Reblog – Gaël Segalen ~ Memoir of My Manor

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a closer listen

After 2o years of sound work and field recording, Gaël Segalen finally released her first LP.  2016’s L’Ange Le Sage was melodic and abrasive in equal quantities. Memoir of My Manor continues in this vein, adding a new, nearly club-like sensibility.  The Parisian artist calls her compositions “danceable field recording”, but the first album only hinted at the dance floor, while the second flaunts this facet before drawing back to the shadows.  This is appropriate for an album inspired by monsters, although the creature on the cover doesn’t seem all that scary.

The thirteen-minute “Remember” pulses and broods, while failing to give an indication of the artist’s rough edges.  Instead, it operates as a dangerous mirror to Giorgio Moroder’s “The Chase”, inviting listeners to run rather than dance.  When additional synths enter, the track takes on a near-industrial sheen.  It’s a bold opening gambit, daring listeners to stick around for…

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Reblog – on palto flats and wrwtfww’s reissue of midori takada’s seminal through the looking glass

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I have loved this record for so long and over the years have visited it on many occasions. It is “a masterpiece failed by its own time”. – like so many that I could name. While other artists are feted and gain all the publicity, there are many who deserve as much accolade and praise – and finally, Midori Takada is getting the recognition she long deserved.

Although it doesn’t quite fit into the electronic field as such, please try and listen, and take in the 40 minutes that demonstrate how often gems are lost due to fashion in music, lack of distribution, knowledge and being in the wrong time and place.

It is sublime.

The Hum Blog

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Review Reblog – Christine Ott ~ Only Silence Remains

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Christine Ott is “one of the few people in the world who can be considered an expert on the Ondes Martenot, a strange keyboard invented in 1928, which can sound like anything from a theremin to a screech of strings.” but it can sound otherworldly and beautiful.

 

a closer listen

Only Silence RemainsThis is one beguiling record.  It starts with opera and ends with poetry, and in the end, only silence remains.  The opening soprano segment makes an immediate statement: this is not conventional music.  By the middle of the set, one may forget this fact, but on “Tempête” it returns with a vengeance.

The storied career of Christine Ott provides clues to understanding her approach.  She’s been part of Yann Tiersen’s band, collaborated with Radiohead, worked alongside Oiseaux-Tempête, and is currently opening for Tindersticks.  She’s also one of the few people in the world who can be considered an expert on the Ondes Martenot, a strange keyboard invented in 1928, which can sound like anything from a theremin to a screech of strings.  For most of the album she holds back on this instrument, but sneaks it in, bit by bit, until it takes over the sound field.  Those early moments…

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Rokaia ~ See | Dwell

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Finally have got around to reading and listening after a suggestion and glad I did. Intriguing find and look forward to the full release.

a closer listen

see-dwellWe have a very good feeling about Limerick, Ireland’s Rokaia, whose debut release seems a harbinger of things to come.  See | Dwell may be a short beginning, but it’s a strong one.  Like Ian William Craig, Holly Herndon and Katie Gately, Rokaia operates in the realm of textural, melodic voice, a sub-genre within the larger realm of experimental voice.  The outer edge of experimentalism tests the boundaries of listenability through scream and guttural snarl, but artists such as these win us over with sheer beauty and grace.

It’s easy to put Sea | Dwell on repeat, as it comes across as a series of waves that never crash.  Layer upon layer of Rokaia’s voice slide gently over their predecessors, while manipulations in the lower register provide the base.  Using electronics to chop, stutter and loop her voice, the artist provides an impression of obsessive composition and precise control…

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Review Reblog – Dalot ~ Mutogibito

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How could I have not reblogged this? Thought I had, so apologies to all.

a closer listen

FolderWe believe we’ve found the perfect album for Mother’s Day!  With Mutogibito, Dalot (Maria Papadomanolaki) returns to her roots, while celebrating the newness of motherhood.  She’s made an album which her young daughter Athena will likely enjoy now and brag about later.

The endearing cover art (by Violetta Testacalda) is reminiscent of nesting dolls, with a mothering twist.  Those dolls don’t cradle each other like these images do.  The album sways with comfort, like a child in her mother’s arms; bells and mobiles abound; and in the end, a lullaby rocks the child to sleep.

While the gentle opening track (“s2s”) sounds like recent Dalot, the album’s key tracks “Tear” and “Lift” hearken back to an earlier time.  In these pieces (and to a lesser extent, “Arrival”), one can hear hints of early shoegaze and post-rock.  Yes, Dalot dares to use these vintage terms and bears them with pride.  With…

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Review Reblog – Norah Lorway – drone bølge

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ICYMI 2016….

Yeah I Know It Sucks


Artist: Norah Lorway
Title: drone bølge
Keywords: ambient ambient drone Vancouver
Label: xylem records

drone bølge sketches a seemingly immersive massive world of vast layers of ice, cold wind & warm intentions. Within this harsh scenery absolute beauty is discovered, swirling around in the ears to create amazing views and sights within the perspective of the mind. I saw deep blue, rays of sunlight reflecting on snowed upon huge surfaces and wished I had a photo camera to shoot some amazing shots from it. These kind of environments are such a discovery that it’s almost unbelievable that it’s just music dancing away with the imagination generated within your own head.

The second part of the journey feels as if the music had transported us miraculously on top of the highest snowy hill in the middle of the amazing scenery, creating that vibration between the nostrils of sniffing extremely cool fresh…

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Todays Discovery – Review Reblog – Angelina Yershova – Piano’s Abyss

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Before Synths there was the Piano but this beautiful release is an exploration of all the dynamics and sound a piano can make using the technology to enhance and create a wonderful palette of sound….Recommended.

 

Yeah I Know It Sucks


Artist: Angelina Yershova
Title: Piano’s Abyss
Keywords: electronic dark ambient drone drone ambientelectronic experimental modern classic piano piano drone piano drone music Rome
Label: Twin Paradox Records

Angelina Yeshova’s Piano’s Abyss covers the direct feeling of eternal bliss generated by piano-drone. It starts of super smooth with soft white noise-ambient that will calm any rushed person out and make them all feel relaxed and at ease. For a release named Piano’s Abyss the clear use of a piano is nicely put away to purely form the basic ambience, once this is setup the piano comes out, playing wondrous sparkling notes on top of the massive tranquilizer of a work.

‘Suspense’ is up next, which makes the head fall even deeper into the piano abyss. Here the warm noises are more clearly generated by the artist experimenting with piano and special effects. When the piano comes in with a more natural…

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