sand snowman

sand snowman - two way mirror (tonefloat, 2009)

Like a beautiful trilogy with a comparable compositional concept this is the third LP reissue (now also on a mini-double LP sleeve CD). The backing vocalists are Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Jason Ninnis and Moonswift. The whole album sounds like a well thought over large composition in different sections and with a natural, semi-improvisational nature. The mood brings you in an eternal timeless atmosphere where everything seems to disappear except sound and its visions expressed in time and harmony signatures. The acoustic guitar (or two) lead more often these quiet themes, while distant electrified guitars bring textures and confirm the feeling of being at that time in a bubble in space. When piano is added, this can change into a contemporary classical atmosphere, as something of a 20s 30s time adventurous perspective. Sometimes this piano is quiet as well. The intensity of this meditative different time-perspective can be intense in its minimal character, while textures surrounds and before like on one part other elements appear, when a voice comes in at a certain point it sounds as if this is a cello part for a classical composition. The whole music unfolds like colours seen from a drifting boat. But also songs are added or better said are part of the transformation of moods. Harmony vocals, flute arrangements all are able to become part of this expression.

Another rather brilliant album, from a highly recommended pair of three.

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ananda shankar (rare earth XXIV)

ananda shankar - ananda shankar (india, 1970)

For lovers of psychedelic sitars, here is the classic 1970 release by Ananda Shankar (Ravi's nephew). A full rock band backs Ananda, a hip and genuine master of the sitar. Great raga instrumentals, as well as versions of "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire" are laced with trippy moogs, effects etc. Easily the best album of it's kind.Sitars and psychedelia,a 1970 cult classic.

Regresan los rare earth tras demasiado tiempo ausentes y con muchos discos en borradores, para continuar en la India. El sobrino de Ravi Shankar grabó durante finales de los 60 y principios de los 70 un puñado de discos tan oscuros como notables, poniendo sus miras en los grandes nombres del momento pero al cobijo de la influencia musical con la que había crecido. El mejor ejemplo quizá sea este homónimo álbum, infecciosos y mágicos ragas de etnic-psychedelic, de los que emanan libres sitares, moogs y más y más efectos. No hay palabras para la versión de "Jumping Jack Flash" convertido en un himno del raga-rock.
Sirva además este rare earth como antesala a un preferido, el turco Mustafa Özkent y su inencontrable Genclikle Elele, quien también circula por las latitudes del eastern-rock que mira hacia occidente.

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harappian night recordings

harappian night recordings - the glorious gongs of hainuwele (bo'weavil, 2009)

Upon hearing Harappian Night Recordings it is common for people to assume that it is a collage of field-recordings from a varied cast of inhabitants from the non-industrialised parts of the world. Such is the rich depth, vitality and authenticity of the recordings. The music and sounds however are created entirely by one man, Dr Syed Kamran Ali. He has such an instinctive feel for putting seemingly incongruous sounds together and such audacious irreverence in utilising any instrument or object from around the globe he can lay his hands on that what he creates is unique. The real miracle however is that his attention-defecit scatter-gun one-take approach so often works. It’s an anarchic buzz of ideas constantly usurping each other. Duelling ouds, whirling mizmars, screeching jouhikkos, tapping finger harps, rumbling monosynths, groaning harmoniums, a fist full of khene, talking gamelan lila derdeba popping giving a bent backed Dante's ring hell or like an Egyptian civilian army shitting on Eden's skull, or a Cuban guerilla force stepping on Eisenhower's throat emptying their glorious bladders on his face. And you can dance to it, Tuareg style.
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Sounding not unlike a Sublime Frequencies release from some obscure South Pacific Isle, the mysterious Harappian Night Recordings is in fact the handiwork of just one man, Dr Syed Kamran Ali, who throws together a host of different instruments from various cultures to the effect of creating a kind of hybrid polyethnic sound incorporating ouds, jouhikkos, thumb pianos, synthesizers, mizmars and gamelan noises. Boomkat

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acid mothers temple & the melting paraiso u.f.o

acid mothers temple & the melting paraiso u.f.o. -lord of the underground vishnu and the magic elixir (alien 8, 2009)

We are celebrating Acid Mothers Temple’s return to North America by honoring them with a new release, their fourth for the label. The band toured North America in early spring 2009 in support of “Lord of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixir.” The album is made up entirely of new studio recordings that have documented the band in fine form. The band is flying at full speed dishing out 3 slabs of Turkish Psych meets Krautrock, served up Acid Mothers Temple style. “Lord of the Underground” will see the light of day on both limited edition vinyl and CD.

Continuing on their winning streak, Acid Mothers Temple bringing their J-psych alchemy to Alien8, dispensing three new pieces. 'Eleking The Clay' begins with some church-like organ figures, ushering in a bit of a Keith Emerson vibe before the guitars kick into an echoing drone-raga, venturing into some outlandishly protracted fuzzed up riffing hinging on Eastern harmonies. Offering a brief interlude, 'Sorcerer's Stone Of The Magi' arrives with a hushed, folksy and acoustic feel, washing your ears out in time for the epic 'Vishnu And The Magic Elixir' a sludgy, meandering twenty-five minutes that holds off the overdrive pedals for a good twelve minutes or so, spending time delving into deep, dark sixties weirdness laden with sitars and cavernous acoustics. When the band do hit their stride you get the obligatory fuzz solo payoff with plenty of far-out blues licks and all those trademark AMT oscillator sweeps.

aldea f.: have you seen the other side sky, iao chant from the cosmic inferno

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of (loren chasse)

of (loren chasse) - rocks will open (digitals, 2009)

Loren Chasse is responsible for a whole host of vital albums. He was a founding member of the Jewelled Antler label and has sparked so many great moments from the likes of Thuja, The Blithe Sons, Softwar, and of course his main solo guise, Of. For years this project has evolved into something of absolute magical grandeur. "Rocks Will Open" is the latest opus in Chasse's catalog. The music on this album is as organic as it gets. Each tone, each sound feels like it has been culled directly from the Earth's crust. Gentle drones arc toward the hazy sunlight, flickering like distant birds sailing out over the sea. Between the ghostly echoes rises a cacacphony of plucked strings dancing toward oblivion. Loren Chasse's vision is perfectly expressed on "Rocks Will Open." Limited to 500 copies. Special Edition limited to 100 copies and includes exclusive cassette, "Morphological Echo.

Mainstay of Thuja and the Jewelled Antler collective, Loren Chasse is the man behind this album, and it's a wonderful distillation of the San Franciscan's art. In part reminiscent of his work for the Naturestrip label, these compositions draw heavily from environmental sounds and recordings made in the field. Chasse's proven himself a skilled sound recordist on releases like The Air In The Sand, and Rocks WIll Open finds him incorporating these abilities into a more sculpted, more 'musical' context. 'Trail Of Hornfel' is a wonderfully illustrative piece of music, placing you in some imaginary sonic wonderland filled with creaking environmental texture, endless sustaining tones and chiming bells. Next up, 'Coal Seam' draws on quiet yet massively resonant filtered acousmatics, followed up by the more openly melodic 'The Paper Raft' which makes clear its use of instruments to carve out melodic routes. Dulcimer figures jump out from a cavern of muted reverberations and singing on 'Agate Cups' and 'Oolitic Feelings', but it's during the album's rich centrepiece 'Violets In The Mountain Have Broken The Rocks' that Chasse is at his best, unfurling dense, unpredictable soundscapes that are as grounded in mysterious concrete sound as they are in subtle, supplementary instrumentation. Highly recommended.

aldea f.:donovan quinn & the 13th month , ulaan khol - ii, ulaan khol - i, skygreen leopards, hala strana, franciscan hobbies
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scott tuma & mike weis

scott tuma & mike weis - taradiddle (digitalis, 2009)

Scott Tuma made his triumphant return earlier this year with "Not For Nobody" and continues to answer the call with this new, exquisite offering in collaboration with Zelienople's Mike Weis. "Taradiddle" is a new journey down similar terrain, searching out something new in a landscape that's been visited before. Take Tuma's capable hands and add the fantastic percussive talents of Weis and it's like the wheel reinvented. These two play off one another beautifully, with Weis creating layers of havoc beneath Tuma's pastoral missives. It's beautiful and dissonant.

Weis is the perfect foil for Tuma's brittle sound world. The music breathes underwater, building and building on itself until it's risen into this majestic monument of glass. Archaic drones spit bombastic blasts of fire while the resulting sparks flicker into a million directions, flourescent in the night sky. Acoustic guitars drenched in reverb ring hollow with pianos echoing in the distance. Weis creates a river with swishing cymbals puncuated by fragile bells. Everything is bright, vivid, and new on "Taradiddle." Everything is perfect.
LP comes in fold-out silkscreened poster-style sleeve and is strictly limited to 300 copies.

El el que fuera miembro de Souled American regresa tras el cautivador 'Not for Nobody'. Disonancia y belleza, dos palabras son suficientes, paisajes subterráneos, poesía en desorden, Scott & Mike crean su propio mundo al son de drones y percusiones, uno tan bello y utópico que no puede existir. Jamás Digitals publicó algo tan ensoñador, no quiero salir de 'Tried'. En estos momentos algo más que el disco del año.

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matt elliott

Matt Elliott, Valladolid, 14/03/09

Hace un par de semanas Matt visitó un sábado noche Valladolid, yo me acerqué hasta la ciudad y junto a unas escasas 50 personas, asistí a uno de esos conciertos que no se olvidan. Enseñé la entrada, y una vez en la sala, me senté en uno de los bancos que había a los laterales, a mi lado estaba Matt quién sonrió, cuando ya estábamos todos comenzó: la primera fue 'Our weight in oil' para sorpresa y regocijo personal a la que ya le siguió todo Howlings Songs: una magnífica 'The kübler-ross model', la resquebrajante 'Something About Ghost, 'I name this ship the tragedy, bless her & all who sail with her', 'A broken flamenco'... y la apoteosis final recordando a Third Eye Fundation.

Gélido e impasible ese es el Matt Elliott que se vislumbra en el escenario en esa búsqueda de la tradición eslava y de si mismo en la que se ha sumergido con su trilogía. Un continuo enfrentamiento entre el folk y el ruido, entre sus miedos y secretos. Matt se confiesa desde lo más profundo sin ningún ápice de grandeza o pretensión, se expresa con tal naturalidad y frialdad que su viaje sin regreso a través de soundcapes, ecos y rasgeos de guitarras es de lo más verdadero que he podido experimentar.

Ya fuera del escenario me acerqué, cruzamos unas palabras y es una persona encantadora, cercana, con esa naturalidad que le caracteriza y agradecido con aquellos quienes valoramos su trabajo, hasta tuvo un detalle. Gracias Matt.

Pd.: aquí está la sorpresa -no muy favorecedora-.

torngat

torngat - la petit nicole (alien8, 2009)

Torngat return with “La petite Nicole”, the follow up to the critically acclaimed 2007 effort, “You Could Be”. This time around the band is sporting a grittier, propulsive sounding record that more closely resembles the bands live sound. “La petite Nicole” offers forays into dub-heavy elements of post rock as well hints of kraut rock and the occasional miniature freak-outs. Aside from these flirtations in new directions, the same sound that has made them popular in Canada and festival stages remains. One gets the feeling that the band is creating music for yet-to-be-made films; while cinematic references may be considered standard when describing instrumental music, Torngat’s creations are particularly evocative of the medium.

Torngat put on a very energetic and inspiring performance and sound a lot bigger than a trio. The heavy use of organs recalls elements of Tom Waits and even hints at the pre-jazz era of Soft Machine. Up until now much of the hype about this young band has been linked to their affiliation to Chamber-pop sensations Bell Orchestre and the Luya’s, amongst countless other guest appearances with various Montreal projects.
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Ghostly keyboard figures take the lead with a distorted organ creaking into life, gathering up momentum for the haunting title track - a piece of music that owes as much to Harmonic 33-style library music pastiche as it does to instrumental prog and post-rock. Throughout the record the sound takes on a warm, muffled and generally rather enigmatic feel that's just the right side of lo-fi, with the comparatively full-blooded closing number 'Going What's What' permitting just enough of the track's lamenting brass melodies to poke through the mix. A beautiful album, and one that doesn't quite sound like anything else. Bookmat

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no neck blues band

no-neck blues band - clomeim (locust, 2008)

Clomeim is the new studio album from New York's No-Neck Blues Band.
Clomeim is an evolution, a vital document of Change in The No-Neck Blues Band's 15+ years of para-musical activity. This pivotal recording is a creative distillation of the collective at a new and startling saturation
point.

For three rainy days in March 2007, the seven-headed hydra that is NNCK holed up in Black Dirt Studios, their newly outfitted recording studio in the foothills of upstate New York. With a discipline & a clarity of vision they've rarely displayed before,the collective channeled all of their energies into hours of recording live, real-time improvisation.After months spent sculpting and recasting the raw material, Clomeim emerged--a distinct whole, recalling in its parts the communal howl of Algarnas Tradgard, the dead spirit channeling of Geino Yamashiro Gumi, the glacial shadowplay of 'Heresie' era Univers Zero, and Krautrock zenith Faust at their finest hour.
Clomeim is that rare hybrid - a rock exterior with a cryptic, experimental core; a dense groover and a burning, exploratory psychedelic grimoire for the new dark ages.

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aldea f.: Qvaris, Embryonnck

donovan quinn and the 13th month

donovan quinn and the 13th month - donovan quinn and the 13th month (soft abuse, 2008)

The son of Dave Carter, bassist & vocalist for legendary 60's psychedelic group Country Weather (consult Pokora...), and named after Mr. Leitch, Quinn grew up on a horse ranch in Walnut Creek, CA and began writing songs at an early age. Donovan's growing reputation as a first rate darkly romantic penman (thanks to contributions to The Skygreen Leopards and solo as Verdure) has culminated with his latest endeavor, a new solo vehicle known as Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month.Rather than aping or ducking genres, Quinn has crafted a bright spectrum of songs best described as 'American.' X-ian folk, languid indie pop, VU cool, loner country, and west coast psych are touchstones, with Quinn's singular lyrical abilities & taste for sun-baked song at the fore.

Ever the flower bed romantic, Quinn has – at the risk of over-simplification - written a classic "break-up record;" albeit one filtered through surrealistic tenderness and riddled with red herrings & feelings of betrothal. Though not exactly lost in a sea of scarves, Quinn is indebted to the vulnerability, humor and bitterness present in the works of Ronnie Lane, Skip Spence, Nikki Sudden, Gene Clark and Basement Tapes-era Dylan. Weaving earthy melodies around Quinn's characteristically hazy vocals is The 13th Month: a small rotating cast of players that includes Jason Quever (Papercuts), Karl Bauer (Axolotl), Hélène Renaut, and Jess Roberts.

aldea f.: the skygreen leopards
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