Archive for the 'Album Reviews' Category
It’s been a while since we covered one of our all time favorite labels, n5MD. The last time we praised Mike Cadoo‘s label was in Headphone Commute’s Best of 2009 lists, where Plastik Joy, Port-Royal and Last Days grabbed the slots among our selections of the year. In 2010, Cadoo has been busy, releasing a [...]
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Tags: shoegaze, idm, glitch, post-rock
Before I dive into this melodic and emotional IDM album, I want to talk about the label. Symbolic Interaction is an independent label run by Kentaro Togawa out of his hometown, outside of Tokyo, Japan. Togawa started the label in 2007, and in the last three years released about twenty five albums (Out In A [...]
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Tags: electronica, cinematic
Paying homage to Brian Eno‘s ambient masterpiece, Music for Airports (Polydor, 1978), which Eno created for the whole purpose of being played in actual airports, to convey calmness and reassurance to the passengers about to set off on an airborne journey, The Black Dog set out to create their own version, designed for real airports. [...]
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Tags: dark ambient, experimental, techno
While other Architect albums have been somewhat minimalist affairs, Consume Adapt Create is crammed full of sounds… individual and myriad in number, placement and aesthetic. You might have wondered what happens when Daniel Myer is placed in a creative vacuum and allowed free reign to run as far as his imagination will take him. This [...]
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Tags: experimental, idm, electro, industrial
Sound Bytes : Audiobulb Special
It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s that hour when the weekend is almost over, but the work week has not yet begun. How do I stretch the remaining hours in peace and tranquility, cherishing the hours that are left for me to enjoy? Sheffield (UK) based Audiobulb Records, run and operated by David Newman, aka [...]
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I am always hungry for new music. I think I continue to consume the sounds, so that I can recreate that moment. That moment of when one hears that sound, and is taken away out of this world into another. That moment, reminiscent of your childhood memories, when you would put on your headphones and [...]
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Tags: minimal techno, ambient techno, dub techno
From the mysterious depths of Hiroshima, Japan, arrives an inconspicuous, yet meticulously packaged 10″ square packet. Inside is a hand-numbered elaborately printed envelope containing two photographic prints, two random newspaper clippings (I’ve got a photo of an Italian train station, and a shot of an Asian artisan), and a full length album from Akatombo, titled [...]
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Tags: electronica, idm
Roel Funcken – Vade (Ad Noiseam)
Here’s my remedy for a sleepy brain. A shot of caffeine with a touch of Funcken in my headphones. First the mixture goes down easy, drifting in and out of my peripheral hearing – then the beat latches into the neuron receptor, and unlocks its secrets with a click. Roel Funcken is one of the [...]
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Tags: dark idm, dubstep, glitch, idm
Scuba – Triangulation (Hotflush)
It begins with Descent. A slow, quiet, and eerie slide of minor chords into a track that kicks off the album, followed by Latch, a light syncopated beat with rolling bass, organic strings, and ghostly vocals. Scuba’s latest release, Triangulation, is more than a collection of tracks – a few have previously appeared as 12″ [...]
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Tags: dubstep
Once introduced to that delicious, sweet nectar, the addict constantly searches for more. Just another hit, another bump, another tweak to get one smiling. In my case, the choice of drug is music. Whether it be a melodic harmony within the player’s piano keys, or nasty glitch within his framework – I … WANT … MORE! [...]
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Tags: dark idm, glitch, idm
Sound Bytes : Planet Mu Special
I really enjoyed covering Hyperdub in my last special edition of Sound Bytes, so this time I’m turning my ears towards Planet Mu. I’d rather not spend the time on words praising this amazing label, run by none other than Mike Paradinas (aka µ-Ziq). What’s interesting to note though, is that in the last few [...]
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Tags: dubstep, grime
Milhaven – Milhaven (Valeot)
I remember when I first discovered the sound of post-rock with the inevitable introduction to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. And I thought that I’d never get into ‘rock’ music. Since then, I dug through countless albums, each with their unique elements, building up on the foundation laid down by the masters. I don’t want to [...]
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Tags: post-rock
Clyde’s Treats : Peanut Butter
Hey there! Before we get into my special treats, let’s get the cat out of the bag. My name is Clyde, and I’m an English Bulldog. OK, I’m just a dog, get over it! HC may not talk about me much, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the music. I spend a lot [...]
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In this installment of Sound Bytes, I wish to cover a few compilations that recently grazed on the cones of my speakers. I’ve got some ambient, downtempo, and IDM here for you to munch on. And what’s more delicious about this organic cocktail is that a lot of it is FREE! Bon appetit! Made of [...]
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Tags: electronica, idm, psybient
Wisp – We Miss You (Rephlex)
Wisp makes laptop music in the same way an armorsmith fashions plate mail, with structural integrity and superb craftsmanship. For the huntsman, it deflects the arrows of the enemy and makes thorny underbrush traversible. For the artisan, it speaks volumes of the wearer’s lineage, a coat of arms woven into the filigree. It is a [...]
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Tags: idm
I know that an album is timeless, when after many years I return to it, and it still sounds fresh. Not only does the sound not age, but I feel like I should tell everyone about it all over again! And the music… it slowly hovers over the roofs of the sleepy houses, swirling down [...]
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Tags: instrumental, post-rock, shoegaze
Loscil – Endless Falls (Kranky)
It begins and ends with rain. But when the waterfalls subside, a picturesque landscape reveals itself through haze and fog. Vast fields of textural sound unfold beneath the soaring heights, with a slight pulse of bass vibrations, originating from the unexplored depths, and an echoing muffled synth line, dying in the cavernous emptiness of this [...]
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Tags: ambient, dub
A lot of great music in this one! In this installment of Sound Bytes, I want to cover a few compilations across a spectrum of genres. Not only do these showcase the latest in dubstep, drum’n’bass and techno, but I promise you that this sound is unlike anything else you’ve heard before. In all cases, the compilations [...]
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Tags: drum'n'bass, dubstep, techno
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