Parts of this album has sounds that remind me of the X-files theme (possibly one of the best tv show themes of all times – certainly one of the most instantly recognisable) and bits from my own collection. I fell in love with Manfred Eicher’s ECM label back in the 70′s. The label had a wonderful collection of excellent jazz guitarists, Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie (who I really must talk about one day) being the main attractions for me.

What really sealed the deal though was the recording. Clean, clinical, stark, you were left with the impression that there was nothing between you and the performance. Back before CD and digital, this really was as good as it got (yes, yes – Windham Hill were doing it as well but they were a few years later). Oh and I am not getting involved with the “analog V didgital” stoush either. I signed on for music and performance. ECM gave me both.

BUT all of this is a digression by way of giving you some background as to why I am having such a ball listening to Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer’s Re: ECM

Now here’s some hype from the ECM website

Berlin-based DJs and composers Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer – two of the best-known names in contemporary electronica – share their admiration for music on ECM in a unique double-album of specially-created “sound-structures”. Their project “Re: ECM” will bring the label’s music to a new listenership. It is certain to be one of the most talked-about albums of the season. Using original ECM recordings as a starting point, Villalobos and Loderbauer create new music that bridges several worlds, including ECM’s world of space-conscious improvisation and composition and the worlds of ambient electronics and minimal techno. Source materials on “Re: ECM” include recordings of Christian Wallumrød, Alexander Knaifel, Louis Sclavis, John Abercrombie, Bennie Maupin, Arvo Pärt, Wolfert Brederode, Paul Giger and more – looped, sampled, remixed and reworked in evocative new treatments. Pleased with the duo’s creative response to his productions Manfred Eicher gave them carte blanche to carry on experimenting with the ECM titles of their choice. Eicher subsequently supervised the mastering of “Re: ECM” in Munich, completing a unique sonic experience.

You can listen to a track here @ Youtube (while it lasts)

Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer — Rekondakion

If you scored a CD voucher for Christmas from your favourite aunt and by some strange quirk of fate you still have it left, let me suggest that there are lot worse albums out there you could cash it in on.

I have already ordered my copy.

Listen to the album at Miasmah

Late last  year a friend rang up in the middle of the night (well that’s what it seemed like) and played some music down the phone and asked me “who the hell is this”.

The answer turned out to be Rafael Anton Irisarri’s album “Daydreaming“. I hadn’t heard of him then (that took an hour or two’s research) but I have listened to him a hell of a lot since then.

“Daydreaming” is a mix of piano, electronics and some of the most gorgeous production you are likly to hear for a while. This is one of those works that just go straight for the emotional jugular and will have you transfixed.

OK I can hear you out there going “Piano, electonic, production – been there. What else you got?”

Well as it turns out around seven beautifully executed ideas. Don’t believe me?  Just Click on player just below and see what you think. We’ll wait

This album is all about the piano, all the other stuff surrounding it provide a context for the piano’s notes. In places murky and in others the acoustic palletes used are so stark and stripped back, you will wonder how Rafael is able to eke out such a deep emotional response.

I remember the first time I heard George Winston playing piano on a Windham Hill recording a long, long time ago. The music he created stayed with me, here is another artist and album that will do the same.

Highly Recommended

[UPDATE]
There is some new material over at Soundcloud soundcloud.com/studio-irisarri

Listen to the album at Bandcamp

It’s Saturday night and I have been listening to Crux, Emmalee Crane’s debut album. It seems to inhabit the same sort of place that Rafael Anton Irassari is occupying.  A curious mix of textural washes, real instruments, circuit bent electronics, found sounds and a ton of imagination. It is helping me lose my birthday blues. Or at least move them to a better place,

Emmalee calls her music “drone” but she is kidding herself. There is wonderful melody, clever arrangement and more than a passing nod to analog electronic music pioneers.

Here is the hype from her website

Like most children, Emmalee’s first experience of making music was with a plastic recorder and a number of other ill-advised toy whistles and trumpets. It was from here that she followed a not unpredictable but quite successful progression to the oboe, clarinet, and English and French horns. She studied (and is a great lover of) Romantic and Modern classical music, with a particular fondness for Debussy.

Perhaps the most important twist in this so far dull history involves Emmalee’s other fascination: electronics. Being adept at dismantling all manner of gadgets from an early age, she naturally developed a secondary musical affinity for analog synthesizers and other voltage-driven trinkets of noise making. She is now equally at home with a soldering iron as a woodwind, and is a great believer in circuit-bending*. Today, Emmalee blends woodwinds, horns and analog synthesizers with found sounds and bent circuits to create ambient, orchestral drone music reminiscent of Mark Hollis and Stars Of The Lid. Emmalee Crane was born in Toronto in 1983. She now lives in San Francisco with an unruly collection of instruments and her dog, Bash.

* as long as you don’t mention the time she totally wrecked a Juno 106

I have a soft spot for music like this (big suprise there) and look forward to hearing more from Emmalee (I believe her new one is due shortly). Highly recommended – have a listen here

For more information visit her at www.emmaleecrane.com/ or her Bandcamp site music.emmaleecrane.com/

(gotta love bandcamp)

[UPDATE]

Stars of Track and Field

So I’m slow, it took me weeks to figure out why I was so instantly taken with Stars of  Track and Field’s dreamy atmospheric guitar based sound.

Yep it’s their dreamy atmospheric guitar based sound. Like I said “slow”

The band consists of

Jason Bell – Guitar/Vocals
Kevin Calaba – Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards
Daniel Orvik – Drums/Samples/Programming

Now some of you will have spotted that there isn’t a bassist there.

Well done.

The story goes, when Stars of Track and Field found themselves without a bassist a couple of years ago, the  didn’t follow the typical steps to find a replacement. No want-ads were placed; no attempts were made to recruit from other bands and nobody within the group switched instruments. Instead, the band opted for the path less travelled: they went digital.

AT this point Stars of Track and Field becomes a totally different band, they now try and merge the old school  analog and the digital today.

Do they succeed?  I think so.

One listen to “Centuries” blend of vinyl-sampled kick drum, digital handclaps, reverse cymbals and keyboard arpeggio which builds to the song’s crescendo of electric guitar feedback, layered vocals and live drums.

Want more? Have a listen to “Movies of Antarctica” as it swings between a clinical digital minimalism and awesome guitar and drums wall of sound.

Yum

This is the video of  “Movies of Antartica”

Highly Recommended

Websites at www.myspace.com/starsoftrackandfield and www.starsoftrackandfield.com

Matt Gresham

OK. It’s guitar fetish time (give me a break, I haven’t done this for a while)

Matt Gresham is quite an amazing guitarist. If you don’t like guitars then I would move along BUT if you do , check this guy out.

So the quick version of the bio – he’s 20 years old, been gigging for over 6 years, have a couple of albums out, a third in the pipeline, plays up to five gigs a week and has a huge following

Some hype from the website…

Pulling from influences which stretch back over the past half century Matt has a truly individual original sound with a positive message. He has a joyful, infectious and exuberant style which floats his audiences from soul to the packed dance floor. Spine-tingling vocals soar above Matt’s band which combines bass guitar, percussion and drums to intensify the dynamic feel of the catchy melodies and driving rhythms.

BUT skipping over all that, he was in Melbourne this week and I was lucky enough to hear him doing a live to air performance on 3RRR. ( I missed him playing at The Lomond Hotel on Thursday though)

I was even luckier to remember to press the record button.

Here are the three  songs he did.

Weissenborn guitar

First up was “Gracetown”, his reworking of the Paul Simon song played on his Weissenborn guitar. Glorious sounding guitar and just wonderful playing. There are bits sound just like he’s channelling David Lindley. I so want one of these guitars, and the talent to do it justice would be kinda cool too – I digress.
Gracetown –

Friends was the last track he did and it’s one of his own. This is also played on the Weissenborn guitar and is rapidly becoming my favourite.
Friends -

Just to show you he can also play a “normal” guitar, here is  “Give Some Good”.  Another original and damn he is a spiffy guitarist.

Give Some Good –

So there you have it, three live tracks as well as the material he has over at www.myspace.com/mattgresham

Highly recommended ( and I am seriously envious – I’ll get over it).

Yves Klein Blue

It’s been a long while since a band from Queensland impressed as much as Yves Klein Blues (named after French Dada artist Yves Klein and his wonderful piece from the 50′s “Blue – but I digress). Smart arse name aside this is band that knows how to play hard, have a listen to “Silence Is Distance” over at www.myspace.com/yveskleinbluemusic. They certainly impress.

But the real find was “Getting Wise”, this puppy is seriously slick. I am in awe of the clever lyrics and the phrasing. It sounds so casually thrown away as a performance, but damn it’s slick. And then there is the rest of the production, polished?  This is so shiny bright that you will need shades to listen to it. The organ provides just the perfect counterpoint to the understated guitars.

Am I gushing? You bet but they are worth it. They have a great rep as a live act and the release of the new CD will confirm them as a great recording act.

Here is “Getting Wise”

Recommended (and make sure you don’t miss “Silence Is Distance” over at Myspace – it’s a gem)
Websites at www.myspace.com/yveskleinbluemusic and www.yveskleinblue.com

Stornoway

Unlike the members of Stornoway Jools and I have been to Lewis, and I thoroughly recommend the trip to to the band. But I digress… we are here today to recommend Stornoway (thats the band) to you.

According to their web presence….

The band consists of an Ornithologist, a wannabe Russian translator, a South African Pirate Captain, a human radio and a kitchen sink. They were first united in a snow-encrusted garage in Oxford and have since attracted the attention of Dr & Mrs Killjoy the neighbours and their android children. None of the band have ever been to Stornoway. But Brian once got to within 37 miles of it.

For me their songs are haunted by a Celtic feyness, they seem to harken back to other times and other places. Have a listen to “Here Comes The Blackout” or “Fuel Up” over at www.myspace.com/stornoway, they are both wonderful songs and I might add both still on my MP3 player after several months.  The melodies are insidious as is the apparently simple production and instrumentation.  But don’t kid yourself, this is wonderfully crafted pop / folk. The vocals are lavished with such attention, you can’t help but hear the lyrics and stories the band want to tell.

And they are good stories… Highly recommended

Website at www.myspace.com/stornoway

Here is their ReverbNation player

The Calculus Affair

The Calculus Affair appeared on my MP3 player some weeks back as part of the NPR Second Stage podcast (which I can highly recommend as a great source of surprises), and yes they have lots and lots of really interesting guitar sounds.

There are two tracks over at www.myspace.com/thecalculusaffair. The first track is “The Bridge” which is a delight of overdubbed everything. I really like this one. Paul Mariz layers up voices and guitars like they were a mile high wedding cake.

The other is “Man Who Used To Hunt Cougars”, this one is more successful. The production is a lot tighter and the other band members contribute (Mark Cooper: Bass & Voice, Rebecca Gutterman: Drums) a lot of energy to the track. They seem to allow Paul a lot more space to work in.

The NPR story offers up “Pipe Dream” from their entry in the RPM Challenge there is a bunch of music there.

All of which (even the rough around the edges bits) is Highly Recommended

Websites at www.thecalculusaffair.com/ and www.myspace.com/thecalculusaffair

Autopilot For Lovers

Time for some of my favourite category – hard listening. Autopilot is for Lovers are awesome. Now I will be first to admit that you are unlikely to see the charms of this outfit on the first listen. BUT you really need to persevere.

Adrienne Hatkin,(the lead vocalist) has a voice that will stop you in your tracks. Her performance is so direct and intense. It takes some getting used to.

It’s not just the voice though it’s the range of styles that the band wander through.  These guys obviously have a low threshhold of boredom,  “Whale Belly” is dramatic and darkly romantic,  full of accordion and really interesting lyrics,. “Come Now”  (this is my fave) has more classical and melodic instrumentation,  with a gorgeous piano middle eight, “Pine Box Town” is heading out in to the territory you usually find grunge, and the intro to “Bones” sounds like it could be a Pete Seeger  folk song.

Hatkin describes her music to co-workers as “indie-rock blues with some Balkan folk inspiration”

So, a bit of work required but Recommended

Websites at www.myspace.com/autopilotisforlovers and www.autopilotisforlovers.com/

Gold Teeth

www.myspace.com/goldteeth only fired up last year (2008. Their MySpace site seems to be doing all the heavy lifting of getting them noticed.

Hey it worked for me.

Electronics, Afrobeat, great rythms and yummy guitars. Think Madness meets Blu… “Everybody” and “Confused Blue” are my faves.

“Confused Blue” feels rythmically like a rework of  Bob Marley’s Jammin’, lyrically though it’s a lot lot darker. Lots of paranoia, alienation and suburban dark corners.

“Everybody” is just fabulous the direction of the music, all bright and poppy is totally at odds with the lyrics.I love the weird guitar though.

Give this band half a chance and they will suck you totally in. Highly Recommended

Website atwww.myspace.com/goldteeth