electronic

Album Reflection: Fennesz — Bécs

Fennesz: Bécs
Similar Artists: Eluvium, William Basinski, Steve Roach, Brian Eno
Genre: Isolation, Solitude, Anesthetics
Label: Editions Mego

90% of the time that I’m listening to ambient music, or new age, or any kind of soothing instrumental music for that matter, I’m unconscious — lost in some empty space where only faint remnants of the music can actually reach me. It’s those faint glimmers of warmth that provide a cushion for my dream world though, and they form a rather heavenly landscape for my mind to sanctify in. It’s a means of therapy above all else, as it keeps me in a state of floatation during the nights, and away from any unrelenting demon lurking in my mind who’s seeking for a way in during my weakened state. But as much as this music does provide a sort of safe haven for my mind and is greatly therapeutic, it simultaneously keeps me away from the reality of things, each lulling wave and static frequency pushes me down beneath the surface and into a realm of nothingness. It’s a predicament that I’ve become torn by: do I let myself become haunted by painful memories, or do I live in a fantasy world that eventually leads nowhere? If only I could relieve myself of this ancient fear I possess — one of the afterlife, of death, of suffering — then maybe my mind wouldn’t be such an awful place to succumb to.

Fennesz is an artist who I’ve been living with — both consciously and unconsciously — for quite some time. Endless Summer, his 2001 breakthrough and certifiable electronic classic, ushered me into a new phase of music appreciation. Where it was not uncommon for abstract electronic artists from the time to conjoin disparate genres (in this case, sunshiny, heavily processed guitar and sharp, layered noise), Fennesz was able to make each genre melt into the other, and not in a shoegaze type of way (although that is a noticeable influence as well), but in a way where sounds which would be described as harsh and ugly in isolation actually emanated a resounding calm, and made you re-think the meaning of the word “beautiful”.

Bécs is the apparent sequel to Endless Summer, and since it’s the artist’s first solo long player since 2008’s shade or two darker Black Sea, it’s quite the reason for excitement from an ambient aficionado like myself… Or maybe it’s not, because there has been no real shortage of Fennesz-like music in the past 6 years anyway. Matthew Cooper, whose Eluvium alias gained comparison to Fennesz, and was even hailed as “the American Fennesz” at the start of his career, has released a plentiful amount of serene and intricate soundscapes in that timeframe (including last year’s excellent double album Nightmare Ending); not to mention Christian Fennesz himself has released multiple collaborative albums (often more than one per year), so its hard to say he has truly been missed. Also, it’s not as if the appeal/novelty of his earlier works has worn dry, as I still revisit the likes of Endless Summer frequently, so calling this a sequel which draws from the same sound palette doesn’t do much to further any excitement. Or maybe my slight hesitation in approaching this record stems from being afraid of what extensive listening to this music will continue to do to me, or rather, what it will prevent me from doing in the long term. Do I really need to hide away from the surface anymore? Haven’t I hidden from my anxieties for long enough?

The first thing one notices when listening to Fennesz is how beautiful and intricate and detailed the sounds are, and how they form a mystical, yet never contrived or predictable world. After that feeling has worn off, however, they notice that the feeling it prescribes is truly one of emptiness. This is a strange word for me to use, as Fennesz is an artist I am continually intrigued and fascinated by, but it is not emptiness by way of loneliness that I intend to speak of, but instead emptiness by way of numbingness, and a lack of awareness for the outside world. It is music to initiate the drifting mind; a solitary stoner’s paradise that thrives on antisocial behavior and eventually, a loss of love.

It’s worth mentioning that Bécs does all of this gorgeously, even if it is exactly what one would have expected it to be. Through the 40 or so minute runtime our ears are treated to heavenly guitar strums shrouded in elegant cinematic hues, bright tones and crumbling static that slowly massages the listener into a state of empty bliss. And the thing is, each track does do this in a wholly different way, quite expertly in fact. There is no simple trick at play here, and it’s one of the reasons repeated listens don’t do much to reveal the fogginess of these compositions. Fennesz can use sounds that in isolation are eerie, mournful, perplexing, or even terrifying, but when lumped together they transform into a collage of carefully treated beauty that is as grand to listen to as it is hopeless to live by.

I don’t know exactly what I’m getting at with this review, and it’s because I’m at the crossroads in terms of my musical identity. This is my first review in over 4 months, and while part of my absence has been because I’ve been terribly busy with both work and school, and another has been because of a little something called Dark Souls 2, mostly, it’s because looking at art objectively is not something I feel is possible for me anymore, as my opinion and its meaning changes from day-to-day, listen-to-listen. This means that I didn’t have the chance to write reviews on some of this year’s most notable releases, of which there have been many — including The Body, tUnE-yArDs, Wild Beasts, and The War On Drugs to name a few — but that’s ok, because I’m not sure how I feel about any of them anyway. I’ve expressed this concern before, but I’m now more than ever in speculation about the point of a critic in today’s flooded musical landscape where countless music is released daily that will seldom he heard by but a few ears. What I do know, is that music is not something that can be experienced in isolation from the rest of the world. Contrary to my previous beliefs, music — no matter how original or well-written or well-produced — cannot last without contexts (friends, families, locations, real-world scenarios) and for that reason, it unfortunately cannot be solely listened to on headphones to and from your way to work. It is an element that must be consumed fully and discussed in detail with a range of real life people at concerts, festivals, and bars — not just through nameless online entities. Like myself, music is also in a bit of an existential crisis, trying desperately to adapt to its new set of criteria without outwardly admitting to it. It will survive, undoubtedly, but for now we’re both lost in a sea of information, trying to claw ourselves out and numb the pain with anesthetics all at the same time.

Track Listing:
1.) Static Kings*
2.) The Liar
3.) Liminality*
4.) Pallas Athene
5.) Becs*
6.) Sav
7.) Paroles*

Album Highlight: *

Album Review : Shackleton – Freezing, Opening, Thawing

by Rio Toro

Shackleton: Freezing Opening Thawing
Similar Artists: Muslimgauze, Peverelist, Demdike Stare, Pinch
Genre: Abstract Electronic, Jungle
Label: Woe To The Septic Heart

I washed up on the shoreline of this unnamable island around noon — or at-least, what I should say, is that the height of the sun at that particular time seemed to reveal it was noon. Otherwise though, it seemed as though I was stranded without a technological reference to my name. Yet within the short amount of time since my unplanned arrival, I had a sort of sense that time as a whole moved differently here. Not necessarily faster or slower, just different — perhaps more angular, or even on a different wavelength entirely. And despite the fact that this place was clearly an island, there was an instantly mechanical presence to it, and I was convinced that if I decided to burrow deep enough in the sand I would reach a high tech laboratory of sorts. In fact, everything I could tell about this island was rooted in a kind of fabrication; from the way the palm trees swept in the breeze so neatly, to the way the birds chirped at the most opportune of times, to the slightly altered coloration of the sand itself. It all seemed synthetic, as if this place I was on was not a true island at all, but one meticulously crafted to look like one. However, this realization didn’t prevent me from continuing to be drawn to it one bit. It was only at this moment that I stood up from the sandy spot I had been lying in since my arrival to inspect the borders of the surrounding area. It was indeed a fertile land, brimming with all sorts of exotic life. There were various coconut trees scattered around the shoreline, and I was able to see a variety of multicolored birds flying amongst the foliage.

As I approached the thickening shrubbery, I heard, only very faintly at first, the sounds of tribal drums emitting from the center of the jungle. They were increasingly violent sounds — mallets pounding erratically on bongos, congas, tympani, and countless other percussive instruments. The sounds instantaneously instilled fear in me and drew me closer into the chaos; I would even say they provided a sense of nostalgia for some unknown part of me. Had I possibly been to this place before in a vision or a dream? Or perhaps heard about it in some ancient folklore? As I drew closer into the eye of the jungle the sounds thickened immensely, and the fluttering patterns adopted polyrhythmic qualities. The brash chaoticness of the endless banging and clashing soon ushered me into a psychedelic haze, and I found myself stumbling to keep afoot. My eyes too, soon became watery and unresponsive, and I noticed I hadn’t been watching where I was stepping. Regardless of my condition, I continued on, and even with my fading peripheries, I felt as though I was becoming more cognitively aware — more intensely attuned to the reality of things.

At about a mile in from the shoreline I realized it was not only percussion that I had been hearing, but an entire ensemble of eclectic instruments — most of which I could not claim to know the origin of. Just like the coaxing qualities of the environment, these sounds were of the utmost intrigue to my senses, yet somehow stripped of their most innate and natural abilities. It was all just a mere fabrication of what I had previously considered to be music, and I could feel my innards shifting to make sense of this enlightening new information. I knew it from the second I stepped into the jungle; I was evolving.

As I continued to draw closer to the source of the music, a warping snake-like melody crept up my backside along the inner notches of my spine. A stinging sensation began ringing through the entirety of my body, as if I had been stung or bitten by a venomous scorpion-like creature. I looked down to see if I could catch a glimpse of anything moving, but it was too late. Everything, from my memories of the old world to my innermost private thoughts and emotions were replaced by a new identity. Stronger and more willful I felt, but also colder, more devoid of a self. Stripped of my humanity, I gathered myself into a stable upright position and continued on, knowing fully well where the path would soon lead me.

Track Listing:
1.) Freezing Opening Thawing*
2.) White Flower with Silvery Eye
3.) Silver Keys*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Actress – Ghettoville

by Rio Toro

Actress: Ghettoville

Similar Artists: Zomby, Lee Gamble, Lukid

Genre: XY2PQXX9

Label: Ninja Tune

It is now Tuesday, January 21st, 2013, the time is 4:25 PM, approximately 10 and 3/4 days since my initial voyage through Actress’ newest labyrinthine maze. While it’s no surprise that Ghettoville — Darren Cunningham’s 4th and apparently final album under the Actress moniker — is a strange and often confounding listen (considering the artist pretty much singlehandedly ushered in a new era of abstract techno) I admit that I underestimated the extent of his powers, and now, it seems I have befallen to them.

After incessantly listening to these 16 tracks repeatedly for 20+ hours, this marks the spot where I will begin my ~~third~~ fourth attempt to write this review. At this point in time, I am unsure if I will ever succeed in accurately conveying the themes of this cerebral minefield, and if this entrapping well I find myself in now continues to grow darker, I fear I will never be resolved of my duties as a music critic. Despite the increasing toll this experience has had on my well being, I must continue to stand by my duties, as mine is a profession relied on by many to provide satisfaction. However, if by some chain of events I am lead to deem my mission as being impossible, I hereby claim to hand over my prided music-reviewing degree and cast myself into exile. Thankfully, that day where I give up will never come, as I have taken an oath to continue to dissect this bold and insurmountable work until I can see it with eyes unclouded.

To prove my seriousness, I shall allow no other album — no matter how highly anticipated and readily available — to meet my ears until I have conquered this one. No dark crevice or subtle texture housed between the walls of this release shall pass by me without being factored into the towering equation. No lesser track shall be left out of the larger picture to allow for a quicker analysis, and most importantly, I shall blame myself and only myself for believing a track could be any less than absolute perfection.

There is no denying the brilliance of Darren Cunningham — I have moved past all thoughts of those kinds at this point in my journey, as I now know those thoughts are only a representation of the inherent mediocrity within myself. The only thing I must use now is patience, for it is the sole device necessary in unfolding the true meaning of this masterwork. Or maybe, just maybe, I will never be able to understand the whole of Ghettoville. Maybe the answer is that I’m just not smart enough to. This conclusion is something that in the long run I am not against saying, as a brain can only handle so much brilliance without overloading and crashing within itself. Sometimes, when I get caught up in thinking about it, I even fear the truth may be that I’ve never actually understood and properly enjoyed a single Actress track to date.

This self pity doesn’t even matter anymore though. It doesn’t matter whether I will or will not ever grasp the underlying themes of this record, as this infatuation of mine is about something bigger than proving myself to the music world. I could care less about how many more hours I will undoubtedly spend waiting for a grand realization or epiphany to form in my mind, because there is simply nothing about my existence that bears any more of an importance anymore. I am addicted, yes, a slave even, though not from any discernible enjoyment that I get from the act of continuously listening, but from the unrelenting curiosity that haunts my mind during the moments when I’m not. There is a feeling of some true underlying importance buried within this record, and one I refuse to dismiss as a production trick. This is a feeling that has been harvesting within Actress’ catalogue ever since he debuted with Hazyville in 2008, but now the feeling has become unavoidable and cemented within the productions. There’s nothing else to do now but wait and listen, and I gladly will until I find out exactly what it is that makes this music so spellbinding, for when that epiphany finally does arrive, I’ll know I’d have spent my life well.

Track Listing:

1.) Forgiven*

2.) Street Corp

3.) Corner*

4.) Rims

5.) Contagious*

6.) Birdcage*

7.) Our

8.) Time*

9.) Towers

10.) Gaze*

11.) Skyline

12.) Image

13.) Don’t

14.) Rap*

15.) Frontline

16.) Rule*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Clams Casino — Instrumentals 3

by Rio Toro

Clams Casino: Instrumentals 3
Similar Artists: Araab Muzik, Prefuse 73, Holy Other
Genre: Left-Field Hip-Hop
Label: Self-Released

When people say “this guy is one of the best producers in the world” — and that’s something people say a lot when referring to New Jersey’s Mike Volpe (AKA Clams Casino) — what about him are they exactly referring to? Now, I’m not saying that Clammy Clams isn’t one of the best producers in the world, as few really do compare to this one in terms of style and a sense of forward thinkingness in regards to hip-hop beats, but we also get the feeling that he’s capable of doing much more in the way of artisticness. As it stands now, Clams has put out only a small handful of tracks that have remained memorable as purely instrumentals, and the micro-genre he briefly enacted known as “cloud-rap”, can pretty much be named DOA. Maybe I’m demanding too much from a producer who has yet to release a full-length worth of original material, but despite the quantitative amount of work he has done, there has only been a marginal amount to truly sink our teeth into, and that really bugs me.

Of course, tracks don’t have to be memorable to be great, and for the most part, Clams Casino is still making music that is enjoyable to listen to. Unfortunately, this third (and apparently final) instrumental mixtape marks the blandest appropriation of his style thus far, and it would have been easy to dismiss entirely if not for some distraction worthy highlights. And the more I think about it, aren’t those occasionally stunning highlights — such as “Motivation” and “Realist Alive” on Instrumentals 1 and “I’m God” on Instrumentals 2 — what has really garnered Clams Casino so much attention in the first place? His incredible and even slightly under appreciated Rainforest EP on Tri-Angle is the closest he has yet come to putting out a coherently solid listening experience, and for now at least, that will have to continue being the only one.

Anyway, the highlights here lean towards the previously unreleased ones. There are three of these, three A$AP Rocky beats, three Mac Miller beats, one for DOOM, one for Mikky Ekko, one released for Flying Lotus’ radio station on GTA 5, and one remix. It’s an odd assortment of tracks to say the least, and since Clams has moved away from the outward and easily identifiable sampling (“Cold War”, “Illest Alive”), many of them leave little to hold on to other than a slyly choreographed production technique here and there. The best standalone track of the ones intended for vocals/rapping is the breath of fresh air that is “Pull Me Down” — a warmer and more smoothly paced track from the bunch that was also co-produced by Mikky Ekko. The definitive standout though — the one that can compare to his best productions to date — is “Cry For Me”, which places glitchy, warbling vocals over a solid kick drum based groove and some of the most pleasing textures yet heard from the producer. Aside from those two highlights though (plus the GTA V track, I suppose) there’s nothing here to sway your opinion on the producer one way or another. In fact, it’s way more likely to make you become bored with him.

What many people will, and should use this mix as — as it works much more smoothly than listening to the tracks in unison — is to combine it with all of Clams Casino’s other instrumental work and put it on shuffle. Here the wealth of his capability becomes more visibly apparent, and the compilation can work perfectly for night drives in urban environments (permitting that you have the car stereo to handle these often layered and uncompromising tunes). If this is the end of his instrumental mixtape phase though, we should be happy, because it’s a sign that Clams is moving on to bigger and better things. For now, listen to these instrumentals, be happy with them, but just don’t get your hopes up that they will offer you any more than a momentary glimpse into the power of a producer who will undoubtedly grant us more fulfilling statements further down the road.

Track Listing:
1.) Crystals*
2.) Hell
3.) Cry For Me*
4.) Pull Me Down*
5.) Lvl
6.) Bird Call
7.) Freeze
8.) Haunt*
9.) Melthru
10.) Bookfiend
11.) Cold Feet
12.) Wizard
13.) Youforia*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Burial – Rival Dealer

by Rio Toro

Burial: Rival Dealer
Similar Artists: oh stop it already
Genre: YES!
Label: Hyperdub

This past week I’ve found myself to be sucked into the holiday spirit of things; the shopping for gifts, the classic movies, the caroling. It’s a mood that, for one reason or another, I haven’t really been in for the last several holiday seasons, and I was beginning to think I had become incapable of finding it again. Part of why I have been able to rekindle this feeling this year is because it has been snowing, and another part may be because the school I work at had a heartwarming pot-latch ceremony, but mostly, it’s because the new Burial EP is out, and boy oh boy does it make my heart glow.

Despite the use of bells, glowing synth textures, and happy melodies that conjure images of figure skaters and snow cones, it does feel a bit off the mark to call Rival Dealer “Christmas-y” — especially because the opening track, with its drilling baselines and rough, shuffling edges, is one of the most dissonant works to the artist’s name. Instead, Rival Dealer’s main theme is one of hope — it’s an experience about finding out who you are and being true to that person no matter how hard you may be struggling. William Bevan himself has even said (through a text) that this EP is intended for anti-bullying purposes. This may sound super corny, and maybe it is, maybe this release isn’t as “cool”, or as “dark” as what Burial has become known for, but it’s undeniably more human, and it’s arguably more relevant to the evolving music scene. It’s funny, because with each release, Burial has moved away from the success of his breakthrough, Untrue, to build something that, well, feels more true.

This newfound honestness that affords us listeners an inkling of information towards the personality of the man behind the music is huge, because William Bevan is an artist we formally still know so little about; even if he is becoming increasingly adept at drawing us into his heart solely through the use of his music. So many theories have came up about who Burial is that it has become a bit of a joke. This release is sure to stir up even more questions regarding his personal life, as it feels like a sort of coming out statement for the artist. In terms of overall sound, this isn’t quite what one would call a reinvention though. He’s still sampling vinyl crackle, ending tracks abruptly, and harnessing emotive, pitch-shifted vocal samples with nuance and delicacy. The difference is that now, it seems as if these elements are all trying to tell us something; as if these three tracks provide the liner notes to a grand story of overcoming in the face of adversity. While this broader influence is a direction that Bevan has been toying with ever since he started putting out 10+ minute tracks with his 2012 Kindred EP, here it is done in a more efficient and provocative way. The untreated vocal sample that closes the EP — taken from Lana Wachowski’s coming-out speech during last year’s Human Right’s Campaign — is the most striking example of this (as well as one of the best moments for music in 2013), but there are many others as well. In other words, this is the closest Burial has gotten to making an actual concept album.

So Rival Dealer isn’t just a continuation of the high water mark period that Burial has been in ever since 2012’s Kindred — it’s a rebirth of his ideals into the most meaningful statement he’s yet summoned. And it’s easy to see why Bevan would be propelled to push his work this far off the grid. After all, he already changed the face of electronic music (as well as many other fields of music) with 2008’s magnificent Untrue — an album that’s importance is impossible to overestimate — so now it seems he has his goals set on changing the way we hear music itself, and how it can be used as a tool to open portals to new worlds. Both “Rival Dealer” and “Come Down To Us” exceed the 10 minute mark, and they feel like flowing streams of consciousness, unobstructed by hate and fueled by deep, passionate love and understanding. They exist as a sort of guardian angel, each measure providing consolation to the world’s most downtrodden and confused victims. Through these lengthy track times Burial is able to guide us through his realm of fairy tale magic as he gifts us with constant surprises and a state of complete immersion. The music all flows through you like a dream: holding onto you with full force until evaporating into the air and leaving you with its imprint on your memory. The 13 minute “Come Down To Us” is arguably the main highlight. We are first introduced to the track’s noir setting with a lonely voice saying “Excuse me, I’m lost”, and through the track other voices arrive to comfort this lost soul, helping her realize who she is and what her purpose is. An elegiac sitar melody plays in the background as this story is told, gently unfolding into multiple phases. I don’t know about you, but a supposed “dubstep” producer just made me cry. This is what I call capability.

Track Listing:
1.) Rival Dealer*
2.) Hiders
3.) Come Down To Us*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: CFCF – Outside

by Rio Toro

CFCF: Outside
Similar Artists: D’eon, Emeralds, The Orb
Genre: 80’s soft rock, new age, electro pop
Label: Paper Bag Records

If you’re asking me, I’d much rather see a great producer sticking to his guns and continuing to hone his individual craft rather than prove his versatility by releasing music that is somewhat risk taking, yet neither as original nor as satisfying as his earlier work. Not that CFCF’s releases haven’t all been varied in their own right; Continent saw him treating his lush instrumental soundscapes with an early IDM vibe, The River saw him taking on the slow paced cinematic cues from films, and best of all, last year’s Exercises saw him taking influence from Philip Glass and Ryuichi Sakamoto with the inclusion of minimalist piano figures and drifting ambience. Outside — his 2nd full length release — however, is a hard left turn, and one that see’s Mike Silver embracing pop stylings that are at least a few hairs short of modern.

It starts off pleasantly enough with “Beyond Light”, one of only a few instrumental tracks. Through a simple synth pattern that in turn becomes backed by multiple layers of drums, bass and woodwinds, CFCF reaches a state of perpetual chill-out bliss. The next track however, the stringent “Jump Off The Train”, introduces the album’s true obsession: good, old fashioned notes. If the first track had an early Oneohtrix Point Never vibe, this one feels more like the direction Emeralds were going in on Does It Look Like I’m Here. “Find” too, feels like it was taken directly out of the Mark McGuire handbook. Although these sounds are nothing new, I have no real complaints with the melodies or songwriting on this album.

What does eventually bring down these productions though, is how Mike Silver has ornamented them with his own unaffecting, and often flat voice. His voice is somewhat similar to Dan Snaith’s (of Caribou fame) — another great producer who has moved closer to pop’s infrastructure on recent releases — but the difference is that Dan Snaith uses his voice to extend the individuality of his compositions, while Silver is singing for the mere purpose of having vocals in his work at all. With this said, the vocals are tuned down in the mix, and rarely get in the way of the other, more enjoyable aspects of he music. The track where he really gets this mixture right — where his plan of hushed vocals and overlapping electronic rhythms finally comes into full view — is “The Forest at Night”. The thing is, it’s so similar to many of its surrounding tracks that it doesn’t stick out as much as it should have.

The true inspiration for Outside — which you would have been able to guess without any external research — is Peter Gabriel, whose exotic brand of stadium pop comes through in a big way on tracks like “Feeling, Holding” and “The Crossing”. It’s pretty much undeniably cheesy, and clearly didn’t come off in the cool retro vibe CFCF probably imagined. While Silver does, to an extent, play appropriate homage to Gabriel, he does little to extend his trademarked sound in any way; a few songs actually feel as though they could break into “In Your Eyes” at any moment. In fact, maybe he would have been better off just making this a covers record, as “Strange Form of Life”, originally a Bonnie “Prince” Billy song, is surprisingly one of the biggest highlights of the album.

I keep feeling like I’m being too harsh on this record, as Mike Silver is still showcasing his expert production techniques, just in ways that I find to be unflattering. But whether the sounds of Outside appeal to your personal tastes or not, there’s little denying that it’s not the timeless document its creator was working towards. He tried to go big and came out a tad bit sour, but that’s ok, because it means CFCF is one step closer to making his masterpiece.

Track Listing:
1.) Beyond Light*
2.) Jump Out of the Train*
3.) Strange Form Of Life*
4.) Find
5.) This Breath
6.) Feeling, Holding
7.) The Forest at Night*
8.) Transcend
9.) The Crossing
10.) Walking in the Dust

Album highlight – *

Album Review: C H V R C H E S – The Bones Of What You Believe

by Rio Toro

C H V R C H E S: The Bones Of What You Believe

Similar Artists: M83, The Knife, Purity Ring, Niki & The Dove

Genre: Synth Pop, Maximalist Pop, Glitch-Pop

Label: Glass Note

Can someone please explain to me why a band as polished and hook-oriented as Chvrches aren’t already being played in a constant loop on the nation’s most accessible radio stations? I’ve said this kind of thing before and been wrong (like with the actually quite inaccessible Autre-Ne-Veut album from earlier this year) but Chvrches make music that just screams crossover success, and despite their only recent formation, they sound bold enough to take down the world. Like, what exactly could people find so intriguing in bubblegum pop acts like Katy Perry or Kesha that isn’t done on a wholly more satisfying degree on tracks like “Gun” or “The Mother We Share”. While I usually wouldn’t care about a song not getting enough radio play — seeing as I don’t listen to the radio — Chvrches are that rare band that should be heard by everyone.

Seriously, I want to show these songs to everyone I meet; even random people on the street who I have never seen before. It’s similar to the feeling I had after listening to M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (another forward thinking, maximalist leaning pop album overloaded with hits). Unfortunately, M83’s “Midnight City” only briefly skimmed the realm of radio play before being decimated from the charts. Hopefully though — if my predictions are correct — things will start to turn around quickly in the coming weeks with the release of Chvrches’ debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe. After all, they happen to be signed to the same label as Mumford and Sons — who (if you ask me) are played on the radio far too frequently. They’re also on the same label as Phoenix, who along with Arcade Fire are largely responsible for the increased melding of indie and mainstream music cultures throughout the past several years. Who knows, depending on how things turn out, Chvrches might be the next big step in bridging the gap between these two cultures.

If you haven’t heard about Chvrches, ever since their inception a year and a half ago, the Glasgow trio have been concocting some of the most delicious, candy-coded synth pop in recent memory. Through their singles and EP’s they have already captured a devoted fan base, and have proved their ability to maintain rapt accessibility without sacrificing integrity. While it may be true that these tracks couldn’t quite survive in their same deliriously enjoyable state without their dazzling production values, the songwriting is strong, and it’s what makes these tracks work as well as they do. Take one of Chvrches stand out singles, “Gun”, for example — a track that never falters to put chills down my spine and a grin on my face — it’s a track that builds chorus on top of chorus to a euphoric effect, and Lauren Mayberry’s revenge laden lyrics give the track a dark, desperate feel that converges with the giddy, radiating synth patterns. Perhaps the true sign of Chvrches talent, however, is that none of these tracks come off as corny, or even too much a product of their own influences. While the band obviously draws inspiration from 80’s synth pop (Depeche mode), they have their own formula that does wonders for the tainted genre. For one, keyboardists Iain Cook and Martin Doherty know how to use their arpeggiators for maximum effect, as they use them in sporadic bursts instead of relying on them as the founding aspect of the tracks. From the epic baselines, to the penetrating drum fills, to the array of expensive sounding keyboard equipment, everything shines with a pristine quality to it.

The Bones Of What You Believe is the debut album from this astronomically hyped trio, and it proves they were more than worthy of the praise they received for their initial run of singles. Even if their previously released tracks still represent some of the best material TBOWYB has to offer, the remaining tracks are nothing to shake your foot at, and it proves the commanding force their singles provided translates well to a lengthy listening experience.

To be fair though, TBOWYB has a simply overwhelming amount of potential singles in play, and through the first few listens, you’ll likely be a bit lost within the bravado of it all. 12 tracks of pounding, no holds bar synth pop is enough to give you a headache as well. There’s definitely not much in the way of downtime, and even the tracks that open at a seemingly modest pace — such as “Tether” — soon erupt into a smorgasbord of monstrous synth patterns amidst layers of glitchy-vocal samples. Each track does end up having its own identity though, and even the tracks featuring Martin Doherty on lead vocals end up being a welcome change of pace. However, I’d argue the slow burning, Doherty led finale, “You Caught The Light” — while standing as a good song in its own right — hardly fits in with the rest of the album, as it’s one of the few moments where guitar is used so directly.

Mayberry remains the true star of the show though, and proves she is an entrancing front woman capable of stirring melancholy out of every note she hits. While she mostly comes off as sweet and innocent, she’ll throw in a curse or a twisted vocal line every once in a while to keep you on your toes. If you listen to her actual lyrics — which are often wryly mismatched with the tone she’s singing them in — you’ll soon learn that she’s more psychotic than she gives off at first glance. Like when she sings /I’ll be a thorn in your side, till you die/ with a profound calm on “We Sink”, or how she sounds like she’s ready to kick ass on the gut punching vocal scrambling of “Lies”. She’s the perfect combination of starry eyed valley girl and bad ass babe.

TBOWYB is such a completely satisfying debut that Chvrches should be in no rush to follow it up for at least a few years. A lot of this group’s success thus far has been dependent on the high replay value of their tracks, and it’s pretty safe to say that TBOWYB will be in heavy rotation for some time to come. It’s about as perfectly produced as a Knife album, and while the elements of their sound are not unique to themselves, the trio have organized their disparate traits into something that exceeds the sum of its parts.

There will, of course, be people who hate on Chvrches for the way they make music that too obviously begs and claws for attention. It’s true too, Chvrches are a self-aware unit; you can feel the music’s eye on you, forcing you to admit how impressive it is. From a critical standpoint, I usually find it more admirable when an album will woo me into it’s grasp through its subtleties. When it comes down to it though, there’s no point in holding yourself back. The appeal of Chvrches is immediately apparent, and it will likely prove inescapable for anyone who’s ever enjoyed a pop song in their life.

Track Listing:

1.) The Mother We Share*

2.) We Sink

3.) Gun*

4.) Tether

5.) Lies*

6.) Under The Tide

7.) Recover*

8.) Night Sky*

9.) Science, Visions

10.) Lungs

11.) By The Throat*

12.) You Caught The Light

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Airhead – For Years

by Rio Toro

Airhead: For Years

Similar Artists: James Blake, Mount Kimbie, Nicolas Jaar, Boards of Canada

Genre: Downtempo, (Dubstep?), Organic Electronica

Label: R&S

There’s no real recipe for creating great music — things that work well for some artists don’t work at all for others, and that extra oomph that makes music tick tends to just come from something within the artist’s blood. However, in 2013, if there is some kind of trick to get an artists’ career rolling, it’s through the use of restraint. Of course, it isn’t as easy as it sounds, because knowing when to hold back and when to release is where the true talent lies. Probably the best example (within recent memory) that proved the powers of well harnessed restraint would be Nicolas Jaar’s 5 hour interdisciplinary performance at MoMa PS1. Through the holy-fuck-this-is-long running time, he only reached a handful of climactic phases, but due to his skill at building tension, the music never failed to entice — surprisingly, my worn legs never managed to fail out on me either. Using this “restraint” has become especially important for virtuosic musicians such as Nicolas Jaar or James Blake, because when they aren’t showing off, we have time to focus on other facets of their music, like their brilliant use of sound design and production techniques — when they finally do let loose as the climax arrives, the likelihood that we will be blown away is magnified tenfold.

Rob Mcandrews, AKA Airhead, is the long time collaborator and touring guitarist of James Blake, and the two have worked together for years now, starting with the “Pembroke” single released in early 2010. Before now, Mcandrews had only released a handful of singles, most notably the Karen O sampling “Wait” and the more beat driven “Pyramid Lake”, both of which are featured here. Due to his steady relationship with Blake, and his undeniably similar musical style (excepting vocals), you would imagine that his debut full length would mine similar territory: albeit of a more guitar inclined variation. While that is true in some respects, For Years is far from being 10 repeats of “Lindisfarne” (one of the two artists’ most notable collaborations). The ten tracks here are actually rather diverse, as we hear lovely acoustic guitar, off kilter vocals, big beat breakdowns, robot symphonies, and an array of ambient wash. Mcandrews manages to sound similar to his peers without quite being a rehash of them, and it is why For Years is an almost instantly likable collection of tunes.

The first thing you’ll notice about the album is how well made the tracks are. Each one almost feels like a distinct single; which in fact turns out to be both a positive and negative when you look at the album as a whole. While the beats are often big and luxurious, and the effects crackle and fizz with the necessary depth, there isn’t much holding this album together as a unified piece (possibly the idiosyncrasies of the sampling?). Secondly, while several of the tracks do contain the aspect of controlled restraint that I lauded earlier in this review, the concept doesn’t reach across tracks to build any kind of album climax. While “Fault Line” and the previously released “Pyramid Lake” do attempt to heighten our sense of ecstacy by being bolder and more quickly paced than the rest of the bunch, overall they fail because they don’t sound like a continuation off of the previous tracks. This lack of a proper beginning, middle or end left me occasionally feeling lost while listening to the album, and I often had to reassert myself into the music rather than be whisked away by it. Some albums can work by simply being a track for track compilation of an artists’ work, but with this kind of organic sounding electronic music something feels missing from the complete package.

A lot of what makes music successful is the point it is released in time. This year we have seen releases from both James Blake and Mount Kimbie — the two acts most closely related to Airhead in terms of sound. Although this music isn’t dull, it doesn’t stand out like it would have if it was released a few years back, and Infuriatingly enough, some of these tracks, such as “Wait”, have supposedly been entirely finished since 2009, so it really is unfortunate that it took so damn long for this album to come out. One can imagine that hearing this music even a year ago (a year that was quite devoid of downtempo electronic music) would have left a more ingrained impression. Airhead doesn’t seem to care about his pacing issues though; he seems quite content being indefinitely compared to James Blake as long as he gets to release his own material every once in a while. On For Years he proves that he is an intelligent producer capable of tackling various moods and styles, it’s just too bad his contemporaries have proved that twice over already.

Track Listing:

1.) Wait*

2.) Milkola Bottle

3.) Callow*

4.) Masami

5.) Pyramid Lake*

6.) Azure Race

7.) Autumn*

8.) Fault Line*

9.) Lightmeters

10.) Knives

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: James Holden – The Inheritors

by Rio Toro

James Holden: The Inheritors

Similar Artists: Vladislav Delay, Ital, Pete Swanson, Manual Gottsching

Genre: Sound Collage, Krautrock, Experimental, Noise, Techno

Label: Border Community

The world of electronic music is a constantly moving one — there are seemingly hundreds of micro-genres, new *must have* equipment is put out on a day to day basis, and with intuitive tools like “GarageBand” being readily available on the everyman’s computer, it is easy (almost too easy) for people to make music. Due to these circumstances, the genre (if it can even be called that anymore) is flooded with near unlimited possibility, and because of that, producers seem to always be in a constant state of flux, desperately seeking out that next big sound — or at least a somewhat original one. It’s gotten to the point where every year (or every few months even) an electronic album comes around that is deemed “groundbreaking”, and honestly, keeping up with even the very best of the electronic releases throughout a year is a challenge; especially when you have to factor in that many of these albums take multiple listens to register.

Such is the case with James Holden’s The Inheritors. James Holden is a British producer/DJ who has worked on and off in the scene since the late 90’s. Although he own’s his own record label and released one of the best mixes of the 2000’s with Balance 005, he is arguably most well known for his early trance singles such as “A Break In The Clouds”, or his remix of Nathan Fake’s, “The Sky Was Pink”. With his 2007 debut full length, The Idiots are Winning, he took a side step away from his lush, bigger than life soundscapes to immerse himself more fully in prog and krautrock.

However, even for those of you who have become familiar with James Holden’s non traditional career arc, the first thing you will notice about his 2nd LP is how experimental it is. For one, the tracks are a blend of electro-acoustic instrumentation, with tones that alternate — almost haphazardly — between being sharp and dissonant to fuzzy and warm. Secondly, the tracks are based around live, single take keyboard melodies. This gives the music a whole lot of subtlety — at least some of which was likely unintentional. Even when something sounds like a loop, it isn’t, and once you realize this, hearing each piece play out becomes mesmerizing; since we never know when a drastic change might occur, it also feels rather dangerous. Lastly, there’s always something ominous lying within the depths of these tracks, as if a ritual is taking place and a ghostly apparition may be called forth at any moment.

The experience can be a bit overwhelming at first, and even after a dozen or so listens I am still startled by how layered many of these tracks are. While Holden certainly brushes upon Kosmiche (Circle of Fifths), noise (Sky Burial), minimal (Self Playing Schmaltz), and hauntology (Seven Stars), no track feels like a complete representation of said genre; there is no pure light or pure dark here. Instead, what we get is a series of sound collages that come together in a kind of delicious home made soup bowl. A treat that can only be offered by the very best that experimental music has to offer.

It has become somewhat of a cliche that electronic producers turn out music that is more challenging and inaccessible as their career lengthens, but that doesn’t keep The Inheritors from being any less of it’s own. This project was in fact inspired by William Golding’s 1955 novel of the same name, and while basing an album off of a 60 year old science fiction novel screams over-intellectualism, this is an album that has its more obvious pleasures as well. While people will complain that this music doesn’t contain the same sense of spectacle of Holden’s earlier work, that’s not necessarily true. If you want to find techno, or trance, or house, you can find it — somewhere within these endless waves of static hiss, its all there.

Track Listing:

1.) Rannoch Dawn*

2.) A Circle Inside a Circle*

3.) Renata*

4.) The Caterpillar’s Intervention

5.) Sky Burial

6.) The Illuminations*

7.) Inter-City 125

8.) Delabole

9.) Seven Stars

10.) Gone Feral*

11.) The Inheritors*

12.) Circle of Fifths

13.) Some Respite

14.) Blackpool Late Eighties*

15.) Self-Playing Schmaltz

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Zomby – With Love

by Rio Toro

Zomby: With Love

Similar Artists: Kode9, Burial, Ikonika, Actress

Genre: Dubstep, Garage, Jungle, Dark Rave

Label: 4AD

Despite the rough draft feel, there has always been something attractive about musical sketches. Listening to these minimal tracks — ones that often contain ideas just waiting to be expanded upon in countless directions — can be an intriguing and inspiring experience. Even more so, is the fact that when a track is slimmed down to its bare essentials, the few elements that are present stand out to a much more effecting degree, creating music where every snare hit and chord change becomes inescapable.

Now i’m not saying that the 33 tracks off of With Love, the 3rd album (2nd on 4AD) from London/New York producer Zomby, are necessarily “sketches”, but since most hover around the 2 minute mark, we get the feeling that these tracks were quickly made and finished off at the moment their creator had to stop and think about where to go next. Within the first second, we are thrown into the shuffle of Zomby’s ever broadening electronic palette, and it is up to our senses to find our way through the labyrinthine maze that is With Love.

The tracks are spread across two disks (in alphabetical order no less) and although this is essentially a lumped together compilation of what the producer has been doing for the past few years, the pacing mostly keeps us on our toes. While some tracks adequately segue into the subsequent ones, others end abruptly and offer an awkward transition. This will certainly lead to a confusing experience for many, but the way I see it (and probably Zomby himself), the rough, slapdash feel we get from scurrying through a dozen or so genres is part of the fun; especially because here we see Zombie at his most precise.

With Love doesn’t make any statements, and it most certainly doesn’t tell a story — which will certainly prevent a handful from returning to this album past the first initial playthroughs. But despite the lack of any kind of overarching neatness (god knows it isn’t cohesive), individually, these are tracks that project a sleek and undeniably stylish presence, and few listeners will fail to become attached to the best of these productions; after all — there are 33 of them, so you would certainly be hard pressed to hate them all.

With that said, there is not a single track here that comes near “classic” status — keep in mind, while I do believe this album shows the producer at his overall best, there is nothing that reaches the status of something like “Natalia’s Song” off of Dedications (which, with its copyrighting issues is another story all together). Also, while I previously said that you will likely become attached with a handful of these tracks, for an album titled With Love, far too many tracks are emotionally barren, and devoid even of the gloomy atmosphere the best dubstep producers are known for. Even the far reaching vocal samples Zomby is known for are pulled back here.

While the first disk does a good job of switching musical styles from song to song (dubstep, garage, rave, jungle), the second disk lacks variety, and offers far fewer standouts. If the first disk is more entertaining and club oriented, the second disk is more cryptic, and as it recalls Actress’ early work, it’s also more hazy, and occasionally even hypnotic. Listening to both disks in unison works well enough, but the one true misstep is that, on the second disk, the drum programming from track to track is eerily (and sometimes maddeningly) similar — even causing the listener to second guess if the same track is on the album multiple times.

Even with all these complaints though, this is a world that’s easy to get sucked into — especially while traversing dark (preferably rainy) cityscapes. Maybe i’m a sucker for the beautiful black and white cover art, and maybe many of these tracks are in fact a case of style over substance, but something about Zomby’s aesthetic sticks with you, and at his best he sounds like no one else. With its ups and downs it certainly won’t be a contender for album of the year, but it sure as hell will be staying on my mp3 player for the next several.

Track Listing:

1.) As Darkness Falls
2.) Ascension
3.) Horrid*
4.) If I Will
5.) Isis*
6.) It’s Time
7.) Memories
8.) Orion*
9.) Overdose*
10.) Pray For Me
11.) Rendezvous*
12.) The Things You Do*
13.) This One
14.) Vanishment
15.) VI-XI*
16.) VXV
17.) 777
18.) Black Rose
19.) Digital Smoke
20.) Entropy Sketch
21.) Glass Ocean*
22.) How To Ascend
23.) I Saw Golden Light
24.) Pyrex Nights
25.) Quickening
26.) Reflection In Black Glass
27.) Shiva

28.) Soliloquy*
29.) Sphinx
30.) Sunshine In November*
31.) Vast Emptiness
32.) White Smoke*
33.) With Love

Album Highlight – *

electronic

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