The Decemberists: The King is Dead (Rough Trade)

Their last album was quite widely slagged for being 'prog-folk' and overblown, but i thought it was a really brave, and rather bold, step forward and i always like it when musicians take risks. Unfortunately, they all too often follow this risk taking with a return to 'the norm' or even an attempt to bury the experiment by going all out for commercial success. This album is a bit of both, and will probably be the one that really puts them on the World map, which is good for them commercially but is often followed by a negative sliding scale of artistic quality. Don't get me wrong - this is a very good, occasionally great ('This is why we fight' particularly) album but a little obvious, a little clichéd (check the photo on the back - "we are serious folk musicians") and a little too much REM at times. And having Peter Buck on the album just adds weight to the accusations. Enjoyable though, in a comfy familiar kinda fashion.

OFF!: The first four EP's (Vice)

Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Steven Mcdonald (Redd Kross), Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless) & Dimitri Coats (Mark Lanegan) have certainly been round the block a few times and these 16 tracks/17 minutes/4 7"s/nice box/artwork by Raymond Pettibon pull together their collective talents to produce a sound like a much better produced/recorded/played version of early Black Flag. Every track reminds me of the 'Nervous Breakdown' EP and this is so much not a bad thing. It's refreshing to hear short angry blasts of discontent when i spend most of the rest of my life listening to long drawn out whispers of apathy. A breath of fresh air? No - more like a biled scream in the face. I feel like jumping up and down and breaking something but fear that i, tho' not as old as Keith Morris, would succeed in breaking only a brittle hip or two. Shame it's on a label aligned to smug richboy hipster mag Vice.

Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)

Near the end of side 3 he sings "I'm not fucking around" ad infinitum whilst all manner of electronic stylings and backing vocal inflections go on around him and........i'm not so sure - i think he may well be fucking around. After the almost classic  majesty of 'Illinois' (and i'm still pissed off at him for reneging on his '50 states' project) and numerous bizarre interludes, he comes up with this - his first proper album in 6 years. And it's all over the place. I can honestly say that this is the first record i own that utilises auto tune and he really really REALLY doesn't fucking need to. Albeit that he only uses it on one track (the 20+ minute 'Impossible soul' - which starts off like a Neil Young track dragged into the post hip hop generation and ends up as a bizarre harmonic hymn to loss) but it comes over as merely a stylistic addition as opposed to an artistic one. I really don't know what i think about this album - it's brave and it's very interesting and it's occasionally outstanding ('Versuvious' for example) but is all too often confounding and, well, all over the fucking place. I think that it is probably great and that i'll add to this piece in the coming days/weeks but for the minute i'm gonna say that it's singular lack of          
musical coherence from one that normally has his eye firmly on the ball is distracting at best and negatively challenging at worst.

Steve Moore - The Henge (Static Caravan)

After the last dose of Steve Moore  - and after revisiting some more Zombi - by way of having to seek out and buy their whole back catalogue for a friend, i decided that i really wanted Mr Moore's debut solo album. Trouble started when i tried to buy it at a decent price and found that it normally goes for £40-£50 for the vinyl. Might have had a problem getting a purchase of that expense past Helen so i put a few 'wants' out there and managed to secure a copy for £16 with the warning that the cover was "a bit fucked". Took the punt and was jolly happy to find that said "fucked" cover would actually grade at VG+ in the anal world of record collecting (my god......how high must the standards of the seller have been???? I'd hate to sell him anything.....) and that the music contained in the vinyl is as ace as i'd hoped. Closer to mid 70s Tangerine Dream than the Jan Hammer-esq synth sounds of the 2nd album, this one trundles on nicely with hypnotic grooves rising and falling at a repetitive level that would irritate even Philip Glass. Good stuff Mr Moore - surely a career in soundtracks await.

Winter's Day: Winter's Day (Morc)

What a delicate little 7". Cello (by Aaron Martin - check out his lovely solo albums boys & girls) and ethereal vocals (by Dawn Smithson - ex of Jessamine) and not much else. Often it's all so slight that it's barely there and the subtlety is so pure that it makes you feel bloody hopeful for whatever they do next.

Seavault: The Mercy Seat (Morr music)

Ex shoegazers cover Ultra Vivid Scene's most famous tune and it sounds.........very much the same. But i liked the original so this reminds me of how good the first UVS album was - so not a bad thing. The other side has a feedback drenched version of Altered Image's 'I could be happy', which didn't exactly make me want to dig out 'Pinky Blue'. Although it brought back memories of how much i fancied Clare Grogan. So thanks for that, Seavault-ers.

Nagamatzu: Sacred Islands Of The Mad (dark entries)

Heard a bit of this on some other blog and it reminded me of the heady days of the early 80's when all manner of blokes with cheap synths, cassette decks and a William Burroughs book or two would release a tape and get it reviewed by Tibet in Sounds. Which is pretty much what this is - a vinyl reissue of an early 80's tape of pop-industrial synth music. It sounds thin, cold and the drum machine taps along in the background - and is really great. The product of young minds with a particular fondness for the first New Order album and early Cure. Mostly instrumental, save for a few predictable samples and containing a fanzine with cuttings a moody photos. Makes me want to dig out my old raincoat. And lose 4 stone.

Motion Sickness Of Time Travel: Seeping Through The Veil Of The Unconscious (Digitalis)

I love coloured vinyl - ever since the late 70's and all those squeeze and skids 7"s. This one's on green and is as sonically fantastic as it is visually so. Hell, it's even better than 'cool for cats'. A solo album by Rachel Evans - on this she has created a world of music that slides into your head with subtle electronic drones and a vocal that is barely there. I think she is singing words - but she may just be vocalising the ambient version of scat singing. Ambient scat........now there's either a whole genre or a porn film i really don't want to see.

Leyland Kirby: Sadly, the future is no longer what it was (History always favours the winners)

Triple CD bought in the Boomkat sale. I already have the 3 double vinyls of this but I decided to get it on cd as well, to keep the vinyl in mint condition. Shit, maybe it'll be worth something in 40 years time or something.... Anyway, the music contained therein is utterly gorgeous - with the melodies submerged deep inside a well of distortion and hazy electronics looping over and over again. Relentless claustrophobic ambience that sounds like you're hearing it underwater. Incidentally, i played it this evening whilst i was in the bath and stuck my head under the water........it sounded pretty much the same. I don't know if that's a recommendation or not.

Telekaster - The Silent Anagram (Panic Arrest)

The third Panic Arrest release is as astonishing as the first two, and just as unique. It starts off with a clicking sound that jumps across the speakers and slowly builds up layers of piano and other sounds that enfold you in a blanket of woolly sound. A violin creaks away and i think i heard a voice, but i'm really not sure. And that's just the first track. The whole album is a mixture of delicate sounds overlayed by sweltering atmospheres. Amazing stuff - like Machinefabriek if he could reign himself in a bit.

Cut Iowa Network - Projector Gunship Held {0} (Panic Arrest)

The second Panic Arrest release and this ones a double, with 4 side long tracks and an occasional krautrock vibe in that it often locks into a groove and .........stays there......for ages. But then it comes out of that and comes over all quiet and introspective for 5 minutes or so. I love this as all the tracks are really different and that they  shift textures within the confines of their individual sides - but not in yer normal quietLOUDquiet post-rock way, the shifts are often so subtle that you don't notice them until it has managed to touch another emotion, and just as you're getting to grips with it.......it changes again. 

Minus Pilots - Superior Proof of Cinema (Panic Arrest)

Panic Arrest is my new favourite label, in that they believe in high quality experimental music released on 180g vinyl. I also like them because they have only released 3 albums so far, which makes it much easier to collect their catalogue. Minus Pilots play music constructed by playing a bass guitar through various failing pedals whilst electronic sounds pop and crackle in the background and found sounds are played through a dodgy cassette recorder. Reminds me a bit of early Rothko - or mainly how i always wanted early Rothko to sound. This album creates a strangely moving vibe and is rather atmospherically astonishing. And it's my favourite sleeve of the year as well.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Advance Base Battery Life (Tomlab)

First became acquainted with this bloke when Mark Kozelek covered one of his songs on the free ep with the last album. This is a delightful collection of skewed lovesongs played by a strange fellow on keyboards and guitars. I keep thinking of early badly drawn boy - not in the sound but in his ethos. This album makes me feel warm and hopeful for the future, which is a bit of a turnaround - as most music i listen to is as miserable and downbeat as fuck. This has 2 Springsteen covers on it, but both are so drenched in noise and reverb that they sound positively glorious.

Various - Bedroom Ambience (Enraptured)

Pretty much speak for itself this one - instrumental guitar music that's often ambient but not exclusively so. It's got people like Hood, Roy Montgomery and Mogwai on it and so you can imagine how it sounds - frequent noodlings in a lo-fi fashion.

Daniel Johnston - Fear Yourself (Coppertree)

That young Mr Johnston is an utter genius is not up for discussion here, i've had this as a promo album since it came out but never managed to pick up the LP. Thankfully, the lovely Norman people reduced it and i snapped it up along with about 10 other things (pretty much everything below this), This album is not the highest rated Johnstone effort but i reckon it's by far his greatest creation - with songs like 'Fish' and 'Mountain Top' showing what a wonderful ear for a tune he has. Mark Linkous is all over this one as well, which shows, yet again, what a fucking waste his suicide was.

Flowchart - Gip (Enraptured)

7" lathe cut clear vinyl, ltd to 200. I can't resist a lathe cut, me - i was toying with the idea of buying a lathe set-up the other day, and starting a new career in lathing records, but the 10 grand price tag put me off somewhat and also the idea of having to lathe the same record over and over again - which would be great if it was a lilting piece of electronics (like this), but there's every chance that it could be some vanity job by a guy with a guitar singing 'wonderful tonight' as a present to his wife on their wedding anniversary.

Shudder To Think - Live from Home (Team love)

Just in case people thought that all i bought was experimental ambience, here's the incredibly fine live double album from the stupidly under appreciated Shudder To Think's reformation gigs. Most STT fans rate their early experimental hardcore albums as their greatest but i have always preferred the more tuneful final 2 albums as Craig Wedren's Geddy Lee-esq voice melded with the unusual time signatures and pulled at your emotions beautifully. This album covers their whole career and shows what an amazing live band they were/are. It rocks a-plenty and makes me want to sing in front of the mirror - which Murcof never did, More's the pity.

Yellow 6 - Overtone (Enraptured)

Numbered ltd edition of 300 clear vinyl, with a bit of silk screen stuck on the front. Yellow 6 construct spatial beauty armed with only a guitar and a drum machine. Very similar to early Labradford in that the silences between the chords add more than the chords themselves. Yellow 6 have released a whole bunch of records, cds and tapes and this frightens me somewhat - as my natural reaction is to run out and buy everything. I must fight this natural reaction as it threatens to overtake my other compulsion - which is to constantly seek out new people and new sounds. I just have to work hard to beat this menacing disease.....

Murcof - The Versailles Sessions (Leaf)

Bought at the same time as 'Cosmos', this is altogether a different beast. When i told Ambient Steve that i'd bought this one, he informed me that this was the only one not recommended by him ("unlistenable shit" was his exact description) - which shocked me, as he likes Jacob Kirkegaard's Laburinthitis, quite possibly the most impossible-to-sit-through album in the history of music. But i think he's wrong. Sure, it's played on 17th century baroque instruments like the harpsichord and the viola de gamba and sure, it lacks any beauty whatsoever and, equally surer than sure, it's as dark as hell and quite unsettling. But i quite like that.

Murcof - Cosmos (Leaf)

Six sides of processed classical instruments stretched and moulded into claustrophobic ambience, highly recommended by my friend Ambient Steve and reminding me of Wolfgang Voigt's records as Gas. Apparently Murcof is a Mexican guy called Fernando Corona - which i think is a fantastic name, much better than Murcof anyway. This plays at 45 - which i only found out about after playing it twice, twat that i am.

TRICKY VS. SOUTH RAKKAS CREW - Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew (Domino)

Another great buy from the Norman Records sale. Double album of tracks from Tricky's 'Knowle West Boy' album all mashed and dubbed and pulled apart at the seams by Floridians (by way of Toronto and Kingston) South Rakkas Crew. Apparently they used to be shit hot dancehall producers and have now become shit hot remixers for the likes of Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Beck, so this album is a weird amalgam of styles that  show off their own listening habits - from ragga to hip hop to r 'n' b ( the 'now' version as opposed to the 'Dr Feelgood' version) and all points in between. And it's fucking great, despite the obvious concerns. One of those releases where the power in the grooves really flies the flag for vinyl pressing.

Various - Until Human Voices Wake us Until We Drown (Rune Grammofon)

Inevitably fantastic 5 X 10" box set by all the lovely people in the Rune Grammofon stable. I say 'inevitably fantastic' as i haven't listened to it yet, nor have i even opened it for it is such a thing of beauty that i fear soiling it with my skin. I will get around to it, but not yet. I'm not worthy enough.

For a better look at the internal workings of this thing of beauty, you should just hop over to the wonderful Hard Format site:
http://www.hardformat.org/1372/various-until-human-voices-wake-us-and-we-drown/

And for an unbiased description of the musical delights within the box, please see the press release from the record label:

Celebrating 50 releases, this collection of 19 tracks from the catalog shows the variation of music we have put out since the first release in January 1998. From the timeless, austere melancholia of Fartein Valen and the pioneering electronic music of Arne Nordheim to the magic pop diamonds of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra and the restless youth improv that is MoHa!, taking in some traditional music, free rock, jazz, ambient, contemporary experiments and various shades of electronica along the way. Some are cornestones in the catalog, but this is not a best of collection, we want to show the different aspects of Rune Grammofon and have tried to give each of the records a common theme or base.

There are five 10” vinyl records, all in their own sleeve with an exclusive Kim Hiorthøy design, as well as a 16 page catalogue, also with special design from Kim and with an overview of the 50 first Rune Grammofon releases. All come in a very nice, solid cardboard box, also designed by Kim. Being limited to 1000 copies, this is bound to be a collectors item in no time, not only because of the limited aspect but also because of the fantastic design work at show, quite possibly some of the finest record design work Kim has ever done. Being a treasured format by vinyl collectors, the 10” is more expensive to manufacture than the ordinary 12”, meaning it isn´t made that often, especially not in a box set like this.

Light - Waterside Reverberations (Unlabel)

Yep, it's another CD. Limited to 100 hand numbered copies, in handmade packaging with a collection of inserts, i couldn't resist this one as it was their first release in 7 years when originally sent out into the uncaring world (i.e 2006) and i didn't even know it existed until i stumbled across it in the Norman Records sale list. Sorta carries on from the previous 2 albums in a floaty guitar-y dreamy way in a similar fashion to the very excellent Flying Saucer Attack - with whom they were heavily linked, being part of the whole mid '90s Bristol experimental guitar scene that i was in the middle of as well. Good memories of hanging around with all these bods in Revolver Records talking shit about music and trying to outdo each other with recommendations of  obscure free jazz and Krautrock b sides.

James Plotkin - Kurtlanmak/Damascus (Utech)

Shit, second post in and it's a bloody CD. I rarely buy the horrible little things - generally only when vinyl isn't available, but i'm going to post anyway as the music will always be great. Very dark ambient guitar manipulation over these 2 very long tracks (total time 52 minutes). The sort of music that irritates the hell out of most people. Especially Helen. And Elise & Maia. And probably my Mother too. So, a useful tool for the removing of people from the room as well as a prime slab of avant noise. Lovely packaging, an obi strip and ltd to 1000 copies - ticks all my obsessional boxes.

Steve Moore - Primitive Neural Pathways (Static Caravan)

Lovely washes of synth that often strays precariously close to Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack work on Scarface, or Vangelis's Bladerunner. The other day i found myself enjoying 'I'll find my way home' by Jon & Vangelis in the car.......i blame this album. I can accept the Vangelis aspect.......but it's the Jon that really bothers me.