Mirror Mirror: FRKWYS Vol. 5 (RVNG Intl)

Took a cheap punt on this to make up a Boomkat order as it was cheap and because it had a remix by Stuart 'Young Marble Giants' Moxham on it. I have no idea what their normal stuff sounds like (this has 4 remixes on it) but the tracks here remind me heavily of early Beta Band in that they sway from weird folk to psychedelia to glacial pop to post punk near funkyness. The self improvement tape samples work brilliantly over second track 'New Horizons' until bizarre flutes and accordion samples fall all over it and it tumbles down into a world of strange, before firing right back up again. Then it goes all dubby. The message here is: "expect the unexpected unless the unexpected is the thing that's expected", in which case you should just hang on and enjoy the fucking ride.

Geniuspop + folkystrangepsychydance = NYC loft party hipness, but that's not a reason to hate them - it's a reason to want to enter their world, grow a moustache and drift around and something that i'd be very happy to be a part of.

Secret Colors: Lunar/Lullaby (Aguirre)

Charmingly released as an LP/Cassette combo, these two formats give us a grand total of 4 slices of effects laden electronic sludge that occasionally pushes through a piece of beauty just when you were least expecting it. But this is not a lump of noise per se as there is much of interest clinging to the undersurface of the lo fi atonality, as long as you really concentrate and immerse yourself in the mire of repetition and dissonance. At times reminding me of William Basinski's 'Disintegration Loops' (especially the last 5 minutes of 'Zoning out' on the vinyl) and at other times bringing to mind some of the really out there early Faust recordings - only recorded underwater. It also gives over a similar feeling to some of the Leyland Kirby/The Caretaker releases in that it gives you short glimpses of things that may, or may not, be there.
Full respect to them, though, for the cassette release. This, and the Steve Moore demos tape, are responsible for me firing up the old cassette deck again - and being surprised at how great they sound. What next for the discerning luddite? The beautiful people at Brian records recently released a 5" floppy disc which i must get around to writing about soon - not that i can play the frigging thing , you understand..

Yellow6: In time this too will fade (Tone Float)

Another one i've had for a few months but only just got around to writing about it. Sumptuously packaged it may be (100 only Clear vinyl in handmade sleeve with waxen-stamped insert) but the subtlety of the outer perfectly compliments the minimalism of the sounds captured on the vinyl. Constructed from a maximum of 3 chords, a miniscule amount of notes and equally minimal piano; these 3 tracks evoke a resonance of peace and of quiet beauty. Each track circles itself and spirals into meditative calm and rarely deviates from it's carefully constructed path. The piano on '00:30' begins like a forgotten track from Eluvium's 'Copia' before it is overtaken by the tremeloed guitar that sound like a mandolin being softly wrestled with and the rumbling beneath slowly seeps into view. Distortion takes over at about the 16 minute mark but the meditation battles its way through and ends the track on the same level of exemplary radiance that it started with. 2 More tracks on the second side continue the mood of grace and the feel of soft calm and yet again i feel that i want to buy more of this man's records and support his ever increasing discography of modern composition and minimalist expressiveness. I also like the fact that one of his past releases looks like it was released on crass records, now there is yet another reason to get behind this man - he has either impeccable taste or a keen sense of humour. Or maybe even both.

Her Name is Calla: maw (Denovali)

I have loved HNIC since i had to review their awesome 'Condor and river' cdr 4 years ago - a 17 minute track that pushed the whole post rock envelope so wide that the gauntlet was firmly laid down for future release. Ever since that freebie i've happily bought all their records and this ltd 10" is a massive statement by them. 'Maw' itself is almost a rock song, even with the trombones, and does bring to mind Radiohead a bit (sorry!) whilst it grinds along on dirty guitars and bluesy rhythms. Second track 'The beat my heart skipped' is quite the opposite - an acoustic violin-led piece of wispy folkiness that drifts into your life and drifts out again, leaving behind a faint trace of memory that something special had just occurred. Final track 'Dreamlands' is long (11+ minutes) and twists and evolves from the vocal beginnings through noisy and distorted instrumental near cacophony (and i love a good cacophony!) and morphs its way into at least 5 different songs and moods. If you haven't already discovered the majestic beauty of HNIC then you are artistically bereft of taste and a bit if an arse to boot.

Miracle: The Visitor remixes (House Anxiety)

I rarely buy remixes but Steve 'give me your money, Philip' Moore is an exception to almost every other rule i hold dear so i might as well buy this double 12" of mixes of the lead track from the album. 7 mixes - 2 of which are the album mix and radio edit, expand and contract the track into interesting extremes. Best mix by far is The Field's mix, which is a rumbling piece of ambient dub that brings to mind Gas and Moore's inevitable inclusion in Kompakts' next 'Pop Ambient' compilation. Christian Fennesz covers the latter half of his mix with a smattering of distortion that threaten to envelope the track and isn't half as creative as he is capable of. Elsewhere Adeptus turn up the pop thrills whilst still maintaining a weird bent, Ikonika speed up the BPM into something that would almost fit the Den Haan House masterplan, and Daniel O Sullivan's own Ulver mix begins relatively sedately before morphing into a lovely wordly soundscape. Great stuff yet again, ltd to 500 - so get in quick.

Miracle: Fluid Window (House Anxiety)

More Steve Moore im afraid..... If anyone has really captured the essence of my 2011 listening experiences it is him. I hadn't bought a synthpop album in years until he turned my head and now i listen to more synth stuff than any other. This is a lovely pop album and really sails close to prime-period Depeche Mode on occasions. And do you what? That's not a bad thing at all!!! Stop believing the fools that tell you the 80s were shit - they really weren't, all this great sounding stuff came out and now Steve and his friend Daniel O Sullivan (vocals, also a member of avant metallists Aethenor) have created an album that references all that good stuff and takes it shooting off into a fine new galaxy. This man will bankrupt me. Of this i have no doubt.

Grinderman: Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man (Mute)

Oh great it's yet ANOTHER fucking limited fucking coloured 12" from the album. This is the 5th single release from the 9 track album and is really starting to take the piss. The last one i blogged about was here and i didn't even bother mentioning the RSD 'Evil' 12" (I can't even remember what colour it came on) for some reason. This comes as a nice swirly picture disc and is completely inessential as a record but totally essential as the 5th instalment in the 'Grinderman artefacts'. Normal version + live version + Josh Homme remix. I'm playing it for the first time as i write this, even though ive had it for about a month. That should tell you how essential it is. Now, Mr cave, stop fleecing your loyal anal fans as we have better things to spend our money on. But, have no doubt, if you release more limited 12"s then i will surely buy them - and moan like fuckery on here like the jaded old twat i am.

Vetiver: The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)

Having slavishly followed Vetiver since their second (and still best) album, i have enjoyed their transition from Americana troubadours to folky plodders to simple country pickers and finally to this incarnation - breezy summertime-loving laid back west coast sounding bbq inspiring gentle rockers. Whilst it never actually rocks, it seems to roll along at a faster pace than previous albums and with a lighter mood that bring to mind the impression that they really enjoyed making this one whilst their beards grew long, their hair fell unkempt from beneath their hats and their women patched their jeans. I'm hearing Crazy Horse, i'm occasionally hearing The Eagles, im hearing a band throwing caution to the wind and making rock music free from pretension and, at times ('Faint Praise'), fucking beautiful. I'm also hearing far more keyboards on this than previously, a fact not entirely unconnected to the aural successes here.

John Maus: We must become the pitiless censors of ourselves (Upset the rhythm)

Possibly the best titled album of the year, and a lovely sleeve image to boot, i've struggled with this one quite a  bit in the couple of months that it has sat there awaiting this write-up. Playing it the wrong speed the first few times didn't help but, once i'd got over that hurdle, i found myself enjoying the squelchy synths but really getting irritated with his vocals - especially on second track 'Quantum leap' where he tunelessly (and reverbed to the max) croons his baritone over a lovely bit of analog action and all i can think of is..........."please shut the fuck up". It improves hugely over that early stumble - as his voice soon comes through with less reverb and less effects, but still grates a bit, although the sheer amount of fantastic hooklines on here astound. When it works - like on the lovely 'Hey moon' or the outstanding 'Cop killer', you really believe that some of the hype is justified and that he really is someone to follow, but he needs to free himself of the effect-laden chains and let his inner pop star shine through. Which is a very unusual thing for me to say indeed.

Invasion of the Mysteron killer sounds Vols 1 & 2 (Soul Jazz)

Another exceptional Soul Jazz release - 4 albums spread over 2 volumes plus graphic novel and poster make this a treat by anyone's imagination. Kevin Martin (AKA The Bug) compiles volume one and Soul Jazz's Stuart Baker does the honours all over volume 2 and it is very much a game of two halves. Ostensibly, both these volumes feature electronic 'versions' (i.e in the dub sense of the word) of dancehall tracks - most of the tracks here appeared on the flipside of 7"s, but Mr Martin's 4 sides are heavier and more punishing (as expected), whilst Mr Baker's sides are spacier and even occasionally trippy (check out World Beat's 'Gold mine' for instance - the rhythm is traditional but the overlying repetitive motif is closer to an acid trance piece). What i found was that these tracks were far more interesting than in their usual vocal-led forms, dancehall is fine but i always feel beaten down by the relentless vocals and rarely listen to the music behind - which is a shame really as said music is much more inventive, interesting and enjoyable than the barked vocals would have you believe.