NEW RELEASES
Autechre
Luke Vibert
Mary Timony
Mitchell Akiyama
Roots Manuva
Boris
Efterklang
Jaga Jazzist
Weird War
Stephan Mathieu
Pharaoh Overlord
Berlin Super 80 (DVD w/CD & Book)

Asva
Micah P. Hinson
Grass Roots (reissue)
Isis (remixes)

ALSO AVAILABLE:
In the Country
F.S. Blumm
Early Man

BACK IN STOCK
Jean-Claude Vannier (reissue)

"LCC"

"Iera"

"Ipacial Section"

From the opening rapid-fire machine gun beats of the first track, "LCC," you know that the duo known as Autechre have arrived to pummel you over the head with sounds and rhythms that you have never heard before. Like all of their previous output, Sean Booth and Rob Brown have sucked us into their world and presented us with a collection of tracks that, once again, push the boundaries of modern electronica. Untilted is a great Autechre record, and I am not just saying that because I am a big fan. It falls somewhere between the harsh sounds of Confield and the mellower Draft 7:30. For example, a song like "LCC" initially assaults you with beats, and then it takes a turn for the more melodic. The beats slow down, soothing orchestral synths come in and the track falls somewhere between John Barry and Mantronix. Interested? Well, you should be.

A song like "Iera" is constructed for future dancefloors. It is crunchy, extremely dark and, most of all, it has an underlying hip-hop beat that comes to the forefront every once in a while just to remind you that the duo haven't forgotten about melody or breaks. "The Trees" could fit in well on their masterpiece third album, Tri Repetae, with a repetitious metallic beat, the track is less manic than most of their recent material.

This time out, Autechre even use human voices, but not in a traditional sense--remember whom we are talking about here. The vocals are chopped, spliced and arranged to fit in with their sinister electronic sounds. This is especially evident halfway into "Pro Radii." I could just about go on forever about this album; it ranks up there with their finest work and in my opinion it is their best release since Chiastic Slide. Don't write Booth and Brown off yet, Untilted is an amazing new beginning. [JS]

"Homework"

"Acid 2000"

If you ask me, Luke Vibert has been on a winning streak lately. Under the aliases of Wagon Christ, Kerrier District as well as his own name, Mr. Vibert has been releasing a steady stream of quality dance music for the better part of two years now. From shifty disco to instrumental hip-hop and broken beat workouts, he's proven his versatility and maneuverability in the often cluttered world of contemporary electronic music. That brings us to his latest album, which is actually comprised of four new tracks, plus eight other tasty cuts that were previously released as vinyl-only EPs on the Planet Mu label.

Perfectly named Lover's Acid, Vibert's deep love for the 303 and the acid house records coming out of Chicago during the mid-to-late-'80s shines through, but it's all been reconfigured to fit into the breakbeat science of the post jungle/drum 'n' bass era. Shuffled jazz percussion, scuttled atmospherics and lifted flute passages keep it interesting, while bits of retro acid lines bring me back to my glory days of warehouse loft parties. Thankfully though, this isn't revival time; instead he uses his influences as inspiration, not re-creation. For example, on "Analord" (also the name of Aphex Twin's new 12-inch series), a squelchy acid line slowly starts to form and spread its tentacles outward over a sparse electro break that is sure to keep the b-boys happy. On "Acid 2000," a slowed down jungle break underpins a manic, liquid 303 that is as funky as it is trippy. It's a nice balance between old-school vibes and nu-school science. [GA]

"On the Floor"

"Silence"

With a pounding bass drum, angular, overdriven guitar and a volley of angry, spitfire lyrics ("I had to carry my suitcase over you as you lay in your manger there/passed out in a pool of drool and despair"), Mary Timony makes it perfectly clear within the first minute of her new album that she is back, and fiercer than ever. Now don't get me wrong, I like unicorns and fair maidens as much as the next guy, but hearing Timony's songwriting return to the directness and intensity of early Helium is a surprise and a surprising joy. In the later years of that group's Matador Records tenure, through her several excellent solo releases, Timony took her lyrical musings and instrumental songwriting farther and farther away from the hazy, heavy pop she was known for as she explored more mystical, almost child-like themes.

Ex Hex, while still occasionally taking somewhat "progressive" liberties with abstracted melodies and arrangements, is by far the most direct album that she has made in a long while, and it is a powerful and immediate statement. Sometimes dark and brooding, often cathartic and exhilarating, the album may remind you at times of Sonic Youth, or early Blonde Redhead, or even Timony's onetime muse Polvo; but in the end it is all Mary Timony, and a thrilling return to a side of her we had not heard in far too long. [JM]

"But Promise Me"

"Ghost Storms"

One of Montreal's most notable electro-acoustic producers, Mitchell Akiyama's If Night is a Weed and Day Grows Less" was one of my favorite minimal electronic releases of last year. Though using a somewhat classical approach to his arrangements, in many ways the digital manipulations of the piano brought to mind the overall sentiment of Christian Fennesz's more recent work--notably Endless Summer. While Akiyama's latest album retains most of the impressionistic characteristics of his last CD, the pieces in Small Explosions That are Yours to Keep are denser than the sketch-like feel of If Night is a Weed.

Akiyama works in a montage style, layering disparate melodic passages on top of one another and weaving them around digital fragments, but several of these compositions have more semblance of structure than you'd expect. In "But Promise Me," the percussive notes from violin and cello are perfectly arranged around the central melody from the upright bass, the track pushed along by handclaps and an eerie gamelan gong loop. Gamelan gongs reoccur throughout the record, including the title track in which the layers of woodwinds eventually get stretched until bursting into a reverberated echo.

While the aforementioned songs are probably Small Explosions' most direct moments, throughout the album, melodies from acoustic instruments are accented and interrupted by light, digital stutters. More importantly, however, the subtle signs of humanity that Akiyama interjects--recordings of running water, human voices, breathing--are the soul of these pieces and certainly steer the compositions away from the oft clinical nature of laptop constructed music. During the closing track, "Ghost Storms," swirling, stretched tones and digital scrapes are offset against the distant sound of birds chirping. Like a waking dream, it's very alien yet strangely soothing as consciousness tries to take hold. [GH]

"Rebel Heart"

"Babylon Medicine"

One of the mainstays of the UK hip-hop scene, the latest album by Rodney Smith (aka Roots Manuva) is finally available domestically. Never one to ride the trends, Smith dodges his contemporaries by skipping the grime sound currently sweeping England and offers up his most solid, accessible and accomplished record to date. His deep, accent-laden voice, low bass tones, reggae accents and click-snap percussion are all intact, but with Awfully Deep he seems to be more aligned with the American side of the game, feeling at ease with a looser verbal flow. While he isn't necessarily breaking new ground here, this release certainly cements his status as the most recognizable voice in UK hip-hop. With the exception of a few songs that are produced by fellow members of the Big Dada crew (Lotek and Blackitude), Manuva handles most of the production duties himself. Fans of Rakim's urban storytelling and the musicality of Foreign Exchange will want to check this album out. (Comes with a bonus CD that features demos and alternative versions of select songs from the official album.) [DG]

"Naki Kyoku"

"Akuma No Uta"

The name is a-buzz, from crazed fans, record goofs, to curiosity-seekers alike, and deservedly so. It's time, if not past-due time, in which we pay close recognition to this cultishly admired Japanese power rock/experimental trio, who have been making sublime noise for over a decade. Taking their name from a song off the Bullhead record from grunge/sludge godfathers the Melvins, Boris have been originating hyper-detailed, well-formed conceptual opuses which are all ambitiously experimental, sonically radical, yet simultaneously strangely touted and orthodox in their own respective styles. Boris masterfully embody and assimilate their predilection with heavily low-toned guitars/rumbling bassisms and playful mélanges of crushingly slow tempos and whirling speed-freak stylings, with diverse constituents of psychedelia, doom-drone, avant jazz and noise, minimalistic composing, unadulterated sludge, and death metal.

Aesthetically, Boris host a discreet imagery conjuring psych/stoner rock phenom and analogue thought--they reign singular in their sonic output and delve quietly in their own prosaic niche. That's not to say they don't have anything in common with their name-borrowed heroes, but drawn parallels are mere constructs for those seeking semblances--though, they are respected and revered along with luminous contemporaries Keiji Hano, Masonna, Naked City, Corrupted, and Sunn O))). OK, so they may also have kinship with their American bros, Earth.

Akuma No Uta is just one of many releases in the Boris discography, and the most recent. Many of their titles have been resurrected from import-obscurity, thanks to one of my favorite labels around, Southern Lord. (One of these opuses recently rescued by the label happens to be the doom-drenched, trance-oscillating wreckage, Absolutego--originally recorded in 1996, it's perhaps the quiet polymath and intellectually penetrating of them all.) Akuma is the most song-y Boris effort to date, and an excellent starting point for those looking to explore their wondrous sonic dementia. Featuring four regular song-length pieces boasting a '70s rock styling--an endearing play on Motorhead immediately came to mind, only further proving Boris' elasticity in songwriting--sandwiched between two atmospheric, emotive soundscapes. This album is slightly akin to the still import-only Heavy Rocks, an earlier Boris travail.

Akuma No Uta is available for the first time outside of Japan, featuring all the incomparable beauty of their previous efforts, and then some, in a 39-minute jammed-out epic. Yes, the cover is a clever quip of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter album. Packaged in a gorgeous digi-pak designed by Sunn's Stephen O'Malley. [MT]

"Bright"

Actually a precursor to last year's underground hit Tripper, Denmark's Efterklang self-released this limited EP in 2003, and the Leaf reissue should be a welcome treat for fans of the sprawling, dreamy electro-acoustic pop of their debut album. The comparisons to Sigur Ros and Mum are apt, and Springer is chock full of shimmering guitars, sad, angelic vocals, gently stroked piano, sputtering electronics and warm ambience. The EP, clocking in at over a half-hour, may not have the full orchestration of the subsequent album, but you hardly notice this lapse as the band creates a wide-open, pastoral sound that has continued to serve them well. [JM]

"All I Know Is Tonight"

"Oslo Skyline"

Jaga Jazzist are back with What We Must, a CD that will be the perfect soundtrack for the summer road trip that you're currently planning. The album is made up of seven instrumental jams that are filled with soaring, progressive guitar solos. Think the epic scope of Sigur Ros (crescendos yes, moaning vocals, not so much), a bit of Ratatat's loopy guitar, and a slight tinge of Efterklang's chamber-acoustic-electronic hybrid. Throw in an ode to Weather Report as well. The complete list of instruments used is too long to reprint, but here are a few: marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tamboura, bass clarinet, flute, trombone, trumpet, tuba, mellotron and, of course, the ever-present guitar run through effects. Call it post-rock if you like, fans of the recent Tortoise album will feel right at home here as well. Mood setting, travel inspiring, and expansive. [DG]

"Girls Like That"

"Word on the Street"

Weird War vocalist Ian Svenonius has done a good job of picking off the decades. Starting out as a '50s boy gang greaser in Nation of Ulysses (DC's finest sloganeering hardcore band), Svenonius is a master of referencing (and borrowing from) every aspect of cool, be it music, art, literature or politics. Black Panthers. Check. White Panthers. Check. Godard. Check. Constructivism. Check. In The Make-Up, where he was joined by Michelle Mae (ex-Frumpies) and Ulysses brethren James Canty and Steve Gamboa, Svenonius found a vehicle to explore the '60s, and cast himself as the agitator, the preacher and the falsetto soul garage crooner. In the early '00s, after The Make-Up had disbanded, Svenonius took Mae by the arm and formed Weird War and therefore cementing their reputation as an Ike and Cher or a Sonny and Tina for the post-hardcore generation.

With Illuminated by the Light, Weird War's third album, it appears Svenonius has landed safely in the '70s. Illuminated by the Light is an amalgam of styles, covering Glitter Band glam stomp, Eastern lyte psych and laidback boogie funk ground. A sweet and totally baked bongo jam? Sure, we get that too, in the form of "Earth, Mama, Woman, Girl, Child," the only track on the record where the trademark falsetto makes an appearance (thankfully or sadly, depending on your preference). All in all, this is Svenonius at his most restrained, in control and at ease. Weird War plays groovy for baby. [AK]

"Tinfoil Star"

"Imagination"

The Sad Mac is the fourth studio album by German laptop artist Stephan Mathieu. While his elusively simple album On Tape (released by the Hapna label last year) focused on a layering and editing acoustic instrumentation without the aid of digital sound processing, Mathieu combines his interest in all things acoustic, while extending the instruments' characteristics via various, somewhat arcane, computer technologies with his new release.

According to Mathieu, "The Sad Mac is dedicated to the sheer weight of hardware troubles I've endlessly experienced with a series of computers throughout the past three years." This, in turn, inspired him to reduce his production methods to the bare minimum, utilizing only the simplest softwares in order to avoid any further technical complications, as well as challenging himself to create something unique with relatively simple means. Not being so reliant on unforgiving and unstable technologies hasn't really changed Mathieu's overall compositional approach that much. While the long melodic tones that have permeated most of Mathieu's work for the past few years are still present, it's the stripped-down, overall production style that shows signs of a new direction.

The Sad Mac sees Mathieu collaborating with a long list of traditional instrumentalists (various strings, voice, piano, field recordings etc.), but only slightly abstracting the source and thereby creating a unique sense of space not often found in electronic records. It has the overall effect of some distant memory, sitting just at the edge of your consciousness. An extremely pleasant and warm album that lets each levitating note float just long enough for you to realize the next one is already there. [KH]

"Laivus 17"

"Octagon"

With the third proper release from Pharaoh Overlord, Janne, Tomi, and Jussi redefine repetition with unrelenting instru-"mental" rock. Now, I know you are saying, "But they are an instrumental band!" Well, after multiple listens I am here to report that you cannot get any more instrumental than this. Locked down rhythmic patterns that go on for days. Monotonous and way mellow, the sludgy screeches of guitar and maximum riffage you have come to rely on are mere smatterings, and when they surface they snap you out of the groove into a momentary "YEAH!" In this way, it harkens back to the first album that, although far heavier, similarly would plunge into a groove for a good eight-minutes and then come up for air for a few seconds of psych rock. This is funked-out jam psych. "Autobahn," an atomizing scorcher, is the welcome exception. A second short of 10-minutes, it's enough to tide you until it breaks into "Octagon," which crawls its way to a sprawling Neu-esque jam that a PO fan will be stoked on. Shall we dub this one Circle Overlord?? [NL]

"Wunderbar" Christiane F

"Stolze Menschen" Kosmonautentraum

Have you ever wished that you could go back in time and hang out in the fertile, '80s Berlin underground scene? This is as close as you can get, so far. Berlin Super 80 celebrates, documents and exposes the "Ingenious Dilettante" scene of early-'80s West Berlin through a DVD full of restored Super 8 films, a companion CD compilation (featuring Malaria, Die Todliche Doris, Din A Testbild, Kosmonautentraum, Christiane F, P1/E, Flucht nach Vorn, Einstürzende Neubauten, etc.) and a 100-page book.

The DVD is full of short Super 8 films, narratives and documentaries. Most were created to be shown at the many screening parties that were popular in the German new wave scene. They simultaneously show the range of the scene's creative mindset, while capturing all the incidentally cool aspects of the overall environment. Christoph Doring's 3302 is like a Berlin new wave version of Jarmusch's Night on Earth, sans dialogue; a first person glimpse of a taxi driver's typical night out. Moving views from the windshield are enhanced by various raw, in-camera effects, the constant reappearance of different sections of the Berlin Wall and Super 8 shots of his various passengers (some actual and some friends of the filmmaker just hanging out). Grape-like German breasts appear out of nowhere.

Another documentary short is full of clips from the "Ingenious
Dilettante" elite playing sets at the legendary SO 36 club. The footage is raw, strange and confounding, while Malaria, D.T.D. and Neubauten deliver some killer performances. The overall feeling is that of a scene trying out some new things in the presence of its friends, which is reflected both in the music and in the film footage. The 100-page book is well laid out and full of great photos, capsule descriptions of the films and reproductions of the film event posters. (The poster art is super cool as you'd expect.) Short essays on the bands are also included. Essential to all Neue Deutsche Welle fanatics like you and me. (The book and CD are limited to the first 500 copies.) [SM]

"Kirr"

"Money"

More sonic doomdeathanddestruction to be delightfully digested from those who brought you Mr. Bungle, Sunn O))), and Burning Witch. Abstract and melodic, creepy and dirgey like a great doom album should be, Asva offer slow and ponderously spiritual compositions in the anatomy of four pieces. Gracefully conjoined, this is a more interesting effort than much of the typified doom palettes offered recently. Asva ruminates affectuously, hypnotizing with esoteric, trance-like meditations that guide the listener down a desolate, exploratory path through the devil's monastery. Inspired instrumental doom atmospherics, with the exception of the last track, which is laden with gorgeous female vocals. Doom-Folk? Gorgeous illusory lulls, frozen tranquility. Splendidly packaged. [MT]

"Beneath the Rose"

"The Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea"

Only a few years into his 20s, Micah P. Hinson has already lived the life reflected in his world-weary songs. By the time he hit the age of 19, he had been introduced to narcotics through a close relationship with a fashion model, then jailed for forging prescriptions, and subsequently he lost all of his possessions after declaring bankruptcy. During the dark, homeless times that followed, he penned some 30 songs, many of which now see the light on his debut album. Produced and arranged by the Earlies, the Texas band's soaring psychedelia is partially grounded here, and southern gothic is the lifeblood flowing through the veins of these heavy confessionals.

Hinson's voice is a cross between Smog's Bill Callahan and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, and quite often his thick-as-molasses melodies aren't accompanied by much more than a softly strummed folk guitar--accoutrements like pedal steel, piano and accordion reluctantly join midway through. But not all of the tracks are subdued; the urgent "Patience" transforms itself from a Tom Waits inspired narrative into an anthem of squalling guitars while "At Last, Our Promises" swells to a swirling, cinematic conclusion, a' la Jack Nietzsche or Mercury Rev.

Though traces of sunlight occasionally poke through the persistent dark cloud hanging over Hinson's head, the faint of heart might have trouble getting through the album in one listen. But for those inclined to soak in the melancholy, there's great reward to be found in the closing eight-plus-minute track, "The Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea." It's a beautifully bittersweet send-off, with a choir of voices that hints at salvation just as the song fades away. [GH]

"Only When You're Lonely"

"Where Were You When I Needed You"

A few months ago I was pleased to read that Rev-Ola was preparing to reissue a number of titles from Dunhill, a label that released some of the finest forgotten American pop music of the 1960s. Their series begins with a rare classic, the first album from a California rock band called the Grass Roots. The group began as a project for Dunhill's unbeatable in-house songwriting team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, but the label eventually decided to hold auditions for a band to perform Sloan and Barri's tunes and they found a pretty great group of very young guys from San Francisco who were up to the task.

How much of the music on their 1966 debut Where Were You When I Needed You was actually played by the group itself is unclear. Some of it was done by studio musicians, but the guys in the band were all more than capable with their instruments and would later move on to careers with the Gene Clark Group, the Merry-Go-Round (a fantastic band fronted by a young Emitt Rhodes), and David Meltzer's Serpent Power. The Grass Roots had much in common with all three of those groups. Sloan and Barri's songs had a very Byrds and Beau Brummels influenced sound; folk-rock with a bit of a garage and country thing thrown in too, very catchy and jangly, with nice vocal harmonies.

Unfortunately the first line-up of the band fell apart pretty quickly after the record was finished, and another group called the Grass Roots was thrown together to promote the album later on, which led to confusion and poor album sales in spite of the relative success of the "Where Were You When I Needed You" single. It probably didn't help that the album version of the song was sung by P.F. Sloan, while the single on the radio was sung by Bill Fulton, and a later version released after the first group's break-up featured new vocalist Rob Grill (this CD includes all three versions).

Later incarnations of the band were far more successful on the Billboard charts, but they never came close to what these four young guys achieved on their first and only recording. The record still really holds up well; the songs are fantastic, and the band's version of "Ballad Of A Thin Man" is honestly as good as any of the Dylan covers that made the Byrds famous. [RH]

"Weight" Fennesz

"False Light" The Oktopus

Still cresting with the critical laudings for last year's Panopticon, Isis finally digitize the way-limited vinyl remixes that followed in the wake of 2002's Oceanic. As Isis deal in the sonic expanses between metal and ambient, the remixes draw a sundry, curious pedigree of folks. The biggest draw is Fennesz's buzzing and filibrating remix of "Weight." Closest in texture are Canadian Tim Hecker's two mixes of "Carry." Thomas Koner lowers the vocals to a subliminal and disquieting level on "Hym." And Ipecac honcho Mike Patton and Justin Broaderick and James Plotkin all weigh in, too. On the other end, DJ Speedranch and Venetian Snares accentuate the speed and violence, but the caustic Ayal Naor remix of "False Light (Carry Edit)," and the female vocals that swirl around its second half, are the most elegant of the bunch. [RB]

"Trio for Quartet"

Brand new Rune Grammofon signing, In the Country is a unique jazz trio headed by Morten Qvenild, a 26-year-old pianist with an impressive and diverse list of accomplishments: one-half of the duo Susanna & the Magical Orchestra, writer and arranger for Norwegian jazz singer Solveig Slettahjell, a member of pop/rock group the National Bank (who recently spent several weeks at the top of Norway's music charts) and a former member of both the Shining and Jaga Jazzist. Produced by Arve Henriksen, In the Country's debut album is a melodic mix of contemplative improvisation and experimental jazz. Features nine original compositions plus a Ryan Adams cover(!?) and an interpretation of Händel´s "Laschia Ch´io Pianga."

ALSO AVAILABLE

F.S. BLUMM
Zweite Meer
(Morr Music)

"Blick"

Aside from the occasional Casio keyboard, Frank Schültge Blumm's new full-length isn't exactly filled with the light, shimmering electronics that one usually expects from the Morr Music label. Zweite Meer is almost completely powered by acoustic instruments. Inspired by a drive down the West Coast with travel mates E*Rock and Greg Davis, Blumm's warm, meditative songs probably parallel his window gazing, as gentle strums of guitar and bass are beautifully augmented by French horn melodies, harmonium, xylophone and melodica. The closing track features vocals by David Grubbs.

"Fight!"

Early Man (duo of Early Mike and Early Adam, NYC habitants via Columbus, Ohio) conjure a sort of primal instinct of sonic obliterations that we've been jamming to in our heads since our adolescent days, as they slowly blaze into pop conscious and successfully unveil our repressions: a love for unabashed rock 'n' roll and untamed metal. For those that missed out on the self-released cult version, Monitor Records has officially issued this teaser three-song EP. Feel good jams to be unearthed and experienced this summer while we await a comprehensive collection from Matador in the autumn. [MT]

$19.99 CD

BACK IN STOCK

JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER
L' Enfant Assassin des Mouches
(Delay 68/Finders Keepers)

"L' Enfant au Royaume des Mouches"

Reissue of an amazing obscurity from Jean-Claude Vannier, the arranger of Histoire de Melody Nelson. All the elements from Serge Gainsbourg's classic album are present but with a darker, experimental edge. You can hear traces of Isaac Hayes, Hermann Nitsch, Galt MacDermot, David Axelrod, Barry White and Xenakis, but to compare this record to any one of those artists would be wrong. Vannier is an innovator in his own right and maybe this reissue, paired with the classic Melody Nelson, will finally give him some well-deserved aplomb. [DH]

THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS

[GA] Geoff Albores
[RB] Randy Breaux
[DG] Daniel Givens
[GH] Gerald Hammill
[DH] Duane Harriott
[RH] Rob Hatch-Miller
[KH] Koen Holtkamp
[AK] Andreas Knutsen
[NL] Nicole Lang
[JM] Josh Madell
[SM] Scott Mou
[JS] Jeremy Sponder
[MT] Mahssa Taghinia


THANKS FOR READING
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